"Ughhh...."
I totally dozed off during the lecture—haven't been to one in ages—and the moment it ended, I stretched big time right outside the classroom.
My body doesn't even feel this stiff after wrecking a dungeon.
Yeah, lectures forced on students who don't wanna study are basically top-tier sleeping pills.
'Guess I'll just go home and finish my game.'
Thinking that, I started walking slowly.
I was walking with my phone in hand, watching a streamer playing the game I play.
[Demon Impact! The demon's power explodes! Feels refreshing!], that kind of stream.
From someone playing a character who casually spouts cheesy lines you could never say in real life.
– Shit, can you please turn off the character voice? I don't have earphones, and it's embarrassing out here.
I sent the streamer a donation along with my little request.
Then the streamer went, [Woooooah! Alheim, thanks for the 30,000 won! Turn off the character voice? No way. I'm gonna do it even more!], and proceeded to.
Spam the skill that triggers the "Feels refreshing!" voice line.
That son of a bitch.
I really wanted to tear him limb from limb right then and there.
But I gotta hold back for now.
I decided I'd think about getting revenge when I got home, and just kept walking.
"Heh heh...."
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, grinning like an idiot thinking about killing that guy later.
As I was heading towards the main gate to go home, I heard a "Hey," from behind, stopped, and turned around.
"Yeah?"
"You're really pretty, so, uh, could I maybe get your number?"
"I have a boyfriend."
"Aw, come on, even if you have a boyfriend, you can still give me your number, right?"
It was some guy from school I'd never seen before.
Being hit on wasn't exactly something I wanted to deal with, having turned female after being male, but I thought I was being reasonably polite.
"Haaah."
"Huh? Why the sudden sigh?"
"Because I don't want to give you my number, so piss off. Do I really have to spell it out for you?"
You get guys like this sometimes.
The ones who don't get that saying "I have a boyfriend" is a polite way of saying no.
The types who just keep clinging on stubbornly.
Whenever that happens, I usually just shut them down hard by being blunt.
"Tch, think you can do anything 'cause you're pretty?"
I was used to hearing stuff like that too.
So what if people say I've got no manners?
Dealing with it like this makes things easier later on.
"Yeah, being pretty is everything~."
The guy probably couldn't hear me as he walked off towards his friends, already badmouthing me.
Still, I yelled something childish at his back that would definitely piss him off if he heard it.
Whatever. If they found out who I used to be, they'd either avoid me calling me a pervert, or hit on me saying "You used to be a guy? Even better," right?
'Good thing I have psychokinesis.'
An unpleasant memory from the past almost surfaced, but I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.
Let's just hurry home and crush that streamer guy.
Thinking that, I quickened my pace.
Until my phone suddenly vibrated, blaring an alert about a Gate appearing nearby.
"What the."
A Gate, right when I was about to head home?
This feels like bad news.
Two dungeons in one day is way too much... Just as I was wondering if I really had to go.
Right on cue, I got a call from a woman named Yoo Hayoung.
[Hunter-niiiiim!]
"Ack, thought my ear was gonna burst."
[Oops! Sorry. But did you see the alert?]
Looks like she called seeing my current location, since it popped up near the school I attend.
Damn location tracking permission.
"Yeah. So, what, you want me to go?"
[Ehehe, but you're an S-rank Hunter. Since you're close by, could you please handle this one?]
I let out a small sigh, making sure she couldn't hear it over the phone.
If it weren't for that Gate that appeared near my house back then, I'd just refuse requests like this.
"Haaah, I was too naive back then, shouldn't have fallen for your smooth talk...."
[Oh? You'll go, right? Thank you, Hunter Hwang Eunha!]
"This is my second dungeon today, so if I clear it, make sure you calculate the support fund bonus properly and send it over."
Tch.
After hanging up, I turned around.
That streamer kid sure is lucky.
I was planning on using him as target practice today, really let loose and blow off some steam.
'Guess that guy, Kang Taewoo, will be there too?'
Just thinking about having to see a face I really didn't want to see made me sigh automatically.
If they were people I could just cut ties with, I'd use my powers openly.
But for people like him, it's basically just showing them what abilities I have.
"You came too?"
"Huh? Eunha, fancy seeing you here again."
I couldn't help but sigh again.
