The Price of Overconfidence
Everyone's gazes gathered in one place.
They fixed on the marten draped like laundry over Kwak Hye-won's shoulder as she brewed coffee.
The shadow marten—no ordinary animal—was currently the star attraction drawing customers into the Seonhwa Animal Cafe.
Its snout slid toward the three iced Americanos being set onto the tray.
Poke.
Kwak Hye-won's index finger blocked the marten's nose. With a soft squish, the body that had been sliding forward settled back onto her shoulder.
Having failed its goal, the marten tapped her shoulder with its front paws as if sulking. It felt cool and refreshing.
Drawing envious looks, Kwak Hye-won moved across the floor. At a window seat, a familiar man and an unfamiliar woman sat facing each other.
“…….”
“…….”
The pair was quiet.
The word "date" briefly crossed her mind, but if that had been the case there would have been only two iced Americanos on the tray.
“Your coffee is ready.”
“Ah, you should have called me….”
“You're here as a customer. Oh, and the tart and cookies are on the house.”
Ko Sung-yoon half-rose awkwardly and took the tray. Gratitude welled up at the sight of the desserts piled high on it.
“Wow, thank you…!”
“If you're thankful, don't leave any leftovers.”
“Yes!”
“Have a good time.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
Yu Ha-rin dipped her head slightly.
The stares fixed on her felt burdensome, but she decided to let it slide after seeing the tray full of desserts.
Still, curiosity got the better of her.
“You seem close with the owner?”
“Yes. I worked part-time here for two years… I quit not long ago.”
“Ah.”
Yu Ha-rin nodded at the answer.
Most hunter trainees juggled part-time jobs. Even after becoming hunters, some never quit—F-class pay simply wasn't that good.
The fact that he had quit suggested real confidence.
Confidence that he could not only become a hunter but climb the ranks as well.
“…….”
“…….”
“…Are you two a couple?”
A voice cut into the quiet between them. It belonged to Seo Yun-jae, owner of the third Americano. Startled eyes and a frowning pair both turned toward him.
“You're here? Yun-jae hyung. Sit here.”
“It's not like that.”
“Yeah. Even if it is, none of my business.”
“I said no.”
“I get it already.”
Seo Yun-jae shrugged and sat beside Ko Sung-yoon, then picked up a cookie and popped it into his mouth.
He paid zero attention to Yu Ha-rin's glare.
…Yeah. Better get straight to the point.
“How about the three of us enter a dungeon?”
“The three of us—”
“A dungeon?”
Seo Yun-jae and Yu Ha-rin asked at the same time. Neither had expected that the reason for today's meeting was a proposal to enter a dungeon.
His bright smile had made them think it was just for hanging out.
Ko Sung-yoon pressed on quickly.
“What I felt during the training course is that more experience is always better.”
“That's true.”
Seo Yun-jae agreed at once.
He had keenly felt problems he never noticed while stuck in his room practicing magic alone.
Yu Ha-rin across the table was the same.
She had never imagined she would freeze and fail to shoot an arrow at a goblin simply because it was humanoid.
That had been a valuable lesson only the dungeon could teach.
“But how?”
The obvious question came out.
How were trainees without hunter licenses supposed to enter a dungeon?
It couldn't be a suggestion to reapply for the hunter training program.
The program wasn't available every week, and all three of them had already finished the practical course. Taking it again would mean starting over from the introductory level.
“You're not saying we sneak in, right?”
A less-than-obvious question followed.
Sneak in?
The entrances were sealed by security gates and watched by managers.
Some places lacked managers due to understaffing, but even those still had security gates as a matter of course.
Occasionally budget issues left only simple sensors and CCTV, but still….
“You know that if you get badly hurt doing something like that, it's entirely on you, right?”
Seo Yun-jae put it a little indirectly.
Not just hurt—even if you died, it was your own responsibility.
How many fools had already thrown their lives away, lured by dungeon rewards?
He had no intention of becoming one of them.
