Cyborg-tl
Bang!!!
"What the hell? What’s going on?!"
Lee Jin-hyuk kicked open the door to Cha Soo-hyun’s office. He looked furious, unable to contain the rage after hearing the shocking news.
Cha Soo-hyun greeted him with an annoyed expression. She was clearly displeased with how rudely he had barged into her office.
"What’s your problem? Why are you opening the door like that? Can’t you show a little respect? Ugh, seriously."
Cha Soo-hyun looked at him as if she was completely fed up. Her feelings for Lee Jin-hyuk had already faded. To her, Baek Ji-hoon was all that mattered now.
"You're in second place now. Lee Soo-ah is number one."
Lee Jin-hyuk skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point, slamming the document he had just received onto the desk.
"What...?!"
Cha Soo-hyun jumped up from her seat, shocked.
"You’re not number one anymore. You’re in second place. Damn it. You’re useless now."
"What?!!"
Cha Soo-hyun was completely stunned. Not only had Lee Soo-ah overtaken her for the top spot, but Lee Jin-hyuk was outright telling her that she was no longer needed.
"What are you talking about... How did Lee Soo-ah become number one?"
Her voice trembled as she picked up the document. It was indeed an official notice from the Hunter Association.
‘Lee Soo-ah... really made it to number one? How? I had a lead of around five million points!’
She had widened the gap specifically to prevent this from happening. Yet, in less than a month, it had been overturned.
‘This can’t be real. This makes no sense.’
"Didn’t I warn you? You were slacking off, and now you’ve been blindsided. What are you going to do? Now the Blue Guild has surpassed us in every way."
Lee Jin-hyuk’s voice was full of frustration. He had planned to build Baekho Guild around Cha Soo-hyun, but ever since recruiting her, she hadn’t made any moves.
Meanwhile, Blue Guild had not only brought Yoo Hana back but also recruited Cha Isul and six other S-rank hunters, culminating in Lee Soo-ah reclaiming the top spot.
"What are you going to do now? You’re useless. People are going to see that Blue Guild has completely outpaced us. What are you going to do? Damn it..."
His voice dripped with exasperation as he glared at her.
"How is this my fault? I told you I was sick. What was I supposed to do?"
"Why is an S-rank hunter sick? Are you even an S-rank hunter? Damn it. Who ever heard of an S-rank hunter needing a whole month to recover?"
Cha Soo-hyun flinched. She had no response.
"Sigh... Fine... I’ll just become number one again. I’ll beat Lee Soo-ah and reclaim my spot!"
"Don’t give me that crap. You’ve already lost so badly, and now you’re saying you’ll start working hard? Why didn’t you work hard in the first place?"
Lee Jin-hyuk’s face was full of disbelief. He no longer seemed to care about Cha Soo-hyun.
She had been Baekho Guild’s only notable S-rank hunter, but now, his dissatisfaction with her refusal to perform was overwhelming.
"Fix this. If you can’t fix it, just get out of our guild. We don’t need someone useless like you."
He slammed the door as he stormed out.
Thud.
Cha Soo-hyun collapsed into her chair.
"What the hell is this!!! What the hell happened? What’s with Lee Soo-ah all of a sudden? Isn’t she supposed to have some kind of condition? Doesn’t she usually freak out or get headaches in dungeons? How did she rack up so many points so quickly?"
She couldn’t comprehend the situation. It felt like the walls were closing in on her.
"Why do things keep going wrong for me? I just wanted to be happy. I was so close..."
Her irritation was starting to build. Everything seemed to be spiraling out of control, regardless of her efforts.
"And now he says I’m useless? Unbelievable."
Fury rose within her as she thought about how Lee Jin-hyuk was treating her. Before she had joined Baekho Guild, it had been different.
‘Hmph. Unbelievable. He showered me with gifts when he needed me, and now I’m useless to him? From the beginning, he probably wanted Lee Soo-ah, but when that wasn’t possible, he used me as a backup. Ugh. I’m done with this guild! Done!!!’
Her resolve was hardening.
‘Ji-hoon oppa...’
Cha Soo-hyun gazed longingly at an old photo of Baek Ji-hoon.
‘Oppa... I’m sorry... I didn’t realize how great you were. After spending time with someone like Lee Jin-hyuk, I see now how much you cared for me... Please... please...’
