TSOT#1 Chapter 27

It was undeniable now, Yoo Chan-hee was indeed Yoo Tae-jun’s younger brother. Seo Joo-ah felt this truth in her bones during their training sessions.

When she had been part of the elite unit, she had endured countless days of stress under Yoo Tae-jun’s harsh, Spartan training methods. He was notorious for manipulating the training ground’s systems to push the monster’s levels to their absolute maximum, a level beyond which they could no longer be raised.

Now, his younger brother Yoo Chan-hee was pulling the same stunts.

“Please assign me a different Hunter for training.”

Joo-ah’s training was handled by Chan-hee because he was the highest-ranked Hunter in the B Team, the top-tier group. However, it was proving too much for her; her low stamina made it nearly impossible to handle back-to-back battles against monsters two whole ranks higher than her own.

“No.”

Chan-hee immediately shot down her request and summoned monsters with a wave of his hand.

Three A-rank monsters materialized in the vast training ground.

Joo-ah frowned, glaring at him. “Hunter Yoo Chan-hee, have you forgotten my rank?”

Chan-hee smirked, his voice light and confident. “Just hold out for ten minutes. If you’re about to die, I’ll step in to save you.”

Was that supposed to be reassuring? It was no different than telling her to risk her life for training.

Joo-ah wanted to argue further, but the training session had already begun.

She drew her longsword from her inventory. As the monsters charged at her, she leaped, stomping on one’s leg to gain height, and swung her blade at its head.

But her sword couldn’t pierce through the monster’s steel-like carapace.

Clang—

The sword deflected off its hard armor, and the enraged monster let out a deafening roar, thrashing wildly. Joo-ah clung desperately to its neck, trying to hold on, but she was soon thrown to the ground.

Another monster lunged at her, attempting to crush her with its massive foot. Joo-ah quickly rolled out of the way and managed to block its attack with her blade.

Her heart raced as she instinctively considered using her magic to drain the monster’s energy, but her Predator Magic refused to activate.

Before she could catch her breath, another monster attacked from the side, biting her and throwing her against the wall.

“Ugh…”

Gasping for air, she struggled to recover, but the three monsters closed in on her simultaneously. She barely had time to react and reflexively shut her eyes.

Slash—

In the next moment, Chan-hee’s sharp blade sliced through the A-rank monsters one by one.

“I told you to last ten minutes.”

He sheathed his sword and approached her as the virtual monsters disappeared from the training ground.

Lying on the floor, still catching her breath, Joo-ah could only stare blankly at the ceiling.

Chan-hee, standing above her with one hand casually tucked into his pocket, looked down at her and said, “I’m going to summon the monsters again. Get up.”

He’s insane.

Looking up at Chan-hee, Joo-ah couldn’t help but think so.

“I want Hunter Shin Jae-rim to train me,” she said, sitting up.

Chan-hee’s lips curled into a smirk, as if he found her request amusing.

“I already told you no.”

Joo-ah frowned, glaring at him. “Why not? Hunter Shin Jae-rim is also S-rank. For a D-rank like me, he’s more than qualified.”

“The one who’s too good for you isn’t Shin Jae-rim—it’s me.”

Even in this moment, Chan-hee managed to emphasize his superiority. Joo-ah let out a bitter laugh.

“Exactly. Since you’re far too qualified to train a mere D-rank like me, let someone else–”

“No one else is acceptable. Yoo Tae-jun could call us to the higher tower at any moment. Do you think we have the luxury of taking it slow?”

Given the personalities of Shin Jae-rim and Choi Yeon-joo, it was clear they’d go easy on her because of her lower rank. But Chan-hee was determined to push her hard and finish her training quickly.

Joo-ah had no counterargument.

He was right—there was no telling when Yoo Tae-jun might summon them. Even though Chan-hee had promised to request an easier tower for her, there wasn’t a single tower she could confidently say would be manageable at her current level.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Joo-ah got to her feet.

Chan-hee activated the training system, his voice crisp and authoritative.

“This time, you’re going to last ten minutes, no matter what.”

