Chilling Elixir Success and the Button Pop Broadcast Disaster

A chilling cold pierced through my heart, and mana on the verge of exploding filled my body to the brim. Following the meridians guided by the Association President, the mana flowed in and out, tempering my body like steel in a forge. How many attempts was this? I couldn't count exactly, but it was definitely over a hundred.

Through all those tries, one thing I'd learned was that there was no need to forcibly control the mana. I just had to surrender to its massive flow while slowly absorbing the energy. Like that, one second, one minute, one hour passed. Honestly, I had no idea how much time had actually gone by. It was all just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠subjective anyway.

"Hoo…."

I exhaled the lingering cold from my body and opened my eyes. Unlike before, mana surged through every inch of me, and my senses had sharpened to a razor's edge.

"I did it!"

I'd successfully absorbed the elixirs perfectly.

"Did it my ass! Are you trying to die or what?!"

"Ah."

In my triumph, I'd forgotten about Branch Chief Uncle. After teetering on death's door a hundred times while obsessing over mana absorption, I'd slipped into my own little world for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a moment.

"You're lucky it worked out by some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠miracle! Even then, without my help, you'd be a corpse right now!"

"Uh… um…."

"What the hell were you thinking, charging in so recklessly?!"

The kindly old-grandpa-like branch chief was glaring at me with fiery eyes, unleashing a tirade. From his perspective, a girl young enough to be his granddaughter had just attempted suicide, so it was a natural reaction. But I had my excuses too.

"But it worked, didn't it?"

"Are you joking right now?!"

"Come on, I didn't just barge in blindly. My gut told me it was safe to take them now."

"Your Intuition skill?"

That's why I'd laid the groundwork for this. Intuition and Luck. They didn't actually exist, but they were the perfect abilities to claim when using my loops without raising suspicion.

"I felt that gut punch of intuition, and hey, I've got the Luck skill too, right?"

"…."

"I know I rushed it a bit, but it felt like if not then, it'd fail… Still, sorry for not saying anything before chowing down."

I bowed my head with the most apologetic look I could muster, sneaking a peek at the branch chief. It was a reasoned decision on my part, and I'd apologized—surely that'd smooth things over?

"So you just trusted your skills blindly and popped them?!"

"Uh, yeah?"

"You don't even know the success rate of Intuition or Luck, and you're using that as an excuse?!"

"Eh, it worked out, so we're good."

"No, we're not!"

No matter how I tried to laugh it off, the branch chief kept lecturing. His reaction was fiercer than expected—was he being too overprotective?

"This won't do. Hunter, you seem to have a severe case of safety insensitivity."

"No, it's not that bad…."

"There's an Awakener safety seminar at Association HQ tonight at 9 PM. Attend it."

Safety seminar? The last thing I needed right now.

"I was just gonna head home…."

"Go!"

"Eek."

And so I endured a disastrously boring safety seminar.

The tediously boring and pretentious safety seminar finally ended, and I safely received my Hunter license. The rank on it: C. Even after the elixirs, my overall stats hadn't reached B-rank yet. Plus, I'd gotten on Branch Chief Uncle's bad side.

I'd have to restrain myself from reckless stunts in front of others from now on. Better to avoid these hassles.

"Still, it was worth it."

The elixirs' effects were insane. My base physical abilities had skyrocketed, and absorbing the resulting mana surge put my mana output in the upper C-rank tier. I'd leaped from near-normal human to superhuman in one go. Overall specs? Probably scraping by as low C-rank.

'Though there's a catch.'

No combat skills meant I still fell short of true C-rank in a fight, but jumping to comparable levels was an astonishing feat. And becoming a C-rank Hunter had its perks: placement in the Association's upper departments.

"Hello. I'm the new hire, Jeong Sion."

"Whoa, we finally got a newbie."

"Nice to meet you, Sion."

Dungeon Management Department, Field Processing Team 2. Composed entirely of C-rank+ Awakeners, they were the Association's core personnel. Main duties: enter dungeons to assist guild raids while preventing crimes and mishaps. Contribute to clears, and you could snag hefty rewards—a sweet gig. Competition was fierce, but I'd waltzed in with my 83-round Instant Dungeon clear record. No parachute here. Pure skill.

"Sion, since it's your first day, let's start with training from your mentor."

