Chapter 314 – Part 2 – School

The parking lot of the mart.

Vrooooooom-

A sports car that appeared out of nowhere caught everyone’s attention.

“Everyone get out.”

“H-how do I open this door?”

“Just push it and it’ll naturally go up.”

“Oppa, this is my first time riding in something like this. It’s so amazing!”

“Anyone watching would think we came to an amusement park.”

“But can’t you turn down the car’s noise a bit? It’s embarrassing with everyone staring.”

“It’s originally made this way so there’s nothing I can do about it. And they’re not just staring because it’s loud – some are looking because they’re envious, right?”

Just as Choi Seong-min said, most of the surrounding gazes were envious.

“How much does this car cost?”

“I heard it’s over 400 million won.”

“Gasp…!”

His mother and younger sister gaped at an amount they couldn’t have imagined when they were commoners.

“Let’s go. We need to finish shopping before the sun sets.”

After entering the mart with his family and finishing shopping, Choi Seong-min took the wheel again.

Vrooooooom-

On the way home.

His mother, who had been constantly amazed at riding in such an expensive car, asked.

“Where did this car suddenly come from?”

“I received it as a gift.”

When he gave the prepared answer, his mother asked again in surprise.

“Don’t tell me the Great Hero gave it to you?”

“Well… that’s right.”

Actually, he had obtained it through his own power, but he decided to omit the detailed circumstances.

“My goodness! Working under the Great Hero indeed. Our son has really succeeded! How amazing!”

His mother genuinely rejoiced at her son’s success.

“But oppa, you’re a D-rank hunter, right? How much do you earn per month?”

“If it’s D-rank, at least 5 million per month. Though I’m C-rank now.”

“5, 5 million?”

Choi A-yeon, who had widened her eyes, asked again after hearing the latter part.

“W-wait a minute. Oppa, you’re already C-rank?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, then you’ll earn even more money?”

“5 million was the minimum I mentioned, and I’ll earn more from now on. About 100 million?”

“Gasp! 100 million per month?”

“Yeah. Though hunter equipment is that expensive too.”

The family couldn’t quite grasp the hundred-million-won income they had only heard about.

“No wonder people want to become hunters. Though it’s not something you can achieve just through effort.”

“I was lucky.”

Choi Seong-min’s family was on the lucky side.

‘Thanks to me possessing him, they were able to escape from being commoners.’

If it had been the original Choi Seong-min, it would have been difficult to grow this much.

‘With just the F-rank trait called Interpretation, there are limits to growth.’

He probably would have worn cheap equipment and barely hunted in dungeons one level lower.

‘In low-level dungeons, the probability of runes dropping decreases drastically, so proper growth would be impossible.’

For hunters, you need to be born with good traits first and foremost.

“When I earn some money, I’ll get you an even better house.”

“Oh my, there’s no need for that.”

“This place is good enough, oppa.”

Perhaps because they had hit rock bottom?

His family seemed to have no greed.

Choi Seong-min and his family, who had returned home, immediately began preparing dinner.

“Seong-min, you rest.”

“I’ll help prepare dinner too.”

“No. Go to the living room and rest with your sister. Quickly.”

Because his mother wouldn’t let him even set foot in the kitchen, Choi Seong-min had to have unfinished conversations with his sister for a while.

“How’s school? Are you attending well?”

“Huh? O-of course. Obviously.”

She felt awkward for a moment, but Choi A-yeon continued speaking as if nothing was wrong.

“I was just thinking I wanted to thank oppa for sending me to school. Thank you, oppa.”

“What’s there to thank me for over something like that.”

Choi Seong-min chuckled and brought up school again.

“What about friends?”

“Huh? Friends… what?”

“Have you made some friends at school?”

“O-of course I have.”

Her answer wasn’t very convincing and something seemed off, but he didn’t press further.

He didn’t want to make the already flustered girl even more uncomfortable.

“The food seems ready. Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

After finishing a cozy dinner with his family, Choi Seong-min rested in his room.

‘When we lived in the semi-basement, I didn’t even have a room like this.’

Lying on the soft bed, he felt his fatigue melting away.

‘How can someone hunt without resting? I need to rest for at least a day.’

Choi Seong-min closed his eyes with a comfortable mind.

It was a proper rest after a long time.

* * *

The next morning.

Choi Seong-min looked questioningly at his sister who was putting on shoes in casual clothes.

“Where are you going?”

“Where else? I have to go to school.”

“Aren’t you wearing a uniform?”

“There’s no such thing – it’s free dress code.”

“Really?”

In this world, education was not mandatory.

It was just an optional process that children from wealthy families went through for better jobs.

