SWNOVELXO Chapter 5 - Street Pickup for the Test (1)
Chapter 5 – Street Pickup for the Test (1)
His insides are burning up. But this was expected.
‘Just endure it once. Mother and father are here.’
Si-un muttered to himself.
He quietly puts food in his mouth and chews.
He can’t tell if he’s chewing food or rubber.
‘It’s been a while since eating at home felt this uncomfortable.’
A storm of self-doubt washes over him.
Second life?
Back then too, the relatives were like this.
The relatives treated Si-un, who had failed continuously until age thirty-four without seeing any light, as if they couldn’t wait to devour him.
Like he was an insect.
That’s why Si-un hated holidays more than any other days when he had to face his relatives.
Frowning deeply, Si-un picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of meat in his mouth.
With the feeling of sharp edges all around him, he can’t even taste the meat as he chews it.
‘Oh my… Brother-in-law.’
The eldest aunt called out to Si-un’s father, who was silently drinking soju.
‘Yes.’
‘Educate Si-un properly. Don’t just focus on making money. This is the most crucial period for him right now. How will he make a living in today’s world without even going to college.’
Gulp-
Si-un’s father takes another shot of soju with a gloomy expression.
‘Brother-in-law. Look at my son Tae-seok, and Tae-hoon, and Hye-won, and Dae-hwan. How successful they are. Are you going to let Si-un live in poverty like you?’
‘Please stop! Si-un will manage well on his own. He’s not a child anymore.’
‘Oh my… As if he would. When I looked in Si-un’s room, I couldn’t see any study books anywhere. Sigh. Brother-in-law. I never once opposed when you married my sister, but what is this? My sister who should be keeping house is now working herself to the bone with you.’
‘………’
Si-un’s mother intervened.
‘Oh, sister! Please stop. My husband works so hard. I brought the kids and my husband to have a good time with family. Sister, you should stop now.’
At Si-un’s mother’s words, the eldest aunt frowns and closes her mouth for a moment.
Lee Si-un wanted to storm out of there right away.
While he could barely endure being looked down upon himself, he couldn’t stand seeing his father being humiliated like this.
‘Father…’
The eldest aunt always looked down on Si-un’s family.
For the single reason that they lived in poverty due to lack of money.
‘As if being poor is a deadly sin.’
Though he didn’t want to eat at all, he endured.
Hye-won, with a face as hard as stone, stared at Si-un as he forced down his food.
‘At least you eat well. Yes… you should at least do that well. Eat up?’
‘Hahaha!!’
‘Yes, at least eat a lot, hahaha.’
At Hye-won’s sharp comment, the cousins burst into laughter.
They say even dogs aren’t disturbed while eating.
‘I can’t take this anymore. Are these people really my relatives, my own flesh and blood?’
Si-un’s lips moved.
‘I will make sure to go to college on my own terms. If you’re my relatives and my elders, then act like it.’
‘What? Ha. What did you just say?’
The atmosphere turned cold in an instant. Angry eyes, including those of Tae-seok, Tae-hoon, and Hye-won, turned toward Si-un.
‘How dare you talk back to us, your elders, with such disrespect? Are you proud of being ill-mannered?’
At Hye-won’s sharp words, Si-un’s father spoke.
‘That’s enough!’
Only then did Hye-won close her mouth.
This time, Tae-hyung thrust his face toward Si-un.
‘Hey you. How dare you talk back so rudely when your elders are kindly giving you advice?’
‘I appreciate advice and guidance once, but this is going too far.’
‘W-what did you say?’
This time Tae-seok glared and asked again.
Si-un stood up.
‘I’m finished eating, I’ll take my leave.’
Tae-hyung glared at him.
‘Insolent brat. Don’t you know the adults aren’t done eating yet? And what did you just say? Say it again.’
‘………’
‘You’re not going to answer?’
A murderous look flashed in Tae-hyung’s eyes.
‘Please finish your meal.’
‘This ill-mannered kid really doesn’t listen.’
Si-un clenched his molars. Then he turned to look at his father.
Seeing his father’s expression, silently enduring with soju while hiding his indignation, Si-un felt a lump in his throat.
He felt hot tears about to spill from his eyes.
That’s when it happened.
‘Si-un! Go to your room first and rest comfortably.’
It was his father’s voice.
His father’s voice, tinged with sorrow, sounded so sad in his ears.
Unable to watch his son endure more humiliation, he was silently downing soju.
‘Father. I’ll rise up so our family won’t be looked down on anymore. I won’t fail in this life.’
Tears were about to fall from his eyes.
But he held them back, thinking that showing tears here would only make him more of a laughingstock to his relatives.
As Si-un was about to open his room door, cutting words stabbed his heart from behind.
‘Lee Si-un, that kid is really something else.’
‘Did you see how he glared at me just now?’