Without giving her any time to prepare, three A-rank monsters appeared in the virtual training ground again.

Joo-ah quickly gathered her remaining strength as the grueling training session resumed.

[Breaking News: Disappearance of Top-Ranked Hunter…]

“…Despite the police’s full-scale investigation, there have been no breakthroughs, stirring growing concern.”

Walking back to the dormitory late at night after training, Joo-ah scrolled through a news article on her phone.

It had been three days since Kwon Eun-young’s body disappeared.

The police still had no leads on Eun-young’s whereabouts or the identity of the perpetrator. The lack of progress was attributed to two main reasons: all the CCTV cameras had been destroyed, and there were no eyewitnesses.

Joo-ah slipped her phone into her pocket, her expression unreadable.

No witnesses. This strongly implied that the culprit was likely a Hunter.

But who could it be?

As she walked toward the dormitory, she suddenly stopped and turned to look back the way she had come.

If she continued walking in the opposite direction, she’d reach a heavily secured area off-limits to ordinary people and most Hunters. Only members of the elite unit were allowed entry.

Maybe it’s someone who cared deeply for Eun-young. As absurd as it sounds, it might be possible.

The only reason Min Chae-rin could speak so calmly about this incident was that the suspected perpetrator was someone close to her.

Someone who knew Eun-young well.

A Hunter who had fought alongside them in the elite unit.

Someone who had saved Joo-ah from monsters just days ago.

Han Se-hyun.

Joo-ah’s expression darkened as she stopped in front of a building, gazing at it with a mix of sorrow and suspicion.

“Why would Han Se-hyun do something like that…” she murmured, staring at the elite unit building.

She wanted to confront him right away, to find out the truth. But she couldn’t.

She was no longer a part of the elite unit.

With a sigh, Joo-ah turned to leave, only to bump shoulders with someone walking past.

“Ah, that hurts,” the man exclaimed, clutching his shoulder and feigning pain. His companion chuckled, the sound muffled by the candy in his mouth.

“Here he goes again. Hyuk-jae, stop being so dramatic.”

“Shut up. It really hurts,” Lim Hyuk-jae retorted, playfully kicking at his friend, who dodged easily.

When Hyuk-jae turned back, his eyes met Joo-ah’s. A sly grin spread across his face as he approached her.

“Hey, how are you going to make up for this? You almost broke my shoulder,” he said.

Joo-ah stared at him silently.

He was wearing the familiar uniform of the elite X Team. She immediately recognized him from the banquet hall incident when monsters had attacked, and he had nearly killed Boram.

Standing beside Hyuk-jae was Choi Kyul, his teammate from the elite X Team.

“Hmm? Your face looks familiar,” Hyuk-jae muttered, leaning closer to scrutinize her.

Choi Kyul, crunching his candy, asked, “You know her?”

“I think I’ve seen her somewhere…” Hyuk-jae trailed off, frowning as he tried to recall.

Joo-ah bit her lower lip, silently praying for this encounter to end quickly.

Then Hyuk-jae’s eyes widened as realization struck.

“Ah, I remember now. You’re the one who acted all high and mighty at the banquet hall, aren’t you?”

Choi Kyul tilted his head curiously. “Who is she?”

“She’s in Yoo Chan-hee’s team,” Hyuk-jae replied, straightening up with an amused expression.

Choi Kyul wrinkled his nose in confusion. “Yoo Chan-hee? Yoo Tae-jun’s brother? Isn’t he part of a higher-ranked group?”

His question was clear—how could someone as low-ranked as Joo-ah be in the same team as someone like Yoo Chan-hee?

Hyuk-jae merely shrugged. “No idea.”

“Anyway,” Hyuk-jae said, turning back to Joo-ah. “How are you going to take responsibility for this? Do you have any idea how valuable my body is? The government practically worships me, afraid I’ll get even a scratch. And you dared to hurt me? You owe me big time.”

He grinned mischievously, clearly enjoying himself as Choi Kyul watched, intrigued by how she would respond.

When Joo-ah remained silent, Hyuk-jae grew impatient. He reached out, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his gaze.

“What are you going to do about it, huh?”