The Hikikomori Saintess Na Hyun
Na Hyun, the hikikomori saintess, age 26. She used to be active as a hunter in the past, but now she's practically half-retired due to PTSD from another world. It must've been quite the traumatic incident, because she seemed really reluctant to bring it up. At first, she was super guarded, but as we talked, her speech gradually loosened up.
"Unnie, where's your house?"
"Well... I still don't know the area that well. Ra-yoon, you said it takes about 30 minutes on foot from your place to mine, right?"
"Yeah! Na Hyun-unnie, remember that pension I told you about before? That's Rose-unnie's house."
"Gasp...! Th-that super starry, aesthetic place was Rose-unnie's house?!"
I'd unintentionally ended up in the same boat as her—both of us with trauma from another world as our excuse for being here—so we bonded super fast over shared misery. Thanks to that, we started speaking casually to each other, but Na Hyun said she prefers polite speech with people older than her, so I didn't push the banmal on her.
"Someone living in a place like that must've been a total hotshot hunter, right, Rose-unnie?"
Na Hyun's topic had already shifted to my past.
No? Far from hotshot—I literally just became a hunter yesterday, a total newbie.
But I couldn't say that.
"Well... uh... I found some good stuff in dungeons. It's just pure luck that lets me live like this. I'm not anything special."
"Luck is a skill too!"
"Yeah! And unnie can use magic so well!"
Ra-yoon chimed in right after Na Hyun's response. Yeah, luck's definitely an irreplaceable part of life, huh? The one advanced spell I could use, Miracle Time, was something I'd learned with that exact kind of wishful thinking poured into it.
"So where do you live, Na Hyun?"
"I live in the same neighborhood as Ra-yoon."
"Na Hyun-unnie's place is great and all, but it's so high up, it's a pain to get to..."
"Then how do you come over every day?"
"'Cause Rose-unnie's is on the way to school."
What, is my house a rest stop now?
"So you two must see each other a lot?"
"Nah? It's been two months since we last met, even today."
"......Huh?"
Didn't they say they live in the same neighborhood?
"Like I said earlier, Na Hyun-unnie hardly ever leaves the house. That's why people call her a hiki... whatchamacallit?"
"Wh-who said hikikomori?! I just prefer doing stuff on my computer at home!!"
"Really? Then how many weeks has it been since you last went out?"
"Um............4 weeks...?"
Na Hyun, that's textbook shut-in. Even in this comfy era, not leaving the house for over three weeks is kinda problematic, I think. I started getting curious about her daily routine. Gotta search for her streams later. Was it Massacre Saintess or something? Pretty sure.
As the mood warmed up, an hour had already flown by. Girl talk wasn't bad, but I was mentally wiped from long-distance travel fatigue. I'd bought food for the next while, so it was time to head home. But Ra-yoon was in full swing, passionately explaining something, while Na Hyun listened indulgently as usual.
"Ra-yoon, I'm gonna head out now. What about you?"
"Huh? Already? Unnie said you'd stay till 4."
"I planned to, but the long trip's got me beat."
"Ugh.... Guess can't be helped..."
"Ah, then should I give you a ride?"
Na Hyun slyly dangled something to pique my interest.
"What? You have a car, Na Hyun?"
"Yeah, after living here for almost two years, you really need one."
The drinking snacks earlier, and now driving. She really did seem like a proper adult woman.
"Cool. Mind giving me a lift, then?"
"Of course."
"But Rose-unnie, what were you gonna do if Na Hyun-unnie didn't offer?"
Hm?
"Take the bus home, duh?"
"With all that luggage?"
The mountain of black bags piled next to me—all groceries from the market.
"Oh right. Forgot about that..."
"Pfft! Knew you lived like that, unnie."
"What'd you even buy so much of?"
"This? I handle most stuff online like you, Na Hyun, so I don't go out much. Figured since I was at the market, might as well stock up for my money's worth."
I'll come back when it runs out. Ah, should've stored it in my subspace earlier. Nothing would spoil at room temp, but carrying it like this would definitely stink up her car. Can't be that rude...
"Hold on a sec."
I immediately cast space magic, shoving the precious mountain of provisions into my subspace.
