“W-we did it... We actually did it...”

After two grueling days, Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana had finally completed the enormous task that Baek Ji-hoon had assigned them.

“Hah… hahahaha!”

Both women embraced each other, tears of exhaustion and triumph streaming down their faces. Even for two S-rank Hunters, the workload had been overwhelming.

They jumped up and down in joy, unable to contain their excitement.

“Yes! We did it! See? When the two of us join forces, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish!”

“Exactly! Lee Soo-ah, let’s head back and report everything. I bet Ji-hoon will be shocked out of his mind!”

“Yes! Let’s go!”

“What about Hunter Team 1, though?”

They had long since lost track of Team 1 in the previous dungeon. Lee Soo-ah didn’t seem to care much about them anymore.

“As long as we get our work done, it doesn’t matter. They probably went home. All that matters is we finished our assignment!”

“True. We completed everything we were supposed to.”

“Exactly! Let’s head back!”

With that, Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana made their way to Blue Guild to report their success to Baek Ji-hoon.

“Hey, where’ve you two been? Didn’t see you at all yesterday. And what’s going on with Hunter Team 1? I heard they all took the day off. Was there some big emergency or something?”

It was Assistant Manager Cha, looking curious as he watched Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana return to the guild.

“Hah… Assistant Manager, we’ve been working on this.”

Lee Soo-ah proudly showed off the work they’d completed, looking quite pleased with herself.

“Hmm? You did all this? In one day?”

“Yes…”

Both women were still panting, but they had triumphant looks on their faces.

“Well, I’ll be…”

Assistant Manager Cha wiped the sweat from his brow, clearly stunned by their accomplishment.

“We did well, right?”

“Well… yeah, but how on earth did you manage this…?”

“Baek Ji-hoon assigned it to us, so we had to make sure it was done. I even had Yoo Hana help out.”

“Haha…”

The assistant manager was clearly wary, realizing that something was off with these two.

“Well, go ahead and report it to Team Leader Baek then… haha…”

He stepped back, wanting nothing to do with whatever strange situation they were involved in.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

Bang!

The door swung open with a loud crash, and two people entered, looking fierce.

It was Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana, both radiating a sense of victory and determination.

“Baek Ji-hoon.”

“Yes? What is it?”

My expression stiffened slightly as I looked at them. They both had an air of confidence that made me feel uneasy. This couldn’t be good for me.

“I heard that Hunter Team 1 is on leave today… What about you, Lee Soo-ah?”

“We’ve completed everything you asked of us! Here.”

Bang!

Lee Soo-ah slammed the stack of papers onto the desk with the same force I’d used when giving her the assignment.

‘Wait… They finished it? In one day?’

I stared at her in shock. I had assigned them the work thinking there was no way they could get it done. Hyung-seok had advised me to push them hard to see if they would break.

‘How… How did they finish this in just one day?’

“We, two S-rank Hunters, took care of everything. It’s all done. So? Is this good enough for you, Baek Ji-hoon?”

“Uh… I’ll review the report.”

“Go ahead. We organized everything perfectly, so you won’t find a single issue.”

With that, they walked out, leaving me alone with the completed report.

‘What the hell…? They actually finished it perfectly?’

I couldn’t help but be impressed. The work I had assigned was supposed to take Hunter Team 1 a month, but these two had finished it in a day.

‘How… How did they pull this off?’

A sense of fear started creeping into my mind. Their abilities were far beyond what I had expected.

‘Maybe provoking them wasn’t such a good idea…’

“Hey, Hyung-seok. What do we do now?”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana finished everything I gave them yesterday. Like, completely finished.”

“What?! How?”

“I don’t know… How did they manage this?”

“Uh…”

Hyung-seok was just as stunned as I was.

“Maybe… we should increase the difficulty even more? Push them to the point where it’s just impossible to complete?”

“Can we even handle the fallout if we do that?”

“I mean, they’re probably at their limit now. They struggled this time, and I don’t think anyone else in the guild could help them. They barely got through this because of Yoo Hana’s help, right?”

