Retire 300

300 Future Hopes (1)

“What is this supposed to be?!”

“Does Mr. Woo think we’re elementary schoolers or something?”

“Do elementary schoolers even do this kind of thing these days?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.”

Amid the children’s grumbling, Yoo Hyeun switched colored pencils, smiling brightly.

“But it’s fun, isn’t it? I haven’t done something like this in ages.”

“That’s because you already know exactly what you want to do!”

But Yoo Hyeun’s words only drew complaints from the others. She just shrugged.

“That’s only because you all go through life without thinking.”

“…Wow, chills! You sounded just like Mr. Woo just now.”

“If you don’t like it, maybe try thinking once in a while?”

“Stop it!!”

It was impossible to tell if Soon Soonjin was annoyed or about to burst out laughing as she shouted.

Yoo Hyeun burst into laughter at Soonjin’s shudder. Soonjin, on the verge of tears, stared down at the paper on her desk.

[Let’s draw what we’ll look like in the future]

What even is this…?

[Imagine what you’ll be doing in the future and draw it ^^]

The overly friendly explanation just made it more irritating.

Wasn’t this the kind of activity Mr. Woo would give to his much younger sibling? Is this even a real assignment? Well, since it’s at school, it must be.

Soon Soonjin frowned at the blank sheet in front of her.

Fine. She understood why the teacher kept emphasizing this. She knew why he made them follow a standard curriculum like a regular high school. She knew that life’s choices weren’t always set in stone.

Her father had always told her the same thing. Life could go anywhere, in any direction. He’d say, “When I was your age, I never imagined I’d have a job like this.”

But that was that, and this was this.

Mr. Woo had even given them colored pencils. Drawing was hard enough, and now they had to color, too?

Does he really think we’re little kids?!

Thud!

Soon Soonjin banged her head on the desk and flailed.

“Isn’t the career plan enough?!”

“Don’t be grumpy just because you can’t draw.”

“That’s not it! And I’m not ashamed of my drawings!”

“You should be.”

At her childhood friend Lee Seungyeon’s words, Soonjin lifted her head and pointed at Oh Hyunwook.

“He gets by shamelessly—why can’t I?!”

“…Why me?”

“She’s got a point.”

“Why am I even in this?”

“Should we ask the principal to add an art class?”

“Leave me out of this…”

Oh Hyunwook’s words went unheard by the other two.

After a few more minutes of bickering, the conversation ended with Lee Seungyeon pointing out Soonjin’s still-blank paper.

Soonjin banged her head on the desk again.

“We already had one-on-one counseling! What else does he want from us?!”

“Well, you had counseling, so now you need to show the results.”

Unlike the suffering Soonjin, Lee Seungyeon’s hand moved confidently. He nodded in satisfaction, apparently pleased with his own drawing of his future self.

“And it’s not like Mr. Woo asked for anything big. He just said to imagine yourself five years from now.”

“What’s the point…? We’ll all be Hunters by then anyway.”

“I’m going to college. Five years from now, I’ll probably be a college student.”

“Didn’t you graduate by then? Going to the army? Can’t you delay it if you go into a dungeon once a year?”

“No, I want to go backpacking. For about a year? So I’d still be a student.”

“Just because you go to college doesn’t mean you can’t be a Hunter…”

“But I’ll be a student. Not a Hunter who’s also a student, but a student who does Hunter work once a year. That’s my plan.”

“Oh…”

Soonjin looked at Seungyeon in surprise. She knew he was passionate about his club-slash-guild—she’d gotten excited and joined in, too. She’d even heard him say he’d build a guild so great it would put his aunt to shame. She’d even cheered him on.

Having followed her father around since she was little, Soonjin knew Seungyeon’s abilities better than anyone. Her father tried to hold his tongue in front of his daughter, but sometimes things slipped out.

‘That Seungyeon kid… not really Hunter material… tsk.’

So when he started talking about guilds, Soonjin had felt relieved.

But knowing Seungyeon’s stubbornness, she hadn’t thought he’d give up on the Hunter dream so easily…

Soonjin sneaked a look at Seungyeon’s paper. His vision of himself as a fourth-year college student: sitting at a desk piled high with books, studying… Why did he draw a soju bottle next to the books?

Soonjin shook her head.

No, actually, it was good for Seungyeon to aim for such an ordinary college life. Mr. Woo always emphasized this, too.

It’s not good to underestimate yourself, but it’s better than overestimating. If you can’t properly judge your own abilities, it’s better to underestimate. He’d say Seungyeon’s skills were so unremarkable he couldn’t even clear a pixie dungeon.

‘…Did he really have to use the pixie dungeon as an example?’

The students who’d failed to clear the pixie dungeon had all shrunk in their seats. Only Kang Taewoo and Yoo Jieun, who didn’t know the details, sat there clueless.

Anyway, even in Soonjin’s eyes, Seungyeon’s skills weren’t great. The other friends might not say it, but they thought the same. He’d run away from home and done some weird things, but it was a relief that he’d set his sights on building a guild instead of stubbornly trying to become a Hunter. Truly.

Soonjin looked to the other side. Yoo Hyeun was drawing herself in a white coat.

