I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 78: Parent-Teacher Meeting (1)

TL: SHW

There is one thing that sets Lee Seung-yeon apart from the other students.

I’m not sure if it’s right to call this a distinguishing feature. Ethically… morally?

Anyway, it might be something fortunate for Lee Seung-yeon.

The fact that there is a guardian who can drop everything and come when called.

“You wanted to talk about Seung-yeon?”

Snap.

Lee Mi-seon tilted her head slightly as she chewed gum. The playful sound was accompanied by a sweet scent that brushed past my nose. It seemed she had just started chewing it.

Her black hair falling just at shoulder length. The business suit she wore, which was rarely seen among Hunters, gave off more of a businesswoman’s vibe. Though she runs a guild, since she doesn’t raid dungeons often, that description fits her better.

“Yes.”

“I gave you my contact information, didn’t I? You could’ve just called me directly. Going through our kids is more troublesome, isn’t it?”

“I know how busy you must be, Hunter Lee. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“What’s the big deal if Teacher Woo calls? Who cares how busy I am?”

Lee Mi-seon laughed brightly.

“And this is about Seung-yeon. It’s not like Teacher Woo would mention Seung-yeon just to see my face…”

“……”

“Or did you just bring him up randomly?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Half of the students at the pilot high school live in the dorms provided by Hong Seok-young. Choi Jin-woo goes back home on weekends but stays in the dorms on weekdays. His parents work, so they can’t pick him up every day, and he said the long commute would make him too tired. Kang Tae-woo is in a similar situation, so he’s also staying in the dorms now.

Three students commute every day, without it seeming to bother them.

Han Eun-young, Sun Sun-jin, and Lee Seung-yeon.

I’m not sure about the guardians of Han Eun-young and Sun Sun-jin, but I’m certain about Lee Seung-yeon’s.

Lee Mi-seon.

The woman standing right in front of me.

Unlike the other kids, I know how to reach her. Whether I call directly or relay a message through the Hunters at Daseon, as Lee Mi-seon suggested, I can contact her whenever necessary.

Parent-teacher meetings for Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook weren’t even possible. Though I can’t say for sure, Seo Han-seong probably lost his parents during a Dungeon Break, just like Oh Hyun-wook. Choi Jin-woo’s parents aren’t Awakened, so they left everything related to this world up to Hong Seok-young. Yoo Hye-eun and Yoo Ji-eun are sisters, and Hong Seok-young is their legal guardian from the start.

Unlike the other kids, who have to think about their futures and abilities on their own, Lee Seung-yeon has a caring guardian who takes a keen interest in his future.

This is beneficial for me, too.

It means there’s someone to take on the role of convincing him if Lee Seung-yeon ever wants to leave the pilot high school.

But… does he really need to be convinced?

“So, what’s this about?”

If this were about a rune or something related to Ark, I’d understand, but this is about a student. It’s not really work… Well, it is technically my work, but it’s not something you’d discuss at an old pub, like how Hong Seok-young always dragged me and Kim Chae-min out to one.

That’s why I specifically invited Lee Mi-seon to a bright and warm café. Even though I’m not well-paid, I made a considerate gesture and ordered her a drink. Thinking about the conversation we’re about to have, I needed to set the atmosphere as gently as possible.

It’s about a kid who openly declared they have no talent. I’m not sure how the guardian will take it.

But Lee Mi-seon is a Hunter and already a master of a guild at a young age. She’s a highly capable person, so I hope she won’t be blinded by blood ties now.

“Teacher Woo?”

“…It’s about Lee Seung-yeon.”

I opened my mouth quietly.

“You know what I’m talking about, Hunter Lee, don’t you?”

“Pardon?”

I had given a lot of thought to how I should start.

The Lee Mi-seon I know is older than she is now. I didn’t think it was appropriate to consider things from that perspective. That Lee Mi-seon had long lost the nephew she loved dearly.

But now, sitting across from this version of Lee Mi-seon, I realized that both versions were, after all, the same person.

She looked more like a businesswoman than a Hunter, and in truth, that description fit her better.

