Cyborg-tl
Knock, knock, knock.
“Hunter Chae Soo-hyun? You’re feeling okay today, right?”
It was Park Hyung-seok. For the past few days, he had been persistently pressuring Chae Soo-hyun.
“Ah! Stop asking me already!”
Chae Soo-hyun looked utterly exasperated.
‘That bastard...’
Every day, he would come to her office and wave the dungeon raid filming plans in her face, asking if she was well enough to participate.
‘What the hell is he trying to pull? Is Ji-hoon really planning to abandon me?’
She held onto the hope that such a thing would never happen.
‘Ugh... if only I had stayed by Ji-hoon’s side, I wouldn’t have to deal with a guy like him...’
She shot Park Hyung-seok a glare that could kill.
“Are you still not feeling well?”
He feigned ignorance, his tone slightly mocking.
“Yes, I’m sorry, but I think I need to delay again due to poor health.”
She answered as calmly as possible.
“Well, if that’s the case, I guess I’ll have to make an announcement.”
“An announcement?”
“Yes. People are very interested in this broadcast, you see. Since we’re unable to proceed with filming, I think they deserve an update.”
He had a smug grin on his face.
‘So what? What are you getting at?’
She could sense that he had ulterior motives.
“Hunter Chae Soo-hyun, why don’t you check the internet later~”
With those words, he left her office.
‘Ugh... what is he playing at...’
She pulled up her browser and started looking at the latest online buzz.
[When is that broadcast happening? The one where S-rank hunters are raiding a dungeon?]
The amount of interest people had in the broadcast was undeniable. Chae Soo-hyun could feel the pressure tightening around her.
‘Ugh...’
She rubbed her forehead, letting out a soft sigh. She had tried so hard to live well and succeed, but it was getting harder and harder to keep it together.
‘This mess I’ve created...’
Her mind kept drifting back to Baek Ji-hoon.
‘Please, Ji-hoon oppa, I’m sorry. I’ve apologized so many times. Please forgive me.’
The number of crises she had to navigate felt overwhelming. Life had been so easy for her until now.
Even without her succubus traits, she had easily enticed men and gotten by. With those traits, she had felt invincible.
But after kicking Baek Ji-hoon aside and losing her status points, everything seemed to crumble. It felt like a tall, unbreakable wall was blocking her path.
‘Ugh...’
She shut her eyes tightly, searching for answers, but none came.
‘How can I win Ji-hoon oppa’s heart back? I feel like he still cares for me, but...’
[Hey, I heard the filming delay is because of Hunter Chae Soo-hyun.]
Days passed.
Chae Soo-hyun was biting her lip as she stared at her monitor.
‘Ugh... damn it...’
She was practically cornered, unable to avoid this any longer.
‘If I back out now, it’ll only get worse. But going forward...’
She knew there was nothing she could do in the dungeon. In a C-rank dungeon, she might have a chance, but an E-rank hunter like her would be helpless in an A-rank dungeon. All she’d be able to do was scream and run around.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Hunter Chae Soo-hyun? Are you feeling unwell today as well?”
Park Hyung-seok popped his head in, his expression as insincere as ever.
“I’ll go! I’ll go, okay?! I’ll go!”
Chae Soo-hyun finally snapped. She could feel the public’s increasing criticism over the delayed filming, and she couldn’t bear it any longer.
“Ah...”
I had collected a variety of items. After acquiring the Ruby Sword, I’d gotten my hands on four more items.
‘Making money is way too easy.’
At this rate, I’d be pulling in hundreds of millions of won every month.
Whenever I listed items on the auction house under the ID “Parafaris,” I attracted massive interest. Numerous broadcast stations had reached out, asking to meet me, but I always declined.
I only listed items briefly to drive up demand before selling them to Baekho Guild’s Jin-hyuk.
Jin-hyuk was practically begging me to sell him items.
He had raised an eyebrow, asking with a skeptical tone.
“Yes, I can keep finding them. But...”
“How?”
He seemed to think I’d get lucky a few times and that would be it. According to Hyung-seok, it looked like the Baekho Guild was planning to hoard all the rare items.
‘There are plenty of S-rank items that haven’t been discovered yet. I’ll make my money while keeping the best ones for myself.’
I wondered how long Jin-hyuk would keep buying from me.
“Ugh... damn it... How long is he going to keep finding items?”
Jin-hyuk’s initial strategy had been to buy up all the rare items. The goal was to flaunt his influence in the hunter industry.
But items kept pouring in faster than he’d expected.
S-rank items usually didn’t hit the market often, so he’d spent a fortune buying the first few. But something felt off.
‘Does he have some sort of item-generating ability? Why do they keep showing up? And why so quickly?’
A hint of anxiety crept in. He realized the image of scarcity he’d hoped for might be falling apart.
‘But I can’t stop buying...’
Jin-hyuk had always solved problems with money, so backing out wasn’t an option.
‘Ugh... Chae Soo-hyun... If only that woman had done her job as planned.’
Anger surged within him, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“Hyung, Hunter Chae Soo-hyun decided to go through with it. Heh heh.”
“Is that so?”
Park Hyung-seok returned to the office, happily waving the paperwork.
“See? I told you, when you leak a little information, people move. Looks like it’s all over for Hunter Chae Soo-hyun now.”
“Right. We’ll let everyone know so she’s unable to work in the hunter industry at all.”
Once Chae Soo-hyun was cut out of the industry, everything would be perfect. I had become an S-rank hunter and was making good money. On top of that, I was working with a lot of S-rank hunters in the Blue Guild.
In today’s hunter-centric world, life didn’t get better than this.
“Alright, let’s go. Time to take down Chae Soo-hyun.”
“Absolutely!”
We headed to the dungeon.
‘What the... what is this?’
It was the largest setup of broadcasting equipment I’d ever seen.
The sheer number of broadcast stations shining their lights made it nearly impossible to see ahead.
Chae Soo-hyun was feeling the weight of the pressure.
‘This... they didn’t say it’d be like this!’
She’d expected maybe one or two stations.
When she joined the Baekho Guild, Jin-hyuk had called around and managed to get about twelve stations involved.
But now, there were close to twenty stations visible.
Every major broadcasting station in the country seemed to be there.
‘They’re this interested in a mere dungeon raid?’
It was just an A-rank raid. Sure, it was the first time eleven S-rank hunters were taking on a dungeon together, but still.
‘Ugh... Park Hyung-seok... What the hell did you plan?’
Her confidence was rapidly waning. She could sense that she was on the verge of ruin.
‘No... Please...’
She looked over at Baek Ji-hoon, but he didn’t even glance her way, as if she didn’t exist.
‘Please...’
“Hey, Hunter Chae Soo-hyun.”
“Yes?”
Lee Soo-ah and Yoo Ha-na approached her, looking cautious.
“We’re on the same team today.”
Lee Soo-ah was glaring at her.
‘So, she’s been pretending to be S-rank while she’s actually not?’
Lee Soo-ah couldn’t stand her. She also sensed that there was some deep connection between her and Baek Ji-hoon.
“You know what we need to do today, right? We’re taking down monsters, and I don’t want to lose.”
Lee Soo-ah was determined to push Chae Soo-hyun to her limits.
If she got hurt, so be it. The sight of her pretending to be S-rank was infuriating.
‘Just admit it and quit. Ugh, she’s so sly.’
Lee Soo-ah couldn’t stand how Chae Soo-hyun pretended to be nice and acted like nothing was wrong.