Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Chaebol Heiress Yoo Ha-yul (3)
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“Su-hyun, I'll handle closing up today, so head home first.”
“Ah, Cafe Owner! Thank you!”
After sending all the employees home, she was left alone in the cafe.
Once she finished cleaning up and waited about ten minutes, a luxury car appeared in the distance, approaching the cafe.
“Yoo Jun-hyuk, I've come to pick you up.”
“Yes.”
He knew where they were headed from here but hadn't changed into appropriate attire.
There was no way a cafe would have such clothes on hand, nor was she someone he needed to dress up for.
‘How can I get out of this situation?’
Meeting Yoo Ha-yul was a foregone conclusion.
What mattered now was how to hypnotize her.
‘Stage 1 hypnosis won't work. So at least Stage 2.’
He could make natural physical contact.
But would it even work? What if the artifact she had blocked Stage 2 hypnosis too?
‘Even if it doesn't, won't it wear off like last time?’
As the daughter of a chaebol family, she probably got regular checkups, and maybe that's how it unraveled before.
If not, perhaps someone around her could detect mental skills?
His head was spinning, but he shook it off and refocused.
‘I'm like the guy too scared of maggots to even gut the fish.’
Better to act first and figure out countermeasures later than worry and never try.
‘Assuming Stage 2 works, don't make changes too sudden like before. Make them gradual.’
Sudden shifts could raise suspicions even if the hypnosis took hold.
Maybe that's why they made her wear an artifact last time—due to the abrupt change.
‘So change her slowly, then try Stage 3.’
From Stage 3 on, it probably wouldn't show up in scans.
Whatever the case, he had to try.
As he mulled over plans and precautions, the car arrived at the hotel.
“You're here?”
Yoo Ha-yul, the one trying to shatter his happy daily life.
She greeted him at the hotel entrance in a suit.
He could have gotten out alone after opening the door, but since the confrontation with her started now, he just opened the door and held out his hand without stepping down.
“Mind escorting me?”
To grab her hand right away and attempt Stage 2 hypnosis.
＊＊＊
“Mind escorting me?”
Yoo Ha-yul inwardly sneered at Yoo Jun-hyuk, who stood there holding out his hand.
‘Starting already? Too easy, and that kills the fun.’
His intent was hypnosis, but from her perspective, it just looked like using an escort as an excuse for skinship.
Easily plucked fruit has no value.
Why are diamonds so expensive? Because they're rare.
If diamonds were as common as roadside pebbles, they'd be worthless—and right now, Yoo Jun-hyuk looked like a pebble masquerading as a diamond in her eyes.
‘Typical guy. The kind who leeches off women.’
The full investigation on Yoo Jun-hyuk had wrapped up about an hour ago.
It should have finished sooner, but Lee Seo-yeon had hidden and deleted his info, delaying things.
The results tanked his value in her eyes.
‘The cafe wasn't even bought by him—Choi Yu-ra did it, right? Makes sense; a guy his age couldn't buy prime real estate and open a shop.’
A man riding a woman's coattails despite lacking ability.
Sure, it was the life of a physically and socially weak man, so she didn't exactly look down on him for it... but wasn't he the lover of the world's first EX-Rank Hunter?
She'd hoped for something special, but his ordinariness disappointed her greatly.
‘Trying to hit on me already? Dreaming of a harem? No thanks.’
Still, being Choi Yu-ra's boyfriend had its merits, so she planned to steal him anyway.
Play with him after snatching him away, then discard him.
Once he's head over heels for her and she dumps him, it'll sour things with Choi Yu-ra too—but that's not her problem.
It'd be his fault for being too forward.
“No such thing as men and women in business, right? Get out yourself.”
Her slightly cold response made Yoo Jun-hyuk's face fall a bit.
It was disappointment over losing the Stage 2 chance, but to her, it looked like a fox sulking over a failed ploy.
“This way.”
She led him from the car up to the hotel's top floor.
A special room for hotel staff business dealings, off-limits to guests.
“No allergies, right?”
“No. None.”
“Good. The food I prepared won't go to waste.”
She clapped, and waiting staff brought out the meal.
During dinner, she steered the conversation using her pre-researched info on him.
“You worked really hard in school to become a Hunter, right?”
“Yes. A Hunter saved my life when I was young. It became my dream.”
“So you became a Gate Cleaner as a substitute. Oh, not mocking you. Most people give up on dreams, but you didn't, Jun-hyuk. That's impressive.”
She knew having someone's info could pressure them, but she pressed on without hesitation.
“Probably met Choi Yu-ra Hunter there. So romantic!”
This is me.
I can easily get info on a nobody like you.
A way to flaunt her superior intelligence network, wealth, and status to appeal as an outstanding woman—and thus attractive.
‘He's flustered. Cute. Choi Yu-ra's got that rep, but rumors say she's pretty basic. First time with a real woman like me.’
Yoo Ha-yul, skilled at reading people from years in business, smiled.
But contrary to her expectations, Yoo Jun-hyuk wasn't flustered by her info network or status.
‘No necklace? Not wearing the artifact—does that mean even Stage 1 would work?’
His gaze was on her nape.
He confirmed she wasn't wearing the artifact that had blocked his hypnosis before. He wanted to hypnotize her right then, but would she really be unaware?
‘If she'd taken my bracelet and ring, maybe, but she didn't.’
She might have a hidden spare.
He'd let it slide once, but not twice.
