Anomalous Phenomenon
Over the weekend, I hitched a ride in my sister's car and headed to our training spot.
"You must really like those two," Seohui asked as we walked to her car.
"Yeah. Spending time with them made me want to help them grow." They really were good kids.
"Then you should just bring them into our guild. We'd be able to sponsor their gear and everything."
"Ah, speaking of gear..." I had mentioned before how annoying it was to get monster blood splattered all over my clothes. In response, Seohui had promised to get me some proper equipment.
"Gear fit for you, Sis? I've put in some inquiries, but..." Seohui, who was driving, briefly glanced down at my chest. "Ahem..."
Is my chest the problem...? Well, to be fair, these damn breasts of mine were completely unmanageable, even with a high-impact sports bra. If I didn't wear one, their sheer size actively interfered with my daily life. Thankfully, since this body was literally sculpted by a goddess, I didn't suffer from back pain or anything, but it was still incredibly inconvenient.
"It's being custom-made, so it'll take a little while."
"Come to think of it, how do you handle your gear?" She usually wore a suit or neat office attire when she left for work.
"I usually change on-site. The raids I go on are on a much larger scale, after all." Apparently, they had a dedicated bus for the assault team where they could change. Some of those buses were even modified to include built-in showers, allowing the hunters to wash up and change immediately after clearing a gate.
"Must be nice..."
"Well, normally I just change in my car, though..." It seemed the guild's support staff would collect the soiled gear afterward and wash it clean.
"They have people for that?"
"Yeah. You know what a porter is, right?"
"Of course." Even the Academy taught us about the existence of porters.
"The guild has a separate administrative department that handles menial tasks, just like porters do." It seemed there were people dedicated to supporting hunters from behind the scenes. They took care of all the tedious chores—managing equipment, handling paperwork, selling loot on our behalf, and so on.
"Hmm..." Having lived as a hunter for a bit, I had run into my fair share of annoying chores. Selling mana stones, doing laundry... it was all incredibly tedious. Such support staff would be too expensive for small, independent parties to hire; only large-scale guilds could afford to employ them.
"By the way, Sis, are you good with a sword too?"
"I am. Didn't I tell you before?"
"Mind if I watch you today?"
"I don't mind..." I wonder how those two will feel about it, though. At any rate, we arrived at our destination: a camping park. It had plenty of open space, a convenience store nearby, and very few people around, meaning we wouldn't have to worry about drawing unwanted attention.
"A campground, huh..."
"Why? Do you want to go camping?" When I asked, Seohui made a face of pure disgust.
"Camping? Ugh, are you crazy? When you're raiding gates, camping is practically a daily routine." Apparently, B-class or higher otherworldly or erosion gates could take several days to clear, forcing hunters to camp inside them. The Academy hadn't taught me that. Then again, ordinary hunters only ever dealt with dungeon-type gates, so there was no reason for them to know.
We set up in a spacious, secluded spot away from the main paths and waited for Ah-young and Gyuri to arrive. While we waited, Seohui complained of boredom and asked me to show her what I could do.
My skills, huh... I supposed swinging my sword around a bit would suffice. I drew the shortsword Seohui had given me—which was now my primary weapon—and lightly swung it to warm up. Seohui unfolded a portable chair nearby, sat down, and watched me.
"How's that?"
"Isn't that just a light warm-up?"
"That's more than enough."
"Well, your movements do look incredibly light..." Come to think of it, I didn't actually know the true extent of my sister's abilities.
"Can you show me what you can do?"
"Curious?" Of course I was. Seohui took the shortsword from me and assumed a peculiar stance. She held the blade in her right hand while tucking her left hand behind her back. Is it really necessary to pull her free hand back like that?
And then, silently, Seohui moved. It was a bizarrely swift, completely noiseless motion. Sharp thrusts, fluid slashes... Her movements immediately brought to mind an assassin. Even by the standards of the Other World, her skill level was highly impressive.
"An assassin?"
