Maybe It Isn't Only That
"You guys got business with me?"
September 11, 2031. Day two of the Hunter Auction.
Ayeon had finished earning her chips without a hitch, and she stopped in an alley where almost no one passed. Three foreign hunters stood in front of her, Verde among them. She could guess well enough what they wanted.
"It's you, right?"
"Huh? What are you even talking about?"
"I'm talking about you stealing my items."
Verde blocked her path with the face of a man who had already come knowing everything. Ayeon didn't look the least bit cowed. She tipped her chin up and let out a bright little laugh, right in his face.
"Knew it. See? I told you to watch your pockets."
"Quit playing dumb and hand them over."
"What are you talking about? You got proof I stole them?"
He didn't. Beneath the baseball cap, vivid pink eyes curved with perfect innocence.
"There's no one else I can think of."
"Look, mister. That's a hunch, not evidence, y'knooow?"
She sighed, shook her head, and crossed both hands into an X.
"Anyway, wasn't me. Absolutely not me."
She meant to walk right past them.
Grrrr—woof! Woof!
A large dog burst into being and bared its teeth, ready to tear Ayeon apart at any second. Two, three, four... Dogs that hadn't been there a moment ago began to multiply.
So there's a Tamer.
Hunters with a summoning trait—and among them, those who handled animals—were commonly called Tamers. If the fight dragged on, it would turn into a nuisance. Summoner-types could call things forth for as long as their mana lasted: at least ten, depending on rank, or dozens, or at the upper end even thousands. For Ayeon, built for one-on-one combat, they were practically a natural enemy.
And there were three of them. Verde was an A-rank hunter, and as far as Ayeon knew his unique ability was plant manipulation. The last hunter's rank and unique ability were both unknown. She couldn't even begin to guess the matchup.
Which left exactly one thing to do. Ayeon spun lightly on her heel.
"Those your dogs, mister? Cute and all, but I'm team cat."
And then—
"...?!"
The girl vanished like smoke.
Startled, Verde raked the alley with his eyes. She was nowhere. Above them? No. She had, quite literally, disappeared, as if she had teleported. He couldn't tell whether she had run or merely hidden herself. Either way, it didn't matter.
"Hunt."
One of the hunters muttered it like an incantation. As if that word were a trigger, the big dogs scattered in every direction at once.
"You know Kang Ayeon in Class 2? I heard she's on basic livelihood assistance."
"Her parents died in a Gate accident when she was little, and she grew up in an orphanage until last year, right?"
"For real? A kid in Class 2 said she smells weird. I sit behind her, and every time she moves there's this sour stink, heh. And she wears the same socks every single day?"
"Bet the water doesn't even run at her place."
Ugh. Gross.
"Did you hear? During first-period P.E., Class 2 got cleaned out."
"Cleaned out?"
"They came back after first period and everybody's wallets were gone. Every unlocked locker was hanging open, too."
"Whoa. No way."
"But you know the part that's seriously creepy? Everyone's freaking out about the missing wallets, and Kang Ayeon was standing at the back door of the classroom, watching. And smiling."
"That's insane. What the hell. Terrifying."
"Doesn't she say her stomach hurts and go to the nurse every single P.E. period? The timing's perfect, isn't it?"
—Had to be Kang Ayeon.
"Ayeon. Will you tell only Teacher the truth? Why did you do it? If there was something you needed..."
It wasn't me.
"Yes, Teacher Hwang. No matter how many times I ask, she insists to the end that she didn't. It's just... Ayeon doesn't have her parents. If she's already like this, I don't know what will become of her. It's giving me a headache too. Yes, I'll talk to her properly for now. Yes, yes. I understand."
...I said it wasn't me.
"Ayeon, is it true you were judged S-rank?"
"You free after school today? We're going to a cafe with the guys from the school next door. We'll take you too."
"Ayeon, wanna get matching friendship bracelets?"
"Here. Summary notes. I'm only showing you."
We're best friends, aren't we.
"Thanks to Ayeon, our school has been all over TV. Teacher is truly, truly proud of our Ayeon."
"So, Ayeon. If you don't mind, could you help a little with the school promo video? It would be wonderful if you were in it."
You're the face of our school, aren't you.
Ayeon.
Our Ayeon.
Ayeon.
Kang Ayeon—.
......
......
Pat. Pat...
Rain that had been falling a drop or two at a time grew fierce. Thick drops began to beat without mercy against the skin of her face.
"...Cough."
She hacked it out. A metallic taste spread over her whole tongue. When she blinked, slow, the pressure bearing down on her cheek grew heavier still.
"That's enough. Hand over the items."
He ground his foot down.
The sole against her cheek was wet. Or maybe it was the wet asphalt she was feeling. Flat on the ground, Ayeon slowly lifted her gaze and stared up at Verde, who was looking down at her.
"...Don't wanna."
Thud!
Verde kicked her head the way someone kicks a ball. Hard enough to rattle her whole brain. The world swung wildly around her.
