The day of Kangin Academy's entrance ceremony had arrived.
"Our son is the top scorer!"
"Goodness! Who did he inherit such brilliance from?"
Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung were overjoyed from the mont they learned Baek Seo-jin ranked first in the Kangin Academy entrance exam.
Their pride was so imnse that they even suggested throwing a party to celebrate.
As the guild master of the Baekho Guild, any party they hosted was bound to be grand in scale, and Seo-jin had to step in to temper their enthusiasm.
Even over a week after receiving the notification of his top ranking, the couple couldn’t stop repeating the word “top scorer,” to the point that Seo-jin felt a bit embarrassed.
"It's fine. Just having my family celebrate with
is more than enough," Seo-jin said.
"Sniff, our son is so kind! If only Baek Seo-jun had never been born..." Kim Yoo-jung muttered bitterly.
"Hey! Why bring him up on such a good day?" Hyung-won admonished.
"Oh! My mistake. I’m sorry, Seo-jin. I didn’t an to."
"It’s okay, Mom. I’ll make sure you never have to think about that awful person again."
Seo-jin’s hatred for his older brother, Baek Seo-jun, burned as fiercely as ever.
He couldn’t forgive him, not after seeing his parents tornted by Seo-jun’s vile actions during his early years. If Seo-jun were still alive, Seo-jin believed he would have hunted him down and exacted justice, whether by capturing or killing him.
Surely, Seo-jun must have committed so heinous cris deserving of punishnt, though Seo-jin deliberately avoided thinking too deeply about the specifics.
"I'm off now," Seo-jin said.
"Take care," Hyung-won replied.
"Be safe, dear," Yoo-jung added.
"I will. See you this weekend."
Kangin Academy, located in Sariwon, operated on a dormitory system.
While special permits allowed so students to return ho daily, Seo-jin chose not to apply for this option. The application process was complicated, but more importantly, Seo-jin believed that forming connections within the Academy was vital.
“As the heir to the Baekho Guild, I need to build relationships with as many talented Hunters as possible.”
He was confident that Lee Ha-yeon, the heir to the Angel Guild, would agree with this sentint. Moreover, the fact that Choi Kang-in, the leader of the Kangin Guild, was watching him as a potential successor made this all the more crucial.
The students admitted to Kangin Academy were the crè de la crè—1,000 handpicked talents from across the globe.
Even the title of a Kangin Academy graduate alone was enough to earn one respect and lucrative offers from guilds worldwide.
In fact, the top ten guilds in Korea had an exceptionally high recruitnt rate for Kangin Academy alumni.
Despite Japan’s Moriya family having more wealth, many Hunters still preferred joining Korean guilds, as hunting monsters and selling magic stones allowed for additional inco. Korea’s mana-rich environnt also made it easier for Hunters to grow stronger even after reaching high levels.
This advantage extended to their children. Raising them in Korea during their formative years exposed them to abundant mana, accelerating their growth—a fact even the Moriya family acknowledged by having their children spend their early years in Korea.
This ant that many of Kangin Academy’s talents could potentially be recruited into the Baekho Guild after graduation.
With this expectation, Seo-jin donned his academy uniform and headed for the main gate of Kangin Academy in Sariwon.
“Here we go again.”
Although it was the first day, the entrance ceremony was scheduled to begin at 7 a.m., so Seo-jin left at 6 a.m. to arrive on ti.
Since all his belongings had already been processed the previous day, he only needed to bring himself, which made things easier.
Most students had stayed in the dorms after processing their belongings, but Seo-jin had spent the night at ho to appease his parents, knowing they would miss him.
With this, he resolved to make the most of his dormitory life moving forward.
“Se-hee, I’m at the main gate.”
“Ha-yeon, I’m at the main gate.”
He sent ssages to his friends, but they didn’t respond imdiately. They were probably having breakfast and hadn’t checked their phones yet.
“I did arrive a bit early.”
Having eaten breakfast with his parents earlier, Seo-jin leisurely made his way to the auditorium.
Although Kangin Academy admitted 1,000 freshn each year, not all would graduate.
Many would grit their teeth and endure, but so would drop out, unable to withstand the rigorous environnt.
The auditorium, located outdoors, was designed to accommodate the Academy’s four-year system. Its size was imnse—capable of holding thousands and covering an area ten tis the size of a soccer field.
The Academy itself was so vast that it was often referred to as a small town, a testant to the scale of the Kangin Guild’s investnt in developing Sariwon.
As Seo-jin approached, he noticed a pair of girls standing together.
One had white hair and golden eyes, while the other had silver hair and red eyes.
He recognized them imdiately from the entrance exam results.
“Third place, Moriya Yuka. Fourth place, Kang Yu-ra.”
Second place, of course, went to Lee Ha-yeon. Although Han Se-hee wasn’t officially ranked due to her specialization as a healer, she was considered on par with Lee Ha-yeon in terms of ability.
Both Yuka and Yu-ra ca from notable backgrounds.
Moriya Yuka was the daughter of Japan’s illustrious Moriya family, known for its Hunter legacy. Kang Yu-ra, though orphaned at a young age, had parents who were renowned Hunters in their ti.
Their talents alone made them stand out, as their abilities were equivalent to SS-rank Hunters. In any other year, they might have been top scorers themselves.
This year’s cohort was already being hailed as a “Golden Generation,” second only to Kim Ho-jun and Seomun Ye-jin’s era.
“Should I go talk to them?”
Since not all students had arrived yet and Se-hee and Ha-yeon weren’t in sight, Seo-jin decided it might be a good opportunity to strike up a conversation with Yuka and Yu-ra.
Perhaps he could introduce them to Se-hee and Ha-yeon later, fostering connections among them.
***
"Why is he coming over here again?"
Moriya Yuka felt a peculiar sense of displeasure as she watched Baek Seo-jin approach her.
Being soone with a clear sense of likes and dislikes when it ca to people, she had imdiately taken a liking to Kang Yu-ra at first sight. Their connection had naturally blossod into a friendship, with Yu-ra even taking the initiative to deepen their bond.
But this Baek Seo-jin, the so-called top scorer… For so reason, just looking at him stirred an inexplicable feeling of revulsion within her.
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