Si-hyun entered the clearing and immediately cast blessings on the men.
From the bruised necks of the men caught in the monster’s grasp…
To the shredded ankles of the archer.
The wounds of the D-rank guild members healed in an instant.
Si-hyun approached the archer man and squatted down, saying,
“You were amazing just now. What a marvelous shot!”
“Ah… th-thank you!”
The man responded, touched by Si-hyun’s compliment, his eyes sparkling as he gazed at her.
At that moment…
Hee hee hee—!
Suddenly, the space warped to Si-hyun’s right, and the monster’s head popped out.
“D-danger…!”
The startled man shouted loudly.
Thwack!
“Did… you just?!”
He quickly shut his mouth, and Si-hyun stood up, having smashed the monster’s teeth to bits with her fist.
At the same time, the clown’s head returned to its original position.
The sharp teeth that had been like daggers were all shattered and fell away with a thud.
“I’ll finish this off.”
“Yes, yessir!”
The startled man widened his eyes and answered.
He couldn’t believe that the teeth he’d seen crunching spears could be destroyed so easily.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, it was hard to accept.
When Si-hyun turned around, a furious monster glared at her.
The standoff didn’t last long.
Thud!
Si-hyun kicked the ground and charged forward.
The clown was astonished by her incredible speed and moved its hands.
Just like it had grabbed the archer’s ankle, it aimed for Si-hyun’s leg.
But…
Crack!
Si-hyun easily stomped down on the hand that appeared in the air and continued running forward.
“Predictable.”
Si-hyun chuckled, mocking the monster.
It may have been a tough opponent for the Wings Guild members, but for Si-hyun, it was nothing.
At best, it was a monster that could send parts of its body over mid-range using space magic.
With just a sense of the flow of mana, predicting its moves was easy, and the monster’s body wasn’t sturdy either.
Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
It was a typical monster of that type.
‘So, it’s just throwing up a flimsy barrier, huh?’
Ka-haak!
As Si-hyun approached, the enraged clown swung a punch with its perfectly intact arm.
But Si-hyun simply tilted her head slightly and dodged the attack.
Then, she leaned into her rush and firmly grabbed the clown’s neck with her right hand.
For a moment, Si-hyun and the clown were suspended in mid-air.
Si-hyun’s long hair fluttered in the wind.
And just like that…
Bang!
Combining the force of her rush and her arm, she slammed the clown down to the ground.
The monster, its neck tightly gripped, couldn’t even scream properly.
Si-hyun didn’t stop there.
“What you did, you should have to face the same!”
Si-hyun, having gotten back to her feet first, quickly moved to grab both of the clown’s ankles.
She channeled all her strength.
Whew—, wham!
In a position similar to a suplex, she tossed the clown over her head and slammed it to the ground.
Giving back more than it received!
The cost for knocking down the archer was brutal.
With its head smashed into the ground, the clown quivered as its entire body hit the floor.
Si-hyun shook her hands lightly as she stood up.
After glancing at the clown, she said,
“Anyone here for revenge?”
With a light smile, she gestured to the men.
A moment of silence passed.
But soon…
“I’m in!”
“Revenge, revenge!”
“Bwahaha!”
“Get ’em!”
Ecstatic, the men rushed forward.
The monster lay there, barely clinging to life and sagging weakly.
Kicking it to check, they eagerly started their revenge.
The spearmen, whose spear had been shattered, kicked the clown’s torso.
The knight, who had been choked, plunged his sword into the clown’s neck.
The limp clown could only take a one-sided beating.
“Bwahaha!”
“Hahaha!”
“How do you like this?!”
The C-rank dungeon tour of the Wings Guild had turned into a picnic again.
All traces of their previous fear had vanished.
Si-hyun watched the scene with a satisfied smile.
Then, suddenly…
‘…Did I overdo it?’
As the familiar Wings Guild members found themselves in danger, and Han-gyeol went into a frenzy next to her,
She felt a rush to exert herself fully.
Of course, she had promised Da-young that she would ensure their safety, so it made sense for her to step up.
Dealing with a monster that wasn’t even B-rank wasn’t difficult either.
But, given the situation had escalated quickly, it seemed she had performed too flamboyantly.
‘…Can this really be called knightly? Even D-rank?’
This time, nobody could see it as that. What should she do…
…Should she just cover her eyes and play dumb?
Enjoying sweet rest every day, doing what she wanted only when it was convenient…
Si-hyun was so happy in her current comfortable life.
She pondered deeply about how to wrap this up.
And as for the men…
After the clown died and they were busy collecting scraps, they noticed Si-hyun’s serious expression.
Assigning the youngest to do the work, they pretended to be busy and whispered to her.
“Han-gyeol, Si-hyun must be at least B-rank, right?”
“Yeah…?”
“Hiding ranks is usually what criminals do.”
“Si-hyun a criminal? That’s ridiculous. She’s even a professor at the Academy.”
The men subtly looked at Si-hyun.
They were still trapped in their thoughts.
“Why would she hide her rank?”
One man asked.
“Maybe it’s a trump card the association is keeping hidden. Something like that?”
“Isn’t it better to utilize it than hide it? There are more than one or two dungeons.”
The conspiracy theorist’s opinion was immediately dismissed.
