Jiwoo Unnie's SOS
"………I'm taking the day off today."
Having just read the private messages that arrived moments ago, Kim Arin said that and abruptly shot to her feet.
Even though she'd only just arrived at the Hunter Guild she belonged to, there was no hesitation.
Thanks to that, the chair she'd suddenly parted ways with spun around left and right with a whirl.
Soon, Kim Arin pulled her hat and sunglasses low over her eyes.
Seeing Kim Arin really gearing up to leave, her startled fellow Hunter opened their mouth to ask.
"W-Wait a sec. Where are you going?"
"……I'm off for the day."
"Suddenly…? Did something happen?"
The fellow Hunter's puzzled voice.
But Kim Arin offered no real answer, simply heading out of the guild building.
Her fellow Hunter quickly chased after the departing Kim Arin but ultimately couldn't catch her.
By the time the fellow Hunter made it outside the guild building, Kim Arin was already gone.
All that remained in her place were faint crackling sparks.
"…I'm so dead…."
In the end, the fellow Hunter who'd lost sight of Kim Arin muttered that while repeatedly wiping their face.
And understandably so—the person who'd clocked in and out right away was one of the guild's few S-rank Hunters.
To add a bit more, she was the one with a meeting scheduled with government officials regarding yesterday's Gangseo Gate incident.
"Wh-Where's Kim Arin…?"
It was only natural that the guild master, who arrived shortly after, asked about Kim Arin's whereabouts with a pale face.
Before the guild master, Kim Arin's fellow Hunter just kept their mouth shut and turned their head aside.
And at that moment.
In a certain monthly-rent neighborhood in Seoul's Gangseo District.
"Haa, haa……."
Kim Arin, who had just arrived in front of the rundown rooftop room, panted heavily.
Even though she'd gotten there at literal lightning speed, she couldn't help but worry.
What on earth had happened to Lee Jiwoo?
This was someone who never reached out first, aside from occasional check-in calls.
Could she have gotten swept up in the gate that appeared out of nowhere yesterday?
No, Lee Jiwoo's name wasn't on the Gangseo Gate entrant list…….
-Ding-dong.
She pressed the bell and, uncharacteristically, her leg trembled.
Was it an occupational hazard as a Hunter that her imagination kept spiraling toward the worst possibilities?
-Creak….
"C-Come in."
"……!"
The voice didn't sound particularly ill.
But everything else was off.
"Unnie……. …Is that really Jiwoo Unnie?"
"Y-Yeah…."
Not black straight hair, but silky white.
Somehow much rounder eyes.
An overall noticeably younger appearance.
The unnie she hadn't seen in days looked more like a little sister than an older one.
To add a personal note, pretty darn cute.
"………Wow."
Somehow suppressing the urge to pet her, Kim Arin let out a short exclamation.
Jiwoo scratched her neck awkwardly in response.
But before Jiwoo could even start explaining, her stomach clock spoke first.
-Grrrowl….
"……Unnie." "Huh?"
"You skipped breakfast."
"Ah, no, it's not that I skipped…."
"Pick something. I'll order now. It'll be here soon."
She wanted to get some food in her first.
Why Jiwoo had messaged for help.
Why she'd suddenly turned into this little girl.
If something had happened yesterday.
All those stories could wait until Jiwoo's belly was full.
-Nom nom.
-Nom nom.
"Wha'cha eatin'?"
Jiwoo, devouring the spam lunchbox (extra sides) that Kim Arin had ordered, mumbled through a full mouth.
Kim Arin shook her head side to side and continued watching Jiwoo's lunchbox mukbang.
She wasn't particularly hungry.
She was more worried about Jiwoo.
"………Unnie."
"Hm?"
"You still……. …haven't changed your mind?"
The worn electric blanket, the fridge left behind by the previous tenant, dingy yellowed wallpaper.
Rusty sink here and there. Junky old computer.
The ancient flip phone that Kim Arin had barely stuffed into Jiwoo's long padding pocket ages ago.
The rooftop room scenery—not something you could call decent even as flattery—caught Kim Arin's eye once more.
"……Just live with me already……."
Knowing Jiwoo's answer would be the same, Kim Arin muttered anyway, as if insisting she hear it.
No matter what anyone said, Kim Arin was an S-rank Hunter.
She earned more than enough money.
But to Kim Arin all this time, Jiwoo had consistently replied like this.
'How could I spend your money? It's all stuff you risked your life for.'
