Follow Me
Follow me, S-rank hunter Dragon Lord Baek Gung-hyuk. The strongest of the Baek family, one of the top five hunters in all of Korea in terms of pure skill. The de facto head of the Baek family, whose name echoed across the world.
[Grr... grrr... I... I am... I am Baek Gung-hyuk, lord of the Baek familyyy!]
His limbs shattered, his back crushed under Kang Jinseong's ass, he thrashed around pathetically.
"...Uh, huh?"
On the laptop screen, Baek Gung-hyuk couldn't mount any meaningful resistance—he just wriggled like a bug. Staring at that hideous sight, Baek Ji-an doubted her own eyes.
The enemy who'd killed her parents, who'd held Jinseong hostage to try to kill her too—an endless nightmare. From the moment she was born, every day, every moment, the giant that had choked her throat. That was what Baek Gung-hyuk meant to Baek Ji-an.
Her lifelong goal had been to protect Jinseong from that monstrous beast. Baek Gung-hyuk's presence in her life had weighed that heavily.
And yet that giant, that nightmare, her lifelong nemesis and her parents' killer...
[W-wait! Stop for a second! Please, stoppp!]
...was screaming in agony, crushed under Jinseong's ass, begging him to quit.
[Hahaha, fuck that.]
Jinseong on the screen brushed off the pleas with one ear and let them out the other. Right then, from the palm pressing down on Baek Gung-hyuk's back, an invisible force erupted.
Crunch!
Snap!
Space twisted, and Baek Gung-hyuk's mana core in his heart screamed before collapsing under the strain, unable to hold.
[Grggllk.]
Baek Gung-hyuk foamed at the mouth from the shock of his mana core shattering completely and passed out.
With that, the video ended.
"Ah..."
For over twenty years, the lifelong enemy who'd collared her neck and toyed with her at will—the one who'd killed her parents and held her precious friend hostage—had become mana-crippled.
And by no one else but D-rank hunter Kang Jinseong.
By the hands of her childhood friend, the one she'd vowed her life to protect.
The collar that had choked her all her life, the one that had seemed impossible to ever break, snapped in an instant.
She'd hoped for a day like this, but she'd never even imagined it would actually come.
Her mind blanked white as she sat there dazed, and Jinseong asked her,
"I shoved that Baek Gung-hyuk bastard into the bathroom toilet roughly. Wanna go check him out?"
Go see Baek Gung-hyuk?
His very existence was still a nightmare for Baek Ji-an, and facing him terrified her. She felt like he'd take something precious from her again.
"Yeah... I wanna see."
But the words slipped from her lips without a hint of hesitation.
Because if she was with Jinseong, it'd be okay.
Meeting Baek Gung-hyuk still filled her with revulsion and fear, but with Jinseong by her side, courage welled up.
"Alright, then get up. Let's go."
"Mm."
Baek Ji-an rose from her seat, following Jinseong. She hated leaving the warm, cozy embrace of his arms, but with him there, it was fine.
She headed to the bathroom after him.
"Ha."
The moment she opened the bathroom door and peered inside, Baek Ji-an was utterly dumbfounded.
"Grggllk..."
"Kuhhh."
"Uh, uhh..."
"Graaak..."
Dragon Lord Baek Gung-hyuk and his Black Sword Squad—limbs mangled—were writhing on the bathroom floor.
Baek Gung-hyuk himself, along with the Black Sword Squad he'd personally trained and raised, discarded on the floor like a pile of trash bags, reduced to moaning.
"Ha, haha..."
It was such an absurd situation that a hollow laugh escaped her naturally.
"Wanna beat on 'em a bit?"
As she laughed blankly, Jinseong made the suggestion in his usual casual tone.
'Wanna beat on 'em a bit?'
Beat up that monster Baek Gung-hyuk like a punching bag?
Treat her lifelong enemy like some sandbag?
His nonchalant attitude toward spouting something so outrageous made Baek Ji-an's legs give out.
