"Park Haejun, Hold It In..."
Lee Gayeon patted Park Haejun on the shoulder. He let out a fake cough and hurriedly smoothed out his expression. Na Seonghyeon, watching the exchange, spoke up with utter disbelief.
"Surely I'm not the only one who feels this way... When I look at Seoya, loyalty wells up inside me automatically—reverence, sanctity... an overwhelming urge to worship. It can't just be me, right...?"
"...It seems like that's just something you alone feel, Hunter Na Seonghyeon."
Unable to hold back any longer, Park Haejun jumped in again.
'They're talking about mana, aren't they?'
The others shot Na Seonghyeon looks of contempt for his words, but truthfully, their own past attitudes toward Seoya hadn't been much different. An inexplicable, blind affection. Seoya figured it was all due to the immense mana she possessed.
"First off, I'm just thrilled to have this direct conversation with you again, Seoya..."
"Sit down and talk."
As Na Seonghyeon started to drop to one knee, Seoya waved her hands frantically to stop him.
"But I could never dare to stand on equal footing with you, Seoya."
"Sit."
"Yes, ma'am."
Watching him obey so readily, Seoya realized that whenever Na Seonghyeon got overly dramatic, a simple command would fix it.
"No more excessive gifts like this from now on."
"Excessive...?"
"I'm not even old enough to get a driver's license. I'm seventeen."
"Then do you need a chauffeur?"
"Don't need one."
Seoya added firmly.
"There's tons of stuff I won't use, and I don't even need it... It's all a waste of resources."
"Ah...! A waste of resources!"
"Yeah, we can't waste things, right?"
"You're absolutely right. 'No waste'—I'll make it the first creed of my life."
"Is that guy seriously insane?"
Baek Yena muttered in a trembling voice, but Na Seonghyeon acted like he couldn't even hear anyone but Seoya.
"Is that everything you wanted to say?"
"Probably."
"In that case, if I may humbly ask you a question...?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Would it be okay if I named a street after you?"
"What?"
Na Seonghyeon explained with bold confidence but a shy expression.
"I'd buy up every building on one street and gift it to you. How about calling it 'Seoya Road'?"
"No, I definitely don't need that..."
"That's a shame. What about a whole building?"
"Just don't use my name at all..."
"Guess I'll have to cancel a few plans."
Na Seonghyeon pulled out his phone from his pocket and solemnly started crossing things off.
"A subway station?"
"That's the worst one yet..."
"Noted..."
Seoya eyed Na Seonghyeon's outfit. A neat semi-formal suit, hair perfectly combed—a picture of an ordinary office worker. Nothing flashy or expensive on him. So why was he trying to shower her with all these bizarre luxuries? Why not spend that money on himself?
"Seoya, you wouldn't dream of joining our guild, would you?"
"Not joining any guild."
"What about subway ads for your birthday?"
"I don't need any of that..."
"No way! I was the one planning the subway ads...!"
Baek Yena pounded the desk with a voice thick with tears, but Seoya ignored her as always.
"Any inconveniences in your daily life? I can provide anything you need..."
"We have more than enough money to support her ourselves."
Lee Gayeon said with clear displeasure.
"We're already giving Seoya everything she needs and raising her."
"Raising her? Please use the term 'serving' instead."
"...She's still young."
"True, if it's childcare, you're the expert over me, Hunter Lee Gayeon."
Na Seonghyeon glanced at Baek Yena with a knowing look, as if to say he understood the hardship of dealing with two wildcards like her and Ji Sein. Lee Gayeon nodded in sympathy.
"But when it comes to capital, I have the edge~."
Na Seonghyeon pondered for a moment.
"Come to think of it, I targeted the wrong gift. Cars don't mean much at your age... My gift selection skills failed, leading to all this waste!"
He looked genuinely remorseful, like he'd committed a grave sin. Seoya made a fed-up face and countered.
"No, it's not the type of gift—gifts themselves are the problem..."
"I'll work harder to pick things you'll love."
"Seoya, Hunter Na Seonghyeon is a lost cause."
Lee Gayeon shook her head.
Na Seonghyeon. Nicknamed the self-spawned monster, slave to capitalism.
But now, he was less a monster born of capitalism and more...
"That guy's... become a monster that births capitalism."
Baek Yena muttered in exhaustion.
Having switched what he worshiped, Na Seonghyeon now wielded capitalism with more passion than anyone.
"I don't really need material stuff."
"What? That can't be!"
Na Seonghyeon cried out with the most sincere voice he'd used yet.