"Yes, sir!"

Newbie with zero knowledge meant handover was necessary. I headed to the senior assigned by the team lead.

"Hello. I'm the newbie, Jeong Sion."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Agent Kim Hyeji."

'Name screams "good at childcare."'

My direct senior mentor: Kim Hyeji. The name didn't inspire confidence at first, but…

"In cases like this, the Association has specific regulations. Check the Awakener laws here…."

"Ah, mind if I take notes?"

"Take your time. Ask anytime if something's unclear—better than agonizing alone."

"Got it!"

Total ace. She answered work questions flawlessly. From office chatter, she was famous for machine-like efficiency and top-notch field skills as a B-rank Hunter. Flawless except maybe the name.

"Finally, avoid friction with other guild Hunters on-site. Any questions?"

"None."

"Good. Take a break then. We've got field duty at 7, so tag along with me for training."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The hectic training wrapped up, leaving a brief rest. Summary: monitor guilds to prevent bullshit, raid hard, get along with guildies. Easier than expected—relief. Team seemed chill too. Was I heading for a high-pay, low-work salary-lupin life?

"Kinda laid-back than I thought. Normal around here?"

"Ah."

"Sion, don't say stuff like that."

"Huh? Why?"

"Jinx—saying it's quiet summons emergencies…."

No sooner had Hyeji-sunbae's sigh and the male colleague's warning faded than the Field Processing Team 2 door burst open.

"Hyeji! Dan-gun Guild says they're entering early at 7!"

"Haa… Sion, let's move. Now."

"Ah, yes!"

"Field uniform here. Change in the locker room."

"Got it!"

I grabbed the suit-like field uniform from Hyeji, ignoring the prickly stares, and bolted from the office. Per prior briefing, locker room was right next door. I kicked open the door.

"…This is the men's locker room?"

"Eek! S-sorry!!"

Right, I'm a girl now. So… women's locker room for changing?

"This is work. Work. Work…."

Ignoring a vague guilt, I squeezed my eyes shut and entered. Purely professional! No pervy motives!

"…Empty."

No changing beauties inside—just vacant. Oh well, I hurriedly stripped my shirt and pants, donning the Association field uniform. Design was sleek: suit plus coat vibe. Wait, this feels a bit snug….

Current time: 4:05 PM. Three hours early for Dan-gun Guild's announced raid. Their unilateral move demanded swift Field Processing response. Thus, Agent Kim Hyeji resented the newbie still missing from the locker room.

"What the hell's taking so long…!"

Sion's unfamiliarity with women's sizing was the issue, but Hyeji couldn't know that.

"Huff… huff… Sorry I'm late, Agent…."

"Why so late?!"

"Uniform's a bit small…."

"Just get in!"

Thankfully, Dan-gun didn't enter first. We made it to the Association lounge on time. Now, just handle field duties swiftly.

"Camera here. No time—start recording now."

"Ah, got it!"

"I'll brief the Dan-gun raid leader. Be right back."

Long ago, shortly after dungeons and Awakeners appeared, dungeons were guild playgrounds. Killing rivals, hubs of crime. To curb criminal guilds, the Association decided: broadcast raids publicly. Uneditable live feeds.

The Association's magic-engineering nerds crafted dungeon-transmittable cameras. Exposing criminal guilds' ugly sides to the public. Crime guilds were purged, dungeon crime plummeted—now, record broadcasts had faded in original purpose. Sure, guild oversight lingered, but the real value was….

Monster battles rawer than CG movies, human nature exposed mid-raid. Record broadcasts were now entertainment disguised as guild oversight.

'Oh right, gotta show face at broadcast start?'

Pretext was crime prevention, so Association staff responsibility. Rule: reveal handler's ID at recording start. She was just following protocol.

Problems: two.

"O-okay… is my face visible now?"

One: she forgot her post-TS beauty. Chat ignited unnoticed.

"Continuing: Dan-gun Guild's unilateral action ignores Association orders… Eek?!"

Flustered voice unfit for official statement. But no one could blame her seeing it.

Slightly gaping shirt revealing skin, a button soaring into the special camera lens. Her chest had overwhelmed the shirt.

Other problem: overtrusting Association uniform durability.

'Fuck. Should I just loop now?'

Sion seriously contemplated regressing right then.