This woman didn’t like people beating around the bush.

“Lee Seung-yeon has no talent.”

“…What?”

Worried she might not have understood, I made it clearer.

“If he becomes a Hunter like this, he’ll be dead in five years.”

The clicking sound of gum chewing stopped in Lee Mi-seon’s mouth.

I asked again.

“Do you still want your nephew to become a Hunter?”

***

There were eight students in the pilot high school.

Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook were still active Hunters twenty years later.

And the rest?

There was no information about them, even in the Mana Watch, likely because the old man had hidden everything away so tightly.

Except for one.

There was an overwhelming amount of information about Lee Seung-yeon, who had died early. But I couldn’t find even a trace of anything about Yoo Hye-eun, who had died alongside him.

Of course, how much information could there be about a kid who died at eighteen? A few newspaper articles… and a couple of evaluation papers left behind at the pilot high school, the predecessor of the Hunter Academy. Now that I think about it, I wonder if even those were filtered through Lee Mi-seon.

‘A promising talent’

‘A child who wanted to become a Hunter to save people’

And so on and so forth.

In that way, he made a mark in the history of South Korea’s Hunters.

Evaluations of the dead are always generous.

I might have been fooled by such stories too. No one intended to deceive, but I was deceived nonetheless. Vaguely thinking he was a kid overflowing with talent. Even when I saw him in Myeong-dong, I didn’t think much of it.

Honestly, how much could an eighteen-year-old possibly stand out, no matter how well he fought? How long had it been since Lee Seung-yeon had Awakened? Two years? Three years?

Lee Seung-yeon held a D-rank Hunter license.

That’s perfectly average. Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook weren’t much different in that regard either.

But.

Once you’re in the position of evaluating them, you can’t just lump them all together as the same D-rank.

“He’s not without the basics, so with time, he could become a fairly average Hunter.”

It’s already been three months since I met the kids in Myeong-dong. That’s enough time to at least assess their skills, if nothing else.

Let’s leave out Park Seo-hyun and Oh Hyun-wook, who were already clearly talented from the start.

Choi Jin-woo has an advantage because of his attributes. If Park Seo-hyun has a knack for teaching others, she might become a decent mage. Besides, a mage’s existence alone has value.

Seo Han-seong and Sun Sun-jin aren’t bad either. Seo Han-seong is quick to assess situations and knows how to catch the enemy off guard. He might not be ready to lead from the front yet, but he can fill in the gaps by seeing the bigger picture. Raiding teams need someone with skills like his.

Sun Sun-jin is quick and uses her small frame to easily conceal her presence. She knows her strengths well. Kids like her improve quickly. Though, to be fair, Sun Sun-jin was holding herself back to match Lee Seung-yeon… No, that’s not related to talent.

As for Han Eun-young… honestly, her skills are average. She’s not without willpower, but is she desperate? Hard to say. From my perspective, she belongs behind a desk. She has a good head for analyzing information, and if we cultivate that, her talent might shine.

We’ll skip Yoo Hye-eun since combat isn’t her forte.

That leaves Lee Seung-yeon.

“But this is only if student Lee Seung-yeon is content with being average. If he pushes further, he’ll die.”

I wondered how Lee Mi-seon would react.

Would she get angry, claiming there’s no way her beloved nephew could be like that? Or would she panic, asking what she should do now to protect him?

Or perhaps…

This was, in a way, a test of Lee Mi-seon.

Her love for her nephew was well-known.

So, I needed to understand her limits. How blind was Lee Mi-seon when it came to her nephew?

Honestly, I wasn’t innocent either. I had used Lee Seung-yeon, after all. But I had at least tried to handle things properly afterward.

But what was I supposed to do when he had no talent to speak of?

I could train him all he wanted. I did feel bad about pushing him out in Myeong-dong, so I was more than willing to make up for that.

However, just as I had told Lee Mi-seon, if things continued like this, Lee Seung-yeon would be dead within five years. His talent was only at that level.

I didn’t want to push him down a path I knew would lead to his death. I had sent him out in Myeong-dong because I could save him then, but this isn’t something where I could follow him around for the rest of his life, constantly helping him.

