[Be there soon.]

That was the response from Baek Hyung-won, the guildmaster of the Baekho Guild.

***

Click, click.

At the photoshoot, Seomun Ye-jin struck a variety of poses, her expressions ranging from cheerful smiles to playful looks and pensive gazes.

She was dressed in a women’s racing outfit, which featured a notable degree of exposure. The sleeveless design left her arms fully exposed, and while the bottom half technically covered her, the shorts were so short they might as well not have existed. The outfit also revealed a hint of cleavage, with a zipper placed tantalizingly low, inviting the urge to pull it down further.

Despite its provocative design, this was considered a standard outfit for female hunters, modeled after racing girl attire.

‘Not exactly practical for an active hunter.’

Seomun Ye-jin possessed remarkable talent for her age. With proper training, her abilities could improve exponentially.

Just two days ago, she had reached A-rank level after casually following a piece of advice I gave her. With time, she could easily reach SSS-rank, something the original story portrayed as a slow progression.

In the original narrative, her growth from SS-rank to SSS-rank was far below her actual potential.

While the shoot continued, I sensed something that grated on my nerves.

‘They’re coming.’

There were three presences heading in this direction.

‘Baek Hyung-won, Kim Yoo-jung, and Baek Seo-jin.’

My parents in this life, who had sold me to villains, and the younger brother who was the protagonist of this world’s original story.

‘They’re here for me.’

A fifteen-year-old SSS-class mana awakener with no family or connections—of course, any guild would want to recruit someone like that.

‘The Baekho Guild moved faster than the others.’

It was likely a coincidence that the Baekho Guild had acted before the other top ten guilds, though to me, it was an utterly boring coincidence.

Since approaching me directly would be difficult, they had used Seomun Ye-jin’s Hunter magazine shoot in Seoul as a pretext to access the location.

"Excuse me."

Their arrival was swift.

Unlike the sniveling coward I remembered groveling before the SSS-class villain So Kang-seok five years ago, Baek Hyung-won entered the shoot with an air of authority, flashing the ID card that identified him as the SS-class hunter and guildmaster of the Baekho Guild.

"What brings you here, sir?" someone stammered.

The sudden appearance of a guildmaster from one of the top ten guilds had everyone at the shoot tense and on edge.

Everyone except for me and Seomun Ye-jin.

‘The young lady is nervous, but for a different reason.’

Seomun Ye-jin cast a nervous glance at me, worried about how I would react to the arrival of my so-called parents.

She knew the truth—that they had sold me to villains—and feared I might not be able to suppress my anger in their presence.

"Wow~ Noona, you’re so pretty!"

The tense atmosphere was abruptly broken by a boyish voice.

It was Baek Seo-jin, my younger brother and the protagonist of this world’s original story, gushing over Seomun Ye-jin.

If another boy his age had made such a comment, Seomun Ye-jin would likely have smiled and thanked him. But knowing that Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung had sacrificed me for their golden child, her expression hardened, and she remained silent.

Despite this, the doting parents, who idolized Baek Seo-jin to an absurd degree, immediately shifted their focus from me to Seomun Ye-jin, captivated by the fact that their son had taken notice of her.

Their lecherous, calculating gazes were so repulsive I nearly acted on impulse.

"So, you’re Seomun Ye-jin?" Baek Hyung-won asked, addressing her with an air of entitlement.

I stepped forward, positioning myself between her and them.

"Don’t come any closer to the young lady," I said coldly.

While protecting Seomun Ye-jin was part of my job, my true concern was that if these people so much as laid a hand on her, I might lose control and ruin my plans for revenge.

"So, you’re Kim Ho-jun?" Baek Hyung-won said, addressing me informally.

His rudeness gave me all the justification I needed to drop any pretense of politeness.

"Yeah, that’s me. Kim Ho-jun," I replied, matching his tone.

Baek Hyung-won frowned at my casual response, and Kim Yoo-jung shot me a look of disdain. Even Baek Seo-jin looked surprised at my lack of deference.

"How rude."

"You were the one who started with informal speech," I retorted with a cold smirk.

Baek Hyung-won, the man who had handed me over to villains without a shred of guilt, was clearly offended by my response.

"Even if you’re an SSS-class hunter, you’re just a kid. You don’t seem to understand the ways of the world. You should watch yourself," he warned.

His threat was laughable.

This was the same man who had groveled before an SSS-class villain, offering up his eldest son in exchange for his own safety. Now he thought he could intimidate a fifteen-year-old SSS-class awakener?

"Watch myself? So what, you’re going to attack me? If you’re threatening to harm someone without provocation, doesn’t that make you a villain?"

"What did you say?"

The best way to deal with someone like him was to act insane.

Since he couldn’t make a move here, I decided to escalate with a little show of dominance.

"They say you were colluding with the SSS-class villain So Kang-seok. Looks like that rumor might be true. I may not have official hunter status yet, but I have every right to defend myself against a threatening villain."

Boom.

I unleashed a wave of aura, focusing it entirely on Baek Hyung-won.

"Urgh, grgh!"

Though my power was restrained to an SSS-class level, it was enough to make the SS-class guildmaster stagger and break out in a cold sweat.

"W-what’s going on?" murmured those nearby, clearly shocked by the sudden turn of events.

I couldn’t help but pity the people at the shoot.

Dealing with these villainous intruders in the middle of their workday was far from fair.

Seomun Ye-jin stood by, not trying to stop me. She likely understood the depth of my grudge and chose not to interfere.

"Enough! Stop this right now!" Kim Yoo-jung finally shouted.

With no one else stepping forward, she had no choice but to intervene, her voice filled with frustration.

I ignored her completely.

‘Why should I stop?’

Instead, I increased the intensity of the pressure on Baek Hyung-won.

"Urgh!"

As he visibly struggled, dripping with sweat, Kim Yoo-jung shouted again, her tone desperate.

"I said, stop it!"

I turned to her and asked, "And who are you to order me around?"

"What?"

"Who do you think you are, talking down to me and giving orders? Are you a villain too?"

My words, laced with killing intent, made her pale with fear.

These two had grown used to being revered within the Baekho Guild, assuming that even an SSS-class mana awakener would bow to them because of his age. They thought they could manipulate me with a few words, treating me as an ignorant child they could control.

But SSS-class awakeners were not the type of people to be underestimated, regardless of their age.

‘Blinded by arrogance.’

This was the same arrogance that had allowed them to sacrifice me without a shred of guilt while pampering Baek Seo-jin.

"Don’t talk to my mom like that!" Baek Seo-jin shouted, stepping forward as if to protect her.

A lesser person might find his courage admirable, but to me, it was nothing more than disgusting.

"Ah, you’re Baek Seo-jin, aren’t you?" I said, addressing him.

"Y-yeah!" he stammered, nodding nervously, aware of the overwhelming power gap between us.

Kim Yoo-jung immediately moved to shield him, as if sensing the danger.

"You’re certainly devoted to your son," I said coldly.

"Of course! Something a lonely orphan like you wouldn’t understand!" she spat, her words drawing gasps of shock from those around us.

"Well, that’s crossing the line," I muttered.

Behind me, Seomun Ye-jin—herself an orphan—watched in stunned silence at the audacity of my so-called parents.

Her expression mirrored my own disgust as I turned back to them.

"An orphan, huh? Baek Seo-jin, aren’t you lucky? While your brother was dragged off by villains, left for dead, you’ve lived a cozy life, loved and protected by your parents."