Chapter 57

“Ha… Ha…”

On the bed lay a very slender man, gasping for breath, in a dazed state, completely naked.

“Chae… Chae Suhyeon… Hunter… Thank you…”

He was completely lost in a blissful daze.

‘Sigh… So much for being a B-Rank Hunter…’

Chae Suhyeon was tidying up as if the work was all done. She wore a facial expression that suggested something was off.

‘Ha… I worked hard yesterday and today… Why is this all I have to show for it?’

A thoroughly wrinkled expression.

‘At this rate, it’ll take over ten years. Ugh! Really!!’

She seemed quite frustrated.

“Chae… Chae Suhyeon Hunter… Could you please do it just once more? I think I can go four more times…”

“Ha…”

Chae Suhyeon sighed and turned back.

“Excuse me, Lee Seokhyeon Hunter. Could you take a look at yourself? With that appearance, what do you expect… Ugh…”

She smirked sarcastically.

“Bu… But I can still… Ha… Please…”

“Get a grip~ Anyway, don’t mention this to anyone else, okay?”

“Of… Of course!!”

“I’ll come back once you’re fit again. Until then, take care of your body. Rebuild your muscles, understand?”

“Yes… Yes, definitely!!”

The man seemed almost out of it but managed to respond with a strained voice.

Chae Suhyeon looked at him with a sympathetic expression before stepping out the door.

*

“Ha… Seriously…”

Chae Suhyeon was gazing at the completely empty status window on her smartphone in a café.

‘I’m done for. Seriously… What is this? Argh…’

Just last week, it had been a vibrant status window, far beyond envy.

But now, it was clearly the status window of an E-Rank Hunter.

At this level, it was practically indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

“Ha… Jinhyeok Oppa…”

She seemed to see the Taeyang Group flickering in front of her.

“Why… why am I facing such trials… Seriously…”

She bit her lip tightly and began to contemplate various things.

‘Hmm… Could it be that Jihoon Oppa… was a Benz?’

‘No… That can’t be… Jinhyeok Oppa being a Benz…’

Her pupils trembled slightly.

‘My dream. Ever since I was a child. My dream was to become part of a chaebol family, right? I thought I could finally realize that dream.’

‘Ha. But why did it have to turn out this way? There’s no way Jihoon Oppa would act like that. Why…?’

She wore an expression of sheer disbelief.

‘Hmph… Should I give up on my chaebol dream and cling to Jihoon Oppa again…?’

‘Would that be better…?’

An S-Rank Hunter, no, being the top S-Rank Hunter alone should have brought immense wealth and honor.

But greed brought about this disaster.

‘Ugh… Jihoon Oppa, I genuinely liked you. At least in comparison to other Hunters, it was true that you were better.’

‘But how can I disregard the charms of being a chaebol?’

She was beginning to rationalize it all.

‘Hmm. I wonder what Jihoon Oppa is doing right now…’

She fumbled with her smartphone.

It was a past that felt conclusively over.

Not just over, but too far gone.

‘Was the blacklist too extreme…?’

‘Right? I might have made him angrier for no reason.’

‘No, but at that time, I had no choice. I wanted to make it so that he wouldn’t have any lingering feelings for me, after all? It’d be good for both of us, clean and tidy, right?’

‘Hmm. I should definitely retract the blacklist…’

Chae Suhyeon was starting to lower her tail slightly.

It seemed that being in such a tricky situation had forced her to scramble for a way out.

“Ah. Yes. Hello~”

Chae Suhyeon made a call to someone.

“Regarding that blacklist I applied for… Is it possible to revoke it?”

“Ah~ Yes, that’s right. Haha. Thank you~~”

Click.

‘Phew… I wonder when this news will reach him.’

‘I hope Jihoon Oppa’s anger diminishes…’

‘He should understand my feelings by now…?’

She bit her lip.

Doubt was creeping in about whether her prior actions had been too harsh.

Even with her activities as a succubus resuming, her dissatisfaction with the meager point acquisition remained evident.

‘Hmph… I can’t afford to take ten years to rise back to S-Rank. Besides, I can’t hide from Jinhyeok Oppa for that long…’

The pressure was mounting.

She was doing her best to find a way out by trying various things.

