Hunter Spirit

Hye-ji, who had just come out of the shower, immediately stopped Ayeon and Elsia. While drying her hair, she roared at them without missing a beat.

Ayeon and Elsia flinched for a moment at Hye-ji's outburst. But then the two of them pushed back again.

"Please stop pointing out the state of my body, you damn bitches."

Hye-ji quietly listened to their complaints while finishing drying her hair. Then she stood up, let out a small snort, and smirked.

She showed the relaxed attitude of someone who had already committed the crime. Soon after, Hye-ji started getting dressed and heading out.

With those words, she closed the door and left.

The moment Hye-ji was gone, Ayeon and Elsia immediately clung to me.

"Hey, fuck. Stop for a second."

They completely ignored my words and started stripping my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠clothes off. Their eyes were filled with a greedy determination that said they would absolutely go through with it.

However.

"I absolutely won't do it right now! No, I can't!"

I stubbornly refused. Even though the thing below me had swollen up again as if nothing had happened, I had no choice but to reject them now.

At that, Ayeon and Elsia narrowed their eyes fiercely and growled.

"That's not it. There's a truly perfect reason."

Ayeon and Elsia crossed their arms and glared at me as if daring me to try and explain. I didn't shrink from their gazes and calmly spoke the truth.

"The guy writing this has no experience, so he can't write proper sex scenes on time!"

A brief silence followed. Then came the sound of everyone nodding as if they completely understood.

- Why the hell are you hitting me, you fucking bastards.

Having been fully convinced by that, Ayeon and Elsia started picking up their clothes and putting them back on. Meanwhile, I dragged my trembling body over, stripped the bed cover off, and roughly stuffed it into the washing machine. After watching the machine start running, I slowly headed toward the bathroom to wash up. Only now did I realize the smell coming off my body was pretty bad.

I turned on the water in the tub and started washing. No matter how much I scrubbed after everything I did with Hye-ji, it felt like her scent was still clinging to me.

Then suddenly, I caught my reflection in the mirror.

'...Is that really me?'

My face looked so bad I doubted it was even mine. Sunken eye sockets and cheeks. Eyes with unfocused pupils. Heavy dark circles and cracked, dry lips. I used to have some decent muscles, but today my body just looked shriveled. I looked closer to a walking corpse than a person.

The moment I saw it with my own eyes, my entire body screamed as if it had finally realized how exhausted it truly was. To ease the pain even a little, I quickly got into the tub. As the warmth spread through me, the tension ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my body slowly began to melt away.

Maybe that was why. A small sense of peace suddenly washed over me, and drowsiness hit hard.

'Thank you.'

'...Fuck.'

But I couldn't answer. Because I had already fallen asleep.

A little while later, the thing that woke me up wasn't Piece's alarm.

It was when I heard Hye-ji's ominous voice saying,

I tried to help set the table, but Hye-ji stubbornly refused. She insisted on doing it all herself because she wanted to serve us.

"...Yeah, thanks."

So I sat quietly and waited. Then a sudden question popped into my head.

"I only contacted Ayeon, so how did Elsia know to come?"

But Elsia couldn't answer. She had tried to secretly steal some food and gotten smacked by Hye-ji, so she was now clutching her thigh in pain. Ayeon answered in her place.

"...Really?"

It sounded meaningful. But what came next went beyond meaningful and straight into unsettling.

"......Why?"

Ayeon avoided my eyes with a guilty look on her face. Since she absolutely refused to make eye contact, I turned to Elsia instead. In that short time, she had gotten hit on her other leg too and was now sitting on the floor. Looking closer, I could see faint dark circles under her eyes, and her face looked a bit pale overall. It seemed like she had stayed up all night. I didn't really want to think about why she had been in my room. It didn't seem like anything good would come from it, and more importantly—

Food came first.

What Hye-ji had bought was hangover soup along with some lightly seasoned meat side dishes. She even brought fruit for dessert. It was the perfect meal to soothe the stomach of someone who had drunk heavily the night before.

Of course.

"Shin-woo, eat this."

My menu was a little different. Hye-ji started piling different foods exclusively in front of me. Oyster soup. Oyster pancakes. Grilled eel. Chive pancakes. Roasted garlic. Fried oysters.

"......Hye-ji?"

It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blatant. Extremely so.

Anyway, everyone exchanged greetings to eat well, and I tried to start eating too, but—

- Clack.

"Ah."

My fingers lost strength and I dropped my chopsticks.

'That one didn't have anything to do with my will.'

Hye-ji smiled faintly and stuck right next to me.

"...Aren't you supposed to say 'ah-' here?"