“Of course I know. We're going to use the Dongdae program!”
“Dongdae program?”
“Yes. There's a program that lets you tour dungeons inside the autonomous district.”
“There was a program like that…? Why didn't I ever see it?”
“That makes sense. In Jung-gu, only Seonhwa-dong runs it, and even then only very occasionally.”
“Only Seonhwa-dong? Uh, isn't that a little unfair?”
“Ah, that—”
“It's not.”
Yu Ha-rin cut in.
Clink. She stirred the ice with her straw as she spoke.
“Hunter Choi Heeseok is stationed there, right?”
“Ah.”
“It would be weirder if Seonhwa-dong ran the exact same program as every other Dongdae.”
“Right. That makes sense….”
Seo Yun-jae accepted it immediately.
Hearing the name Choi Heeseok, the arrangement no longer felt unfair at all.
It felt only natural.
“Anyway, I applied for that program.”
“Oh. Hope it gets approved.”
“Yeah. When do the results come out?”
“Ah, that….”
“Right now.”
The answer did not come from Ko Sung-yoon. It came from a corner seat behind Yu Ha-rin.
Suddenly.
Like a sunrise, a head rose over the back of the chair.
“…Huh? Yeon-i hyung? How long have you been there?”
“Fourteen minutes.”
“Fourteen minutes? Then—”
“Yes. I got here before any of you.”
“No way….”
Then why didn't you say anything…?
While the three sat too dumbfounded to speak, Choi Yeon came over carrying a tart and an iced Americano.
The moment he sat down, Yu Ha-rin asked a question.
“Teacher, so you have a stealth skill?”
“No. Similar, but different.”
“……?”
“It's erasing presence. He got it while dodging work because he hates working. Right?”
“…That's right. But Sung-yoon-ssi, talking about someone else's skill without permission is bad manners.”
“Ah….”
Ko Sung-yoon hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.
It was useless after the words were already out, but the apology was genuine.
Choi Yeon smiled as if it were fine. In truth, he had committed the same offense first.
Hadn't he spilled everything to Lee Seong-jun in the underground training ground?
“Just be careful next time.”
“Yes!”
“…You two already knew each other?”
Seo Yun-jae muttered.
From the first meeting he had thought the guy was thick-skinned, but the exchange just now was not the vibe of people who had known each other only a day or two.
“Yes.”
“That's right! We ran into each other a lot when I was working part-time here.”
“Hmm….”
“…….”
Seo Yun-jae and Yu Ha-rin fell silent, thinking.
As far as they remembered, the two had never acknowledged each other or taken sides during the training program. That meant there had been no problem.
But… what about today?
If the application had been accepted because they knew each other, that would be preferential treatment.
Choi Yeon immediately read their worries and explained in a reassuring tone.
“It's fine. The program Sung-yoon-ssi applied for was rejected. Heeseok hyungnim is busy these days.”
“Ah….”
The two nodded.
If it had been rejected, there was no preferential treatment to worry about.
A new question rose in its place, though: then why had he come all the way out here?
Even if they knew each other, there was no need to go to the trouble of delivering a rejection in person.
Choi Yeon caught that fresh doubt at once as well.
“I'm thinking of looking after all of you personally. Separate from the Dongdae program.”
“Teacher will look after us?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, is that even okay?”
“It's fine. Other hunters take their disciples or juniors in all the time.”
“Is that so…?”
Seo Yun-jae asked back, surprised.
It was news to him, so he was quite taken aback, but Ko Sung-yoon and Yu Ha-rin looked calm, as if they had already known.
Under his gaze, Ko Sung-yoon started chattering.
“Yun-jae hyung, you remember the people from Hunters GYM, right?”
“Of course.”
“We originally invited them too.”
“Cough—those guys…?”
“Yes. Kang Woo-seok left me on read, but Kim Yerin actually bragged that she was going in with her seniors. That's when I learned it was allowed.”
“I see. What about you?”
“I heard it from my master.”
“Ahh….”
