Chapter 22: Pretending to Be a Big Sister Now?

"You're probably the first person to use an S-Class Hunter as a porter (pack mule)."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Can I beat you up a little?"

"Uh-uh, that's assaulting a civilian."

On the way to Jae-hyun's school by bus.

Jae-hyun was sitting in a seat, and I was standing, leaning against the pole near the seats.

"Gosh, you're only good at talking. But aren't you still a high school sophomore (11th grade)?"

"Yeah."

"Then why are you already clearing out your books? It's not even winter break yet."

"Ah, actually, I Awakened."

My hand, bringing the coffee straw to my lips, paused instantly.

My brother did what?

"What?"

"I said I Awakened. I'll attend school for the rest of this year, but I decided to transfer to the newly established Hunter Academy next year."

"What's your rank."

"E."

Fortunately, it's not F.

But wait, shit, my brother is what?

Going where?

"Hunter Academy?"

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do there?"

"They guaranteed at least C-Class upon graduation. So I thought it might be okay to go."

Hearing Jae-hyun's words, I slapped my forehead.

Guaranteed C-Class... that's just words.

Establishing a Hunter Academy was already absurd enough, but hearing that my brother would be one of the first students made me feel like I was losing my mind.

"What did Mom and Dad say?"

"They opposed it strongly, but we agreed that if I don't hit B-Class by graduation, I'll repeat a year to study for college."

"No, you were good at studying. Isn't that a waste?"

"Noona knows too. It's hard to make a living just by being good at studying these days."

Oh my, little brother.

Your Noona quit being a Hunter because the industry is filthy.

But what do I do if you act like this?

"Noona started even younger than I am now, but I'm better off than you were back then."

"No, Jae-hyun-ah. This isn't a matter of being okay or not. You could really die."

"They said the system is decent these days."

"I'm telling you that system isn't perfect!"

But Jae-hyun seemed to have already designed a future where he lives as a strong Hunter.

He wasn't thinking of listening to me at all.

There are so many people who design such futures, step into the Hunter industry, see blood, give up, and return to daily life.

"You don't know how hard it is to raise your rank."

"Noona doesn't know either. You were S-Class from the start."

"...That's because I was born with exceptionally strong abilities. Anyway."

"Why? Are you going to say I can't do it?"

I guess I need to give him a reality check.

I shut my mouth and said, "Get off for now," forcibly grabbing Jae-hyun's wrist and dragging him off at the next stop.

"Where are we going?"

Annoyed that I suddenly made him get off the bus, Jae-hyun asked in a dissatisfied voice.

But I ignored him and dragged him into a taxi forcibly.

"Please go to this address."

I searched the address on my phone, showed it to the driver, and tried hard to ignore Jae-hyun looking at me with an annoyed expression.

Silence.

In that stillness, neither Jae-hyun nor I said a single word.

When the taxi driver asked, "Agassi, is this the place?", I nodded, paid the fare, and got out of the taxi.

"Where are we going?"

"The place where I tested my limits in the old days."

The place we arrived at, after riding for about twenty minutes from home and walking for another ten, was a vast reed field.

Not an intact reed field.

But a place where the scars I made 5 years ago, when I pushed my power to the limit, still remained intact.

'The fallen reeds have disappeared somehow.'

Although there were traces of trampled reeds here and there, and the ground was uneven due to the traces of power...

The five years hadn't been in vain; the height of the reeds had recovered somewhat.

Of course, since I had overturned the entire area once, the overall height was a bit low for old vegetation.

Well, it's going to be overturned again anyway.

"What are you going to do here?"

"Well. What do you think I'm going to do?"

Radiating telekinesis even stronger than back then, I grabbed everything except Jae-hyun and the ground beneath him and lifted it up, as if to overturn everything around us.

Feeling the shock of the roots being pulled up, Jae-hyun flinched and looked around.

The reeds receded in a wide circle around me...

Creating a clearing by forming a vast wall of reeds. Jae-hyun watched this sight in shock.

As the reeds cleared away, the scars of the past, in addition to the ones I just made, remained clearly on the earth.

"Are you going to fight me?"

"Why would I fight my brother? I fight enemies."

"Then why...?"

"A test."

He probably doesn't know.

Why his Noona is S-Class, and why she couldn't quit being a Hunter.

