Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

Kang Rahe, an A-class hunter from the Eternal Guild, was a somewhat peculiar person.

Unlike in the past, where there were clear limitations with prosthetic eyes, arms, and legs, the Earth of today, with the emergence of gates and the concepts of ability awakening and hunters, could regenerate new bodies whenever desired.

Although it was extremely expensive to hire a healer with such abilities, it was an amount that could be easily gathered if one was determined enough, especially for someone like Kang Rahe, who possessed overwhelmingly superior skills.

Despite this, she chose to keep her missing eye and arm as they were, without any intention of fixing them, which made her stand out even more. On top of that, she was naturally right-handed, but now used her left hand.

“Do you think she’ll become an S-class hunter soon?”

“Those strict people? It’s unlikely. How many people have failed the S-class hunter exam?”

“But isn’t it strange that they haven’t promoted someone like her?”

Not only that, but she was also incredibly skilled. Rumors were spreading that she would soon become the eighth S-class hunter in South Korea.

The A-class hunters who had initially thought of her as a parachuted insider no longer existed. Only an incredibly skilled hunter remained.

“Yes, I’m sure she can do it.”

Kang Yuna was confident. Although she couldn’t tell her colleagues the reason, she had heard it from her brother, who had connections with the guild masters of the Eternal Guild and had a particular dislike for men.

“That person? No one on Earth can beat her. I bet she’d be evenly matched with your guild masters. She’ll become an S-class soon. It’s a waste to keep her as an A-class.”

How could she tell them that she heard it from her brother.

“You’ve worked hard, Yuna.”

“You too, unni.”

Moreover, Kang Yuna had personally experienced and witnessed her incredible skills as they had hunted together.

Kang Rahe never struck the same monster twice. Her sword flowed like water, effortlessly slicing through bones, scales, and armor, and any monster that was struck by her sword never moved again.

On top of that, she didn’t allow a single attack to land on her, making it impossible not to believe her. Just look at the A-class gate they had just cleared.

“What will you do when you get back, unni?”

“Rest. I’ve worked hard, so I deserve it.”

Kang Yuna rolled her eyes internally as she watched Kang Rahe casually carry the salamander’s corpse with her bare hands, showing no signs of exhaustion.

True to its name, the fire salamander’s flames were so intense that ordinary flame-resistant armor was useless against it. Only those with equivalent abilities, like the ifrit or phoenix, could completely resist the flames and even touch its corpse.

If it had been an adult instead of a juvenile, the gate would have been upgraded to an S-class gate. Despite this, Kang Rahe was handling its corpse with her bare hands.

“A-class hunter Kang Yuna, A-class hunter Kang Rahe. We have confirmed the extermination of the salamander gate. Do you have any equipment to return?”

“No.”

“What? But neither of you have flame-related abilities… So, you exterminated a salamander without any flame-resistant equipment?”

The receptionist, who had initially been surprised to see the salamander’s corpse so cleanly cut, was now astonished to the point of disbelief as she inquired about equipment return.

The hunters gathered in the lobby started whispering among themselves. Kang Yuna, knowing their thoughts, smiled bitterly. Even she, who had witnessed it firsthand, found it hard to believe, so it was understandable that others would doubt her words.

“How did you do it, Hunter Yuna?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t know.”

While Kang Rahe was handling the paperwork to sell the salamander’s corpse, the receptionist quietly asked Kang Yuna. Kang Yuna had no answer for her either. It was simply because the hunter she had been with was ridiculously strong.

However, she was genuinely curious, so she devised a plan to take advantage of the human tendency to become more honest when drunk.

“Unni, do you have any hobbies?”

When the expensive liquor had gone around a few times, making everyone slightly tipsy, Kang Yuna cautiously brought up the topic.

“Hmm… I don’t really have any particular hobbies. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that I’ve never seen you do anything, and it’s a bit mysterious. Isn’t it strange that someone with no particular hobbies is so strong? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Ahaha… That’s true.”

Kang Rahe just laughed and drank her liquor, not revealing anything. It seemed the alcohol hadn’t kicked in yet. Kang Yuna ordered a stronger drink.

She needed to get her drunk enough to ask more probing questions.

“……”

However, despite Kang Yuna’s theoretically perfect plan, her wish never came true. As she drank to the point where her nose was about to twist, she stumbled out of the bar, half-conscious.

In the end, she didn’t get any proper answers. Although Kang Yuna was known to have a strong alcohol tolerance due to her awakened abilities, Kang Rahe’s drinking capacity seemed to have no limit.

Kang Yuna, who had drunk twice as much as her, only had a slight hint of alcohol on her breath and a slight flush on her cheeks. It was as if they were not the same species.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home?”

“It’s fine, really. No one will dare to touch me… If that were the case, I would have gotten married a long time ago.”

“That’s a bone-chilling statement. Alright, take care, Yuna. Be careful not to fall on your way home, and don’t fall asleep on the street. Oh, and please send my regards to Sung-ha.”

“Yes, yes. Don’t worry……?”

Kang Yuna, who had been about to leave, stopped in her tracks. Now that she thought about it, Kang Rahe had consistently asked about her brother’s well-being. Her brother, who had a notorious attitude, also seemed to be concerned about her.