‘There’s no hope for that one.’
Click.
Si-un closed the door and flopped down on the bed.
‘Did I harm those people because I didn’t go to college, because I’m unemployed? Those people who call themselves relatives! The ones who didn’t help with a single penny when our family was struggling.’
Si-un had quite a complicated family history. He wasn’t just some fool who didn’t go to college because he didn’t want to.
He immediately pulled the blanket up over his face.
He tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to fall.
While Si-un could certainly endure personal insults.
He never expected his eldest aunt to humiliate and shame his father like this, right in front of him.
‘Maybe I should change my car. Should I switch from the Porsche to a modest Mercedes? The convertible is too cold to drive now anyway.’
Through the door, he could hear his cousins’ giggling voices.
He covered his ears with his hands.
‘I will definitely succeed. The humiliation that father and I endured. I’ll pay it back in full once I succeed. Father… please wait a little longer. I… can do it.’
He would definitely pay them back within the next year.
He would crush them with double what they had done to him.
He bit down hard on his lower lip.
Click!
Suddenly, the TV turned on by itself.
Si-un must have accidentally pressed the remote control button with his back while lying down.
-This is it! This is SS-rank Hunter Park Tae-seok’s house. Wow! What an incredible luxury mansion!
-I try to live modestly.
He fixed his gaze on the TV that was faintly audible.
From the TV came the voice of the famous SS-rank Hunter Park Tae-seok.
And behind him, the screen showed a large mansion with a swimming pool and spa, followed by an array of gleaming supercars he owned.
SS-rank Hunter Park Tae-seok.
As the first person in our country to achieve SS-rank Hunter status.
He was already more famous than most top actors.
Moreover, his estimated wealth is believed to be several hundred million dollars.
Major corporate sponsors line up for him, and he’s an incredibly influential figure in society.
In short, a walking corporation.
He even travels with at least five personal bodyguards.
On screen, he smiles as he gets into his luxury British car, a Rolls-Royce.
-I bought this car recently on an impulse. The ride quality turned out to be better than expected.
-You bought such a car just because of an impulse?
-Yes, I saw someone driving this car on TV. I immediately went and bought it after seeing that.
-A car that ordinary people can’t even dream of… Tae-seok speaks about it so casually? As expected, being a Hunter, the most respected profession in society, is different.
-It’s not like that…
-But, Tae-seok, this is something many people want to know, what’s your annual salary? Is it a secret?
-I can’t say exactly, but I make enough to buy several cars like this each month and still have some left over.
-Wow… This car alone must cost at least 5 billion won. As expected of an SS-rank Hunter.
Park Tae-seok would eventually handle Myeolrong, the strongest ancient dragon among the dragon clan, the most brilliant of the future dragon clan. And from what was remembered of his final appearance, he gradually revealed his hidden ambitions and rose to become the overwhelming number one in the world.
Si-un’s eyes gleamed as he fixed his gaze on Tae-seok.
Yes, Hunter. In this life, I too will become that Hunter. I failed when I tried in my past life. But this time I can do it. Why? Because I have abilities that others don’t.
Plus, because I was a Hunter fanatic, I know all the information about the future.
Si-un tightly closed his eyes and recalled the contents of the books he had read at the bookstore today with grave determination.
All those dense contents described in the books float above his head.
‘Come back to me. All the contents I read at the bookstore today!’
He dreams of a brilliant future.
Lee Si-un.
Once again challenges the dream of becoming a Hunter!
This third life will never be lived pathetically.
And he will change the catastrophic future of the Association.
***
Several days later.
How long had he been asleep?
His eyes naturally opened to the warm sunlight filtering through.
Turning his gaze to the desk, he saw the book he had been using for speed reading practice over the past few days lying open.
‘Is it morning?’
He peered at the phone screen sitting alone on the desk.
-10:15 AM.
While scratching his messy hair, a book on the desk catches his eye.
The book he bought from the bookstore when he reunited with Se-jeong.
Si-un was particularly interested in the book dealing with body signal theory.
Body signals.
The unconscious physical signals that people display when experiencing certain emotions.
‘If I learn this, I wonder if I can actually apply it with my eyes? First, I need to experiment if this is possible with these eyes.’
What if.
If he could apply this in real situations?
It would really expand the scope of what Si-un is capable of doing significantly.
He opened the book first.
The vast number of pages.
Flip-flip-
The sound of turning pages echoed rhythmically.
‘Okay! I’ve read it all!’
Speed reading in 5 minutes.
However, Si-un opened the book once again.
To review because there was so much to memorize.
And so an hour passed.
During that hour, Si-un.
Read this book completely ten times.
After repeated readings, the contents of the book were firmly etched in his mind.
For an ordinary person, it would take at least two weeks to properly read and memorize all these books.
A slight smile crept across his lips.
