Hunter?
Kim Yang reflexively stared at the woman with the black bob haircut standing before him. Her softly wavy, slightly straightened bob, gray hoodie, and jeans gave her an ordinary look—one you might forget her face the moment she turned away—but she exuded an oddly sharp aura.
Kim Yang secretly drew in a breath and handed over his card.
Tap.
No sooner had he taken it to the POS machine than she snatched it back.
"Nah, I don't think so."
She shot him down cleanly.
But the man didn't back off and extended the card again. Their gazes simultaneously turned to the server.
...What am I supposed to do?
Caught in the crossfire of their relentless one-upmanship, the pitiful everyman number one was dying inside. Kim Yang held back tears and reached out. And he chose.
"Th-thank you for your order."
"......"
"Get lost."
The winner was Yul. The man fell silent, staring at his rejected card, while Yul took a seat at an empty table to wait for her pizza.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' snorts that the lowly creature has some wits about it.
Of course our Yul should win, it declares—it would've cursed her if she'd taken that man's.
That bastard's creeping it out—whining to pack up the pizza and get out quick.
'That's what I was gonna do anyway.'
Her constellation, quiet for a moment, started chattering again. No way he knew she was a hunter. Suspicious in every way. Still, she had the leisure to wait for her pizza because she trusted herself to handle any situation. It was the overwhelming confidence of the undisputed number one.
Yul tapped her phone screen and texted Ryu Shin-ah.
"Hey."
Yul rolled only her eyes toward the voice's owner and shot him a glare. The man casually sat across from her.
"Let's talk."
"I've got nothing to say. You didn't even buy my pizza—why should I give you my time?"
"After you turned it down?"
"I just told you to leave. So."
Yul replied indifferently. A message popped up saying her constellation was tearing up in emotion over her ironclad defense.
"You should hear me out."
The man said.
"Proxy, Lee Seonjwa Killer."
Yul froze. Her hand, idly scrolling news, stopped dead. She looked up. In eyes black as pitch, indistinguishable from her pupils, the man's reflection gleamed.
"Now you're in the mood to talk, right?"
"......"
"Nice to meet you. 'This time' too, as expected."
His platinum blond hair sparkled in the sunlight. Pointlessly so.
* * *
"......Who the hell are you."
Yul's voice was calm—and icy. But she didn't change her arrogant posture: leaning back, one leg crossed over the other knee, hands jammed in her pockets.
The man's expression was utterly emotionless. Vacant, almost, like something hollowed out. His colors were so pale it felt like he'd shatter and vanish in a stiff breeze.
"One of your kind."
"......I get that you're a hunter. You think that's what I'm curious about right now?"
"More than that. We're not just hunters, you and I."
...What bullshit.
Yul didn't bother hiding her souring face. This guy was actually insane.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' earnestly advises you to ignore that thing's words.
Our Yul is far too noble and precious to compare to that thing, it says.
'Hard to just brush off. For starters, he knows who I am......'
Ryu Shin-ah's skills were flawless. Yul had zero doubts. So no one should know her identity.
'No. There's one exception......'
Like Seo In-ah, if he'd returned.
Yul stared at him silently. If he was a regressor, it was possible.
He'd said 'this time,' so probably.
'Right?'
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' admits it's true he endured a long time.
But trails off that returning to a divergence point feels a bit off.
'Not exactly the same case, then......'
"I can read your thoughts."
The man interjected. He nodded toward the empty space beside him.
"Let's talk without the constellation for a bit. How about it?"
"Bullshit. If you've got something to say, spit it out now. Regressor?"
"......Something like that. But I told you—we're the same kind."
"Sorry, but I don't see a single similarity."
"Amusingly enough, we're in the exact same boat."
He leaned forward.
"You and me alone."
It wasn't just his hair and skin that were pale. Yul could tell more clearly now. That nagging sense of déjà vu from earlier.
'Kinda like Seo In-ah.'
His yellow eyes were transparently hazy. Was this what her Star meant by "worn thin"?
But one stark difference from Seo In-ah: this man had a twist to him. Seo In-ah showed fatigue but burned with clear will, passion, spite. This guy, though.
'......Isn't a screw loose? Dealing with someone like this long-term spells trouble.'
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' struggles to suppress the urge to smite that thing right here.
Our Yul, please don't listen to that guy, it pleads again.
This time, she agreed with her constellation. Nothing more troublesome than dealing with a lunatic.
Yul opened her mouth.
"Get to the point and scram. Pizza's almost ready."
"......You shouldn't go into hiding anymore. It only matters if you step up front."
"I decide when I step up. Is that a threat?"
"......"
"I work when I want, rest when I want."
The man's eye twitched faintly. Yul pressed on regardless.
"I heard you out, so answer one question."
His yapping about her vanishing act was secondary. One thing needed confirming.
"Looks like you remember quite a bit."
"Yeah. Unlike you. Must be nice and easy."
"Yeah, super easy. So answer."
Hummm.
The air around Yul rippled faintly. Semitransparent bandages swirled briefly around her eyes.
All-Judging Eye
Reports a lifeform acting outside the designated conditions.
Designated Condition: One who speaks falsehoods before me
Yul's set criterion. No matter what it was, the skill pinpointed anyone violating it. A power befitting her fate of allowing no one above her.
If the man spoke truth, she'd know.
With an impassive face, he said:
"I told you—similar to a regressor. Impossible not to know who you are."
Meets designated condition. No falsehood spoken.
"......Then in that 'previous' you mentioned, what was our relationship?"
Yul asked again. They didn't look chummy now.
Emotion flickered on the man's face for the first time. His lip curled in a sly sneer.
"......Hostile."
Meets designated condition. No falsehood spoken.
The result was as expected. Yul's eyes sharpened further.
Just then, the server called from the counter.
"One small cheese corn to go!"
"Time's up—I'm out. Oh, one more thing."
The man stood. He looked down at Yul impassively.
"Come to the tower."
"......"
"What's the point if you don't climb?"
He fetched the pizza from the counter. Setting the boxed pizza on the table, he turned away without a hint of lingering.
"And on that note."
He paused at the door to add:
"Don't do part-time."
Then he was gone.
Yul tracked his back until it melted into the crowd.
'......What the hell was that.'
She was genuinely baffled. Was this revulsion? More like unease than annoyance.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' clutches its neck—how dare that thing give advice.
Muttering if it could just use its hands, it'd have stomped that yellow head long ago.
The constellation fumed, but amid it all, Yul thought: At this point, is the world just blocking everything I do? It cockblocked my fangirling, now even part-time gigs. Sure, she'd rather not work...... But Mom told her to.
Yul scratched her head.
"Anyway, let's bounce. No reason to obey that guy's 'don't do it.'"
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' marvels, that's our Yul—behold this mighty iron wall.
Our Yul does her own damn thing? That's all that matters, it staunchly defends.
She grabbed the pizza and was just stepping out when—
"General!"
"Ryu Shin?"
Yul blinked at Ryu Shin-ah sprinting toward her. What. He actually came.