No Holidays for Hunters (1)
October 6th, 2025 — Chuseok.
With Armed Forces Day falling on October 1st, National Foundation Day on the 3rd, and Hangul Day on the 9th, this year's holiday stretch was extraordinarily long.
If you burned a single vacation day in the middle of it all, you'd have a full nine days off.
And today, Korea had just welcomed October 1st — the first day of that golden holiday season.
In celebration of Chuseok, the great national festival, the entire country was buzzing with events of every kind.
The hunter industry was no exception to the festive mood.
From the largest guilds down to the smallest and mid-tier ones, it seemed like there wasn't a single event they weren't holding.
That had been going on since today, the official start of the long holiday.
The broadcast world, ever keen on the hottest industry of the moment, had turned its full attention to them as well.
Special Chuseok hunter documentaries, special hunter variety specials, all manner of hunter-related online content — the list went on and on.
Even on regular programming, it had gotten to the point where hunters were appearing as guests every time you flipped the channel.
Even the holiday special movie lineups announced in advance were utterly flooded with hunter-related titles.
"Haah… haah…."
And while the Republic of Korea carried on like that, there were people completely detached from all of it.
"Boss… how much longer do we have to… keep going with this?"
"Just a little more. We're almost there."
A raging volcano.
Three people were laboriously climbing its slopes, even as it spewed molten lava without pause.
"Uuugh…."
Choi Jeong-hyeon was bringing up the rear, wiping away the sweat pouring down her face.
Ahead of her was Seo Yoon, and at the very front, Lee Jun.
Here they were, conquering the Ant Nest at the exact moment everyone else was out enjoying the festivities.
"Haah… haah…."
Between the relentless pace of the climb and the environment shifting under their feet, Choi Jeong-hyeon looked to have finally hit her physical limit.
Under normal circumstances, she would have had better stamina than Seo Yoon — but Seo Yoon's treatment had been at least partially successful, and the order had flipped.
"Hang in there just a bit longer, Jeong-hyeon. Once we clear the third floor, you'll have it easy for a while."
And with good reason — the fourth floor was peace itself.
Trying to push through floors one through three in a single go was bound to be brutal.
They were already nearly sixteen hours into a continuous assault.
When you thought about it, the run with Jeanne had been the abnormal one. This pace was standard.
"Haah… ugh… almost… the top…."
Thud—
The summit of the mountain.
The three of them had reached the doorstep of the Fire Pterosaur's nest, and paused to catch their breath.
Choi Jeong-hyeon was all but dead on her feet, and even Seo Yoon looked to be steadily running out of steam.
Honestly, the fact that Choi Jeong-hyeon had held out this long was impressive in itself.
She was a warrior-class, after all.
She was the one squaring off against monsters face to face, so of course her stamina drained faster than anyone's.
"Hmm… we should rest before taking on the boss."
"Y-yeah…."
"I… agree, sir."
Lee Jun pulled two bottles of water from his Pocket and handed them over. The two drained them as if they'd been waiting for nothing else.
Glug— glug—
Lee Jun smiled as he watched them.
"Still, this beats competing in something like the Hunter Athletics Championship, doesn't it?"
"That's… hmm… honestly, that might not be so bad either."
"Well, no invitations have come our way anyway."
"Hnnnngh…."
A sound like air leaking out of a balloon escaped Choi Jeong-hyeon.
Guess she'd been looking forward to it more than I thought.
Should I have just asked them to slot us into at least one event, then?
"Oh, right — Boss, don't you get event invitations?"
"Invitations… they do come in. I'm just not particularly interested."
"Ooooh. Of course you aren't."
Lee Jun had received his share of invitations this Chuseok, too.
Since he was no longer part of the Association, they were probably just tentative feelers to see if he'd bite.
Frankly speaking… he'd rather run another loop of the Ant Nest than spend time on something like that.
What was surprising was that Choi Jeong-hyeon had any interest in these events at all.
Nothing in how she'd carried herself so far had suggested that kind of personality.
She wasn't the type to crave attention or the spotlight.
"If you went to an event, Jeong-hyeon, what would you want to do there?"
"Hmm, me… let me think. I'd just like to meet lots of strong hunters, I suppose."
Ah, so that's the flavor of it.
Come to think of it, she'd nearly fallen over in shock the first time she'd laid eyes on Jeanne, too.
It wasn't idols or actors she admired — it was hunters.
Well… in this day and age, the concepts weren't all that different.
