Cha Dohui (1)
After finishing with Somin, the two of us headed into the bathroom together, washed up, and came back out.
I changed clothes in a hurry and headed for the door. As for Somin—
"Ah, g-goodbye..."
Apparently we'd gone at it a few too many times in a row. Her legs had been trembling since the bathroom, and the moment she stepped outside she simply collapsed. She had no choice but to see me off from the bed.
I told her I'd be in touch and left.
Outside, the sun was sinking, painting the apartment complex in the colors of dusk. It was a sight I'd seen a thousand times, but maybe it was the post-sex clarity talking.
"Dad! The ball's over there!"
"Haha! Sorry, sorry!"
If I'd had a father, would it have felt like that?
A thought that wasn't like me at all. Taejin watched the father and son playing together in the complex for a moment, then turned away.
I'd had my fun. Time to work.
What kind of people are Hunters in the Great Gate Era?
Before getting into that, let's look at the legal definition.
"Any person who generates income through the use of awakened abilities shall be regarded as a Hunter."
In truth, this concept has only been around for less than a decade. Originally, Hunters were... well, exactly what you'd expect from any medium: people who hunted monsters. So when ordinary civilians who never awakened hear the word "Hunter," that's what most of them picture. And they're not entirely wrong. Among regular Awakened, abilities that can make money without hunting monsters are rare. Jeon Somin's case was the exception, not the rule.
Anyway—this is a world where Hunters carry the power to threaten people and where monsters and abilities can spark acts of terror. In a world like that, who becomes popular?
Sure, beautiful men and women still dominate, but a huge share of the spotlight belongs to Hunters who clear monsters. Of course it does. Regular celebrities get treated like they just cross their legs and make a token appearance on a variety show. Hunters, on the other hand, are seen as the heroes who protect everyday life.
That's why plenty of Hunters these days go beyond the job itself and become full-blown entertainers.
So why am I bringing this up?
Imagine, in this Great Gate Era, someone who doesn't just surpass ordinary celebrities—someone who is a Hunter, an actor, an idol, and a singer. And not just dabbling: a genuine monster who has racked up real achievements in every single field.
The answer is simple.
"This area is for residents only. No entry."
I am completely screwed.
"No! I said I'm going to see Dohui unnie, who the hell are you to stop me?!"
"Get out of the way already!"
"Fuck! I just want one look at Cha Dohui's face, okay?! Why are you being so difficult?!"
Screwed on the job, that is.
"Haaaah..."
I stared at the massive crowd packed around the entrance of this so-called Hunter apartment complex and let out a long sigh. To understand how things got this bad, I had to go back a few days.
A peaceful morning.
"No way. So that guy actually..."
"He really did that?"
We were swapping the usual war stories about who got screwed over where, same as always, when—
Ding.
Both my phone and the phone of the senior guard on duty with me went off at the same time. We checked the messages, and—
"Ah, fuck."
The senior spat out a curse.
"Whoa, Cha Dohui's coming back to Korea?"
I let out a short breath of awe. Fair enough. The message that had just hit the security group chat said that Cha Dohui—Hunter, actor, idol, singer, a woman who had built real credentials in every field—the hero and national Hunter whose name every single person living in South Korea had heard at least once—was finally returning from her overseas tour of concerts and Gate clearances.
Anyone who didn't feel their chest swell at that news would be a rare breed in this country...
"We're so fucking screwed..."
...or so I thought. Turns out one of them was standing right in front of me.
"Uh, hyung-nim, why the long face? Isn't Cha Dohui coming back a good thing?"
It was good, objectively. News of her return dominated every headline, and Korean corporate stocks shot up across the board. Even the Hunter stocks I'd bought were climbing so hard I could barely keep a straight face. But that wasn't the point.
With Cha Dohui's return bringing nothing but good news, why did my senior look like he'd just stepped in something?
The answer was surprisingly simple.
"Did you not know Cha Dohui lives in this apartment complex?"
It was a security problem.
"Cha Dohui lives here?"
For the record, I genuinely had no idea. Most people know a famous celebrity's face, sure—but where they live? Not so much. I was the same. I'd seen her on MyTube and places like that often enough, but that was about it. I didn't know her beyond that. So learning she lived here was brand new information.
At that, my senior looked like a man who had already given up on life.
"Yeah. About time you experienced it yourself."
He started explaining.
"You know how massive Cha Dohui's fan club is, right?"
Of course I did. A Hunter-slash-actor-slash-idol-slash-singer with a small fandom would be the real anomaly.
"Yeah, I know. But why does that—"
"Those people are cult-level fanatics."
"Ah."
That was when I understood the look of pure disgust on his face. With a normal celebrity, most fans feel a mild fondness at best—maybe treat them as a crush. But a hero and a celebrity?
"Haaah... just thinking about being surrounded by those bastards again makes my skin crawl. Seriously..."
Plenty of her fans were normal people, sure—but the odds of half-crazed zealots mixed in were high. Especially in an age where danger and savagery walked hand in hand.
I asked, a little tense.
"So we're screwed?"
"Yeah. Completely, utterly screwed."
My whole body sagged. My face fell. Sure, keeping fans out was part of the job at this complex—but could we actually stop people fanatical enough to make the news?
Could we stop the fans who made up the single biggest controversy in Cha Dohui's otherwise near-spotless career?
Taejin fretted over that question right up until the day itself—and then the fretting became completely pointless.
"Unnieeeee!!!"
"Dohui-nim! Please, just look this way once!!!"
"Huh? Whoa! She's waving!"
"Noonaaaaa!!!"
It wasn't a question of whether we could stop them. We had to stop them.
"You can't come any farther. We're restricting access."
So, fighting back tears, I planted myself in front of that horde of zealots. Taejin had a decent build, but the self-proclaimed fans didn't so much as slow down.
"Hey!! Who the hell are you to block the road to my noona?!"
The first one to shove forward was a seriously large man. At the same time—
That's not your noona. You look like you're a good twenty years older than her.
His face was weathered enough that calling the mid-thirties Cha Dohui "noona" was a stretch. I kept that thought to myself, of course.
"From this point on, only residents are allowed. Please turn around and leave."
I said it clinically, nothing more. And for the record, I wasn't alone—security had fully mobilized in case a handful of lunatics tried to bull-rush the gate. Most of them were just standing in the back looking tough, though. I was the one out front because I had the least seniority.
At my words, the man shoved me without hesitation.
Thud.
"I don't care! Get out of the way already!!!"
I genuinely wanted to deck him. I held back—not because I was scared of the law, but because if I hit him, the people behind him would become unmanageable. What they needed right now was a justification. A reason to push past us. Standing at the front, I had to become a Buddha of infinite patience.
The one silver lining was that I was big enough that they didn't try anything too reckless.
Eventually, the vehicle carrying Hunter Cha Dohui fully entered the complex. Over the radio, word came that it had gone all the way into the private underground parking garage of 101 Dong.
At that point, a normal crowd would have dispersed.
"Dohuiya! I miss youuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!"
"Just let us inside a little!"
"Screw it, just push through!"
For us, this was only the beginning. The moment those maniacs heard Cha Dohui was completely inside, they started shoving forward with zero regard for anything, desperate for even a distant glimpse of her. We threw our whole bodies into holding back the surge.
"Hyung-nim! Can't we just crack a few of them with batons—"
"If you want to make the nine o'clock news as 'Security Guards Brawl with Fans,' go ahead."
"Fuck."
This is not what I thought security work would be...
And so I spent a very long time on defense against those lunatics.
How long, you ask?
"Aaaah! Dohui-nim's going live!"
"Aaaagh?! My data! I'm out of data!!"
"I have to hear my Dohui-nim's voiceeeee!!"
"Aaaah! The revelation has begun!"
...Until Cha Dohui started a livestream.
Why are there so many absolute freaks in this world?
I was so miserable I didn't think I could keep doing security work.