After the practical gate training, Choi Ah-ram returned to her room.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

She threw things around, her face twisted in anger like a malevolent spirit.

The objects clattered noisily as they rolled across the floor.

Haa─

Haa─

“Stop this bullshit─!!!!”

She screamed, unable to contain the anger boiling inside her.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

─ Hey, you bitch! Shut up! Do you really want to die?!

A rough voice came from the neighbouring room, banging on the wall.

“Huk!”

Choi Ah-ram immediately swallowed her breath and quieted down.

Even though she had failed, she was still in the second-year part of the Hall of Bravery.

As a result, she was at the bottom of the pecking order in the Hall of Bravery.

Choi Ah-ram bit her lip.

‘……Fuck.’

It really was fucked up.

Trashy.

Miserable.

The fact that she had to be so careful about expressing her emotions, even the ones hidden deep inside, because of the people around her.

She wanted to curse the world.

‘……I’ve been working hard too.’

But what had been the result?

While all her peers moved on to the second year, she alone was held back.

She had to spend another year with the first-year students.

Of course, if she didn’t want to do that, she could always drop out and become a porter.

But Choi Ah-ram didn’t want to do such a lowly job.

She wanted to remain a dealer.

A life where she was despised and scorned by everyone.

The only person who had kept her going through all of this was LLim Ga-eul.

‘……She was worse than me.’

She was the worst of the worst among dealers, and Ga-eul wasthe worst among supporters, the least important specialization.

LLim Ga-eul, who was at the very bottom of the pecking order, was Choi Ah-ram’s only sanctuary.

Always smiling and acting stupid, that woman.

Choi Ah-ram had secretly thought that Lim Ga-eul would be held back with her, but Lim Ga-eul had narrowly avoided it by scoring well in the theory classes.

‘……So, I went to see her today.’

Choi Ah-ram couldn’t accept the fact that she alone had been held back.

After all, it was a matter between second-year students, so what could a bunch of first-year who had just entered do?

And she had thought that the people who would be joining Lim Ga-eul’s group would be useless, so it would be fine.

But today, for some reason, an unusually strong man and woman had joined her group.

Okay, even that was fine.

She could just bully her a little from behind.

“……But that fucking…”

But what she couldn’t bear was that Lim Ga-eul, who had been in the same situation as her, no, who had been even worse off than her.

Alone.

Was trying to fly away, as if she wasn’t the same kind of trash as Choi Ah-ram.

Choi Ah-ram trembled, unable to contain the anger bubbling up inside her.

“Fuck…”

Just then.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Delivery.”

.

.

.

Lim Ga-eul returned to her room after the training.

Even though the training had ended earlier than usual, her body felt heavy.

It was probably because she had actively participated in combat for the first time.

She usually got tired just from using her skills a few times.

Flop!

She lay on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

She took out the deep blue magic stone, glowing with a dense purple magic power, from her pocket and fiddled with it in front of her eyes.

A magic stone that she had been practically forced to buy.

“It’ll take me a few years to pay this back, on top of the money I’ve saved up… Well, I guess they won’t charge me interest or anything.”

But the price didn’t seem expensive to her.

It was the price of hope, of discovering that the ability she had always thought was insignificant was actually something more.

To be honest, she still felt dazed by it all.

It had been such a surprising day.

So she had just gone along with him all day.

But now, as she lay in her room and thought about it, it all seemed too strange.

“Jin Yuha. What is that kid…?”

‘How did he know about the ‘Tolerance’ written on my status window… and how did he know that it allows me to directly convert the magic power of magic stones into my own magic power?’

First of all, how did he even know that ‘Tolerance’ was written on her status window?

And the fact that it was a trait that allowed her to directly convert the magic power of magic stones was something she had never even guessed at.

She had always thought it was just a reflection of her personality. (“Tollerance” is a Trait, they are usually ability of the character based on their personality)

“……Hmm, I still don’t get it.”

No matter how long she thought about it alone, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

Usually, she wasn’t the type to proactively reach out to others, but

She felt like she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she solved this rising doubt.

Lim Ga-eul picked up her phone.

She found the number that had been forcibly saved earlier today.

.

.

.

The Tankers’ Dormitory.

The Hall of Perseverance.

In front of the first-year dormitory, Lim Ga-eul stood, looking at the girl in front of her.