Plop.
"Huuu..."
Sinking to the floor, she let out a deep breath. All strength drained from her body.
The lifetime of tension she'd built up from living in fear melted away in an instant.
Only after seeing Baek Gung-hyuk half-dead with her own eyes did Baek Ji-an truly realize it.
The giant that had choked her neck, the nightmare, was completely gone.
She was truly free.
But strangely, she couldn't joyfully embrace the freedom that had come.
"Haa, haa... huu..."
Her breath came in gasps, her body trembling.
'What do I do now? What should I do? Until now, I just lived thinking I had to protect Jinseong from Baek Gung-hyuk... but now my goal's gone.'
Baek Ji-an had lived her whole life oppressed by Baek Gung-hyuk, enduring for fifteen years on the single-minded resolve to protect Jinseong from him.
But suddenly, her lifelong nemesis was crippled.
And on top of that, Jinseong had told her she didn't need to protect him anymore.
No one to protect. No enemy to fight.
For Baek Ji-an, who'd endured her whole life in the prison called Baek Gung-hyuk of the Baek family, the sudden weight of freedom was too much to bear.
'I don't have to protect Jinseong anymore? Won't Jinseong be in danger? Then... what meaning does my life have from now on...?'
A sense of loss, as if she'd lost the meaning of life, and a horrific emptiness overwhelmed her.
Her mind filled with anxiety about the future.
Her head drooped naturally, and she curled up precariously.
"Haa, haa, haa, ugh..."
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Her vision blurred, her breathing grew rougher, and violent heartbeats shook her entire body.
"Ugh, urk..."
As unbearable terror made her dry-heave,
Grab.
A warm hand caught her chin, lifting her face upward.
Kang Jinseong's face entered her field of view.
"Baek Ji-an, look at me."
With those words, her blurred vision cleared.
"Breathe slowly. Calm down."
Her uncontrolled breathing and heartbeat quickly stabilized.
Just from facing Jinseong and hearing his voice, Baek Ji-an— who'd been so anxious—felt fine in an instant.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah. I'm okay..."
After calming her with just a few words, Jinseong spoke.
"Living as a weak half-assed loser all this time, I've had a ton of shit that pissed me off. And the thing that pissed me off the most was today. Because I was weak, you were ready to throw your life away."
He lightly cupped her chin with his hand, making her look up at him as he began his story.
"So I'm gonna get strong enough that you never have to protect me again. Strong enough that you never have to risk your life for me."
Those were his goals.
His purpose straight from his mouth.
"Of course, I know even if I get strong, I can't do it alone. So I'll build a guild, gather people, climb higher than anyone else, and make sure nothing hurts my people."
And his goals.
A rough sketch, barely more than a frame, with no specific details.
But the sincerity packed into it shone so clearly that Baek Ji-an looked up at him, entranced.
"But right now, I'm still way too lacking. In strength, in fame, everything. So I have a proposal for you. Unlike before, where I just supported you from behind, this is me talking to you as an equal for the first time."
Jinseong looked down at her like that, meeting her gaze as he said,
"Baek Ji-an, from now on, I'll protect you. So help me out. Lend me your strength until I have the power to protect you. Follow me."
"...Hngh!"
At Jinseong's words of protection, Baek Ji-an's heart pounded hard.
Someone protecting her—it was so foreign to Baek Ji-an.
She'd lost her parents at ten and had never been protected by anyone.
She'd only lived to protect Jinseong from Baek Gung-hyuk, ignoring her own needs.
So hearing "I'll protect you" now made her heart race helplessly.
And the one saying it was Jinseong, no less!
This moment felt like a dream to Baek Ji-an.
A month—no, a day ago—if Jinseong had said this, she'd have laughed it off: "Pfft! What kinda joke is that?"
Because to her, Jinseong had just been someone to protect.
Too weak and precious, the meaning of her life that she had to safeguard with everything she had.
But now the situation was completely different.
The current Jinseong had already protected her perfectly.