‘Kind of like university?’

Because of this, it wasn’t divided into elementary, middle, and high school, and there were no age restrictions.

Naturally, there would be no uniforms either.

“But oppa, aren’t you going to work?”

“Today’s a day off.”

“Oh, really?”

“Why? Are you envious?”

“No? I like going to school.”

“Should I give you a ride?”

“No, it’s fine. Oppa’s car is too conspicuous, so I don’t like it.”

“If you don’t like it, never mind.”

“Then I’m going?”

“Yeah. Have a good day.”

“Yes. I’ll go to school and come back!”

She left the house with a spirited appearance, but that was only momentary.

The smile disappeared from Choi A-yeon’s face.

It’s not that she disliked school.

‘The environment of sitting at desks with peers and listening to classes is good, and learning something new every day is also good.’

Even now, taking the bus on her way to school, her heart was pounding at the thought of going to school.

That’s how much she liked and was excited about going to school.

‘Yeah, going is good. It’s good, but…’

Choi A-yeon, who had arrived at school and was looking at the main gate, secretly sighed.

Eventually, she headed to the classroom with listless steps and hesitated briefly before entering.

To take a deep breath.

Creak-

When she opened the door, numerous eyes turned toward her.

But that was only momentary.

The indifferent gazes soon returned to their places, and Choi A-yeon silently found her seat and sat down.

‘School is good, but… the problem is having no friends.’

It had been a month since she started attending school, but Choi A-yeon had no friends.

Every morning, she entered the classroom alone without anyone welcoming her and left alone.

As if she were invisible to others, no one tried to talk to her.

They didn’t try to become close either.

It wasn’t like this before she revealed that she used to be a commoner.

‘I thought there would be no discrimination since we’re all the same classmates with the same status, but that wasn’t the case.’

As soon as they learned that Choi A-yeon was a case of lucky status elevation, her classmates thoroughly ostracized her.

There was no bullying, but they treated her like an invisible person and didn’t try to get along.

‘No one tries to have a conversation with me.’

Even when she approached first to greet them, even when she tried to smile and say something friendly… her classmates just looked at her like she was a commoner and didn’t even respond.

Because they had been proper merchants from birth.

Because they had never once been commoners.

‘I’d rather they bullied me than treat me like I don’t exist.’

Of course, not all the kids in the class were like this.

‘At least Solji unnie was different from the others.’

Next to Choi A-yeon sat her desk partner Heo Solji, who was two years older.

She at least didn’t ignore Choi A-yeon.

Even after learning that she used to be a commoner.

‘Because Solji unnie also had a time when she was a commoner like me.’

Heo Solji was also originally from a commoner family like Choi A-yeon.

Then her older sister, who was 15 years older, awakened as a hunter and succeeded greatly, causing their status to rise.

In short, it was a case where having a hunter among siblings benefited the family.

It was a similar case to Choi A-yeon.

‘However, unlike me who recently rose in status, Solji unnie was only a commoner until age 6…’

Until age 6 could hardly be considered being a commoner strictly speaking.

‘And yet she greeted me first and took care of me, saying we had a lot in common…’

But that was only in the early days of enrollment.

Recently, Heo Solji had been ignoring Choi A-yeon like everyone else.

That was currently Choi A-yeon’s biggest concern.

“Oh? Solji unnie is here?”

Seeing Heo Solji entering the classroom, Choi A-yeon greeted her warmly.

However.

“…”

At Heo Solji’s cold glance before turning away, Choi A-yeon’s expression became dejected.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

They had definitely been laughing and chatting while greeting each other until just a week ago, but when her attitude changed overnight, Choi A-yeon couldn’t help but be confused.

“Um, Solji unnie… did I make you uncomfortable somehow?”

She asked seriously while looking at Heo Solji who sat next to her and opened her book.

“…”

Each time, Heo Solji consistently remained silent.

“Unnie, if there’s something that upset you, please tell me. Don’t be frustrating like this.”

“…”

“Sigh…”

As if she didn’t understand, Choi A-yeon also turned her head away, and class soon began.

At first glance, it looked like she was looking at the blackboard and concentrating on studying, but Choi A-yeon’s mind was full of thoughts about Heo Solji.

‘If she’s angry, we could make up, but why is she acting like this?’

She really wanted to know the reason for being angry with her.

‘Is she being careful with words because there are many watching eyes here? Should I go out separately during break time and have a serious conversation?’

While thinking such thoughts, break time approached.

Choi A-yeon, who had been looking for timing to speak, got up from her seat seeing Heo Solji texting someone and heading somewhere.

