Fiery Confession

“Yu Seha, do you want to graduate early from the Academy today?”

“…Yes?”

Yu Seha couldn’t say anything for a full five seconds. He blinked and stared at Chairman Yu Neung-hae as she shrugged and cocked her head.

After finally completing all the required trials, his life at the Academy had returned to normal.

Of course, many classmates were disappointed—especially the girls. Some even came begging. They were girls whose names he didn’t know and with whom he’d never even spoken.

• “Hey, Yu Seha?”
• “Hm? Ah, you… we take the same class…”
• “My name’s Ju Jin-ah.”
• “Nice to meet you. What’s up?”
• “Uh, um, there aren’t any little kids anymore?”
• “…? Hm? Little kid? Ah—yeah, no more.”
• “Um, when will you come back? Huh? We stocked up on chocolates and snacks for you.”
• “…Um, you do know that that kid is me, right?”

Well, roughly like that…

Even the professors were disappointed, so Yu Seha vowed all the more firmly to keep his ability to turn into a child a secret. His kids were an exception—if the people he cherished wanted it, he’d indulge them as much as necessary.

Anyway, enough digression…

During that quiet stretch of Academy life, Yu Neung-hae called him over and offered the unexpected: “Do you want to graduate now?”

Yu Seha blinked. Yu Neung-hae smiled teasingly, shrugging as if it were no surprise.

“To be honest, Yu Seha, you’re no longer at the level to be in the Academy. No—it’s absurd to say you should belong to any group in the first place.”

“Uh, um…”

“At most the Four Great Clans, but honestly, it’s odd for a mere clan member to be stronger than the clan master, right? Maybe if Yu Seha formed a clan himself that’d be different.”

“I don’t have any intention of that. I’m not very interested in power… I just need to protect my kids.”

“I thought so. The clear thing is that you’re too far removed from everyone right now.”

Yu Seha made a small sound. He knew exactly what she meant. His strength wasn’t just above average—it was overwhelming, irregular, beyond common measures. He was like a phoenix high in the sky.

Usually, the representative top S-rank hunters were Ju Ye-young, Peng Jin-ah, and Wei Ga-ryeong.

“But even if those three attacked together, they couldn’t defeat Yu Seha now.”

“Uh, well, that’s not…”

“Come on—you don’t have to hide it from me; they probably know very well themselves.”

……

Yu Seha nodded quietly. If he used [Complete Devour] and fought seriously, he could probably fell all three on the spot—and fairly easily.

Yu Neung-hae continued, pushing aside a mountain of documents. “There’s about a year of study left… and we have nothing left to teach you, Yu Seha. At best we’d offer academics or other subjects—things you don’t need unless you want to be a scholar. The Academy’s main goal is to produce hunters active in society. You achieved that goal a long time ago.”

“……”

“So if you want, we’ll let you graduate early. You don’t need to waste time here and can pursue what you want. At the same time, it’d be a good opportunity to expand your influence while you’re getting attention.”

At first glance it might have sounded like she was saying, “You’re too strong, leave,” but Yu Seha could see the genuine concern in Yu Neung-hae’s eyes.

After a second of thought, Yu Seha shook his head. “I understand what you mean, but… I want to graduate normally.”

“Alright, understood.”

“So… huh? Uh, do I not need an explanation?”

“Huh? Of course not. This is an offer, not a requirement. And I think I know the reason.”

“…The reason?”

Yu Neung-hae, despite being in her late thirties, smiled with her eyes and gave a cute wink. “No matter how strong you get, Yu Seha, you’re still the same person I first saw.”

“…First?”

“Someone who treats strength as a means, not an end. Usually talented hunters want power to climb higher and enjoy more. But you aren’t like that. You want strength to be with precious people. Your reason for wanting to graduate properly is surely to walk with them—not ahead, not behind, right?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Good, good. Then let’s just have the early graduation exam now instead of waiting a year.”

“An early graduation exam?”

“Yes—more precisely it’s a kind of performance.” Yu Neung-hae explained that recently several factions had begun to question Yu Seha’s power and some were trying to pull him into their sphere of influence. The idea was to firmly imprint him in people’s minds so those factions couldn’t attempt petty things. At the same time, showing him alongside powerful people would signal his influence. Since there were third-year graduation candidates, a sparring demonstration with them would make a good picture.

And so Yu Seha was showing off his strength in the training ground.

“Sigh…”

Things got a bit troublesome after that. One single strike—so fast no one could say what had happened—blew away thirty promising prospects at once. Only Ju Ye-young managed to read his movement even a little. Requests of “Please show it again!” flooded in, but those were handled. Finally, he got some free time.

“Calling them mortals is a bit…”

After finishing today’s tasks, Yu Seha exhaled and sat cross-legged. His body was subtly and constantly shifting into various creatures: human skin giving way to fish-like scales, webbing appearing on his fingers, feathers sprouting and vanishing. He was expanding his mastery of [Complete Devour], training to control it perfectly in any situation.

