The Measuring Device That Couldn't Withstand a Touch
Following the classic trope of every hunter story, a refreshing vortex spun at the tip of So-i's finger.
Shwooooosh—!
What appeared was a translucent fairy with delicate wings.
Cute...
It might have been even cuter back when it took the form of a puppy… but it was still adorable now.
Guess I don't need to grind for money like a madwoman anymore.
So-a's illness had been cured too. There was no longer any need to risk her life bouncing between gates.
Yet a desire still burned inside her.
The desire to prove herself as an awakened hunter.
Besides, if she could have her rank readjusted to B-class or even A-class, she would gain far more… authority (she wasn't sure if that was the right word), which would let her be even more useful to Yuhwa.
So-i glanced toward the living room.
“Ah~ Please try it, Master.” “Mmm. It’s sweet.” “Hehe! You’re eating so well!”
On the sofa.
There sat Yuhwa in a noble, elegant pose while Yujin, dressed in a perfect maid outfit, carefully placed pieces of fruit into her mouth.
And atop Yuhwa’s tail, So-a clung like a cicada, breathing in soft, peaceful little snores as she napped.
….
So-i stared at the peaceful yet utterly bizarre scene and blanked out for a moment.
Then she remembered—their first meeting.
The overwhelming despair she had felt when they first encountered each other inside that safe-rated gate.
The image of the three-hundred-meter dragon surging upward, blotting out the sky and cleaving the sea, flashed through her mind.
A catastrophe that could annihilate South Korea all by herself.
That very catastrophe… was currently letting someone feed her fruit.
Have I finally gone insane inside a gate and started hallucinating?
It was such a surreal daily life that blasphemous thoughts like that actually felt plausible.
But So-i quickly shook her head hard.
She steeled her resolve and walked toward the sofa, then bowed with impeccable courtesy.
“Yuhwa-nim.”
“What is the matter?”
Yuhwa gazed at her with languid eyes.
“I have a presumptuous request. In order to measure the new power dwelling within my body, I wish to visit the Association for a rank re-evaluation. Will you permit it?”
“Hmm…”
So-i continued.
“Naturally, if I undergo re-measurement, the Association will surely pester me with questions about why my strength suddenly increased. If you fear that your existence might become even slightly entangled in that annoyance, I will abandon the idea at once…”
“No.”
Yuhwa rose slowly from her seat.
With a soft rustle, her tail slipped free; the sleeping So-a mumbled and flopped onto the cushion with a thud…
Thud.
Yuhwa caught her with her tail and gently set her down on the cushion.
Then she spoke.
“As it happens, I was just thinking of taking in some outside air. Let us go together.”
“G-go together? B-but Yuhwa-nim, you still don’t have an official identity…!”
So-i asked, startled.
Yuhwa gave a small chuckle and waved her hand lightly.
“It is an unnecessary worry. The identity issue has already been perfectly resolved with coins.”
Yuhwa turned her gaze toward Yujin in her maid uniform.
“Yujin. Watch over the little one well so she does not wake.”
“Fufu. Have a safe journey, my great and exalted Master.”
Yujin gracefully lifted the hem of her skirt in a bow, then suddenly scurried forward.
She wagged her tail and began pressing the crown of her head firmly into Yuhwa’s chest.
“….”
“….”
Yuhwa reached out and gave Yujin’s head a few light taps.
“Good. Guard the house obediently.”
“Hehe…. Have a safe trip.”
Only then did Yujin retreat with a bright, satisfied smile.
Yuhwa and So-i stepped outside side by side.
A bustling street drenched in sunlight.
Naturally, every single gaze in the area locked onto Yuhwa as they walked.
The people walking by stopped dead in their tracks, completely entranced, while smartphone camera flashes erupted from every direction.
Kya. This is what I’m talking about.
Being beautiful really is the best!
That was what she thought, but at times like these she had to maintain her concept.
The important thing was to look at them the way one might gaze at a passing swarm of ants.
That gap in perception was exactly what drove people even more insane!
It was then.
A middle-aged man in a suit and sunglasses pushed through the crowd and headed straight for them.
“E-excuse me! Just a moment, please!”
“Hey! Stand back!”
