“Hah… damn it…”

Lee Jin-hyuk was still lost in thought, running through the situation in his mind a hundred times over.

‘Damn it… Seo Ji-soo… How did it come to this?’

He thought back to the S-rank hunter he had dumped a long time ago. Even back in college, she had already reached the A-rank, showcasing incredible talent. However, Seo Ji-soo had been someone who was overly materialistic. She constantly demanded expensive gifts and openly talked about marrying into a chaebol family.

Lee Jin-hyuk had seen that she would become a problem later on and had decided to end things with her. But now, it seemed like he had no other choice but to turn back to Seo Ji-soo.

No other S-rank hunters wanted to join Baekho Guild. They were all flocking to Blue Guild.

‘Damn it… Chae Soo-hyun...’

Chae Soo-hyun, who refused to budge no matter what he said, was now nothing but a thorn in his side. He had pulled out all the stops to recruit her, even offering up some of the guild’s most expensive equipment, but it was all for nothing.

‘Why do I always end up with women like this?’

He had no choice. No matter how much he tried to strategize, Baekho Guild’s only remaining option was Seo Ji-soo.

“Hah... damn it...”

Chae Soo-hyun was frantically searching the internet, looking up information about what Jin-hyuk had brought up earlier.

‘A re-evaluation... a re-evaluation… Is it really possible that my rank could drop?’

She was scanning through examples of re-evaluations, trying to find any signs of hope. What concerned her most was whether or not her rank would actually drop if she went through the process again.

If her S-rank status was exposed as a fraud and she was revealed to be E-rank instead, her life would be over.

‘Damn it… How did I end up here?’

Her grip on her mouse tightened to the point where it felt like it might break.

‘If I can just stay as S-rank…’

Even if she didn’t do any more dungeon work, she’d still be fine as long as her S-rank status remained intact. Escaping from Jin-hyuk wouldn’t be an issue if she could keep that title — she could live comfortably as a wealthy woman.

Though she had lost several broadcast spots after falling to second place, she didn’t mind. Luckily, now that Yoo Hana, the most famous S-rank celebrity hunter, had returned to Blue Guild, a few openings had appeared.

If Chae Soo-hyun could just secure one of those spots, she’d be fine.

‘But why did he even bring up the re-evaluation? Does Jin-hyuk suspect something? Could he know about my real rank?’

She felt a twinge of fear. If Jin-hyuk had somehow discovered her secret, he could easily expose her.

‘No, there’s no way. No one knows about my real rank…’

She forced herself to calm down and continued reading through the search results.

[Could a hunter's rank drop after a re-evaluation?]
-Nah, who the hell gets re-evaluated just to drop their rank?
-Something would have to be seriously wrong with you to want that.
-You only lose points if there are specific reasons, like negative effects from status conditions, monster skills, etc.
-Saw someone retake a class and go from a B+ to a C-. Retook it again and ended up with a C.
-So what, loser?
-Occasionally, re-evaluations happen, and if points drop, the rank can go down too.

‘Wait… What? It’s actually possible?’

Chae Soo-hyun’s eyes widened in horror. Her hands trembled slightly.

She had always clung to the hope that her rank would stay S as long as she didn’t do anything risky. But now that she saw it could drop, she was shaken.

‘No way…’

She stared at the small warning buried in the fine print of the re-evaluation guidelines.

[In rare cases, status conditions, hunter skills, or monster effects can lead to a reduction in points, potentially resulting in a rank downgrade.]

‘This is real…’

She had never paid much attention to this before. But now, seeing it in black and white, her heart raced.

‘Damn it… I can’t let this happen. If I get re-evaluated…’

Her future hinged on avoiding re-evaluation at all costs. Otherwise, her life would spiral into ruin.

‘Thank god I held out earlier. Does Jin-hyuk actually know? Was he trying to trap me?’

A creeping suspicion began to form. His sudden push for a re-evaluation seemed too random to be innocent.

‘Is he setting me up for failure?’

Chae Soo-hyun decided she needed to do some digging of her own.

“Tell me everything.”

Chae Soo-hyun's expression was sharp as she grilled the person in front of her.

“What exactly did Jin-hyuk say?”

She had planted a spy within Jin-hyuk’s office, and now she was prying information out of them.

“He said… he plans to replace you. And that he’s looking to recruit S-rank hunter Seo Ji-soo in your place.”

“What did you just say?!”

Chae Soo-hyun leaped to her feet, slamming the desk in fury. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

‘He’s replacing me with another woman?!’

For someone with her succubus traits, her pride was deeply wounded.

‘This can’t be happening... Damn it...’

Her fists clenched, trembling with rage.

“And what else? What’s his plan with Seo Ji-soo?”

“I overheard him say that Baekho Guild would give her all the best equipment to make her the number one S-rank hunter. After that, he wants to start poaching Blue Guild’s S-rank hunters one by one.”

Her informant answered meekly, clearly intimidated by Chae Soo-hyun’s anger.

“So, he’s planning to toss me aside after less than a month, huh? After all I’ve done for him?”

“Yes... yes, it seems so.”

The spy nodded nervously.

“And there’s more… Seo Ji-soo is apparently Jin-hyuk’s ex-girlfriend from college…”

“What?!”

Her anger only intensified.

‘So, he’s going back to his ex just to get rid of me?!’

The fact that Jin-hyuk had been planning all of this behind her back only made it worse. He was plotting with his ex to replace her.

‘What a liar. He’s been planning to stab me in the back this whole time?’

Chae Soo-hyun’s body shook with fury. Any lingering affection she had for Jin-hyuk vanished entirely. Now, all she could think about was leaving Baekho Guild and finding her way back to Jihoon.

‘Yeah… I’ll leave Baekho Guild. I almost stayed here like an idiot, not realizing he was trying to stab me in the back.’

Completely oblivious to her own mistakes, she focused solely on her hatred for Jin-hyuk and Baekho Guild.

‘Who cares about being part of some chaebol family now? The world is changing. I’ll join Blue Guild, get Jihoon to choose me again, and lead Blue Guild myself. I’ll take over the whole guild!’

Her fantasies grew more grandiose. At this point, it was all she had left.

She was at a crossroads: either get exposed as E-rank and lose everything, or get Jihoon back and use his influence to stay in power as an S-rank hunter.

‘I need to act before Jin-hyuk strikes first.’

Chae Soo-hyun began planning her escape once again.

“Heh… Oppa, long time no see.”

Seo Ji-soo, the prodigious hunter who had quickly risen to S-rank, sat across from Jin-hyuk. Though talented, she was notorious for her greed and cold personality, which had limited her popularity. Still, her abilities as an S-rank hunter gave her considerable recognition.

“Let’s get to the point,” Jin-hyuk said flatly.

“Sure, what is it?”

Seo Ji-soo crossed her legs, adopting a confident posture.

“You already know, right? Are you willing to join Baekho Guild?”

“Pfft.”

She scoffed lightly.

“Join Baekho? Why should I? Just say what you want.”

“Are you in or not?”

“Pfft. Is that how you ask for help? Who’d want to join after that?”

Seo Ji-soo leaned in slightly, a smirk on her lips.

“Oppa, you do know, don’t you? Every S-rank hunter out there is dying to join Blue Guild. Why should I bother with Baekho?”

She teased him, clearly enjoying the power dynamic.

Jin-hyuk’s face tightened in irritation. He knew exactly what she was getting at.

“Why me? Hmm… Let me guess, you dumped me back in college, but now you’re crawling back. Things must be pretty desperate, right? You couldn’t find anyone else? I must be your last resort, huh?”

Seo Ji-soo grinned, having already figured out the situation.