Fooled Once, Not Twice!
Two times? No wayyy――――――――!! An ear-splitting alarm blared through the room. The hexagonal pillar, which I assumed was a mana conduction stone I'd infused with my mana, was cracked, and fissures spiderwebbed across the floor where it was embedded.
What the hell? Why's this thing so fragile? ......Ah! I dumped way too much mana in at once, didn't I! Even a mana-absorbing conduction stone has its limits if you overload it like that. Yeah, totally my bad. Oopsie!
The exit door's that way, right? Better hustle back and get on with my boring country life.
[Um, excuse me, tester! Could you wait just a moment?]
As I headed for the door I'd come in through, a frantic male voice crackled from the ceiling speaker. Stay calm. In situations like this, acting natural is the best way to slip out without raising suspicion. I turned toward what looked like a surveillance camera, flashed a friendly eye-smile, and said,
"Gotta hit the bathroom real quick—mind if I step out for a sec?"
[Huh? Oh... uh, sure, we'll open the door for you. But you have to come right back!]
"Yep!"
The door slid open slowly with my reply, and I strolled out casually. "Heh~ Fooled once, not twice~"
The second I cleared the room, I bolted down the hallway at full speed, darting up what looked like emergency stairs toward the central lobby. I had a pretty good read on this Hunter Management Bureau's playbook. First: "Please wait just a moment." Second: Door opens, and some beefy weirdos show up. Third: Some annoying crap goes down. I'd only fallen for it once, but my instincts screamed it—super tedious trouble incoming! This predictable pattern? Not on someone like me who's already studied it inside out.
"Kinda bummed I didn't make the cut as a hunter, but if word gets back to Sis... big trouble! She might actually ship me off to some deserted island for real this time!"
The wall of the emergency stairs flashed '1F', so I yanked open the door, figuring I'd hit the central lobby. Noise exploded as it swung wide.
[Repeating the alert: Massive mana reaction detected. Suspected gate formation— all hunters in the building, prepare for combat...]
"Suddenly?! My gear's still in maintenance!"
"A gate?! In the Management Bureau? What the hell!"
"P-Please, hunters! Stay calm and follow bureau instructions!"
"Don't you have coordinates yet? We need coords to prep or whatever!"
"Um, I just became a hunter yesterday—do I have to fight too?"
The lobby was pure pandemonium. And there I was, staring blankly.
"Whoa... this is way more serious than I thought."
One more reason to bail, stat. I could practically feel the ticket to some nameless island slipping into my hand. With everyone—men, women, young, old—rushing every which way, carving a path was no joke. Sighing, I picked up the pace toward the entrance, careful not to bump anyone.
"Hey!"
Sudden grip—someone yanked my wrist, throwing off my balance. What now? I turned to see a blue-haired woman clutching my wrist.
"It's you, right?!"
"......?"
Outta nowhere with the "you"? Is she about to out me or something? Her flushed face was prime misunderstanding bait. Not as glamorous as me, but toned body, sharp features—a total knockout. Ah... I get it now. This happened all the time back at Witch Academy. All girls there, so what can ya do? I even considered a few who matched my type, but Luine and my baby sis always crashed the party and turned it into a nothingburger. Baby sis was jealous of anyone stealing her beloved big sis, fine... but why'd Luine meddle? Thought she liked me at first, but she always dodged me after, so probably just my imagination?
Anyway! Not the point. In this chaos, I gotta shake off this lily-pushing cutie. Best to be brutally honest.
"Sorry, but I like 'em with a nice handful like my baby sis..."
"......Huh? What does that even... Just come with me!!"
She blinked in confusion, then dragged me off by the wrist anyway.
The woman hauled me straight to the famous coffee chain "Starbucks" in the outlet mall next to the Hunter Management Bureau. Amid all the gate panic, here we were, stuck in awkward tea time. The staff took our orders like it was business as usual. Guess they figure it's safe near the bureau? I tried bolting a few times, but she wouldn't let go of my wrist. Could've shaken her off with brute force if I wanted, but that'd draw way too much attention, so I sat tight till the coffee arrived.
"First off, let me introduce myself. I'm Cheon Yu-ri, B-rank hunter with Maru Guild."
She launches into self-intro out of nowhere. Hearing her guild made my spine tingle. Maru Guild?! Did Sis and So-hee unnie figure out I'm here and send her? Why else pick me out of all those hunters?! Oh man... I can see it: me filming fishing vlogs on some nameless island...
While I spiraled, Cheon Yu-ri kept talking.
"Straight to the point: What are you?"
"................Huh?"
Her curveball left me blurting like an idiot.
Bam!
She slammed both hands on the table, leaning in. "Don't play dumb! This is all your doing!"
"Ah...... Yeah, and?"
"Hngh...!"
My casual admission deflated her; she faceplanted onto the table with a weird noise. I let out a relieved sigh. Whew... guess she didn't figure out who I really am. Must've misunderstood. But how'd she know it was me? I figured people here couldn't sense mana that well...
Still facedown, she mumbled, "Y-You just... admitted it that easily...?!" Lost in her own confusion. Questions galore, but lingering near the bureau's too risky. I grabbed my half-finished coffee and stood.
"Look... no idea how you knew, but I'm kinda busy? Mind if I head out...?"
"Like hell I'm letting you go!! You were running away, right? I'll call the bureau right now and—!"
"Isn't that Maru Guild's guild master, Cheon So-hee, over there?"
I pointed behind her. She whipped around—"Huh? Why's unnie here...?"
Now's my chance!! I ditched the cup and sprinted out of the shop.
"Where'd she—...? Ahh!! You tricked me to escape...?!!!"
She yelled as she realized, but I didn't care—straight for the exit.
"Stop right there...!!!"
Like I'd stop because she said so. Sorry, but I cannot get caught. Bursting out of the store, I hit the wide-open central passage of the outlet and scanned for the outer door.
"Found it...!"
This place was massive—no joke, two minutes of weaving before spotting the exit. I lunged for it, hand on the door—
"Freeze!! Step away from the door!!"
Glancing back: Cheon Yu-ri, already on me. She thrust out her right arm, magic at the ready.
"Move and I shoot. Surrender quietly!!"
Mana gathered in her palm—dead serious, one twitch and she'd fire. Seeing that, my lips curled involuntarily. Heh, cute. Reminded me of Witch Academy elementary kids. B-rank hunter, huh? Pinpointing my mana, her control's way better than those A-rankers on MeTube. Wanna test her?
I ignored the warning and shoved the door.
Whoosh!
Flame orb launched from her hand the instant I moved. I didn't dodge—just flicked it away with my wrist. Poof—gone.
Her eyes bugged out at her spell's pathetic end. "Wha—what...?"
"Hmm... mana quantity's decent... attribute shift's passable, but 'density' is a bit lacking... Pack it tighter next time for more punch."
"...Huh? What're you...?"
Whoops! Coach mode slipped out. I stepped outside, but she didn't chase. Just stood there, dazed, watching me go. That shook her that bad? Fair—probably thought it was her ace shot, only for it to fizzle.
Late shouts trailed me, but I was already body-enhanced, full sprint. Nice meeting ya! Let's never meet again!
"Density's lacking?"
Those were the mystery woman's parting words after casually swatting the Fireball Cheon Yu-ri had begged her cousin So-hee to teach her two years ago. For Cheon Yu-ri—a hardcore magic nerd fresh out of the National Academy's magic research department—it lit a spark of burning curiosity.