A Day Like Any Other
Life is sometimes hazy. There are days that feel particularly heavy, when nothing goes right no matter what you do, when everything seems to unravel and you find yourself wanting to curse a god whose existence you're not even sure of. "Ugh... haa, haa..." For Mina, today was exactly that kind of day.
She gasped for breath, using her sword like a cane to keep her collapsing body upright. How on earth had things come to this?
"Hahahahaha! Look at you. Acting all high and mighty, and yet here you are in this sorry state, Lee Mina."
"Khh... Gu Gang-woo."
At the very least, she knew one thing for certain: if not for the man slowly approaching her right now, things might have been different. Among the hunters who had awakened to magic, he wielded a simple yet overwhelmingly powerful fire-based ability. To be honest, it was a common type of magic, but thanks to his exceptional firepower even among those who shared the same affinity, he was considered one of the more outstanding A-grade hunters.
In the guild she belonged to, his abilities had earned him an executive position. But unlike her other colleagues, her relationship with him had always been incredibly uncomfortable.
"That's why I told you to date me. If you'd just known your place and considered it an honor, you should've accepted it right away."
Just as he said, she had rejected his confession. His reputation among others wasn't particularly bad. People often said he took good care of his teammates and was quite kind. But she alone could never see him that way. Even before his confession, the way he tried to appeal to her had always felt off.
If they ended up working together, he'd take over her tasks under the pretense of helping, handling everything however he pleased. He'd offer to let her leave work early. To anyone else, it might have seemed welcome, but to her, those actions only felt burdensome and sleazy. The way he arbitrarily did what she was perfectly capable of handling herself made her feel like he was looking down on her. And when he followed her all the way home, she'd been utterly horrified.
"Lee Mina! I love you! Go out with me!"
Just when things had finally quieted down, he apparently decided enough was enough and made his confession openly. Setting aside how cringeworthy and cliché his lines were, she was stunned that an executive would behave so outrageously in a guild that was essentially their workplace. She naturally rejected him, and he received a light disciplinary measure. But the aftermath was the real problem.
The fact that one of the guild's executives had risked punishment to confess to her spread like wildfire.
"Hey, look. There goes Lee Mina."
"No wonder she got promoted so fast despite doing similar work. I heard she spread her legs for an executive to get that position."
"Figures. Pretty girls really do have it easy."
They never stopped to consider that while they leisurely sipped coffee in cafés during office hours, she was out in the field drinking instant coffee on the job. Watching those employees who loved to gossip without basis, along with people who didn't even know her, jump to conclusions like that made her blood boil. How could she possibly think well of him after that?
Still, she gritted her teeth and threw herself into her work. At first her magic had been mediocre, but she kept growing it until she earned a respectable evaluation as an A-grade hunter who could hold her own in the field. Only then did the rumors begin to die down.
Eventually, she was granted permission to use her magic in combat and participate in raids. This was her first time heading into real battle. And of all people, the one in charge of her unit turned out to be Gu Gang-woo.
She felt uneasy, but she told herself he wouldn't use his personal feelings to interfere directly. After all, ever since returning from his disciplinary leave following her rejection, he'd supposedly kept to himself and avoided anything involving her.
At first, she thought there wouldn't be any problems because he commanded the hunters with surprising skill. The dungeon they'd entered through the gate was being cleared smoothly, right up to the final stretch. She'd begun to relax, thinking he was more rational than she'd given him credit for. That's when he approached her during their break.
Just as she was starting to feel wary of him again—
"I wanted to apologize for what happened before. Could you spare me a little time?"
He said those words and led her away. That's why she hadn't noticed anything suspicious about his behavior. If his usual reputation had been poor, maybe she would've been more cautious, but since everyone spoke so highly of him, she let her guard down even more. Just how naïve that thinking had been was now painfully clear from her current situation.
She never imagined he would suddenly attack her. Still, because she had some resistance to magic, she avoided a fatal wound. But he was someone who had become an A-grade hunter long before she had. His attack easily bypassed the resistance of a newly promoted A-grade like her and left her injured.
The fact that she hadn't suffered severe burns showed how precisely he was controlling his power, but it was obvious his intentions were impure. It sent chills down her spine.
"If you'd just quietly accepted my confession, you wouldn't be in this mess right now."
"Did you really think I'd accept a confession from someone like you?!"
She clenched her teeth and tried to headbutt the man approaching her, but he easily dodged Mina's attack. Then something in his hand caught her eye, and she froze in shock.
"That's—!"
In his hand was a recorder—one of the items the guild had issued her. Hunters were required to carry them when entering gates so they could serve as evidence in case anyone committed a crime inside. And now it was melting in his grasp.
"Now even if we get out of here, no one will ever know what happened inside this dungeon."
"Don't make me laugh! Even if you destroy mine, yours is still—!"
Yes, even as an executive, he wasn't exempt from carrying one. But he simply smirked and melted his own recorder as well.
"What—!"
"You think it's hard for an executive like me to get my hands on a few of these cheap recorders? The other one's probably running just fine back in my tent."
All the color drained from Mina's face.
