Min Seolah
Finding a hunter wasn’t all that difficult.
All I had to do was figure out which dungeon that hunter was going into.
Porters could dig up that information because it was part of the job.
And I was a porter.
"Min Seolah... the Nakwon Guild..."
Min Seolah’s guild, the Nakwon Guild.
If I found the group she was with among the hunters heading into the dungeon from Nakwon Guild...
"Found you."
I’d know that Min Seolah was going into C-class 4th Dungeon tomorrow.
—
Min Seolah.
She was the Nakwon Guild’s idol-like centerpiece.
As a hunter, she wasn’t anything special—a C-class mage with barely any talent to speak of—but her looks alone earned her the guild leader’s full support.
Honestly, the looks part was... fair. Even I had been stunned the first time I saw her. I’d caught myself thinking, Does a person really get to be that beautiful?
Maybe that was why there were rumors she was the guild leader’s second wife—or mistress, depending on who was talking.
Some people said she was only twenty. What kind of second wife was a twenty-year-old supposed to be? But people’s lives were stranger than gossip.
The reason I’d often taken porter jobs for Min Seolah’s group was simple.
That group was safe.
Maybe they were afraid she’d get hurt, because they surrounded her with a very solid team.
Thanks to that, we were safe too, as a bonus.
This time, though, things had gone wrong.
"But how the hell does this thing work?"
They said if I photographed her, she’d obey me, but I had no idea what that actually meant in practice.
If I took her picture and she came running up to me right then and there to start acting weird, I’d probably die on the spot.
Thinking about that, it seemed like I’d need to catch her when she was alone... but the problem was that she was almost never alone.
She always had several people hanging around her like bodyguards.
Even if I got lucky and she was alone, it still felt hopeless.
Even if I slipped in and snapped a photo while she was by herself, what did I think hunters were? If a normal guy like me tried to hide, they’d spot me instantly.
"This is a pain in the ass. What am I supposed to do?"
I stood there turning the camera over in my hands, fretting, when—thankfully—it gave me an answer not long after.
The living thing captured by the camera is immediately absorbed into the film. It can be freely released at a time of your choosing, but it cannot be reabsorbed once released.
"Oh. So that’s how it works."
That changed everything.
If she was absorbed the instant she was photographed, then all I had to worry about was not getting caught taking the picture in the first place.
"Good. Let’s do this."
I didn’t hesitate.
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared, but once I had a weapon in my hands, the urge to swing it around was even stronger.
I applied to work as a porter for Min Seolah’s group.
—
By the time I reached C-class 4th Dungeon, my destination for the day, the sun had just begun to rise.
With no one here except the personnel guarding the dungeon, I moved around to find the best position.
A spot where I could see them, but they wouldn’t easily notice me unless they were paying attention.
That was exactly the kind of place I needed.
If there was any luck in it at all, it was that I knew this dungeon well too.
I’d been here several times, so I had a rough sense of the surroundings.
That was how I ended up in the only spot that seemed worth taking.
"Can’t beat this."
The roof of an old convenience store that was nothing but ruins now.
It was a little far away, but that distance was exactly what I needed if I wanted to avoid being spotted.
The only thing that worried me was whether it would still work from up here.
"I’ll try it first. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to do it again."
My safety came first.
I could take the risk another time.
I waited on the roof for about four hours.
It was a little boring, but compared to what I was about to do, that was nothing.
When Min Seolah finally appeared, she had hunters around her as usual.
"Damn it..."
She was pretty far away.
When I raised the camera to check, I could see not just Min Seolah but every hunter around her too.
"So it won’t work after all? I need to get closer..."
Disappointing.
If only she’d broken away for a moment.
Those bastard bodyguards had no intention of leaving her side.
"Haa..."
That left me with no choice.
I’d have to go over there too.
I’d applied as a porter to get into this place, so I had work to do once I got there.
"Inside the dungeon... probably won’t work, right?"
Min Seolah would be even more heavily protected inside the dungeon.
It was the kind of place where even a moment’s lapse could spell disaster, so they’d keep a tighter watch on her there.
There was no way my odds would be better than they were outside.
"Fuck."
I climbed down from the building.
As I forced my feet to move and headed toward the dungeon, the area ahead suddenly began to stir.
"What the hell?"
Someone had arrived.
Everyone was rushing forward to greet that person.
"Who the hell... the guild leader?"
It was the Nakwon Guild’s guild leader.
There was no reason for a man like that to come to a C-class dungeon.
What was he doing here in a dungeon that wouldn’t offer him any benefit at all?
If he spent that time running higher-ranked dungeons instead, he’d make a fortune.
"So the rumors were true?"
After exchanging greetings with everyone, the guild leader quickly peeled away with Min Seolah to one side.
They looked close enough that the rumor really did seem to be true.
"Crazy bastards..."
There had to be at least a thirty-year age gap between them.
The guild leader and Min Seolah talked for a long while. Then the guild leader let out a hearty laugh, patted her shoulder, and turned away.
"Huh?"
My chance.
Min Seolah was alone.
The guild leader was still nearby, but he was already walking a little ahead of her.
And her bodyguards were still lagging behind.
