“Ha. Thank you for today.”

Park Hyungseok bowed his head to Hunter Lee Yeji.

“My brother really needed to get his act together. He was acting very strangely.”

“It makes sense now. I’ve never seen anyone walk around with so much baggage before.”

She smiled slightly.

But it seemed she thought it was quite serious.

“Seems like Hunter Chae Suhyeon is someone who normally manipulates others?”

“Yes. She seems to be a really nasty person. There are even more serious issues beyond this.”

Park Hyungseok’s expression hardened.

“Anyway, I hope for a good outcome. It’s time to start living his own life.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

He bowed at a 90-degree angle and left.

“Ha. Hunter Chae Suhyeon… what a wicked woman.”

Park Hyungseok was deep in thought.

‘Surely, the Baekho Guild won’t make any useless plays against us.’

He felt the need to be prepared for Chae Suhyeon’s strange behaviors, just in case.

*

“Ha. Oppa, I’m quitting today.”

“Why? What do you mean? We still have four shoots left today!”

“I’m really sorry… I just can’t do it.”

“What’s the reason?”

“Jihoon… I feel like I need Jihoon around… it’s a big problem…”

Yoo Hana’s expression had completely changed.

Normally assertive and confident, now she looked like a puppy that needed to go out.

“What? No, what’s wrong? Hana?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t do anything about this…”

“Come on, pull yourself together.”

“No, how can I pull myself together in this situation? Please adjust today’s schedule somehow…”

“No way~ Today is really important.”

Yoo Hana was practically pleading with her manager.

It was the first time anyone had seen her like this.

She had always completely dominated her manager.

“Ha… damn…”

Yoo Hana started sending messages with great urgency.

*

[Hey Jihoon. This is Yoo Hana. I’ll be direct. Can you come to me today? Please.]

Yoo Hana sent a sudden message.

‘What the?’

I quickly looked at the message.

But it didn’t seem that important.

“Hmm? Who is this~ Looks like it’s Yoo Hana’s profile~”

Manager Cha casually glanced as he passed by.

“Yes, it is Yoo Hana.”

“Really?”

His expression turned bewildered.

“The S-Rank Hunter Yoo Hana? The one our Blue Guild is focusing on? Is Jihoon dispatched there?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. You’re messaging with Yoo Hana? Our Jihoon really is impressive!”

“We didn’t exchange messages per se; strictly speaking, I just received it.”

It was the first time for me.

How they directly contacted each other like this.

“I heard Yoo Hana never makes personal contact… She says it could harm her image… How did…?”

He looked quite surprised.

“Yeah, why is this happening?”

Then he returned his focus to his work.

I had a lot to prepare for today’s dungeon exploration as well.

*

[Oh no. Jihoon, if you’ve read this, please reply. I really need you. Are you not coming? It’d be great if you could at least come for a bit.]

[Uh, Jihoon? Are you busy? If you’re too busy, should I come to you? What’s the best way to handle this?]

[Jihoon, I’m going to come over. Just wait for me.]

After that, a flurry of messages came through, but I was in a dilemma about how to respond.

‘For now, I should focus on my work…’

*

“Alright, everyone! Starting today, our Hunter Class 6 will have a lot of hard work ahead! That’s the only way to prevent Hunter Class 1 and 2 from bothering us!”

Manager Cha spoke to everyone in front of the dungeon entrance.

He seemed to be in a good mood, smiling widely.

“Should I say it’s good that more work has come? Or should I not?”

“The workload skyrocketed. But if we’re getting pushed, that’s a good thing, right? I always felt like we were neglected, so this is actually better.”

“Right? I prefer being busy. At least we can earn more money.”

They were having a lively conversation.

“Let’s go!”

Under Manager Cha’s lead, they started the dungeon expedition.

*

“Wow… So the Hunter Classes 1 and 2 did this every day? This is really tough.”

“No~ Last time, when Hunter Lee Sooah went wild, that was hard too, and today is just the same.”

“At least today, Hunter Lee Sooah isn’t running around, so that’s a relief.”

They looked toward Lee Sooah.

Lee Sooah was closely following Baek Jihoon.

“I’m certain about it~ she’s totally infatuated with Hunter Baek Jihoon.”

“True. She says she isn’t, so… Let’s leave her be until she admits it herself.”

They clicked their tongues, yet they also seemed to find the situation not too bad.

*

“Hey, Jihoon? Let’s go together. Isn’t this too fast? Wait for me a bit.”

