The Paranoid World Ranker's Gaze
“Neverending's guild master. I just saw a blue skill.”
Go Heejae cut straight to the chase without so much as a greeting, his voice stiff and rigid.
“Yeah, wasn't us.”
“I thought it might be one of Baek Yena's magic circle skills at first, but there's no way she could use it while running like that, so not that either.”
“It's just like the Nonhyeon Station monster wave incident last time. Someone showed up out of nowhere and quietly took care of the monsters again.”
“A hunter with invisibility or stealth skills, sneaking around and wiping out monsters... But even if that's the case this time, last time it was B-rank, so selling the hearts would've made decent money. Why completely erase them? What's the point?”
Go Heejae's attitude made it abundantly clear he found the whole thing suspicious.
“Ah, what a pain in the ass. Must be another nutjob obsessed with protecting the world like you.”
Unable to stand Go Heejae's prying any longer, Baek Yena jumped in with an irritated voice. There seemed to be some personal grudge mixed in there too. Not that Seoya had ever seen Baek Yena getting along chummily with other hunters anyway.
“You're world rank 1, you think you're out grinding low-rank dungeons for cash? It's not about the money—you've got plenty already. Weren't you doing it for that 'save the world' crap too?”
“Baek Yena.”
Unlike the fuming Baek Yena, Go Heejae remained cool and composed throughout.
“Tell Ji Sein to get off her ass and do some hunter work. I can't understand why someone ranked 7th is wasting her talents like this.”
“What the hell? Is this guy nuts? Hey, I'm gonna lay into him!”
“Ah, calm down a bit.”
Park Haejun grabbed Baek Yena from behind as she lunged toward Go Heejae, pulling her back.
“Ah, damn it—and you, pretty boy raised in luxury, shut your damn mouth and live your life! Don't piss people off!”
“I don't know why you're getting so worked up. Anyway, what I'm saying is, this so-called 'Invisible Hunter' only showing up around your Neverending Guild is highly suspicious...”
Lee Gayeon clamped her mouth shut, unable to respond.
Yeah, he nailed the exact thing they'd been agonizing over, the bastard.
“Above all, anyone with a wide-area skill powerful enough to wipe out monsters in one go without a trace would have to be pretty high-ranked. Most of the usual suspects have denied it...”
As everyone wore awkward expressions amid Go Heejae's solitary deep dive into speculation, his eyes drifted downward and locked onto Seoya's.
Seoya met his gaze head-on without flinching.
“...First time seeing you. Who are you?”
His tone carried a different edge now.
Go Heejae took a step closer, scrutinizing Seoya intently. Or rather, it felt like he was staring at something near her.
“Hey, what the hell are you looking at?”
Baek Yena muttered gruffly, yanking Seoya behind her, but Go Heejae didn't seem to notice.
“...Information access denied?”
Seizing the moment while Go Heejae muttered to himself, Park Haejun swiftly herded everyone back a step.
“Let's go now.”
“Yeah, dealing with that world-peace fanatic is just gonna be a hassle.”
“Ah, I really hate that guy.”
As Seoya walked away with them, she glanced back at Go Heejae. His face was filled with an inscrutable confusion.
Realizing they were leaving, Go Heejae called out desperately from behind.
“Wait—you! Your name! Tell me your name before you go!”
There was no reason not to tell him. At least, not from Seoya's perspective.
“Seoya.”
The moment Seoya answered, Go Heejae's already muttering face twisted even stranger.
“Ah, what's wrong with that psycho? I really hate him!”
Even so, he was one of this world's powerhouses—maybe he'd instinctively sensed danger from Seoya? She snuck another peek back at him.
Whatever. Whether he was wary or not, he posed zero threat to her.
Beyond Dimensions (passive)
Scanning target's information...
Target information access impossible. Error!
The System does not possess data on this individual.
“What the hell...?”
Meanwhile, Go Heejae stared at Seoya's receding back with the eyes of someone beholding the unknown.
“We almost got caught by that suspicious bastard Go Heejae.”
Lee Gayeon muttered with a sigh of relief as she buckled her seatbelt in the car.
Watching their over-the-top reactions, Seoya asked, “Is that guy that dangerous?”
“Go Heejae the hunter... It's not about how great he is as a hunter.”