What the hell—only I didn't know?
Seo Yun-jae felt awkward realizing everyone else had known information he alone had missed.
As if covering for him while he shut his mouth in embarrassment, Yu Ha-rin asked the next question.
“But why?”
“Yes?”
“Even if Sung-yoon-ssi is one thing, the two of us are strangers. Why take us along as well?”
“…Because you gave good evaluation scores for the program?”
Choi Yeon answered without so much as wetting his lips. At the same time he sank into recollection.
Choi Yeon flung the dagger with all his strength.
A silver line trailed behind the vigorously flying blade.
The thread, stretched taut as if slicing the air itself, connected back to Choi Yeon's palm.
Whoooom…!
He seized the silver thread and drew a circle. The spinning dagger continuously carved through the air.
Whoooom, whoom, whoom…!
The circle gradually shrank. The moment the dagger returned to his grip, the training ground door opened.
The people who stepped through were Dongdae Chief Kim Jaesang and Choi Heeseok.
Only then did Choi Yeon realize Lee Chae-young had left and he was alone.
Oh no. While swinging the dagger like a man possessed, he had become an accomplice to embezzlement.
“…Choi Yeon.”
“Yes.”
“…….”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
“Did you do something wrong? You're asking because you don't know?”
“Um….”
Choi Yeon scratched his head.
It couldn't be because he had trained during work hours… Had they already found out he had unknowingly become an embezzlement accomplice?
Dongdae Chief Kim Jaesang let out a deep sigh.
“Yeon-i, you knew there was an assassin and still didn't stop the program, right?”
“Ah, that?”
“…Why?”
“Because I figured there was no need.”
“No need….”
Kim Jaesang slapped his own forehead hard.
Then he glared fiercely at Choi Yeon.
“You punk, why the hell is there no need…! Don't you care about the trainees' safety?”
“I did think about it?”
“What?”
“I judged the assassin's skill was so poor I could protect the trainees while subduing him.”
“…Basis for that judgment?”
“His total mana was low, his circulation method was crude, and his speed was slow.”
“Fine. If that's how you saw it, then it must be right.”
“Then—”
“But do things in this world always go the way you figure?”
Not really.
Choi Yeon swallowed the answer.
If the world always went the way he figured, he would never work overtime, would always succeed at slacking off, and would leave early every single day.
Even now he was using patrol as an excuse to head home early.
“What if the trainees got hurt because of that? What would you do then, huh?”
“That's why I said I wouldn't let them get hurt—”
“Just say you were confident you could protect them.”
Bulge!
Kim Jaesang shoved his forehead upward with force.
If Choi Yeon added another word, the red, wrinkled folds looked ready to split open, so he shut his mouth.
Experience had taught him that silence was better than honesty at times like this.
“Yeon-ah.”
At that moment, Choi Heeseok, who had been watching quietly, called his name.
“In my opinion too, this time you were overconfident.”
“…….”
“If it had been me, I would have stopped the program.”
“…Yes.”
At Choi Heeseok's firm words, Choi Yeon accepted them calmly.
Choi Heeseok was far stronger than him and even more skilled at protecting others. If someone like that said he would have stopped the program, what more was there to say?
Any excuse would only sound unconvincing.
“Ugh….”
Kim Jaesang sighed.
He was thoroughly displeased that Choi Yeon had only half-listened to him yet immediately lowered his tail the moment Choi Heeseok spoke a single sentence.
“Still, since you caught the assassin without any trouble, we decided to let it slide.”
“…….”
“What. You got a problem with that?”
“No, well….”
“…We'll give you the bounty.”
“Oh… oh?”
Bounty? What about vacation?
Seeing the questioning look on Choi Yeon's face, the Dongdae Chief grinned. The red wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out completely.
“You would have gotten vacation too—if you had stopped the program first and then caught the assassin.”
“…….”
“If you had caught him after stopping it, that is.”
“No, no, my vacation…!”
Choi Yeon wailed in pure despair.