Black hair, a confident attitude, and a dignified aura.

But for some reason, this girl had suddenly become very friendly towards her.

The person she had called was Yoo-ri.

“Unni, what’s up?”

Yoo-ri looked puzzled at the unexpected call.

“I’m really sorry for calling you out when you must be resting. I just have something I want to ask you.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t have anything to do anyway since we finished early today.”

Lim Ga-eul stared at Yoo-ri for a moment, then took on a determined expression.

“……So, I’ll just ask you directly. What kind of person is Jin Yuha?”

Yoo-ri, who had been surprised, hesitated for a moment, then hummed as if she was considering something.

“Hmm… it’s a bit hard to talk about him when he’s not here…”

She made a serious face and muttered to herself.

“Hmm, I guess it’s fine because she’s going to be joining the party anyway…? He tends to let his guard down when he thinks someone is a member of his party… this idiot.”

She glanced up and down at Lim Ga-eul, assessing her.

Then she nodded and said,

“Well, I understand why you’re suspicious. He suddenly acted like he knew more about your ability than you did.”

“……Uh, uh.”

“It’s frustrating when he just blurts out things that only he knows as if it’s common knowledge.”

Yoo-ri sighed deeply and said,

“He did the same thing when he recommended me for the party.”

“……So this has happened before?”

“Yes, during the basic training group sparring. When I asked him if he knew any decent people for our group, he just rattled off information about various people as if he was reciting a poem. But when I asked those people about Jin Yuha, they said they didn’t know him.”

“Oh…”

“So, I’ve come to a conclusion, but… hmm. I still don’t know much about him myself, so I’m not completely sure.”

Although she said that, Yoo-ri seemed to have a certain conviction.

“Phew, I don’t know how much investigating it took to find this out.”

She sighed heavily.

“First of all, he was once suspected of being a Demon, but he was quickly cleared, so don’t worry.”

“Ah, okay.”

“I guess, but… he’s probably a former Black Hunter.”

“Bl, Black Hunter…!?”

Lim Ga-eul’s eyes widened in surprise.

Black Hunters.

What kind of existence were they?

They were a group shrouded in rumors.

They would do anything for money.

Like mercenaries or private investigators.

They took on jobs regardless of good or evil and demanded expensive compensation in return.

But their skills were unquestionable, so they were a constant headache for the Hunter Management Bureau.

‘That young boy… was a Black Hunter?’

“It’s strange that no one’s ever heard of him when he’s that strong as a man.”

“That’s true, but…”

“And Black Hunters are said to have incredible information networks as well.”

Lim Ga-eul swallowed nervously.

“I guess if he’s that strong at such a young age, he must have been raised in that world from a very young age…”

Yoo-ri scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know much about the Hunter world either. It’s just a conclusion I reached after searching blindly.”

“But you’re involving such a dangerous person…”

Yoo-ri laughed.

“Well, I have my own debts to pay back to that guy, and I feel responsible for him.”

“But there are some bad people in that world…”

“Unni.”

Yoo-ri cut her off.

“He might be that kind of person, but he might not be. It’s still just a guess, right?”

Yoo-ri looked straight into Lim Ga-eul’s eyes.

For a moment, Lim Ga-eul felt overwhelmed by this younger girl.

“I only believe what I see with my own eyes and what I hear with my own ears.”

“……But what if he really has a bad past?”

“Then I’ll grab him by the collar and make him apologize. Something like that.”

Yoo-ri said it as if it were no big deal.

“So, I’m going to wait until he tells me about his past himself before jumping to conclusions.”

“……”

“I’m telling you this now because I thought you might have strange thoughts about him.”

“……”

“So, does he seem like such a bad person to you?”

“……Honestly, no.”

Lim Ga-eul shook her head.

Kik!

Yoo-ri laughed, as if she had expected that response.

“I knew it. He’s the type to look out for others and take care of them. And the more time you spend with him, the less you’ll think that way.”

Just then.

Ring! ♪

Suddenly, Yoo-ri’s pocket started ringing.

She took out her phone and checked it.

“Huh? We have a party activity right now…?”

Then she frowned.

“……Tutorial boss battle? This guy’s speaking in a language only he understands again.”

Yoo-ri looked up.

“Unni, do you want to come with me now? He said I can bring senior if I want…”