"W-what the. Why are we here?"
"What do you mean why? Our dear friend here was so cooped up in her room, not even buying clothes, that I came to buy some for you, obviously."
"Ah, what are you talking about, let's just hurry up and go to school."
"Don't be ridiculous. Hey. Do you know how much your mother begged me? She said everything else is fine, just please make sure she lives like a normal person."
"Ugh."
"Well, looking at you now, I wouldn't blame your mom if she chewed us both out."
Hearing that shut me right up.
Even if I came back to the modern world and lived without much awareness of being a woman, this was too much.
Isn't this basically asking my friend to be my nanny?
"We're not buying a lot, let's just get one or two outfits."
"...Alright."
"Besides, isn't it a waste to just hide yourself away when you finally became a pretty girl?"
"Ugh, what crap. I told you not to say stuff like that."
Walking like that, we headed towards the first clothing store we saw.
As we went inside, a clerk greeted us energetically, saying, "Welcome!"
I don't know if they'll suit me, but there are a lot of pretty clothes here.
"Well, go ahead and pick something. I'll at least try on whatever you choose."
"Really? Then should we go over there instead of here?"
But indeed, picking out clothes in an offline store like this was something a natural-born outsider couldn't handle.
A homebody like Eun-ha just gets dizzy the moment she steps outside.
Why did he have to drag me here?
"Jin-wook, are you maybe desperate for a girl? But even so, don't you think I'm a bit... not the right choice?"
"No, not there, you idiot."
That's why I figured Jin-wook, who's much more of an insider than me, would know better and asked him to pick out clothes instead.
Jin-wook pointed his finger towards a stall displaying cheap clothes in front of a general store.
Of course, I saw the underwear shop next to it and cracked a joke.
"Ah. So it's true that when someone's really pretty, friendship goes out the window...."
But seeing the look of genuine disgust in Jin-wook's eyes, I shut my mouth with a whimper.
If I joked around any longer, it felt like my friend might actually get mad.
"Sorry."
"Hey. Objectively, I admit you're pretty, but seeing how you act at home, I don't really see you as a girl, you know?"
"What? How could you look at me and think that...."
"Maybe I should just tell your mother how you're really living."
"Jin-wook, instead of calling my parents, how about we talk this out?"
And besides the anger...
If my parents found out I was skipping school to play games at home, they obviously wouldn't let me off easy.
If I didn't want to get caught, I had no choice but to shut up at his words.
"Do I really need to get dragged off to the countryside even though I have an S-rank Hunter title?"
"Looking at how you act, maybe you should."
"And I call this guy my friend....."
"Wanna try this on?"
Jin-wook, having apparently picked out clothes in the meantime, handed me a coordinated set.
It was an outfit more suited for early winter than late fall.
Moreover, rather than the fresh style of a twenty-year-old, the clothes he held had more of an older-sister, 'returning student' vibe.
"Yeah. Wait a sec."
I took the clothes from him and went into the fitting room.
A moment ago, I felt like there was no way I could go to school looking like this, but looking in the mirror, I could see just how shabby I currently looked.
"Wow, this is seriously amazing."
Marveling at my current appearance in a different sense, I quickly stripped off everything except the t-shirt and underwear I had on underneath.
Then, I put on the beige cotton pants, layered a shirt underneath, and slipped on the ivory knit sweater.
The sloppy, dried-fish woman was gone, and in the mirror stood an older-sister type who looked kinda hard to approach.
"Done?"
"As expected, my eyes weren't wrong."
"That's just 'cause I make the clothes look good."
Jin-wook chuckled at my words.
But honestly, isn't it true?
This blessed body of mine somehow maintained its figure without any special care, my skin is good, and my features are quite defined.
Not only that, but isn't my chest pretty big too?
Anyway, it's the kind of body that has all the necessary elements for beauty.
"Sigh, becoming a Hunter just made you more full of yourself. We'll take these as they are, I'll pay here."
"Yes, I'll ring you up."
Then Jin-wook casually pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to the clerk.
Just as I was about to turn and leave, thinking we should hurry to school, I heard from behind, "Um, excuse me sir, this card is coming up as over the limit..."
"What? That can't be right."
"It's the same even if I try again."
No way, that card.
Thinking 'no way', I turned my gaze, saw the card in the clerk's hand, and got ready to make a run for it.
But I couldn't escape, grabbed by the scruff of my neck by Jin-wook's hand, which was faster than light.
"Excuse me, S-rank Hunter-nim?"
"Y-yes?"
"How could this happen? For an S-rank, money should be rolling in."
Hearing Jin-wook's chilling voice, I started sweating bullets.
If he finds out here that I spent it all on microtransactions in games, I'm...!
"Ah, about that, Jin-wook-nim."
"You spent it on microtransactions again, didn't you? Or bought game packs."
"Please don't tell Mom...!"
"Yep, I'm telling her. I'll buy the clothes, so just wear them, and let's take a little trip down to your parents' place."
"No!"
* * *
"Damn it, Jung Jin-wook, that rotten bastard."
I lay sprawled on the lecture hall desk, cursing the unseen Jin-wook.
Thanks to that jerk telling Mom I spent all my money on game microtransactions, I got chewed out big time.
I almost got dragged off to the countryside.
'If you keep this up, I might just come down there and shove you into the local defense force!'
Mom's final words were genuinely terrifying.
Of course, since I'm an S-rank Hunter, the country wouldn't just stick valuable manpower like me into some local defense force.
But my mother was the type of person who could chase off any government clerk or whatever...
"Hey, was there someone like that in our department?"
"I know, right? First time seeing her."
"Isn't that her, Hwang Eun-ha?"
How long had I waited like that?