He was the kind of guy who would ask about her well-being whenever he had the chance, as if he cared.

When they had told her that they had become closer, Kang Rahe had been so surprised that her eyes had widened. It was hard not to be suspicious.

“……Is there something between the two of them that I don’t know about?”

The suspicions that had been slowly building up were accelerated by the alcohol. It was clear that they knew each other, but it was unusual for someone to care so much about another person unless there was something more to their relationship.

Especially when it came to relationships between men and women.

“Could it be that they’re not just friends?”

Suddenly, a thought came to mind, and a shudder ran down my spine. What if the two of them were not just ordinary acquaintances, but actually had feelings for each other beyond friendship? After all, there’s the saying that there’s no such thing as ‘just friends’ when it comes to relationships between men and women.

Perhaps the woman my younger brother went on a date with was none other than Kang Rahe. The fact that he persistently refused to reveal anything despite my persistent inquiries, only telling me that things were going well, made me suspect that there might be something more to their relationship.

Under the influence of alcohol, my mind began to piece together a hypothesis. Everything seemed to fit perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle falling into place.

“Sister, I have a somewhat sensitive question for you.”

“What is it? If it’s something I can answer, I will.”

“Sister, do you like Sung-ah?”

I blatantly asked the question. It was a level of rudeness that I would never have dared under normal circumstances, but under the influence of alcohol, the words slipped out of my mouth with surprising ease.

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes.”

Kang Rahe’s reaction was unexpected. Instead of showing signs of embarrassment or discomfort, she simply widened her eyes in surprise, and then let out a burst of laughter.

“Pfft, that’s preposterous. It’s just that your younger brother is my savior.”

“Savior?”

“Yes. He showed me the path I should take, opened my eyes to things I hadn’t seen before, and helped me put down a burden I no longer needed to carry. Isn’t it natural for me to inquire about the well-being of such a person?”

‘That sounds like you like him quite a bit,’ I thought.

As Kang Yuna, thoroughly soaked in alcohol, indulged in these exaggerated thoughts, Kang Rahe patted her on the shoulder a couple of times, saying that she seemed quite drunk and should head back soon, before disappearing into the distance.

However, being under the influence of alcohol didn’t deter the fearless woman, who utilized the immense strength that was characteristic of her unique ability to arrive home in the blink of an eye. She locked herself in her room and took out her smartphone.

Fearing that her voice might be heard outside, she even pulled the blanket over her head as she made a call to an unknown number.

“Why are you calling at this hour?”

It was my younger brother.

Fortunately, it seemed like he was on Earth today. Usually, he would be in another world, claiming to be out of the coverage area and thus unreachable by phone.

“Was the woman you went on a date with last time Rahe? What’s your relationship with her? How far have you gone?”

“Just how drunk are you that I can smell the alcohol through the phone? If you’ve drunk that much, stop making calls and just go to sleep.”

Click. The call was ended without hesitation. Annoyed, I called again.

“Why are you calling again?”

Fortunately, he didn’t ignore my call this time. In a lowered voice, I shouted, “You jerk! Who told you to hang up on me?”

“If you’ve drunk that much, just go to sleep. Why are you making calls in the middle of the night?”

“I have something to say!”

“What, are you asking if I’m dating that person? Because you’re drunk and saying such nonsense, I’m not going to answerㅡ”

“Rahe, She’s a person from another world, right?”

“……”

There was an abrupt silence on the other end of the line. After a while, a much more cautious voice spoke.

“Why do you think so?”

Having realized the truth, Kang Yuna proudly continued, “Because you’re close to her!”

In fact, she had thought of a much more convincing reason on her way home, but under the influence of alcohol and the joy of victory, her brain didn’t care about such trivialities and proudly proclaimed her reasoning.

She had won, and her younger brother had lost. What did a mere reason matter in the face of victory?

“……”

Click. The call was ended again.

Kang Yuna, who had been reveling in the joy of victory under the blanket, fell asleep just like that.

.

.

.

“Younger brother, water…… water……”

I looked at Kang Yuna, who was groaning like a zombie from her hangover, with disdain and threw a plastic bottle at her.

“Here, drink this.”

“Guhhh……”

Ignoring my actions, Kang Yuna finished a 500ml bottle of water in one go and lay back down on the bed. I intentionally didn’t use healing magic on her. This was my revenge for making me come all the way here.

“Do you remember the conversation we had yesterday?”

“Conversation? What conversation……?”

I had expected him to finally realize what was going on, but the fact that he was acting like this made me exasperated.

“Sigh…… Never mind. Just tell me what your most recent memory is.”

“The memory of asking Rahe if she liked you while drinking……? No, was it after we drank and came out? I don’t really remember……”

“You even said that?”

He had caused all sorts of trouble everywhere. I shook my head in disbelief.

After throwing ten 500ml bottles of water on Kang Yuna’s head, who was whining for more water, I stepped out. My smartphone was ringing. It was an unknown number, and I was about to hang up, but I answered just in case.

“Sung-ah……?”

And then, out of the blue, I heard Rachel’s voice, which made me lose my words.

“Why are you calling from an unknown number instead of your phone? Did you lose it by squeezing it too hard by any chance?”

“……”

Had they become so close that she had learned unconsciously some behaviour from Kang Yuna?