Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Sorry for Being So Sexy
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The next morning.
The moment the sun rose, the entire Korean Hunter world... no, the whole country was thrown into chaos.
『Korea’s Four Major Guilds Annihilated?! Moonlight Sword House is the Only Survivor!』
Every major news outlet plastered ‘Cheok Yunhwa’ right in the center of their front pages.
I wiped cold sweat from my brow as I watched the news on TV.
Not only was she far from cured, but just days ago, this patient had been in diapers, whimpering "Papa..." and clinging to me. Now, she was the star of a nationwide uproar.
She was supposed to be in recovery, and she'd even booked her next appointment... but could she really weather a storm like this?
That dawn.
During role-play therapy, Yunhwa suddenly declared, "I have somewhere to go," and shattered the top-floor glass window to leap out.
Of course, with her superhuman abilities, she reached the scene faster than me—I was still stuck in a taxi.
And when I arrived... the guild headquarters was utterly demolished.
The story I heard from Moonlight Sword House executives.
It turned out the remaining three of the four major guilds had banded together to ambush her while she was weakened.
But the real issue was that their alliance had been completely wiped out.
And Yunhwa had done it all by herself.
At first, I have to admit, it felt downright refreshing.
My very first patient, of all people... I couldn't stomach the idea of her getting taken down by those degenerates.
But reality soon crashed back in.
No matter that it was self-defense, hunter-on-hunter combat was strictly forbidden under current law.
And the opponents? The 'Four Major Guild Alliance.'
Three of them vanishing overnight couldn't just be brushed off as an accident.
"Hunter Cheok Yunhwa! Please, one word on your current feelings!"
"What was the reason for your three-month disappearance?!"
"Don't you feel any responsibility for the annihilation of three guilds?!"
As expected, the reporters packed into the press conference hurled nothing but sensational bait, truth be damned.
I gripped the TV remote, grinding my teeth.
‘No, she's still a patient! Are these assholes insane?!’
But then.
"Let me state this clearly."
That single line froze the entire room.
Yunhwa spoke in a refined tone, clear and precise as a court verdict.
The reporters, who had been charging like beasts scenting prey moments before, fell utterly silent at those words.
The barrage of questions died unspoken, and without taking a single step, she seized control of the press conference.
As if the stage belonged to her alone.
Camera flashes erupted everywhere, but she didn't so much as blink.
In the frozen air, Yunhwa opened her mouth with firm elegance.
"From this day forward, Moonlight Sword House will serve as Korea's sole representative guild. We will eradicate corruption and injustice, ushering in a new era where every hunter is fairly evaluated."
...She seemed totally fine now?
She stood on that podium like a living symbol—hard to believe this was the same woman whose psyche had been utterly shattered.
I stared at the screen, mouth hanging open.
At this point... did she even need my help anymore?
Not wasting a patient's time was one of a good doctor's virtues, after all.
Quietly, I cracked open a can of beer.
As a doctor, I should avoid drinking... but I figured today was an exception.
My first patient had returned to society.
In the most overwhelming way possible.
Alone, I raised a quiet toast.
But back then, I had no idea.
Two days later, a luxury parchment envelope waiting at my front door.
Inside, a single line:
『To Mental Health Counselor Kim Seungbin: You have been summoned directly by the Hunter Association Korean Branch Chief.』
She had transcended being Korea's public face—she was the true pinnacle of the Hunter Association, and now she was calling for me.
Typically, becoming a counselor affiliated with the Hunter Association—even if not in combat—meant you were officially part of the Hunter world.
So the first order of business was a face-to-face with the real decision-maker of that country.
In the US, that'd be the headquarters chief; elsewhere, the branch chief.
It was like a meet-the-parents slash contract confirmation—a formal recognition step where you'd review the contract again and stamp it.
But my case was different.
Yunhwa's condition had been so dire that I skipped all formalities and got thrown straight into the field.
A few days later, a luxury parchment note stamped with the Korean branch chief's seal arrived at my doorstep.
Déjà vu all over again.
A limo was already waiting, and inside, the branch chief's personal hunters greeted me warmly.
"Ah, so this isn't some arrest, right?"
"Of course not! Mr. Seungbin is absolutely essential to our Association!"
"You're already famous as the counselor who got Cheok Yunhwa back on her feet in just days!"
That explained it.