Gradually, students started coming in, and soon, those who recognized me began to appear, bringing the lecture hall slowly back to life.
Comments also arose about how the girl who usually just wore hoodies suddenly came dressed properly.
"Ah, Hwang Eun-ha?"
"She skipped class so much I thought she was on academic probation, but I guess not."
Haaah.
This is why I didn't want to come to school.
This kind of excessive attention doesn't suit a natural-born outsider like me at all.
I got enough attention back in the day, that was plenty.
'I wanna go home.....'
As I lifted my body from its slumped position and stretched, I felt stares from all around for some reason.
Having been a guy once, I kind of knew why.
Anyway, it wasn't a good feeling.
"Oh, Eun-ha, hi! Long time no see?"
While fiercely feeling the urge to go home in my heart.
While seriously flipping a coin in my head about whether to jump out that window right now.
I heard a man's voice from the front, greeting me familiarly by name.
"Not joining your guild."
"What the heck, I just said hi and you shoot me down immediately?"
"Not joining your guild."
Kang Tae-woo.
He attracts the gazes of female students at my university.
But he brushed off all their advances and, at one point, persistently followed me around, trying to get me to join his guild. This annoying guy also showed up.
Honestly, for me, who just wants to live quietly, 90% of the reason I hate coming to school is this guy right in front of me.
"What, got a problem?"
"No, but I do have water."
"Can I kill you?"
"I'll pass on that. If an S-rank gets hurt killing an A-rank, that in itself is a huge loss of combat power."
What the hell is this guy talking about.....
I rested my chin on my hand, adopting a 'Go on, spit it out. I'm sure it's bullshit, but I'll at least listen' posture.
Kang Tae-woo made a face that made me want to smack him right then and there, saying, "That look kinda hurts, you know."
"Guess an A-rank dying isn't considered a loss, huh?"
"Whoa, why are you being so scary?"
"Just saying."
I said that and pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Thanks to bringing a portable battery this time too, this should be enough to roughly kill time during the lecture.
My attitude might seem a bit delinquent in the eyes of the professors, but I'm the kind of existence even the country doesn't mess with easily.
And from the school's perspective, having me around is beneficial, so they probably won't say much.
"Hey, Kang Tae-woo."
"Yeah?"
"Let me say it again, I'm not interested in raiding monsters or whatever the hell. Even if my abilities are strong, you should probably just think of it as pearls before swine."
"Hmm, I wonder."
Kang Tae-woo gave a meaningful smile at my question.
I shouldn't have fought in front of that guy.
"Anyone who saw you fight wouldn't think that."
"Hey."
"Honestly, I've kept quiet because you hate being asked why you fight so well, but I'm still curious about it."
I shut my mouth at Kang Tae-woo's words.
The reason I didn't want to come to school wasn't anything special.
I just want to live quietly now.
But this guy, Kang Tae-woo, kept trying to mess up that life.
If he'd at least approached me with some hidden lust, trying to get something out of it, I could have shut him down decisively.
He talks about the guild and whatnot.
But that wasn't Kang Tae-woo's real intention.
"Well, you wouldn't tell me even if I asked."
"You still remember what happened back then?"
"Of course, I do. How could I forget? Who was it that blocked the blade right before it pierced my heart?"
I was his lifesaver.
And this guy, Kang Tae-woo, quickly climbed the ranks to an executive position in the guild and was doing this supposedly to make my life a bit easier.
Knowing his intentions, how could I just push him away completely?
"Just forget about it already. Back then, I wasn't specifically trying to save you."
A Trick-type Gate.
Back when Kang Tae-woo was still in high school, he attempted to raid a Trick-type Gate with his guild members, failed, and was about to lose his life to the boss in the boss room. At that moment, someone intervened, and he barely escaped with his life.
In the Hunter industry, it's the kind of story you'd call lucky.
Was it about a year after I came home?
A Gate had opened near the neighborhood I lived in at the time.
Since I was a minor back then, even as an S-rank, the Association had no authority to force me to deploy.
As a backup plan, the Association put the raid rights for that Gate up for auction, and the winning bid went to the guild Kang Tae-woo belonged to at the time.
Of course, the result, as mentioned before, was a complete failure of the raid.
Thanks to that, the Gate was ultimately about to break open.
Unable to just stand by and watch that happen, I personally stepped in and barely managed to prevent the Gate break. Saving Kang Tae-woo wasn't really my intention.
It was just something that happened in the process of stopping the Gate break.
"How could I forget? The only reason I'm alive now is thanks to you."
"Right. And thanks to the mask I was wearing getting knocked off, you're here annoying the hell out of me now."
"Hunters always repay their debts, don't you know?"
"Yeah, I don't know, so please get lost."
It was then.
Perhaps because it was time for the lecture to start, the front door of the classroom opened, and the professor came in, telling the students, "Alright, everyone, please take your seats."
Kang Tae-woo, who had been sitting backwards the whole time, said smoothly, "Well then, I'll just listen to the lecture and then get lost," finally turning to face the front and sit properly.
I felt like talking to him had completely drained all my energy, letting out a long sigh, "Haaah."
'He'd actually be a pretty good guy if he wasn't so annoying.'
Resting my chin on one arm on the table.
I briefly had that thought while looking at the guy facing forward.
Anyway, in the Hunter industry, being saved by a colleague is pretty common, right?
It's just that the circumstances back then were a bit dramatic.
"Hwang Eun-ha."
"Here."
"Oh, Student Hwang Eun-ha is here too. I was worried since I hadn't seen you after the second lecture...."
"Sorry. I've been a bit busy lately....."
"Still, as a student, I hope you'll attend regularly. Next, Hwang Jin-yi...."