C-class Hunter Lee Hanna: The Crybaby Divorcee (1)

Time had flown by. Two weeks had already passed since Cha Dohui's arrival.

Maybe it was simply the passage of time, but the illegal trespassers had clearly thinned out.

"Over there! Right there!"

"Kyaaaaah! Nobody can stop me!"

"The law can stop you, you idiot."

Of course, they hadn't vanished entirely, so all of us were thoroughly worn out.

Ah — well, naturally.

"Haa... At least we can breathe a little now."

"Tell me about it."

"But you look completely fine?"

"Oh, come on. No way."

I'd dumped a lot of points into my Stamina stat, so I was fine. Mentally it had been rough, but my body was holding up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just fine.

Anyway, over those two weeks we'd done everything we could to haul illegal trespassers off to the police, and thanks to that, things had gotten a little more peaceful.

So what was I getting at?

Well...

Time to rank up.

I was finally ready to raise my Security Guard rank.

I had points to spare, so of course I was going to.

Why so many Security Points? Because of everything I'd earned hauling in police and thieves — no, security guards and illegal trespassers — plus the last time with Somin, when a message had popped up saying she'd been thoroughly satisfied, along with this:

It had showered me with points. Thanks to that, I was sitting pretty as a points millionaire.

Which ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meant raising my Security Guard rank by one level seemed like a good idea.

And honestly?

I'm curious what happens when I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This app had four ranks total, and each one determined which class of Hunter you could intervene with.

In other words—

If I want to humiliate Lee Jihye the same way she humiliated me, the Security Guard rank is what matters most in the end.

So this time I didn't hesitate. I opened the Security App and raised my rank on the spot.

I read through the cascade of message windows one by one, and the upgrade was even better than I'd expected. I couldn't help smiling.

I'd figured the Sexual Processing Duty — which had been capped at C-class — would now reach B-class. That alone would have been enough. The extra bonuses on top of it were pure gravy.

Who am I? The Hunter Apartment's Excellent Security Guard.

Grinning to myself, I went back on duty — and immediately understood exactly why the rank was called "Excellent."

"Ah, Taejin~ It's so hot out. You've been working hard~ Here, eat this~"

"Thank you."

"Hey, kid — thanks for the help last time. I packed you some of this. Take it and eat it."

"Oh, you really didn't have to..."

"Hello, mister!"

"Yeah. Hi. Wait — kids, I'm not a mis— hey, where are you going!"

All I'd done was rank up to Excellent Security Guard, and the residents' treatment of me had completely changed. The sheer difference a single rank made left me staring up at the sky and muttering under my breath.

What a filthy world.

Why did raising my abilities fill me with existential dread about society? The sky looked particularly hateful today.

I stewed in that disgust for a moment, then—

Whatever. Might as well put the power I got to good use.

I snapped back to reality fast and went back to work with a smile. People were thanking me, greeting me properly — it was actually a pleasant place to work for once.

After sorting the recycling like usual, I was about to head out for my "patrol" — which was really just a walk — when—

—Riiing!

The phone in the security office rang. And not just any phone — the direct Hunter line.

What now?

That bell almost never rang, so I picked it up with a flicker of curiosity.

Huh? Lee Hanna?

Her voice came through sniffling. I froze for a second, then pulled myself together.

"Ah — yes, yes, that's right. Is something wrong?"

The moment she heard my voice—

"Tae— Taejin-aaaaah!!"

—Hanna burst into tears.

I nearly hung up on pure reflex, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.

"W-well, I'll come up to your place. Please try to calm down a little."

I'd hear her out, at least. I was going to go on that "patrol" walk anyway.

What, wasn't the patrol supposed to be for finding trespassers?

The ones still around were probably either ability users or career professionals by now, so people at our level were supposed to handle them. Besides—

"Senior, a Hunter resident called for me. I'll be right back."

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead. If it looks like you're gonna get hurt, just run."

"Yes, sir. Got it."

The moment I said it was a Hunter resident issue, my senior waved me off without a second thought. Of course he did. When it came to the Hunters who kept this apartment running, you could get a free pass for almost anything.

I grabbed my things and headed straight for Lee Hanna's place.

