Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: No Such Thing as Empathy
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"Narae... no, Narae. You want to become my exclusive pet, right?"
"...!"
Before I even finished speaking, her eyes went wide as saucers. Without so much as asking the patient's permission, I started stroking her head.
In the animal world, an 'owner' doesn't ask permission before petting their pet's head.
This wasn't counseling anymore. It was the beginning of establishing a dominant-submissive relationship.
If she rejected it or shrank back, the treatment would be a failure from the start.
But.
"Y-Yes! Ah, no... Yes!!"
Her face flushed red all the way to her ears, her tongue lolling out as she panted heavily.
She looked just like a puppy that had finally found its owner, thrilled beyond measure.
This reaction. This expression. This excitement.
She was at least on the same level of pervert as Yunhwa.
But at the same time, she was my patient, someone I had to look after from now on.
So I quietly crossed my legs under the desk, suppressing the physiological response stirring in my lower body.
This was counseling, treatment, and my job, after all.
Right then, Narae sniffled in a choked voice, as if leaping off a cliff, spilling out her deepest desires.
"I... I have this beastly side I can't control on my own! That's why I want someone to tame me even more!"
"How exactly do you want to be tamed?"
"Wh-when we go for walks like a dog, I want you to put a leash on me! And if I see a utility pole during the walk, I want to do 'territory marking'! B-but most of all, I want to be praised for doing a good job!"
At that moment, a certain person flashed through my mind.
Branch Chief Yoo Geumhui.
Ah, so that's why she sent me here.
Counseling no one else could provide.
A beast no one else could handle.
It was a problem that could never be solved 'woman to woman.'
What Narae truly craved wasn't simple comfort or conversation.
She needed a 'master' to control her instincts themselves.
A 'owner' to crush her with male energy.
During a beastkin's mating season, their biological response to the opposite sex intensifies.
Counseling alone could never suppress that wildness.
That's why Branch Chief Yoo Geumhui had sent me, a male counselor.
She'd assigned the perfect 'male owner' to Narae, who craved a male.
"Master, let's do 'that'... whine whine!"
Hunter ranks started from F-grade and went up to A-rank, which corresponded to the top 1%—that was the standard scale.
But above that.
There were those not even listed separately on the official rankings, so-called pro hunters.
Beyond the top 1%, a position only about 100 out of millions of hunters worldwide could claim.
S-rank hunters.
This tier wasn't just stronger than A-rank.
Each one was a transcendent being equivalent to the full might of a mid-tier nation.
Countries possessing S-ranks wielded immense influence and sway in international society. Even the United States, with the most hunters in the world, had fewer than ten.
In other words, the emergence of a single S-rank was a national event in itself—a fierce competition over who ascended and who fell.
"Yoo Narae? That filthy wolf beastkin got herself a specialist counselor?"
"Yes! Confirmed by a reliable source!"
In Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, a 70-floor mid-to-high-grade dungeon had spawned.
Inside, they were clearing out monsters: starfish-like creatures with five tentacles and sponge-types mumbling in unknown tongues.
That was when the news hit.
Yoo Narae is still trying to make a comeback as an active hunter?
Her name was Jeon Suji.
An A-rank hunter and leader of the Nether Path, one of Korea's top-ten major guilds.
Not quite one of the Big Four, but she took fierce pride in being right below them.
And two months ago, she'd sent someone disguised as a dungeon party mishap to take out Yoo Narae.
She thought it was over then.
They hadn't killed her, but they'd at least planted the trauma of taking a life.
Hearing Narae had holed up at home, Suji had smugly assumed it was a perfect takedown.
But now word came that Narae had even gotten a counselor and was gearing up for a return.
Suji trembled with rage in that instant.
A beastkin born to silver-spoon parents, who'd once surpassed her and even become an S-rank candidate.
That fact alone was humiliating, and now this—clawing her way back up in desperation.
Just hearing the name made her skin crawl.
The thought of that filthy wolf appearing before her eyes again had Suji grinding her teeth.
"Damn it! If she'd been born in Africa, she'd just be... a meat toilet used during livestock mating seasons, that bitch!!"
"G-Guild Leader, calm down!"
"There are people from other guilds here, your words are too...!"
"Shut up! How the hell am I supposed to calm down right now!!"
Suji slammed her fist into the ground like she had anger management issues, losing all reason.
Normally, right before entering the final boss room where she'd strategize optimizations, she acted like a madwoman.
