Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: A Saintess Who's Good at Magic? That's a First!
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Sihyun and Dayoung's deal was finalized.
Sihyun promised to meet with Dayoung every afternoon to clear D-Rank dungeons.
And so, on the day after their first meeting, sometime after lunch.
The two met in front of a D-Rank dungeon gate and reviewed their plan.
"I already have most of the miscellaneous materials, but I'm missing the key mana stones."
"So we're farming them ourselves."
"That's right! Honestly, I'd love to make the absolute best for you, but I know you're short on funds, Sihyun."
"...Yeah."
"This is a transaction, after all. Let's start with some D-Rank accessories!"
"Sure!"
Sihyun entered the gate energetically alongside Dayoung.
Dayoung kept emphasizing that it was a transaction, which put Sihyun's mind at ease.
Dayoung wasn't pushing to make something overly extravagant and saddle Sihyun with debt.
It was simply the best they could do with her current means.
After all, she was getting a B-Rank hunter to invest her precious time.
Sihyun felt she needed to put in an equal amount of effort in return for that consideration.
And so, the moment they entered the dungeon, Sihyun worked hard at what she considered to be a "C-Rank hunter" level.
She thought it would be about the same as when she'd partied with Hankyeol before.
Sihyun's power control was perfect.
There was just one problem.
From a spectator's perspective, she didn't look like a normal C-Rank at all.
'I get that she's not E-Rank level. But that looks way beyond even C-Rank...?'
Dayoung stared at Sihyun, her mouth agape.
She'd seen it once yesterday, but it was still unbelievable.
Every time Sihyun extended a foot, monsters crumbled in heaps.
Even monsters nearly twice her size were no exception.
One punch—and a hole was punched right through their bodies.
Was it an attack-focused style? No, not quite.
She fundamentally dodged every monster attack, not allowing a single effective hit to land.
It was as if she'd fought them countless times before.
She moved like she knew exactly how each monster would behave.
It didn't even look like she was using skills.
No matter how many times Dayoung watched, it was clearly pure physical prowess.
It was true that awakened hunters grew physically tougher thanks to mana.
But Dayoung had never seen anyone this brutally strong.
And Sihyun was already like this as a rookie.
What would happen if she got even more skilled, ranked up, and gained more skills? If her body got even tougher?
'She's a total monster,' Dayoung thought, her expression dazed.
Maybe she was witnessing the living history of someone who would soon become a legend.
At first, Dayoung joined the fight, but she soon fell back.
No matter how she thought about it, she just seemed to be getting in the way.
Dayoung was sensitive to gazes, so she could tell.
Every time she participated, Sihyun consistently glanced her way.
That meant Sihyun had that much leeway in the middle of a battle.
In that case, it was more efficient for Dayoung to focus on collecting mana stones and byproducts.
And so, after sweeping through about half the dungeon.
Dayoung approached Sihyun, figuring it was time to build some rapport.
She couldn't pass up the chance to witness a legend firsthand. It was time to get closer.
As a rare B-Rank production hunter, she figured she qualified for the friendship.
Having psyched herself up, Dayoung spoke.
"But Sihyun."
"Yeah?"
"Where are you from, originally?"
"I'm Korean."
"...An honorary citizen?"
"...Well."
Sihyun pondered for a moment.
How much should she explain? From where to where?
Honestly, though they'd only just met, she liked this woman.
Sihyun wasn't some ability user who could distinguish good from evil by instinct.
But simply from Dayoung's gaze and demeanor, she felt a sense of closeness.
She could say she was a foreigner, but she didn't want to lie.
A moderate amount of truth should be fine, right?
Having sorted her thoughts, Sihyun spoke.
"Do you know about Returners?"
"...Huh? Sihyun, are you a Returner?!"
"Yeah. The Bureau hasn't released the info yet."
"Whoa... There's only one in the US, and even that's not fully public!"
"That's what they said to me."
Sihyun nodded, and Dayoung's eyes sparkled as she leaned forward.
Her lips twitched nonstop.
There was so much she wanted to say, but she hesitated, wondering if she should.
Sihyun watched her quietly, then smiled faintly.
"Feel free to ask if you're curious."
"Th-then!"
With permission, Dayoung fidgeted with her fingers hurriedly.
One, two, three.
These were her top curiosities.
"Is that your original appearance now?"
"...It changed a bit when I went to the other world."
"Insane. I wanna go to another world too..."
Sihyun gave a wry smile at Dayoung's envious stare.
"How'd you get back to Korea?"
"I defeated the Demon King and returned."
"...? The scale just went nuts all of a sudden."
"The hero party was really strong. I just helped out."
The hero party!
It sounded straight out of a fantasy novel.
But Dayoung didn't pursue the question further.
Sihyun's expression had changed from before.
Half-closed eyes, slightly drooping eyelids. A coldly sunken face.
Sihyun seemed to have quite a story there.
Dayoung thought she should change the subject.
"A-anyway, that's why you're so strong! Then wouldn't it be better to join the Academy and rush to C-Rank? That's what I'd do."
"Hmm..."
Sihyun organized her thoughts briefly.
There were clear reasons and vague ones.
"The biggest reason is that I need some rest."
"Ah, rest. Got it."
Dayoung nodded.
If the story was true, Sihyun was a hero who'd defeated the Demon King and returned!
Of course she deserved time to enjoy herself.
