Hunter Academy’s Battle God

[Translator – Daniel Shin]

[Proofreader – ilafy]

Chapter 96

The Sevens’ dormitory…

Although it was already night, Sumire smiled as she served rice with curry and fried chicken.

“Here!”

“Agh! Crazy! How could you make such food in the dormitory? Sumire, is there anything you can’t do?!”

Renia was making a big fuss over the food.

They had been returning from the haunted house when Renia visited Sumire, but she wasn’t the type of person to send someone away at night with an empty stomach.

“That’s right, Master! This food is really delicious! It’s the best food I’ve tasted in my life as a succubus!”

Although Lilith didn’t need to eat, she still tasted Sumire’s curry.

“R… Really?”

“This is like…”

Renia trembled as she took a spoon of curry.

“It’s as if a tiger and a great white shark jumped and high-fived…”

“Ah… aah!”

Sumire nodded as if she understood what Renia was trying to say.

“The International Competition is coming up soon, right? Fuu~ You’re probably quite nervous. Nom nom.”

“I am… but I’m okay! Mr. YuSung and EunAh are both quite strong. Even if I lose…” Sumire said, a smile on her face.

Renia bit her fork and made a hmm- sound.

“Well, it’s true that I can’t imagine YuSung losing. The same goes for EunAh.”

“Right?”

After dinner, Renia smiled and waved her hand.

“The curry was delicious! Tomorrow is the weekend, so if you’re bored, call me~.”

“Be careful on your way back!”

Sumire sat on the sofa after Renia left.

‘Japan…’

Sumire crouched and hugged her knees.

‘I’m sure everyone still hates me…’

Memories passed through Sumire’s mind.

[Why is a traitor like you…?!]

Sumire felt chills when she remembered those angry, glaring eyes.

[That’s right… You probably don’t have anything to say. After all, you betrayed your party members and escaped to Korea.]

Sumire had abandoned Isshin’s party, who had extended their hands toward her and left Japan.

[I felt pity toward you and helped you because of that… I put you in my party and even lent you hair for your creepy ability. After all we did for you…]

Isshin and the other party members had felt betrayed.

‘I ended up hurting someone else… That’s definitely… my fault.’

What Isshin said was true.

Sumire bit her lips.

‘Still… I want to win.’

Sumire recalled how Shin YuSung protected her from Isshin at Choten Academy.

[As the party leader, I won’t allow you to be rude to Sumire any further.]

That moment had made her happy. Shin YuSung was the first person to stand up for her.

‘Even if it’s for YuSung… I want to win, no matter what.’

Her face full of confidence, she looked down at her right hand. As if it were reacting to her emotions, it began shining with a purple color.

‘Laplace…’

Sumire called the name of the strength she’d obtained—the strong, evil witch who was also a rank 7 boss.

‘The… The more of this strength I absorb, the more helpful I will be to YuSung.’

As Sumire reaffirmed her resolve, she took Laplace’s diary from her Pocket.

FWOOSH!

Like her right hand, intense purple light shone from the diary.

Gulp.

Sumire gulped nervously and slowly started to read the diary.

[A witch is born from a catastrophe.]

Although the diary was written in a language no one could understand, the Pocket was made with the tower’s technology and could translate it easily.

[Anger brings about burns, sadness brings chills, and suffering brings plague…]

But it wasn’t able to fully translate it.

[⬛ther ⬛than… ⬛⬛⬛ when ⬛⬛, ⬛⬛nce finally borns from ⬛⬛. I ⬛⬛⬛ t⬛th ⬛⬛…]

BZZT!

After emitting a few buzzing sounds, the Pocket turned off.

‘T,h-this…’

The diary started to emit light in front of the confused Sumire.

‘It’s calling me…’

She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she was certain it was true.

‘If I put my hands here…’

Gulp.

She placed her hands over it, and an intense light started to shine out.

FWOOSH!!

The purple light spread toward Sumire.

