Chapter 2-3 – Hunter Has Been Appointed - 2
After deciding to become a hunter, it was time for me to choose a middle college after graduating from elementary college.
Despite the concerns of Auntie and my homeroom teacher, I decided to enroll in Chungwoon College, a college specializing in Hunter training.
Until then, I firmly believed everything would work out somehow.
Once I decided on this path, I naturally researched the Hunter industry. During that process, I learned something important—there were overwhelmingly fewer male Hunters compared to female Hunters.
The conclusion I reached was simple: even if they were few, male Hunters definitely existed.
This new world I was born into wasn't a place where I could freely rely on the knowledge from my previous life.
Still, I had lived more years mentally than others around me. I reacted quickly to reality and believed effort would solve everything if I started earlier.
Back then, I was confident. I believed that I could overcome any disadvantage and proudly rise to become a well-known male Hunter.
Those hopes crumbled after spending just three years at Chungwoon College.
I realized the harsh truth: almost every male Hunter barely reached D-class. Only a very small number ever climbed to C-class.
The disappointment from that foolish optimism crushed me completely.
Among the already tiny number of male Hunters, not a single one had succeeded in manifesting real awakened abilities.
At best, there were only a few men whose physical ability was slightly above the male average. They forced their bodies beyond the limit and barely managed to work as Hunters.
It was the cruel reality of this world that no matter how hard a man trained his body, he still couldn't even leave a bruise on an awakened female Hunter.
In addition, Chungwoon College had an extremely skewed female-to-male ratio of 1 to 999. This was because it was a college specializing in hunter training.
As the only male college student out of all the students in this world where the concept of chastity was opposed, I became the target of all sorts of sexual harassment.
This includes ignorantly touching someone's ass or breasts while walking through hallways or classrooms. Or suddenly thrusting her ass on top of me while I was sitting in my seat and getting on top of me.
Or asking which one of them had bigger breasts and pulling my hand to force me to touch them. There were countless acts like this.
'Okay. I had to admit, I enjoyed it at first.'
Although the world I had been reincarnated into was one where the concepts of male and female chastity were completely reversed.
My spirit had spent most of its life in the existing Korea, so naturally, I had a sense of gender and chastity similar to that of men in my original world.
Even the body I had now belonged to a college student who had long struggled to control his sexual desires.
That was why, whenever girls played pranks on me, I would secretly get an erection under my desk. The number of times I had gone home, recalled those scenes, and masturbated was not insignificant.
But damn, no matter how good it felt, it should have been limited to once or twice a day.
For someone like me, who still hadn't awakened and had to make up for the lack of practical skills with notes, the women who came to me every break and took up my time were nothing more than a nuisance.
As more girls began awakening one by one, my strength was gradually weakening.
It was around the time when the mischievous pranks of the girls were steadily escalating.
"Hey! I told you not to bully Taekyung!"
Kang Hyeeun, my childhood friend and the first among my peers to awaken, actively protected me.
"Hyeeun is floating; jump out!"
"It was a lot of fun~!"
On top of that, the difference in ability between the awakened and the non-awakened made a huge impact. At that time, Hyeeun was pushing her way into the ranks of the strong among the awakened.
Since she had announced me as her boyfriend, the harassment was virtually eradicated.
Of course, even though she had announced that we were a couple, we weren't actually dating.
For reference, I say "almost eradicated" because sexual harassment against me had never completely disappeared.
"Taekyung, Taekyung. Did my breasts get bigger again this morning?"
"Yes, yes. I heard about that already."
"Don't be so rude. Touch them once. How much have they grown compared to last time?"
"Hyeeun, don't do this! Aren't you ashamed to have a man touch your breasts?"
"Why would I be ashamed of Taekyung touching me? We haven't even seen each other for a day or two."
For a man, it felt similar to bragging about his pectoral muscles to a childhood friend.
To be honest, even a prank like this was a bit annoying, but if it was this kind of prank, it was still within a permissible range.
Dealing with just one Hyeeun was far less tiring than dealing with several other women at the same time.
If I was going to be harassed anyway, it was better for me to be harassed by Hyeeun, someone I had known for a long time.
Hyeeun was the prettiest among girls her age.
Above all, considering that I had known her for many years as a childhood friend, I had a crush on her at the time, unlike the other girls.
Hyeeun was also the only person who agreed to go to Chungwoon College, even though everyone else opposed it. From a young age, she must have left a fairly strong impression on me.