"But there are witnesses...!"
"Kekeke. You think there are? No one knows I came all the way out here with you."
In other words, no matter what he did to her here, no one would ever find out. His hand reached toward her again. She bit down hard, steeling herself. She wasn't sure if anyone outside would believe her, but she decided that suffering such humiliation here would be worse than death. She gathered magic into her palm to create a small dagger, intending to stab herself in the throat—
"Ugh?!"
"No, no. That won't do. I was just starting to have some fun. It'd be inconvenient if you died now."
Before the dagger could reach her neck, he grabbed her wrist. Was she really going to be forced to endure this?
Clap. Clap. Clap.
At the sound of dry, deliberate applause coming from somewhere, Gu Gang-woo frowned. Mina rolled her eyes, searching for the source of the sound, when a voice rang out.
The voices of Gu Gang-woo and the stranger overlapped, echoing through the space as if in chorus.
"Seriously, it's rare to see such a textbook villain. Has no one ever asked if you were born into the wrong life?"
With those obvious taunts and the sound of steady footsteps, a stranger emerged from the shadows deeper inside the cave. Mina found herself muttering without thinking.
"A cowboy...?"
The thought came to her the moment she saw him. A wide-brimmed black leather hat sat atop his messy silver hair. He wore a beige trench coat that hung down to his thighs, a leather belt with a holster strapped across it, and leather boots. It wasn't exactly a traditional cowboy look, but the hat made him seem like one.
Upon seeing the man's appearance, Gu Gang-woo spoke with an incredulous tone.
"What about you? Are you supposed to be some sheriff straight out of a Western?"
"Idiot. Sheriffs don't wear trench coats."
The way he casually threw out the provocation left Mina speechless. As she stood there in a daze, wondering what on earth was happening, she heard Gu Gang-woo grinding his teeth.
"This bastard! I don't know who the hell you are or where you came from, but I'm going to kill you!"
At the same time, Mina flinched and pulled away from him, shouting at the stranger.
"Run! This man's magic is—!"
Red Flare
Before she could finish her warning, heat surged from Gu Gang-woo as a red aura flared up around him. It looked as if he had become a living flame. That was the magic he possessed as a hunter. He thrust both hands toward the stranger.
"Die!!!"
"Ugh?!"
Kwaaaaaaaa!
A blast of scorching heat erupted like a flamethrower, roaring violently. As the inferno threatened to engulf the man, Mina instinctively looked away.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
Just as expected, the man's scream rang out. Mina bit her lip. An A-grade was still an A-grade. With magic far superior to most hunters, this outcome was only natural.
"...Or so I thought?"
A voice came from within the exploding flames. If a rope hadn't suddenly whipped out, aiming straight for Gu Gang-woo—
"What the hell is this?"
But even in the midst of his own flames, Gu Gang-woo spotted the rope and immediately retreated. The rope fell near Mina instead.
"Don't act like such a third-rate villain at every turn. It's so obvious you've had an easy life."
"Who the hell are you? There wasn't anyone like you among the hunters who entered this gate."
It was a reasonable question for Gu Gang-woo to have. The floor and walls touched by the flames were charred black, some even melted, yet the stranger stood completely unharmed amid the ruined dungeon. Just like the rope he'd thrown.
"It's strange that you'd even remember. After all, I'm just a B-grade hunter."
"B-B-grade?!"
Mina was stunned. Gu Gang-woo, having heard it too, stared at him blankly before letting out a sigh.
"So what business does a pathetic B-grade hunter who can't even handle a single trash mob inside a gate have here? Don't tell me you've got some lame sense of justice and came to save the girl?"
Unfortunately, that was exactly it. B-grade was a rank that essentially didn't even qualify as a real hunter.
"Sadly, I don't have even a speck of that kind of thinking. I just happened to overhear while passing by."
Mina felt a pang of disappointment at his words, but she knew there was nothing to be done. The gap between A-grade and B-grade was vast, no matter how politely you described it as only one rank apart. The fact that he'd endured this long was already a miracle.
"Oh really? You think I'm just going to let you walk away?!"
"What are you doing?!"
Mina was horrified as Gu Gang-woo unleashed another wave of flames.
"That person has nothing to do with us!"
"Nothing to do with me? Of course he does. He interfered with my plans. If he goes around talking about it, it'll be a hassle."
"You really are...!"
"I don't know how he withstood my magic before, but this much should be enough to finish him off. Just wait quietly."
When he pulled the flames back again, the cave was revealed—completely blackened and melted, with nothing left intact.
"Finally got rid of that nuisance. Now then... what the—"
But when Gu Gang-woo turned back to Mina, she was nowhere to be seen. Wondering if she'd run away, he scanned the area and spotted her flying toward the spot where he'd just unleashed his flames.
"E-eek?!"
No, she wasn't flying. He could see the rope the stranger had thrown earlier now wrapped around her waist. Once again, the B-grade hunter hadn't died in his flames.
"I'll be taking the lady with me!"
As if to mock him, the man's voice rang out. Pulled by the rope, Mina disappeared deeper into the cave.