She started feeding me. Like a mother bird feeding her baby. Seeing me obediently eat what she gave me, Ayeon and Elsia ground their teeth and began their "loser's meal."

Still, everyone was hungry, so the food disappeared quickly. I finished everything in front of me too, but my stomach felt a bit queasy. Given what the food was, it was only natural. I needed something refreshing.

"Hye-ji, give me some fruit."

Hye-ji said okay and then—

"......That's fried oyster. That's a completely different food."

She had handed me something entirely different. And she had taken it out fresh, too. I tried asking again.

"Where's the fruit?"

"Fuck."

My request was cleanly rejected. But there was nothing I could do. Hye-ji's glare was too fierce. In the end, I forced down all the extra food she kept giving me.

The moment we finished eating and cleaning up, Hye-ji kicked Ayeon and Elsia out while snapping at them.

Naturally, Ayeon and Elsia protested. They expressed their strong opposition that this was unacceptable.

At some point, a gleaming axe had appeared in Elsia's hand. Hye-ji's eyes turned ice cold.

"......I got caught."

Elsia clicked her tongue in disappointment. Meanwhile, Ayeon looked wronged.

"......Fuck."

In the end, Ayeon and Elsia left for the dormitory with eyes full of lingering regret. The door closed.

At that moment, Hye-ji's gaze fixed on me. Her aura began to change. It was hard to describe, but if I had to put it into words...

Predator. That word was enough.

Intimidated by Hye-ji's presence, I unconsciously took a step back. And then—

- Thud.

Before I knew it, I had collapsed onto the bed. The tiny bit of femininity still left inside me moved my mouth.

Hye-ji started taking off her clothes. Her pure white naked body was no different from yesterday. She immediately pounced on me and forcibly stripped my clothes off. The only saving grace was that she didn't rip them this time. Hye-ji laughed menacingly and answered me.

"Really?"

"Fuck."

The effect of the food was truly incredible. Unfortunately.

The long, drawn-out sex finally ended. This time, it felt like Hye-ji had gone a little easier on me.

"Fuck."

Once again dragging my trembling body, I entered the bathroom. I sank into the tub and picked up my phone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to make a call. I didn't have many contacts, but I reached out to the one person I could ask for advice.

Me: [Uncle.]

Idiot: [What, you idiot. Why are you suddenly contacting me?]

Kang Hyuk must not have had anything to do because he replied instantly. Since he'd ignore me if he lost interest, I quickly typed.

Me: [It's about my girlfriend.]

Idiot: [Girlfriend? You? Rock-paper-scissors for mileage would be faster.]

Kang Hyuk uncle sharply pointed it out. Indeed, winning mileage through three rounds of rock-paper-scissors felt easier than getting a girlfriend. [The probability is fucking trash.]

'Nobel-chan's smile was so annoying.'

So it was natural he wouldn't believe me. I didn't want to bet on this, but to make Uncle Kang Hyuk believe me, I had to. There was no choice.

Me: [It's true. I swear on you, uncle.]

Idiot: [Why the hell are you swearing on me, you son of a bitch!]

Even through text, I could feel him huffing in anger. But he quickly calmed down, and this time he sent a message first.

Idiot: [Fuck. Fine, let's say it's true. What did you contact me for?]

He seemed slightly interested. This was my chance, so I slowly brought it up.

Me: [It's because of my relationship with my girlfriend.]

Idiot: [You pathetic bastard. Are you living under your girl's thumb? You have no backbone, kid.]

Uncle Kang Hyuk was obviously living under someone's thumb himself, yet he was acting all tough. But I didn't have the energy to point that out.

Me: [Recommend me some stamina pills.]

Idiot: [......]

I really had no strength left. Uncle didn't reply anymore. Thinking it was hopeless, I was about to put my phone down when—

A gift arrived out of nowhere. The sender was Kang Hyuk. Wondering if he had sent something weird again, I checked the contents. But unlike usual, it wasn't strange at all. Two boxes of stamina pills. The exact thing I needed. It was touching. For the first time, I felt genuine respect for Uncle Kang Hyuk.

But the emotion didn't end there. A note had come with the gift. With trembling hands, I carefully opened it.

Tears welled up in my eyes. My vision blurred. My throat gradually tightened. But instead of stopping, the tears only grew heavier. Eventually they crossed the limit, and a single teardrop finally rolled down my cheek.

A small droplet fell into the bathwater I was soaking in. Then more and more droplets began to fall. That day, I realized I could get drunk without drinking any alcohol.

That day, I learned the Hunter Spirit from two boxes of stamina pills, and I got drunk on the Hunter Spirit.

Only Piece's song echoed hollowly inside my head.