The Fairy King Gets a Meal Buddy
Everything stopped.
The goblins, the porters, the hunters—even Han Yuseol, an A-rank hunter.
In the middle of it all, the only person who could still move was me.
I calmly lifted the dagger I'd been using to harvest byproducts and looked straight at the goblin that had been swinging its blade at my throat.
Kieek! Kik!
Fear radiated off it as its body shook violently.
Was this the skill's influence, too?
Without hesitation, I drove the dagger into the goblin's neck with a wet shnk. Then I moved on to the remaining four, stabbing each one through the throat—shnk, shnk—until the goblins with daggers buried in their necks crumpled lifelessly to the floor.
My first successful monster hunt.
I didn't feel much of anything about it.
I walked over to the porters who had been sprawled on the ground, wanting to check if they were all right.
"Th-thank you so much."
"…?"
Sudden formal speech?
I blinked in confusion—and then sensed someone behind me. I turned. Han Yuseol.
"Ellie. Are you unharmed?"
I nodded without a word. Thanks to Rune Language, I was completely unhurt.
"I apologize. I should have assessed the situation properly."
Still—these were goblins that had been hiding underground. Without a detection skill, wouldn't they have been nearly impossible to spot? They weren't even monsters that normally appeared in this gate. And I'd gotten a chance to test what Rune Language could actually do, so as far as I was concerned, I'd come out ahead.
Han Yuseol turned next to the porters who had been ambushed and apologized to them as well.
"I'm sorry. Is anyone injured?"
"Oh, no, not at all. We didn't get a scratch, thanks to that young lady. More importantly—shouldn't we head back as soon as possible?"
Hobgoblins were a higher species than ordinary goblins, and they were intelligent. Digging tunnels to set an ambush hadn't been some random fluke. But the incident had already happened, and Han Yuseol hadn't been able to stop it. The situation had gone beyond what she could handle alone—there was no time to waste.
She seemed to understand that, too. She nodded.
"Everyone, we're returning immediately."
Every interviewee passed.
On top of that, the porters who had been caught in the ambush—myself included—were getting our commission fees plus hazard pay. In a single day, I'd made 1.5 million won.
Honestly, the whole day had been nothing but upsides.
Even the porters came over to thank me.
"Miss, thank you so much for today."
"If it hadn't been for you, we'd have been in serious trouble."
"Looks like you're planning to work as a hunter, right? If you ever need porters later, call us. We'll give you a discount."
From what I heard, these guys were famous veterans in the industry—the kind of porters high-ranking hunters called on regularly. I didn't have any immediate plans, but if I ever needed to go into a gate again, I could just give them a ring.
We exchanged contacts, wrapped things up, and I was about to head home when—
"Ellie."
"…?"
"Here. Five mana stones."
I blinked. When I looked at her with a face that clearly said why are you giving these to me, Han Yuseol continued.
"You hunted the five hobgoblins. It's only right that you take them."
Oh.
Well, if that was the case, I had no reason to refuse. What kind of day was this? Mana stones sold for a decent price. Judging by the size, these looked like low-grade stones—and mana stones varied wildly in price depending on size and weight. Roughly thirty to forty thousand won each, maybe? Either way, I'd covered dinner for the day.
I nodded and accepted the pouch of mana stones.
"Bee!"
The moment I took the pouch, Pirong flew over and tucked it into my backpack for me.
I accepted the stones, gave a small bow of thanks, and was about to leave when—
"And also…"
"…?"
"Do you have time? I'd like to treat you to lunch, if that's all right…"
My eyes went wide before I could stop them.
W-wait. Was this—?
A date invitation?
Restores your composure.
Ah. Right. I was a girl right now.
So this was just a pure gesture of goodwill—she wanted to buy me a meal. I quietly nodded. Someone offering free food was not something I was about to turn down. And she was a celebrity, no less. I could brag about it on the gallery later.
"Yes. Shall we go, then?"
Honestly, I'd been a little excited on the inside.
After the ridiculous display I'd put on today, maybe—just maybe—she was inviting me to lunch because Origin Guild wanted to scout me.
But no.
Chew, chew.
We really just ate.
I hadn't expected her to go the entire meal without saying a single word. Of course, I couldn't say anything either—but still. At least the pork cutlet here was really good.
"Was the meal to your liking?"
Only after we'd finished eating did Han Yuseol finally speak. I answered with a quiet nod.