And Ayeon couldn't do a thing.
I got... careless...
She had never imagined the last hunter would be a Blocker.
She had heard of Blockers, but this was the first time she had seen one with her own eyes. They nullified a portion of an enemy's skills. People usually called it cancellation, but it was closer to a seal. She didn't know the principle. Every Blocker fulfilled the "condition" differently. But if she had to guess, this hunter's condition was probably...
The arrow.
There was a good chance some kind of poison that sealed skills had been smeared on the arrowhead he fired. She had been too focused on the summon-dogs lunging at her, and she had failed, just barely, to dodge. From the moment that arrow grazed her, Ayeon's skills were sealed.
Noticing now doesn't help.
In a fight between hunters, what decided victory was rank, matchup, and information. To seize a win, you had to know the enemy and hide yourself. That was the most basic of basics, and it held just as true against monsters. But Ayeon had been careless. She had trusted her rank far too much. She didn't want to admit it, but that was exactly why she had lost.
With eyes that wouldn't focus, she stared straight ahead.
Nimble Movement
Failed.
Trait and skill use is restricted.
Time remaining: 5:49
Five minutes of the effect still remained, but if she knocked the Blocker out, the status ailment would probably break on the spot. Which meant there might still be a chance. Right now, though, the Blocker had two companions with him. Count the summon-dogs, and Ayeon was facing ten enemies or more. So long as their eyes were wide open, getting close enough to stun him would not be easy. With her abilities sealed, even less so.
"I remember now."
The Blocker muttered it.
"I thought I'd seen her somewhere. That kid was on the news a few years back."
"The news?"
"Yeah."
He pulled out his phone and searched for something, then shoved the screen at his companions.
"Look. Korea's fourth S-rank."
"Huh. Her face looks a little different from now, though...?"
"No. Look closer. I'm telling you, it's her."
They compared the young girl's face on the screen with Ayeon's.
One of Ayeon's traits, Confusion, could muddle an opponent not only in combat but in ordinary life, whenever she wanted. Keeping someone from properly recognizing her face, for instance. Even that seemed to have come undone now that her skills were sealed. Verde, who had been staring straight at her face, strode closer.
"This is you?"
"......"
Ayeon didn't answer. He gazed for a while at her face, caked in mud, and then laughed out loud, as if delighted.
"Haha. Rolling around in the mud, and that habit of putting your hands in other people's pockets."
His voice dropped, settling at her ear like a whisper.
"Korea's S-ranks really are a masterpiece. I can see exactly why Maestro abandoned Korea and went to America."
Thud!
The words were barely finished before the kicking started again. Ayeon endured it without so much as a small groan.
Tch. Boring. Through the loud rain she heard a tongue click. With no resistance, the fun seemed to have cooled. Then the kicks stopped short.
"...And with even White Night, the only one they still have, nothing but a living corpse, their next generation of young S-ranks is only at this level. Koreans really are pitiful."
Click. Click.
A camera shutter followed. Ayeon, who hadn't moved, rolled only her eyes toward them.
They were taking pictures. Saving, in an album, the sight of a Korean S-rank hunter beaten to a bloody pulp and rolling in the mud.
"Wonder how many likes this photo will get."
Click, click, click...
The shutter kept going. Ayeon stared at them through unfocused eyes, and beyond them she found an unfamiliar figure. A passerby had stopped and was looking this way.
Verde whipped around as if to glare.
"What."
The passerby flinched, shoulders jumping, then hid their face inside an umbrella as if they had seen nothing at all. Footsteps hurried off. The red umbrella shrank to a dot and vanished without a single glance back.
"......"
On the filthy mud, Ayeon laughed without a sound.
She hadn't expected anything. Not at all. Most people would not step forward for a stranger whose name they didn't know, not without something to gain, not without a purpose. That was perfectly normal.
Because she had been the same.
"────."
She could no longer hear whatever the rotten foreign hunters were spouting. Stomach, back, shoulder. The kicks kept coming. Ayeon slowly closed her eyes.
"—rde, that person over there—"
"—then? —let's just go."
All at once, the kicks that had been pounding her body without pause came to a stop. What was going on? She lifted her closed eyelids, and—
Click—
The toe of a black dress shoe had come to a halt in front of her eyes. Not a speck of mud clung to it, even in weather like this. As if drawn, Ayeon raised her gaze.
Rain pouring down. A pitch-black night sky. And beneath a parasol blacker still—
"......"
Eyes blacker than any of it.
Ayeon's lips fumbled open.
"...Un... nie?"
Was it only her imagination? For an instant, a faint golden light seemed to cross those black irises.
"Hey, you. I believe I told you not to interfere. Can't you hear me?"
Shaaaa—
The rain came down harder.
To Ayeon, the world had always been like that. Cold, selfish, practical.
"I came to return the pamphlet."
But maybe...
"I memorized all of it, too."
It didn't have to be only that.