“A-ni-go-deun-yo.”

Chae Soo-hyun spoke in a stiff tone, drawing a clear line in the sand as if to completely deny Seo Ji-soo’s words.

“Not true? Haha. What do you mean it’s not true? I know exactly what’s happening. It’s the same situation I was in a few years ago. You’re being dumped by Jin-hyuk oppa right now. Hohoho.”

Seo Ji-soo was deliberately provoking her, almost as if she was doing it for fun.

Chae Soo-hyun clenched her fists tightly and glared at Seo Ji-soo.

‘This bitch... She’s really testing me...’

But there was nothing she could say. She had already suspected it, even if only vaguely.

There was no helping it. She couldn’t act out while she was still stuck at E-rank. And she couldn’t reveal her true E-rank status.

She had held on stubbornly for nearly a month. There had to be a reason why Lee Jin-hyuk had chosen a different path.

‘She’s probably in a good mood because Jin-hyuk is trying to get back with her after dumping her before. Fine, whatever, let her have that.’

Chae Soo-hyun felt an odd sense of familiarity. Seo Ji-soo’s situation now was similar to the one she had hoped for herself.

What if she got back together with Baek Ji-hoon after breaking up? Of course, it would feel amazing.

In some strange way, she could even understand why Seo Ji-soo was mocking her.

‘Whatever, you can have Jin-hyuk, that loser. I’m going back to Ji-hoon oppa, becoming rich, and when I get my hands on some S-rank items, I’ll tear both of you apart. Just wait.’

A sly smile crept across Chae Soo-hyun’s face.

“Hunter Seo Ji-soo.”

She straightened herself, fixing her posture before speaking in a soft, calm voice.

“It doesn’t matter what you think. I’m going to be just fine, no matter what. There’s information that you don’t have, and I guarantee I’m going to live a good life. No matter how much you try, you won’t be able to beat me. So, feel free to think whatever you want. You might’ve called me here to taunt me, but I’ll tell you something: Whether Lee Jin-hyuk dumps me or not is none of my concern. So, enjoy your delusions. Hoho.”

Finishing her words, she stood up abruptly and sneered.

‘What the...?’

Seo Ji-soo was momentarily taken aback. This wasn’t the reaction she had expected at all.

‘Why isn’t she scared? Does she have something to rely on...?’

Seo Ji-soo had called Chae Soo-hyun here thinking she had already won, but Chae Soo-hyun showed no signs of being intimidated.

“I’m leaving. It’s ridiculous that you called me here for such nonsense. I’ll let it slide this time, but this is incredibly rude.”

Chae Soo-hyun adjusted her clothes and confidently walked away, heels clicking on the floor.

‘What the hell...? That bitch...?’

Seo Ji-soo could only stare in bewilderment as Chae Soo-hyun left.

“Haa... seriously. Nothing’s going right. Nothing.”

Back in her office, Chae Soo-hyun stared out the window, looking utterly frustrated.

“Haa... If only Ji-hoon oppa would just take me back, everything would be solved... Please...”

She looked quite desperate.

“Right. This is what happens when I keep leaving things to others. It seems like I need to handle this myself.”

She seemed to have made up her mind about something and quickly headed out.

Click, click, click.

“Huh? Hunter Chae Soo-hyun?”

Park Hyung-seok’s face scrunched up slightly when he saw Chae Soo-hyun. He had run into her in the lobby of the Blue Guild building, purely by coincidence.

“What brings you here...? To our Blue Guild?”

“Where’s the guild master’s office?”

Chae Soo-hyun asked without even looking at him, glancing around as if he was unimportant.

“What’s your business here?”

“I don’t think you need to know why I’m here. I’m here to meet the guild master.”

“You can’t just meet him that easily.”

“I’ve already arranged a meeting. Now, please show me to the guild master’s office.”

She demanded it confidently.

“Ji-hoon! Our guild has completely lost its mind.”

“What now?”

It was Chief Cha, who had wandered into my office and was sipping coffee.

“S-rank hunters keep flooding in! The guild master always wanted this, but now it’s becoming a problem because it’s going too well~”

“Right...? There’s way too many.”

I was reminded of the conversation I’d had with Park Jin-su recently about Chae Soo-hyun wanting to join the Blue Guild.

‘Is that even possible? She dumped me and now she wants to come to our guild? How dare she.’