But realizing that I was on a dimension different from him, his attitude toward me became noticeably more cautious.

"Jae-hyun-ah. You said you wanted to become a Hunter. But if I throw you into a dungeon right now, you will definitely die within a year."

"..."

"And do you think the newly launching Hunter Academy can raise students properly? The way I see it, the first batch of students are test subjects. Test subjects throwing their lives into dungeons."

He probably doesn't know how dirty the Hunter industry is.

I could absolutely not sacrifice my brother to that kind of industry.

"Therefore, no matter how much I think about it, I absolutely cannot let you go to the Academy, nor can I let you become a Hunter."

"...So, you're saying you're going to oppose it?"

"That's my stance. However."

Since I haven't told the family about returning my license yet, if he has the courage to stand against an active S-Class Hunter, I was willing to reconsider.

Recklessness invites death, but if he really wants to be a Hunter, as a big sister, I can at least show him the path.

"If you can use your ability to the fullest right here and land even one valid hit on me, I'll change my mind a little."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I'm serious. Instead, if you can't hit me even once, I will turn the Association upside down to block your admission to the Academy. The same goes for issuing your Hunter License."

Saying that, I grabbed the ground to Jae-hyun's left and right and tore it up, causing soil to fly everywhere.

I overturned the surroundings on purpose to instill fear.

Jae-hyun probably doesn't know yet.

That his sister is someone who can lightly destroy a city if she puts her mind to it.

"No, how can I fight an S-Class Hunter..."

"If you don't like it, don't do it. But that means bye-bye to your Hunter life."

"...Ah, shit."

Saying that, Jae-hyun raised his fists.

Did you want to be a Hunter that badly?

But Jae-hyun-ah, I have no intention of sending you to the Hunter industry.

"I don't know how you Awakened, but if you have foolish thoughts, it's better to fold them."

"Stop it."

"Mom and Dad don't know. They just think it's dangerous because I came back injured every time I went to a dungeon, but I only came back with serious injuries once."

"I got it, so stop preaching."

"But even at this moment, Hunters are dying in dungeons, and getting carried out injured."

"I said stop the 'Kkondae' (Boomer-like) lecture, seriously!"

Perhaps angry at hearing me trample on his hopeful future.

Jae-hyun leaped forward, creating flames on his fist, and rushed at me.

From his perspective, it was a Fire Punch thrown with full force.

"Huh?"

"Seeing you go into a Gate with just this level of strength... I wouldn't tolerate it even if someone held a knife to my throat."

But I lightly caught his fist, and with a single hook-push backward, Jae-hyun flew back, rolled, and crashed into the river.

My pure physical ability definitely stays at the top of A-Class, not befitting an S-Class.

But while relatively weak for my rank, it's an absolute gap that an E-Class cannot overcome.

"What are you doing? Try hitting me. I haven't even used telekinesis yet."

"...Fuck, seriously."

"For your information, no matter what you do, I won't move from here, nor will I use telekinesis. So try if you can."

Furthermore, Jae-hyun is still a high school student, and next year he'll be a senior (12th grade), crucial for college entrance exams.

I thought it was my duty to set him straight before he fell down the wrong path.

"You never contacted me once usually, and now you're pretending to be a big sister (Noona)?"

Until I heard those words from Jae-hyun.

Hearing that, I had absolutely nothing to say.

Before the incident happened after I returned, it was a bit awkward, but our relationship wasn't bad.

"Exactly. Pretending to be a Noona only now."

Hearing my words, Jae-hyun made a face realizing he had made a mistake.

But spoken words cannot be gathered back.

Since he went as far as to say that, I wondered what was the point anymore. I stopped what I was doing and turned around.

"I'll call Dad, so go back in Dad's car."

"Where is Noona going?"

"Just... going to get some fresh air."

After saying that to Jae-hyun, I called Father to explain the situation briefly, looked at the riverside, and moved my feet.

Using the flow of telekinesis around me as my path, I began to move away from that spot, and Jae-hyun couldn't hold me back.

There was nothing false in Jae-hyun's words.

But even so, I must have had a very hurt expression on my face.

No, maybe I was hurt more because those words were true.

"See you later."

Leaving those words behind, I drifted away from Jae-hyun.

Just in case something happened, I watched from afar until he met Father, and then I headed where I really wanted to go.

'I wonder what Jin-wook is doing right now...'