But that outburst was witnessed by the one person she least wanted to see it.
"Jeon Suji? Is something wrong? You don't look well."
"Gasp! N-No, it's nothing... Hunter Cheok Yunhwa!"
Just minutes ago, she'd been so prickly no one dared approach. Now her eyes sparkled like a kid eyeing a coveted gem, her tone flipping instantly.
Even her guildmates who'd tried to restrain her were stunned by how meek she became.
Because right now, in this place, was the one person Suji absolutely had to impress.
The face of Korea's hunter world.
And just days ago, the S-rank hunter Cheok Yunhwa who'd dismantled the Big Four guilds in one fell swoop and now reigned supreme above them.
She was standing right there in front of her.
Today, Hunter Cheok Yunhwa came in person to select new leaders to fill the voids left by the old Big Four, picking from countless guilds—including ours!
Suji clenched her fists inwardly.
Of course, the news about Narae's counselor had her guts twisting in fury, but right now, something far more important was at stake.
To climb higher, she had to shine before the one who could be her lifeline.
In other words, her top priority with her idol—and future rival to surpass—was to be so adorable and beloved that Yunhwa would go mad without her.
"Hehehe... It's nothing! Yunhwa Hunter! For you to personally check out even this lowly dungeon—we're the ones truly honored."
"No need. At 70 floors, it's mid-to-high-grade. Average raider rank is B, and reaching here in just six months? You've earned that pride."
Yunhwa's response was humble yet warm.
A smile spread across Suji's face at the kindness, but inside, bitterness festered.
Is it because she's S-rank that even her words sound so refined? Tch... Acting all high and mighty.
Suji recalled Yunhwa's background in that moment.
Direct descendant of Goryeo's Greatest Swordsman, Cheok Jun-kyeong.
Born into a family where the 'lineage itself was her spec.'
Of course... with a background like that, she'd rise fast. I clawed my way up from a basement with nothing.
Suji ground her teeth.
But she had to hold it in now.
No matter how much it churned her insides, the woman before her could wipe out an entire guild in a blink.
So Suji threw her whole body into playing the 'sweet, obedient junior,' sticking close to Yunhwa's side as they walked.
Then.
"Oh, Yunhwa Hunter! Um... do you like babies by any chance?"
"Pardon? Ah... yes. I love them."
From a bit earlier, Cheok Yunhwa had been constantly glancing at her phone.
Anyone could see it: the fidgety hand motions of a love newbie checking for messages over and over.
...No way, did she get a boyfriend?
Suji's heart sank for no reason.
Not that someone else's love life mattered, but right now was the perfect timing for Yunhwa's attention to be solely on her.
Yet every time she unlocked the phone, that wallpaper caught her eye.
The lower body of a baby in diapers.
Suji stared blankly at it, then spotted her opening.
A chance to casually cozy up.
She lifted the corner of her mouth and sidled closer naturally.
"That baby's so cute~ Those long legs are perfect for an athlete! Is it your cousin's kid?"
"Haha... yeah, something like that."
Suji, oblivious to Yunhwa's fluster, hooked her arm and chattered on.
Of course, she had no idea.
That the photo wasn't of a real baby, but the legs of an adult woman in diapers—and that model was Cheok Yunhwa herself.
"Speaking of babies, I've been thinking lately~ Aren't dads kinda useless?"
"...Pardon?"
Time for some girl-talk everyone could relate to.
Land one of these, and the mood loosens right up!
That was Suji's thinking as she ramped up the gossip.
"Honestly, these days, dads should be doing breakfast, laundry, childcare in the morning, and servicing their wives at night, right? That's normal."
"......"
"And the crying! That's a problem too! Dads need to instill discipline right from the start, train 'em so they stop bawling young—that's how you raise proper adults!"
She blabbered on like she was drunk.
Laying out her 'solo parenting theory' and 'ideal husband image' boldly, waiting for her big sis to chime in with agreement.
But in that moment.
A chill.
"?!"
Icy energy rushed down her spine.
Suji whipped her head up.
And met Cheok Yunhwa's gaze—cold as ice, unlike anything she'd seen before.
No expression.
Not a single one, but that blankness brimmed with killing intent.
And then.
"Jeon Suji."
"Y-Yes? Yes!"
"......Don't let me see your face again. Before I kill you."
"......Pardon?"
Clueless to her crime, she'd touched a taboo—and was discarded without a word.