“Ah, sorry about that. I wondered if it was possible, and it actually was…”

What the Demon King called “disgusting” was another head sprouting from the nape of Yu Seha’s neck. An unconscious thought during training—<Twin-Headed Troll>—had manifested. Its defining trait was, unmistakably, two heads perfectly covering left and right. The moment he recalled it, another head sprouted and startled him.

“Yes—if I had to say, it was like brain death. Having two heads didn’t mean two separate minds emerged.”

Now Yu Seha conversed naturally with the Demon King and the Tyrant.

It happened then: the training ground felt unusually empty. He scanned the area and found no trace of Peng Jin-ah.

……

It had been three months since the <Apprentice Appointment Ceremony> with Peng Jin-ah. Peng Jin-ah had left the Academy.

“Cadet Yu Seha, I’m going to India.”

“…India?!”

Yu Seha was startled and wondered what she could be doing there. The most likely answer came to mind: “…Are you going to challenge the <Virbash Tower>?”

Among the more than a hundred towers around the world, India’s <Virbash Tower> was the most notorious. It appeared early and had bizarre difficulty and extremely harsh terrain. With few naturally born Awakened, the Indian government had essentially given up on conquering it. Frequent phenomena like <Break Out> had turned it into a kind of demonic realm. Rumor said you needed at least an S-rank hunter to challenge it; its reputation was dreadful.

Peng Jin-ah nodded. “Yes, I’ve received all the entry permissions. By the way, my household will go with me.”

“…B-but…”

“It’s fine; we can withdraw if needed. I’ll take emergency artifacts and various devices.”

Peng Jin-ah brushed Yu Seha’s worried forehead then smiled bitterly at herself. She’d realized painfully that attacking the <Sword Master’s Tower> hadn’t worked, and the solution she offered was simply to clear a new tower.

“…But there was no other way. Neither I nor my household can gain further strength through training.”

“……”

“If only I had even a quarter of the brilliant talent you have… it would be great. I’m sorry I’m such an inadequate master.”

“No, please, please don’t say that.”

Her student’s words eased her. Peng Jin-ah drew her knees close and, after a long pause, called his name almost for the first time.

“…Yu Seha, my household and I will not give up.”

Even if people sneer and call it ugly, even if it’s pointless, even if it’s unlikely to work—

“I’ll do everything to get stronger. Even a little more… even if I spend my whole life and never reach it, I won’t stand still.”

Not for herself.

“I must do that to be of help to you.”

“…Master.”

“Don’t make that face; after all, you can call on me anytime.”

Peng Jin-ah raised her arm, exposing a rather embarrassing area. There, etched on the skin, was the Sharing symbol—the mark of one of [Eyes of Reverse Heaven]‘s powers. Yu Seha couldn’t look away at the tempting sight. The reason she had the symbol, despite earlier refusing, was clear: Yu Seha had begged her all day, “Please don’t give me power; just put me on the sharing list.”

In fact, many things were possible through that link, so it was best to accept.

“It’s a much greater power than I thought… unbelievable that even across great distances telepathy and summoning are possible.”

“Yes, with this I could—no matter the danger—reach my master.”

“So I could call you even when I’m bathing. Mischievous, Yu Seha. Do you want to see your master’s body so much?”

“Y-yes!?”

Seeing his flustered face, Peng Jin-ah laughed, finding it cute, and poked his cheek with a finger. After the Apprentice Appointment Ceremony she’d seemingly shed restraints and begun approaching Yu Seha more openly—behaviors a little embarrassing and immature for her age, but if they worked on the man she cared for, she didn’t care.

Then, teasing him, Peng Jin-ah suddenly grabbed him and hugged him tight. Yu Seha squeezed his eyes shut at the dizzying sensation of a woman’s body pressed to his. Peng Jin-ah whispered in his ear.

“Yu Seha…”

“Yes, Master.”

At his answer, she shook her head like a child. “Ah, don’t you know?”

“…Jin-ah.”

“A bit more familiar… louder…”

“…Jin-ah.”

At that name, her face flushed red. Peng Jin-ah closed the distance, left a kiss on Yu Seha’s cheek, and rested her head on his broad shoulder.

“…Jin-ah.”

“You don’t have to accept it. I’m not that shameless. I know how lacking I am to fall into the arms of such a wonderful man like you.”

Even from afar would be fine. It’s fine if you never look my way. Or even if I’m only someone to roll around with in bed occasionally—if a child came, she’d take full responsibility and raise it alone.

“…Just let me be at your side.”

“…I may not know about other things, but I’ll say this in advance.”

Yu Seha looked at Peng Jin-ah with serious eyes and placed his hand on the delicate back of hers. “I will never treat you or our children like that.”

“…Yu Seha.”

Yu Seha stroked Peng Jin-ah’s hair—a sign not to worry and a promise of responsibility. To him, she was precious, someone who had come inside his fence: pure and passionate. Peng Jin-ah, carrying both guilt as a master and happiness as a woman in that heart, smiled brightly.

And with those words finished,

Peng Jin-ah left Yu Seha’s side.