The Comet of the Female Hunter Lounge
The morning after I somehow ended up under the Hunter Association’s protection, having regressed into an elementary school boy overnight.
“Ah, hello!”
“…Huh?”
“Oh my.”
From early in the morning, I had been nervously approaching the female hunters who were trickling out of the dorms and gathering in the Female Hunter Lounge. I kept bowing and introducing myself one by one.
“P-please take this.”
“What’s this?”
“I-it’s a gift.”
Of course, it came with a little bribe to clear the quest the status window had given me. It was just one small piece of chocolate—hardly a real bribe—but I’d heard that sincerity mattered most in gifts. To me, chocolate was something precious I’d once had to beg for an entire week to obtain, so it probably held real value.
“I look forward to working with you….”
“……”
“W-well then, have a good day!”
After saying that, I bowed politely to the female hunters who were watching me with amused expressions and quickly moved on.
“Hnn….”
“Oh my goodness….”
“How adorable.”
I was trying to make a good impression, but the way they were looking me over made my skin tingle, and I couldn’t help it.
“Pfft, that kid’s hilarious.”
“He’s sweet and cute. Nothing like his guardian.”
“Right? So what’s their relationship?”
When I quietly returned to the sofa and sat down, I soon overheard the female hunters talking among themselves.
“Seong-a, were you his mom?”
“…No, I am not.”
“Then is he some kind of secret child?”
It seemed Do Seong-a was being subjected to quite the misunderstanding because of me.
“I’m turning twenty this year.”
“Ah, right….”
Fortunately, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up by Do Seong-a’s logical answer without me needing to explain anything.
“There’s no way a cute kid like that could come from the psychopath Do Seong-a.”
“……”
“Ah, just kidding! It was a joke! Eek!”
Even so, I kept listening just in case. In that moment, Do Seong-a’s figure flickered forward at incredible speed, and the teasing hunter’s face was slammed straight into the cereal bowl she had been holding.
As expected of Do Seong-a, South Korea’s fastest hunter. I’d heard that even on a global scale, few hunters could surpass her speed, and seeing it in person really drove home how incredible she was.
“I thought her personality had improved a bit lately, but of course….”
“Still, she smiles at that little kid.”
“Yeah. I got goosebumps watching that.”
Somehow, Do Seong-a’s reputation seemed a little strange. She was incredibly kind to me, so maybe everyone else was just misunderstanding her?
“By the way, Seong-a. What’s his name?”
“His name?”
“Yeah. We can’t keep calling him ‘kid’ forever.”
I was feeling a bit uncomfortable and narrowing my eyes when the gazes of Do Seong-a and the other hunters suddenly turned toward me.
“Uh….”
An awkward silence followed.
“Don’t tell me the kid doesn’t have a name?”
“……”
“And you, his guardian, still haven’t given him one?”
The female hunters, who had been carefully watching my reaction, soon began scolding Do Seong-a with sharp looks.
“Um….”
“Yes, Seong-a noona.”
“So, uh….”
Under their pressure, Do Seong-a’s eyebrows drooped. Then, all of a sudden, she stood up and walked over to me.
“Would it be all right if I gave you a name?”
She lowered herself to meet my eyes, just like yesterday, and asked quietly.
“…Really?”
Of course, for me—who needed a new identity—this was more than welcome.
“If you’re okay with it, you can use my surname.”
“Th-thank you!”
“Let’s see… What would be a good name….”
I nodded eagerly, my eyes sparkling, and she began seriously racking her brain.
“…Excuse me, could you help me for a moment?”
“Huh?”
“I need to decide on the kid’s name.”
She returned to her colleagues who were eating breakfast and began whispering with them.
“Here, kid. Pick the one you like best.”
“It’s going to be your name from now on, so choose carefully, okay?”
“Go on, don’t feel pressured. Pick whichever one you want.”
Soon, Do Seong-a and a crowd of her colleagues gathered around me, holding out slips of paper with name candidates written on them.
“Hmm….”
As I carefully examined the candidates, one name suddenly caught my eye.
Do Yeon-woo
Do Yeon-woo. It was completely different from my previous name, and somehow it felt like it suited my current appearance.
“I-I wrote that one down. Are you sure it’s okay?”
When I looked up holding the slip, the one who spoke with a surprised expression was none other than Do Seong-a.
“Yes, I really like it!”
Maybe this was fate? Feeling a strange warmth in my chest, I nodded vigorously.
“All right. From now on, your name is Yeon-woo. Do Yeon-woo.”
“Hehe….”
And so, my new name officially became Do Yeon-woo.
User information has been updated!
Even my ability acknowledged it, so it really felt like I was starting a new life. A flood of emotions washed over me.