“What’s that? Are you a doctor?”

“Huh? No, a med student.”

Thinking of Hyeun’s grades, Soonjin nodded. She could probably make it into med school…

“But do you wear a coat?”

“You have to for clinicals, right?”

“I guess…”

Well, a future doctor would know better than she would. Soonjin looked at Hyeun’s drawing of herself five years from now, wearing a white coat. Honestly, it wasn’t well drawn, but the smiling face somehow resembled Hyeun. Well, it should, since it was a drawing of her.

The other kids might not have had the same certainty as Seungyeon and Hyeun, but they were drawing something.

The mages, Park Seohyun and Choi Jinwoo, weren’t exactly helpful as references. Choi Jinwoo was drawing himself in a ridiculous star-patterned wizard hat, like something out of a comic book, but at least it was clear what he meant. He was a mage, after all.

Park Seohyun’s drawing was similar to Jinwoo’s, except a bit more realistic.

“…I’m going to get revenge on that old man who laughed at Grandpa’s magic.”

She was muttering something a little scary.

“But Jieun, what are you drawing?”

“Huh?”

“A Hunter? The teacher said not to draw Hunters.”

“Oh, this isn’t a Hunter!”

Yoo Jieun held out her half-finished paper.

“It’s me learning spear techniques from Mr. Woo!”

“…A spear?”

“Didn’t you see Mr. Woo using a spear on the field the other day? He was so cool. I want to try that, too.”

“Hm…”

Watching her, Soonjin realized just how much Mr. Woo had watched over them. But to Jieun, it must have looked different.

Soonjin cheered her on.

“Yeah… Give it your best shot.”

“Okay!”

If Jieun’s drawing wasn’t what she’d expected but didn’t surprise her, Kang Taewoo’s picture was both unexpected and startling.

“…Who’s that?”

“Huh? My little sister.”

“You have a sister?”

“She went to America.”

“…Really America?”

“Is there a fake America? She’s coming to Korea soon. Then we can live together.”

“……”

Seems like his family situation is complicated… Soonjin decided not to ask any more.

Han Eunyoung’s drawing looked like she was living a college life, much like Seungyeon’s.

Soonjin looked at Seo Hanseong’s drawing with a bit of hope. She’d never heard him talk about what he wanted to be. At most, he’d mentioned being a Hunter.

But Soonjin’s hopes were dashed.

“……”

“Huh? What?”

“What’s this? Cafeteria duty?”

“I’m volunteering in the cafeteria.”

“…Volunteering?”

“Volunteering is good, right?”

“Well, sure, but…”

Seo Hanseong spoke with a face that had grown much more mature lately.

“I want to start with small things.”

“……”

Is that really something to say here?

I don’t get it… Soonjin edged away from Hanseong.

“And it helps with my resume.”

“…For what?”

“I need a good job.”

“A job? Not becoming a Hunter?”

“I’ll do that, too.”

Do you need volunteer hours to get into a good guild these days?

Soonjin tilted her head. The master never said anything about that.

“You can find something else that suits you.”

She remembered what Mr. Woo had said in the counseling room.

Something else? Something else… Now?

When Soonjin awakened as a child and was training with her father, Im Miseon had said,

“My goodness, Soonjin! If you don’t know what you want to do when you grow up, do you want to join my guild? I just started one, and if you joined…”

“What are you saying, bringing a kid into this?”

“Come on, look at Soonjin! She’s going to be something special. I’m just staking my claim early.”

“Will you pay her well?”

“Of course! What do you take me for? Soonjin, how about it? Auntie will take good care of you.”

“She can do what she wants.”

“Soonjin, you have to join my guild, okay?”

Soonjin knew Im Miseon never made empty promises. It wasn’t just something she said to her niece’s friend—every year, the offer got more and more specific.

It just meant she was a talent worth scouting, right?

Im Miseon’s words had become a source of confidence for Soonjin—enough that she called her “Master.”

So Soonjin had never imagined a future where she didn’t work at Im Miseon’s guild, Dasun.

Even when she entered the pilot high school, she’d asked Im Miseon,

“Then, if I graduate from that school, can I join the guild right away?”

“If you want to, Soonjin.”

Of course she wanted to.

The only thing that made Soonjin hesitate was Seungyeon. It would be nice if they could join Dasun together…

That’s why she was glad when Seungyeon started getting into the guild idea.

“……”

But I’m not supposed to become a Hunter.

And I don’t want to go to college like the others.

In the end, when Mr. Woo came back to collect the papers, Soonjin hadn’t drawn anything.

She felt bad for making the other kids uncomfortable. She just sat at her desk, her eyes stinging. She knew it wasn’t something to cry over, but feelings aren’t so easily controlled.

Mr. Woo checked the other kids’ drawings.

“…Jieun, what on earth did you draw?”

Muttering in confusion over Jieun’s picture, he turned to Soonjin.

“Soon Soonjin?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“…For not doing anything.”

“That happens.”

“……”

Soonjin looked up. She’d expected him to be blunt as usual, or to scold her for not even managing to draw something, but Mr. Woo just smiled gently.

“It’s always hard to figure out what you want to do. The others are the weird ones.”