“I think we need to start turning away S-rank hunters. Don’t we already have too many?”

“Oh, come on~ The more, the merrier~”

Chief Cha took another sip of coffee, looking as relaxed as ever.

“Why more? They’re pointless at this stage. Too many S-rank hunters will just cause conflicts and power struggles among themselves.”

“Oh, no way~ Didn’t you see the newspapers? Everyone’s making such a fuss over it!”

“Well, they don’t actually handle the day-to-day operations. For all the hype around S-rank hunters, they’re mostly just for show. We don’t even need them for anything beyond A-rank dungeons.”

The reality was that S-rank hunters were mostly figureheads. They couldn’t go into S-rank dungeons because of the status effects. They were essentially just decorations.

Of course, they did contribute in A-rank dungeons to some extent, but practically speaking, they weren’t as advantageous as people thought.

“I still think having lots of S-rank hunters is great~ Maybe we should gather them all up at once.”

Chief Cha winked playfully as he spoke.

“I disagree. That’s why I rejected a recent request.”

I decided to bring up Chae Soo-hyun. I didn’t think there would be any harm in mentioning it to Chief Cha.

“Huh? You rejected an S-rank hunter request?”

Chief Cha jumped up, looking mildly irritated, as if I had let him down.

“Yes.”

“Who... who was it!?”

“Chae Soo-hyun from Baekho Guild.”

I thought the guild master would probably throw a fit if he heard this, so I braced myself for a strong reaction.

Since Chief Cha was usually aligned with the guild master, I expected him to flip out.

“Huh? I see.”

‘?’

There was no reaction. Instead, Chief Cha calmly sat back down with a peaceful expression.

“What is it? Chief?”

“What?”

“Why are you so calm? I thought you’d be angry. That’s why I didn’t bring it up earlier.”

“It’s fine. Doesn’t matter.”

“Why?”

I was getting a bad feeling. I could tell from his expression that something was off. It was the kind of look someone gives when they’re about to do something reckless.

“Hunter Chae Soo-hyun is coming here with a transfer proposal for our guild master.”

“What?!”

This time, I couldn’t help but jump up in shock.

“Wait, what? That doesn’t even make sense!”

“What’s so unbelievable about it?”

Chief Cha sipped his coffee leisurely, glancing at his watch.

“Ah, looks like it’s time~ I think Hunter Chae Soo-hyun has arrived.”

“What?! That can’t be!”

“She said she was coming today. She’s probably in our lobby right now. Well, I have things to do, so I better get going. The guild master wanted to discuss Hunter Chae Soo-hyun’s transfer with me.”

“Chief Cha, Chae Soo-hyun can’t join! That’s absurd!”

“Why not?”

“We already have 10 S-rank hunters!”

“So?”

“Ugh... I’m telling you, it’ll cause problems! It’s definitely going to have a negative impact!”

“Oh, nonsense. Having 11 S-rank hunters is even better~”

“No, no, no... Please, just—”

“Thanks for the coffee, Ji-hoon~ I’ll see you later!”

“Aaaah...”

I could only watch as Chief Cha left, leaving me utterly dumbfounded.

Bang.

No sooner had Chief Cha left than Hyung-seok came rushing in.

“Hyung!!!”

“What...”

I responded, feeling deflated.

“Chae Soo-hyun hunter is in our building’s lobby...”

“I know. I just heard. Apparently, she’s here to propose a transfer directly to the guild master...?”

I could only contemplate how to deal with this bizarre situation.

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do...”

My mind was spinning.

“Why did she suddenly leave Baekho Guild and come here? Is she insane?”

“Well...”

Hyung-seok scratched his head, thinking quickly.

“Hey, hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Just a thought... Could it be that she got kicked out of Baekho Guild?”

“What?”

“She’s been abandoned, maybe? Why else would she suddenly leave Baekho Guild?”

“What...?”

His words made me pause. Something didn’t add up.

‘That makes sense. She left me, went to Baekho Guild, and now she’s coming here out of the blue?’

My thoughts were all over the place.

‘Wait... does that mean... she lost her position over there?’

A flood of ideas surged through my mind.

‘Hmm... In that case... maybe I should welcome her. Let her join our guild... and then make her life utterly miserable...’

It could turn out to be a golden opportunity after all.