WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Returned Zenith Wants to Rest ◈
Episode 11:
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After finishing his conversation with Baek Dohee, Yoo Kangmin stepped out of the office and found Yoon Seoha waiting nearby.
“Master!”
The moment she spotted him, Yoon Seoha came running over at a mad dash.
For some reason, she reminded him of a puppy.
“I passed!”
“Yes. I heard inside.”
Sweat still beaded on her forehead, and loose strands of hair clung to her cheeks.
Even so, Yoon Seoha was smiling brightly, as though she could hardly contain her joy.
“I got D-rank. Not E-rank, D-rank!”
She spread out the result sheet in her hand. Its edges were a little crumpled from being folded and unfolded so many times.
“I even defeated a hobgoblin! It was a simulation, of course.”
At the convenience store, Yoo Kangmin had defeated it in her place.
The achievement credited to her name, and the reward money she had received for it, had really been his.
But Yoo Kangmin had not been at today’s test site.
He had not told her where to move her feet from behind her back.
He had not caught her whenever she was about to fall.
And yet, she had defeated a hobgoblin.
Yoon Seoha tightly gripped her result sheet.
“So I really could do it.”
“Yes. Do you understand now that you’ve changed?”
“It’s all thanks to you, Master.”
Yoon Seoha still could not believe this was real.
That was only natural. It had been just a week since she had struggled as an F-rank and been kicked out of a party.
Yet in that one week, she had changed so much that she could barely recognize herself.
‘It feels like a dream.’
Everything felt like a dream.
That was why Yoon Seoha decided to sincerely regard Yoo Kangmin as her master.
“You’re the one who endured everything I told you to do.”
“...”
Yoo Kangmin continued as if it were nothing.
“You did well.”
At those brief words, her eyes finally reddened.
Yoon Seoha quickly hid her face behind the result sheet.
“Oh, come on. Can’t you praise me a little more today?”
“For just this much? Don’t tell me you plan to stop at D-rank hunter. You still have a long way to go. You need to reach at least the level of the branch chief here.”
“What? Does that even make sense?”
“You still don’t believe me?”
“N-no! I believe you now!”
Just then, the office door opened, and Baek Dohee emerged with an employee.
“Ah, Branch Chief.”
Yoon Seoha bowed politely.
“I’m sorry, Branch Chief. I was just so happy...”
“Congratulations, Hunter Yoon Seoha.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll be in your care too.”
“Pardon?”
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll also be attending the kendo dojo.”
Yoon Seoha looked at Yoo Kangmin, then back at Baek Dohee.
“You’re learning from Master too, Branch Chief?”
“Yes.”
“Learning what?”
“The things Hunter Yoon Seoha has been learning.”
She did not specifically call it treatment.
Yoon Seoha stood there with her mouth slightly open.
“Well, that’s how it turned out. It may be somewhat inconvenient, but...”
But Yoon Seoha was not listening to Yoo Kangmin.
She seemed to be thinking about something else, then suddenly asked Baek Dohee carefully.
“Then I joined first, right?”
“I suppose so.”
Baek Dohee readily nodded.
The corners of Yoon Seoha’s lips lifted just a little.
Yoo Kangmin did not miss that change.
“Don’t get any pointless ideas.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
“It’s written all over your face.”
“I was only confirming who joined first.”
Yoon Seoha hugged the result sheet to her chest.
A rather composed expression appeared on the face that, just moments ago, had been unable to believe she had passed the test.
“If there’s anything you don’t know, ask me. I’ll tell you what I know.”
“Such as?”
“The horse stance.”
“T-the horse stance? What’s that?”
Yoo Kangmin let out a hollow laugh.
After learning for barely a week, she was already trying to act like a senior.
Still, he did not bother stopping her.
“It’s a stance you take like this.”
Yoon Seoha even demonstrated it herself.
Baek Dohee hesitated at the prospect of taking such a stance.
“L-like this?”
Still, seeing her try somehow made Yoo Kangmin let out a quiet sigh.
‘Would those two count as senior and junior martial sisters?’
He was a little unsure.
* * *
After parting ways with Yoon Seoha and returning home, Yoo Kangmin caught the savory scent of food from the entrance.
His mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen.
“You’re home?”
“Yes.”
“Did you go to the dojo again today?”
“I stopped by the Association for a moment.”
“The Association?”
“The Hunter Association.”
“Did you have business there?”
“Ah, someone I know had business there today, so I went along.”
“I see. You must be hungry. Sit down. I’ll have dinner ready soon.”
“Okay.”
Yoo Gaeun was sprawled across the sofa in the living room.
The TV was on, and she held her phone in both hands. Despite the loud sounds coming from both sides, she casually shifted her eyes back and forth between them.
“Aren’t you studying? Didn’t you say you were in your final year of high school?”
“What are you talking about? I’m taking a break.”
“Every time I see you, you’re taking a break.”
“You only see me when I’m taking one.”
Yoo Gaeun answered without even looking at him.
Dumbfounded, Yoo Kangmin sat at the table.
“Fine. Do whatever you want.”
Then he took out his phone and opened his banking app.
Until recently, he had hated even checking his account balance. Now, he wanted to open it for no reason every so often.
‘Maybe I really am just another modern person.’
In the martial world, even chests full of gold had honestly meant little to him.
No matter how much gold and treasure he piled up, he could not return home.