“Could it be that she’s hiding it for love?”
“Love? What kind of nonsense is that?”
“If she’s too strong, nobody would go near her. So she hides her lower rank to mingle with others.”
“Oh, that’s somewhat plausible, but then who is she in love with?”
The men’s gazes drifted to Han-gyeol.
“Let’s talk sense here.”
“That’s true.”
“This doesn’t seem right.”
“…Excuse me.”
Han-gyeol, who had been listening quietly, now had a look on his face as if he had bitten into something sour.
The romantic guild member’s suggestion was dismissed too.
“She looks foreign. Maybe she has some circumstances and pretended to be Korean?”
“That’s convincing!”
“Could she have some story she can’t reveal to others?”
Even the identity-changing theory popped up.
Thus, the men exchanged various opinions.
Amidst it all, one man raised a question.
“But do we really need to know why?”
“…That’s true?”
“Whether it’s identity fraud or anything else, it means she wants to keep it hidden, right?”
“Exactly.”
The men’s gazes turned to Si-hyun and then back again.
“There must be a reason. She looks so lovely and kind; surely there’s a story behind her, right?”
“Plus, she’s our lifesaver. So shouldn’t we just follow what Si-hyun wants?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The Wings Guild members narrowed down their opinions.
Just as they decided on their course of action, the youngest finished sorting the scraps and stood up.
Realizing they were about to exit the dungeon, Si-hyun lifted her lowered head.
“Everyone, about today’s event…”
“Si-hyun, you were truly amazing!”
“Is this what a talented D-rank hunter is like?!”
“Truly the Academy professor! Hahahaha!”
“We’ll have to step up ourselves! Hahaha!”
With lighthearted banter, the men praised Si-hyun.
Si-hyun’s mouth dropped slightly in surprise at their unexpected reactions.
‘Do they really not see through it?’
Believing it was still a bit off, Si-hyun frowned slightly.
The men sharply noticed her change in expression.
“Since you’re C-rank, haven’t you taken your advancement test yet?”
“We should throw a celebration party soon!”
“Let us know when you advance!”
“…Uh, yes.”
Si-hyun nodded unconsciously.
In an instant, she transformed from a talented D-rank into “someone talented and C-rank but hasn’t undergone promotion.”
Is this right? Can it really pass like this?
Si-hyun tilted her head, following the men who headed towards the exit.
‘It seems everyone is pretending not to notice on purpose?’
With the men being so brazen, she almost overlooked it, but Si-hyun wasn’t a fool.
If she could defeat a boss, it might be one thing, but breaking a barrier meant they would definitely have noticed something strange.
Si-hyun watched the men with a peculiar expression.
What could be the reason behind their proactive kindness, even though she hadn’t asked for it?
Honestly, she didn’t know, but it didn’t feel bad.
‘Shall I trust them just this once?’
Even if rumors spread, it wouldn’t be a major crisis in life. Just a hassle.
If the rumors didn’t spread? Then she could build more trust within the Wings Guild.
It didn’t seem so bad.
Just before reaching the exit, Si-hyun called out to the men.
“Everyone.”
The men all stopped and turned around.
In contrast to how they looked before getting trapped in the barrier, their appearance was strikingly different.
Si-hyun shyly smiled and said,
“Thank you.”
It was a short phrase.
But that was enough.
“We should be thanking you!”
“Thanks to you, we survived!”
The emotions of the group rose as they exchanged words of gratitude.
*
After dropping Si-hyun off at her home, the Wings Guild members headed back to the guild building.
Having reserved the dungeon with that in mind from the start, their route was natural.
“Shall we just watch and then go for a couple of drinks?”
“That sounds good!”
“I’m on board.”
The following plans flowed naturally.
So the men returned to the guild building.
Da-young greeted the returned guild members.
“How was your day everyone? Just as I said, Si-hyun is reliable, right?”
“Wow, she was seriously amazing!”
“When we only occasionally saw her at the guild building, we had no idea, but her personality is super cool too!”
Everyone got excited by Da-young’s words, eagerly praising Si-hyun.
Da-young nodded with a smile at their satisfactory response.
At that moment, one man hesitated and asked Da-young.
“Master, you’re close with Si-hyun, right? She has such an exotic look. Do you know where she’s from?”
“Oh, that?”
Da-young said casually, as if it were nothing.
“She’s from a country far away; you wouldn’t know even if I told you the name.”
“Oho.”
“I see!”
“So that’s what it is.”
Da-young simply hid the fact that Si-hyun was a returnee.
But the men grew more convinced of their earlier “identity fraud theory” based on their conversation.
‘She’s probably from some noble or royal family in a distant land!’
Just by looking at her appearance, it made sense. She was definitely not the beauty of an ordinary person.
Now they could understand the dignified and poised atmosphere she usually presented.
Even showing a down-to-earth side, the men were instantly captivated by Si-hyun’s charm.
“She was just so pretty while saying goodbye at the end…”
“Oh, that moment! She was super cute.”
“It was hard to maintain a straight face every time she smiled and complimented us, seriously.”
“Exactly, exactly!”
The men laughed broadly, sharing their thoughts.
Han-gyeol joined in, nodding eagerly.
Watching the guild members, Da-young chuckled and shook her head.
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