‘I don’t just have speed reading ability. No matter how much text I take in with my eyes, they don’t get tired.’
‘And through the effect of review, I’ve perfectly stored the contents of this book in my brain. Body signals. It’s an amazing theory that can read people’s minds….’
Body signals.
While people can lie with their words, their bodies cannot lie.
Si-un had a clear reason for investing time to acquire this tight theory.
It was to read people’s emotions through this knowledge.
What if it were an ordinary person?
Even with all this theoretical knowledge, reading people’s emotions like mind reading would be impossible.
But Si-un is different.
Because he realized that after that strange experience when leaving the hospital a few days ago, he had gained eyes with insight incomparable to ordinary people.
‘I’ve gained the knowledge. Now all that’s left is to gain experience. Then… shall we move on to practical application?’
Could he really read human emotions and psychology through body signal theory?
And in practice at that?
Becoming a hunter had become his goal.
However, before that, he wanted to clearly understand how far he could utilize these eyes.
If he could utilize that ability with these eyes?
It would help with all aspects of Si-un’s life.
Therefore,
He had to put studying aside temporarily and experiment.
He changed clothes to go out.
However, instead of his usual comfortable, shabby style of clothes, he put on a sophisticated and neat style of clothing.
‘Today, I’m going to look stylish.’
After adjusting his clothes this way and that, he began examining his face in the mirror.
With harmonious features that weren’t overly showy, and the weapon of fair skin, Si-un’s appearance was enough to attract the opposite sex.
After grooming himself as if suddenly going on a blind date, he grabbed his wallet and headed outside.
The place he arrived at was a busy street in Sinchon.
As office workers’ quitting time came, the streets became crowded with people.
Si-un looked around.
He began observing mainly women walking on the street, and it was amazing.
He could take in the expressions and attire of dozens of people at a glance.
Truly remarkable eyes.
‘Hunting is perfect for testing body signals! Why? I approach a woman, catch their mind through the body signals they immediately show. Then I make my move. That way, I can immediately know if my assessment was correct…’
Si-un had dressed up like this today for hunting.
He walked down the street with wide eyes.
A woman with pretty hips in hot pants was trudging along.
‘Target spotted.’
Si-un immediately approached her.
As if there wasn’t any embarrassment at all.
“Excuse me… I’m sorry but…”
“Yes?”
Si-un spoke and deliberately paused.
In that brief moment, he observed her physical reactions and changes in expression.
Surprisingly, her subtle changes in expression were clearly visible.
‘Pupils not dilated. No visible muscle movement. Plus, there’s no change in this woman’s heart rate. No slight ripple in the left chest where the heart is…. Minimal physical response even though a strange man suddenly approached her. In conclusion, this woman has no interest in me. Should I confirm it?’
Si-un finished his thought and asked.
“Ah… I’m sorry for approaching you so suddenly. I’m not usually the type to talk to strangers, but when I saw you walking from afar… I was interested in you.”
Though Si-un continued boldly, the woman snorted dismissively without even listening to his full statement.
“I’m not interested. I’m busy.”
The woman raised her right hand, signaling him not to speak further, and haughtily walked away.
Though it could have been a humiliating and somewhat embarrassing situation.
A sense of satisfaction washed over him.
Rather, he felt excited at the thought that he had correctly read the woman’s thoughts by applying body signal theory.
‘Good, I was right! But I can’t be certain with just one attempt. It could have just been a coincidence…’
The sun was setting, and pitch-black night was approaching.
The neon signs of stores illuminated the streets of Sinchon brilliantly.
Si-un stepped into the convenience store that appeared before him.
“One Parliament Light, please.”
“That’ll be 4,500 won.”
While receiving the cigarettes from the part-timer, he noticed the lottery tickets stacked beside the counter.
Si-un clenched his molars.
‘If the world followed the same pattern, I could easily become rich by memorizing a few lottery numbers and going back in time…. What a shame.’
He left the convenience store.
While exhaling murky cigarette smoke and smoking.
He felt someone’s intense gaze.
Si-un instinctively turned his head in that direction.
At that moment, he saw a woman who had been staring at him intently.
The moment their eyes met, she quickly turned away, avoiding his gaze.
‘Oh ho.’
Wine-red striking hair color.
And a tattoo engraved beside her neckline.
The woman wearing a shirt that clearly exposed her cleavage and navel appeared quite attractive.
Si-un recalled that momentary instance in his mind.
‘That woman…. Her pupils trembled when our eyes met, her lips curved up simultaneously. Plus, she brushed her side hair behind her ear.’
‘The book stated that women instinctively want to expose their neckline in front of men they’re attracted to. That’s why they develop the habit of brushing their hair back. She didn’t turn away because she was embarrassed when our eyes met.’
I wonder if she’ll show a positive response to me?
Let’s go find out.