Why their eyes had been sparkling from the very start of the escort.
But to me, I was just a fresh-out-of-uni newbie counselor.
I'd barely handled my first patient successfully, and even that wasn't a full cure—she was still a severe regression case constantly calling for "Papa."
I appreciated the praise, but it felt more embarrassing and burdensome than anything.
"Um... so, what's the branch chief like?"
I cautiously asked the direct subordinates seated across from me in the limo.
It was like a brand-new intern about to meet the hospital director.
Their response was... unexpected.
"The branch chief...? Hmm... well..."
Even her direct reports hesitated, tilting their heads at each other.
Then one ventured carefully,
"For starters... she's incredibly cute!"
"...Pardon?"
"But she absolutely hates being called cute!"
"Right! You have to say 'sexy' instead!"
"......"
Wait, hating it when people call you cute... when you are cute?
But insisting they call you sexy?
What kind of woman gets touchy about "cute" despite being one...?
My questions only multiplied until the limo finally pulled up to our destination.
"Right this way to the top floor, where the branch chief is waiting."
The Hunter Association's uppermost level.
It was a special counseling zone even S-Rank hunters rarely accessed, but the floor they led me to was higher still—reserved for one person alone.
The domain of the branch heads who oversaw the very order of the hunter nation.
Not necessarily stronger than active S-Ranks, but a legend was a legend, fangs or no.
Even those titans showed reverence to 'that one's' chamber.
The doors parted, we traversed a hushed corridor, and I stepped inside.
The first words I heard:
"You've arrived? Counselor Kim Seungbin."
The room was shrouded in shadow.
A heavy, plush leather chair.
Her face wasn't fully visible yet, but her presence alone dominated the entire space.
It was obvious at a glance.
The being seated there was the pinnacle of Korea's Hunter Association.
The branch chief.
...Or so I thought, until the lights blazed on fully.
Flash!
I'd felt a shiver, sensing some tremendous entity in the room.
"Hehehe. Come on in. I am Yoo Geumhui, branch chief of the Hunter Association's Korean branch."
"...?"
Even as she said that, her appearance and her name didn't line up at all?
Before my eyes was what looked like a 'millennium-sealed demon king's avatar'... no, too small and cute for even that—a tiny child.
A crown-like ornament sparkling over her shoulder, legs crossed in vintage Lolita attire.
Porcelain skin, glossy black hair with a sheen, eyes gleaming like blue gems.
...This was just a doll.
A top-tier, ultra-limited-edition one that could talk.
And that was the mythical 'branch chief' everyone spoke of in hushed tones.
"Hehehehe. That look on your face—you're quite flustered, aren't you?"
"Uh... yeah, I am a bit..."
"I know. Men always get captivated by my 'sexiness' the moment they see me."
...Sorry, but this is just a cuteness overload in loli queen form?
Of course I was shocked.
But not for the reason she claimed.
Otherwise, I'd lose my license and end up in chains before I knew it.
But seeing my expression, the branch chief hugged herself as if in agony, then spoke in a tone laced with guilt.
"Hehe... Sorry for being so sexy."
...Seriously, shouldn't she be seeing a psychiatrist first?
But no matter what, the fact remained: she was the head of the Hunter Association's Korean branch.
At least for now, my top superior.
So I ignored all the nonsense and bowed politely.
"Please take care of me, Branch Chief Yoo Geumhui. I'm Kim Seungbin. I just graduated university and joined as a counselor."
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard the story. Oh, and you don't have to be so formal. How about calling me... 'sis' casually?"
But then she goes and says that.
Just sitting there pegged her at minimum eighty, and her speech and posture put her way above Yunhwa's age—suddenly 'sis'?
That's... not quite grandma territory either.
But I didn't react, just nodded dutifully.
As I prepared to ignore the weirdness and wrap things up,
"Counselor Kim Seungbin."
"Yes?"
"I've heard you're exceptionally skilled... Mind hearing my troubles sometime?"
In that instant, the room's air turned icy.
The voice, which had been pure playfulness until now, shifted to the heavy tone from when I'd first entered.
I swallowed hard at the shift, straightening in my seat.
She then began to unburden a profound worry she'd apparently never shared with anyone.
"You see, me..."
"Yes..."
"I want to get married."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm already eighty, but I still don't have a partner—never even properly held a man's hand!"
...With a body like that, isn't it obvious?