I'll Let You Fight to Your Heart's Content.
Trailing after Joo Se-ah on a whim, Jang Deok-gu grumbled as he gazed down at the Han River.
"This the spot? You said the call cut out. Maybe the battery just died?"
"The outbreaking alarm went off right as it dropped. I've got a nose for the bad stuff."
Joo Se-ah certainly had a knack for misfortune. Ever since her hunter debut, she'd run into a 4-star monster when rookies could barely handle the 3-star Grim Reaper.
She'd encountered irregulars—things most hunters never even saw—multiple times, and she'd hunted down dozens of unknowns.
Thanks to that, she held the biggest share of Korea's monster codex registrations among hunters.
She even ranked third in the Guinness Book for most first-kill unknowns.
Considering first and second were industry veterans in their forties, limiting it to the last decade since her debut made her the overwhelming number one.
Having faced extreme battles from a young age, she'd somehow become a force on par with S-rank.
Maybe 80% of what forged Joo Se-ah was sheer bad luck.
"Fine, whatever. But it's outbreaking—why take the chopper? Mana wind keeps you from even getting close."
"Fly higher, out of its reach."
"And how do you plan to land?"
"Whoa, it's already open? I've seen it a few times, but never from up here like this."
Joo Se-ah grinned innocently, and Jang Deok-gu looked like he'd seen a ghost. He stared out the chopper window at the pillar of darkness shooting skyward, his body shivering. Even skilled hunters never got used to a gate's ominous aura.
"After all that, only the guild master could look at it and say something like that."
"If I let it psych me out, it feels like I'm already beat. I can take anything else, but losing to a gate? No way. Not for me, not for you, not for that Team Leader Kang. We're all out here to beat the damn thing."
The chopper flew near the black haze billowing from the gate. The sky looked calm from afar, but up close, turbulence tossed it around. The gate's mana wind repelled the machine like it rejected all civilization.
The cockpit dashboard flashed red lights wildly, blaring alarms. The pilot yanked up the altitude in panic.
Even in the bucking chopper, Joo Se-ah kept her perfect balance, peering below.
"Hey? Down there—that's Kang Moo-hyuk, right?"
"Looks like it. Hm? And next to him... isn't that the monster you took down recently? Spitting image."
"Huh? You're right. Why's it back?"
"Leave it be, and it'll wipe out every hunter down there. What's the play? Can't land here."
"You know that, so why ask?"
Joo Se-ah yanked open the chopper door, kicked off her high heels, and leaned out. Wind whipped her hair into a frenzy.
"No gear?"
"I've beaten it once. This'll be fine."
"At least take the armor coat."
She snatched the black coat Jang Deok-gu tossed her, then leaped out.
"Park it and come down."
She dove. The coat billowed wildly before she slipped it on mid-fall, plummeting straight down.
The mana wind tried to shove her away; she wrapped herself in mana, fooling it. Now only gravity had a say.
The moment she cleared the mana wind's turbulence, Kang Moo-hyuk's voice rang out.
"Smash the staff!"
Just before hitting ground, she flipped.
Thud!
Oof, feet numb. Barefoot hurts more than I thought.
Ignoring the stinging stares—and her throbbing soles—she eyed the monster.
"Staff's the weak spot? Last time I just beat it to death, so I didn't notice."
"Joo Se-ah?!"
"Twice now. Don't think you can cheap out this time, Kang Moo-hyuk."
The staff shattered in her grip.
* * *
Joo Se-ah's arrival ended it all.
Not content with slaying the Oldster Sorcerer, she solo-wiped the second wave that followed.
Once the support guilds set up a defensive line, she plunged straight into the gate. Moments later, she emerged splattered head to toe in multicolored monster blood.
"Cleared out everything near the gate. Core hasn't pushed to the entrance yet, so handling the rest as they spill out shouldn't be too bad."
She explained to the government officials with the casual tone of someone back from a picnic, then scanned the bustling scene. Her eyes locked with Kang Moo-hyuk's, off a bit from the gate.
"Hey, Kang Moo-hyuk."
As she strode toward him, hunters and officials parted like the sea.
But their gazes shifted to Kang Moo-hyuk, not her.
Obvious what they're thinking.
Hunters sizing up her acquaintance—his skill, their connection.
Those realizing he wasn't a hunter started whispering: which guild staffer? Some even recognized him.
All before Joo Se-ah reached him.
