Morning Greeting and a Playful Encounter
The familiar ceiling. Jihun's room.
It's a one-room apartment in a bustling area of Seoul.
Even though it's a one-room, the rent isn't cheap at all.
The glow-in-the-dark stickers that greeted Jihun as he woke up from sleep as usual welcomed him.
The tenants who had stuck them and left. Did they wake up seeing those stickers?
Jihun had thought of peeling them off at first, but decided to respect their memories and left them. Now, however, the childish stickers and his memories with them had accumulated, and he felt a sense of attachment.
His body felt inexplicably light.
He didn't remember what dream he had, but there was a slight itch in the corner of his chest.
Jihun snapped out of it by slapping his cheeks hard with both hands, making a loud sound.
At that moment, the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Yes."
"Haha, no."
Jihun was in the middle of a phone call with someone.
He checked the digital clock on his desk.
[AM 07:15]
"Okay, I'll be there soon, Dad."
"Okay, I'll open the shop today."
"Okay, eat breakfast and come slowly."
After hanging up the phone, Jihun washed up quickly, changed his clothes, and left the house.
He took his scooter to the butcher shop, opened the closed shutter, and skillfully prepared to open for business.
'When working, you can't avoid the labor song.'
Jihun played his favorite female idol song on the shop's Bluetooth speaker and hummed along.
"Hah~ Hah, my beautiful butt~ The one who doesn't look~ You're the pervert~"
At that moment, a woman in a long green dress with an Hermes bag entered the shop door.
Her slender waist swayed, and the curve of her hips swayed as she walked, stopping right in front of Jihun.
"Oh, Jihun opened the door today? How have you been? Dad?"
Now, taking off her dark sunglasses, the woman addressing Jihun was the building owner of Jihun's butcher shop.
"Hello! Dad went to the bank today and said he'd come in the afternoon!"
"Oh, is that so? Then what are you doing in the afternoon, Jihun?"
"Ahaha! What is there to do? In the afternoon, I have to go to the association's training room to work out."
"Hmm.. If you only do that every day... when will a young man like you get that? Why don't you have a drink with me at night?"
"Hahaha, don't joke around~"
This was always the case.
Although she looked in her late twenties, this building owner auntie was already thirty-six. Whenever she saw Jihun, she kept flirting with him like this. Jihun thought she was really beautiful and wanted to have a drink with her, but...
Moreover, judging by her usual behavior, it didn't seem like she would just drink and go home. A proposal from a spirited mid-twenties Jihun who had no reason to refuse. Who knows, maybe one day he could become her pet and receive a Benz?
Of course, all of this could be Jihun's delusion, or he might just have a drink.
But even that, for some reason, didn't appeal to Jihun's heart, so he had been politely refusing every time.
But today, this auntie was being particularly bold.
"Recently, real estate in this neighborhood has skyrocketed, you know~ The holding tax keeps going up, but I can't raise the rent at my own discretion~"
That's right, the contract renewal was approaching.
Jihun quickly gave a good-natured smile, checking if she was trying to raise the rent.
"Ahaha! That's right, Aunt! Thanks to you, Dad really appreciates it!"
"Yeah, yeah~ Actually, I wasn't planning to raise it~. But I just wanted to have a drink with our Jihun. Hehe. It's not that difficult~ Right? Just one drink~ Or, maybe I don't like it?"
The building owner's name was Kim Jimin, the CEO of an online shopping mall and a fashion and beauty influencer with 2.5 million Instagram followers under the handle 'Lovely_Min'. She was truly lovable, with an ID that suited her perfectly.
Jihun's evaluation of her, who maintained wrinkle-free skin managed consistently and a toned body from PT, was:
'An older sister with a mature charm, a senior in life who gives expensive advice when advice is needed, a charismatic older sister who can be scary when scolding for mistakes, or a quiet place to rest when tired.'
However, on nights when he scolded her, she would appear in an outrageously lewd costume that Jihun's imagination couldn't reach...
'Was it too scary? Sorry, sis~ Instead, how about this, Jihun? The thing that was disappointing because I scolded you today... I'm soaking it here.'
She would slightly spread her legs, as if showing her crotch.
"No no, I don't like it at all, Aunt! Then I'll contact you!"
"Oh, really?"
"Of course. Why would I refuse to have a drink with someone as beautiful as you, Aunt?"
"Hmm.... It's not because of the contract renewal?"
'Whoa, chills... Her intuition is sharp...'
Jihun worried for a moment if she had read his mind, but it didn't seem to be the case.
Because if she had really read his mind, she should have sensed his bold desire to lower the shoulder straps of that misyuk dress.
"There is no way. I've been keeping the rent the same for several years, and if I raise it here, that would be the mindset of a thief. I really wanted to drink with pure intentions."
"Oh! Haha, pure intentions. I'm grateful, but somehow a little disappointing?"
Then the building owner leaned against the shop counter and faced Jihun closely.
"Why don't you eat with impure intentions-."
Her round and smooth shoulders barely covered the misyuk dress, and a glimpse of her breasts peeked out between the fabric, ready to slip down at any moment.
'C...? D...? Maybe D?'
Unlike Hunter ranks, the further back the alphabet, the stronger the breasts.
Same D, but one D was a D-cup that anyone would desire, and the other D was a D-rank Hunter who barely catches goblins alone.
Jihun immediately tore his gaze away from the building owner's cleavage, but the woman was very sensitive to the gaze of a man scanning her body. Especially if it was the gaze of a young and attractive man like Jihun.
The building owner had already caught Jihun's gaze that had scanned her breasts and passed.
