Chapter 8. Everything is new.
Chapter 8. Everything is new.
When Choi Yeon-ju didn't give him taxi fare, Seong Byeong-jin put on a sullen expression and left the examination hall to get his license. Watching that pathetic back view, Choi Yeon-ju shook her head to shake off the infinite guilt that kept rising up against her will.
Then, with a serious face, she even shook her legs and bit her thumb nail.
"Damn it. The momentum is too fast. There's no time, and the hypnosis is working better and better..."
This was a huge problem, if not the biggest. She had managed to buy some time by saying that loyalty and absolute obedience were different, but Choi Yeon-ju knew very well that if things went on like this, spreading her legs for that man would eventually become a natural state. After all, giving one's body to someone to whom one pledged absolute loyalty wasn't exactly a wrong thing to do.
Choi Yeon-ju tore at her hair.
"No. Even now, the thought of just closing my eyes and having sex with him won't leave my head..."
Every time he makes that sullen face and acts like a puppy caught in the rain, my heart races. It felt like the hypnosis engraved on my body was screaming that I shouldn't be like this. Up until now, I'd managed to hold on with superhuman mental strength, but it was only a matter of time.
This wasn't good. Choi Yeon-ju was a woman who knew her own value very, very well. As long as she considered herself a perfect superhuman who deserved an S-rank, not an A-rank, she had no desire to be held by a monkey—a mere former cleaner whose head was filled with nothing but hypnosis, sex, and looking at pussies—no matter how much loyalty she had pledged to him. Seong Byeong-jin wasn't even handsome. If she had to be specific, he wasn't ugly, but he was a man with a face that looked like he was constantly being wronged.
You think you can eat me?
No, that's not it. Isn't it natural to offer your body to the one you are loyal to? In a way, it's a kind of grace...
"Gasp!"
No. My thoughts are finding excuses on their own again. Choi Yeon-ju shook her head vigorously to regain her senses.
Choi Yeon-ju was personally feeling her way of thinking changing strangely. That was why Choi Yeon-ju was even more anxious than Seong Byeong-jin, who was trembling with anxiety as he started his illegal work.
This won't do. Seong Byeong-jin would keep showing interest in her body, and it was clear that the longer it took for the situation he wanted to arrive, the more obsessed he would become with Choi Yeon-ju's body. She was already in a groggy state. It was no different from holding a shield while the opponent was holding a nuclear missile.
She felt she needed sacrifices to happily embrace him in her stead as soon as possible.
Calming her mind, Choi Yeon-ju picked up her phone and called Lim Seo-yoon.
She had to wrap her up nicely and hand her over as soon as possible.
That way, he would be pleased.
"Argh! Argh! You crazy bitch, stop it!"
Choi Yeon-ju tapped her head repeatedly.
ㅡ
"Congratulations on becoming a Hunter!"
"Ah. Yes. Thank you."
The license issuance was so fast that I wondered if that was it. Well, is that to be expected? Awakening doesn't just happen to every Tom, Dick, and Harry; it's something that happens to one or two out of thousands, so it wouldn't be busy with Hunter registrations.
The Hunter license I received like that was, absurdly, just a white plastic card. Nothing was written on it. It didn't even have my personal information or photo.
So I asked.
"Can this be used for identity verification?"
"Ah. Is this your first time?"
Well, obviously it's my first time, would it be my second?
I wanted to say something, but I held it in. I wondered if the female employee at the information desk was mistaking me for someone related to the Association, not a cleaner. Cleaners don't know about this stuff.
"Among ability users, there are people with transformation abilities, so photos or fingerprints are useless. Transformation ability users can even make fingerprints exactly the same."
"Then how?"
"We verify with blood. Do you see the gold circle on the bottom right?"
The female employee asked, pointing her finger at the bottom right of the card. Of course, I wasn't blind, so the small circle on the bottom right of the card I received was very, very visible.
The female employee smiled when I nodded.
"Try placing your thumb there."
"Does it have to be the thumb?"
