Accidental Heroics

"So you're telling me you met the Director? And this was a few days ago?"

"Yep. He was nicer than I expected, actually."

"What?!"

Kang Jiye's mouth flopped open like a fish gasping for air.

The Director was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠most terrifying hunter in all of South Korea.

He was infamous for conducting surprise inspections across the entire country, making sure the Ability User Management System never rotted from within or fell apart. If he found a problem, he would tear that branch apart until it was fixed — and in the process, agents would get punished one after another, or, in the worst cases, the branch chief would be replaced entirely.

Because of that, hunters nationwide lived in mortal dread of the Director showing up without warning.

As a rule, he respected other branches' jurisdictions. So if he stormed in without prior notice, it meant only one thing: he was furious.

Some branches even took pride in how long it had been since his last sudden appearance.

Incheon… and in secret?

The situation was enough to send chills down anyone's spine.

Kang Jiye still remembered the day. The man who had ruled Busan like a king, his arms and legs broken, being carried out on a stretcher.

Back then, the Busan branch chief had fractured a police officer's jaw — an officer who had simply tried to write him a traffic ticket. When word reached the Director, he flew into a rage and went to Busan in person. That same day, a branch got a new chief.

He was a man who absolutely must never show his face outside of a scheduled appointment.

"Whoa… that really happened?"

"It did."

"That's so cool. Why didn't they put this in the lore?"

"Huh? What lore?"

"Never mind. More importantly, the Director's hotter-tempered than I thought. Other regions have a fair amount of autonomy… and Busan especially — those people have serious pride."

With its developed maritime traffic, Busan had extensive overseas connections. Places like nearby Japan often communicated directly without going through central command, and powerful hunters were stationed there in force so they could reinforce the Japanese archipelago in an emergency.

That meant the region took enormous pride in itself.

Kang Jiye let out a disbelieving snort of laughter.

"A monster that crawled out of a Gate sure knows a lot of trivia. But it's fine. It didn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Apparently the branch chief who got demolished was the Director's relative."

"…!"

If it hadn't been family, he never would have charged in so recklessly. The Director was not in a position where he could afford to act on pure emotion just because he was angry.

Kang Jiye poked Pecia on the nose.

"You understand? When it comes to principles, that man has no family. If he shows up somewhere, it means a major incident has already happened. And that terrifying man went looking for you out of nowhere."

Pecia blinked.

"I see…"

In the game, he had just been a powerful hunter and a brilliant strategist. She had never known he had this side to him.

Maybe game lore and reality really were different after all.

But a moment later, Pecia just shrugged and answered,

"Well, it's fine anyway. He was a nice guy. He even bought me a latte. Showing up wherever trouble is… he kind of sounds like the protagonist of a detective manga. Hehe."

At the sight of her grinning so cheerfully, a mischievous smile tugged at Kang Jiye's lips as well.

She pinched Pecia's nose between two fingers and gave it a light shake.

"Don't you laugh, you thoughtless little brat. The man at the very top of every hunter in South Korea suddenly came looking for you, and you genuinely have nothing on your mind?"

"Hmm… I dunno."

Thinking itself was a bothersome activity, for starters.

What was the point of fretting after the fact about something that had already happened?

Kang Jiye had no idea.

That the whole reason Pecia had fed the Director all that information in the first place was to lighten her own future workload.

In the end, the only one clutching her head was Kang Jiye.

"Haa… for a monster, you really… try having a little self-awareness about your situation, would you?"

"Self-awareness!"

"Forget it."

The Director…

Honestly, if he had openly lost his temper, that would have been one thing — but the fact that he had simply talked and left was somehow even more terrifying.

Had he perhaps even suspected she was a monster?

The worry was enough to make her think so.

"Aww, don't worry so much. The Director's too busy to spare me a second thought. And he's not the type to mess with an Academy student anyway. As long as you keep quiet, Auntie, we're fine."

"…"

Pecia pressed a finger to her lips in a hush — and the gesture was strangely alluring.

That playfully confident smile, the way she pressed her arms to her sides and twisted just her torso forward… she looked less like a person and more like a fox.

Kang Jiye's brow twitched.

Come to think of it… when did this kid get so feminine?

Now that she looked, even her clothes had changed a lot.

Not long ago she had been too embarrassed to wear a skirt, insisting she would never put one on — and now she was wearing nothing but a single fluttering dress without the slightest hint of resistance.

She even hummed to herself while dressing up.

Compared to the Pecia of two months ago — quiet, stiff-spoken, and living exclusively in pants — this was a dramatically different person.

No way…

Kang Jiye's expression suddenly turned grave, and Pecia asked in confusion,

"Hm? What is it?"

"Pecia, you…"

"Go ahead."

Kang Jiye swallowed hard and asked carefully,

"Do you… have a boyfriend?"

"Huh?"

Pecia's eyes bulged like a frog's.