Instead of questioning the crime of staring at her breasts without permission, she rather leaned her upper body closer to Jihun, clapped her hands on his shoulders, and laughed.
"Ahahaha! Just kidding! Hey! Jihun! If you look at me like a scared baby bird, how am I supposed to react! It seems like I've been too harsh on you~"
"H-harsh? I know how kind you have been to me, Aunt."
When Jihun lowered his face that had unconsciously widened, the cleavage of Jimin sticking out from the dress above the misyuk dress was even more stimulating than before, as if she had deliberately gathered it.
He even looked up and gazed out the window. The signboard installed in front of the shop: [Jihun's Butcher Shop].
Jihun knew how kind she was. She had been a kind building owner for four years, renting this good spot at a lower price than the market rate.
Thinking about it, he felt like the one who had only refused her requests was the bad person.
'Originally, she said she just wanted to drink because she liked alcohol, and I misunderstood a lot... I'm really sorry.'
"Aunt, then contact me when you're free! No, I'll contact you!"
"Hehe, I like it~ Okay okay~ Then, I'll go for today. Contact me, Jihun~."
"Okay, go in!"
Leaving behind the words that he hadn't come to buy meat but just to see her face, the building owner auntie left the shop.
She gave Jihun a cute wave and turned around with a smile, but her expression suddenly became serious.
'Oh, why is her shoulder so firm? I'm going crazy.'
Then she swallowed hard.
'And what was that...? I must have misseen what she had in her pocket? A tool for handling meat? Or a TV remote?'
Somehow, today's dinner for her felt like it would be Jihun instead of meat.
"Wow... shit.. How am I supposed to deal with this."
Jihun also showed a troubled expression on his face as soon as she left.
His package had swelled up, and the erection peeking out from the side of his worn churining pants was clearly visible, as if he had a pencil case in his pocket.
'Was I caught...?'
Jihun shook his head vigorously and turned off the idol song, then played the national anthem from verse 1 to 4 and resumed his work.
3.
Jihun went to the association's training room after lunch break, handing over the shop baton to his father.
A sensor that recognized Jihun's face automatically opened the door.
"Min Jihun Hunter, welcome."
A massive man in a well-tailored black suit guarding the door greeted Jihun with a bow. He was a guy who looked over 190 cm and 100 kg.
Jihun lightly nodded and entered the training room to change clothes.
Like the pinnacle of modern sports science, many staff members helped train the hunters here.
They provided simple snacks and a hearty meal, as well as high-end exercise equipment and one-on-one customized training.
Among them, what Jihun liked most was that all of this was free for the hunters.
After loosening up his body, Jihun started barbell snatch as usual, but with one hand.
100, 120, 140... Jihun gradually increased the weight. Soon the barbell exceeded 200 kg, and veins bulged on his neck.
"Hah, today is good?"
Jihun, who had relieved the anxiety caused by Kim Jimin through exercise, felt pleasantly sore muscles in his back, shoulders, hips, and lower body. At that moment, a group of hunters approached Jihun, who was wiping sweat after finishing a set.
He didn't know when it had started, but they had become his enemies. They were the ones who had replaced their arms or legs with implants.
'Oh, those guys again. Aren't they tired of it?'
Among them, the one with the most fierce impression approached Jihun, who was avoiding eye contact as much as possible. He looked like he had a better build than Jihun. Comparing to the guard at the association door earlier, his physique was no less.
Jihun's barbell was kicked with a dirty foot, and they laughed among themselves, finding it amusing.
"Long time no see? Min Jihun?"
The guy leading the group, as if he were the leader, opened his mouth right in front of Jihun's nose.
Jihun, intimidated by the ominous atmosphere, averted his head.
"Ah, shit, the smell of shit from your mouth. Ugh."
But hearing the words from Jihun's mouth, it seemed he hadn't turned his head out of fear.
Park Hyeomtae.
Who on earth gave their son such a name, but both his father and mother were inheritors of a top chaebol in the top 50 of the Korean business world.
In other words, Park Hyeomtae was a third-generation chaebol heir.
Three years ago, he had only recently awakened as an E-rank, and Jihun had barely saved him as a fledgling, but he held a grudge without gratitude.
He installed dual magestone arm implants to jump from E-rank to C-rank and constantly bullied lower-ranked hunters. A heavy smoker with a repulsive breath.
Three years ago, when he entered a B-rank gate with 19 mismatched C-rank hunters he had gathered, they failed to clear it and got trapped in a phase space, leading to their rescue.
Inside the gate where seven people had died, Park Hyeomtae saw Jihun and the other hunters who came to save him and spat out curses.
"Shit!! I said I could do it!! Why did you guys come in!! Why!! Get out, you shitheads!!"
Then he pointed at the hunters he had brought and spewed out all sorts of nonsense that sounded like dog barking.
"Hey! You bastards! How much money did you receive from our dad! You can't even clear a gate like this?"
"Kill these fucking hunters first and solve this gate yourselves! If you don't, I'll make sure you never step foot in Korea again! You and your families too!"
His high-pitched voice, glaring with red eyes and raging, was so unpleasant that Jihun lightly tapped the back of his neck to knock him unconscious.
After rescuing the unconscious guy and injured hunters and cleaning up the gate, instead of thanks, they came walking with troubles like today.
It hadn't even been a day or two, and it was too childish to accept.
For example, blocking narrow passages with their lackeys and telling him to go back, or spreading bad rumors.
So, he had been ignoring it without much concern...
But daring to kick the sacred barbell in the gym...
With shoes not even indoor slippers, but shoes brought from outside?
Today was going too far?
'How am I supposed to deal with this?'