'Thank goodness.'

Chae Soo-hyun let out a small sigh of relief after seeing Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Ha-na’s reactions. It seemed like they were even happy that she was bowing out. Though they appeared to think her excuse was a bit odd, she didn’t care. A little embarrassment was far better than being brutally killed by monsters today.

'Hah… just getting grazed by a B-rank monster would be enough to kill me…'

She had never imagined it would turn into a solo competition. She had fully expected to just stay in the background and pretend to be doing her part.

After all, she had never actually gone on a proper dungeon raid with Baekho Guild. But when Baek Ji-hoon had offered her this opportunity, she couldn't refuse—it had seemed like he was giving her a second chance.

Yet now, things had become much more complicated.

As she wandered around avoiding monsters, she approached other hunters, trying to subtly excuse herself.

“Um… Hunter Lee Ye-ji… I…”

“Huh? You’re saying it’s that time of the month? But can’t you still do it? Don’t you have any meds?”

“Oh, it’s fine. Hehe. I just need to rest and I’ll be okay…”

“Ah…”

They still didn’t seem to fully understand, but no one was particularly interested in her anyway, so they just left her alone.

‘Phew… I managed to get through today…’

But the real problem lay in what would come next. If things continued like this, what excuse could she possibly come up with?

'Huh… Ji-hoon oppa… He must be thinking something, right? Maybe he’s just acting cold because he’s disappointed in me? I mean, he wouldn’t have let me into Blue Guild otherwise, right? Why would he accept someone he doesn’t like into his guild?'

Chae Soo-hyun still held onto hope. She believed that if she could just survive today, everything would turn out fine.

As she walked, she noticed Baek Ji-hoon and Cha I-seul in the distance, laughing and working together on their quest.

'Hah… that… that bitch Cha I-seul…'

Chae Soo-hyun clenched her teeth.

'She’s doing that on purpose, right? Acting all friendly with him just to spite me. He still has feelings for me, right? That must be it…'

Thanks to her succubus traits, Chae Soo-hyun had always been able to easily manipulate men, which had given her a strong sense of confidence. She believed she was more attractive than any other woman.

'Ji-hoon oppa… I’m suffering enough as it is. Please, stop teasing me… please…'

She bit her lip, unsure of how long Baek Ji-hoon would continue to act this way. She had even read online that men, after being cold for a while, often ended up taking back their ex-girlfriends. Of course, she only focused on articles that supported her wishful thinking.

‘Oppa…’

She gazed longingly at Baek Ji-hoon and Cha I-seul.

 

"Hmm. You’re doing better than I thought."

"Come on~ I’m an S-rank hunter, after all."

Cha I-seul gave me a playful tap and smiled.

"You used to be pretty weak when you were younger."

"That was back in elementary school~ I’m an S-rank now."

Cha I-seul was a well-rounded hunter. Unlike some who specialized in certain areas, she had balanced stats across the board.

"But you know," she said as she casually sliced through a monster.

"Yeah?"

"We’re going to an S-rank dungeon later, right?"

"Yeah, that’s the plan."

Cha I-seul continued her quest, but kept talking.

"Hey, do you know about the auction house rumors?"

"Ah, yeah, I know."

‘Of course I do. That’s about me.’

It was impossible for me not to know.

"I didn’t realize how much money S-rank items could make. Back when I was in Zeus Guild, I barely made a few thousand a month. But S-rank items? They’re worth a fortune."

There was a hint of regret and sadness in her voice.

I had a pretty good idea why she felt that way.

I-seul had massive debts hanging over her head, which had forced her family to move several times. She was still probably struggling to pay it off.

"If we go to the S-rank dungeon… maybe I can finally get out of debt…"

"Yeah… most likely. S-rank items are insanely valuable."

Even if I took the S-rank hunters into the dungeon, there was no guarantee they’d perform well. If they started suffering from serious status ailments…

I’d have to spend my points to bail them out.

But I-seul was worth the investment. I wouldn’t mind using points to save her if it came down to that.

"Who do you think that guy is?"

"Huh?"

"That guy, ID: Paraparis. Hasn’t he made a ridiculous amount of money in just a few weeks?"

"Yeah, I think so."

