Chapter 88

[Translator – Bob ]

[Proofreader – ilafy ]

Chapter 88

In that short period of time, YuSung had managed to schedule a time to meet with EunAh.

“Ah, I-I thought so! Of course Party Leader-nim would… have plans, huh?”

Even though Sumire was trying her best to pretend that she was fine, her face clearly betrayed her disappointment. After looking for an opportunity to ask him all day, she had managed to miss her chance.

It felt like the sky was crumbling down on her.

‘I should have talked to him earlier about this… I’m an idiot…’

YuSung, seeing Sumire’s reaction, began feeling rather apologetic towards her.

“Sorry. Something suddenly came up at 6PM.”

His plans had been scheduled for 6PM. Hearing that, Sumire carefully spoke up.

“Th-then… are you free before then?”

“I guess so?”

She mulled over his response. There were a lot of things she wanted to do with him, even if it wasn’t during the evening.

“Erm, YuSung-ssi! Then! Is it alright if we! Eat lunch together at 12… N-no! Is it alright if I’m with you from… 9AM and onwards? I’ll… make breakfast for you!”

Sumire’s previous expression of despair transformed into one of anticipation. 

YuSung nodded his head. “Okay, let’s do that.”

Sumire wriggled her lips in excitement at his positive response.

‘Th-this is amazing!’

Instead of meeting him in the afternoon, Sumire could be with YuSung from and all throughout the morning. In her opinion, it was a much better opportunity for her.

*

The Shin-oh family. A hunter household…

The large mansion was one of dozens they owned.

An extravagant water fountain decorated with five lion statues, all with water flowing out of their mouths…

An ocean view that could put a resort to shame…

A garden personally constructed by a first-rate gardener…

A large plot of land covered by high-quality, two-tone artificial turf. ..

It was all possible due to both the authority they had from colluding with the media and benefits from taking on various special requests. The household even had a mutually beneficial relationship with the president of the Shinsung group on a commission basis. The amount of power they enjoyed in Korea was nearly impossible to imagine.

The biggest reason as to why they had been able to establish all of this was due to their ‘might makes right’ philosophy—of putting those on the top above all. The Shin-oh family believed only in strength, and their goal was also to maintain their skills and power through said strength.

The family meeting that had been called was a ritual that was a part of that.

“…I apologize for saying this right at the beginning of our meeting, but it’s true that there is a sort of mistrust beginning to seep into our belief of the head’s judgment.”

Park ByungJun was the first to speak up.

He was a master who, due to his well-disciplined mana, looked like a man in his late twenties despite being in his late thirties. He was a hunter recognized on the national scale, owing to the fact that he was ranked sixth.

He was a man with quite a high position, even in the Shin-oh family. But the one who he had aimed his doubts towards was none other than the head of the household, Shin KangYoon.

“…Interesting.”

Shin KangYoon narrowed his eyes. His gaze aimed towards Park ByungJun was filled with a calm but keen energy.

‘How dare someone who was brought in as nothing but a son-in-law act as if he owns the place…’

But he did not say his thoughts out loud. The head of the Shin-oh household was determined carefully through a vote based on skill. Even if he didn’t like Park ByungJun, the man had his own vote.

He laughed good-naturedly. “Go on, then. Just what is making you distrust my judgment?”

The beautiful woman sitting next to him laughed, a fan covering her mouth.

“Fufu. Don’t you already know the answer to that, dear brother?”

Shin MiHyan.

She also looked to be in her late twenties, but in fact, she was the younger sister of Shin KangYoon by four years.

Snap!

Shin MiHyang closed her fan shut in a fanciful manner before placing it inside her bosom. Her mouth quirked up into a smile as everyone’s attention was drawn to her.

“It’s, of course, about your second child… YuSung. Haven’t you also heard of the rumors, brother?”

Even Shin KangYoon’s constantly maintained poker face crumbled slightly at the mention of YuSung’s name.

—But only for a moment.

His calm demeanor had returned when he spoke.

“Yes… I did hear of him. He’s been quite prolific at Gaon, they say.”

Shin MiHyang re-opened her fan to hide her lips.

“Huhu, ‘quite’, you say… you just can’t be honest about this, can you?”

Park ByungJun also seemed to find Shin KangYoon’s answer to be amusing.

“Any rumor in the hunter world should pass your ears, no? Haha! Your devaluation of him practically shows how much you’ve been turning a blind eye to this…”

As Shin MiHyang’s husband brought the topic up, she also saw herself fit to add onto the pressure.

“Huhu, let’s see… how about we just count the things that come to my mind for the moment? Capturing the Rebellion member… becoming the representative for the International Competition. Most recently, I also heard that he managed to clear a rank 5 dungeon?”

Park ByungJun followed her up on the topic of discussion. “A dungeon in Japan, to boot. Participation in an expedition raid is proof that he’s a student the Hunters’ Association is backing, you know.”

“What would happen if word that the child is from the Shin-oh family gets to the media and spreads across the world? I can already imagine the public’s reactions.”

A nervous air overtook the other members of the family as Shin MiHyang brought up the main topic of the meeting. Even if those with lower than a rank six hunter’s degree of influence had no say or sway in the meeting itself, they all implicitly agreed with her opinion.

“The Shin-oh family didn’t recognize a diamond in the rough that the Fist King recognized. We basically threw a treasure into the trash. Isn’t that embarrassing to you?”

