The Hunter Association was a maelstrom of activity, more bustling than ever before.
Guild leaders, their faces etched with a mixture of determination and apprehension, mingled with their guild members, a palpable buzz of conversation filling the grand lobby.
This surge in numbers wasn’t a coincidence; it had begun after the ominous appearance of the status window, a harbinger of escalating dungeon difficulties that sent shivers down the spines of even the most seasoned hunters.
Ban Eun-hyuk, a figure of casual defiance, navigated the chaotic throng with one hand nonchalantly tucked into his pocket.
His gait was unhurried, almost indolent, as he aimed to cross the lobby.
That is, until a human wall, a large, jostling group of people, abruptly materialized, effectively blocking his path.
A subtle crease formed between Ban Eun-hyuk’s brows, a fleeting shadow of annoyance crossing his otherwise composed features.
He lifted his chin ever so slightly, his gaze sweeping over the individuals obstructing his way.
“Oh, excuse me!” a voice stammered, and like phantoms sensing his almost imperceptible shift in demeanor, the guild members parted, clearing a path before him.
It was a sight reminiscent of Moses’ miracle, a wide corridor opening through the dense crowd, and Ban Eun-hyuk began to walk down its center.
But just as he did, another figure emerged, once again impeding his progress.
“Oh? Look who it is! I just happened to have something to say,” a familiar voice chirped.
Eun-hasu, radiating an unusual warmth, approached from the opposite direction, his girlfriend, Sagong Arin, by his side.
A collective gasp rippled through the remaining guild members as their eyes widened at the unexpected confrontation between the two giants in the very heart of the association.
Their expressions, a mixture of shock and anticipation, clearly conveyed that they had stumbled upon an interesting spectacle.
However, a single, frosty glance from both Ban Eun-hyuk and Eun-hasu was enough to send everyone scattering in haste, the crowd dissolving like mist.
“What do you have to say?”
Ban Eun-hyuk asked, a slight twitch in his eyebrow betraying his irritation.
Eun-hasu, who typically sought to pick a fight whenever their paths crossed, was, for some inexplicable reason, greeting him with uncharacteristic warmth today.
In response to Ban Eun-hyuk’s query, Eun-hasu gestured with one hand towards his girlfriend, his arm still casually draped around her.
“My Arin wants to meet that girl from your school again.”
“I don’t know anyone like that,” Ban Eun-hyuk replied vaguely, already turning to leave, dismissively waving a hand.
“I haven’t even said who it is yet?”
Eun-hasu countered, a playful smirk dancing on his lips.
Ban Eun-hyuk, who had been about to walk past Eun-hasu, stopped mid-stride.
He clicked his tongue in displeasure, a clear sign of his annoyance, but before he could resume his departure, a name, a familiar one, resonated through the air.
“Alright, fine. Hey, Yeon Hyung-kwang’s sibling! Do you know Lee Dana?”
The mention of the name “Lee Dana” brought Ban Eun-hyuk to an immediate halt.
He whipped his head around, his eyes locking onto Eun-hasu, who was now engaged in conversation with Yeon Hyung-kwang. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ban Eun-hyuk strode towards them, his hand shooting out to grab Eun-hasu’s shoulder.
He spun him around, a sudden intensity in his gaze.
“Why her?”
His question, sharp and unexpected, erupted before he even had a chance to fully process the thought.
As he registered his own swift action, the grip on Eun-hasu’s shoulder involuntarily loosened.
At that precise moment, Sagong Arin, who possessed the peculiar affliction of breaking out in hives whenever she touched women, with Eun-hasu being the singular, inexplicable exception, had her eyes practically sparkling.
She looked up at Ban Eun-hyuk, completely unconcerned by her boyfriend’s abrupt spin, and asked with an almost excessively bright demeanor, “Are you close with Dana? I really wanted to meet her again after we got caught in that gate last time!”
“If it’s Dana noona, I…”
Yeon Hyung-kwang began, attempting to interject.
“Ah, we’re close,” Ban Eun-hyuk interjected smoothly, cutting off Yeon Hyung-kwang.
At Ban Eun-hyuk’s unexpected admission, a wave of shock rippled through everyone present, with the sole exceptions of Sagong Arin and Yeon Hyung-kwang. Sagong Arin, who filtered reality to see and hear only what she desired, and Yeon Hyung-kwang, who had only recently returned to Korea after a prolonged period abroad, were oblivious.
They had no inkling of the select few Ban Eun-hyuk ever deemed himself “close” with.
“Really? Then could you tell Dana I want to meet her?”
Sagong Arin pressed, her excitement evident.
Ban Eun-hyuk, a strange, almost imperceptible twist to his lips, readily nodded.
He seemed utterly unaware of the peculiar expression on his own face.
“What’s with that twisted smile of yours?”
