Chapter 6: Hunter Community(3)

Early morning at the convenience store terrace, a woman was cracking open a beer can with fierce determination.

“You not drinking?”

Yuri, lugging a pile of cans, handed one to me. Her casual demeanor was so different from our first meeting that I was a bit surprised, but I didn’t refuse her kindness.

Taking the can and carefully opening it, Yuri kept poking at me.

“How do you open that so lamely… you sure you’re a returnee?”
“I am.”
“I heard from Sihyun you got retested. What’s your rank?”
“…F-rank.”

At my words, Yuri turned her head and spat out her beer. A snicker followed from behind. I hid my power on purpose, but I didn’t expect this kind of humiliation.

It didn’t bother me too much, yet the blow to my pride was indescribable.

‘Should’ve aimed for at least D-rank.’

Yuri’s teasing made my face flush. My body may be female, but my mind is male. For a Korean man, pride is a big deal.

Unaware of my feelings, Yuri kept giggling and chugging her beer.

“F-rank’s a bit much, even for you. I was thinking of recruiting you to our guild since you’re a returnee… too bad.”
“Your guild?”
“Yeah, my guild. Frost Guild. Sihyun didn’t tell you?”

Frost Guild—I’d seen it mentioned a lot in the hunter community. It’s where the Ice Empress, one of Korea’s few S-ranks, is based.

Yuri calling it “my guild” sparked a bad feeling.

“No way… you’re the Ice Empress?”
“Who else would be?”

Her words surprised me, but her friendly vibe so far made it less jarring.

“You don’t seem shocked.”

Why would I be? To me, Yuri’s just the villain who stole my bowl, a heinous food thief. Staring at her blankly, she suddenly leaned in close, making me step back.

“You were just badmouthing me in your head, weren’t you?”
“N-No…?”

This woman’s aura is no joke—S-rank for a reason. Does she have mind-reading powers too?

“Whatever, if you say so.”

Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like it. Slightly tipsy, Yuri returned to her seat and sipped her beer.

“Hey.”
“…What now.”
“If you’ve got nothing going on, wanna visit our guild for a tour or trial?”
“Nope.”

Tours or trials? I’ve been burned too many times in school falling for those. They make you work endlessly while droning on with boring explanations.

Naturally, I shot down Yuri’s offer.

“You’re not gonna be a hunter? If you wanna make a living as one, knowing how to enter gates or having clear experience would help.”
“I’m thinking side job, maybe…”

Yuri’s point made sense. But I only planned to do hunter work part-time, not full-time.

I’d already told my siblings I’m F-rank, and after a life of blood-soaked battles, I didn’t want to fight anymore.

Working odd jobs to get by seemed best for now.

“Even as a gate cleaner or porter, you can make 3 million won a month. And you’re not gonna hunt?”
“I’m F-rank. I’d be useless.”
“That’s the problem with your mindset! Not even trying…!”

Despite my refusal, Yuri kept nagging like a grumpy elder. I understood her, but after staining my hands with blood, I couldn’t return to the battlefield.

If I wanted money or power, I’d have shown my true strength during the rank test.

Sadly, there’s no reason to go back there now.

Seeing my persistent refusals, Yuri finally backed off and sat down.

“Ugh, why force someone who doesn’t want it.”
“Sorry…”

Maybe occasionally working as a gate cleaner wouldn’t hurt. But full-on hunting? No way. With a resigned look, Yuri pulled something from her pocket and handed it to me.

“If you change your mind, call. We don’t look down on F-ranks.”

It was a guild business card with her hunter rank, name, and number neatly printed. Standing up, Yuri started walking away.

“I’m heading in. Don’t stay out too late.”

Watching her coolly walk off, I reconsidered. I’d pegged her as a bad person for stealing my bowl, but her actions today were different.

‘Maybe she’s not that bad.’

*

“Ugh…”

I don’t know how many times I’ve thrown up.