She bit her lip, her expression filled with regret and longing.
"Lee Soo-ah..."
Cha Soo-hyun decided she had to confront Lee Soo-ah immediately.
"Lee Soo-ah."
A cold, frosty voice filled the room.
"What’s this about? Why did you ask to see me?"
Lee Soo-ah crossed her arms and looked at Cha Soo-hyun with a haughty expression.
"I’ve heard from the association. You’ve reclaimed the top S-rank position."
Cha Soo-hyun’s voice was laced with displeasure, and she was trembling slightly.
"Yes, that’s correct. I was taking a break, but after seeing how you flaunted your number one spot everywhere, I couldn’t stand it. So, I decided to take back what’s mine."
In truth, Lee Soo-ah had worked hard for Baek Ji-hoon’s sake, but she couldn’t resist taunting Cha Soo-hyun, who had come all the way to Blue Guild to pick a fight.
"Hmph. This is absurd. Absolutely absurd."
"Why is it absurd?"
"I’m going to be number one again. I was just taking a break too."
Of course, that wasn’t really an option. But Cha Soo-hyun firmly believed that all she needed was to win Baek Ji-hoon back.
‘As long as I get Ji-hoon oppa back, everything will be fine. Almost there... He wouldn’t fall for Lee Soo-ah, right?’
She was feeling a bit anxious inside, but she didn’t show it. The thought of Baek Ji-hoon not accepting her because of Lee Soo-ah’s new position worried her.
"That’s going to be difficult. I’m planning to keep working hard and widen the gap even more. You know that six new S-rank hunters just joined Blue Guild, right? We’re working together now. Hmph."
Lee Soo-ah spoke with confidence and a bold tone.
"Hmph. Just because you have more people doesn’t mean you’ll win."
"Isn’t Baekho Guild unable to do that because you lack numbers? Stop picking pointless fights and show us what you’ve got."
Lee Soo-ah wasn’t about to back down.
"Fine. You’ll see. I’ll show you what I’m capable of."
Cha Soo-hyun stormed out, furious. As she left, she glanced back at the Blue Guild building, thinking of Baek Ji-hoon.
‘Ugh... no... I can’t live without Ji-hoon oppa anymore...’
Everything was closing in on her. Until now, she had managed to hold on to her prestige as the number one S-rank hunter, but that was slipping away too.
"Ji-hoon oppa..."
She whispered softly to herself.
‘I’ll try again... one more time... tonight...’
"Wow... Hyung... Hunter Lee Soo-ah is really something, isn’t she? She really took back the number one spot."
"Hmm... Yeah. She was about five million points behind, right?"
"Yeah. She closed a five million point gap in less than a month..."
Park Hyung-seok was practically shaking.
"Aren’t you going to congratulate her or something?"
"Hmm... maybe..."
I responded nonchalantly. It was good news, of course, but I was waiting for Cha Soo-hyun to reach out to me.
I figured once she heard the news, she would contact me. She had nothing left to rely on now.
‘What could she be holding onto? Does she still have something left? No, right? Could it be Baekho Guild? Is she planning to rely on the guild?’
Maybe it was because she was still officially recognized as an S-rank hunter.
‘Looks like I have no choice. I’ll need to pressure the Hunter Association...’
The only way to completely ruin Cha Soo-hyun was to force a re-evaluation of her rank.
Normally, a hunter’s rank was only re-evaluated when they were being promoted. Once someone became an S-rank hunter, their rank was rarely re-evaluated.
But if I could get the Hunter Association to force a re-evaluation on Cha Soo-hyun, it would be revealed that she had dropped to E-rank.
‘It’s almost over, Cha Soo-hyun. I’ll make sure you hit rock bottom.’
I began reading through the information on how to request a rank re-evaluation.
Knock, knock.
"Yes?"
"Ji-hoon...?"
Lee Soo-ah entered the room with a shy expression.
"Yes?"
"I... I reclaimed the top S-rank spot."
"Yes, I just heard. Congratulations."
"Hehe... Thank you..."
Lee Soo-ah smiled bashfully.
"Um... Ji-hoon... There’s something else I wanted to say..."
"What is it?"
Lee Soo-ah led me into an empty room.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"I... please date me!!!!"
"What??"
Once again, a shocking proposal came out of nowhere.