He simply had not coveted wealth for that reason, but many people had busied themselves praising him for possessing the virtues of the Four Gentlemen.
‘Idiots. Who doesn’t like money?’
Many things had changed now that he was home.
He had a family to support.
Money was essential if he wanted to live happily with them.
Fortunately, he had received a substantial sum through the matter involving Baek Dohee, so his future life had become a little more comfortable.
‘So how should I spend this money...?’
Yoo Kangmin drummed his fingers on the table as he considered what to do with it.
‘I can’t tell them everything yet. For now, I should only help Mom out a little.’
He could somehow explain away the one million won per month from Yoon Seoha as payment for part-time work, but the money from Baek Dohee was on an entirely different scale.
To make that explanation believable, he might have to reveal his life in the martial world.
‘Not yet...’
He did not think he could hide it forever.
But Yoo Kangmin still did not have the courage to casually tell those two what kind of life he had lived, or how he had returned.
How many people had died in the bloodbath at the Valley of No Return alone?
Even beyond that, Yoo Kangmin had spent sixty years in a martial society where one had to kill or be killed. He had left countless bodies and rivers of blood in his wake.
Even now, he felt as though the scent of their blood still clung to him.
That was why he could not tell them everything yet.
‘If the chance comes later... I’ll tell them then. Though I don’t know if that chance will ever come.’
Yoo Kangmin opened the transfer screen.
He sent his mother three million won.
This much should help with their immediate expenses.
A notification sounded from the kitchen.
“Mom, I sent you some money.”
“Money? What money?”
His mother checked her phone while holding a ladle.
Then she set the ladle down.
“Kangmin.”
“Yes?”
“Is something going on?”
“No.”
“Then why did you send three million won?”
As his mother’s voice changed, Yoo Gaeun, who had been lying on the sofa, raised her head too.
“Three million?”
Her eyes changed.
She put down her phone and immediately came over to the table.
“Oppa did?”
“What?”
“Three million won?”
“Yes.”
Yoo Gaeun held out her hand.
Yoo Kangmin stared at it as though she were absurd.
“What do you want?”
“I’m not telling you to send some to me. Give me your phone.”
“Why do you need my phone?”
“Did you take out a loan?”
“...”
His mother approached with a worried expression as well.
“Kangmin, if it’s because you needed living expenses, Mom’s fine. I’ll return it right away...”
“I didn’t borrow it.”
“Then where did it come from?”
“I got paid for teaching.”
Yoo Gaeun narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t tell me it was our tutor?”
“No.”
“Then someone else paid you too?”
“What a strange way to put it. ‘Someone else paid me too.’”
“Because what you’re doing is strange, Oppa.”
Yoo Gaeun turned toward their mother.
“Mom, you know Oppa got one million won for teaching kendo to our tutor, right?”
“Yes, I heard.”
“But he says someone else paid him this time too.”
Their mother’s expression grew even more serious.
Yoo Kangmin looked between the two of them.
Somehow, his situation had become worse than before he gave them money.
“They asked me to teach them, so I taught them and got paid. What’s the problem?”
“Oppa.”
Yoo Gaeun pulled over a chair and sat down.
“If you do that with strangers, you’ll really get reported.”
“...”
“Um, Mom just hopes Kangmin hasn’t done anything illegal...”
Yoo Kangmin squeezed his eyes shut.
He could not even begin to figure out where to start clearing up this misunderstanding.
‘This is their reaction to only three million won, not even ten million?’
Thinking back, it was understandable.
For the past few years, he had struggled to keep the kendo dojo running with his father, but the dojo had always operated at a loss.
Even though he had never brought home a single won, his mother had never once complained.
“It isn’t illegal. I earned it honestly through legitimate work.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. And I think I’ll keep the dojo open for a while instead of closing it. Someone wants to learn.”
“Your dad would have been happy to hear that.”
“...”
“Oh, then have you contacted the landlord? I heard the building has a new owner.”
“I’ll contact them.”
“Good. That’s wonderful.”
She smiled brightly.
She had been worried he was involved in something illegal, but she believed him when he said it was not.
“Still, you don’t need to give me this much money. You must have plenty of places to spend it too...”
“Please use it.”
“But...”
“I kept enough for myself, so you don’t need to worry. Gaeun’s college tuition won’t be a problem either.”
“T-tuition?!”
“Seriously, who asked you for help? I’m getting in on a full scholarship.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Anyway, stop worrying about me and try enjoying the fun of spending money for once.”
“Ho ho ho. What fun is there in spending money? I’m grateful enough that you two grew up to be decent people.”
His mother checked her phone screen once more.
Then, as though she had thought of something, she headed for the kitchen.
“No, you said to enjoy spending money, right? Mom’s treating today, so should we eat out? How about the beef place right in front of the house?”
“Beef?!”
Yoo Gaeun’s eyes lit up.
She sprang to her feet and immediately headed for the bathroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to go out!”
“We’re only going right in front of the house. What do you need to get ready for?”
“I can’t go out dressed like a beggar, unlike you!”
Yoo Gaeun slammed the bathroom door.
Yoo Kangmin looked down at his tracksuit.
“A beggar...?”
He sniffed himself.
He did not smell anything.
“Does she mean I look like someone from the Beggars’ Sect?”
Footnotes:
The Beggars’ Sect is a traditional martial-arts faction associated with beggars, which is why Kangmin interprets Gaeun calling his clothes “beggar-like” as a comparison to it.
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