Chapter 11

‘Hmm… what…’

Lee Sooah began to ponder with her hand on her chin.

It was certainly a strange situation.

Various mental issues that had long troubled her.

She had visited numerous hospitals, but they could not pinpoint the exact cause.

Not just general hospitals, but even specialized Hunter hospitals could not identify the symptoms.

This was an issue not only for Lee Sooah but also for other S-Rank Hunters.

‘Hmm… it’s strange. I feel like I’ve returned to my old self…?’

She looked at the mirror again.

Her reflection showed Lee Sooah’s face looking very refreshed.

It was a completely different appearance from the recent photos she had taken.

‘Did I… regress…? Have I been healed… um…?’

Whatever it was, it clearly made her very happy.

After having poured immense effort over a long time without any progress, the sudden disappearance of it brought her a sense of joy she couldn’t deny.

‘Well. I don’t know what it is, but… it’s definitely good news.’

She seemed to become so cheerful that she temporarily forgot about Chae Suhyeon.

*

“Ah. Hunter Lee Sooah has returned.”

As Hunter Lee Sooah came back from the bathroom, Team A stood up as if they had been waiting for her.

“Hunter Lee Sooah! You have to lead today’s highlight, the cheer chant. Our team has been blessed, after all!”

The manager seemed to take the lead in slightly embarrassing tasks like this.

“Yes!!!”

Lee Sooah’s refreshing and crisp response came back.

Hearing that voice, everyone flinched in surprise.

“Um..? Hunter Lee Sooah seems really in a good mood today, doesn’t she?”

“You look quite different somehow.”

“Is something going on?”

Everyone was simultaneously confused.

“Um… I… I don’t know. Let’s just try the cheer chant!!!”

Indeed, Hunter Lee Sooah looked like a different person.

It was as if she had returned to her former glorious self…

‘As expected… it’s definitely helped that I put points into the status window.’

She felt as if she was experiencing a completely different person’s vibe.

For some reason, I felt a sense of pride well up in me.

‘What is this…? It feels like my life is finally coming together…?’

Until yesterday, I had been living as Chae Suhyeon’s damn slave. And now, I had barely escaped from a moment that could have made me lose everything.

No, in fact, I can say things turned out even better.

‘Phew. Great. It seems like Hunter Lee Sooah is doing a bit better too…’

‘I will grow from here.’

‘And I will deal with Chae Suhyeon.’

I probably would have kept quiet if Chae Suhyeon had just broken up with me peacefully. But this damn woman has struck me in the back repeatedly. Even on the blacklist.

‘Damn… the blacklist… That’s crossing the line. Is she trying to bury me in the hunter industry? What have I done? Damn stalking? This damn woman.’

Thinking about Chae Suhyeon made my inner thoughts boil over again. I couldn’t help it.

“Hehe… then let me chant the cheer.”

What melted away my frustration was Hunter Lee Sooah’s voice. She looked pretty cheerful, probably because she was drunk. Everyone raised their glasses high.

“For Team A of the Blue Guild!!!”

“For Team A!!!!”

The atmosphere had risen to a peak.

*

“Ow… my head…”

We had a fairly deep dinner gathering after a long time. I couldn’t understand why these hunters drank so heavily, going for round six…

Well, to be precise, round six is what I remember.

“Senior, are you awake?”

It was Hyungseok.

‘Then this place is…’

Right. It was Hyungseok’s house.

“Everyone said they didn’t know your home address. So, I brought you here.”

He seemed busy getting ready for work.

“Take your time to recover your senses. It’s okay if Team A comes in late today. The Guild Master said you could because of yesterday’s incident.”

“Oh, really?”

I awkwardly replied while my head was still spinning.

“Did you know you’ve only been at my house for three hours? You drank almost until morning, you know? Going up to round eleven. As expected, only monsters gather in Team A.”

He shook his head in disbelief, clicking his tongue.

“11th round?”

It was almost a terrifying word.

Of course, I couldn’t remember anything.

“Ugh… Oh man… Do hunters usually drink this much? Or is it just the Blue Guild?”

Even in my hungover state, I couldn’t help but be curious.

“Who drinks like this? It’s ridiculous. I heard Hunter Lee Sooah led the charge last night.”

He said that lightly, almost teasingly.

“Huh? Hunter Lee Sooah?”

“Yes. Apparently, she suddenly went wild and seemed really excited? Then she just went on a rampage until the 11th round. This has never happened before.”

Memories flickered through my mind.

I thought we had gone to karaoke about three times…

The sight of Hunter Lee Sooah, holding the microphone and going wild…

Manager Cha showing off some crazy tricks with his shirt off…

Assistant Manager pouring bomb shots non-stop…

“Oh boy…”

“Hehe. Take your time. I have to go; I’m busy.”

