Invitation to the World Hunter Community
And they held out for two whole hours protecting the survivors?
That's actually crazy
(Interview footage)
Raid Team: We didn't clear it.
Reporter: Then who…?
Raid Team: The Fairy King.
???
Fairy King?
I TOLD you guys!!
The little girl in this photo is the Fairy King!!
Seoul National University Hospital.
"Hah!"
Han Yuseol's eyes snapped open.
A pure white ceiling. The mingled scent of disinfectant and detergent brushing past her nose.
Ah. A hospital.
She realized almost immediately that she was lying in a hospital bed.
"You're awake?"
She turned toward the voice and found Lee Chaerin peeling an apple.
"…"
Somehow, the scraps clinging to the peel looked more edible than the apple itself.
"Where's Ellie?"
"Huh?"
"Ellie saved us again."
"Hehe~ Pretty good, right? I was the one who called Ellie unnie."
"I see."
Han Yuseol sat up and checked herself over. Nothing seemed seriously injured. Had Ellie healed her?
"They said you can be discharged today."
"Really?"
Her body did feel fine, all things considered. Still, Han Yuseol let out a quiet sigh. It felt like all she ever did was receive help from Ellie. How on earth was she supposed to repay that kindness…
The door burst open.
She looked up to find Seo Eun-ha, Guildmaster of Origin Guild, stepping inside.
"Oh my, Chaerin's here too?"
"Hello, Guildmaster."
"Well, well. Did you come straight here after school?"
"Nope. I skipped."
"Honestly. If you don't study hard, our guild won't take you, you know?"
"Hehe, just kidding, obviously."
Seo Eun-ha smiled faintly at Chaerin's reply, then turned her gaze to Han Yuseol.
"You've been through a lot. How's your body?"
"I'm fine. Ellie healed me."
"Hah… Right. Ellie. You mean the Fairy King."
Seo Eun-ha turned back to Chaerin.
"Chaerin, the adults need to talk for a bit. Could you step outside for a minute?"
"Uh, um. Okay."
Chaerin nodded and left the room. Before Seo Eun-ha could even state her business, Han Yuseol answered first.
"No."
"…I haven't said anything yet."
"You want me to call Ellie. You want to talk to her. But I don't think it's right to bother someone who's saved my life twice."
"And what exactly do you think I'm going to do once I call her?"
"Scout her, or something like that."
Seo Eun-ha let out a short laugh and shook her head.
"Wrong."
"Huh? It's not?"
"Yuseol. Do you have any idea how hard it is to recruit an S-rank-level Hunter? Maybe if this were the first time — but this person has become far too big a deal. A Hunter of this caliber doesn't join a major guild. They found one."
"I see."
Seo Eun-ha had never intended to scout the Fairy King in the first place. She simply wanted to meet her — to figure out what kind of person she was. After all, this was a Hunter who summoned fairies, the very thing Seo Eun-ha was most wary of. Her nature didn't seem particularly bad, though…
"There's a guild-level reward set aside for her. Handle delivering that, would you?"
"Okay. Got it."
"And tell her thank you."
"Okay."
Seo Eun-ha exhaled a long sigh and continued.
"Also… she might already belong to a major guild."
"Ellie?"
Seo Eun-ha immediately pulled up a photo. A path of living wood stretching all the way to the gate. Ellie walking along it — and beside her, a woman with light-green hair.
"You don't know who this is, do you?"
"…?"
"The Guildmaster of Evergreen."
"!?"
Han Yuseol's eyes went wide of their own accord. The Guildmaster of Evergreen? That famously reclusive figure?
"Then Ellie is with Evergreen?"
"Who knows. I was wondering what she was up to after stepping down as Guildmaster — maybe she's training a successor."
Seo Eun-ha folded her arms for a moment, then spoke again.
"Yuseol. Let me ask you one thing."
"Yeah?"
"How strong is this Ellie person?"