"It doesn't have to be, but wouldn't the thumb be the most comfortable?"
That makes sense.
I placed my thumb on it.
At the same time, I felt a stinging sensation in my finger. Even though it was the same size as a regular credit card, it seemed like there was a tiny needle inside the gold circle.
Then, letters with a soft fluorescent glow began to slowly appear on the white card.
My personal information, which I had been so curious about, was maintained for about 30 seconds and then slowly disappeared.
The female employee smiled brightly.
"No matter how much of a transformation ability user they are, they can't change their DNA. That's why we verify identity this way."
"It's more specific than I thought. It's reliable."
"Right?"
The female employee was dying of happiness as if she had been complimented herself. In my view, that woman was a talent who should work for the Association for the rest of her life. Since she accepted praise for the Association as her own, it wouldn't be strange to call her a true worker of the Association.
Since I had figured out the basics, I had to head straight to the gate as discussed with Choi Yeon-ju earlier. As Choi Yeon-ju said, it wasn't a matter of going around looking for monsters to kill, but rather a simple job of avoiding them and just picking herbs, so now that the Hunter registration, which I was most anxious about, was over, it started to feel like no big deal.
I should hurry!
ㅡ
The place Choi Yeon-ju told me about via text was a low hill near Sejong City. It was a place she explained was safe because it was so close to the Association that many hunters came and went. It could be said to be the perfect place for my first gate trip. It was a bit of a waste to pay the taxi fare with my own money, but since the herbs I'd pick here would be worth more money than I thought, my goal today was to cover the taxi fare. Of course, the three Chaos Flowers, which were more important than that, were also important.
There was one downside. Because the taxi couldn't drive up the hill, I had to get off at the bottom of the mountain and walk up. Even without that, I had thoroughly destroyed my lower body yesterday, so I had to walk up the stairs to the gate doing a crab dance like a newborn baby deer.
People who I didn't know if they were people exercising or hunters who had already entered the gate and come out, giggled and mocked me as they passed by.
"Look at that guy."
"Wow... Is he exercising? He looks like he's going to collapse."
"It must be that. He's got to at least have a good body... um... You didn't hear that, did you?"
I hear everything, you fucking bitches.
I suffered a bit of unplanned humiliation, and I climbed the stairs sweating profusely, but in the end, I was able to reach the gate entrance steadfastly. Absurdly, it was a gate that had opened near a mineral spring. There were many people around, and most of them seemed to be people from the Association. I had heard that Association employees were taking turns at every gate, but this was my first time seeing it.
Because originally, the gate should have had no connection to my life.
The gate was purple overall. I don't really like purple. I had thought of it as a slightly ominous color. But for the gate to be purple.
Ominous. Very, very ominous.
As I somehow climbed up and approached the Association employees gathered near the gate, one man noticed me approaching and looked at me and asked.
"Who are you?"
"I'm a Hunter. I came to enter the gate."
"...Are you sure you'll be okay?"
I spoke confidently, but the man, who I didn't know if he was an Association employee or not, scanned me up and down and asked. To be honest, I couldn't help but think that if I saw my current state through a third party's eyes, it would be a bit much. Because I had already sweated profusely from climbing the stairs, my bangs were stuck to my forehead like wet seaweed. My top was also soaked, and it was clear that if it dried, white salt stains would be visible.
To put it more simply, I didn't look like a Hunter who would fight monsters inside the gate.
"I'm fine. Do I need to show you my license?"
"...Give it here for a moment."
Even though I said I was fine, the man tilted his head as if he didn't trust me at all, and then reluctantly took my Hunter license. He held the card out toward me, and I wondered what he was doing, but about 3 seconds later, I realized it meant to draw blood to activate the license.
With that, my lack of experience started to be exposed.
"Did you register today? Did you come here right after registering today?"
"Yes. Is that not allowed?"
"It's not that it's not allowed, but... well."
The man looked at me with an ambiguous expression and shook his head. What is this? What's with that unpleasant behavior?
"Eh... well. Good luck."
"...Thank you?"