“Hmm… Maybe you’re right…”

I was starting to worry that I’d dug myself into a deeper hole. Still, if this was some kind of love game or power struggle, like Hyung-seok said, I needed to maintain control.

‘I guess I’ll have to push even harder.’

“Hahaha!”

Lee Soo-ah was laughing loudly in the now-empty Hunter Team 1 meeting room.

“Ji-hoon must be freaking out by now.”

“Absolutely. He’s probably holding an emergency meeting, trying to figure out what to do next. Hohoho!”

Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana laughed together, basking in the glow of their victory.

Knock knock.

“Yes?”

“Uh… hey.”

Assistant Manager Cha peeked into the room, glancing around cautiously.

“What is it?”

“So, where were you two yesterday?”

“I told you, we were working on the assignment Baek Ji-hoon gave us.”

“Wait, you really finished all of that…?”

“Yes!”

They answered in unison, their faces bright with satisfaction.

“Wow… That’s normally a month’s worth of work for Hunter Team 1, right?”

“Roughly, yes.”

“That’s why they’re all on sick leave today, huh…?”

“Sick leave?”

“Yeah, it’s not just a regular day off. They’re all on sick leave.”

Assistant Manager Cha looked at Lee Soo-ah with an expression of disbelief and slight fear.

“Well, with this, Baek Ji-hoon will have to recognize our skills, right? He’ll probably back off now that we’ve shown what we can do.”

“Why would Baek Ji-hoon back off?”

“Because he’s a spy for Baekho Guild.”

“Sigh… I keep telling you, he’s not a spy…”

“Hmm…”

Lee Soo-ah looked at Assistant Manager Cha with a suspicious expression, crossing her arms.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

“No… But did I ever tell you about Baek Ji-hoon being a spy?”

Her voice was sharp, and she stared at him with growing suspicion.

“Well, uh… yesterday! Yeah, the Guild Master mentioned it! Said you’ve been a little out of sorts lately and asked me to keep an eye on you.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Lee Soo-ah’s face showed that she wasn’t convinced.

“I swear, it’s true!”

Assistant Manager Cha was flustered, trying desperately to explain himself.

“Well, in any case, I think we’ve won this round against Baek Ji-hoon.”

“Right?”

They both basked in their shared sense of victory once more.

Meanwhile, I was still deep in thought, planning my next move with Hyung-seok. We needed to present a challenge that even Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Hana couldn’t overcome.

“Alright. This should do the trick.”

“Hmm, but this seems impossible for any normal person.”

“Well, that’s the point. If we push them hard enough, Lee Soo-ah will have no choice but to give up and apologize. She’ll come crawling back to you.”

“Hmm…”

Hyung-seok’s logic made sense. If I was going to break Lee Soo-ah’s resolve, I had to push her to her limits. It was cruel, but necessary.

“Alright. Let’s go with this plan.”

Knock knock.

“Yes?”

It was Assistant Manager Cha, poking his head into the room and looking around nervously.

“Assistant Manager, do you need something?”

“Uh… Baek Ji-hoon, are you giving Lee Soo-ah weird assignments lately?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say weird…”

I hesitated, knowing that my recent orders had been a bit extreme.

“Ahhh, good job!”

Assistant Manager Cha gave me two big thumbs up as he walked into the room, clearly impressed.

“I have to say, you’ve got Lee Soo-ah completely under control.”

“Control?”

“Yeah! I heard she just cleared some insane dungeons in a single day. You assigned that, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Hah, I mean, that’s incredible! Hunter Team 1 couldn’t even finish it in a month, and she did it in a day. That’s how you push someone to greatness.”

“Hmm… I guess so.”

“Hey, Baek Ji-hoon.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think you can push her even harder?”

“What?”

“I mean, if you keep pushing her like this, she might go completely crazy and start clearing dungeons like a maniac. It could be great for the guild!”

“Uh…”

Assistant Manager Cha seemed a little too excited about the idea.