"What's going on...?"

Cha I-seul muttered as she watched the TV, utterly baffled.

"Does she not know I'm dating Ji-hoon...?"

It felt strange. She and Baek Ji-hoon hadn’t exactly been hiding their relationship, but Chae Soo-hyun gave no indication of knowing, speaking casually in the interview.

‘Is she doing this on purpose?’

Cha I-seul couldn't shake the unease creeping in.

‘Could she be interested in Ji-hoon?’

She fervently hoped that wasn’t the case. Since her transfer to Blue Guild, seven other hunters had joined as well. Although the official reason given was because of Blue Guild’s rise in power, Cha I-seul suspected differently. It felt like many of them were drawn to Baek Ji-hoon.

And Chae Soo-hyun seemed to always be paying a bit too much attention to Ji-hoon. It was subtle, but she often glanced at them, particularly when they were together.

‘Ugh… Ji-hoon’s popularity is becoming a real problem…’

Cha I-seul felt a rising sense of anxiety. It wasn’t just Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Ha-na, who were already openly competitive for Ji-hoon’s attention, but now Chae Soo-hyun seemed to be officially throwing her hat in the ring.

As she stared at Chae Soo-hyun’s face frozen on the screen, she couldn’t help but feel provoked.

‘She knows what she’s doing, doesn’t she?’

Cha I-seul suddenly stood up.

 

"Ji-hoon."

Cha I-seul unexpectedly visited me.

"Hmm?"

"Did you see that interview with Chae Soo-hyun earlier? The one on the TV show?"

"Yeah."

I tried to respond calmly, but I think my voice trembled slightly, which I didn’t quite manage to hide.

"What's with her? Is that what she’s really like? Do you know why she’s talking like that?"

I-seul seemed visibly upset.

"Honestly? She seems to have lost her mind a bit."

I spoke without holding back.

"Right? Should I just go and announce to everyone that we’re dating?"

"There's no need for that. Don’t worry. She’s going to crumble soon."

"Huh? Crumble? What do you mean?"

I-seul widened her eyes in curiosity.

"You’ll see soon enough."

I said confidently.

 

"What the hell… Chae Soo-hyun Hunter…"

Lee Soo-ah was chewing on dried squid, glaring at the screen where Chae Soo-hyun’s broadcast was airing.

‘Look at her, working so hard to boost her popularity. But no matter how hard she tries, she won’t even come close to me. I was number one for years.’

Soo-ah felt secure in her position.

It was clear to her that Chae Soo-hyun was trying to gain public recognition through the media, carefully building her image.

“Ugh, such a liar. She says she doesn’t know about Cha I-seul and Ji-hoon dating? Hmm.”

Soo-ah had always found Chae Soo-hyun suspicious and had been critical of her from the beginning.

“And saying she couldn’t do the dungeon because it was ‘that time of the month’...”

Suddenly, the excuse Chae Soo-hyun had given during the dungeon raid popped into her mind.

‘Does that even make sense…?’

Soo-ah had long suspected that something was off about Chae Soo-hyun.

‘She accepted the mission and entered the dungeon, but then bailed with such a flimsy excuse? And why switch from Baekho Guild to Blue Guild so quickly?’

An idea suddenly struck Soo-ah.

‘Wait, but… Chae Soo-hyun joined Baekho Guild on the same day Ji-hoon joined Blue Guild, didn’t she?’

She quickly searched for confirmation and found that her suspicions were correct.

‘What’s this? Could there be something between them?’

Her usually inactive mind was suddenly working overtime.

‘Leaving Baekho Guild out of nowhere to join Blue Guild, and that strange look in her eyes… something isn’t right.’

The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced that there was a connection between Chae Soo-hyun and Baek Ji-hoon. When she had visited Ji-hoon’s house and seen Chae Soo-hyun there, it had definitely seemed odd.

‘Could they have been dating…?’

Her intuition was kicking in.

‘And another thing…’

Another thought crossed her mind.

‘Is it possible that Chae Soo-hyun isn’t even an S-rank hunter?’

The strange behavior she’d witnessed led her to this outlandish but increasingly plausible conclusion.

 

Knock, knock, knock.

"Yes?"

"Excuse me~ Ji-hoon? I have a little something I’d like to ask."

It was Lee Soo-ah.

Her expression was different than usual—something was up.

‘What is she planning?’

I had a bad feeling as I looked at her. She seemed too excited, like she was about to cause trouble.

"What did you do before joining Blue Guild?"

