Why Does the World Keep Paying Attention!
"An interview? No, thank you."
At that firm refusal, the man in his early thirties blinked.
He asked carefully,
"Did I make an improper request? I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
It wasn't about impropriety. I was already sick of talking to people — an interview was the last thing I needed.
Strangers had been approaching me more and more lately. Getting even more famous on top of that was simply not an option.
"You said you were Assistant Manager Cha?"
"Yes. Assistant Manager Cha Seo-jun of the Search Division."
"I understand why your little sister wants to meet me. And it isn't an improper request, either. But there's one problem."
"A problem…?"
I nodded.
"Interviews are for special people, right? Someone who risked their life to save others, or caused a massive incident, or passed the bar exam in a single day."
"Passing the bar in a single day is…"
"It's possible. If someone's ridiculously smart."
Assistant Manager Cha Seo-jun looked like he had a lot he wanted to say, but he settled for a short reply.
"…Yes."
Of course. There couldn't possibly be a flaw in my perfect examples.
I continued with full confidence.
"But I don't think what I did was special at all. Donating isn't even that big a deal."
Assistant Manager Cha answered in a troubled tone.
"But that student was desperately looking for Purple Bunny. She said she at least wanted to see your face and say thank you."
Han Hye-yeon…!
So that was the situation.
Han Hye-yeon must have written up her story and tip-lined it to the reporters, hoping to find me. But given the nature of the Safety Guardian system, tracking me down had clear limits — and the reporters weren't much better off. Even a dogged investigation would likely end with every record wiped under external pressure, or simply fail outright. Most of them would have ignored Han Hye-yeon's request.
But after I'd cleared gates one after another lately, the situation seemed to have shifted. A mysterious mage appears, and that same mage helped a poor girl raising her siblings alone — a heart-wrenching story. Suddenly it was worth the risk to dig into.
I clicked my tongue.
"Ugh, seriously. She's got time to tip off places like that? Must be living pretty comfortably."
Assistant Manager Cha replied with a warm smile.
"Yes. She even sent me a photo. Asked me to show it to you if I found you. She wanted you to know she'd found a good place and was doing well."
"A photo?"
"Yes."
"Let me see."
"One moment. I'll ask my sister to send it."
A short while later, Assistant Manager Cha held out his smartphone. A group photo of Han Hye-yeon with her younger siblings filled the screen. The place looked a mess for somewhere they'd just moved into, but seeing them all smiling, they seemed happy enough in their own way.
Hmm.
"I've seen it. Good work."
"Yes… wait, what?"
"I'm glad they're living happily. Honestly, twenty million won wasn't even that much money, but I feel rewarded."
"Um, about the interview…?"
"Why would I do an interview? If anyone should, tell Hye-yeon to do it."
"Why Hye-yeon?"
"I just got lucky with some power I was born with and did one good deed. That girl, on the other hand, has been taking care of her sniffling little siblings all the way to this point. In terms of being special, doesn't she rank higher than me? She's more than interview-worthy."
"…!"
"I have no reason to accept anyone's thanks. That measly twenty million won. It was never my money to begin with. (Really.)"
Assistant Manager Cha's mouth fell open in a blank stare. Whatever had shocked him, I no longer had any reason to keep this conversation going.
But just as I bowed and turned to leave, Kang Jiye caught me with a wry smile.
"Assistant Manager Cha, give us a moment. The two of us need to talk."
"Wh-wh-what…! Why are you doing this!"
Assistant Manager Cha nodded.
"Yes, yes. Please talk some sense into her, Deputy Director."
"I'll try."
"You're really not going to meet her?"
Kang Jiye asked, arms crossed.
I whined with pure irritation.
"Auntie, what is it now?"
"No, no, I'm not forcing you. I just feel bad about it personally."
"About what?"
"I got an inquiry request too. Asking me to put in a word with you."
"Huh."
Apparently an IOU had arrived for Kang Jiye — a letter saying she couldn't just take twenty million won for free, and that she'd work as a hunter and pay it back little by little. But knowing the awkward origin of that money, Kang Jiye had simply hoped Han Hye-yeon would put it to good use. That was why she hadn't told me.
"Well, I wouldn't even mind giving you the money myself instead."
"Why would you give me money, Auntie?"
"Figure of speech. Anyway, it was kind of something. Isn't her way of thinking just so endearing? Honestly, most kids her age wouldn't even talk about paying it back."
That was exactly what I'd hoped for.
So why was she thrashing around trying to pay it back!
I clutched my head.
"She's a real leech, I swear… ugh."
"It's pretty ridiculous to do someone a favor that big and then expect them to stay quiet about it."
"Did Assistant Manager Cha bring it up with you too?"
"Yeah."
"Sigh."
"Don't get mad that I didn't tell you earlier. That was me being considerate. I know your personality."
"I know, I know."
If anything, I was grateful.
All I'd needed was for that girl to be doing well. Everything else was none of my business. Having to go out of my way to meet her, laugh and smile, and have a conversation like —
Thank you so much,
Oh, it was nothing,
Unnie, you're so pretty,
Let's meet again sometime —
Ugh. Just thinking about it was horrifying. If she'd truly cared about me, she should've taken the money and wiped her mouth clean.