Having role models like that was one good way to cultivate ambition, at any rate.
Either way, it meant she was building genuine interest in and respect for this industry.
"And you, Seo Yoon?"
"I also… find myself admiring strong hunters, sir."
As Lee Jun had noted before, Seo Yoon had plenty to learn from the way Yelena fought.
Watching that girl move, you'd sooner call her a trickster than a mage.
Strip the magic away, and her combat style really was closer to a rogue's than anything else.
In a sense, she was the absolute ceiling of the special-class line.
But what about Choi Jeong-hyeon?
For her, settling on a role model would be difficult.
More precisely — it would be hard for Lee Jun to find her a match.
She was, after all, the suspected first awakening of the Holy Knight class in the entire world.
Her class hadn't formally shifted yet, but the signs were there.
Her wounds seemed to close faster than they should, and something about her presence seemed to restore vitality to those around her.
Still, nothing definitive had changed.
Perhaps some kind of catalyst was needed.
"Hmm… then after this raid, let's sit down and think through the direction we should take. It's about time you both started preparing for your promotion reviews, too."
"Promotion… review?"
"Yes. You've gotten comfortable with your prosthetic arm, Jeong-hyeon, and Seo Yoon's mana overload has been treated well enough."
At the words promotion review, Choi Jeong-hyeon's expression dimmed a little.
It was a sore spot for her, and understandably so.
A D-Class hunter whose promotion had been rejected.
It was the kind of case you could count on two hands — of course it would make her shrink back.
Well, this was the moment for a boss to offer some comfort.
"Don't worry. This time it'll go through without a hitch."
"You think so…?"
"Of course. Who trained you, after all?"
Lee Jun tossed the joke out with a grin, easing the tension in the air.
But the words carried a second meaning, too.
If her awakening still hadn't come by then — if her promotion got rejected yet again — she should blame him rather than herself.
"…Yes. Thank you, Boss."
Whether she'd caught that unspoken meaning or not, Choi Jeong-hyeon managed a faint smile.
She had no idea her class might change.
That was precisely why the anxiety gnawed at her.
Right now she was an unscratched lottery ticket — but as far as she knew, she'd simply drawn a blank.
Lee Jun hated planting false hope, which was why he hadn't yet told her anything about her awakening.
Still… if she kept suffering like this, he might have to tell her eventually.
And then —
A massive shadow fell over their heads.
Shuu—
"Kyeeeeeh?!"
"Ah."
Maybe they'd been talking a little too loudly.
The three of them finally reached the fourth floor of the Ant Nest.
All of them were a bit singed here and there, but overall they'd come through in decent shape.
Who could have guessed the boss would come down from its nest to attack them personally?
Thankfully, Lee Jun had handled it well, and they'd taken it down without any serious damage.
"Ambushing us during a break is just cheating, you know."
"…We need to build up our stamina as well. If we want to eliminate variables… that's the only way."
"Ugh… you're telling me."
Seo Yoon and Choi Jeong-hyeon were both replaying the boss fight in their minds — the one where they'd been next to useless.
Apparently they'd need to train their endurance to the point where they could keep pace with Lee Jun.
"At least this floor can be cleared at a leisurely pace."
Lee Jun's words were no exaggeration.
Bright sunshine and magnificent scenery stretched out before them.
Apart from the sheer cliff dropping away just a few meters off, it felt less like a dungeon and more like a day trip.
It was precisely because of this environment that Lee Jun called the fourth floor the rest stop.
The plan was to take a proper rest here, wait out the respawn timer, and then resume the assault.
"I can't believe this is inside a gate… It just doesn't feel real."
"To be precise, this is a double dungeon, so it's technically not a gate."
"Sir… you really are a stickler, aren't you."
Choi Jeong-hyeon said it with a laugh.
They'd grown close enough now to trade jokes freely.
The suffocating atmosphere in the car when he'd first scouted her was long gone, as if it had never existed.
Gladdened by how deep his bonds with his hunters had grown, Lee Jun pulled a tent out of his Pocket.
If they were resting, they might as well rest properly.
They'd eat, snatch a bit of sleep, and pass the remaining time until the respawn timer ran out.
"Let's see… all right, that's done."
Lee Jun set the two of them to preparing the ingredients while he pitched the tent himself.
As he worked, he took a moment to take stock of his own condition.
His growth was faster than in any previous run.
He couldn't check hard numbers through a status window, but a man knew his own body best.
He felt lighter than before, sturdier — and his stamina had climbed, too.
Faster even than in his thirteenth year, right before the regression.
{Of course. You've been worked to the bone with barely a moment's rest, all in this short a span.}
Maybe so.
The battles with Silhouette and Kapman especially.
Those experiences of being driven to the absolute brink had become nourishment, plain and simple.
His physical specs rising on top of it all had been unexpected — but good news was good news.
Once the tent was up, Seo Yoon and Choi Jeong-hyeon finished prepping the ingredients, and Lee Jun took over the cooking.
Handing the meal over to the two of them — Seo Yoon in particular — felt like a gamble he'd rather not take.
"Let's see…."
He made a simple stew and a pot of steamed rice.
Pwoosh—
The seasoning was perfect.
The rice had come out fluffy and steaming, too.
"I can't believe we get to eat the Boss's cooking all the way out here. It feels kind of surreal."
Choi Jeong-hyeon murmured, watching from right beside him.
"You can thank the Pocket for that."
"Oooh… I'd have to make a lot of money if I ever wanted to buy one of those, huh?"
"Hmm, it's not for sale, so even a fortune probably wouldn't get you one."
"Ahaha… that's a shame."
The Pocket was the Chief of Engineering's custom work — nothing to be done about it.
Armea had said outright that she would never make one for anyone outside of Arcana.
Everyone had their own convictions.
All Lee Jun did was respect them as much as he could.
"Still, it works almost exactly like a subspace pouch, so I'll get you one of those down the line."
"Wait — no, you don't have to! You've already given me so much, I couldn't possibly take any more—"
Choi Jeong-hyeon waved her hands wildly in refusal.
What was the point of refusing investment when she was under his wing as a sponsored hunter?
He wished she'd just accept what she was owed with an easy mind, but both Seo Yoon and Choi Jeong-hyeon seemed to carry a certain guilt about that sort of thing.
Lee Jun ladled a little stew into a small bowl and held it out to her.
"Jeong-hyeon. Would you taste this for me?"
"Oh — yes, of course."
Choi Jeong-hyeon sampled the stew from the bowl he offered.
Perhaps the steam from the tasting bothered her, because she held the bowl in one hand while brushing a lock of hair back from her face with the other.
Lee Jun's gaze followed the motion of her fingertips — and then, quite suddenly, landed on her wrist.
"Hmm?"
The wound she'd taken clearing the second floor — a fairly deep scrape — had healed completely.
"Jeong-hyeon, didn't you get hurt here earlier?"
"Huh? Oh… you're right, I did."
She sipped at the stew as if it were nothing.
"Mmm! This is so good!"
"…Glad to hear it."
Self-healing without even being aware of it, then.
Then again, that could be some kind of constraint imposed by the Dimension System.
With how many strange restrictions the system came saddled with, he couldn't say for certain….
But one thing was clear: her awakening was drawing closer, little by little.
"Boss?"
"…Yes?"
When he came back to himself, Choi Jeong-hyeon had somehow drifted right up in front of him.
She was peering anxiously at his face.
"You've been staring off into space for a while now… are you pushing yourself too hard?"
"What? No, I'm perfectly fine."
"Still… I wish I could get stronger faster, so I could be more help to you."
"Haha, once you get stronger, you'll be off to bigger and better places."
"Hmm… I'd rather… stay here."
"Sorry?"
Going by her reaction, Choi Jeong-hyeon — just like Seo Yoon — was planning to stay with the agency for the long haul.
That suited Lee Jun fine, personally… but it rather defeated the purpose of founding the agency in the first place.
It had started out similar to a guild as it was — if it never produced talent of its own, there'd be nothing left to set it apart….
{You raise someone right from start to finish, of course they're going to put down roots. What else — are they supposed to repay kindness by leaving?}
Was that how it worked…?
{Obviously.}
Listening to Silhouette's words, Lee Jun looked Choi Jeong-hyeon straight in the eyes.
Dark, deep eyes.
The anxious look from right after that incident had mostly faded, leaving a gaze that was clear and clean.
"Boss…?"
"Ah — my apologies. Lost in thought for a second."
Clatter—
With that, Lee Jun picked up the pots of stew and rice.
"Right, how was the seasoning?"
"Delicious, as always."
"Haha, good to hear."
And with that, he carried the two pots toward the tent, calling for Seo Yoon, who was gazing out over the cliff below.
Choi Jeong-hyeon watched his back for a moment, then headed for the tent as well.
Vwooom—
A soft, faint radiance shimmered from her back.