"Something like that. My specialty is swift, stealthy swordsmanship." Seohui looked a bit embarrassed.
"But surely you didn't reach A-class with just that?"
"Of course not," she said, and then... vanished. Or rather, she concealed herself. She had been standing right in front of me, but suddenly her presence became completely indistinct. It was likely a skill. If I focused just a little, I could still perceive her. I watched her stealthily slip behind me, but I remained still.
"Usually, I'd hide like this and drive my blade right through the target's back." True to her words, she swung her sword toward my back. I casually turned around and caught her blade between two fingers.
"Wait, you could see me?"
"Yeah. You vanished right in front of me, so I focused and looked for you." If I hadn't known her abilities and she had hidden from a blind spot, she would have been quite difficult to find.
"And I can also do this." A faint trace of magical energy began to seep from her sword. "It's called sword qi." I already knew that.
"Oh, you can use aura too?"
"You can't even make it to B-class if you can't use this." Apparently, it was that vital of a technique. At any rate, observing Seohui's combat style and her aura gave me a clear grasp of her strength. While she wasn't quite at the level of a Hero's party member, she was easily comparable to a high-ranking knight. I briefly considered suggesting a spar, but... Ah-young and Gyuri arrived just then.
"Ah, you're here?"
"Yes! We look forward to working with you again today!" Ah-young greeted us energetically. Gyuri, on the other hand, was staring warily at my sister.
"Um, who is..."
"Oh, this is my younger sister." But Gyuri's reaction was bizarre. She began to tremble, pointing a shaking finger at Seohui.
"The... the Silver Butterfly Sword...?" *What does that mean?* I tilted my head, unfamiliar with the term. Seohui, however, clearly knew exactly what it meant; she covered her face with her hand and let out a deep sigh.
"The Silver Butterfly Sword?!" Ah-young gasped, reacting instantly to Gyuri's words.
"What is that?"
"Huh...? You don't know?"
"I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing, so I have no idea." The two of them stared at me with looks of utter disbelief.
"The, um, Silver Butterfly Sword is an alias." According to Gyuri's explanation, it was a title given to exceptionally skilled or famous hunters. Hearing that brought someone to mind: Eina, the Divine Archer of the Hero's party. Ah, so it's a title like Eina's 'Divine Archer'?
"Hmm..." This was the first I had heard of my sister having such a nickname. Apparently, it meant 'Secret Butterfly.' It was a title bestowed upon her due to her beautiful appearance and elegant combat style. Seohui's face flushed bright red, clearly mortified by the mention of it.
"Hmm..." Honestly, my sister was incredibly lovely, and considering her assassin-like fighting style, the nickname suited her perfectly.
"Don't laugh," Seohui snapped, assuming I was mocking her.
"I'm not laughing." Since she was an A-class hunter, it wasn't surprising that she had earned such a title.
"I never imagined Miss Nix would be close with the Silver Butterfly Sword..."
"Is now really the time to be worrying about that? You came here to learn the sword." Ah-young shook off her surprise and gripped her weapon. Just like last time, I corrected her posture and had her practice her swings. As I had her swing repeatedly to build up her arm muscles, Seohui watched us with a look of concern.
"Is that what you're teaching her?"
"Why? What's wrong with it?" I expected her to ask what the point of swinging at empty air was, but...
"Our Guild Leader always teaches proper sword forms." Seohui stood up and demonstrated a technique. It was a style called the Taiji Wisdom Sword. Her movements were fluid and flowing, almost languid...
"A style that deflects and redirects attacks?" I could see the flow of energy in her movements.
"You recognized it instantly. It looks purely defensive, but there's a second half to it." Seohui's aura shifted. What followed was a display of blindingly fast, lethal strikes. I see. The first half is defense, and the second half is offense.
"With my skills, this is the limit of what I can do." Apparently, the version of the Taiji Wisdom Sword wielded by the rank 1 S-class hunter was far more powerful and razor-sharp.
