Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Sniff Sniff, Master
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We're in deep trouble.
The worst possible scenario imaginable—among the very worst—had just exploded into reality.
Today's role-play therapy session had official permission from Branch Chief Yoo Geumhui to take place only in the 'garden' on the grounds of the mansion where Narae lived.
But I'd gotten too immersed in the treatment, and the disc I threw happened to sail right over the garden railing.
Normally, Narae would have snapped out of her bitch-in-heat role in startled surprise and returned to her senses.
But right now, her head was so full of wolf beastkin instincts that...
Panting like a beast, she leaped without hesitation beyond the mansion's boundary line—outside our treatment zone.
And from there, things got dangerous.
Inside the garden, even being stark naked wouldn't be illegal, and the only one who could see was me.
But beyond that railing was a zone where the laws of South Korea strictly applied.
A woman wandering around in her underwear on all fours at 2 a.m.?
Anyone who saw her would call the cops on sight.
Arrest was only a matter of time.
I hurriedly ended the session and tried to chase after her, but I couldn't climb over the mansion's iron gate...
I'm just an ordinary human, after all. So I went out the proper way, through the door.
That was the moment.
Thud!
"Ugh?!"
"Ow!"
The second I stepped out the door, I collided head-on with someone who seemed to be waiting right there.
"Sorry...?"
I looked up, intending to apologize politely, but what entered my vision was too bizarre to just brush off.
A thick robe covering her from head to toe, hiding even her face.
Yet peeking through gaps in the hem was a silhouette with an exaggeratedly narrow waist, and unmistakably prominent breasts and hips.
One glance told me she was a woman.
And that wasn't all.
The current time was 2 a.m.
And this was the front of the mansion belonging to Yoo Geumhui, branch chief of the Korean Hunter Association.
...All the conditions made it too suspicious to pass off as a normal stroll.
Especially when I caught her glance flicking briefly toward the other side of the mansion wall. My heart tightened subtly.
Even though I needed to chase after Narae right away, for some reason, my feet wouldn't move.
It was like the scent emanating from her, her presence, and the strange pressure permeating the night air were chilling the back of my neck.
...I had a gut feeling I couldn't just let her go.
So, as the attending physician for this house's patient, I decided to ask a nosy question to the figure before me.
But then.
"You're a man, huh? And coming out of Branch Chief Yoo Geumhui's mansion... at this hour."
"...!"
She spoke first.
I stared at her silently for a moment.
Then, a creepy chuckle slithered out from beneath the robe.
And in the next instant.
Thwack!
"Guh?!"
I'd figured she wasn't ordinary, but... a hunter? No way.
Pain like lightning shot through my nape.
My consciousness flickered, my legs buckled, and cold concrete met my back.
"Has to be... Yoo Narae's counselor, right? Come with me for a bit."
Whoosh.
The sound of rough waves crashing against concrete walls.
The briny scent unique to the sea hung in the air.
We weren't far from the city center, but this was unmistakably the breath of a harbor.
"Ugh... where...?"
My head throbbed.
When I opened my eyes, the world lagged a beat behind.
I tried to sit up, but a sharp clank tugged at my wrists and ankles—restraints.
Looking down, I saw I was bound to a rusty metal chair.
The ropes were tied so tightly it felt deliberate, like they were meant to ensure 'absolutely no escape,' leaving no room to even breathe.
My heart began to pound slowly, anxiously.
Then.
Creeeak.
The iron door swung open, letting in cold sea wind.
A silhouette stepped into the abandoned factory interior with a single beam of light.
...It was her.
The hooded figure who'd knocked me out.
But this time, she wasn't even trying to hide.
The robe was gone, revealing neatly trimmed short hair and amethyst eyes.
Her gaze looking down at me was leisurely, like a predator before prey.
And in that instant, a name flashed through my mind.
"...Jeon Suji the hunter?"
No doubt about it.
I'm now a 'specialist counselor' dedicated to treating hunters' mental health.
After treating Yunhwa as my first patient, I'd memorized the files Branch Chief gave me, learning the faces and careers of Korean Hunter Association hunters.
As a result, there was no way I wouldn't recognize Jeon Suji, one of the country's A-Rank hunters.
Which made it all the more shocking.
"Why...? Why would an A-Rank hunter do something like this?"
Surprise and wariness laced my voice.
At first, seeing her lurking around Yoo Geumhui's mansion, I'd pegged her as anti-hunter faction.
But her true identity was one of the top 1% elite hunters.
She closed the distance without answering, stopping before my bound form.
