Shattered Windows and Settled Scores
Jeon Se-han pressed his temples firmly and turned his gaze out the window. The trip down to Busan during the day and back had eaten up a ton of time.
A mountain of work piling up.
The Hunter Management Bureau was embroiled in the biggest controversy since its founding. It was the kind of incident that anyone you grabbed on the streets—not just nationwide, but worldwide—would know about.
"Th-that person said they'd come find us first... and to wait in the meantime..."
He recalled the words of Kim Jae-won, the hunter who had played the double. He'd returned that day and said exactly that. They had agreed to come first. But without specifying when—no date or time.
This is like a stay of execution with no expiration date.
Gu Se-ji tried to hide his tense expression with his usual smile. He clearly hadn't expected the reaction to come this quickly either. No, everyone felt the same.
In just two days... no, precisely one day.
The very next day after the plan went into motion, an absorption-annihilation-type A-rank Gate appeared. Among the civilian victims who emerged from there, two had given identical testimonies.
"Lee Sunjwa-nim. That hunter saved us."
"The world Rank 1. She entered inside and rescued me and the others, then met with some guild master afterward..."
She had been inside the dungeon. That was the fact. When the post-incident support and the reports from the four major universities came in with those testimonies, Jeon Se-han, Gu Se-ji, and all the others involved couldn't sleep a wink from the anxiety.
The world Rank 1 had shown herself in just one day. Was it really just because she happened to be nearby when the Gate broke out? Or was she responding to the provocation?
The former would be a miracle's odds...
Jeon Se-han thought seriously. In truth, it was the miracle's odds (and she'd been swept up while watching idol videos). Time passed like that, and in the end, just two days later, Lee Sunjwa made her flashy return. And to top it off, Lee Yu-na's exposé exploded, turning public opinion into a total mess.
"...We did this to ourselves from the start."
Jeon Se-han murmured, closing his eyes. Even as a government affiliate, it wasn't something the director of the bureau should have done. But with the Rank 1 back in active duty, their original goal had achieved its utmost success. On the big picture, it was a win.
Still, their wrongdoing was clear, so whatever 'Lee Sunjwa Killer' did when they showed up soon...
Well, prepare for the Management Bureau headquarters to get trashed.
As Ryu Shin-ah had said, they'd have to willingly accept that much. Of course.
But we should make preparations.
He pressed the button on his desk. A mechanical tone came from the receiver.
"This is the director. Have someone relay to Kim Jae-won of the Daehwanjang Guild that they request a meeting."
-Understood.
"Add that they have words to say before facing the Rank 1 directly."
The next day, Sunday, was peaceful. Anticipating an overflow of customers from the previous day's fallout, they'd decided to close for the day. Instead, they'd gone shopping together, upgraded Kang Young-hwa's phone to the latest model, and even watched the sunset and city lights. An ordinary but fulfilling day.
As night deepened toward midnight, Yul and Kang Young-hwa sat side by side on the sofa.
"You doing okay these days, Mom?"
"Of course I am. You saw yesterday."
"I was too busy to really check."
"You two wouldn't let me near the counter to make me rest. How could you handle all those customers alone? Shin-ah the hunter's one thing, but you..."
Kang Young-hwa looked at her daughter with a mix of concern and exasperation, her eyes speaking volumes about how well she knew Yul's stamina.
Yul averted her gaze blankly. She couldn't exactly explain this.
It's been about four years already...
Since she'd become a hunter. Since she'd met Star-nim.
Yul glanced sideways at her status window. It floated there: Unable to tell Mother just how amazing our little Yul is, so I'm tearing up my handkerchief.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' laughs, recalling how our Yul stuttered back then.
Yul's mother, Kang Young-hwa. Their bond was especially close.
"Why can't you do that?"
In her childhood, Yul hadn't been an easy kid to raise by any means.
"People should never hit others. Got it? Let's promise again."