"Hmm..." Ah-young and Gyuri watched Seohui with sparkling eyes.
"Is it really that fascinating?"
"Of course it is...!" The two of them looked at me as if wondering how I could remain so nonchalant.
"After all, she's one of the very few high-ranking female hunters." Only after hearing Ah-young's explanation did it click. The hunter industry was overwhelmingly male-dominated. The ratio of female hunters was extremely low, and the higher the rank, the scarcer they became. To put it in perspective, out of the seven S-class hunters in South Korea, not a single one was female. There were even rumors whispering of systemic discrimination because of this. The situation wasn't much better for A-class hunters either. Out of well over a hundred A-class hunters, only two were female. And one of those two was none other than my little sister. So...
"To female hunters, she's an idol and a role model." A woman who competed against men and climbed all the way to A-class... a true glass-ceiling breaker. That was the Silver Butterfly Sword, Kim Seohui. On top of that, she was young and exceptionally beautiful, making her highly admired.
"Hear that?" I nudged Seohui, and she glared at me. Delighted by her reaction, I playfully pretended to be frightened.
"Sigh... I didn't expect them to recognize me instantly..."
"Well, that's that. Back to work." Deciding to stop teasing my sister, I focused on training the two girls. I worked them hard until lunchtime, focusing primarily on the basics rather than complex sword techniques.
"You aren't just mindlessly swinging. The direction and angle of your force are what matter." Of course, hearing it didn't mean they could master it instantly... Seohui watched us with a pout. Once the basic training was over, we decided to have lunch. But when I brought out the cup ramen I had bought, Seohui's lips puckered in disappointment.
"Just cup ramen?"
"Why? It's not bad."
"No, I mean, we're at a campground. We could have grilled some meat." Meat?
"Where would we get the money for that?"
"Well..." Seohui had plenty of money, but the same couldn't be said for me, Ah-young, or Gyuri. Ah-young and Gyuri, in particular, were far from wealthy. I had heard that Ah-young was an orphan who had barely scraped by on part-time jobs after becoming independent, before awakening and aiming to become a hunter. Gyuri came from a single-mother household and was high school friends with Ah-young. She had awakened before Ah-young and became a hunter to earn money, though she apparently regretted it a bit since her earnings were so low. She had assumed all hunters made a fortune, but reality had dealt her a cold hand. At any rate, given their circumstances, the two girls had very little financial leeway. Meat? Sure, it would be nice to eat, but if they had the money for it, they'd probably want to spend it on more practical things.
"Sigh... You could have just told me."
"Come on, the kids would feel uncomfortable if you paid for everything." Knowing that was true, Seohui finally shut her mouth. Still, eating cup ramen outdoors had its own charm.
In the afternoon, I planned to have them do some light physical conditioning while explaining sword theory, but... I suddenly felt an ominous presence nearby.
"What is this?" Seohui seemed to have sensed the ominous magical energy as well.
"You felt it too?"
"A Gate...!" While I was still trying to identify it, Seohui reacted with practiced familiarity.
"Is a Gate opening?"
"Wait, why are you so calm?!" Well... because it wasn't a threat to me?
"Did the Management Bureau seriously fail to notice a Gate opening?" I had heard that they could predict Gate appearances by monitoring shifts in magical energy, but... At any rate, we headed toward the source of the ominous energy.
Reaching the outskirts of the campground, we saw a surge of ominous magical energy warping the very fabric of space.
"It really is a Gate." Confirming the situation, Seohui pulled out her phone to call someone. I left that to her, since she knew the procedures far better than I did.
"Ah-young, Gyuri, step back." Judging by the intensity of the magical energy, this was too dangerous for them.
"What? But we're hunters too..."
"This is far beyond your level." Even with my buffs, it would likely be too risky for them.
The space fluctuated violently as the Gate gradually took shape, resembling a massive, translucent mirror. And within that mirror...
"Huh?" A landscape I knew all too well—a scenery deeply etched into my memories—stretched out before my eyes.