But it was hard to complain, because Han Hye-yeon had been trying to help me in her own way. Like any profession, Safety Guardians had a reputation system. Drop below a certain score and you couldn't enter a gate no matter how many Hunter Administration certifications you held. Climb high enough, and companion requests would pour in from every direction.
Kang Jiye hammered those points home as she pressed me.
"You helped her because you found her endearing in the first place, didn't you? Hunters who chase after party members who ran off on their own aren't exactly common."
"…"
"Is it that much of a hassle?"
"…Well."
I bit my lip and looked at Kang Jiye.
"I don't have a reason to meet her."
"So why not? It'd help you too."
"I've already confirmed how Hye-yeon is doing. My curiosity is satisfied. Wanting to meet is entirely her business. The rest has nothing to do with me."
Kang Jiye started laughing like she'd lost her mind. She looked at me as if she were thoroughly done.
"Seriously, where does this alien way of thinking even come from?"
I bristled a little.
"What's alien about it?"
Where else would you find someone as logical and normal as me?
Kang Jiye casually started kneading my cheeks.
"I can't tell with you, you little brat. Whether you're selfish or selfless. Whether you don't care, or care too much."
"That's because your own standards aren't clea— mmph."
Kang Jiye stretched both my cheeks wide and asked,
"So what's it going to be? Meet her, or not?"
"…Whyy d'you e'en caaare?"
"For your sake."
"Huh?"
"You need to talk with warmer people more often. You might not realize it yet, but they can fill in the parts the current 'Pecia' is missing."
I let out a sigh.
"I'll shink aboud id. Afder dish ish o'er."
She was probably going to keep bugging me about it anyway. Meeting her once wouldn't be so bad.
"Thank you! Thank you! Deputy Director Kang, Purple Bunny!"
Assistant Manager Cha Seo-jun bowed with deep satisfaction. I was about to point out that I hadn't actually promised anything — when he suddenly said something so strange that the words stuck in my throat.
"Ah. And separate from all this, you've been a great help."
"Sorry? With what?"
"You said it yourself, Purple Bunny. That you just got lucky being born with a bit of power. Somehow it became a chance for me to look back on myself as a hunter. I even did some reflecting."
…?
"Um, I have no idea what you're talking about. I said something completely ordinary. What's there to look back on and reflect about?"
"Hahaha! Of course! To you, Purple Bunny, it would be ordinary!"
…
I just nodded along and accepted it. He seemed like the type who really loved self-reflection. The kind of person who could look at a rock on the roadside and go, Ah, I should live with that kind of composure, and have an epiphany.
Afterward, Kang Jiye told me that Assistant Manager Cha was a man overflowing with a sense of justice and chivalry. The reason he'd so insistently asked me for an interview was because Han Hye-yeon's story had moved him so much that he'd rolled up his sleeves and gotten involved.
"There really are a lot of unusual people in the world."
"…"
Kang Jiye looked at me steadily.
"What?"
"Nothing. People usually say that unusual people never realize they're unusual."
I agreed with fierce enthusiasm.
"Exactly! Sometimes it's so frustrating."
"Pffft. Here, take this."
I accepted the chocolate latte Kang Jiye held out. Kim Han-su had bought coffee for the entire staff in honor of Purple Bunny's visit.
I wandered around the Hunter Administration building, sucking the cold latte through a straw. There was a garden on the rooftop and even an aquarium inside, so it wasn't particularly boring.
Then, in a corridor, I came face-to-face with a blond man crouched down. Unlike everyone else, he was holding a three-hundred-won instant coffee. His shoulders sagged in a way that looked so pitiful I found myself speaking without thinking.
"They're handing out coffee over that way."
The man answered gloomily.
"I know."
"Do you like instant?"
"No — the Director miscounted the order quantity… so he bought me this instead."
Did that even make sense?
I looked over toward Kim Han-su. He was chatting cheerfully with the staff, sipping an americano.
…
Was the feeling that this man had somehow gotten on someone's bad side and been left alone with instant coffee just my imagination? Given the pettiness of someone who'd once spilled tea on Kang Jiye, it was entirely possible.
"Don't worry about it. I like instant coffee too. I should be grateful he bought me anything."
Watching the man force a laugh made something in me twist unpleasantly. No — if an employee made a mistake, you scold them for the mistake. You don't pull this kind of nonsense.
Well, unless he'd slapped someone across the face or something.
I sighed inwardly, slipped off somewhere secluded, and pulled an iced coffee out of a gate. The cup holder had the rainbow mark that was the symbol of Pecia Amusement Park, but nobody was going to notice right now, so it was fine.
"Here. Drink this."
"Pardon?"
"You look pathetic sitting there alone. Drink this and cheer up."
The man took the coffee in a daze, blinked, and asked,
"Do you know who I am?"
"Do I need to?"
"…Well."
"I don't care who you are. Anyway, you took this, so you're feeling better now, right?"
The man looked down at the coffee cup.
"…Yes."
"Good."
I nodded with satisfaction. Setting right someone who'd been treated unfairly left me feeling refreshed. The world needed to run on principles and rules. Handling things with raw emotion like that just wouldn't do.
Seduction
"........?"