Before she could even dismiss it as a joke, she'd already received his protection.
Now she couldn't brush off his words as a joke.
Taking them as a serious declaration, his promise to protect her hit her right in the chest.
'J-Jinseong... why are you suddenly so cool?!'
Baek Ji-an started seeing Jinseong as insanely cool.
The unfamiliar sensation of being protected by someone else.
'W-what do I do?! What should I do? Jinseong's gonna protect me! Kyaaah! When did Jinseong get so reliable? He was always cool, but the "must protect the weak one" vibe was way stronger. Now I can't see even a trace of that!'
That strange, new feeling ignited a fire in the heart of Baek Ji-an, who already adored her childhood friend.
'Ah, ahh. My face is hot. My cheeks must be bright red. I always wanted to look cool and composed in front of Jinseong. Be the reliable girl he could lean on. But I can't control my expression. My lips are twitching up on their own...!'
The heat from her heart spread through her body, flushing her pale cheeks bright red.
The cool, strong, dominant childhood friend concept she'd maintained since awakening and gaining power started to waver dangerously.
'G-get it together, Baek Ji-an! You still have to do what you gotta do! You're supposed to be the childhood friend Jinseong can rely on! How can you shake like this over one "I'll protect you"?! Remember the last five years of effort!'
But the five years of effort to maintain that image pulled her back firmly.
'O-okay. Answer cool and suave. Nice and casual, like always...'
Recalling those years, she finally(?) steadied herself and opened her mouth to give a cool reply while looking at Jinseong.
But against her wishes, her body and heart were already fully conquered by the sensation of being protected by him.
"Uuung, got it, Jinseonggg..."
Instead of cool and suave, what came out was the voice of a girl utterly smitten by her childhood friend's reliability.
※ Now that Baek Ji-an had accepted a life protected by Jinseong, she no longer had to deal with anxiety or worry.
She finally had a reason to stay by his side.
'Jinseong asked to borrow my strength. So I can stick by Jinseong from now on!'
Hearing from Jinseong himself that he needed her had put her mentality in an invincible state.
Her lifelong enemy Baek Gung-hyuk was down, and she had a reason to stay with Jinseong forever.
She was floating on cloud nine, utterly elated.
Then, a massive idea struck her excited brain like lightning.
'...Wait, now that Baek Gung-hyuk's gone, doesn't that mean I can do everything I couldn't before?'
Baek Ji-an gazed at Jinseong's back as he prepared patient meals for her in the kitchen.
He looked cool no matter when she saw him, and now that back seemed even more reliable.
'Jinseong likes me. Like, really likes me—he confessed twice!'
Thinking that Jinseong liked her made her even happier.
'If I confess right now... isn't this straight to the marriage endgame?!'
Her heart thumped with excitement and anticipation.
'H-how many kids? Start light with three... no, five... no, seven? That'd be nice and lively, right? Ugh, what names? Not some naming service—I wanna think them up with Jinseong...'
Baek Ji-an imagined a happy family life under one roof with Jinseong.
Just picturing it filled her chest to bursting.
But imagination stays fantasy if you just keep it in your head.
'First things first—confess right now and seal the deal! That's how we get to marriage and kids!'
With nothing holding her back anymore, Baek Ji-an shot up from the sofa to confess.
"Whoa? Rescue alert! Be right back!"
Thud thud thud—clunk.
At the same moment, Jinseong—who'd received the crisis alert for a temporary member—bolted out the front door.
"...Ugh."
Baek Ji-an went from chasing chicken to staring at the roof like a dog in an instant.
To her, Yoo Seo-ah—who'd kept silent until now—finally spoke up.
"Baek Ji-an Hunter, nice to finally introduce myself properly."
Yoo Seo-ah met the gaze of Baek Ji-an, who'd turned at her voice, and smiled sweetly, lifting the corner of her mouth.
"I'm Yoo Seo-ah, Jinseong's first member."
Her blue eyes gleamed coldly.