“Ah, he’s so cute….”
“Yeon-woo, can’t you just stay here?”
“Noona wants to keep Yeon-woo as her personal item too….”
While I was smiling for no reason, Do Seong-a’s colleagues who had gathered around me began reaching out with sparkling eyes.
“Y-you can’t touch me!”
“Huh?”
“Ah… It’s just that Yeon-woo is very sensitive….”
I flinched for a moment, but Do Seong-a quickly stopped their hands.
‘…What was that?’
I didn’t know why, but the slight feeling of disappointment—was it just my imagination? I’d been having so many new experiences in one day that feeling emotions I didn’t understand left me strangely unsettled.
“Excuse me.”
“……?”
“Do Seong-a, could I speak with you for a moment….”
Anyway, while I was looking around with a slightly sullen expression, a voice suddenly came from the entrance.
“Yeon-woo, wait here for a bit?”
Do Seong-a spoke to me in an extremely gentle voice before walking toward the agents who had arrived at the entrance.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a second?”
And right at that moment, a cold voice came from behind me.
“Yes?”
Startled, I turned around to see a girl in a hoodie with her hands in her pockets standing there.
‘She looks scary.’
She seemed a little younger than Do Seong-a, but the band-aid on her cheek and her cold gaze gave her a rather delinquent aura.
“Kid, aren’t you a little too oblivious?”
While I was shrinking back, her cold voice slipped out.
“This is a place where tired hunters come to rest. You get that?”
“Yes….”
“So what happens if hunters can’t rest properly because they’re too conscious of you? Is that okay? Or not?”
Her presence was so intimidating that I couldn’t speak and just stammered. Do Seong-a’s colleagues began backing away with their eyes lowered. Seeing that, it seemed she really was a hunter with a reputation for being as fierce as her appearance suggested.
“I don’t know who’s backing you, but this isn’t a place for kids to come on field trips.”
“……”
“So if you’re done with whatever you came for, how about heading back now?”
With that, the girl quietly turned and walked away.
“……Ah, um, excuse me.”
I tried to say something while watching her retreating back, but when I saw the looks from the female hunters where she had returned to sit, I decided to just close my mouth.
‘Well, I guess I am being a nuisance….’
There were hunters like Do Seong-a’s friends who looked at me kindly, but of course there would also be hunters who found me bothersome. But I still had to clear the second tutorial quest. I didn’t know what the penalty for failing was yet, but I had a bad feeling it wouldn’t be anything good.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, Seong-a noona.”
“Did something happen?”
Thanks to her, I was standing there blankly with my mind gone white when Do Seong-a, who had returned before I knew it, spoke to me and I finally came to my senses.
“It’s nothing….”
“Really? That’s good.”
I had considered telling her what happened, but the hooded girl’s gaze from earlier had been so fierce that I decided to keep quiet.
“By the way, Yeon-woo, do you have some time today?”
“Yes?”
“Well, you see, um….”
While I was looking down with a slightly sullen expression, Do Seong-a spoke to me in a gentle voice.
“It seems like Yeon-woo has some kind of special ability.”
“…Really?”
“I’d like to check what kind of ability it is. Would that be okay?”
It seemed the Hunter Association had detected my ability through the previous device. If that was the case, there was no helping it.
“Yes!”
“Aigoo, you’re so sweet.”
There was no need to hide my ability, right? Honestly, I still didn’t really know how to use it, so I wasn’t even sure if I could complete the test properly.
“Ah, just a moment!”
Anyway, just as I was about to take Do Seong-a’s hand and go for the test, I suddenly made up my mind, stopped my outstretched hand, and quickly turned in the opposite direction to run off.
“Noona, I’m sorry.”
“……”
“I was being oblivious….”
I arrived in front of the girl who had scolded me earlier and placed my most precious treasure into her hand as she sat there watching me with a relaxed posture.
“I-I’ll give you this, so please forgive me.”
“…Chocolate?”
“I-it’s all I have.”
Anyway, to clear the quest the status window had given me, I had to do my best.
“A-after the test is over, I’ll leave right away.”
“……”
“I’m really sorry for causing trouble….”
And even if I couldn’t clear the quest, I absolutely didn’t want to create someone who hated me.
“S-so please don’t hate me….”
I’d experienced that enough in my previous life, so I wanted to avoid it at all costs.
“Ah, have a good day.”
After quickly finishing my apology and offering the gift, I ran back toward Do Seong-a, who had been watching with narrowed eyes from the entrance.
‘I hope this makes up for it….’
They say great power comes with great responsibility. I was finally starting to understand what that meant.
*****
“……”
After Do Yeon-woo and Do Seong-a left the lounge together, a brief silence followed.
“What the heck, now we look like the bad guys….”
