Anger and fear swirled in his eyes.
It was as if he were facing the enemy of his family, releasing emotions uncontrollably.
Jung Se-ah, facing a man whose rationality had already been overtaken by his emotions, immediately stepped back.
As she moved a step back, Si-woo’s expression twisted as if he couldn’t understand what was happening.
‘What’s going on?’
When she got closer, he exploded in anger, but as she stepped away, he sent her a confused look, unable to understand her actions.
Jung Se-ah briefly questioned his behavior, unsure of what to make of it.
“Who are you?”
It was Si-woo who spoke first.
Though he gathered the courage to speak, his voice still trembled with fear.
He kept his gaze fixed on her, but his pupils trembled as his body, gripped by terror, twitched, as if trying to escape the situation as quickly as possible.
‘What is he, a stray cat that’s been abandoned?’
Taken aback by his unexpected reaction, Jung Se-ah raised both hands in a gesture that conveyed no intention of harm.
The gesture was meant to show that she meant no threat.
If he were an aspiring Hunter, he should have thought that, seeing her in such an unarmed position, it was safe.
She thought this might help him feel a bit more at ease.
“Huff-!!”
Apparently not.
Contrary to her thoughts, Si-woo’s complexion had worsened even further, and his face turned pale, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
He trembled violently.
He looked in far worse shape than she had expected.
‘Typical PTSD symptoms.’
People like him were like ticking time bombs.
One wrong trigger, and they could explode.
Moving carelessly could set him off, so Jung Se-ah stopped in her tracks, cautious not to make a move that might push him over the edge.
She kept her hands raised, waiting for him to approach first, in his unguarded state.
‘This is just like training a stray cat.’
Suppressing a chuckle, she waited patiently.
Thankfully, Si-woo’s wariness was much better than that of a real stray cat.
As his breathing steadied, color slowly returned to his pale face.
Would this standoff last for hours?
But contrary to her worries, after about 10 minutes, Si-woo returned to his initial question.
“Who are you?”
“I’m just a regular person out for a walk.”
“This isn’t a proper hiking trail.”
“People recognize me too much, you know. If I use a regular trail, there’s always an impromptu fan meeting due to all the people who recognize me.”
Hearing this, Si-woo, who had been observing Jung Se-ah’s face, let out a small sigh.
In his excitement, his vision had narrowed, and he could only tell she was a woman.
But as his excitement calmed, his vision broadened, and he realized who the woman in front of him was.
Lavender-colored hair, a rare sight that could hardly be seen in ordinary people.
The strong, distinct mana of an Awakened person and the tension around her waist.
An S-rank Hunter, someone who was well-known in Korea and beyond.
“Jung Se-ah Hunter…”
“If you know my name, the conversation becomes easier.”
Once Si-woo recognized her identity, he let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his posture.
Unlike most people, an S-rank Hunter would be able to resist his allure.
Remembering his experiments with Baek Eun-seol and Kitsunezawa, Si-woo took his hand off the wooden sword and lowered his head.
“I’m sorry. My condition isn’t great right now, so I drew my sword without thinking.”
“It’s fine for me, but you should be careful when drawing a sword.”
There were many extreme individuals among Hunters.
In fact, this time, the situation was more in her favor.
In the Hunter industry, there were far more people than one might think who would feel no problem drawing their own sword if the other person did.
Jung Se-ah’s advice was appreciated, but Si-woo couldn’t help himself.
Without his sword, it would be impossible to communicate with certain people.
“What do you mean by that?”
Jung Se-ah tilted her head, confused by Si-woo’s words.
However, as she noticed something approaching from the distant bushes, she quickly turned her head.
“What is it, a wild animal…?”
“No, it’s a person.”
Si-woo immediately denied her assumption, pulling out his wooden sword.
Crack—!!
Even as he trembled in fear, Si-woo summoned his mana.
He looked ready to face a monster, and Jung Se-ah urgently stepped forward, trying to stop him.
“No, what are you doing…?”
Swish, thud—!!
It was something she could only respond to because it was him.
The strike he had shown earlier was definitely a technique from a top-tier Hunter.
Ordinary people wouldn’t even be able to see the sword strike, and Hunters below C-rank would undoubtedly be taken down without even having time to react.
She pushed forward, intending to get him to try talking instead of attacking.
But then, a voice from beyond the bushes made her stop moving.
“Is this where you are? I told you I could find you even if you hid. Really. Just because you placed your hand on my thigh, I’m treated like a blacklist? You really can’t manage your customers properly, huh?”
The words she overheard sounded off, and the noise from the bushes grew louder.
The sound wasn’t something you’d expect from a normal person.
With a sharp frown, Jung Se-ah’s expression darkened.
“What in the world…?”
Whooosh!
Crack! CRASH!!!
A massive iron chunk split the air with a deafening roar.
The heavy sound of the greatsword crashing down made Jung Se-ah’s expression harden.
What’s going on?
Who is he with now?
Just three days ago, he was spending a pleasant time with her.
He had smiled at her, and if he smiled at her, he should have kept smiling just for her.
Now, who the hell is he laughing with?
She had even told him she’d get him all the money he needed.
She had said she’d quit her host job and marry him!
Jung Se-ah furrowed her brows as the blast from the strike hit her, making her momentarily forget the fact that they were outside the gate.
No matter how remote a mountain might be, it was still a problem to be hitting it with such powerful strikes.
“Do you know that person?”
“He was one of my clients. He crossed the line and sexually harassed me, so he ended up on the blacklist.”
Jung Se-ah made a confused face and then drew her sword.
“You should have reported him to the police.”
“He just ended up on the blacklist yesterday.”
So, he had come looking for revenge after being blacklisted overnight?
And instead of trying to resolve it with words, he came with a massive sword?
“What a crazy woman.”
“Well, she’s still better than the really crazy ones. When it goes wrong, some of them kidnap you from home.”
Jung Se-ah was momentarily frozen by the unexpected response.
In that moment, the insane woman approached, cutting through the trees with ease.
“Here you are?”
The woman with wild, green hair fluttering in the wind appeared.
Holding a greatsword that seemed at least three meters long, she locked eyes with Si-woo, a blissful expression on her face.
“Aah, so you were waiting here. Yeah, you wouldn’t run away. It’s just because of that bitch that we couldn’t meet, right? Si-woo, tell me it’s true. Tell me you still like me, that you still love me. No, say it quickly. Did she tell you not to say you love me? Don’t worry. She’s not here…”
“Shut up.”
Whoosh!
With a swift movement, Si-woo hurled his body into action and swung his sword.
The refined slash, more delicate than the one he had sent toward Jung Se-ah, cut sharply toward the woman’s wrist.
Using a greatsword, most people would use both hands, so if he could disable one of her arms, he wouldn’t necessarily gain an advantage, but at least she wouldn’t be able to use her sword.
The judgment was sound.
“Hehe, you wanna play with me?”
“!!!”
With a maniacal grin, the woman gripped a dagger in one hand and lifted the massive greatsword with just one hand.
This was the result of underestimating B-rank Hunters, thinking that someone who wasn’t an Awakened Hunter couldn’t possibly swing a weapon that large with one hand.
The greatsword, which looked to weigh several hundred kilograms, was easily swung by her single arm.
“Then let’s play together forever.”
“Shit! Are you not letting go?!”
Si-woo twisted his body desperately, aiming a kick at her face, but the woman didn’t even flinch.
Her madness was evident in her expression—she even interpreted such actions as affectionate gestures.
Despite feeling disgusted, Si-woo spat out curses and, the moment he dropped his wooden sword in an attempt to escape, a voice rang out.
“What the hell have you been doing for this kind of woman to be after you?”
“Huh?”
Jung Se-ah appeared from the sky, drawing her sword with precision.
The timing of her draw and the slash was almost simultaneous.
The slash, skipping any intermediate motions, cut across the woman’s body.
“-!!!”
“Don’t worry. I hit her with the back of the sword.”
With the shock, the woman’s vision turned completely white.
Since she wasn’t an ordinary person, Jung Se-ah didn’t hold back on the strength of her strike.
As the woman began to lose consciousness, she reached out with her hand in one final, desperate attempt.
Her only goal was to touch Si-woo, no matter what, moving her body towards him.
Caught off guard by this unexpected action, Jung Se-ah reached for her sword again.
“Ugh!!!”
Thud!!
“… Oh?”
But Si-woo reacted to that final attempt.
He swatted away the hand reaching toward him.
Though the strike had slowed him down far more than expected due to Jung Se-ah’s blow, Si-woo was still able to react faster than someone who had never undergone proper training.
“How did you manage to do that?”
“I just thought I could, so I tried.”
Si-woo had replicated Jung Se-ah’s signature technique.
By imitating her insane skill of strengthening the nervous system, he had managed to fend off the woman’s grasp.