Kang Nari (1)
"Um, are you sure you really don't need to go to the hospital?"
"No need for a hospital with my skill. Besides, I hate hospitals."
A tragic human who'd botched a blood donation, gotten her blood sucked dry, and been tossed into a dumpster like trash. Right now, Eunha was invited into the home of a woman she'd just met today, being treated to iron-rich seaweed soup.
Slurp... A simple folding tray table with nothing but a bowl of lukewarm seaweed soup. But to her, who'd suffered massive iron loss, it was as sweet as an oasis in the desert.
Eunha stroked the deep, round puncture in her neck, letting out a groan.
The doctor at the Evergreen Emergency Center had such a bright smile. Wasn't that white coat just for show? She sure knew how to stick a needle. The pain when that straw-sized syringe pierced her carotid artery. The chilling sensation as glug-glug, huge amounts of blood drained out. Her whole body went numb like she'd been anesthetized, drowsiness crashing over her with the cold. Then her breath caught like she was drowning. She thrashed to survive, but pinned like sleep paralysis, her body stayed frozen in the donation chair, not even a finger twitching. Fade to black.
She wandered endless darkness, met the Black Person and the Beast in some strange space, and finally came to. Thinking back, where was that place she'd met the Black Person? The afterlife she'd only heard about? Or maybe the river of three paths you cross before it? Next time she got the chance, she'd have to die with a camera and live-stream it. Three Paths River broadcast... that'd be entertaining.
Anyway, when she came to, she was dumped in the alley behind the convenience store where the blood bus had parked, tossed amid the trash. Next to her, a blue-haired woman paced in clear panic. With so much blood loss, Eunha dragged her hazy mind and staggered toward home.
(Wait, hold on a sec!)
But the ragtag woman who'd been hovering grabbed her arm and, out of nowhere, dragged her to her own place.
'Good thing I almost passed out from dizziness. Turns out she's a kind vagrant.'
Rustle.
She'd ended up accepting help from a total stranger. Eunha leisurely sipped her seaweed soup and rummaged in her pocket, pulling out a single card. The size that slips neatly into a wallet, the kind they give with thank-you gifts at blood drives: an attendance card.
Evergreen Emergency Center Attendance Card
Sticker with an infuriated "Good Job!" face plastered on.
Collect 10 stickers for a thank-you gift!
They expected her to do nine more of those soul-stealing blood draws for a gift? ...She hated herself more for the curiosity about the prize outweighing her fear of the pain. How amazing must it be? She wouldn't die anyway—might as well grit her teeth? Just stick a straw in the carotid a few times. She'd done 200 regular donations for monthly perks. What was hardcore mode ten times?
'Gotta pause my usual blood center and stick to the bus for a while.'
With that vow to snag the gift, Eunha looked up and scanned the woman's room. Black bags stuffed with potatoes, the staple of poverty crops. Next to them, bubble wrap and cardboard boxes for cold-weather prep, now useless in the heat. Glancing up sadly, through the basement's lone window, a black cat lay belly-up, snoring away.
A musty, rundown basement. Being fed seaweed soup by someone living here—did that make her human? Yeah, she was. She'd enjoy the soup.
Survival trumped conscience, so Eunha slurped it down happily, eyeing the demure woman across the tray.
Blue hair, ragged sweater, torn jeans. Long bangs hid her eyes, but her features looked pretty enough. And despite the shabby clothes, her posture was nobly refined.
Catching Eunha's subtle gaze, the woman timidly waved it off and spoke.
"I-It's... f-fine...! I blew a week's groceries on that one bowl of seaweed soup, but eat up without guilt! I can just scrounge at the free kitchen like always!"
Telling her not to feel burdened while piling it on her shoulders. Timid vibe, but spicy personality.
With the weight on her shoulders atop the soup, Eunha quietly patted her chest and set the bowl down. The woman sighed lightly, as if she'd expected it, and pinched her forehead helplessly.
"Sigh... I knew you'd be curious. Why I was chased by thugs into that alley..."
"Nah, not really."
"Eat the seaweed soup made with my week's food budget and hear me out. You're the benefactor who saved me, so I'll tell you special."
Spicy indeed. Seemed timid, but sky-high self-esteem. Well, good was good. She'd need time to recover anyway—might as well chat.
As Eunha settled in to listen, the woman, inwardly itching to spill, eagerly launched into her tale with glee.
This country had the Four Major Guilds. Amid countless guilds, these four mega-guilds wielded the strongest influence, backed by colossal chaebol conglomerates.
Not just economic power and fame, but hunter prowess too—they were untouchable even by the state or Hunter Association... true nobles and royalty reborn in this era.
And among those "royals," the one with top status in the capital region was the Cheongryong Guild.
"Cheongryong Guild is huge. They guard the capital with another of the Four Majors, the Cheongcheon Sword Clan. The Sword Clan handles monsters from the northern border, while we Cheongryong deal with those from the west coast."
"I see."
"And as you probably guessed... yep. I'm Kang Nari. Niece of S-rank hunter Kang Chan, the guild master, and youngest daughter of the current Cheongryong family chairman."
The blue-haired woman, Kang Nari, suddenly launched her self-PR, gazing at Eunha with expectant eyes. Hoping for a reaction? Eunha plastered on a shocked face, and Nari beamed proudly, rummaging in a corner bag to stuff some potatoes into Eunha's hands.
Honestly, shocking. This ragtag woman was an heir to the famous Cheongryong Group? Cheongryong Guild, Department Store, Auto Group—the whole Cheongryong empire. Even Eunha's smartphone had their logo. No wonder she was stunned to find such a person slumming in a basement.
"My father—no, Chairman Kang—forces his kids to go independent to pick an heir. No family support; you build business and connections on your own merit, and the flashiest performer wins."
Kang Nari had an older brother and sister, both thriving: bro led a mid-tier guild as a B-rank hunter; sis was the youngest prof at top-tier Eunchun Academy. Big names even without the family tag—news staples, the kind where people go "Oh, that one?" when pointed out.
But Nari was the issue. The baby of the family started her venture last year and tanked hard, drowning in debt.
"You took out loans too?"
"Y-Yeah... Starting a business needs seed money, right...? But the banks blocked me—family meddling probably—so... private loans, just a bit... hehe..."
She chuckled awkwardly, incredulous even at herself. If family blocked banks, just work a job and earn it fair and square... Was borrowing from loan sharks bold or brainless?
No collateral, so she pledged her prized skill, business flopped, and today was payback day. Thugs grabbed her to sell her off, but Eunha swooped in like a comet.
Botched one blood drive and saved a debtor. Was this right?
"Thanks to you, repayment's pushed to next month! How'd you do it? I thought you were a corpse. Camouflage skill? Makes you a scout hunter, huh? Dangerous, but pays big—jealous!"
"Haha... Glad you're safe anyway."
Eunha grinned sheepishly at Nari's sparkling grateful eyes, dodging vaguely. Not pretending dead—she was dead. But no way to spill her skill to a stranger. Let the misunderstanding stand.
Nari didn't pry further.
"Whew... Without you, Eunha... who knows..."
"Lucky break. So what business tanked you this bad?"
"Oh, that? I was making and selling these."
Eunha finished the last of her seaweed soup and asked. What would wreck a Cheongryong scion? Nari pulled a small glass vial from a cardboard box by the potato bag and set it on the table. A rectangular cube filled with thick red liquid. A hunter staple: Emergency Recovery Potion, seals wounds and temporarily boosts blood volume.