"Old man! What are you doing here??"
I smiled as Jinah glared at me from the entrance of her school gate.
"I am here to pick you up, of course."
"Didn't I tell you that I want to walk home today?"
"I forgot. Just like you forgot to tell me that you quit the gaming club last week."
At that reminder, the teenager fell silent before she looked sullenly at her surroundings, noticing the stares that were directed at me by the females in the vicinity, most importantly, her teachers.
I am not ignorant of how my western features can be considered handsome by the women of this country, and neither am I ignorant of the fact that this precise reaction by the adults and some of the teenagers around her is one of the primary reasons why she hates it when I come to pick her up or drop her off at school.
However, I am not interested in a relationship right now, and neither should they feel attracted to me just because of my appearance.
Especially since my appearance is a fake, an illusion, that uses my Dark Soul, my Humanity, to fuel itself through the Dark Mark behind my neck.
"…Fine. Let's go."
She quickly got into the car after hastily bidding goodbye to her friends, urging me to move quickly.
I laughed a bit before I started driving back home.
"How did you know that I quit the club? Are you keeping tabs on me?"
I raised an eyebrow at that question.
"Of course, I am keeping tabs on you, especially since you are running yourself ragged these days with your studies and efforts to earn a scholarship. I have an arrangement with your teachers where they keep me updated about every one of your stupid moves to avoid anything remotely fun and spend all of your time in your books. Seriously, you are a teenager, the best years of your life, you should take the time to enjoy yourself before you truly become an adult and have to learn how to navigate society-"
"Alright, alright. I am not in the mood for one of your lectures again."
"....Is that so? In that case, I guess you are not in the mood for a movie night either, then?"
Jinah's eyes instantly started to shine with anticipation at my words.
Movie Nights meant lazing around and eating good food while watching the latest movies. Good food that happens to include her favorite, fried chicken, kimchi rice, and Army stew.
I have no doubt that she will go bankrupt in the future due to her gluttony.
"Why didn't you start with that?? Let's go to the supermarket and get the groceries!"
"I already brought the stuff, so there is no need. We just have to prepare the food and wait for Jinwoo to return."
"Good! Drive quickly then!"
"Don't worry, we have plenty of time until Jinwoo returns. Plenty of time to discuss your decision to leave the club-"
"Oh! Come on!"
Once again, I couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped my lips as Jinah pouted, realizing that she failed to divert the topic from the issue of her leaving the club at school.
Seriously, this girl has become so obsessed with studying these days that she has started to avoid anything that has nothing to do with studying.
First, it was small things, like hanging out with her friends after school, staying over at their homes, going out in the town to have fun, that sort of stuff. Then, she started to avoid playing games on the PlayStation she got from me for her birthday, one of her favorite activities. Then, things escalated from there with her recent stint of quitting the games club, something that she cherished greatly.
I am really starting to worry about her health, both physical and mental, with how things are going.
Maybe I should put my foot down and force her to accept not getting a scholarship for her University and have me pay the fee instead?
It's not like I don't have money. On the contrary, I make ridiculously huge amounts of money through the sale of the equipment and weapons I make for the Hunters.
While I understand that Jinwoo and Jinah are very prideful and would not accept my help in terms of monetary aid, there is a limit to their ridiculousness, and they are starting to cross the limits with their recent actions.
Suddenly, my phone rang out, distracting me from my thoughts.
Parking the car to the side, I pulled out the phone to see that it was a call from my supplier, the Korean Hunters Auction house.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Hudson. Greetings."
"Ms. Jiwon. What can I help you with?"
"We just received a large amount of Essence Stones, Mana Crystals, and a few interesting monster parts from the Hunter Guild's latest foray into an A-Rank dungeon. I thought you would be interested in seeing the goods before they are placed for auction and reserve what you want."
"I am definitely interested. Should we go with the same terms as always?"
"The manager asked to change the agreement a little bit. Instead of just two weapons and two armor pieces, he wants you to place three weapons and three armor pieces for sale this time around. He says that some big-shot is looking to buy top-quality magical equipment for his son, and the manager wants to squeeze as much profit as he can from such a deal."
"Hmm, alright. Tell him that I accept the deal. I'll arrive tomorrow morning to inspect the goods and see if I want to reserve anything from the latest haul."
"Wonderful! Then, have a good evening."
"You too."
With a click, I disconnected the call and got back to driving.
"Are you going to be busy tomorrow?"
"Hmm, maybe. It usually doesn't take much time to inspect the Essence stones and Mana crystals and reserve them for my use. Especially since payment happens on the spot and the shipment is delivered by the Auction house. However, it might take time to get the appraisal for the monster parts and see if they are of any use to my work. Why? You got anything planned?"
"Not really, but weren't you supposed to go to the Hunters Association to renew your hunter's license?"
I grimaced at that reminder.
"…How do you even know about that?"
The flat stare she gave me was truly comical since it did not suit her one bit.
"I am the one who looks after that pigsty you call a room. I am also the one who cleans up all of your documentation and makes sure all of your necessary stuff and licenses are in your wallet since you can't be bothered to look after yourself."
Shit! She is right.
My embarrassment must have shown on my face since she smirked at me.
"So? What about the renewal?"
"….I don't know. Do I have to get it renewed? I am not really an active hunter, and I get my materials from the Auction house-"
"Yes, you need to get it renewed. We cannot afford another lawsuit when you recklessly charge into a Gate to 'rescue' Jinwoo when his team is slightly late in clearing the Dungeons."
I winced at that reminder.
"Hey, that was one time-"
"One time too many. That lawsuit that the Association leveled at us for an unauthorized breach into the Gate was so astronomical that it wiped out all of your savings of over three years in a single stroke. If your work was not so highly sought after and you had influence in the association, you might even have faced jail time for your idiocy-"
"Ok, ok. I get it. I'll renew it and then head to the Auction House. You little devil."
"Good. I know that you don't like to have your real power exposed like that in front of the Association staff, but it is a necessity you can't ignore."
This girl really inherited her mother's fiery temper and her father's stubborn and prideful nature.
Shaking my head, I continued driving home when I received a call from the Association.
Again, I parked the car to the side as Jinah gave me an annoyed stare.
"Go Gunhee, what's up?"
"Is that how you greet the chairman of the Korean Hunters Association?"
"That's how I greet a friend. So, what happened? You don't call me at odd hours like this without a reason."
"You guessed correctly, James. I assume you already got the call from the Auction hall?"
"About the materials gained from the Hunter Guild? Yeah, what about it?"
"I need you to get all the Mana crystals from that haul for us. As you know, I cannot bid for it due to my position, which forbids me from participating in such things, and neither can I trust anyone in the Association with such a responsibility."
"What about Jinchul?"
"He is busy preparing for your license renewal test and handpicking the agents that will oversee the systems that will be sworn to secrecy."
"…Why the hell are so many people interested in my test?"
"I don't know about others, but I am excited to see just how much of your real strength you hid the last time you took the test. I refuse to believe that you are only an A-Ranker when the sheer weight of your mana easily surpasses the S-Rank."
"And what makes you confident that you will find out my real rank this time?"
"Because we imported a testing stone from the Americans, designed specifically for S-Rankers and National rankers, and have upgraded our systems to identify False-Rankers. This time, there is no way for you to hide your power."
"…Fine, do what you want. I'll get those crystals for you."
"Perfect. See you tomorrow."
The annoying smirk on Jinah's face told me that she had heard the entire conversation and was relishing in my misfortune.
Just for that, I will make sure to make the fried chicken extra spicy today.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1