'If I'd awakened, maybe. But as a non-awakener, I hate keepin' my hand out to you.'
'…Keep this up and I won't take your calls.'
Was it Jiwoo's last shred of pride?
Or an inferiority complex as a non-awakener?
Or guilt over begging from her little sister, even if they were like blood sisters?
Even though they'd grown up almost like real siblings in the same orphanage, Jiwoo absolutely refused Kim Arin's money.
She insisted on living only off money she earned herself—not from Kim Arin's Hunter gigs.
Just minutes ago, hadn't she balked at Kim Arin offering to buy breakfast, saying she had no money to repay?
What was so hard and sorry about it?
Between us.
"Ugh, this is an S-rank Hunter's breakfast……."
"…………."
After finishing the lunchbox and making a dopey satisfied face, Kim Arin stared intently at Jiwoo for a moment.
Then she stood up casually and squatted right in front of her again.
"So."
"Yeah?"
"What…happened?"
Kim Arin could barely recognize her because she still remembered Jiwoo's childlike form.
Minus the hair color, this Jiwoo was just like the unnie who'd stuck to her side every day at the orphanage.
But an adult turning young again didn't make sense to begin with.
Even imagining some kind of magic—there was no such thing in the world yet.
If de-aging magic existed, they'd have used it on the big shots first.
"I-I awakened."
"…?"
"S-rank. Two of 'em. Plus a skill that'll go S-rank later."
"……??"
"From now on, call me Powerhouse Jiwoo."
"Wanna…go to the hospital?"
"Even you too?"
Hearing Kim Arin's worried voice, Jiwoo made a shocked face.
As if she'd really awakened as an S-rank Hunter, thumping her chest indignantly.
"…Status window!"
Finally, those three words shouted into the air.
The air right in front of Jiwoo rippled, and a translucent status window really appeared.
Of course, Kim Arin couldn't see it.
Awakener status windows were visible only to the person themselves, after all.
If others could see them, there'd be no need to visit the Hunter Association or do rank measurements in front of examiners.
The status window screenshots floating around online were all computer graphics recreations.
"You really…awakened?"
Even so, feeling faint mana, Kim Arin gave her a puzzled look.
There were no cases of awakening causing de-aging or hair color changes that she'd heard of.
But it had happened to Jiwoo for real.
Though her mana level was only about F-rank, she had definitely awakened…….
"…Hehe."
Jiwoo, watching Kim Arin's round eyes, suddenly let out a weird laugh.
And struck a weird pose.
"Ahh, I didn't wanna use it here──."
She said some cheesy line with a smug face.
"────Watch closely. And don't tell a soul!"
-Swipe….
-Snap!
"Assimilation!"
Around then, Kim Arin was seriously wondering if she should drag Jiwoo to the hospital.
But right after, the intense mana surge she felt.
Rank: F → S (Entity: Fenrion Assimilation in progress)
Currently Assimilating: Fenrion (23%)
"……!"
Swish swish. Suddenly, a fluffy tail sprouted from behind Jiwoo.
Two ears popped up atop her snowy white hair.
Like a wolf beastkin.
Still looking like a cute girl on the outside, so not that threatening.
But Kim Arin could sense the aura inside was far from ordinary.
"How about that. Believe me now?"
"……Does your speech change when you transform too?"
"N-No, not that. …Anyway! I really awakened."
"Yeah……. Looks like it."
"Real S-rank. Believe it."
"I-I believe you."
"Now I'm stronger than you. Hit me all you want, I won't get a scratch?"
"……Hospital?"
At Kim Arin's straight-ball response again, Jiwoo flopped over with a dead-inside face.
She'd only told the straight facts from one to ten, so why wouldn't she believe her?
She felt like bursting into tears from the injustice.
As someone who'd once been a man, she couldn't cry in front of her little sis.
-Flash.
"…Wait, no. I can just show you."
An idea flashed through my head, and I jumped right up.
Explaining each skill one by one was boring and pretentious.
But proving which dungeon I'd cleared? Easy with a photo.
Yesterday's dungeon was apparently S-rank, so clearing it naturally proved I was S-rank too.
"Photo…?"
"Took pics of the hidden boss. I'll show you."
"……For real, hospital?"
"Yes!!!"
I scolded Kim Arin for not believing me and shoved a photo from my phone in her face.
A close-up shot of the massive wolf monster Fenrion staring right at me.
"If you don't believe this, you're not human."
"…This is really a hidden boss?"