I pretended not to know, feigning ignorance.

"It’d be great if we could be like that. You’d be well off, I’d be well off. We could finally leave behind all the crap from our past."

"Yeah."

I couldn’t agree more. My life had been pretty pathetic up until now.

 

"Hehe… Ji-hoon, I’m done with my part…”

Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Ha-na proudly reported back to me, smiling widely. Along with them, the other S-rank hunters had also completed their tasks.

Of course, my main focus was on Chae Soo-hyun.

‘Now, let’s see how she did…’

I was curious to see how she’d handled the situation.

"What about Hunter Chae Soo-hyun…?"

I spoke to her with a faint smile.

"Uh… I’m sorry… I couldn’t… because… it’s that… time of the month… I’m really sorry…"

Chae Soo-hyun avoided my gaze, her face flushed with embarrassment.

‘Hah. What’s this?’

I hadn’t expected her to give up so easily, but I also didn’t think she’d use the “that time of the month” excuse to wriggle her way out.

‘Hah… She dodged it…?’

I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

'Fine, you dodged it today. But what about next time? I’m going to keep pushing…’

She might have gotten away today, but there was no way she could keep making excuses. From what I’d heard from Jin-hyuk, she’d used the same tactics to avoid tasks at Baekho Guild.

‘But that only worked there because they didn’t know you were E-rank. I’m different.’

I laughed quietly to myself.

'If a jab doesn’t work, you just need to hit harder.'

I was already planning to apply even more pressure next time.

"Alright then, there’s no helping it."

I acted like I was letting her off the hook. As expected, Chae Soo-hyun smiled brightly at my words.

‘Ugh…’

I almost shook my head in disbelief.

"Ji-hoon! Are we going to announce the rankings today? The S-rank rankings, I mean. I’m pretty sure I got first place," Lee Soo-ah chimed in.

"What are you talking about? I finished before you," Yoo Ha-na shot back.

"No way, finishing time matters most. You only turned in your results first!"

"Who told you to finish up and laze around?"

"I wasn’t lazing around. I was messing with you, Yoo Ha-na."

Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Ha-na bickered back and forth, clearly under the impression that today’s quest was some sort of competition to determine the S-rank hierarchy.

‘Too bad. Today’s real purpose was to push Chae Soo-hyun into a corner.’

I stifled a laugh at their pointless argument.

"Alright, alright, stop fighting. Today was just about assessing your individual skills. Next time, we’ll form teams."

"Teams?"

"Yes, we’ll pair up and see how well you all work together."

Today had been a solo challenge, which had allowed Chae Soo-hyun to dodge her responsibilities. But in a team competition, she wouldn’t be able to escape so easily.

Next time, it would be much harder for her to make excuses. I could pair her up with Lee Soo-ah or Yoo Ha-na, and she wouldn’t have a choice but to participate. Plus, I was even considering bringing in broadcast coverage.

I had already heard from Cha Manager several times that media outlets were eager to interview Blue Guild, and I could use that to my advantage.

'You got away today, but next time there’ll be no escape.'

I glanced at Chae Soo-hyun and smiled.

I could already see the doom approaching her future.

When she saw me smiling at her, she smiled back.

‘What are you smiling about…?’

I could only scoff inwardly.

 

"Hyung! We just got a message from an American guild!"

It was a DM from the auction house.

"America?"

"Yeah. They’re starting to realize this isn’t a joke."

It seemed like the rumors were spreading fast. After completing our third weapons transaction, they were beginning to take us seriously.

"What do they want?"

I was curious, as the American hunter market was about ten times bigger than Korea’s. Their dungeons were on a whole other level compared to ours.

"They’re asking if we can make direct trades with them. And they’re also wondering if we’d consider exploring American dungeons to acquire items."

"American dungeons?"

"Yeah. They’re also asking if we can handle higher-level dungeons than just S-rank."

Hyung-seok looked incredibly excited.

"Yeah, we can."

"Wait, what?"

His face lit up with excitement, but then he froze mid-celebration.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I told you before, if I invest all my points, I’d probably be around SSS-rank. Although, technically that rank doesn’t even exist yet."

"Whoa…"

He looked like he was about to faint from shock.