Rather than controlling or scolding, Kang Young-hwa chose patience and trust. That depth of sincerity reached Yul as warmth called love, teaching her 'trust' for the first time. Thanks to that, even if a bit detached, Yul grew into a normal child. So for her to hide something this huge for four years—despite always confiding even trivial things—was extraordinary.
At first, guilt made it hard to even talk...
She vividly remembered spewing water across the dinner table while Kang Young-hwa gushed in awe at the news footage of her closing the Gate.
Yul scratched the back of her neck awkwardly.
"I'm pretty sturdy myself."
"Without exercise, just holed up in your room idol-watching all day?"
"That's not... true."
"You have to reenroll next year. Manage your stamina, study a bit. You're already twenty-four."
"Got it."
Yul answered meekly. Kang Young-hwa didn't add more. Worries about the future were her own to handle primarily. Better to hold back even if she had more to say.
Yul fiddled with her phone before speaking up.
"Mom. If a Gate pops up nearby, call me right away. Okay?"
"Why call you if a Gate breaks? Shin-ah, maybe."
"I'm worried. I upgraded your phone so it works inside dungeons. I got the same, so call me. Okay?"
"Fine, fine."
Kang Young-hwa chuckled that Gates weren't popping up that often anyway, but Yul couldn't respond. That's why I went dark, but these past few days have been chaos...
Kang Young-hwa laughed softly and patted Yul's back heartily.
"My daughter worrying like this. You've grown too much."
"In this hundred-year lifespan era, twenty-four is young."
"So young you live that lazily?"
"Harsh..."
Yul replied with a completely unfazed expression. Their quiet voices, considerate of Ryu Shin-ah sleeping in the next room, continued for a while. The house lights didn't go out until dawn.
And the next morning, Yul and Ryu Shin-ah headed back to Seoul.
"Tell me how it goes after."
"Yeah."
Ryu Shin-ah waved lightly and turned toward his place. Yul boarded the bus, staring at the towering Hunter Management Bureau building in the distance. The time to meet the man at the top floor was approaching.
That night. When most of the building's lights were off.
Crack-.
A crack spiderwebbed across the top-floor director's office window.
"...!"
Jeon Se-han shot up from his chair. He'd been tipped off they'd come tonight, so preparations were complete. Employees sent home early, on-site staff cleared out. Inside the building: just him, Gu Se-ji and Kim Jae-won waiting in the conference room below.
Thud.
Pristine white sneakers planted on the window frame. Their owner applied pressure. The reinforced glass bowed inward, then shattered into pieces moments later.
Whoooosh.
Cold wind poured into the room like a flood, then stilled.
Crunch. Crackle.
Glass shards crunched underfoot in the silence. Hands shoved in hoodie pockets, eyes wrapped in bandages. Yul stood face-to-face with Jeon Se-han.
"...Hello, Director."
A strangely modulated, androgynous voice. Jeon Se-han swallowed dryly.
"Shall we talk now?"
Yul tilted her head. Go on, spill it.
Just what was 'Lee Sunjwa Killer'? Everyone knew the hunter Lee Sunjwa as amazing, but everything else about her was shrouded in secrecy. Whatever the reason for hiding her identity, everyone knew the method. That method, once a mystery at her debut, was revealed once her friendship with Ryu Shin-ah came to light—and his name alone proved it.
"Why on earth did you do it?"
"Do what?"
The moment eyewitness accounts of the two surfaced, Jeon Se-han had summoned him. Ryu Shin-ah shrugged nonchalantly, drawing an involuntary sigh.
"Tampering with the Rank 1's records. Did she ask you to?"
"Nah. I did it on my own."
"......Why do something the person herself didn't even request?"
"Wasn't allowed?"
Ryu Shin-ah shot back. Jeon Se-han rubbed his throbbing temple at the man's unchanged willfulness. Fine, identity issues could slide. She might reveal it herself someday, or it was her choice anyway. But tampering with the bureau's inviolable records set a dangerous precedent.
"Identity aside, we don't even know her exact rank. And the bureau's records are linked to the system. As a hunter yourself, you can't claim ignorance of that importance..."
"I know it too well. That's my ability, after all."