Her direct attack succeeded in making Shin KangYoon grimace once more. Even his strong poker face could not hide his true feelings that time.

“Judging by everyone’s reactions, I can see that you all are rather inclined to agree with what she has said?”

Almost twenty people had gathered for the meeting, yet all they did was glance at each other. The silence stretched on. 

Shin KangYoon smirked. “You brought this up when my wife was gone, I see. Quite thoroughly planned.”

“Dear brother, all we did was speak our thoughts. All of this is nothing but some, fufu, worries of ours.”

Shin MiHyang’s eyes crinkled at the corners. She was, too, a rank six hunter, a master recognized at the national level. He couldn’t treat her carelessly, even if she was his younger sister.

“Fine. Do hear this, everyone. What do you plan to do if this worry comes to fruition?”

Even as he addressed the entire room, Shin KangYoon’s eyes were solely focused on Shin MiHyang. He suddenly exuded mana from his body, forcibly suppressing his sister with its power.

“Urgh…”

The pressure was strong enough to make it hard to breathe.

Shin KangYoon continued calmly, as if he wanted everyone gathered there to listen to his words.

“I am the sole hunter who has achieved rank seven in the Shin-oh family. Who else is more fit to be at the place of the head… in a household that values strength above all?”

The meeting room was awash in a murderous atmosphere before anything more than the single topic could be brought up.

Right then, a beautiful young man who stood out from the crowd began to speak up.

“All three of you. There’s no need to cause a stir within the Shin-oh household for something that hasn’t even happened yet.”

Yu Weol. He had become the youngest hunter to reach rank six at the age of 27. He was participating in the meeting in the stead of YuSung’s mother, Yu MinSeo. Thus, he was the one with the highest authority next to the head.

Shin MiHyang nodded at Yu Weol’s words.

“The young master is right. All we did was express our worries… So don’t take such offense at it. Won’t you, brother?”

Squeeze!

Shin KangYoon clenched his fist.

But all he did was let his rage simmer on the inside. He had already anticipated Shin MiHyang and Park ByungJun’s actions beforehand, as the two were always vying for his seat at the head. Talk about YuSung was no more than an excuse to bring the topic up.

‘…Still, it’s true that this circumstance was something completely unforeseen.’

At five years old, YuSung had been determined to have an F-rank Trait. He had been certain that the boy had no future as a hunter.

But what actually happened spoke otherwise. YuSung was showing off his skills more confidently than any other person.

‘Since things turned out this way…’

Shin KangYoon, as the head, was going to try and prepare his seat for YuSung to take over. In order to do so, all he could do was believe in HaYoon, who was also attending Gaon Academy.

‘…All I can do is beg that child.‘

Translator – Bob

A neatly organized dressing room…

But the hundred or so clothes displayed on the hangers were all luxury goods with jaw-dropping price tags. 

EunAh would typically say that it was all bothersome and would wear nothing but a t-shirt and jacket, but the next day was not a typical day.

“…H-how about this dress?”

She came out of the room wearing a red dress, embarrassed. 

SuHyun mulled it over, a serious expression on her face. “Hmm. It’s beautiful, but red is a little…”

“Ah, it doesn’t suit me?”

SuHyun thought about it some more. “First off, I think a more innocent color like… maybe blue? Would suit you better. Seductive and provocative colors like purple and red would be better for when you’re older… you understand what I mean, yes?”

EunAh nodded her head in docile acceptance.  “Huh? Sure, I think so.”

SuHyun stood up from her seat and approached the younger girl.

“And strap management is important for off-shoulder dresses. Didn’t I already tell you this?”

“Uh, yeah. Y-you did.”

“You just aren’t very good at this stuff. Come closer.”

SuHyun approached EunAh’s back and adjusted the placement of the red shoulder strap. Her hands then trailed down to the girl’s hips.

“Hey, what are you doing! It tickles!”

“Looks like there’s a little bit more fat on you than before. We’ll have to consider A-line dresses too, at this rate. Since they have wide bottom halves…”

SuHyun groped EunAh’s stomach with a grave expression on her face. Both EunAh’s embarrassment at the fact that she’d gained weight coupled with the odd sense of humiliation from having her stomach touched made her face turn redder and redder.

“I-it’s because I haven’t been moving as often as I was before I was in the hospital!”

“I know that. Do you know how much effort I put into arranging your schedule? But still… I can really feel it.”

Squish.

SuHyun continued to prod at her pale belly. 

Eventually, EunAh snapped.

“Argh, fine! I gained some weight, okay?! So stop touching it! Is my stomach a lump of clay to you? Why do you keep squishing it?!”

It felt unfair that she had received such humiliating treatment just because she hadn’t exercised for a week.

“Sit back down. I’ll go and get a blue dress on, okay?”

But even throughout all of it, EunAh had long stopped becoming truly angry towards SuHyun. Knowing this, the older woman saw her actions as nothing more than petty complaints.

‘…She’s gotten more and more cute after entering the party. Or maybe it’s because Kim JunHyuk woke up from his coma?’

It felt like she had gained a younger sister. SuHyun watched the girl go into the changing room with a proud look in her eyes.

Shuffle shuffle.

Sounds of changing clothes and grumbling could be heard from the other side of the curtain. Right after, EunAh stepped out of the room.

The dress she had on was a refreshing blue with black accents—it made quite the impression. 

“Just as I thought…”

SuHyun, moved at the sight, gave her a thumbs up.

“…It’s perfect, Miss.”