Yoon Se-hwa
Yoon Se-hwa.
An S-Class hunter who commanded purple lightning. Even measured against the entire world, her raw combat ability ranked among the very best. Firepower and mobility, both born of that lightning—her abilities left nothing wanting.
A few days had passed since Su-ah came over to visit, and the day Ga-eun had arranged to meet Yoon Se-hwa finally arrived.
Yoon Se-hwa, like Su-ah, belonged to Taerang—which was why Ga-eun had been invited to the Taerang Guild's building. As expected of one of Korea's three major guilds, the place felt even more massive than the Association headquarters they'd visited before.
"Hah…"
"What, are you nervous?"
"A little?"
"For real? You got nervous?"
"I'm human too, you know."
The two of us were sitting in the Taerang Guild's reception room. Giving Su-ah's name at the entrance had been enough for the staff to escort us here. The room was modern and clean throughout—simple in a way that read as expensive.
"This place is nice, by the way."
"Does it look alright to you too, Master?"
"Yeah. The hospitality's thorough."
I glanced at the sunflower seeds sitting on the table. The staff had brought them over after spotting me on Ga-eun's shoulder.
Om nom nom.
Mm. Nutty and delicious.
Fresh sunflower seeds, just the way I like them.
I picked them up one by one, the picture of satisfaction. A notch below what I ate at home, maybe, but more than good enough.
"You're really going at those."
"These sunflower seeds are good too."
"Should I increase your portions at home a bit…?"
"Was I eating that much?"
"A little."
Hmm. Did I get a bit too into it without realizing…
Feeling awkwardly self-conscious, I offered something that sounded a lot like an excuse.
"No… I guess you could say I've gotten a bit tired of the ones at home? Eating the same thing all the time…"
"Should I mix up the variety from now on?"
"Huh? Oh—yeah, I'd like that."
"I'll order some online when we get home."
Ahem. Anyway.
And so the two of us sat in the reception room, chatting about this and that.
"Hunter Yoon Se-hwa, they're in here."
"Ah, yes."
A voice from outside, and at the same time the reception room door swung open. The figure who appeared was a girl with purple hair.
"Ah, are you Hunter Yoon Se-hwa?"
"Yeah, that's me. You're Ga-eun, huh?"
First impression of the person called Yoon Se-hwa: she just looked spacey. The whole atmosphere around her was languid and lethargic—a little more drowsy and she'd have been nodding off right then and there. But Yoon Se-hwa was distinctly different from someone who was merely sleepy.
"Hmm. I haven't heard anything about a fifth S-Class showing up in Korea."
"Excuse me…?"
"Huh? You're S-Class, aren't you?"
It was her eyes.
Even with lethargy slathered over every inch of her, those purple eyes gleamed with a sharp, keen light.
"Ah, so you're a foreigner then? Which country? Japan? China?"
"Um, well…"
"But I heard you're blood sisters with Su-ah unnie."
Yoon Se-hwa looked at Ga-eun with those purple eyes, spinning her own private theories. What had those eyes seen that made her so certain? Well, I wouldn't know. But it was clear she'd seen—or sensed—something in Ga-eun.
"Ahh. So you're Korean, but you went overseas? It's fine, I get it. I know a few people like that."
Looking at her like that, she seemed like someone living in her own little fantasy world. Watching her, though, I came to a slightly different conclusion.
Hmm…
"She's sharper than I expected."
"Huh?"
Just looking at Ga-eun's mana stat right now, it was incomparably higher than any other S-Class hunter's. Even adding up the stats of dozens of other S-Class hunters wouldn't have matched her. And yet Chae Ju-ah hadn't sensed anything unusual when she looked at Ga-eun.
It wasn't because Chae Ju-ah was dense. Under ordinary circumstances, an S-Class like her would never have missed it. So why hadn't she noticed?
The answer was simple. I'd hidden it on purpose. Until Ga-eun developed the independent abilities I'd mentioned before, I intended to keep things under wraps. As it stood, she had no way of controlling that much mana herself—so I had no choice but to conceal it for her.
"But this one noticed."
Sensing another person's mana was purely a matter of instinct. In that sense, calling Yoon Se-hwa an animal wouldn't have been far off. She was someone I'd need to be a little careful around.
"You're saying you're not S-Class?"
"How many times do I have to tell you."
"Really? That's weird…"
Well. Animal instincts aside, the person herself was pretty spacey. I supposed that counted as a blessing.
"Eh, never mind then. Hehe."
Yoon Se-hwa scratched the back of her head and laughed awkwardly. Ga-eun watched her in silence, lips pressed shut.
"S-so, aren't you curious why I said I wanted to see you today?"
"Well, I am a little curious about that."
"Right?"
Yoon Se-hwa nodded, still a little awkward.
"I mean, Su-ah unnie would not stop talking about you."
"Oh—unnie did?"
"Yeah. After the day we went into a gate together, I feel like I heard about you every single day."
Ga-eun's face flushed red at that. She tried her best to keep a straight face, but she couldn't hide the way the tips of her ears kept getting redder.
"And looking at you now, I can see why."
"I-is that so…?"
"Yeah. I'd seen photos, but you're even better in person."
"Ah, that's not—"
"You're a hunter, right? Not interested in being a hunter celebrity? I think you'd do pretty well."
Ears burning crimson, Ga-eun fanned her face with her hand.
"N-not really, at the moment."
"Yeah? That's a shame. I think you'd be great at it."
"Later. If I ever get interested later."
"Cool. If you get interested, tell me. I'll introduce you to someone I know."
Yoon Se-hwa held out her phone. The keypad was already open on the screen.
Ga-eun stared at it, uncomprehending.
"What are you doing? Aren't you gonna put your number in?"
"Ah—yes."
"That's my number, so save it. You'll find plenty of uses for it."
And so Ga-eun and Yoon Se-hwa exchanged numbers.
"Oh, you don't do Insta, do you?"
"No, I don't do Instagram."
"Yeah. Same. People around me keep telling me to, but it's too much of a hassle."
Yoon Se-hwa shook her head from side to side like the mere thought of it made her sick.
"Oh, right. How old are you? I'm twenty-one, by the way."
"I-I'm twenty-one too."
"Wait, what? We're the same age. Drop the formal speech."
"S-should I?"
"Yeah. We're the same age—no point being all stiff and formal."
As she said it, Yoon Se-hwa's face was lit up with a bright, unguarded smile.