"I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. So get lost."

I responded coldly and indifferently, heading straight toward my house.

"W-wait... oppa, please... just hear me out for a moment," Cha Soo-hyun’s voice trembled. She looked utterly flustered, clearly taken aback by how her plans weren’t going as expected.

‘How the hell did she even find out where I live? This is ridiculous,’ I thought. The only person who knew where I had moved was Hyung-seok.

I shot a questioning look at Hyung-seok: ‘Did you tell her?’

Hyung-seok frantically shook his head, looking equally shocked and guilty, as if he was being falsely accused.

"No, I swear it wasn’t me!"

He seemed completely innocent, almost desperate to clear his name.

"Let go of me. And don’t come back here ever again."

"O-oppa... please... just listen to what I have to say. I’m begging you."

"And what is it?"

I was growing more irritated by the second. I had never imagined she would show up at my new place like this.

"I... I just wanted to apologize for my mistakes."

"Mistakes?"

She was really trying to downplay everything, acting as if it was just a minor error. My voice turned sharper.

"I mean... not a mistake. I’ll admit it was my fault... my wrongdoing..."

Cha Soo-hyun was carefully watching my expression, clearly trying to gauge how I would react. This wasn’t like her at all.

‘What’s going on? Who fed her some nonsense that made her act like this today?’

"Oppa... I want to admit I was wrong. And I want to start over again... properly."

"Start over? What do you mean?"

"If you would take me back..."

"That’s never going to happen."

"Huh...?" She tilted her head slightly, clearly confused.

"Why not?"

"Why not? Are you out of your mind? You dumped me. And not just dumped me—you took my investments and ran off to Lee Jin-hyuk, didn’t you? Go live happily with that Lee Jin-hyuk guy. Why are you here now, causing a scene?"

I spoke bluntly, without holding back, because I had no feelings left for her. Her eyes darted around in shock, clearly not expecting my response.

"But... oppa, you miss me, don’t you?"

"What kind of nonsense is that? Stop spouting garbage and get out. Besides, your time is almost up."

"What...?"

"You heard me. You’re about to lose everything."

"What do you mean...?"

Cha Soo-hyun’s face showed increasing confusion.

"I’m about to start making a lot of money. Enough to catch up with the conglomerates. But you? Your only path left is to fall into ruin. Just wait a little longer—I’ll show you what hell looks like. You’ll realize how foolish your decisions were."

I stared at her for a long moment before closing the door and going inside.

"Uh...??"

Cha Soo-hyun stood frozen in front of Baek Ji-hoon’s house, staring blankly into space.

‘What... what just happened? He misses me, right? Then why did he say all that...?’

Everything had gone completely off course. The situation had turned out entirely different from what she had planned.

‘How did things go so wrong? This isn’t what I imagined. What’s going on with Ji-hoon oppa?’

She had been confident. She believed Baek Ji-hoon would take her back. That’s why she had gathered her courage and come to see him.

But her expectations had been shattered in the cruelest way.

‘Maybe... maybe something bad happened to him today. Yeah, that’s it. It’s just a bad day, that’s all.’

Cha Soo-hyun decided to brush it off. Even though she had been rejected right at the door, she convinced herself there must be another reason.

‘It’s probably because of Park Hyung-seok...’

She thought back to Park Hyung-seok’s panicked expression inside the house. It made sense that Ji-hoon wouldn’t want him to know about their past.

‘Yeah, this isn’t my fault. It’s just because Park Hyung-seok was there today. Ugh, why did he have to be at Ji-hoon oppa’s house today of all days? Ugh...’

She let out a small sigh but didn’t feel too bad.

‘He even moved to a place near my apartment. He’s definitely still thinking about me. He’s sending me signals, indirectly.’

From Cha Soo-hyun’s perspective, Baek Ji-hoon had always seemed like a clingy man. She never thought he would move to a fancy or expensive neighborhood. So, the fact that he had moved so suddenly only confirmed her belief that his feelings for her were still strong.

‘I’ll go home for now, but I’ll come back when Park Hyung-seok isn’t around... hehe.’

With a sly smile, she turned and walked away.

"What the hell? Why did she come here?"

"I don’t know..."

Hyung-seok was frozen in place, clearly terrified. Meanwhile, I stood there, annoyed.

"I’m sorry, hyung. I thought it was you when I opened the door."

"So she just showed up, and you let her in?"

