Chapter 3: The Protagonist (2)

‘Ion, tell me about Jin Seongha.’

‘At the time of the cataclysm, he was twenty-five. 194 cm tall, blood type O, born November 14. A handsome man with navy-blue hair and golden eyes. His parents died during the cataclysm, and he’s the eldest of three siblings—one brother, one sister. His siblings are non-awakened.’

‘And?’

‘He awakened with the S-rank trait “Cold Leader” and gains a total of twelve skills by the novel’s end. Notable ones include <pessimist persona>, <anguish>, and <eternal serendipity>.

‘And?’

‘And what?’

‘His personality, hobbies, things like that.’

‘…’

Ion, who had been answering confidently, fell silent.

He held out both palms, and Teacher lightly disciplined him with a switch.

‘Remember well. Jin Seongha is fundamentally kind. But when he’s upset, he becomes ruthlessly cold. In the novel, when was he angriest?’

‘When Choi Jungho died?’

‘No.’

‘When Wendy betrayed him?’

‘No.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘When his team Hunters, practicing their skills, accidentally injured a raccoon hiding behind a tree stump.’

‘…’

‘He was furious and punished the Hunters with probation. When a person got injured, he only scolded them. So, what does this tell us about his character?’

‘He cares more about a random raccoon than Choi Jungho, Wendy, or his teammates?’

‘Exactly.’

‘You said he’s kind.’

‘From an animal’s perspective, he’s incredibly kind.’

‘…’

‘Of course, by the latter half of the novel, he starts valuing people too. But early on, it’s “Animals are precious; humans can die for all I care.” He’s a “human-hating human.” Always remember that. Jin Seongha values a stray animal’s life more than a person’s. Especially for his four pets, he’d do anything.’

Ion’s gaze sharpened.

‘How can someone so old act like that?’

‘Right?’

‘He hasn’t realized the truth that plants are the only precious things in this world. He’s got a lot of growing up to do.’

Teacher merely looked down at the tongue-clicking child with an expression full of unspoken words.

“You, what are you doing in front of my house?”

In the darkness, Jin Seongha’s golden eyes glinted coldly.

To be fair, anyone would give a suspicious stranger loitering outside their house at night a similar look.

But this was the ultimate “human-hating human”…

It was almost a miracle he hadn’t drawn a weapon already.

“You look young.”

Jin Seongha took a step closer.

As a cloud drifted away from the moon, his face was revealed in the moonlight.

Ion couldn’t help but catch his breath.

‘He’s gotten even more handsome.’

Jin Seongha didn’t know it, but Ion had been watching him for a while.

The first time was when Ion was nine, meaning Jin Seongha was sixteen.

Among the middle schoolers heading home, the boy stood out like a crane among chickens.

Thinner than he was now, but a head taller than his peers, with a refined nose and flawless skin without a single blemish.

It was an appearance beyond the vocabulary of a nine-year-old.

As Ion stared in a daze, Teacher chuckled beside him.

‘Even you, who only cares about plants, are captivated. Heh.’

It was only natural.

In the world of <hunters and  heroes>, Jin Seongha had the second-best appearance.

The novel described him like this:

[He was like a stormy sea.

His navy-blue hair, partially covering his forehead, flowed naturally, and his bold eyebrows arched as if displeased.

Once caught by his golden eyes, shining vividly even in the dark, it was hard to look away, as if under a skill’s effect.

A perfectly straight nose, harmonious lips, and a solid jawline… Yes, that jawline.

If he were a figure in a painting, the artist would have poured their heart into that jawline.

It was a strong jawline that made hearts flutter, whether the onlooker was a man or a woman.]

And that wasn’t all.

One of the orphans had suffered from severe depression as a child.

Worried about losing a talented disciple, Teacher once took the boy on an outing.

‘Teacher, where are you going?’

‘To show him Jin Seongha’s face.’

That boy, after seeing Jin Seongha in person for the first time, said:

‘Ion, life is beautiful. Even in this wretched life, there are hidden gems.’

‘…’

‘I’ll survive, if only to keep seeing that gem.’

The face that had sparked such passion in a stormy-hearted friend was now before him.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me?”

Even his voice was handsome.

Ignoring the protagonist? Unthinkable.

Ion turned around with a bright smile.

“Hunter Jin Seongha, hello. What brings you here?”

Jin Seongha’s thick eyebrows furrowed.

“What brings me here? This is in front of my house. What were you doing here?”

“I heard you only come home once or twice a week. Looks like today was one of those days.”

“Don’t dodge the question. Answer me. What were you doing here?”

He looked ready to use a skill at any moment.

Ion spoke calmly.

“I was smelling the morning glories.”

“…What?”

“Morning glories herald summer.”

“…”

“Give them a sniff. They’re fragrant.”

Jin Seongha blinked, glanced at the stems wrapping the fence, then back at Ion.

“The flowers haven’t bloomed yet.”

“Do stems and leaves not have a scent?”

“Don’t try to distract me with nonsense. Who do you work for? Here to recruit me for a guild? Didn’t open the gate, so you climbed the wall? Hah, testing my patience. They must think I won’t touch a kid.”

His voice dripped with anger.

Ion tilted his head.