While guild reps racked their brains, Kang Moo-hyuk's party members grappled with different thoughts.
Crushed condensed mana with one hand and dispersed it. Possible?
Dropped from that height barehanded and walked it off. Can't even call myself tough.
Armor coat or not, that's no standard gear. Went into the gate solo and swept monsters? Who's the real monster here?
The hunters cowed by Joo Se-ah's dominance.
Kang Moo-hyuk's head spun too.
He'd believed even average hunters—or civilians—could save people from monsters.
Now every plan, project, tactic he'd built felt crumbling.
Joo Se-ah's hunt was more than brute force.
The raw presence videos missed—even monsters feared her.
It shocked him.
No wonder guild masters, vice-masters, raid leaders ignored my plans. Heard about top hunters, saw clips, but this—live, up close? Tactics mean nothing against this.
He thrilled at such a powerful hunter terrifying monsters, yet her might invalidated his career, chest tightening.
Head burning, stomach churning, body shaking with uncontainable emotion.
"Call cut out mid-talk, so I came—and yep, right on. So, what was that good opportunity you... Hey? Yo, Kang Moo-hyuk!"
Kang Moo-hyuk collapsed. Joo Se-ah caught him swiftly.
"What? Why's your body so hot?"
Boiling—not fever, but burn-hot.
Clearly wrong.
She clocked it: tied to his condition.
"Mana addiction... Damn it, what're you doing fronting a mana-spewing gate if you're sensitive?"
Irritated, she scooped him up and hopped into a nearby ambulance.
"Taeseong Hospital. Now."
The paramedics, recognizing her, peeled out without a word.
"Always passing out whenever I see him. Third time now... You know about it, right? Tch, hope he remembers. Always pushing too hard, even back then."
Joo Se-ah gazed silently at his face.
* * *
"He's past the worst... but seems he was exposed to mana too long when the gate opened. Body's a mess. Can't guarantee next seizure."
Hearing the doctor, Kang Chang-su muttered at his sleeping son.
"Idiot. Thinks he's a hunter, can't tell where to stick his nose."
The doctor slipped out, leaving the dazed father.
Alone, Kang Chang-su lit a cigarette—then remembered the hospital and pocketed it.
"Wasn't 'cause I'm a hunter."
"Not asleep?"
"Firefighters were there. Regular office workers too. How's a strategy chief supposed to ignore that? Embarrassing. Even without, anyone who can fight monsters has to move."
"You're set to die—might as well book the funeral too? They give discounts for advance?"
"Felt this since forever: don't joke anywhere, Dad. Feels like you experimented on your sense of humor too."
Kang Chang-su's eyes twitched. His son called him "Dad," not by name. He played it off.
"Hey, punk! Didn't your mom say she married me for my humor?"
"Mom was just nice. I'd have dumped you."
"That's why I'm your dad, not your husband."
"Told you, no jokes."
Reeling like he'd taken a haymaker, Kang Chang-su added aggrievedly.
"Hey, that's not true. You take after me. Look how stoic. Spitting image. Your joke game's just as bad. Can't escape genes. Power of science. Ha!"
"That's why I can't quit—stuck looking just like you. Like you ditching Mom for research... I can't ignore this either, throwing my life away. But I probably saved a few today. Gotta be. Better than you glued to some mystery research, right?"
"......"
Kang Chang-su lit up again—pocketed it. Frustrated, he cracked the window. Wind rushed in.
"I wanted to save people too."
Kang Moo-hyuk turned his head. His father leaned on the sunset window, looking down.
"Wanna live?"
"Duh."
"If you could, what then?"
"Obvious. Hunt monsters."
"You won't die tomorrow, but a few more years tops? Still hunt?"
"Could bag a few hundred more."
"Sigh, not why I researched..."
"Why then?"
Kang Moo-hyuk saw a new face on his father.
Seen it somewhere...
A past scene overlapped.
His father grabbing research over Mom that day.
Kang Chang-su rushed like a revving bike, gripping the bed rail, shaking it.
"Yeah. I'll save you. Promise. Might kill you, but I'll make you live."
"Huh? What..."
"Mana addiction. You looked it up, right? Everywhere."
"Yeah."
"Cure?"
"......"
"None. No one's even researching. Everywhere. One in a million. No profit. Who funds that? Except family."
"Family? You don't mean..."
"Meant for your mom. Too late. So you instead. I'll save you. Not 100% sure, but 100% try. Fight monsters, settle down—fight all you want."