She could nullify it the moment he tried and use it to blackmail him.
In truth, she had someone she trusted backing her confidence to remove the artifact, but unaware of that, Yoo Jun-hyuk pondered his next move. His hesitation looked like panic, so Yoo Ha-yul boldly advanced her plan.
“But you don't deny it?”
“Deny what?”
“Meeting Choi Yu-ra Hunter. Hasn't hit the press yet.”
“Nothing to hide.”
He figured a chaebol family would know easily anyway.
He held her in high regard, so it didn't faze him.
“Then I have a proposal. Want to hear it?”
“About the cafe, right?”
“Yes. That's why we're meeting.”
“What kind?”
“Ever heard of a sponsor?”
He had—and knew it well.
Yoo Jun-hyuk's brow furrowed slightly.
“Oh, I get what you're thinking. Perverted aunties supporting guys for their bodies, right?”
“Isn't that it?”
“Not all sponsors are the same. I want to support you because... well, like I said, you're admirable. A cafe surrounded by franchises, yet you develop new menu items yourself, push forward aggressively, and survive? Impressive.”
Hiding her true intentions, Yoo Ha-yul praised him.
“You show business talent. As a sponsor, I want to back your growth. And once you're thriving, as you know, our company plans to enter the cafe business, so I'd like your help there too.”
“That's really all?”
Of course not.
But men value plausible excuses over true feelings, right?
She knew he wanted to get close, but without a pretext, he'd hesitate.
“Occasionally meet as business partners and sponsors, chat like today?”
So she'd provide that pretext.
“That fine? What do you say? If we do this sponsor thing, I'll cancel all the cafe events in play.”
“......”
Should he use this chance to hypnotize her?
Deep in enemy territory, it could be a trap like he thought, but one-on-one...
And if she thought his ring and bracelet were the artifacts and left them off, he could lure her into complacency and sever ties with hypnosis anytime.
‘Or is this another trap?’
As Yoo Jun-hyuk agonized, overly esteeming her, the hotel guards encountered an unexpected figure.
“Hello?”
“Ch-Choi Yu-ra Hunter?”
It was Choi Yu-ra.
The guards panicked at her sudden visit but quickly regained composure per prior orders.
[Today, the young miss is bringing an important guest. Someone connected to Choi Yu-ra Hunter, so if she shows up, contact me immediately.]
The contact guard stepped back.
The others tried stalling her with talk.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“No. My boyfriend's here, so I came to see him.”
“No reservation means no entry, even for acquaintances...”
“Not an acquaintance—my boyfriend.”
Her tone was firmer than usual.
The old her would've asked her guild master for a smoother resolution.
“So open the way?”
But now, Choi Yu-ra was angry for the first time in her life.
Cyberbullies and Go Jin-yo had brought more despair than rage.
But the idea of a trashy chaebol heiress trying to steal her precious Yoo Jun-hyuk ignited pure fury.
“We can't.”
“If you won't...”
At first, she'd wondered if barging in was right.
But lovers resemble each other, right?
Recalling the proverb about not shying from maggots to gut the fish, she'd come anyway.
“I'll force my way through.”
“No need for that.”
Then, a woman appeared in the hotel lobby.
In a suit, evoking a secretary, her presence let the guards sigh in relief.
“Secretary Kim!”
“Choi Yu-ra Hunter will leave quietly. Back to your posts.”
“You...?”
Choi Yu-ra's eyes widened.
Outside Hunter circles, her connections were thin, but even she knew this face.
“Why are you here? Heard you retired over ten years ago.”
“Working here now. Came for an easy life, didn't expect to face someone like you.”
Secretary Kim.
No, former S-Rank Hero.
“Feel like quitting sometimes, but the pay's too good. Steady salary, so gotta do my job.”
Choi Yu-ra murmured her old moniker.
“Eraser.”
“Haven't heard that nickname in ages.”
Possessor of the rare manipulation-type mana interference skill, famed for its scarcity.
While typical mana interference only slightly disrupts mana in touched objects, she'd mastered it to extremes—manipulating mana in her vicinity or even in touched ‘people.’
“You know me well, so you must know even an EX-Rank Hunter can't beat me.”
This let her control mana within five meters, preventing skill use per her ‘Eraser’ moniker. Legendary Hero who'd captured countless big-name villains.
“Ranged or other skills, maybe, but yours is enhancement. You'd have to approach me, and I'd nullify it. An EX-Rank Hunter taken down by a retired Hero? Bad for your face and the nation's. Please leave.”
“......”
Legendary Hero or not.
“No thanks.”
Fearless, Choi Yu-ra stepped forward.
Too fast—no one caught her form.
“Fuck.”
Except one.
Eraser, Secretary Kim.
“Knew it.”
She'd activated her skill, interfering with Choi Yu-ra's mana—but it failed utterly.
Her bravado was all bluff.
Even peak S-Rank villains were human limits.
EX-Rank transcended humanity. Sensing this vaguely, Secretary Kim had bluffed to make her back off, but it didn't work.
Choi Yu-ra pressed her nape firmly.
“No apology. I had my job to do too.”
Her carotid compressed, Secretary Kim's consciousness faded.
Choi Yu-ra caught her falling body and laid her on the floor.
Before blacking out fully, watching her head to the elevator, Secretary Kim thought.
‘This is industrial accident territory. Better pay compensation or else.’
The former S-Rank Hero, broke after retirement investment failures and now a money grubber, felt her eyes moisten.