The Original Heroine: Lee Ha-yeon
For four long years, this world had been at peace.
Villains still ran rampant, and society still had no shortage of problems — but at least there was never any sense that the world itself was about to end.
And in the midst of this lasting peace, I was currently…
"Seo-jun, once it hits midnight tonight, how about we take a bath together?"
Listening to Seomun Ye-jin, who was already mapping out all sorts of plans first thing in the morning.
"Doing our first time in the bathroom feels a little off, don't you think?"
"Ah! You're right! Seo-jun, you're absolutely right! We should do it on the bed so the evidence is recorded forever, shouldn't we? Hehe~ If the blood from giving you my virginity leaves a red stain… I'll have to keep it as a family heirloom for a long, long time."
"Don't say weird things. If you kept that as an heirloom, I'd be part of it too, wouldn't I?"
"Yes! That's right, isn't it? Heheh~ I'd be doing it together with you, Seo-jun~"
One look at Seomun Ye-jin lighting up at my words made it obvious — the heirloom talk just now hadn't been serious. It was a joke.
What she'd really wanted to hear was that if she made it an heirloom, I would be part of it too. In other words, that we would be doing it together as husband and wife.
"You really are something, Miss. You could just ask me directly, you know."
"But hearing it come out naturally like this is nice too~"
Seomun Ye-jin loved it whenever I spoke as if it were the most natural, obvious thing in the world.
If it makes her happy, well — that makes me happy too.
Watching her smile so joyfully, I caught myself. The corners of my own mouth had already curled up.
Lee Ha-yeon.
Her father was Lee Jeong-cheon, a Korean SSS-class hunter. Her mother was Isabelle Marsa, an American of French descent who had once been a famous model in the United States before retiring.
Born of East and West, she had, unusually, taken after her mother far more than her father — and from her earliest years, she had stood out.
Her father, Lee Jeong-cheon, was the guild master of the Angel Guild, one of the top ten guilds. The Angel Guild was not like the Chilseong Guild or the Taehan Guild, which each boasted two or more SSS-class hunters — but it was still a world-renowned guild with an SSS-class hunter at its head.
And Lee Ha-yeon, born under such a father, had been praised for her exceptional talent since she was little.
"Incredible!"
"At this rate, she might reach SSS-class while she's still in her twenties!"
A genius already locked in as the next generation's SSS-class hunter.
That was the label that had been stuck on Lee Ha-yeon since childhood.
Wherever she went, she drew attention. Wherever she went, she carried expectations. To grow stronger as quickly as possible, she had spent most of her time in South Korea, where mana was abundant, and even at a young age she had volunteered to raid dungeons, building a formidable reputation.
"One, two~"
Until recently she had been in America raiding dungeons. Today, she had just come home.
Taking a deep breath as she stepped out of the airport, she kept a smile on her face through the barrage of cameras and even gave a light wave.
"Wait! Don't push!"
"Just let us get an interview!"
"Don't block the way! This is necessary for the public's right to know!"
Lee Ha-yeon offered a picture-perfect smile of gratitude to the Angel Guild members who were physically holding back the reporters charging at her for interviews.
"Thank you for your help again today, everyone."
"Not at all, Miss!"
"We're happy to be of help!"
Lee Ha-yeon's reputation was excellent. Even though she had been born and raised as the young lady of the Angel Guild, she never looked down on the guild members, and she was known for being kind to everyone around her. On top of that, her dazzling blonde hair, pink eyes, and glamorous figure only pushed her reputation even higher.
After leaving the airport, she got in a car and was heading first to the Angel Guild headquarters in Seoul.
"Villains!"
Villains had appeared on the roads of Incheon, smashing the pavement and indiscriminately attacking the cars around them.
"Miss, it's an ambush."
"It looks like you're the target."
"Yes, it seems that way."
Cars went tumbling through the air. Screams erupted from the people still inside, but hunters nearby lunged in and caught the vehicles before they could smash into the ground.
Lee Ha-yeon carefully gathered mana into her hands, ready to fire it the moment she needed to.
Villains, huh.
What Lee Ha-yeon felt was annoyance and irritation.
Ordinarily, her personality matched her innocent-looking face — she was a gentle person. Spending time in America wearing dresses and attending parties had been exhausting. Having been put through those parties right up until yesterday, Lee Ha-yeon had wanted nothing more than to rest now that she was back in Korea — and instead, she had been ambushed by villains targeting her.
She was mentally exhausted. Of course she was irritated.
"Leave this to us."
"We'll handle it quickly."
The guild members in the neighboring cars grabbed their weapons and piled out.
"Aaaagh!"
"These guys are strong!"
The villains who had been causing havoc on the road could not withstand the Angel Guild combatants' assault.
There were places where SSS-class villains like So Gang-seok would launch unexpected attacks, but the ones targeting Lee Ha-yeon now had simply seen an opportunity — she was not under the protection of her father, Guild Master Lee Jeong-cheon.
Especially after the incidents So Gang-seok had caused, the Kangin Guild had been watching SSS-class mana-awakened villains even more closely. It was already hard for them to operate in the North; operating in the South, where security had grown even tighter, was nearly impossible.
I don't even need to step in.
Watching it all get cleaned up without her needing to lift a finger, Lee Ha-yeon stepped out of the car.
"Thank you, everyone. Is anyone hurt?"
From what she could see, no one looked injured, but just in case, she checked over the Angel Guild members after getting out.
"Yes! We're fine!"
"They weren't anything special!"
The Angel Guild members stacked the subdued villains in a pile and spoke with pride. Soon enough, the cleanup crews from the Kangin Guild's subordinate organizations would arrive to arrest the villains and repair the wrecked road in no time.
I can just get back in the car and rest.
That was what Lee Ha-yeon thought.
"We heard that Miss Lee Ha-yeon of the Angel Guild was attacked, so we came."
"We'll add our strength to your escort all the way to Seoul."
But then another nuisance cropped up.
The Baekho Guild had heard the news and dispatched personnel, offering their assistance to the Angel Guild as a gesture of goodwill. The escort was led by Baek Seo-jin, the heir of the Baekho Guild, and they had even hired a healer among their members.
"I'm Baek Seo-jin. The Baekho Guild sent us to serve as your escort. I'll do everything I can to make sure Miss Lee Ha-yeon arrives safely."
"I'm Han Se-hee. I'm fifteen, and I'll be serving as the healer."
The girl named Han Se-hee who had come as a healer was not a member of the Baekho Guild — she had been hired.
Han Se-hee. I know that name too.
Lee Ha-yeon had been away from Korea for a while, but she had heard of Han Se-hee. Recently, she had become famous as a healer who did not belong to any guild.
And in person, she was a beautiful girl — long pink hair, red eyes, an innocent air, and a well-developed figure that all came together remarkably well. To Lee Ha-yeon's eyes, her beauty did not lose even when compared to her own, and she had not seen looks like this even in America.
Wait — this boy said he's the same age as me? He's strong.
Lee Ha-yeon was a little surprised looking at Baek Seo-jin. He was supposedly the same age as her, yet he seemed every bit as strong as she was — and she was an S-class hunter. She had not expected there to be someone this skilled among her peers, aside from Seomun Ye-jin from four years ago.
There was also Kim Ho-jun, who had been an SSS-class hunter four years ago at her current age, but he was so far outside the norm that she did not even count him as a point of comparison.
Baek Seo-jin was a handsome boy with blue hair, green eyes, and a gentle air — the kind of boy anyone would take a liking to at first meeting. But Lee Ha-yeon, worn down by parties until just yesterday, was too mentally exhausted for his looks or his atmosphere to make much of an impression.
"Yes, thank you. I'm a little tired, though — would it be all right if I rest for a bit?"
"Of course. That's fine."
"Thank you."
Listening to Baek Seo-jin speak so confidently, Lee Ha-yeon was about to close her eyes for a moment.
KRAAAAAANG!
A man appeared, radiating a vast mana that made the villains from earlier look like nothing.
"What the hell is this?"
Watching the breaking news pop up in real time, I briefly wondered if the articles had it wrong.
Why had the two original heroines suddenly been thrown into a death-flag scenario?
The original protagonist really is useless, isn't he.
