The Desperate Delusion of a Fallen Woman
“Aaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
Min Jiyeon hurled her disconnected phone to the floor and let out a raw, guttural scream. The frustration was inevitable. She had been so certain that if she simply seduced him, Han Junho would come crawling back in no time at all. That he would fall for it so easily.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…! Han Junho…! You son of a bitch, how could you do this to me?! How could you throw me away, you fucking bastard?!”
Of course, there had never been anything romantic between them in the first place. The only things that had existed were exactly what Junho had said: her ignoring him, looking down on him, and sexually harassing him whenever she felt like it. But Min Jiyeon, whose mind was already spiraling into madness, no longer possessed the sanity required for normal judgment or rational thought.
“H-Hyejeong… I need to call Hyejeong right now…!”
She knew Hyejeong was busy and that’s why she wasn’t picking up, but once she learned about this situation, she would definitely take her side. Clinging to that firm belief, Min Jiyeon dialed Yu Hyejeong’s number, only to be met again and again with the automated voice saying the call could not be connected.
“Why, why, why! Why won’t you answer, you bitch?!”
Her hands trembled violently as she tried calling several more times. It didn’t take long before she finally threw the phone again.
“R-Right… She’s busy… She must be busy trying to cover everything up for me… The guild… Let’s go to the guild…!”
Dozens of reporters had already swarmed the area around her house. The police would surely show up soon as well. In this situation, the only way to buy even a little more time until Hyejeong handled things was to hide inside the guild.
“Y-Yeah… The Onhwa Guild members… Hyejeong will protect me…”
No matter what, even the police wouldn’t be able to barge into the guild headquarters. Having reached that conclusion, Min Jiyeon changed her style completely so no one would recognize her. Sunglasses, a mask, and a hat pulled down low, she headed for the back door.
The back door was used as an emergency evacuation route in case of trouble, so only the residents knew about it. She slipped out without issue and let out a small sigh of relief.
“Once I get to the guild… everything will be fine… It has to be…”
There was a reason Min Jiyeon trusted the Onhwa Guild—no, trusted Yu Hyejeong—this much. The two of them had been together for over ten years, relying on each other to overcome countless controversies and incidents. But the faith she had placed in her friend shattered completely the moment she stood in front of the guild building.
“What did you just say…?”
“I said entry is prohibited. I’m sorry, but please leave.”
The person who had firmly blocked the entrance the instant Min Jiyeon tried to step inside was a C-rank hunter in charge of security for the Onhwa Guild. There was no way an E-rank hunter like her could force her way past him with brute strength.
“Hey, do you even know who I am?! I’m an executive of the Onhwa Guild! I’m close with the Master!”
At first she had lowered her voice in case anyone recognized her, but the moment she felt she was being ignored, she immediately started yelling. Of course, she still kept glancing around nervously as if she hadn’t just done that.
“This is a direct order from the Master herself.”
What flew at her face in response to her screeching was a single cold sheet of paper.
Termination Notice
Min Jiyeon has been permanently expelled from the Onhwa Guild.
All access rights revoked. Immediate removal from premises ordered.
“T-Termination notice…?”
“There is also a direct order not to let you inside under any circumstances. Please leave before I am forced to subdue you.”
Min Jiyeon could only stand there, staring blankly at the mountain-like man blocking the entrance. Even after he decided she wasn’t worth dealing with any further and went back inside, she remained frozen in place for a long time.
“…Yu… Yu Hyejeong… How dare you… How dare you throw me away…?”
No solution came to mind. She wanted to storm inside right now, grab Yu Hyejeong by the hair and drag her out, but there was no way she could even reach an S-rank hunter, and she certainly couldn’t get past the C-rank hunter guarding the door.
“What do I do… What do I do, what do I do, what do I do… What the hell do I do…?”
She raked her fingers through her hair like a madwoman and chewed her nails, but no good ideas came to her. The only face that floated up in her empty mind was one.
Not Yu Hyejeong’s. Not anyone else’s. Only Han Junho’s.
“H-Han Junho… If it’s Han Junho, he’ll definitely know how to get out of this situation…”
Even though he had already rejected her once, she thought that if she went to him in person, clung to his pants leg and begged, things would be different.
“Han Junho… He has such a soft heart… If I beg him desperately, he’ll at least give me some advice… He definitely will…!”
The lifeless look in Min Jiyeon’s eyes began to burn with madness.
“J-Junho… I’m coming… Just wait a little… just a little longer…”
More and more people around her were starting to whisper and stare. Realizing this, she covered her face, blended into the crowd to erase her presence, and decided she needed to find Han Junho immediately.
“Good morning.”