“He came here for a test? Then she should’ve said something.”
“No, but there’s no reason for him to be in the Female Hunter Lounge otherwise….”
The female hunters around the girl who had broken the silence muttered with slightly guilty expressions.
“Wasn’t he some high-ranking official’s kid here on a field trip like last time?”
“…That really caused an uproar back then.”
“But that kid seems nice and cute….”
Having just returned at dawn, they couldn’t help but recall the incident from last month when they saw Yeon-woo freely wandering around the lounge.
“Maybe we were too harsh….”
“It’s fine. This way, no precedent gets set.”
However, the girl who had been sitting with her legs crossed in a delinquent manner dismissed their reactions with her usual cold voice and turned her head.
“For a high-ranking official’s kid, his bribe is pretty pathetic.”
Just as she was slightly twisting the corner of her mouth and tightly gripping the chocolate in her hand—
“Everyone, if I could have your attention for a moment.”
“……?”
“Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”
Suddenly, from the entrance, Do Seong-a’s voice—who had left with Yeon-woo—could be heard.
“This is news I should have announced earlier, but I apologize for the delay in delivering it sincerely to as many people as possible.”
She had returned to the lounge alone. After bowing to everyone, she began distributing the documents she had been holding to those gathered.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
“What’s with Do Seong-a….”
“Hmm…?”
Normally, the hunters would have hated having their rest time interrupted, but most of them were curious about the unprecedented sight of Do Seong-a bowing her head.
“Yesterday at 1 PM, I took a child into my protection in D-Sector Area 3.”
“……”
“His name is Do Yeon-woo. He is currently nine years old, and his special circumstances are….”
With most of the female hunters affiliated with the Hunter Association now focused on her, Do Seong-a began speaking with difficulty.
“He is a victim of human experimentation by the Rebirth Cult, a group of interest.”
In that moment, the atmosphere in the lounge instantly sank.
“The confirmed damages include post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociative disorder caused by brainwashing and gaslighting, as well as the complete removal of his mana circuits.”
As Do Seong-a continued the briefing while pointing at the documents, the hunters who had been listening blankly turned their gazes downward.
“Of course, given the nature of the Rebirth Cult, it is highly likely he also suffered physical abuse at a level difficult for a child his age to endure.”
“……”
“No… It’s almost certain. Judging by how violently he rejects anyone touching his body.”
As Do Seong-a said, the documents attached with the on-site recovery team’s diagnostic results showed Yeon-woo’s condition to be quite dire.
“Even if the cult’s abilities regenerated his physical wounds, the wounds to Yeon-woo’s heart will require a great deal of time to heal.”
In the even heavier atmosphere, Do Seong-a continued in a low voice.
“Therefore, Yeon-woo will be temporarily protected here for now. Once the tests and psychological treatment are complete, I plan to find him a suitable residence.”
She bowed once more to everyone present and asked for their understanding.
“…Please, I ask for your generous attention and cooperation so that Yeon-woo does not suffer any further harm.”
In the deathly silence that followed, Do Seong-a, who had been about to leave the lounge, suddenly added as if she had just remembered.
“Ah, and it seems Yeon-woo hasn’t had many sweets in his life.”
“……”
“He treasures them like precious gifts, so if you have the chance, I would appreciate it if you could give him one occasionally.”
After saying that, Do Seong-a finally left the lounge. Behind her, the hooded girl—who had been sitting with her legs crossed—had at some point uncrossed them and was now sitting properly with her gaze lowered.
rustle…
Her complexion had turned somewhat pale as she fiddled with the crumpled chocolate wrapper that the sobbing little boy had given her earlier.
*****
Tutorial Perk Activated!
Meanwhile, at that same moment.
Inside the ability testing facility located within the Hunter Association.
“What the hell….”
“Oh my god….”
The researchers who had taken Yeon-woo from Do Seong-a and conducted the hunter ability test ahead of schedule could only stare blankly at the scene unfolding before them.
“Uh… over there.”
“……”
“I-is this how it’s supposed to work?”
It was because the insignificant punch Yeon-woo had thrown—an attack that couldn’t even kill an ant—had completely shattered the specially developed punch machine used for measuring hunters’ strength.
whoooo…
As if that weren’t enough, the reinforced wall behind the punch machine—which was supposed to withstand even a Grade 1 magic beast invasion—now had cracks running through it and looked ready to collapse.
The power of the Star of Heavenly Love is manifesting.
Provided ability: Fist of the Martial King (SSS)
Through the tutorial perk, the Queen of Martial Arts—who is normally difficult—has lent her power for free this one time!
‘How do I turn off this tutorial perk?’
Yeon-woo hadn’t intended to perform this well on the test. Cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead.