The Sorceress Confronts the Impossible
Kang A-jin heard Kim Seol-bi's words and rose to her feet. Though she'd downed a potion during her rest, this bone-deep fatigue refused to lift. It was the first time in her life she'd encountered something like this, leaving her utterly clueless on how to make sense of it. Faced with any typical enigma, she'd have brimmed with curiosity to explore this new frontier and study it—but the instant she'd challenged this ability, all she'd felt was a resounding "no solution."
To put it in perspective, it was like an F-rank hunter staring down an S-rank monster—that hopeless, impenetrable despair. The more she pondered the ability, the more she doubted her own skills, which she'd always believed were far from ordinary. Fear began to swell within her. But having come this far, she couldn't just turn back empty-handed. Kim Seol-bi wasn't the type to let that slide, and sure enough, she'd never once failed to fulfill a commission. If word got out, her reputation would take a hit. Strictly speaking, she belonged to a different line of work from hunters, but this world had its own fierce competition. Hunter standards were leveling up across the board, after all.
She'd been utterly confident no shaman could surpass her in the next decade, yet today she'd stumbled upon an unexpected powerhouse, shaking her faith in herself to the core.
"Understood."
Even amid her tangled thoughts, she responded to Kim Seol-bi's call with composed poise and moved forward.
"I tried waking him, but he seems too exhausted—he won't stir."
Kang A-jin nodded at Kim Seol-bi's words.
"I didn't hear the details over the phone earlier. Could you explain what happened?"
When she'd accepted the commission from Kim Seol-bi, the story had been vague at best. She didn't even know the rank of the man who'd seduced the Kim sisters. With a few similar jobs under her belt, she'd figured she could handle it without specifics. Besides, prying into an S-rank hunter's messy personal drama wasn't wise. No matter how you sliced it, the ironclad cartel of S-rank hunters was unbreakable. Even attempting to meddle could cost you your life.
But now that things had escalated this far, she had no choice but to hear it out.
"Well, the thing is..."
Kang A-jin was stunned by Kim Seol-bi's account. She rarely betrayed emotion, but even she could feel her expression crumbling outright this time.
"Did you just say... E-rank?"
"Yes. And that's only because he ranked up yesterday. Before that, he was just a regular awakened civilian."
"Ah."
Kang A-jin staggered from the shock, and Kim Seol-bi quickly steadied her.
"Are you okay?"
"How could that..."
She'd naturally assumed the culprit was S-rank or equivalent. She'd even mentally run through the short list of male S-rank hunters in Korea. Relationships among S-ranks were commonplace—messy ones, at that. She'd thought Kim Seol-bi had kept her distance from all that, but figured this was inevitable. An E-rank, though? Freshly promoted yesterday, previously unranked? He'd ensnared an S-rank and an A-rank hunter in lovesickness simultaneously. And even her shamanism couldn't break it.
An E-rank...
Kang A-jin stared hard at Kim Seol-bi's face. No matter how she turned it over, this woman wasn't lying. She wasn't the type. Besides, they'd see his face soon enough—any fib would unravel instantly.
"I can hardly believe it myself. But what's done is done."
Kim Seol-bi spoke with an awkward shrug.
"Hmm..."
Kang A-jin fought to maintain her composure amid the shock. Hearing "E-rank" sparked a flicker of courage, too. Earlier, she'd thought the ability unbreakable, but maybe she'd approached it all wrong. If she'd misstepped from the entrance, failure was inevitable. This unprecedented power might yield to a shift in perspective.
Kim Seol-bi led her to the room where Kang Sung-gi lay. Kang A-jin gazed steadily down at the man on the bed. On the surface, he was utterly ordinary. His exposed shoulders suggested he was shirtless under the covers. Solid build, decently handsome—but nothing more. She could spot a dozen guys like him on any street in a day. High-rank hunters exuded their own aura, even in sleep. This one? Nothing.
Kim Seol-bi's story checked out. An E-rank who'd toppled two elite hunters at once...
The earlier hopelessness evaporated, replaced by a surging wave of curiosity.
"Would you mind stepping out?"
"Pardon?"
"I need to concentrate. It'll be easier with just the two of us."
"But..."
Kang A-jin glanced back at Kim Seol-bi. Her conflicted expression made her worries plain.
"Don't worry. I feel no romantic pull toward this man whatsoever. I've trained for years to conquer base desires. To ease your mind, I'll add that I've never once been intimate with a man since birth. Gender itself holds no meaning for me."
Kim Seol-bi's face softened at Kang A-jin's earnest words.
"I'm sorry. I'll leave you to it, then."
Alone with Kang Sung-gi in the room, Kang A-jin let out a quiet sigh. What she'd told Kim Seol-bi was no lie. To hone her shamanic powers, she'd long distanced herself from earthly passions. Truth be told, men had never interested her much. Her striking beauty had drawn constant male gazes since youth, but her otherworldly aura kept them at bay. She'd reached her mid-twenties without a single relationship. Part of that was deliberate—she'd built walls around herself. Romance felt incomprehensible, uncomfortable even.
Even before awakening, she'd been drawn to the occult, shamanism, mysticism. She'd encountered strange phenomena firsthand, unafraid, only more intrigued, diving deeper. Perhaps that's why her post-awakening ability aligned so perfectly.
She'd never bothered with formal rank testing at the Hunter Management Office, but she knew she was S-rank. Her powers were mental in nature, expanding with time—new skills emerging the more she studied and refined them.
She'd learned of similar ability users abroad, operating outside typical hunter norms. Shamans researched and mastered skills independently, taking commissions from hunters in binds and resolving them. Requests varied wildly—not just from hunters, either. The world brimmed with oddities beyond monsters.
After awakening, she'd wandered foreign lands for years, tracking down her ilk, exchanging knowledge, honing her craft. Once she'd outgrown her teachers, she returned home and started accepting jobs. Word spread fast; to filter the flood, she set sky-high fees. Still, commissions poured in, and she cherry-picked those piquing her curiosity. In the process, she'd amassed new skills, her abilities skyrocketing—not in raw mana, but in breadth and depth.
Her name became legend in elite circles. The public knew little, but those at society's pinnacle kept her contact as insurance.
To become a master shaman, conquering lust came first—a lesson from fellow shamans abroad. They'd warned it was grueling, but not for her. Romance was alien anyway, so she'd progressed faster than most.
Sharing a room with a man stirred nothing in her.
"Hmm..."
Kang A-jin peered down at Kang Sung-gi. His steady breathing—whoosh, whoosh—painted a picture of serene slumber. A faint smile played on his lips, as if lost in pleasant dreams. Earlier, treating Kim Eun-bi had been a struggle. But facing the source himself? Her doubts vanished.
Of course...
No ability in the world could resist her. She just hadn't known he was mere E-rank before. Her approach had been flawed from the start.
From her inventory, she pulled a few talismans. First, analyze his mana's nature, find the weakness.
In the quiet room, she began the ritual. Far smoother than with Kim Eun-bi—peaceful, even.
But when she snapped back to awareness, something was terribly wrong. Her shamanism couldn't touch him at all. That ease? Her spell had spun harmlessly astray.
"Umm..."
Gazing at the blissfully sleeping man, Kang A-jin's heart plummeted.
No way...
Thump, thump.
Unbeknownst to herself, she'd already lifted the blanket covering Kang Sung-gi.