Eun-hasu muttered, his own expression one of bewilderment.
He then made a swirling motion with his index finger next to his head.
“Did you eat something bad? You don’t seem normal.”
Normally, such a comment would have ignited a fierce altercation, but Ban Eun-hyuk merely chuckled, a low, rumbling sound, and lightly retorted, “It’s not a twisted smile, it’s a warm smile.”
“He’s definitely crazy,” Eun-hasu concluded, still looking utterly perplexed.
“Get lost quietly when I’m in a good mood,” Ban Eun-hyuk warned, his voice taking on a cold edge as he addressed the annoying Eun-hasu.
Finally sensing the shifting atmosphere, Sagong Arin, with surprising speed, pulled Eun-hasu away and quickly exited the scene.
Only Yeon Hyung-kwang, who had been an excited spectator to the entire exchange, remained in the association lobby, a lingering grin on his face.
***
“Huh? The Black Flame Dragon Guild Leader’s girlfriend?”
Yeon Hyung-kwang, whom I happened to encounter on the way to school, brought up the previous day’s sight of Eun-hasu and his girlfriend at the association.
When I looked at him with a puzzled expression at his assertion that Sagong Arin wanted to see me, he seemed to ponder deeply for a moment before speaking again.
“Come to think of it, I think she mentioned a fan club or something.”
“Tell her I’m busy.”
I immediately recalled Sagong Arin’s crazed eyes, glinting with an almost unsettling madness as she observed Yeon Ha-yeon’s combat prowess and Yeon Hyung-kwang’s awakening when we were all unexpectedly caught in that sudden gate in front of the Kingwangjjang Arcade last time.
The thought of meeting her again filled me with a deep reluctance. ‘If I meet her, it feels like it’ll be exhausting.’
Shaking my head, I entered the classroom, only to find Ban Eun-hyuk bringing up the very same topic.
“Keep your weekend open,” he stated, his voice devoid of any pretense.
“Why?”
I retorted sharply, taken aback by the sudden demand to clear my weekend.
“There’s someone who wants to see you,” Ban Eun-hyuk replied, his tone slightly subdued, as he stared at me with an intense gaze.
“Eun-hasu’s girlfriend?”
I ventured, a hint of suspicion in my voice.
“How did you know?”
Ban Eun-hyuk’s surprise was evident, a frown forming on his face as I continued.
“Hyung-kwang told me on the way to school.”
“Tell her I’m busy.”
“Did you tell Yeon Hyung-kwang that too?”
“Of course. Talking to Eun-hasu’s girlfriend… feels like it’ll be a bit exhausting.”
“Ah, I get it,” Ban Eun-hyuk immediately agreed, much to my surprise, and didn’t press the topic further.
But why, despite my repeated declarations of busyness, was Eun-hasu’s girlfriend standing directly in front of me on my way home from school?
***
“Long time no see! How have you been? I was disappointed you were busy, but we meet in a place like this!”
Sagong Arin’s cheerful voice cut through the afternoon air.
It was a rare occasion, leaving the school gates with my friends, including Nabi, and Sagong Arin, who seemed to have been waiting diligently right in front of the school, greeted me as if our encounter was a mere coincidence.
“Do you know her?”
Nabi whispered, her voice barely audible, as she was the first to notice my distinct lack of enthusiasm.
“Black Flame Dragon’s girlfriend…”
I whispered back, and Nabi’s eyes widened, a curious expression settling on her face as she glanced at Sagong Arin.
“So that’s the rash cure!”
Nabi whispered excitedly, her voice brimming with a thrill at the prospect of seeing the “Black Flame Dragon Guild Leader’s girlfriend,” a figure who had, until now, existed only as a persistent rumor, in person.
Sagong Arin looked back and forth between us, a bewildered expression on her face, utterly unaware of the hushed exchange.
I merely wished to avoid her, convinced that any interaction would inevitably lead to trouble, but her innocent, almost naive expression tugged at something within me.
I let out a quiet sigh, a sound of resigned acceptance, and reluctantly began to follow Sagong Arin towards an empty lot situated near the school.
With a heavy heart, I sent Nabi and my other friends ahead. It felt as though, ever since I had started spending more time with Yeon Ha-yeon, and as my true personality began to surface, coupled with the revelation of my status as an awakened being, I was gradually drifting further away from them than ever before.
“There’s so much I want to talk about with you! First, I want to hear your story about witnessing Yeon Hyung-kwang’s awakening, and I also want to talk about when you two got caught in the gate together!”
Sagong Arin’s words tumbled out in a rapid-fire succession, her enthusiasm almost overwhelming.
“You saw Hyung-kwang’s awakening too, didn’t you?”
I interjected, attempting to slow her down.
“I need stories seen from a different perspective!” she countered, unwavering.