"What?"

"I mean, you were a hunter before, right? But what were you up to before joining Blue Guild? I’m just curious."

"Uh…"

I froze for a second, caught off guard.

‘Why is she asking this all of a sudden?’

"You’ve been a registered hunter for a while, right? But you stayed E-rank the whole time? Why didn’t you at least rank up to D? You definitely could have."

There was a hint of suspicion in her voice, like she knew something.

"Oh, I was just saving my points to rank up all at once. I didn’t want to bother with small increments."

I hastily made something up.

"Hmm… Saving up points to rank up all at once, huh? Sounds kind of like what Chae Soo-hyun did, doesn’t it?"

I flinched slightly. Soo-ah was looking at me with a sly smile, as if she knew exactly what was going on.

"What are you trying to say? I’m busy."

"Oh, but I’m just really curious about something. Chae Soo-hyun joined Baekho Guild on the same day you joined Blue Guild, right? And both of you recently became S-rank hunters. I was just wondering if there’s any connection between the two of you."

She stared at me, waiting for a reaction.

‘Hah… Did she overhear something, or is she just speculating? Why does she never use her brain for important things and only for nonsense like this?’

I felt slightly uncomfortable. Revealing the truth about Chae Soo-hyun now would throw off my plans to bring her down.

‘Soon enough. I’ll reveal it all then.’

“There’s no connection whatsoever.”

"Really? So all that stuff she said on TV, it’s not related to you at all?"

"Yes, it’s just her running her mouth. I was just as shocked as you."

That part was entirely true.

"Hmm, alright then."

Soo-ah gave me one last suspicious glance before walking out.

 

"Hey, Hana."

After leaving Baek Ji-hoon’s office, Lee Soo-ah quickly found Yoo Ha-na and approached her.

"What’s up? Bored?"

"No, listen to me for a second."

"What is it?"

"I’ve got a theory. I think Ji-hoon and Chae Soo-hyun might have something going on."

"What?"

Soo-ah went on to explain her suspicions.

"Oh, come on. It’s just a coincidence."

"No way! Isn’t it weird? And Chae Soo-hyun’s transfer to Blue Guild was strange, too."

"Well, by that logic, what about the six other hunters who joined Blue Guild? Are they suspicious too?"

"Huh… maybe."

Soo-ah recalled the TV interview. The way Chae Soo-hyun had spoken, it felt like she had a lot to say to Baek Ji-hoon.

‘Something’s definitely off… I can feel it.’

"But regardless of that, I’ve got something else to tell you."

"What now?"

"Don’t you think Chae Soo-hyun isn’t actually an S-rank hunter?"

"What?"

Yoo Ha-na was baffled by the outlandish suggestion.

"Soo-ah, if you’re going to spout conspiracy theories, go home and get some sleep. I’m busy preparing for the next dungeon."

"No, listen! She didn’t do anything at Baekho Guild for an entire month, and even when she joined Blue Guild, she barely did anything! Isn’t that suspicious?"

Soo-ah was waving her arms around, passionately trying to explain.

"Doesn’t it seem weird? Just using ‘that time of the month’ as an excuse feels like a total cop-out."

"Yeah, it’s a little strange, but accusing her of not being S-rank? That’s a bit much."

Yoo Ha-na looked at Soo-ah like she was out of her mind.

"Are you just mad because she took the number one spot from you once?"

"I’m not that petty!"

"But you are."

The two glared at each other.

"She was already evaluated and confirmed as S-rank, so this is ridiculous."

"Still, she did absolutely nothing during the low-level dungeon. S-rank hunters recover quickly, and that excuse about ‘that time’ was way too weak."

Soo-ah wasn’t letting go of her suspicions.

"Soo-ah, ever since Ji-hoon joined Blue Guild, I’ve heard people say you’ve been a little off. I didn’t know it had gotten this bad. Snap out of it!"

"Hah… Why is everyone so clueless?"

Soo-ah grumbled as she left Yoo Ha-na’s office.

‘There’s definitely something strange going on.’

She tilted her head, deep in thought. The more she thought about it, the more inconsistencies she found.

‘And Ji-hoon’s decision to gather all the S-rank hunters for a solo competition… that was weird too.’

In fact, the more she examined it, the more she realized Baek Ji-hoon’s actions had been unusual from the start.

‘Hmm… Chae Soo-hyun…’

Soo-ah was becoming fixated on uncovering the truth about Chae Soo-hyun.

‘I’ll figure this out.’