Shopping Spree (2)
"Whoa?! S-Sunbae. Why on earth did you buy so much?"
Shin Jiyeon asked in shock after seeing Park Jihun standing there with both hands completely full of shopping bags and a completely dejected look on his face.
"...I snapped back to my senses and realized I had no idea what I was doing."
At her question, Park Jihun let out a wry laugh and shook his head.
Shin Jiyeon gave him an awkward smile and spoke as if trying to comfort him.
"Well, I mean... Kiri didn't offer any ad sponsorship anyway, and it's always better to have plenty of clothes."
"......"
After hearing her words, Park Jihun's expression hardened even further.
'Come to think of it, I got clothing sponsorship offers too...?'
Since he was a hunter, it was only natural that hunter-exclusive clothing brands had reached out.
Kiri still hadn't contacted him, but two major brands had already gotten in touch.
Of course he'd received clothing sponsorships along with everything else.
They had even offered to send over any designs he wanted.
On top of preserved foods, drinks, electronics, and even a car, the sheer volume of sponsorships had been so overwhelming that he'd completely forgotten about it.
'That's right. I guess I don't need to buy a car after all. I can just wait for the sponsored one to be delivered...?'
When he looked down at both hands with that thought in mind, the weight felt even more ridiculous than before.
'...Yeah, what's good is good. Besides, Jiyeon did say Kiri was the best brand when it came to durability, right?'
He had plenty of money and kept earning more anyway.
No point being stingy, he decided.
"Wait, then shouldn't we just dress these two in the sponsored clothes too?"
Park Jihun asked, pointing toward the fitting rooms where Kar and Briana were changing.
Shin Jiyeon let out a small snort and shook her head.
"Hehe, Sunbae. You really don't understand, do you?"
Her eyes burned with passion as she clenched her fist tightly.
"The thrill of seeing them look so beautiful in the clothes I personally picked out and bought! I can't possibly give that up! It's a joy you simply can't get from sponsorships!"
"Ah, um..."
As a man, he couldn't quite grasp it, but maybe there really was some mysterious realm that only women understood?
That's what he figured.
'Or maybe she's just weird...'
Given everything he'd seen of her behavior and personality so far, that seemed far more likely.
'Clothes I bought for them myself, huh.'
When he thought about it, Park Jihun somehow felt like he could understand the feeling after all.
'Briana and Kar, and even Jiyeon, getting all shy while wearing the lewd underwear and sexy cosplay I picked out for them...'
Just imagining it made his lower half twitch like it was about to spring to attention. His nostrils flared wide.
Clatter—
Right then, both fitting room doors opened.
Briana and Kar stepped out after finishing changing.
“Kiiing...”
“Kyarrung.”
It was apparently their first time trying on clothes in a department store like this.
Both of them looked slightly uncomfortable.
Kar wore a white cap with a black brim, probably to hide her ears.
Her top was a light gray short-sleeved t-shirt that clung tightly to her skin.
It emphasized her voluptuous breasts and hugged her slim waist, perfectly showcasing her seductive figure.
The emphasis continued downward as well.
She wore blue hot pants so short they might as well have been panties.
Beneath them, her pale thighs gleamed smoothly under the lights.
'How is she keeping her tail out? Don't tell me her ass crack is visible from behind...?!'
The moment that thought hit him, Park Jihun circled behind her.
“Kyarrung?!”
Kar jumped in surprise at Park Jihun suddenly appearing behind her.
But he ignored her reaction and tried to check whether the hot pants revealed her butt crack.
Unfortunately, her tail was draped just enough to cover it, so nothing was visible.
'Still, this is pretty erotic in its own way...'
The hot pants made the lower curve of her ass cheeks peek out teasingly, and the way her tail hung from above left her buttocks looking like they might be revealed at any second.
From behind, it was the very definition of 'Please take these off right now~' temptation.
'Hmm! Extremely indecent! I must punish her thoroughly when we get home!'
Satisfied, Park Jihun nodded and returned to his original spot, turning his gaze to Briana beside him.
She normally covered every inch of her green skin, but this time she had boldly chosen a sleeveless top.
The slight frills gave it an oddly apron-like feel, making it look like she was wearing nothing but a naked apron underneath. It carried a strangely erotic charm.
It didn't cling to her body as tightly as Kar's outfit, but her natural volume more than made up for it.
Her breasts bounced prominently, amplifying that subtle eroticism.
Below, she wore blue skinny jeans that highlighted her leg lines. The contrast with Kar's leg-revealing hot pants made both of their individual charms stand out beautifully.
'Ugh! This side is incredibly indecent too! I'll have to punish them both together when we get home.'
With that thought, Park Jihun gave Shin Jiyeon a thumbs-up.