Han Yuseol thought for a moment before answering.
"I was unconscious, so I didn't see Ellie fight."
"Is that so?"
"But I think I know what it felt like."
"What kind of feeling?"
"Ellie feels… all-purpose."
Seo Eun-ha's eyes widened.
"An all-rounder?"
"Yeah. To be more precise… each fairy she keeps with her is about upper A-rank Hunter level?"
She compared it against her own strength, then added:
"Probably stronger than me."
Seo Eun-ha fell into deep thought. She recalled what the team members on-site had said — the 2nd Team members who, unlike the unconscious Han Yuseol, had witnessed the battle with their own eyes.
Healer. Mage. Dealer.
According to the team, each of the three fairies seemed to fill a distinct role. Combined with what Han Yuseol had just said…
"…She's a monster."
A force that completely overturned every convention of the Summoner class. An individual who could cover every role on her own… But to wield that much power, she'd need an enormous mana pool.
Just how massive is her mana capacity?
After coming home, I watched the fairies plant mana stones in the garden plot.
"Ppi! Ppi-ppi!"
"Ppyu-ppyu. Ppyu-ppyu-ppyu."
"Pya-pya."
Seraphin chattered away about something, and Arwen and Lumiel nodded along as they started digging holes in the soil.
And what was our Seraphin doing, you ask?
"Ppi! Ppi! Ppi!"
Kang! Kang! Kang!
She was smashing the mana stones she'd brought back with her tiny fists. Apparently the stones were a bit too large, so she was breaking them into pieces to plant in the garden.
"Ppi! Ppi!"
"Ppyu-ppyu!"
"Pya!"
Once every mana stone was planted, the fairies bounced around the World Tree in pure delight.
Yeah. Honestly, I'd only been watching out of curiosity — how do you even plant mana stones in a garden? So that's how.
Work finished, the fairies began plucking the apples hanging from the World Tree one by one and eating them.
"Ppi!"
"Ppyu!"
"Pya!"
They were eating those apples with such pure bliss — were they really that good?
And this World Tree… it bore fruit at a suspiciously fast rate. No exaggeration — after clearing the gate and coming home, apples had just… cascaded into existence all over it.
Out of curiosity, I picked one and took a bite.
Crunch—
"…Huh?"
The moment my teeth sank in, juice burst across my tongue like a rich broth — deep sweetness paired with a crisp snap every time I chewed.
"Th-this is an apple?"
Then what had I been eating all my life — garbage? How could an apple possibly taste like this? Maybe the true king of fruit wasn't that stinking durian after all. Maybe it was this.
"You've all been eating something this delicious this whole time?"
"Ppi!"
"Ppyu!"
"Pya!"
But wait a second.
If the fruit was this good… couldn't I sell it?
I headed straight for the rooftop room. Inside, Ayla was in the kitchen preparing dinner. I walked right up to her.
"Ayla."
"Yes, my Queen."
"Would it be all right to sell these apples?"
"…?"
Ayla blinked once, then her expression turned serious as she began to think it over.
"Hmm… my Queen."
"Yes?"
"First of all, those apples are no ordinary fruit."
Well, after tasting one, I could confirm they were absurdly delicious.
"I have no objection to you selling them… however, should they enter the market, they would send shockwaves through the entire industry. I believe the sale must be handled with considerable care."
…?
A question mark practically floated over my head. Sure, it was the best apple I'd ever tasted. But a fruit that would shake the entire market? Wasn't that a bit of an overstatement?
"Which is why selling them on the open market strikes me as far too dangerous. Hmm… my Queen?"
"…?"
"Have you by any chance received a system message?"
A system message…?
Nothing had come through, as far as I knew. I was about to shake my head when—
Ding—
A message appeared before my eyes.
An invitation has arrived from World Hunter Community Administrator 'za002'.
Do you accept the invitation?
[Yes] / [No]
"…?"
I blinked.
Wh-what is this?