Getting to Hanna's place didn't take long.

Well — actually, it did take a little longer than it should have.

Why? Because just in case, I checked her unit on the app, and this is what I got:

Whatever had happened, it wasn't anything ordinary.

The realization that something had gone wrong with Hanna made me swallow hard. I pressed the doorbell.

—Ding-dong.

How long after the chime did it take? From inside came the sound of hurried footsteps, and then—

"Hic... Taejin-ssiii..."

She was thirty years old, but the woman who opened the door had tears streaming down her face like a child.

I was about to ask what was wrong when—

—Grab.

Huh?

She seized my arm. Or more precisely—

"Mmph—♥!"

—she yanked me in by the arm and kissed me on the spot.

Don't ask me why. After the last time we'd had sex, I'd been busy, and apparently so had she, so we hadn't been in touch. The app said Sexual Processing Duty was needed, but I hadn't even accepted it yet.

In other words, she was kissing me of her own free will.

And so—

"Chuurp♥... Smooch♥♥... Mmmph♥..."

How long did she hold me there, kissing me? Subjectively, it felt like more than ten minutes of mouths and tongues tangled together before I felt her grip loosen and pulled away.

To be honest, I had no choice. The smell of alcohol on her breath was so strong I was half-afraid I'd get drunk just from the kiss.

"Pwah— Ahem. Have you calmed down a little?"

"Uuungh..."

That was the first thing I said after breaking the kiss. Of course it was. Anyone could see something was seriously wrong with her.

Honestly, part of me wanted to demand what the hell she thought she was doing — but then—

"*sniff*... *sniff*... Waaaaah..."

—watching a grown woman cry like a little kid, anyone would have done the same thing I did.

I carefully put my arms around her as she kept sniffling, and gently closed the door that was still hanging half-open. Once we were fully inside the entryway, the living room came into view — sparse, emptied-out — and I knew for certain that something had happened to her.

After receiving Sexual Processing from Taejin, Hanna's heart had felt a little lighter.

After all, she'd finally done the same filthy things her husband had always done — and somehow that made everything feel easier to bear. You might say a wife should feel guilty about betraying her husband, but she couldn't help it. What he'd done had already drained every last drop of affection she had for him. Hell, half the time she thought of him as an enemy.

So sneaking around behind his back — and with the security guard he'd always looked down on, no less — was something she couldn't admit out loud, but privately it felt a little satisfying.

That feeling didn't last long.

Because—

"Let's get a divorce."

"What?"

—her husband had suddenly demanded a divorce.

It wouldn't have been strange at any point, really, but there had been no particular warning signs, so the suddenness of it left her unsettled.

"I'm going to marry two other women. You'd say no, so let's divorce."

He explained it with perfect calm. In other words, he was dumping his original wife so he could commit bigamy. The kind of insane logic you'd expect from a man who'd been openly cheating for years.

And to that, Hanna answered just as boldly.

"Ha. Fine."

The truth was, a divorce wouldn't have been strange at any point. Both of them had long since fallen out of love with each other. That was the biggest reason.

So the divorce went through with almost no friction. Stamps on the papers, a trip to court, clearing out the house — time flew by.

And on the day everything was finished, the day her husband finally moved out, he had the gall to bring the two women he was planning to marry right to the front door.

One of them was a face she knew.

Her old colleague — her junior — locked eyes with her, and Hanna's face twisted on instinct. The junior walked right up and whispered in her ear.

"Hehe. Senior... I'll take good care of oppa for you."

"Y-you—!"

In that instant, Hanna felt it — not with her mind, but with a woman's instinct. The collapse of her marriage had never been a coincidence.

But there was nothing more she could do. She had already divorced her husband, and that man now belonged to that bitch.

So Hanna stood there with her fists trembling, somehow holding herself back from tearing those two to pieces.

And then—

"Well then, bye-bye, senior~"

"If we run into each other again, let's pretend we don't know each other."

"Ah — take care!"

—she let those insufferable bastards walk away. And unable to contain the rage any longer—

"*sniff*... Those fucking bitches and bastards... Waaaaah!!"

—she drowned herself in alcohol and ended up drunk-dialing Taejin.