There was something odd in that last statement.

“Recruit you for a guild? What’s that about?”

“I made it clear I’m going freelance. I’m not joining any guild, so don’t waste your time. I won’t go easy just because you’re young.”

‘I’m going freelance instead of joining a guild.’

A bombshell declaration.

Ion’s mind raced.

This was a disaster.

In <hunters and  heroes>, Jin Seongha was the star Hunter of the major guild Horizon.

The connections he made there—Lee Jinah, Park Jinseok, Lee Dojin, Wendy Lowell—and the experiences he had…

To declare he’d go solo?

Unacceptable.

‘Why is this happening all of a sudden? Do the other orphans know?’

They probably did.

Except for the one who’d gone into hiding, the two ‘abuse faction’ and two ‘legacy faction’ orphans were active in the Hunter industry.

‘The legacy faction would try to persuade him…’

Ion couldn’t let this bombshell slide.

“You’re right. I’m here to convince you to join a guild.”

“As I thought. Who sent you? D-NATE? Udinbara?”

“Horizon Guild. But I’m curious—why go freelance? They must’ve offered you generous terms. If you want more, negotiate. They’ll give you anything.”

“Terms don’t matter. I just don’t like group life.”

“But you were student body president in high school and department rep in college.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s easy to find out. If you don’t join Horizon, this world will be in serious trouble. Please reconsider.”

“The world won’t care. I’m not joining a guild, but I’ll keep raiding dungeons as a freelancer.”

“A freelancer instead of a guild. That’s like saying you’ll put paprika in kimchi jjigae instead of gochugaru. It’s a problem. Can you eat kimchi jjigae with paprika, Hunter Jin Seongha?”

“…”

Jin Seongha’s expression turned peculiar, as if he’d seen something bizarre.

“Haa, this is really troublesome.”

Ion was the one who’d proposed the mercenary system to the government.

If the system he’d created for his own convenience led the first protagonist astray…

Neither the other orphans nor Ion himself could forgive that.

He hadn’t imagined it would cause such a butterfly effect.

“Anyway, I’m not interested in guilds. I’ve said my piece, so get lost.”

Jin Seongha stood in front of the gate.

The large man exuded a menacing aura.

It didn’t faze Ion, but still.

Ion’s mind raced.

Jin Seongha was fiercely competitive.

The undisputed strongest S-rank Hunter in Korea, possibly the world—an invincible swordsman.

To pique his interest…

“No choice then. I’ll have to use my last resort.”

“What?”

Ion slashed his hand diagonally through the air.

A longsword wreathed in flames materialized.

A spark of intrigue flashed in Jin Seongha’s eyes.

Many Hunters had weapon-summoning skills, but none had a flame-wrapped sword like this.

“This should be enough to get your attention.”

“Hmph.”

With a cold smirk, Jin Seongha summoned a weapon.

Ion expected him to use the skill <anguish> to summon the ‘Black Cloud Sword.’

But instead, Jin Seongha pulled a wooden practice sword from his inventory, devoid of any special abilities.

“Don’t underestimate me just because I’m young.”

“If you’re not here to talk, come at me.”

Ion was confident in a verbal spar, but he decided to save that for later.

Gripping his flame sword tightly, he lunged forward.

Clang, clang!

The real sword clashed with the wooden one, producing a sharp sound as if two steel blades had met.

After a few exchanges, Ion realized he couldn’t overpower Jin Seongha’s strength and intensified the flames.

Jin Seongha pulled back his wooden sword to avoid the blaze, then thrust his bare hand into the flames.

His signature trait: ‘Five-Element Resistance.’

The five elements were fire, cold, disease, poison, and curses.

Jin Seongha didn’t burn or get frostbite, catch colds, or succumb to poison.

He even had basic resistance to curse skills.

A cheat-like ability befitting the first protagonist.

Grabbing the blade with his bare hand, Jin Seongha applied force, snapping the sword’s tip.

At the same time, he swung the wooden sword at Ion’s side.

Ion dodged by stepping back and summoned another sword.

A red blade engulfed in hot flames.

“…!?”

Jin Seongha’s eyes widened.

For weapon-summoning skills, a destroyed weapon couldn’t be resummoned until a cooldown period passed.

The shortest known cooldown was three hours.

Yet this boy summoned a new weapon almost instantly after the first broke.

“Dual swords?”

“Who knows?”

Ion spoke cryptically, as if hiding a great secret, to spark curiosity.

They exchanged a few more blows.

As planned, Jin Seongha began to feel intrigued.

The boy was agile and flexible, wielding his sword with remarkable skill.

As if he’d been using it since before the cataclysm.

Who he was could be interrogated after subduing him.

Jin Seongha swung his wooden sword widely, pausing the rapid exchanges.

Ion, not even out of breath, lowered his sword and stared at him.

A golden glow shimmered in Jin Seongha’s eyes.

When a Hunter used a skill, their unique mana color manifested around their body.

For Jin Seongha, it was gold.

Rumble—

A heavy black sword was summoned, its blade wrapped in an ominous dark shadow, rippling like fog over the sea.

Ion stepped back to avoid the shadow.

‘anguish.’

The moment he’d been waiting for.

Ion’s lips curved into a sly smile.