"I have to get this shot."
I raised the camera in a hurry.
I lined up Min Seolah in the frame and, the instant she passed through the right angle, hit the shutter.
Click.
The sound of the shutter felt absurdly loud.
"No way she heard that, right?"
Hunter abilities went beyond anything normal people could imagine.
Even from this far away, there was a chance she’d heard the tiny sound of the shutter.
Whirr.
The film slid out.
But I didn’t even have time to check it; I had to hide it first.
"Seolah!!"
Because chaos had broken out over there.
—
"What are you?"
"I-I’m a porter."
"······"
I nearly pissed myself at the guild leader’s question.
It was a presence unlike anything I’d ever felt from anyone before.
My whole body trembled under the murderous aura, as if he might kill me on the spot.
But thanks to my answer—and the guild member who confirmed it—I got out alive.
There was no way they’d imagine that the Min Seolah who’d suddenly disappeared was being held by some powerless porter.
"W-what do we do?"
One of the porters like me asked, summoning the courage to speak.
The guild member, who would normally have barked at us to shut up and wait, waved him off with obvious annoyance.
"Get lost. Don’t bother me."
Never had I been so grateful to hear those words.
Of course we’d get lost.
We fled the scene like we were running for our lives.
"Han. You’re just going to leave?"
"It’s a little late to move now... I think I’ll just call it a day and rest."
"Yeah, same here. Then I’ll see you next time, Han."
"Sure. Take care."
After saying goodbye to the porter uncle I’d worked with a few times, I headed home.
As soon as I stepped inside, the tension drained out of me and my legs nearly gave way.
I sank down without meaning to, breathing hard several times before I could make myself move again.
"Th-this..."
Min Seolah, captured on film.
Target: Min Seolah. Release her?
"...Release."
The film in my hand vanished.
And in its place, a single person appeared in front of me.
"Huh? Where am I? What the—who are you? A porter?"
Min Seolah looked around in bewilderment, then recognized me.
Shit...
"S-shut up and kneel."
Thud.
The moment I finished speaking, Min Seolah clamped her mouth shut and dropped to her knees.
"This... really works."
Min Seolah and I just stared at each other, both of us stunned.
—
"So answer only when I ask you something. Got it? Or... maybe I’ll tell you to stab yourself in the throat."
She nodded hard.
That much wasn’t going to work.
They’d said she couldn’t be made to harm herself.
But... this bitch didn’t know that.
So I pushed my luck as far as I wanted.
"You remember the day the porters all died the other day?"
"Yes."
"There was another porter who survived besides me. You know him, right? The guy you saw and then got hit by."
"I know."
"Why did you kill him?"
"I didn’t."
"······ Really?"
"Yes."
"Then who did?"
"Yongho Oppa."
Was this what obedience meant?
She was answering everything so obediently.
But her expression was different—a face that said she didn’t want to say it, but she couldn’t stop herself, so she felt wronged.
In other words, she was being forced to answer right now.
"Why did that bastard kill him?"
"I don’t know. I only found out later that he’d been killed."
"······"
"I don’t mess with people."
"Hah. So you don’t lay a hand on them yourself, huh? But your mouth was the worst part, you little bitch!"
I lifted my hand at her nonsense, then let it fall again.
Beating her would only hurt my own hand anyway.
"Yongho... Yongho... That’s the guy who carries the greatsword around, right?"
"Yes."
"Then he’s next..."
Now that I’d found the culprit, I’d have to make him pay.
But that brought up a new problem.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with her?"
I had no idea what to use her for.
I’d brought her back assuming she was the culprit or tied to one, but she claimed she didn’t know anything.
And I couldn’t exactly let her out on her own.
The Nakwon Guild leader would be scouring the city looking for her.
"Haa... what exactly are you to the Nakwon Guild leader? Are you really his second wife?"
"He’s my dad."
"······ Huh?"
This was... fucked.
Completely fucked.
Not his lover, but his daughter?
"Should I kill her?"
At my words, she gave a snort of laughter.
It was like she was saying, You?
Yeah... it probably would be hard for me. A knife probably wouldn’t even go in.
Hunters weren’t hunters for nothing.
"I’m going crazy. Whatever! I need to shower."
I’d sweated like a pig today.
So I planned to wash off the sticky grime and think things over again after that.
"...What’s your problem?"
Why was she following me?
A thought flashed through my mind.
"Because I’m showering?"
"I don’t know! My body’s moving on its own..."
There had been a line in the camera’s explanation to me.
According to need... according to need...
So did that mean she was moving because I needed her to while I showered?
Needed for showering...
"No way..."
I stood in front of the bathroom door, lost in thought.
Then Min Seolah came up beside me and grabbed my clothes.
"What the hell is this? Hurry up and fix it!"
So she could obey, but she couldn’t fix her attitude?
No, that wasn’t the problem right now.
Strip her? Was she going to strip me?
Min Seolah started taking off my clothes.
"No!!"
I didn’t know what to do anymore.
I had no idea how I was supposed to handle this.
"I said stop!"
For now, I needed to see exactly what happened.
I was a beginner too, so I might as well gather some information first.