Lee Sooah was persistently trailing after him.
“Hey, Sooah. Didn’t you say you usually watch from the back and give instructions?”

I distinctly remembered hearing that before. It was the same during the War Memorial Dungeon.

Today marked the second day of the dungeon expedition with Hunter Class 6.

“No~ when did I ever say that? Who said that? I’m supposed to be following the team members around and taking care of them.”

“That’s not true. I remember you said you often stayed back because it gave you a headache~”

Manager Cha casually passed by and tossed that comment over his shoulder.

“Manager Cha!!”

Lee Sooah glared fiercely at him.

“Heeek. I’m going that way~”

He hurriedly scampered off.

“Anyway, Jihoon, you’re not having any trouble, are you?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“But Jihoon, aren’t you a D-Rank? You seem much more capable than I imagined.”

She kept babbling as she followed me closely.

“Yes. My stats are a bit higher.”

I had indeed taken the time to boost them a little in advance. I had also invested quite a few skill points by now.

I planned to finish this all off by the upcoming weekend. There was no need to prolong it any further.

“Ugh~ Our Jihoon has great abilities.”

“And what about you, Sooah?”

“Yes?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to help over there?”

I pointed to a spot at a distance.

In that area, Assistant Manager Kim was struggling alone.

“Ah, I think Assistant Manager Kim can handle it by himself…”

She resolutely refused to budge.

“Hmmm…”

I glanced at Lee Sooah.

With my eyes, I communicated my intent.

‘Aren’t you going?’

“I… I’ll go… I’ll go…”

Lee Sooah peeked around, looking hesitant, but eventually turned toward Assistant Manager Kim, seeming a bit flustered.

Her demeanor resembled someone begrudgingly accepting a situation.

“Phew. Now can I focus quietly on what I want to do?”

Today, I wanted to apply the points I had invested.

Of course, I had done plenty of dungeon raids with Chae Suhyeon too.

But at that time, my approach was different.

I hadn’t boosted my stats but instead managed with the items Chae Suhyeon brought.

‘Oh Oppa. Are you telling me now you’re going to invest in your stats? Are you crazy?’

‘I found this, so just use what I’ve provided to fight.’

‘You need to invest in yourself, not Oppa.’

‘Ugh. This is so frustrating.’

Every time that happened, I would say, ‘Oh, is that so?’ and follow Chae Suhyeon’s advice.

‘Damn, I was seriously off my game.’

Boom!

As I was concentrating on my tasks, a massive explosion sound echoed from a distance.

Then, a gigantic monster appeared.

“Huh? What’s that? Hunter Class 6, everyone, gather here!”

“Yes, sir!”

They all quickly started to group around Manager Cha.

“Why on earth is that thing appearing today with a spawn chance of only 0.01%?”

Manager Cha grumbled.

“Right? I was hoping today would just be a smooth, easy day.”

“Looks like we’ll need to pour everything we’ve got together!”

Hunter Class 6 was mobilizing to face the massive creature nicknamed Baron.

“Ha… It would be nice if Hunter Lee Sooah stepped up; that would make things easier…”

“True… but she’s unlikely to…”

“What a surprise…”

Everyone was just exchanging glances.

“Should I speak up?”

I took a step forward, gauging the atmosphere.

“Um? Is that Jihoon?”

“Yes.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“I think it would be cleaner and faster if Hunter Lee Sooah steps up rather than us tackling this as Hunter Class 6.”

“True. But Hunter Lee Sooah usually doesn’t participate in these kinds of things…”

Manager Cha shook his head.

“Well, we won’t know until we try.”

I walked forward confidently.

“Hunter Lee Sooah!”

“Yes!!!”

Lee Sooah, who had been some distance away with Assistant Manager Kim, ran toward us.

They had noticed Baron too, but it seemed to take them longer to reach us.

Gasping for breath.

“Why did Baron show up? I don’t understand.”

Lee Sooah complained as soon as she arrived.

She seemed clearly displeased, as she had intended to focus on the dungeon raid quietly.

“Exactly.”

“You can handle this, right, Hunter Class 6?”

“Yes…”

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“Ahem. Hunter Lee Sooah?”

“Yes?”

“I heard that Hunter Lee Sooah can take it down by herself.”

I stared intensely at her.

Lee Sooah’s pupils started to waver.

“You can handle it ‘alone’?”

Her eyes were now trembling more and more.

I kept my gaze fixed on her.

“Well… should I take it down alone?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she finally spoke up.

To be continued…