Since a gate had been reserved starting in the morning, I arrived at the office a bit earlier than usual. I needed to give the new miner team members a proper explanation on their first day. Most importantly, if I traveled with the raid party to the site, I wouldn’t have to pay for transportation separately. The party already had a vehicle they used for group movement.
The raid leader had said it would be better if I rode with them too, so there was no reason to go separately. I had to save every penny I could. That way I could buy a house later, and a car…
“Looks like no one’s here yet.”
Checking my watch, it had just passed eight. The party members usually gathered around eight thirty, so I must have been a little early. There was probably a spare key somewhere, but I had no idea where it might be, so I decided to wait.
About fifteen minutes later—
“Oh, Junho!”
It looked like the raid leader was the first to arrive. I saw her running toward me.
“Good morning, Leader.”
“Ah, yes! Good morning! By the way, how long have you been waiting?”
She looked apologetic as she hurried over and opened the door. I shrugged.
“About fifteen minutes. It wasn’t that long.”
No one had actually told me to come this early. I had simply arrived early and waited, so there was no need for her to feel sorry, yet she still wore an incredibly guilty expression.
“I’m sorry. If I had known you’d come this early, I would have given you the spare key in advance.”
She quickly ducked into the leader’s office and came back with the spare key. I couldn’t help but chuckle. It was such a small thing, but the way she kept apologizing made me feel strangely warm.
“Here! If you lose it, we have plenty of copies, so just let me know anytime.”
“Hmm, I don’t usually lose things, but if I do, I’ll tell you.”
“Okay~ By the way! You really are amazing, Junho!”
“Uh, yes? Suddenly?”
It seemed the “amazing” talk that had started during the interview was beginning again. I wondered what part she was going to praise this time.
“You’re so diligent! I bet you go to bed really early and wake up early too!”
“I do wake up early in the morning.”
My eyes usually opened at six, so yes, I woke up early.
“What about sleeping?”
“I usually fall asleep around dawn… so I’m not really an early sleeper.”
She made a thoughtful face for a moment, then asked seriously.
“Then what do you usually do when you can’t sleep? You don’t seem like the type to waste time. Ah, sorry if that was rude…!”
It was a personal question, so an apology was understandable, but it wasn’t rude. It wasn’t like I did anything particularly special.
“I just do small things. I run simulations in my head for the next day’s work, or look up information if I need it.”
I really didn’t do much. Just the kind of things anyone would do if they had extra time.
“So even at home you keep studying and working hard to improve yourself…!”
Is that how it sounds?
“That’s so cool! How do you do that?”
“Hmm, doesn’t everyone do that?”
“No way! When I get home I just watch YouTube all day!”
“Oh, I watch YouTube a lot too.”
“Really?! What kind of videos do you usually watch, Junho?”
Her eyes sparkled the moment we found a common topic. This side of her was really… cute. No, what was the word? She looked like a tiny hamster staring up at a human holding a sunflower seed.
“I mostly watch videos about hunter strategies or psychological analysis of people.”
The strategy ones were a habit I picked up while organizing raid formations back at the guild—
“Strategy videos are actually really interesting. It’s like you get to see how different people think.”
The psychological analysis videos were the same. While watching, I’d recall the day’s events one by one and think, “So that person was like this,” or “That person was like that,” and it felt like I was growing one step further.
“Wow… I only watch videos with cats and dogs or gaming footage…”
Her face, which had been full of interest, quickly turned bright red.
“That’s good too. I like cute things.”
“Right?! Cats and dogs are super cute!”
“What about hamsters?”
“I like them too! I like anything cute!”
Hmm. Hearing someone who looked exactly like a small hamster say she liked cute things was the most fitting thing in the world. Did she have a soft spot for her own kind?
“You look a lot like a hamster too, Leader.”
“Eh? Me? N-No… I don’t think I give off that cute vibe…”
I had only said one sentence—that she looked like a hamster—yet her already flushed cheeks turned crimson all the way to her ears. Was she that embarrassed? I had meant it as a compliment.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad—”
“Everyone~ Hiii~”
“Oh, Junho was here really early?”
“Good morning, Jiyu~”
Just as I was about to clear up the strange atmosphere, the other party members started filing into the office one by one, filling the space with noise. Yeah, that should have cleared the air from earlier completely.
“I-I’ll head into the leader’s office for a bit…”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“Where are you going, Jiyu~!”
“I-I’m busy…! There’s a lot of work! It’s definitely not because something happened…!”
If she suddenly lifted her head with a face that red and said something like that…
“Junho, did something happen between you and our Jiyu?”
Now I look like I did something incredibly weird, you guys…
“No… I just told her she looks like a hamster.”
“….That’s accurate. Why is she acting like that?”
See? I wasn’t the weird one after all.