"Should've done this from the start. No space taken now, right? Alright, time to go..."
As I stood up, Ra-yoon and Na Hyun across from me stared with eyes wide as saucers, mouths agape like they'd seen something insane.
"Huh? What's up? First time seeing space magic?"
Ra-yoon aside, Na Hyun's an ex-hunter—shouldn't she see it sometimes? But they looked that shocked, like total newbies.
"U-unnie, you can use [Inventory]?! Then you're a support-type hunter like me...!"
"Rose-unnie's a mage, right?! Then what was that laser beam before?? Dual awakening like Kim Se-ah...?!"
"Uh...... Can you ask one at a time?"
They both talked over each other—I couldn't make heads or tails.
Seoul Hunter Management Bureau, Top Floor.
Jeong Tae-san had just finished a short luncheon with overseas guests and was enjoying a simple tea time.
Bang—!
"Bureau Chief!!"
A man burst into Jeong Tae-san's office without permission, yelling. There was only one person allowed to enter the bureau chief's—the highest authority in the Management Bureau—office without knocking.
"Oh! Vice Chief! Enjoyed your vacation?"
"Yes! I was having a very 'nice' time!!"
"Hm? Wasn't your vacation till yesterday?"
"Haha! Bureau Chief, why act like you're past your prime? My vacation's till the day after tomorrow."
The vice chief gritted his teeth, veins bulging at his temple.
Jeong Tae-san leisurely sipped the iced latte his secretary had brought, wiping milk foam from his mustache.
"Vice Chief, hard work's great, but people need rest when they rest, no?"
"True, I agree...! But don't the messes you made while I was gone need cleaning up...?!!"
His teeth-grinding was so intense, it seemed his molars might shatter. Finally snapping, the vice chief stormed over, slammed the table, and slapped down a document.
"Just two days!! How do so many incidents pile up in the short time I was away?!"
Jeong Tae-san silently examined the document.
• False positive on gate detection sensor.
• Destruction of mana measurement equipment (over 20 billion won).
• Concealment of info on primary suspect in the incident.
• First main server access during chief's tenure.
• Inadequate verification of Han River riverside gate rank.
And more...
Even for the Management Bureau, where unusual incidents were common, it was rare for so many major ones to stack up in just two days.
Jeong Tae-san eyed it with interest.
"Ho.... All these really happened yesterday?"
"Yes, and over four directly involve you!"
"Hm? I only see 'main server access' here."
"What do you mean?! You tried covering most of these up!!"
The vice chief's rage stemmed from Jeong Tae-san's 'flexibility.' A hunter from before hunter laws existed, he valued international hunter law above all. But he had a habit of being overly lenient with hunters he rated highly. His eye for people was spot-on, sure, but it wasn't exactly proper. Like now—covering up every incident tied to that anonymous hunter.
After venting, the calmed vice chief clutched his throbbing head.
"Hoo.... So, how'd it go with that 'Crimson' hunter yesterday?"
He'd already gotten reports from department heads that morning. The culprit behind yesterday's chaos, with mana surpassing even S-rank hunters—highest on record. And the chief had met her personally, per his secretary.
"Met her well."
"Really S-rank surpassing?"
"Heh, surpassing S-rank as a 'person'? You think that's easy?"
Standing, Jeong Tae-san approached the window behind him, gazing out.
The vice chief, who'd hoped for Korea's sixth S-rank, sighed in relief.
"Haa... Yeah, no way someone like that pops up outta nowhere."
Then Jeong Tae-san murmured softly, still facing the window.
"A monster."
"Pardon...?"
"She's... not human. Something else."
From decades as a hunter, Jeong Tae-san could visually detect mana leakage from awakeners. And he still couldn't forget their first meeting. Mana so overwhelming, the S-rank gate beasts he'd faced seemed laughable. He'd kept cool, but for the first time in 40 years, he'd felt fear.
"Even at my peak, I can't picture beating her...."
"......R-really?"
"Keep this between us. Could upend the hunter world if it leaks."
In his decades judging hunters, she wasn't evil, at least. But... if some trigger made her a threat to hunters, they'd need to steel themselves.