"Yeah. Warnings popped up like this, it went 'GRRRAWWR' huge, everyone passed out, that kinda thing."
Kim Arin didn't fully believe me but didn't totally disbelieve either.
She's an S-rank Hunter after all, so she could gauge the monster in the photo to some extent.
"……What kind of skills did you even awaken to do that."
"Conversation Immunity, Let's Be Friends. Those are my S-rank skills."
"……Hospital tim."
"I said really!"
Hospital talk was funny at first, but repeating it would piss off even mild me.
Why can't status windows be photographed?
If they could, I wouldn't have to explain one by one.
"Those two really are S-rank skills. How else would I be alive?"
"……Hold on."
"Yeah?"
Like she'd noticed something she'd missed, Kim Arin got serious.
And suddenly grabbed both my arms.
Shoved her face in uncomfortably close.
"Unnie."
"Y-Yeah…?"
"That gate yesterday. You went in?"
And started an out-of-nowhere interrogation.
Strictly speaking, I didn't go in on purpose—I just fell into a sinkhole walking home.
No thanks to weird misunderstandings.
"Y-Yeah. I went in the gate yesterday. So what? Whatcha gonna do, punk."
"……That gate was S-rank."
"But I survived, right? Without me, the other Hunters would've died too."
Only then did Kim Arin start believing everything I'd said so far.
From really awakening S-rank skills to encountering a hidden boss.
I'd called her to discuss the dungeon incident anyway.
So I figured I'd ask this sorta-famous S-rank Hunter what to do next.
And probe about my weird skills.
-Swipe….
"Hey. Stop. St-Stop."
Kim Arin, face screaming anger, prepped a finger flick at me.
Dunno why she's mad, but an S-rank Hunter finger flick would kill normals.
-Swipe…!
-Flick!
You cannot attack during conversation.
"……Huh?"
But I'm not normal!
Kim Arin's index finger flew right to my forehead but stopped short of touching.
Thanks to my S-rank invincible skill, Conversation Immunity….
"Hehe. Feel the power gap?"
"…………."
Only then did Kim Arin seem to realize I'd really become an S-rank Hunter like her.
A hint of fluster crossed her pursed lips.
"I really saved those Hunters…. Fought the monsters all cool like this and that. Found and retrieved the dungeon core myself. Oh, solo clear btw."
"Dungeon core too……. …You alone, Unnie."
"Yeah. So, about that—can you look into the dungeon clear reward for me? I won't sleep if I don't get that cash."
And so I revealed the real reason I'd called her.
She's a famous S-rank, so asking around would reach the Hunters I'd been with yesterday.
More details on my skills could wait—money first.
Clearing the dungeon reward was a must to start with peace of mind.
Honestly, I did most of the work yesterday.
The Hunters fought hard too, but I deserved my share fair and square.
"……Got it."
"Nice."
I nodded in satisfaction at Kim Arin's straightforward reply.
Money sorted, my mind eased right up.
S-rank dungeon, so the reward won't be chump change.
No money worries for a while.
But.
-Crackle, zzzap.
-Flash!
"……Unnie."
Kim Arin, suddenly wreathed in scary lightning all over, spoke with scary eyes.
Of course, zero fear.
Even she couldn't hurt me.
Invincible skill ain't invincible for nothing.
"So, is the computer invincible too?"
"…!"
Her crackling index finger pointed at my precious computer.
I slammed my head down and begged for mercy.
Computer breaks, my world ends.
There's a whole person in that computer, okay?
Please spare the computer.
"How'd you go into a dungeon without a care…. …No, even in a dungeon, you should've stayed put. Hunters were there—why'd you fight, Unnie."
Biting her lower lip, Kim Arin scolded me.
Honestly, nothing to say, so I stayed meek.
I did ditch the Hunters and charge the monsters first.
…Dunno what confidence I had yesterday.
Couldn't exactly say "It all worked out okay in the end."
That'd get my computer hit with an S-rank Hunter's full-power million volts.
Heartless jerk, taking my computer hostage.
"Um, hey…. Arin."
"…………."
"One more favor…possible?"
Like go ahead and say it, Kim Arin crossed her arms silently.
Finally, I spoke up.
About another major issue besides the clear reward.
-Swish swish.
-Swish swish.
"I got no clothes that fit right now. Just buy me some clothes. I'll pay you back later."
"…………."
I wagged my tail cutely as I begged.
No response, so I took the silence as a yes.
Silence means consent, right?