So-i instantly released a sharp aura and blocked the man’s path.
She saw him flinch at her presence.
Yuhwa lightly raised a hand to stop So-i and spoke.
“Do not block him. What is your business?”
She was rather curious what he had to say.
He rummaged inside his coat and produced a business card.
STARLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
DIRECTOR
Yuhwa accepted the card.
It was one of the five largest entertainment agencies in the country, if she remembered correctly.
“I have spent decades in this industry discovering countless actors and idols.”
“Hmm…”
“You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen!”
“Continue your praise.”
At Yuhwa’s words, the man’s face twisted as if he might burst into tears, and he began firing off words like a machine gun.
“Acting? Singing? Dancing? None of that is necessary! Training isn’t needed either! Simply breathing while standing on stage would itself be art, a masterpiece! Please, you must contact me later! I will lay the entire world at your feet!”
Laying the world at her feet… she rather liked the sound of that.
Hmm. Yes, as the great dragon, the world belonged beneath her feet!
Yuhwa answered with a bored expression, the corner of her mouth lifted in faint amusement.
“If the mood strikes me, I shall consider it once. You may leave.”
“Y-yes! Thank you! I will be waiting!”
The man kept bowing at a perfect ninety degrees as he disappeared back into the crowd.
“Whew…”
So-i let out a sigh while warily watching the people gathered around them.
Then she turned to look at Yuhwa and noticed the corners of her mouth twitching upward bit by bit.
…She looks like she’s enjoying this way too much.
Perhaps—just perhaps—she was simply a pure soul who loved receiving praise… No.
That couldn’t be. The great and mighty dragon…
So-i barely managed to suppress her blasphemous thoughts.
The headquarters of the Korean Hunter Association.
The moment they passed through the main gate, dozens of eyes filling the lobby all snapped toward them at once.
Is this what Yujin felt?
It was dead silent.
A vacuum-like silence.
It was tense, but a great dragon never falters.
Yuhwa strode into the center of the lobby and, without a word, jerked her chin toward So-i.
“Yes…!”
So-i stepped forward with a nervous expression and called out toward the information desk.
“C-class Hunter Han So-i! I am here for a rank re-measurement! And… this person also wishes to be measured!”
The instant So-i’s declaration rang out—
“Connect the direct line to the Association President immediately!”
“Protocol team! Prepare the VIP room and clear a path now!”
“What are you waiting for? Escort them!”
The frozen lobby exploded into pandemonium in a single breath.
At the loud, bothersome noise, Yuhwa’s brows furrowed ever so slightly.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She rapped the floor in displeasure, and everyone froze at once.
This is rather entertaining.
Silence returned to the lobby. Yuhwa spoke in a coldly subdued voice.
“Only the business at hand.”
Just three words.
An order not to disturb her mood with any more unnecessary fuss and to handle solely the ‘business’ of the rank measurement!
“U-understood! Right this way, please!”
The situation was resolved with extreme speed and efficiency.
. . .
A special measurement room on the fifth basement floor, built like a massive bomb shelter.
Yuhwa stood before a pitch-black, geometrically shaped metal device roughly ten meters across.
Hmm. It felt different from the method Yujin had described.
“So how exactly do I do this?”
“F-first… to explain per regulations, the hunter pours their firepower into this device for a set amount of time. The machine then absorbs the impact force and magic waves to calculate an overall rank.”
The man kept wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.
He must be balding.
“This device is the highest-grade artifact our Association boasts. It is constructed from ultra-hard alloy and monster bone that won’t even flinch under an S-class hunter’s attack. If you can leave even the tiniest scratch on its surface… that alone would prove firepower exceeding S-class, beyond standard specifications.”
Yuhwa crossed her arms and scanned the metal mass with indifferent eyes.
“Then what if I destroy the entire thing?”
“Pardon?”
“Are you thinking it cannot be done?”
“Ah, no! Um… the national budget that went into creating this machine alone would exceed a hundred million dollars. So it will absolutely never break. Please feel free to pour out your power with the mindset of simply leaving a scratch.”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
Yuhwa slowly extended her right hand and placed it on the metal.
You said it wouldn’t break, correct?
Yuhwa put strength into her hand.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrind….
And the measuring device shattered.