The Skill Maker
chapter-11

Chapter 11 – My Older Brother is a Hunter #1

‘I’m sure he knows that I attacked. And I’m sure he knows that I’m the one that decreased the monster’s energy field.’

Despite of knowing that, he still didn’t say anything.

‘Is he…trying to act like he didn’t notice? Is it because I wasn’t an official hunter and participated as a carrier?’

As soon as he thought that, he was dispirited.

Even when they were almost done dispersing the Energy Stone between the official hunters, they felt like an idiot for hoping that he would get something.

He also expected for Choi Do-Won to say something to him.

Hyun-Soo thought that if it wasn’t for him, then they wouldn’t have been able to complete this hunt.

‘Do I get nothing? Really?’

Feeling that this was unfair, as soon as he looked at Choi Do-Won, he noticed him avoiding his gaze.

That meant that he was ashamed of it.

“Oh, Kim Soo-Hyun. You did well today. Carriers usually get paid after they leave the portal, but I”ll pay you right now.”

Thinking how absurd it was, as soon as Hyun-Soo was about to say something, they stopped him from talking.

It meant they didn’t want to hear it.

And then, he received a text that notified him of a deposit.

He received a lot more than what he was originally promised, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy Hyun-Soo.

“…..”

“…..”

Hyun-Soo just checked the text message and looked over at Choi Do-Won, but he didn’t say anything to him.

He knew.

Hyun-Soo knew.

Why Choi Do-Won was acting his way.

Why the attackers just glanced at him without saying anything as they left through the portal.

Class.

Skill.

Healer…

Hyun-Soo was just an ordinary carrier.

They felt that he wasn’t worthy enough to have a sense of justice.

None.

“Good…job, Kim Hyun-Soo. Please be careful on your way home.”

“…..”

Choi Do-Won just stood there for a while and then turned around.

As soon as he was about to exit through the portal.

“…I’m…sorry.”

“…..”

In the end, Choi Do-Won quietly apologized and then quietly disappeared.

That was probably the best he could do.

The fact that there weren’t any punishments for the hunter that messed up the hunt was really unusual.

But, no matter how unfair it was, there was nothing he could do about it.

He wanted to do something about it right now, but Hyun-Soo didn’t have any power, experience or authority since he was just an ordinary carrier.

‘…This won’t be my last hunt anyways. Let’s just be satisfied with the fact that I was able to check my potential.’

Hyun-Soo tried to make himself feel better that way.

But, he wasn’t about to give up.

‘I’ll definitely rise up! No matter what!’

***

“You’re early today.”

Hyuna was supposed to be at school during this time. It’s because they have an evening self-study session.

He came home, thinking that no would be there, but seeing someone greet him made him less tired and at the same time, he felt odd.

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling good today, so I decided to study at home.”

Hyuna answered with a bright smile, but it felt like she was hiding something.

He didn’t have any proof, but his guts told him that she was.

“…I see. Did you eat?”

“I wanted to eat with you so I waited! I made some stew. We just need to heat it up. Go wash up and sit down.”

Hyun-Soo decided not to ask about it.

Since she was a smart and considerate girl, he was sure that she would tell him when she’s ready.

Hyun-Soo took off the clothes that got dirty during the hunt, took a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothes.

Before coming home, he did clean up the monster’s fluid that was on his clothes and face, but he still felt uncomfortable.

He thought wearing shabby clothes to the hunt was a good decision.

If he wore decent clothes, then he would’ve felt bad about throwing them away.

‘I can’t wear this. I should throw it away.’

He lightly threw the hunting clothes next to the trash can and walked out to the living room that was connected to the kitchen. Hyuna had already set the table and was waiting for him.

“Hurry up and sit. You like Kimchi Stew, right? I even bought Spam and put it in. Try it.”

“Spam? You bought it? Wasn’t it expensive?”

Hyun only got 40 dollars as her allowance.

She rarely asked for more, so she was really spending 40 dollars a month.

After seeing Hyun-Soo getting surprised, Hyuna laughed sheepishly.

“It’s nothing when compared to how hard you work because of me, so this is the least I could do. I still have a bit of allowance money left, so don’t worry about and just enjoy he food.”

Hyuna said it as if it was nothing, but Hyun-Soo felt bad.

He was pretty busy due to the part-time jobs he had, but he honestly wasn’t the best older brother.

When he was younger, he was a troublemaker and when he got older, he matured, but didn’t graduate college due to the fact that he always went out and got part-time jobs.

He wasn’t really interested in studying and due to his situation, he couldn’t go…no, it’s just he didn’t want to do.

In their current situation, unless Hyuna came home early from school, he wouldn’t even be able to see her.

He wasn’t even the nicest brother either.

Like all other guys, he felt embarrassed when trying to express with words.

Because of that, Hyun-Soo never understood why Hyuna kept saying that he was a good brother.

Rather than a good brother, he thought that maybe Hyuna saw him in a good light to make her think that way.

Spam wasn’t expensive and valuable.

But, the important thing was that she probably spent a lot of her allowance money.