After the F class event ended, Lee SiWoo returned to his room.

“Hmm, ahh…”

Lee SiWoo was cleaning his guns—a handgun, a sniper rifle, and a classic assault rifle. He had countless guns.

Each gun was broken down and rebuilt as they passed through his hands.

‘What am I doing?’

Lee SiWoo definitely hated guns.

He had received an elite education for as long as he could remember, and he felt it was weird that his head turned cold whenever he held a gun.

He had spent too much time with guns.

If they took his guns from him, it would feel like there was an empty void in his heart.

‘It’s a love-and-hate relationship…’

Lee SiWoo’s emotions were complex.

Still, there was something he was sure about… He wouldn’t return home; he wasn’t going to live the life his father wanted.

Sumire blinked.

She wasn’t in the Academy anymore. A luxurious chandelier and a table were in front of her.

And there was Laplace, filling her teacup.

– It seems like we’re meeting sooner than expected.

Laplace nodded toward the seat in front of her with her chin.

“Ah, yes!”

As Sumire sat down, Laplace smiled and handed her a cup of tea.

– This table and cup of tea are really comfortable. This is all thanks to you.

Some of her strength had returned, so Laplace could make new objects.

Of course, that wasn’t her real personality. The Laplace in front of Sumire was an illusion, a fragmented part of the whole.

– I’m sure there are many questions on your mind.

Sumire thought about it, but no matter how much she thought, there was one thing she wanted to know the most.

“I… I want to get stronger!”

Laplace took a sip of tea and opened her mouth.

– …That’s my specialty. Good. How strong do you want to become?

Sumire thought about Shin YuSung. To stay next to him and be helpful as a party member, Sumire had to become stronger.

“I want to become strong enough to protect the people important to me…!”

Laplace’s mouth went up at Sumire’s words.

– Asking an evil witch for strength to protect someone important… Fufu, do you really think… I’d consider a request like that?

Sumire nodded.

“I’m sure you’ll consider it…”

Sumire looked really serious.

Laplace’s eyes became colder.

– Why do you think that…?

A chilling atmosphere filled the room.

Sumire kept talking in a calm and more confident voice than usual.

“I… I… studied the Outbreak in the Academy.”

– I see… You’re starting the conversation with something quite interesting.

“I’m not sure why it happened, but monsters from other dimensions came out through the gates…”

Sumire was a very good student. Her exam results were among the best. Not only that, but she was someone who always had to get an answer to what she was curious about. She was also very well-read.

“Some of the monsters, ones that have self-awareness… If they appear as bosses… they always attack humans.”

– Interesting.

“What those born from the outbreak are scared about… are humans and animosity toward the other dimension.”

Sumire looked into Laplace’s eyes.

“Wasn’t that animosity caused by the Outbreak incident? That’s why I think the personality within the fragment might be…”

– My real self?

Laplace looked into Sumire’s eyes.

– That’s just your imagination. There are no memories of other dimensions within my head.

The Laplace inside the fragment was a peerless being—you could talk with her, and she was self-aware and didn’t attack humans. What she’d said was, in a sense, true.

Laplace walked toward Sumire and grabbed her chin.

– Your guess is definitely fun.

It seemed like Laplace liked Sumire’s answer.

– Good. Fufu, I’ll give you a hint…

Standing regal like a queen, Laplace looked down at Sumire. She murmured in her ears.

– Listen well. The way to awaken the strength of the fragment is… your… ⬛⬛feelings. Okay?

Laplace’s voice was hard to make out. She looked around when she saw Sumire’s surprised expression.

“Damn… it seems like ⬛ is up.”

Sumire then looked around. She saw that the world Laplace made was crumbling, and the world was slowly returning to the one Sumire was familiar with.

– ⬛ ⬛⬛! Someone that ⬛⬛ strong, the more ⬛⬛. ⬛⬛…

Laplus shouted again, but Sumire was left alone.

The only thing left was the empty room.