“In my view, Lee Seung-yeon has ambition.”

A kid who avoided looking at me, trying not to show his tears until the end.

Unlike him, I looked Lee Mi-seon straight in the eye.

“And that ambition will get him killed.”

“……”

“Is that really okay with you?”

Lee Mi-seon, who had been listening with a pale face, reached for the tissue on the table and spit out her gum.

She rubbed her face with her thin hands.

“I know, Teacher Woo. How could I not? Who do you think scouted every single member of my guild? I handpicked them myself. I have an eye for this. Do you think I wouldn’t know about my own nephew?”

“Then”

“Seung-yeon probably knows, too. Since entering the pilot high school and mixing with kids his age, he must be even more aware of it. His face hasn’t looked good these past few days.”

“So.”

“Let me tell you something: I was against Seung-yeon entering the pilot high school.”

“……”

“Honestly, I wanted to stop him from becoming a Hunter, too. I don’t know why he had to Awaken. Actually, if only he hadn’t had enough mana to become a Hunter after Awakening, that would have been better.”

Lee Mi-seon spoke with a complex expression.

Her words were unexpected. Her face was etched with the raw fatigue of an aunt worn out from indulging her stubborn nephew.

“Seung-yeon… he used to play with Sun Sun-jin a lot when they were younger… and because of that, he has this kind of admiration for Hunters.”

“Student Sun Sun-jin?”

“Yeah. Sun-jin’s dad is a Hunter. He’s a Hunter, but he doesn’t raid dungeons. He’s actually my father’s—Seung-yeon’s grandfather’s—bodyguard. Seung-yeon spent a lot of time at his grandfather’s house when he was young, and since he and Sun-jin are the same age, they played together a lot.”

Now I understood the closeness between Lee Seung-yeon and Sun Sun-jin. I had thought they were familiar with each other because Lee Mi-seon sponsored Sun Sun-jin, but it made sense—they were childhood friends. That explained their bond.

“But Sun-jin Awakened when she was young, didn’t she? She was about ten, I think. Imagine what Seung-yeon must have thought, seeing his friend get stronger and faster overnight.”

“……”

“Of course, he started whining about when he’d get to Awaken.”

I quietly listened to Lee Mi-seon’s story.

I didn’t really understand the mindset of an ordinary child. Since Lee Mi-seon was explaining it, I just stayed silent and listened.

“And Sun-jin kept telling him it was cool and encouraging him, showing Seung-yeon the things she learned from her dad… teaching him.”

“Ah, so that’s why.”

“Yeah. That’s why Seung-yeon and Sun-jin’s movements are similar, right? It’s because Seung-yeon learned from Sun-jin.”

I recalled how Lee Seung-yeon and Sun Sun-jin’s movements were almost like twins. Seung-yeon was always a step slower than Sun-jin. No, he was slow at first, but during training, they moved perfectly in sync.

That was because Sun Sun-jin adjusted her speed to match Lee Seung-yeon’s.

“When they were little, Seung-yeon couldn’t keep up properly, and he was just clumsily imitating the surface of what Sun-jin did, so I let it go. It felt wrong to interfere with the kids playing.”

There was deep regret in Lee Mi-seon’s voice.

“But then… after Seung-yeon Awakened, things changed. After Awakening, once he could actually do what he had only been imitating before, it seems like something ignited in him.”

“…And you just let that be?”

“At first, either Sun-jin’s dad or I would supervise them, worried they might get into trouble. Honestly, I thought they’d just give up after a while.”

But things had gone far beyond the point of just giving up now.

“When I decided to entrust Sun-jin to Hunter Hong, who could have predicted that Seung-yeon would secretly go to Hunter Hong and ask to be enrolled in the pilot high school as well?”

I blinked.

“Is that why Teacher Hong accepted him? Lee Seung-yeon?”

“If he hadn’t, do you think Seung-yeon would be in the pilot high school right now?”

“……”

Something clicked into place in my mind, like a gear finally aligning.

*****

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