*

“Ugh~~”

On a Sunday morning, she woke up feeling refreshed and stretched out.
After a tumultuous week, it was finally a complete holiday.

‘Phew. Today, I should invest some points here and there.’

The moment had arrived to tackle the massive task that had been put off. The technology tree in the Hunter world was quite complex after all.

Of course, I had plenty of points, but studying was necessary.

‘How on earth did Chae Suhyeon know all this?’

Having just followed Chae Suhyeon’s guidance for years, I was not well-versed in the details.

“Anyway, I should preemptively allocate the skills I need… Of course, I’m not actively working as a Hunter right now.”

It was a rather peculiar situation.

Although I was part of the Blue Guild’s Team A, I was simultaneously trailing behind Yoo Hana.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to level up the skills in advance. It’s not like they can be seen like stats anyway.’

I began to diligently study the skill window.

*

“Hmmm…”

Lee Sooah was propping her chin up while web surfing.

‘Cleansing status ailments? That’s not possible.’

She was skeptical about the information she heard yesterday.

‘Where is that even possible? It sounds absurd…?’

‘Why would you give points to others? I’m not a fool!’

‘And even if you could… you can remove status ailments? If that’s the case, isn’t it obvious that almost all S-Rank Hunters would flock to Jihoon…?’

A look of shock crossed her face.

‘Oh no. That can’t happen!’

She appeared genuinely worried.

‘If this is true, almost every S-Rank will inevitably cling to Jihoon. Of course, everyone struggles with status ailments… Hmm. That can’t be allowed… It has to be stopped…’

‘I think we need to prohibit Jihoon from interacting with others. Hmm. What should I do? I can’t follow him around all the time… Huh? Should I follow him every day?’

Lee Sooah was lost in a swirl of thoughts, worried that Baek Jihoon might get attached to someone else.

‘Hmm. I should definitely ask a friend about this…’

She hurriedly began to make a phone call.

*

“Hah… Hah… Ms. Lee Sooah… Hah… Thank you… for inviting me this weekend…”

It was Hyungseok.

He was flushed, glancing at Lee Sooah with a visibly excited expression.

“I should be the one thanking you for coming out. Didn’t you say you were on a business trip to Busan?”

“Yes, that’s right. Hah hah… But I flew right over. Haha. It’s Ms. Lee Sooah calling, how could I not come?”

“Flew… over?”

Lee Sooah felt a bit guilty.

“Hehe. Yes, indeed. Since you requested to meet alone on a Sunday, I had to take any means necessary to get here—be it plane or KTX. Hehe…”

He was completely smitten with Lee Sooah.

It appeared he had recovered from the shock of being misunderstood as gay.

“So, what did you call me for today? Hehe… Are we perhaps going on a date, just the two of us…?”

He looked eagerly expectant, wearing a silly grin.

“Hmm. No, I think we need to have an important conversation. But I couldn’t discuss this with anyone else, which is why I called you, Hyungseok.”

“Oh, an important conversation. It’s only natural that you’d call me then, haha. What could it be about?”

“Um… It’s about Baek Jihoon…”

“Excuse me? Jihoon Senior?”

Park Hyungseok’s expression fell slightly.

He had thought the conversation might involve him, but his mood darkened upon hearing Jihoon’s name.

“Don’t you have any questions about me…?”

“I don’t.”

Lee Sooah caught him off-guard with her icy demeanor, completely cutting off the conversation.

“Okay…”

Park Hyungseok seemed a little like he had lost his spirit.

“Hmm~ But if you answer my questions well, I might take you to a movie.”

Sensing the shift in mood, Lee Sooah quickly spoke up.

This wasn’t her usual behavior, but she was clearly considering how important the matter regarding Baek Jihoon was to her.

“Really? A movie? Just with me?”

“Yes~ Just with Hyungseok. So please answer well.”

“Really? Sure! Ask me anything. I’m the closest person to Baek Jihoon! Hahaha. I know everything about him, every little detail!”

He was behaving like a wagging puppy.

“Hmm. Then for the first question…”

Lee Sooah put on a serious expression and asked in a low voice.

“Does Baek Jihoon have a girlfriend?”

Upon hearing her question, Park Hyungseok’s expression quickly stiffened.

To be continued…