Did I hear that wrong?

"No, I just… your expressions, your body language. There's this loveliness practically dripping off your whole vibe."

The words I thought you'd already slept with someone rose all the way to her throat.

Kang Jiye herself had gone through something similar once. She had been a bear of a woman by nature — until she met "Yena's dad," and her speech and mannerisms had changed almost overnight.

Even now, remembering that first night they made love, a bashful smile still found its way to her lips.

To Kang Jiye's eyes, Pecia looked just like she had back then — hearts practically floating in both eyes.

"Uh…"

Pecia, on the other hand, was panicking for an entirely different reason.

Looking back, her own speech patterns and preferences had drifted wildly from her previous life.

The man who had lived on that earlier Earth had never smiled this easily, and he certainly never used cutesy, affectionate speech.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Because no one had pointed it out, she had never even noticed the change in herself.

What the hell is going on?

"Th-that's… well, you see, the thing is…"

She just stammered.

She wanted to deny that anything had changed, but she couldn't come up with a single decent excuse. A catastrophic identity crisis was beginning to set in.

"Oh my god, I knew it!"

But Kang Jiye took Pecia's hesitation as proof she had hit the bullseye — and got excited.

Pecia's brain had short-circuited so thoroughly that she made a completely vacant sound. She had been so busy seriously contemplating who she even was that she had lost the entire thread of the conversation.

"Eh…? Yes? What did you know?"

"Oh my, what a day! Who is it? Who?!"

"What are you…?"

"Let's see… definitely not the Director. Deputy Manager Cha? No, that guy's always working overtime."

Kang Jiye started rapidly deducing through every man who had crossed paths with Pecia.

That's right. A-class Hunter Kang Jiye.

Even she was, at the end of the day, an ajumma who loved a good piece of gossip.

Of course, it was precisely this human side of her that had led her to take Pecia in — but sometimes that same meddlesome streak could produce catastrophic disasters.

A man who should never have entered her thoughts flashed through Kang Jiye's mind.

"Ah!"

"…?"

"Don't tell me… Joker Yoo Hanbaek?"

"…!!!#!#!@@???"

"No wonder!! You two wear the exact same mask and you never said a word about it!"

Wrong.

Pecia had never even known that Yoo Hanbaek walked around in a rabbit mask.

She had never cared enough to notice.

"What a story, what a story. A little monster girl and a hunter!"

It took Pecia only a few seconds to process Kang Jiye's nonsense.

In truth, it was less analysis and more simple acceptance.

A smile of pure, enlightened resignation settled on Pecia's lips.

"Haha… me… and who, doing what, exactly?"

"Oh, come on — denying it now is too late. How far have you gone? For the record, I can overlook a kiss, but no sleeping together yet."

"Sleeping together…"

"No. Whether you're a monster or not. I'll allow it after you graduate from the Academy."

"…"

Their eyes locked in midair for several seconds — and then Pecia's lunch came rocketing back up in a glorious spray.

"BLAAARGH!"

Kang Jiye recoiled on pure instinct, dodging the vomit.

"Kyaaah—! Wh-what?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Ugh…! Ugh!"

Pecia bolted straight into the bathroom and clung to the toilet.

"BLAAARGH! UEEEGH!"

Even in her previous life, she had never once considered dating. She had been lukewarm about relationships with women to begin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with, and even less interested in physical intimacy.

But that didn't make her gay, either.

He had been a rigidly closed-minded man who found love between men repulsive. He had simply preferred being alone.

And now she was supposed to be with that greasy-looking idiot of all people…?

Unable to bear the roiling in her gut, she dry-heaved again and again.

A short while later, as her consciousness blurred under the shock, Pecia looked up at Kang Jiye, who was patting her on the back.

"Y-you… I'm going to get revenge even after I die."

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I just…!"

Thud!

.

.

.

"Mmm… right. What might be a joyful happiness for someone…"

"Pecia, are you awake? Are you okay?"

"…can be truly disgusting for someone else…"

Still grinding her teeth through her sleep-talk, Pecia promptly blacked out again.

Kang Jiye, who had been shaking her body, crossed her arms.

"Hoo… the shock really was that bad. My bad, seriously."

I'm terrified of how hard she's going to grill me when ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she wakes up.

"Hm?"

The Cult of the Abyss.

A man in a black hood, kneeling before the altar, stopped mid-prayer.

Two crimson eyes glowed red above a face buried in deep shadow.

"…"

"What is it?"

At his companion's question, the black-hooded man answered in a cracked voice.

"Something feels different… wait. The Prophecy of the Jewels has changed."

"…"

His companion stared at the jewels on the altar. Seven massive orbs, each the size of a human head, radiated their own intense colors.

"Does that mean it will affect the descent of the Royalty?"

The black-hooded man shook his head.

"…That is impossible."

"Then it doesn't matter. The God must simply be in a capricious mood. Continue as planned."