“Where?”
I asked, a flicker of apprehension stirring within me.
“The Yeon Hyung-kwang fan cafe, of course! You might have seen something I missed. The number of Yeon Hyung-kwang fan cafe members is increasing at an alarming rate, so every single eyewitness account like this is really important!”
There it was again.
That unsettling, crazy glint in her eyes. ‘It was a fan club thing after all,’ I thought, a wave of weariness washing over me.
I felt a dizzying sensation as Sagong Arin launched into a barrage of questions, akin to a reporter on a relentless mission.
Knowing that I was close with the Yeon siblings, she pressed for details about their school life, and it became clear that if I answered too thoroughly, she would relentlessly pry into their private lives.
“You’re even close to Yeon Ha-yeon in class, right? Then… Oh? Who’s over there?”
I was contemplating a vague, dismissive answer to escape the conversation and head home when Sagong Arin suddenly looked towards the empty lot, her head tilted, her eyes squinting to peer ahead.
At her words, I too turned my gaze in the direction she was looking.
“No skills, handicap maintained are the conditions.”
“Of course. Look, my right hand is in my pocket.”
This familiar voice.
That smooth, almost insolent tone.
“Huh! Is that Yeon Hyung-kwang?!”
The exclamation escaped me before I could stop it. Even from behind, I recognized him immediately.
That vibrant green hair stood out distinctly among the cluster of students gathered in the empty lot. Sagong Arin, who had been clinging to me and peppering me with questions, swiftly pulled out her phone.
Her instinct to record had clearly awakened, as the sight before us was far from commonplace.
Apparently, it was a burgeoning trend these days for non-awakened individuals to challenge awakened ones under the strict condition of abstaining from the use of their abilities.
I observed the opposing students, a group of about twenty, with a pathetic gaze.
‘Do they really want to beat an awakened person that badly?’
If an awakened person were to employ their skills or abilities against a non-awakened individual, they would face severe punishment, and these fights were a calculated exploitation of that rule.
Students who had yet to awaken and yearned to reclaim their former glory frequently challenged awakened individuals in this manner.
Among the burly boys clad in black uniforms, who gritted their teeth and lunged with unrestrained ferocity, Yeon Hyung-kwang moved with an almost ethereal lightness, a dance-like quality to his evasion of their attacks.
“Oh? Noona!”
He spotted us then, his arm rising in a cheerful wave.
I counted them again; there were seventeen opponents in total.
To wave so casually amidst such a large, aggressive group was truly remarkable. Instead of returning his wave, I simply pointed behind him with my finger.
“Oops.”
Yeon Hyung-kwang, with an astonishing nonchalance, caught a fiercely swung metal pipe with a single hand.
Then, with a fluid motion, he snatched the metal pipe away, delivering a swift kick to the boy who had wielded it, sending him flying far backward through the air.
In an instant, the entire atmosphere of the empty lot reversed.
Yeon Hyung-kwang swiftly and efficiently took down all seventeen of his assailants.
He maintained his easy smile throughout, even as he swung the metal pipe with one hand still casually tucked into his pocket.
Sagong Arin’s eyes were practically shooting hearts at his relaxed demeanor, which remained utterly consistent from the beginning to the end of the confrontation.
‘The moment has come for me to witness seventeen against one with my own eyes.’
Should I confess that I was touched?
The sight of him, his green hair fluttering in the breeze, swinging a metal pipe with one hand still in his pocket, was indeed quite a spectacle to behold.
But… perhaps because he was fighting with one hand in his pocket, even knowing it was a self-imposed handicap, it looked far too much like an unnecessary bluff.
As I stood motionless by the entrance of the empty lot, observing the scene unfold, the fight concluded with surprising rapidity.
Yeon Hyung-kwang threw the metal pipe to the ground and immediately dashed towards us.
“The empty lot is dangerous, why did you come here?”
His gentle voice, full of concern, lingered in my ears.
“Oh, I was looking for a place to talk with her. But…”
I was about to express my opinion that this location was far from ideal when Sagong Arin, having finished recording her video, boldly stepped into the empty lot where seventeen students lay groaning and suffering, sprawled across the ground.
Her attitude suggested she hadn’t even registered the presence of the injured boys, who were, ironically, a head taller than her.
“We can sit here!”
Sagong Arin exclaimed, pointing to a dusty bench in the empty lot, and then plopped down before either Yeon Hyung-kwang or I could even formulate a response.
What ultimately prevented me from declaring that we had talked enough for today and should simply go home was the content of the chat window that suddenly popped up in my field of vision.
[Wanso (7): Did you see the news? There’s a big fuss about finding the 0th ranked person.]
[Wanso (7): It seems like Dana’s fan club will appear soon -_-… My girlfriend is already on it.]