Park Haejun, settled in the passenger seat, began explaining Go Heejae to Seoya.
“It's his personality that's the problem.”
“Personality?”
“Yeah, that guy's super paranoid.”
Baek Yena picked up from Park Haejun with an annoyed tone, and he added on.
“Hunter Go Heejae is very suspicious by nature. Seems like he has this sense of mission to protect the world, so he scrutinizes every potential threat.”
“Thinks he's Batman or something.”
“If he finds out you're from another world, Seoya, he'll definitely act in a bad way.”
“That's why we have to hide it from Go Heejae no matter what. He's one of the top chaebol heirs in Korea, so he's got zero manners. Totally takes after his damn family.”
“Ah, got it.”
Seoya nodded vaguely, having gleaned some info on the guy, then leaned against the window.
I'm hungry.
As Seoya drifted into other thoughts, Baek Yena—seated next to her—suddenly started fidgeting, apparently misreading the silence.
“Damn, did I say something wrong?”
“Blergh, yer tha's uhg wha mrilz.”
The guild members exchanged glances excluding Seoya, then Baek Yena addressed her as cautiously as possible.
“You feeling worn out? Missing your family?”
Huh?
Seoya shot them a baffled look demanding explanation at the out-of-left-field question.
Why the hell would they think that? Family out of nowhere?
Seoya replied, utterly puzzled. “Nah?”
“Huh?”
“I don't have family?”
“...Really?”
“Had some probably, but memories are gone.”
“What?!”
Park Haejun and Baek Yena's faces drained white in an instant, and Lee Gayeon slammed the brakes hard—earning an angry honk from the car behind—before accelerating again.
Why're they so shocked?
Seoya, who had lived on Toda, was the youngest pioneer to awaken at age eight. And she had no memories before that.
When that awakening hit, all her memories had vanished.
She remembered languages she used, names of things, how to eat... but everything about where she lived, what she liked or hated, family, age, even her own name—every scrap of personal context was wiped clean.
I figured everyone lost memories on awakening.
But no. She was the only freak case.
Seoya's first memory: a dingy gray ceiling, her child self lying on a worn white mattress.
-Hi, Seoya.
Ibin, holding her hand, smiling warmly as she greeted her.
-Huh?
Back then, Seoya just cried. She knew nothing, yet everything familiar crashed over her all at once.
She knew the bed she lay on, that the gray above was a ceiling, colors, the planet's name Toda... but who she was, who that woman was? No clue. Everything felt heartbreakingly unfair.
-Shh, it's okay. We'll build new memories from today. You're alive right now.
Ibin held the bawling Seoya—sobbing like a newborn—and said that.
-You're alive. So it's okay.
-Hic, sniff, waaah...
-It's okay. It'll get better soon. I'll give you everything. All the memories, experiences, emotions—I'll pick only the good ones for you.
Ibin and Taesa were the ones who colored Seoya's blank emotional slate.
Pioneer training, morals and etiquette as a human, the fights and reconciliations of growing up.
So Seoya's life had only them in it.
She'd heard her pre-awakening village got overrun by mutants, uninhabitable now, everyone dead except her.
That her parents died in the process too.
But they're people I don't even remember, so who cares.
With just them in her life, Seoya's world rolled on just fine. Family, world—whatever.
They were her everything.
“...I see. No memories before eight.”
The guild members responded awkwardly, skipping any mention of Ibin and Taesa, just reacting to the memory loss part.
As Seoya sank into the past, ignoring their vibe, they smacked their foreheads, reflecting on their behavior.
“Tell Ji Sein: only all-ages TV at home from now on.”
“Sis, wipe all dungeon traces before coming home. Especially no monster blood.”
“Hunter Baek Yena, please no fighting with Hunter Ji Sein at home. No violence. No swearing.”
The reason seventeen-year-old Seoya always felt younger than her peers wasn't just her baby face and small build.
Her life basically started at eight.
Baek Yena muttered despondently. “Ha... Explains why the kid acts so thoughtlessly sometimes...”
“Nah, that's just her personality.”
“Maybe she's too young to be on her own? She said she has trouble sleeping at night.”
“I slept fine alone at that age.”
“We'll swing by a bookstore on the way. Need parenting books.”
“I think we need more emotional development toys at home.”
“Fully agree. Buy 'em all.”