I only had a few beers with Yuri at dawn, but the hangover’s brutal. I’ve always been weak with alcohol, and even as a returnee, old habits die hard.

My messed-up schedule since the hospital had me waking up in the afternoon. Even after all this time, Sihyun and Sohyun hadn’t returned.

No answer to my calls either, which worried me as their older sibling.

With no response, calling repeatedly might be a nuisance. If it’s a dungeon break, they’re likely in a gate, and who brings a phone into one?

Guess I’ll try someone close to Sihyun.

I powered on my phone and opened the contacts app. Sihyun said he added guild contacts to it.

Sure enough, a familiar name popped up.

[Red Knight Guild, Manager Park Mutae]

Park’s number was there. No need to call anyone else—I can go straight to him.

—Ring…

After a brief ring, a heavy voice answered with a dull thud.

“Hello?”
“Manager Park, it’s Suhyun.”
“Oh, Miss Suhyun.”

Park’s tone was brighter than before. Something good must’ve happened. After some pleasantries, I got to the point.

“So, Sihyun and Sohyun have been gone a while and haven’t come back, so I called.”
“The Guild Master and Miss Sohyun are on a dungeon break assignment. Those usually take at least two or three days for recovery.”
“Oh, I see… got it.”
“Have a good day, Miss Suhyun.”

Hanging up after formalities, I realized Sihyun and Sohyun were working hard. That means I’m alone in this huge house for a few days.

The old me would’ve been thrilled, but time’s made solitude feel lonely.

In the quiet living room, I slipped into my room and naturally logged into the hunter community.

‘Huh?’

Unlike yesterday, the community’s main page was buzzing with intriguing issues. A real-time issues board with high-view, high-upvote posts.

[Anyone see the dungeon break in central Seoul?]

[On the association president’s life]

[How a C-rank hunter survives in a capitalist society]

Among the varied posts, I clicked a provocative one. The page loaded, showing a massive gate photo and a devastated area.

[Real-time Issue] Anyone see the dungeon break in central Seoul?

Author: HawkEye

Date: Yesterday

——————————————————

This makes no sense.

It’s been four days since the dungeon break, and even with Red Knight, Spica, and association hunters deployed, it’s still not cleared. Normally, it’d be done by now—feels ominous.

Reading the post, unease crept in. It mentioned Sihyun’s guild, tying to him and Sohyun rushing out yesterday for the dungeon break.

Anxious, I scrolled to the comments.

—YeinLove: It’s a big one, but no way beasts take Seoul. Ice Empress and the association president are here—beasts can’t handle that.

↳DebuffMaster: What if it’s an S-rank gate?

↳YeinLove: S-rank gates aren’t common. Even if it is, two major guild masters are on it, so don’t worry.

—BeastSlayer: I’m a cleaner on-site, and the beasts’ sizes are no joke. Even B-rank hunters struggled.

↳HawkEye: Thanks for your work. You okay?

↳BeastSlayer: Cleaner, so no worries lol.

↳Dino: Wish they’d ban cleaners from the community.

↳ShadowAgent: Your attitude’s disgusting ;;

—SwordMaster: Red Knight’s been on it since yesterday. If Kim Sihyun was there from the start, it’d be over.

↳TrollBug: Why overhype an A-rank hunter lol.

↳SwordMaster: Work on yourself instead of judging others. Take care of your parents.

I didn’t care about the comment fights. The fact that my siblings’ situation was spreading through the community worried me, but they’re guild hunters.

They’ll look out for themselves.

If worse comes to worst, I’ll step in.

The chaotic issues board was stressing me out, so I closed it and browsed chat rooms as usual.

“This room looks fun.”

Just as I moved my cursor to a promising room, a small notification popped up.

[You have a new message.]

A message? Who’d send me one?

Skeptical, I checked the inbox.

LoaderGirl: StarHater, please help me.

What’s this about?