It seemed he was frantically preparing, and soon Hyungseok left.

I blinked and tried to gather my thoughts.

“Wow… What… 11 rounds…”

“My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

Then suddenly, something brushed through my mind.

“Um, could this be solved with points?”

I hurriedly opened my status window.

Of course, there was a red marker on my status window.

[Hangover]

“What? This is a thing?”

It was somewhat amusing how embarrassed I was about not knowing the full functions of my status window yet.

I had spent years focused solely on pouring everything into Chae Suhyeon.

“Hah… I really was young and foolish.”

While reflecting on that, I spent some points to relieve my hangover.

In an instant, I returned to a completely clear state of mind.

“Wow… This is amazing…”

I couldn’t help but marvel at my status window.

“If I just have enough points, isn’t this basically an invincible life?”

Countless thoughts raced through my mind.

Then I noticed the notifications on my smartphone beside my head.

[Hey, Jihoon! You’re amazing! How did you do that?]

[Isn’t that you? Wow… you’ve got some serious luck.]

[Hey, are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, right?]

[It’s a total chaos. If Team A had been wiped out, the whole country would have been in an uproar.]

Friends were flooding my phone with messages.

‘Huh? What’s going on?’

I felt a bit bewildered by the reaction.

As I read through, it seemed like news about me had exploded on the internet.

[Yesterday’s almost-disaster scene.avi]

ㄴ Wow. That’s insane! Why is Medusa so fast?

ㄴ Those crazy girls. They’re running while flicking their tongues so seductively.

ㄴ Possible. But where do you even put Medusa?

ㄴ Ugh. Stop being so stupid. Are you just gonna think of disgusting things? Is your mouth just for decoration?

ㄴ Can we catch up to that? It’s too fast!

ㄴ No way. Just getting closer turns you to stone; how are we supposed to catch it? This is crazy.

ㄴ You definitely can’t do it without that skill. How can you approach it?

ㄴ So that’s why they talked about a wipeout. Incredible.

ㄴ No way. Did Medusa really appear in the War Memorial dungeon? Why? Who let it loose?

ㄴ All you guys who said it wasn’t happening, come out now. I’ve got FDA-approved proof.

The scene from yesterday was already uploaded online.

It looked like it was captured by a body cam.

‘Really… did someone upload this online?’

It probably came from our guild.

‘I guess I understand.’

It was a pretty big deal after all.

I’d heard that it was considered a serious matter by national agencies as well.

Overall, people were giving it good reviews.

Before the video was released, most opinions felt like nonsense.

But after watching the video, the public sentiment completely changed.

Everyone seemed to agree that Medusa was too fast and utterly unmanageable.

‘Phew. At least that’s a relief.’

[Oppa. Is that person really you, oppa? Did you join the Blue Guild?]

I received a message that made me question my eyes.

A message from Chae Suhyeon.

‘What’s up with this f*cking girl? News spreads fast. How did she hear already? Did she recognize me from the video?’

It probably wasn’t easy to determine it was me from the body cam footage since it was shot from a bit of a distance.

But since my friends were also getting in touch…

‘This girl really has a knack for smelling things out, doesn’t she?’

I considered reading it but decided to just leave it alone.

‘There’s no need to block her… right?’

For now, I chose to leave it be. No, rather, I felt excited.

Somehow, I had a feeling that I was going to keep moving forward and achieving more.

I was sure that Chae Suhyeon would be sending me messages more frequently in the future.

Yeah. I shouldn’t block her. I need to see how her thoughts change.

A smile crept onto my face without me realizing it.

‘Heh. Should I start preparing as well?’

[A-team is off work this morning. See you in the afternoon.]

I checked the message but decided to head out early.

*

“Eh? Senior? Did you just come out? Right away?”

Hyungseok spotted me as he was passing by.

“No. Senior, are you okay? How are you so sober?”

He marveled and looked me up and down.

“Eh, well… it just happened…”

“Heh… but Lee Sooah Hunter is also here.”

“Wait? Lee Sooah Hunter is here?”

I jumped a little, surprised.

‘How can she be so sober after drinking like that…?’

If I saw a perfectly fine Sooah, I’d probably get chills.

“Oh? Jihoon? You’re here? Sorry. I’m just a bit…”

I caught a glimpse of Lee Sooah, who seemed to be sprawled slightly in the conference room.

‘Hehe. Looks like she’s suffering from a hangover.’

Just as I thought.

If she was totally fine after drinking that much, she wouldn’t be human.

She tried her best to look composed, but there was no hiding the hangover.

Moreover, the conference room she had been in alone was filled with the smell of alcohol.

Seeing Sooah looking a little out of it made me laugh.

“Oh, you should have rested more at home.”

‘I guess I need to help Lee Sooah with her hangover too?’

I opened my status window.