"Excellent work. One thumb up from me."
"Hehe, of course. Who picked them out, after all?"
Shin Jiyeon already seemed so excited she'd gotten a nosebleed.
She stuffed tissue into her nose and returned the thumbs-up.
"Please ring us up. We'll wear these out."
"Ah, yes. Understood."
When Shin Jiyeon said they were paying, the clerk who had been enthusiastically pitching to Park Jihun earlier came over.
When the clerk hesitated slightly, Shin Jiyeon realized why and quickly removed the tags from the clothes Kar and Briana had been wearing, handing them over.
"We're not going to exchange them anyway. That's fine, right?"
"Ah, y-yes."
Once the clerk left to process the payment, Shin Jiyeon let out a deep sigh.
"Hmm... Still, that person was relatively decent. Maybe because they deal with hunters more often than regular customers."
Hunters were far stronger than ordinary people.
To civilians, powerful hunters were grateful protectors who kept monsters at bay, but they were also existences that could suddenly go berserk and crush their skulls.
In other words, they were like tanks.
They defended the nation, but if they turned their cannons on civilians, there was nothing anyone could do but die.
That kind of tank.
So while people usually admired and liked hunters, many were terrified of facing them up close.
That was why jobs that regularly dealt with hunters—such as hunter-exclusive clothing stores or Hunter Association staff—tended to attract people with considerable courage.
Even so, monsters remained objects of fear and caution to them.
It made sense.
Even if they had been tamed, from a civilian's perspective they were still enemy tanks.
Creatures that had originally been trying to fire those shells at them.
"Still, it doesn't feel good. Our Kar and Briana are so pretty and sweet!"
Shin Jiyeon was clearly upset, just like when they'd first entered the department store parking lot.
It felt like her beloved little sisters were being treated as monsters.
Even so, she didn't argue or pick a fight.
After all, both she and Jihun knew exactly how these monsters would appear in the eyes of ordinary people.
Boom—
But at that moment.
A heavy, pounding vibration suddenly echoed through the building.
"...?"
For a second he thought he'd misheard, but—
"What was that?"
"An earthquake?"
Everyone inside the department store seemed to have heard it. They were all looking around in confusion.
And shortly after—
Attention all customers currently in the department store. A threat has occurred inside the building. Please evacuate to the outside immediately. I repeat. A threat has occurred inside the department store...
The voice sounded quite urgent.
It seemed real.
'What is it? Did an earthquake actually happen?'
He considered the possibility, but Park Jihun shook his head.
These days there were disasters far more common than earthquakes.
Perhaps...
"Uwaaaaaah! It's a monster!"
A scream rang out from far away.
"...?!"
"A monster?!"
At the cry, Park Jihun reflexively glanced at Kar and Briana.
The people nearby who could see his group did the same.
But it was different.
The scream had come from far off, and the sheer desperation in that voice suggested someone was on the verge of being attacked.
"Sunbae!"
"Yeah...! Let's go!"
Realizing something serious was happening, Shin Jiyeon and Park Jihun quickly headed toward the source of the screams with Briana and Kar in tow.
#
About ten days before Park Jihun's party visited the department store.
In an abandoned basement that had been turned into a storage area after the building's renovation.
An anomaly was taking place.
Crackle— Riiip!
Between the piled-up objects... or rather, the discarded construction materials.
The space tore open with a violent ripping sound.
A pitch-black crack appeared.
That's right.
A gate had been generated.
Of course, gates that formed in places untouched by human feet were supposed to be investigated.
The Association, along with the military and police, regularly patrolled abandoned subway stations, mountain foothills where people never went, and similar locations.
Even so, accidents still happened.
Human feet simply couldn't cover every single place.
Most such incidents occurred deep in mountains no one visited, on uninhabited islands, or in abandoned ghost villages.
Because they only happened in such isolated areas, hunters usually suppressed them before major casualties could occur.
Especially in a small, densely populated country like Korea, such events were extremely rare.
Eventually, after a long time had passed since the Hunter Era began, people who had never personally experienced a disaster gradually developed the complacent belief that they were safe.
People's vigilance slowly loosened.
Besides, this was a department store.
A safe zone where hunters were constantly coming and going.
That complacency grew day after day.
The security guards, who were supposed to patrol daily, had reached the point where they only moved when CCTV showed something wrong.
However, the crack that had formed behind the stacked materials in the far corner of the basement existed in a blind spot the cameras couldn't see.
"Did you finish today's patrol?"
"Yes, yes."
"Even the basement?"
"Ah, yes. Of course."
"Hmm... Okay. Check."
When you added the laziness of the security chief who was supposed to verify the guards' diligence, ten days later the inevitable finally happened.