"The most important thing... yeah. Honestly, I hadn't thought too deeply about it."
Sihyun smiled bitterly.
"My social skills are still awkward. I don't want to meet a lot of people right now."
"Ah..."
It was a sentence missing a lot of context.
Why her social skills were awkward, or why she didn't want to meet people.
But Dayoung vaguely understood.
The woman before her had returned from another world covered in unseen wounds.
She looked like an injured kitten.
Dayoung wanted to wrap her up and protect her.
"Boring story, right? Shall we wrap up the dungeon?"
"Nah, no way! I loved your story, Sihyun! Will you tell me more once we're closer?"
"...Hehe, sure."
Dayoung responded with exaggerated excitement, and Sihyun smiled faintly.
Once we're closer, huh.
It had a nice ring to it.
"Thanks to my Holy Knight skills, I have plenty of stamina left. How about we clear another one after this?"
"Oh, so that's why Hankyeol was so pumped. Let's go till we're exhausted!"
Dayoung eagerly accepted Sihyun's suggestion, which naturally framed Sihyun's natural abilities as "skills."
After that, the two quickly finished clearing the dungeon.
As she handled monsters with skilled, fluid movements, Sihyun thought to herself.
Unlike the first temporary party she'd joined after returning,
Dungeoning with just Dayoung was more fun than she'd expected.
There was no discomfort at all.
The people you're with really do matter.
"But why does a Holy Knight fight like that? Aren't knights supposed to use swords?"
"..."
...Now that she mentioned it, yeah?
Maybe Sihyun should get a sword.
Section Chief Jang Hansu of the Hunter Management Bureau was racking his brain again today.
He simply couldn't figure out the psychology of the hunter he was closely monitoring lately.
The Returner, Jeong Sihyun.
The first week, she seemed to emphasize 'I'm totally normal.'
Now it felt like she was insisting, 'It's not me, it's my teammates!'
Pairing up with another hunter, they were wiping out D-Rank dungeons in Seoul.
Dungeons decreasing was fine. It was a good thing, even.
The problem was that her partner was a production hunter.
He had no idea how they connected, but anyone could see the partner was just support.
Obviously, Sihyun was the one sweeping the dungeons.
'She refused a mentor...'
At this point, maybe she just hated the government?
It was time for new countermeasures.
He wanted to bend the rules and raise her rank.
But she showed no interest in ranking up.
What to do?
How did Hunter Moon Dayoung connect with Sihyun?
"Ah!"
A small realization flashed through Section Chief Jang Hansu's mind.
Did he need to puzzle it out alone?
He knew Dayoung, so why not ask her directly for help?
The Section Chief immediately called Wings Guild's Moon Dayoung.
- Wings Guild here.
"Long time no see, Dayoung. This is Section Chief Jang Hansu from Management."
- Yeah, it's been a while. What's up?
"Nothing much, but I hear you've been dungeoning with Sihyun lately."
- Yeah, so?
"Could you tell me how you two got close...?"
- No thanks.
"...Pardon?"
He was rejected outright before he could even finish.
The Section Chief's brow twitched faintly.
"C-could you at least give a reason?"
- Don't bully my kid.
"..."
- Is that all?
"...Yes."
- Hanging up then.
Beep—beep—beep—
The call ended in an instant, leaving him no chance to respond.
Don't bully my kid?
He simply planned to treat her according to her abilities.
And to respect her wishes as much as possible.
How did it come to this...?
Feeling wronged, the Section Chief rubbed his forehead.
It was a day that called for a drink.
"Sihyun, wanna grab a drink tonight?"
"Huh? A drink?"
After finishing the last dungeon of the day and stepping outside,
as she looked up at the darkening sky, Dayoung suddenly made the offer.
A drink, out of nowhere?
"After exercising for a few days straight, I'm craving one. Keep me company! We've got all the materials now, right?"
"Uh, yeah..."
They had gathered everything they needed by the end of yesterday.
Today was partly to earn some money while helping Dayoung out.
"Oh no, was our friendship fake? Yeah, we're just transaction partners..."
"..."
"I know a super tasty place for snacks, and it's quiet with few people..."
"...Not too far away?"
"Hehe, not really! Worst case, I'll cover your cab fare home."
It was... a bit tempting.
It was quite the alluring proposal.
Come to think of it, Sihyun hadn't drunk in over five years.
Her body now could handle it, and she'd never tried it anyway.
The church doctrine didn't matter; it was all because of the hero.
She might get caught off guard if she got wasted.
So she just didn't drink back then.
Now she was free. Why not?
She was mentally mature, and physically an adult too.
"...Let's go."
"Decided! No backing out!"
Dayoung grinned wide and patted Sihyun's shoulder.
Honestly, it hadn't even been a week since they met.
Birds of a feather—Dayoung seemed as kind-hearted as Hankyeol.
Were all the Wings Guild people like this?
She'd only met two so far, but the guild itself was starting to grow on her.
She had no plans to join, but she wanted to keep in touch.
"Let's go!"
Dayoung shouted excitedly and took the lead.
What an energetic person.
Sihyun followed with a wry smile.
They arrived at a quiet street bar.
While Dayoung picked out the food and snacks,
a crucial fact dawned on Sihyun.
I've got no sense of direction now.
...What if I'm weak to alcohol, too?
She used to handle two bottles of soju with no problem.
Now, she was a little anxious...