Of course, dreams were dreams, and reality was reality. I should have avoided the crazy idea of going to Chungwoon High College.
Over the past three years, I had fully realized that there were things I could do and things I simply could not do. So I thought it was time to face reality calmly.
That was why I initially decided to go to another ordinary high college instead of the automatic cascade system that would lead me to Chungwoon.
However, the moment I overheard a conversation between Kang Hyeeun and the other girls, my resolve shifted in the exact opposite direction.
"Wouldn't it be nice? Hyeeun even has a boyfriend who dreams of becoming a hunter."
"Shh! How dare you call him in front of Hyeeun? Once she enters high college, she will be working as an apprentice hunter!"
"It's fine even if he never awakens. It's not like he's the only one who hasn't awakened yet."
That day, I was returning home a little later than usual after a career counseling session with my homeroom teacher.
I heard the voices of Hyeeun and the other girls from inside the classroom, so my feet naturally moved in their direction. I was planning to call out to Hyeeun to walk home together like always.
"But you know…."
The moment I pulled the classroom door slightly open to call her name, my body stopped instinctively at the sudden sound of my name coming from inside.
"Taekyung will never awaken as a Hunter, right? To be honest, whenever I see him working so hard, I feel sorry for him. But I've never heard of a male hunter awakening~."
"Still, the effort itself is pretty cool. It's kind of cute how he rolls around every day as if he could become normal. Is Hyeeun dating Taekyung because she likes that about him?"
"Oh~. If it weren't for Hyeeun, I would have taken care of Taekyung! I wish I had awakened half a year sooner!"
"Hey, hey. Don't cross the line. Hyeeun will get angry again."
"But seriously, Hyeeun. Are you really dating Taekyung because you like him? Or did you just stick with him since you were childhood friends, and it accidentally turned into dating?"
"That… That…."
I never intended to eavesdrop on someone else's conversation.
However, Hyeeun was still a girl from the opposite sex who cared about me to a certain extent. So I could not help but anticipate what she would say about me.
Maybe she had feelings for me as well. If that were true, then I would have been a little happy.
However, as soon as I heard the words that came out of Hyeeun's mouth, my heart began pounding in a completely different direction than I expected.
"Mmm, cool? What's so cool about that?! What's cute about banging your head against a rock when you have no talent at all?! It's not cute, it's just stupid!
I'm only dating him because if I left him alone, I'd feel too sorry for him. If he keeps going like that, he'll never become a hunter, and he'll end up an old bachelor, listening to actual hunters laugh at him.
He'd be the one feeling miserable, so I'm feeding him out of affection for a childhood friend. It's friendship, not love... or pity. It's a pity! So don't ruin your life looking at Taekyung, okay?! I'm warning you!"
"Hyeeun's seizure switch is on again."
"Every time she reacts like this, it's hilarious… Hehehe."
After hearing it all from start to finish, I felt as if I had slammed my head into a brick wall.
Deep down, I had believed she was always supporting me. I thought she had faith that I would awaken as a hunter someday. But she denied my life goal so bluntly. The moment those words hit me, something heavy and painful bloomed in my chest.
Whether it was realistically possible or impossible, I just wanted Hyeeun to believe in my awakening until the very end.
I knew she was childish, but even so, I truly had feelings for her. Because of that irrational and foolish pride, I eventually made a decision that I should never have made.
I took out the application forms for another high college, which I was supposed to submit the next day, from my bag. Then I tore them apart and threw the pieces into the bathroom trash can.
After that, I walked out through the college gate without saying a word to Hyeeun in the classroom.
'Taekyung's hope for the future was to become a hunter? Really?'
'Yes. It was going to be hard, but somehow I would become a Hunter and make sure people like my parents would never suffer again.'
'Then are you going to Chungwoon College nearby?'
'Yes. Fortunately, they accepted aspiring male hunters as long as they had good grades. I planned to get in and find a way to awaken somehow.'
'Then I want to be a hunter too! I have to go to Chungwoon College and become a hunter alongside Taekyung!'
Like Hyeeun, I imagined that one day I would complete my hunter awakening. I kept working hard while picturing a future where we partnered together, broke down gates, and cleared dungeons side by side.
'Let's wait and see. No matter what, I'll awaken somehow and make them watch me do it.'
In the end, I chose Chungwoon High College despite almost everyone — even my homeroom teacher — trying to dissuade me.
Somehow I believed that once I awakened, I would gain confidence and be able to face everything.
At that time, I did not know this impulse would become the worst decision I would regret for the rest of my life.