She pulled out my wallet and profile file from somewhere, dangling them slowly between her fingers.
"Heard the rumors about you. The new male counselor at the Association. Kim Seungbin, 27. And your first patient's record... Cheok Yunhwa, who caused a stir with her temporary suspension."
Her lips twisted slightly.
"...Read it all while you were out. Honestly, I was surprised. A guy who handles both medical knowledge and mental care... I thought that was like a unicorn from legend, but here you are for real."
Her gaze held curiosity—and something sinister.
"And your skills are impressive too, huh? S-Rank hunter, and now even her candidate..."
I steadied my breath and asked lowly.
"...So, what do you want to say?"
Her eyes flashed.
If she were just a regular fellow hunter, there'd be no reason to drag me here like this.
"An A-Rank like you wouldn't kidnap me just to book a counseling session like this."
"Heh. True enough."
This wasn't 'business.' It was personal.
Jeon Suji stepped closer, leaning down to whisper.
Her unexpected proposal slipped out amid the waves.
"Counselor Kim Seungbin. There's a reason I wanted to meet you alone in a place like this."
With that, she let the robe enveloping her body slip away.
Leather and mesh tangled in a near-underwear ensemble, dangerously revealing.
Smooth shoulders and hips gleamed in the light, thin straps biting into her skin.
She took a step closer, gently lifting my chin.
Her wickedly curved lips quirked up.
"Become my man."
"...Your man?"
"Yeah. On the surface, pretend to be the Hunter Association's counselor. Behind the scenes, work for me. Tell me everything about your patients—where they're hurting, what secrets they're hiding. Simple, right?"
As she spoke, a black shape slowly extended from behind her hips.
Wings.
Not bird wings, but rough, eerie bat-like ones.
And as she whispered in my ear, smooth, curved black horns emerged above her head.
'Jeon Suji the hunter... a beastkin like Narae?'
No, not quite like an animal.
If anything, it resembled a myth's tempter of humanity—a demon.
"Hehe, what's wrong? Bothered by my appearance?"
"Jeon Suji... are you a beastkin like Narae?"
"What?! Don't be ridiculous! This isn't innate... it's my hunter ability, the Succubus Charm skill!"
Her expression twisted subtly with that answer.
And in the gap, raw disgust for beastkin showed.
"Honestly, if Yoo Narae wasn't the branch chief's daughter... you'd be treating me instead."
"...What?"
"Not human, not beast... that disgusting mongrel. Sitting across from that thing reeking of animal stench, spittle flying from her mouth during sessions... Just imagining it makes me want to puke."
Jeon Suji traced my jawline mockingly with her fingertip.
"Ears buried in fur, that habit of wagging her beast tail... Ever snuck a peek under that tail during counseling? You know, right? When female beastkin get heated... it gets wet down there fast."
She deliberately blew hot breath into my ear.
"Compared to that, how am I? Clean. Soft, smooth... every inch your hand touches is purely 'woman.' Unlike that revolting mongrel."
With her words, her hand slid up my thigh this time.
Then cupped my cheek, locking eyes.
"Become mine, and I can get you medical director at the Hunter Association. Just leak all the counseling details to me. Then... branch chief isn't far off."
Bzzz.
"Kuh...!"
Right then.
Her amethyst eyes split vertically, emitting light.
Simultaneously, my whole body tingled, paralyzed in a vise.
"My skill, 'Succubus Charm.' It bewitches the target's mind outright. Don't resist. Strain too hard, and... your brain fries, leaving you a vegetable."
Every cell twisted, bones inverting.
Yet oddly, the pain was sweetly intoxicating.
Like pleasure and agony fused, burrowing into my brain.
But the moment I handed patient info to this self-serving outsider, my value as a doctor ended.
"Ngh...!"
"...What? Why's your mental fortitude like this? Any normal male monster would've been drooling already!"
She poured more skill into it.
Horns sharpened, wings grew and flapped.
I steeled myself, resisting to the end—even if it meant becoming a vegetable.
That instant.
Snap!!
With a ear-splitting crack, the horn atop Jeon Suji's head was mercilessly severed.
Black energy sprayed instead of blood, gripped in jaws belonging to...
"Grrrrrrrr...!"
A silhouette too feral for human form.
Blood-red fur bristling to the nape, wolf ears fiercely pinned back.
"......Narae?"
"Y-Yoo Narae?!"
"Woof... woof! Grrrrr...!"
That sound wasn't a dog's bark—it was a wolf's threat to cornered prey.