‘I don’t know where she’s going, but this worked out well. I wanted to talk just the two of us.’

While following her thinking she should speak at an appropriate time, she suddenly had a question.

‘But where does she go every break time?’

She found it suspicious that she left her seat every time and quietly tailed Heo Solji.

‘Huh? She said she was on a diet, so why did she stop by the snack bar?’

It was strange, but she continued tailing her.

Heo Solji headed outside carrying a bag with bread and milk.

‘Where is she going?’

She moved to the back of the school gymnasium and eventually met up with a group smoking cigarettes.

‘Aren’t those kids from our class?’

Three female students famous for skipping morning classes were receiving the bag from Heo Solji.

‘Did she buy food for friends?’

She thought they might be new friends, but that was only momentary.

Smack-

Seeing Heo Solji get slapped, such thoughts completely disappeared.

“Hey, you fucking bitch. I told you to buy cream puffs, who told you to buy red bean bread?”

“S-sorry. They said the cream puffs were all sold out…”

“If they’re out, you should have gone to another snack bar to buy them! Or at least called!”

“I-I called but you didn’t answer…”

“Fuck, then you should have kept calling until I answered. You call once and when I don’t answer, you change the bread as you please?”

“…It’s not even your money anyway.”

“What?”

At Heo Solji’s small rebellion, the female students sighed as if dumbfounded.

“Wow… I’m getting really pissed off after a long time.”

“She’s crazy, Heo Sol. How dare she talk back to us.”

“A lowly commoner bitch, where does she get the nerve…”

“I’m not a commoner. I’m the same merchant class as you…”

“Talking back again?”

Smack-!

Heo Solji’s head turned.

When she straightened her head.

Smack-!

It turned to the other side again.

“Fuck, you can’t even do errands properly and you’re talking back too?”

“This won’t do. Seeing how she can’t do things properly, I guess we’ll have to use her friend as an errand girl too.”

“Don’t touch A-yeon!”

When Heo Solji shouted, the female students smirked.

“Kek kek, look at her protecting someone because they’re both from commoner backgrounds.”

“Ugh, so disgusting really.”

“…You promised not to touch A-yeon. You said you’d just use me.”

“Yeah, we did, but you’re not doing your job properly. Fucking bitch.”

“So we need about two errand girls, don’t we?”

“Oh, good idea. One for morning duty, one for cigarette duty.”

“They can hold hands and come buy things together cutely. Fellow commoners.”

The female students who had been giggling suddenly hit each other’s forearms.

“Hey, look over there.”

“Errand girl number 2 is coming.”

“She can’t help but show up on her own, knowing she’s not cut out to be a lady?”

At those words, Heo Solji turned her head in surprise.

Choi A-yeon, whom she had tried to protect, had appeared on her own.

“Wh-why did you come here? Go away quickly!”

“Solji unnie, I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I really didn’t know you were suffering this humiliation because of me…”

“Wh-what are you talking about? I’m doing this because I want to. Go quickly.”

Heo Solji tried to push Choi A-yeon away to send her off quickly, but the female students blocked her.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“Hey, Heo Sol! Who are you to tell her to go or stay?”

“Errand girl number 2 volunteered to come for an interview.”

The female students who had been giggling soon looked at Choi A-yeon.

“Fucking bitch. I don’t like how she acts pretty from the start.”

“You’re the new student who entered last month, right? Come here.”

They beckoned with their fingers, but Choi A-yeon wasn’t intimidated.

“Leave Solji unnie alone.”

“What, bitch?”

“Where does this one get off staring straight at us!”

“I said leave her alone, you fucking trashy bitches.”

“What?”

Unlike her pretty face, when rough curses came out, the female students couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

“A commoner-born subject, has she gone crazy?”

“Hey, commoner. Can’t you see what’s in front of you?”

“Fuck, should I burn your cheek with a cigarette? Huh?”

“Really, listening and listening… I’m thinking there were such non-recyclable dog trash in our class too.”

“What?”

“This fucking bitch is crossing the line after I’ve been watching and watching?”

“This won’t do. You’re going to get beaten to death today.”

The female students tried to grab Choi A-yeon’s hair and drag her to a corner.

“Ahhh! Hey! Let go of this!”

Choi A-yeon also grabbed back and wouldn’t let go.

“Girls! Get this bitch off!”

“Burn her with the cigarette!”

That’s when it happened.

Vrooooooom-

A sports car entered the alley with a roar.

“Wh-what is that?”

A man got out from the door that opened like wings.

“Hey there, take your hands off my sister. If you don’t want to get cut.”

It was none other than Choi Seong-min.