I don't know why, but I feel bad. One thing was certain: it was probably certain that that man considered me just an immature hunter.
But I don't think there's any need to fight over something like this. First of all, since he's a man, there's a possibility that fists will fly if we fight. I quietly bowed my head once and walked toward the gate.
If it were a woman, I would fight, but a man is a bit much.
Anyway, this moment had finally arrived. I took a deep breath while looking at the gate shimmering with a semi-transparent purple light in front of me. As expected, the anxiety of heading into an unknown world for the first time didn't subside with just one deep breath.
Should I just go home?
I was conflicted for a moment. But I had already obtained my license. I also had a few pieces of equipment that Choi Yeon-ju gave me, and since I was just going to sneak around the surroundings and pick herbs and come out, it didn't make sense to turn back here.
I'm going in.
I squeezed my eyes shut and walked stride by stride into the gate.
ㅡ
"Doctor! Did you call for me?"
"Ah. Lim Seo-yoon."
Choi Yeon-ju smiled kindly and welcomed Lim Seo-yoon, who had come to the laboratory. Her impression hadn't changed much from what she saw yesterday. Brown wavy hair that slightly covered her shoulders. Big eyes, delicate facial features. At a glance, she looked like a lively female college student somewhere between pretty and cute.
Just looking at that smiling face, it seems she would have been quite popular.
"What did you call me for?"
"First, would you like to sit down? Let's talk while having some tea."
Choi Yeon-ju naturally offered Lim Seo-yoon a seat. Perhaps agreeing that that came first, Lim Seo-yoon nodded a few times and sat down on the chair Choi Yeon-ju offered without hesitation. Though smaller than Choi Yeon-ju's, her perky, well-formed breasts swayed slightly up and down.
"What kind of tea do you like? Coffee? Black tea?"
"Uh... is there no juice?"
"Of course there is. Do you dislike tea?"
"I have a bit of a childish palate. Hehe."
The way she scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile at Choi Yeon-ju's question was cute. It felt like she was a person who was naturally full of aegyo. Choi Yeon-ju took orange juice out of the refrigerator, poured it into a cup, poured black tea for herself, brought them over, and sat down opposite Lim Seo-yoon.
And she didn't forget to prepare sugar cubes to put in the black tea.
"How was yesterday? Did you get home safely?"
"Ah! Yes! Thanks to your concern!"
Even Choi Yeon-ju, a genius who was receiving attention even in Korea, didn't know how worrying could help with getting home, but good is good. She nodded with a smile. The Lim Seo-yoon that Choi Yeon-ju saw was like a herbivore with no harm in her at all.
To think that she had to offer this woman to him for her own safety.
Is it natural?
Hah.
Choi Yeon-ju, whose thoughts had jumped strangely, frowned and shook her head. Seeing that, Lim Seo-yoon asked with a worried expression.
"Are you sick?"
"Ah. No. I have a lot of research to do."
"As expected. Doctor, you must be busy every day."
Lim Seo-yoon nodded as if she understood. In fact, Choi Yeon-ju didn't have much to be busy with. That was because there wasn't much to research. Research at the Association must unconditionally receive permission from the state before starting. It meant that research could only be started after an okay sign was given. Choi Yeon-ju, who had no particular interest in non-stimulating research itself, would never report research topics to the state.
"Thank you for understanding."
"It's just words! It's nothing! Ehehe."
Lim Seo-yoon laughed as if she was shy. Watching her, Choi Yeon-ju began to continue the conversation little by little.
At first, she started with simple personal information.
And then she moved on to the story about Seong Byeong-jin from yesterday.
Choi Yeon-ju picked up her teacup.
"Ah. I'll add some sugar cubes."
"It's black tea, right? Is it okay to drink it sweet?"
"I don't usually add sugar or anything. But I think I need some sugar right now."
"Aha?"
Lim Seo-yoon nodded at Choi Yeon-ju's words. Choi Yeon-ju smiled and added a sugar cube.
She grabbed a teaspoon and started stirring the teacup.
Clink. Clink.