"I'm glad it suited you. Food tourism is my hobby, so I know most of the hidden gem restaurants around here."
Ah. That explained it. The food had been amazing, but there hadn't been many people. So that was what made it a "hidden gem."
"Would you like to have a meal together again sometime? Eating alone gets lonely, and there are places I can't really go by myself."
For a second I almost went huh? and blanked out, but Dreamy King's Dignity kept my expression perfectly composed.
So… she wanted to go food-hunting together?
Hmm…
Was this how women usually became friends? Well, I didn't particularly mind. Honestly, this quiet atmosphere hadn't been half bad. I'd expected the silence to get awkward, but it never felt stifling. It was more like each of us was just doing whatever felt comfortable. No real pressure.
"Here's my number."
And then we exchanged contacts.
Never thought I'd live to see the day I swapped numbers with a celebrity.
"Then please get home safely."
I nodded and headed home, thinking to myself the whole way.
I gotta brag about this on the gallery the second I get back.
Today's full write-up was going to be a long one—longer than the convenience-store interview rejection saga from last time.
Han Yuseol still had work left to do.
An anomaly had occurred in a gate managed by Origin Guild, which meant she had to write up a report.
"Yuseol. You're still not off work?"
While she was drafting the report, a woman gently pressed a cold juice can against Han Yuseol's cheek. Han Yuseol pouted.
"That's cold, unnie."
Seo Eunha, guild leader of Origin Guild. The S-rank hunter the public called the Saint of the Holy Sword.
Seo Eunha chuckled and asked, "Yeah, I just pulled it out of the fridge. So what's going on? I told you to clock out right after the interviews."
"There was an anomaly at the gate we used for interviews today."
"Really? Gate anomalies have been cropping up a lot lately. Nothing serious, I hope?"
"If it hadn't been serious, I wouldn't be writing this report."
"Any injuries?"
"None. There was an incredibly skilled awakened among the porters. Thanks to her, not a single person got hurt."
"Ooh~ A porter with that kind of skill?"
"Yeah. Her awakening skill controls movement—even I couldn't move for a moment."
Seo Eunha's eyes went round.
An awakener who could freeze an A-rank hunter like Han Yuseol, even briefly?
"You little brat. What were you doing not scouting talent like that?"
"I'm not in HR."
Besides, she hadn't wanted to get tangled up with this person for work reasons. She'd just wanted to get closer to her—purely as a person.
At that answer, Seo Eunha shook her head in disbelief.
"Oh, right."
Something seemed to occur to Han Yuseol. She spoke up.
"Unnie."
"Hm? What?"
"I think she's a summoner."
"Yeah? A summoner with movement-control abilities on top of that… she's the real deal, isn't she?"
"Yeah. But she summoned a fairy."
"…A fairy?"
That was when Seo Eunha's pupils began to tremble as if an earthquake had hit them. Of course, Han Yuseol—still focused on her report—didn't notice.
Han Yuseol continued.
"Yeah. A tiny fairy the size of a palm, with dragonfly wings on its back. The kind of fairy that only shows up in fantasy stories. I've heard of spirit summoners, but I've never seen an awakener who summons something like that. Do you know anything about it?"
She'd asked because she wondered if this might be some famous hunter she simply didn't know. Ellie hadn't looked like someone entering a gate for the first time. From start to finish, she'd been completely composed—even in the moment a hobgoblin's dagger was about to reach her throat. That kind of calm only came from stacking up countless experiences, didn't it?
"W-well? I wouldn't really know."
"Yeah?"
So even Eunha unnie didn't know. If her unnie had never heard of her, maybe she really was a freshly awakened hunter.
"Yeah. Well, hang in there. I've got something else to take care of, so I'm heading out. Finish up and go home soon."
"Got it."
Seo Eunha left the office at a brisk pace, hiding her panic.
Gulp.
She swallowed dryly without meaning to.
Fairy… It had been a very long time since she'd heard that word. Frankly, to her, it was a word so horrific she didn't even want to think about it.
"…It couldn't be."
Five years ago, when she had still been an A-rank hunter, she had participated in a raid operation against an S-rank gate that had opened in the DMZ between South and North Korea. The operation had been a joint raid force, with two S-rank hunters joining through overseas support.
The raid had failed.
All because of a single monster that appeared inside the gate—not even a boss, just one ordinary monster. After that incident, the World Gate Management Association had designated that gate as one of the worst in the world.
The survivors who made it out that day still called what happened the Fairy's Nightmare.