*
Kang Taewoo's heart pounded when he received the dungeon raid message.
Hwang Eunha, his savior, who almost never joined dungeon raids unless it was something major.
He wanted to see her again.
She didn't step into the Hunter spotlight, but this was basically a chance to see her fight again—the one who was practically the undisputed strongest.
'A Gate this close... the her I know wouldn't be able to ignore it.'
Kang Taewoo remembered.
How in the past, even while saying she wouldn't participate in a raid, she'd been monitoring the situation closely enough to intervene right before the guild members were wiped out.
"What, them again?"
"That girl was a Hunter too?"
Maybe because she hadn't participated in raids much since then.
Hwang Eunha was practically unknown among recent Hunters.
'She did say she wanted to live quietly.'
And as if proving her words, among the nearby Hunters hastily gathered for the dungeon recon, not many recognized Hwang Eunha.
Maybe those two guys over there... but they seemed to know her personally rather than as a Hunter.
'Yeah, no way she could ignore a dungeon this close.'
Though she clearly came of her own volition, maybe she really didn't want to be here?
The first thing Kang Taewoo saw was Hwang Eunha sighing the moment she arrived.
"You came too?"
"Huh? Eunha, fancy seeing you here again?"
"Well, I got the dispatch request, so I kinda had to come."
"Isn't it okay for you to just ignore that?"
Seeing her display some seriously flawed knowledge, Kang Taewoo paused, puzzled for a moment.
Did this woman not even know the Hunter laws, the basic stuff every Hunter learns?
But then again, she was one of the few S-ranks in Korea, so the country probably couldn't touch her easily. He accepted his own reasoning and corrected her misunderstanding.
"Ignoring it is illegal."
"Really? But I didn't have any mandatory Hunter training when I registered, so it doesn't apply to me."
Though the person herself didn't seem interested in listening.
"Hey, Hwang Eunha!"
While they were having this pointless chat.
Seeing the man who nitpicked everything he did appear in the distance, Taewoo unknowingly frowned.
That useless nobody without any powers who always got in his way back when he was trying hard to recruit Hwang Eunha.
"What, Jinwook? Why are you here?"
"Worried you'd lost your mind and come to another dungeon."
"It's just simple recon."
"You just finished busting a dungeon this morning. Does it even make sense to force you into more than one?"
But this time, it seemed that annoying guy planned to interfere with the dungeon recon too. He said, "Let's go back," grabbing Hwang Eunha's hand and gently pulling her away.
It's a Hunter's duty and right to go to a Gate.
Who does he think he is, stopping her?
"Hey."
Kang Taewoo stepped in front of Jeong Jinwook, blocking his path, and spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.
He was pissed.
Pissed that this guy, who normally wouldn't even be allowed near a Gate, was trying to stop what he wanted to see, just because he was close to an S-rank Hunter.
"Let her go, alright? She wants to go in of her own free will."
*
I had expected Jinwook would come here.
Knowing everything I went through after returning to the present day, he always worried more about my safety than his own.
This was probably part of that worry.
"Look here, Jeong Jinwook-sunbae. Don't you know civilians can't interfere with Hunter business?"
"I know perfectly well."
"Then why do you keep getting in my way like you did last time?"
Kang Taewoo seemed genuinely angry now, talking to Jinwook like he couldn't stand it anymore.
Last time... is he talking about when he was chasing me around, wanting to recruit me into his guild?
"Because you keep demanding unreasonable things."
"Ha! It's perfectly natural for a Hunter to join a guild and raid Gates. This is ridiculous."
"Well, let's see if you can still say that after seeing this."
Saying that, Jinwook grabbed my arm and, against my will, pushed up my sleeve, exposing my arm to the sunlight.
Flustered that my skin was revealed without my consent, I snapped, "Jinwook, what are you doing!"
But he still held my wrist, keeping my arm raised.
"This is...?"
Kang Taewoo looked at my arm, his eyes wide, shooting me a look that clearly demanded an explanation.
Right.
A Hunter wouldn't normally have symptoms like this.
Though some sick people are willing to take risks because of the unique physical abilities awakeners have.
"Haaah. Jinwook....."
I sighed.
Looks like I have no choice but to talk now.
"Alright, Kang Taewoo. Here's what happened...."
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