Hyun-Soo understood Hyuna’s feeling.

“It’s delicious.”

“Heh heh. Glad to hear it.”

Adding the spicy broth to the rice, he mixed it and when he ate it, he felt his stomach get warm.

After the awakening, he did work out to raise his stamina, but since he’s been running around all day, he was really tired.

There’s no way this food wouldn’t taste delicious.

On top of that, his sister prepared the food.

Hyun-Soo gulped down all the food that was set before him.

He washed the dishes.

Hyuna insisted on doing it, but he couldn’t let her since she cooked for him.

He then realized that this was Hyuna’s characteristic.

It was highly possible that this was what she was hiding when he felt something was off.

“Okay, you’re going to drink Barley Tea, right?”

Seeing Hyuna in a nervous state, Hyun-Soo first offered a glass of water.

He wasn’t sure what she wanted to say, but looked really nervous and he wanted her to calm down.

Hyun-Soo also poured some water and sat across the same table they were sitting at during dinner.

“Hey….Hyun-Soo, I…have something I need to tell you.”

After gulping several times, Hyuna finally spoke.

“Take your time. What is it?”

Hyuna told herself that she should say it as soon as possible and spoke after looking at Hyun-Soo.

“Hyun-Soo, I…don’t want to go to college.”

“Huh?”

Hyun-Soo thought he misheard her.

However, after seeing Hyuna’s nervous face and thinking back to what she just said, he knew heard it right.

“…What do you mean? Why don’t you want to go to college?”

She had good grades and a high entrance exam score, so why didn’t she want to go to college?

Being a hunter was known to be the best job, but this was an exception.

Technically, it couldn’t be considered a job since there were those that could be a hunter and those that couldn’t.

Excluding the hunters, the jobs that put you in a good spot require a degree. On top of that, there are those that require certain licenses and know a foreign language.

That’s why, in order to get a decent job, graduating from college was a requirement

But, after hearing that she didn’t want to go to college, Hyun-Soo became speechless.

“Why don’t you want to go to college? Is it because you’re having a hard time with your studies?”

He asked because he always felt bad about not being able to send her to an after school program or even get her a tutor, but Hyuna shook her head.

“No, my homeroom teacher said that their junior is running a business and recommended a job to me.”

“What? Instead of writing a college recommendation, they recommended a job to you? Your homeroom teacher did?”

Hyun-Soo had a headache after hearing that her homeroom recommended a job to a girl that had good grades.

“N-no, Hyun-Soo. It’s not like that. I was just curious so I asked.”

“Why would you ask something like that? I told you I would help you with your college tuition.”

When Hyun-Soo said that, Hyuna’s eyes became red.

Moments later, tears filled up her eyes.

“I-I just felt really bad about that…I didn’t like how you, mom and dad were working so hard to send me to college….I just wanted to graduate and help around the house, rather than being a burden.”

She tried her best to stay calm, but due to her sensitive personality, Hyuna ended up crying.

Seeing his sister cry made things complicated.

He was wondering what she was contemplating about, but it seemed like it was something she shouldn’t have worried over.

She was too caring.

That was a problem too.

‘I wish she would be a bit more selfish and dream bigger like the other kids her age.’

Hyun-Soo experienced a similar situation when he was in school.

Ever since she was little, she was taught to be respectful.

Now, she could be a bit more selfish, but she was trying to become an adult too quickly.

The problem was that Hyuna was too young to be an adult.

Seeing Hyuna crying hard while confessing her feelings made Hyun-Soo let out a heavy sigh.

‘I wasn’t going to say anything until things became stable, but should I just say it now?’

Ever since he awoke, his life as a hunter was like a rollercoaster.

Because of that, he wanted to observe a bit more before saying anything.

However, after seeing Hyuna’s face filled with sadness and worry, he felt bad. He felt that he needed to say it in order to calm her down.

He needed to say it now.

Hyun-Soo took a deep breath and started talking.

“Hyuna, I’m wanting for you to go to college. You know how hard it is if you don’t have a college degree. I want you to live a more comfortable life. I know people don’t automatically get a job even if they do graduate, but I believe that you’ll do well.”

“But, Hyun-Soo…”

Hyuna tried to intercept, but Hyun-Soo shook his head and stopped her.

“Also, mom, dad and I don’t think of it as a sacrifice. If you do well, then our family is doing well. Were you going to ignore us if things worked out well for you?”

I asked jokingly, but she shook her small head.

“Also…”

‘This is actually making me nervous.’

Hyun-Soo took another deep breath.

“It’s not a burden at all. I can send you to do college without any issues. That’s because…I became a hunter. I have a lot of money.”

‘To be specific, I’m expecting to get a lot.’

I’m not sure when that day will be, but as long as I’ve awoken as a hunter, I’ll get paid a lot more than the part-time jobs that I did.

“Re-really? You became a hunter? You’ve awoken?”

“Yup.”

As soon as I nodded my head, Hyuna’s large eyes became larger.

<My Older Brother is a Hunter #1> End.