"Yes... she rang the bell, so I opened the door..."

"But how did she even know where we live? Did you tell her the address earlier when you mentioned S-rank hunters?"

"No!!! No way! I swear I’m on your side, hyung. Always!"

"Hmph..."

Hyung-seok frantically waved his hands, desperately trying to prove his loyalty.

"Well, whatever. We’ve reached this point, so it’s time for the final phase."

"Final phase?"

"Yeah. We need to completely destroy Cha Soo-hyun. Make sure she can’t even live here."

I was systematically taking over everything Cha Soo-hyun had once tried to control. Now that I had moved to Cheongdam-dong, the only thing left was her title as the number one S-rank hunter.

Once that was gone, even Baekho Guild wouldn’t have any use for her.

If it was revealed that she had fallen from S-rank to E-rank... she’d be completely out of the hunter industry.

‘It’s almost time to finish her off.’

The past month had been a whirlwind of events. I never imagined things would change so quickly, but everything was falling into place.

"Hyung, so are you done with Hunter Cha Soo-hyun for good?"

"Of course. You think I’d still want anything to do with that succubus?"

"Of course not~~ I was just asking to be sure."

"Ugh."

In a dark room, with no lights turned on...

Huff... huff...

Someone was frantically typing on a computer, researching.

It was Lee Soo-ah.

"Ji-hoon... huff... huff... I’ll become the number one S-rank soon. Then you’ll notice me, right? Right?"

Her eyes were bloodshot as she obsessively looked up ways to climb to the top of the S-rank leaderboard. As of now, there was a gap of five million points between her and Cha Soo-hyun. But that gap had recently narrowed to two million points.

‘Thankfully, Cha Soo-hyun hasn’t been doing much since she became the top S-rank hunter. I’ve been hustling, and now I’ve cut the gap to two million points.’

For a long time, Lee Soo-ah hadn’t made much progress. Not just her—most of the other S-rank hunters were in a similar situation. But after getting tangled up with Baek Ji-hoon and various events, she had unknowingly racked up points.

‘It was definitely a sign. Ji-hoon was giving me a hint. He wanted me to come back quickly, and if I do, he’ll give me a chance... he must have called in Cha Isul to push me into action. I was so clueless. Ji-hoon was telling me this the whole time, and I didn’t realize. It’s okay. Now I get it. Hehehe...’

Lee Soo-ah, still in a daze, continued making plans for dungeon raids in her office. It was already 10 PM, and she hadn’t even left for the day, working late into the night.

Knock, knock.

"Y-yes... hehehe."

Creak.

"What the hell... Soo-ah, what are you doing?"

It was Manager Cha.

"Why haven’t you gone home yet...? And what’s with your hair? Ugh, look at your eyes, they’re completely bloodshot. Turn on the light... I thought your computer was still on, so I came to check."

Manager Cha was taken aback when he saw Lee Soo-ah.

"Manager... I want to be the number one S-rank hunter again... I need to take back what Cha Soo-hyun stole from me... huff... huff..."

"I... see. Then do that..."

Manager Cha was clearly concerned. It was good news in a way, but something seemed off about Lee Soo-ah’s mental state.

‘Is she addicted to Baek Ji-hoon or something...?’

"Tomorrow... I’ll gather the S-rank hunters... and push them hard..."

She seemed pleased with the grueling plan she had created for herself.

"I-I’ll... be going now..."

Feeling uneasy, Manager Cha hurried out of the office.

"Phew... I’m glad the Blue Guild is growing, but still..."

He shook his head as he closed the door to Lee Soo-ah’s office.

"Soo-ah has definitely lost it."

He looked back with a touch of pity in his eyes.

[What? Are you serious? You moved to Cheongdam-dong?] [Yeah. I figured it was time to live somewhere nicer.] [Wow, that’s awesome. I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other now.]

It was a text from Isul, who seemed excited. I figured it was okay to tell her about my move, and she seemed genuinely happy for me.

[You seem a lot brighter lately. You used to look a bit gloomy for some reason.] [Really?] [Yeah. I’m glad to see you breaking free of that. Makes me feel good too.] [Thanks.] [Let’s meet tomorrow. It’s getting late tonight.] [Okay. Sleep well.]

After finishing the conversation with Isul, I lay down on my bed and stared out the window.

‘Life really can change so quickly...’

It’s incredible how unpredictable things can be.