"How could anyone in this world be free of material desires?!"
"Hm, I really think I am..."
"Ah, that's why you're world rank 0th! Of course! Now I get why it's 0th, not 1st! No material desires—that's superhuman...!"
Na Seonghyeon gazed at her with starry eyes, deeply impressed. But he soon composed himself and spoke deliberately.
"But Seoya, all I have to offer you is capital. And I believe capital is the greatest thing in this world..."
Seoya looked at him with enlightened eyes.
Na Seonghyeon's determination to give her what was useless to her but 'the best thing' to him...
'This must be how a cat feels when it brings me a dead mouse as a gift.'
"There's nothing capital can't buy. It just means the capital I've given you so far wasn't enough."
"It was, though..."
"So I'll keep pouring it in until you believe capital is the best...!"
'Don't get all fired up about that crap...'
Seoya sighed deeply at Na Seonghyeon, who clenched his fist in determination.
Gazing at her with shining eyes to profess his loyalty, Na Seonghyeon suddenly changed the subject as if remembering something.
"By the way, Seoya—have you heard from Hunter Go Heejae?"
"Oh."
The former world rank 1st, the man who exuded the leisure of the strong.
"No contact at all."
"Really? That's weird..."
Na Seonghyeon leaned in with a mischievous grin, like he was sharing a secret.
"Go Heejae... his life's goal is solely protecting this world."
"Oh..."
Somehow, that made her feel guilty. The one who'd threatened this world was Ibin, and Ibin had endangered it purely for Seoya's sake.
"It's natural for him. He's enjoyed everything this world offers without lacking a thing, so of course he'd want to keep it that way."
The opposite of the Pioneers trying to shatter the world's order.
"But you can stabilize this world, Seoya..."
"Me?"
It was baffling.
Seoya had always thought her existence would bring chaos to this world. A being who could upend a system running smoothly under ranks and the System.
"After the world flipped, invisible hierarchies formed. For the past two years, hunters stood above the unawakened. Now, even above us, there's a new class: world rank 0th, transcending the old rankings."
Na Seonghyeon explained calmly.
"You're the supreme power in this world, the only one who can rule the other powers that ran wild. Go Heejae will cling blindly to you, the one who can stabilize everything..."
"Oh..."
Suddenly, Kwon Yooseok came to mind. He'd said hunters would cling to her.
She couldn't figure out why these guys were like this.
Seoya had zero interest in power struggles from the start.
"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that. Do whatever you want, take whatever you desire. Just... never let go of the leashes you hold on the hunters."
Seoya smiled faintly at that.
"That won't be hard."
Who handed me these leashes in the first place? Like I'd ever let go.
It would never happen.
Na Seonghyeon beamed happily at her smile, then spoke up again.
"Oh, and Seoya! One more thing I'm curious about—have you gotten close to Yooseok...?"
"Kwon Yooseok? Oh, yeah."
"Really? That's unexpected."
"Yeah, it is surprising."
Baek Yena, who'd been listening silently, nodded in agreement.
"He said he'd be my friend."
"What?! Why?!"
"Huh? A friend... How dare he even think of being friends with Seoya..."
Seoya blinked in confusion at Baek Yena and Na Seonghyeon's shock.
"He's the same age as me, isn't he?"
"Well, yeah."
"That obnoxious prick Kwon Yooseok isn't the type to make friends at all."
Na Seonghyeon lowered his gaze and added,
"Besides, I figured you and Yooseok would be the last to get along..."
"Why?"
"If it's not disrespectful to say..."
"Go on."
"You have a puppy-like face."
At the somewhat out-of-left-field comment, Seoya tilted her head.
Park Haejun, mid-sip of coffee, choked with a sputter and coughed violently.
"Hunter Na Seonghyeon, what kind of talk is that?"
"Why bring up appearances here?"
"Oh, I don't mean any improper intentions toward you, Seoya... Um, Hunter Baek Yena probably gets it..."
"Yeah."
Unlike the prickly reactions from Park Haejun and Lee Gayeon, Baek Yena surprisingly nodded calmly.
"Objectively, Seoya has that harmless, gentle puppy vibe—super cute. So she's the total opposite of Kwon Yooseok's friend type."
"Kwon Yooseok has specific tastes. People, animals, objects—he ignores anything that doesn't match."
"Oh, right."
Remembering something at the mention of 'puppy face,' Seoya spoke up after listening quietly.
"He said I look like a beast."
"He said what?!"
Baek Yena shot up from her seat.
"...Ugh."
Horror spread across Na Seonghyeon's face.