"Good job."
"…You've worked hard."
[All hunters, please gather at Forward Base 3 immediately!]
[Hunters who are injured, please remain where you are!]
The Erosion Dungeons, from a national perspective, meant newly expanded territory and resources.
However, on the flip side, it was as if a hole to an entirely different world had opened, and they had to regularly deal with the monsters that occasionally flooded out.
More than 60 years had passed since the first Great Rift occurred, yet dungeons and monsters remained largely incomprehensible to humans, with far more mysteries yet to be uncovered than what had already been revealed.
"Hah, now those damn goblins are showing up with guns…"
"Hey, are you okay? You got hit by something that looked like a cannon earlier, right?"
"Heck, I'm fine. Just slap some spit on it, and I'll be goo—Uggh!?"
"Shut up and get your ass to the hospital."
"Jeez, you bitch! You don't even talk to your boyfriend like this, do you?"
"What are you mumbling, you idiot?"
The Erosion Dungeon subjugation force, made up of A-rank hunters, had just annihilated a goblin guerrilla squad that had come to plunder the human world like bandits.
They were now busy cleaning up the aftermath.
The goblin guerrilla squads had been part of the Goblin Empire led by the Emperor Goblin, who had invaded the human world a decade ago before mysteriously disappearing.
These squads consisted of hundreds of goblins, mostly ranked from C to B class.
They would sporadically invade or raid the human world, attacking small, isolated villages to capture women as breeding stock or plunder food.
Occasionally, they would even raid military bases to steal human weaponry.
Since the formation of the Erosion Dungeon subjugation force, made up of A-rank hunters, the damage caused by these goblin guerrilla squads had significantly decreased, though in the early days, there were numerous local governments reporting damage nationwide.
Even during this raid, while there were people who suffered minor and major injuries, fortunately, there were no fatalities, and the situation was considered to have ended cleanly.
"Whoo…"
Among the A-rank hunter subjugation team was Yeonhwa of Icicle Nine, who had recently been officially assigned a hunter name.
"Yeonhwa, good job."
"…Senior Go Minjun."
As Yeonhwa was catching her breath at the forward base set up by the association, a familiar face approached her.
His name was Go Minjun.
He was the deputy guild master of Yeonpung Guild, one of the ten largest guilds in South Korea, and a senior who had graduated from the same Hunter Academy as Yeonhwa.
"That was your first subjugation battle, right? You did great. The way you wiped out the frontlines earlier was impressive."
"….Thank you."
Minjun, who had discreetly sat down beside Yeonhwa, spoke cautiously.
"Hey, Yeonhwa, do you have some time to spare? I have something to talk about. Could we maybe grab a coffee after the subjugation team wraps things up?"
"If you have something to say, just say it here."
"This isn't the kind of thing you talk about in front of so many eyes."
"It's fine. Say it here."
It's probably another recruitment pitch.
Even before she became A-rank, numerous guilds had attempted to recruit Yeonhwa, and the offers had increased dramatically ever since she had been given her hunter name.
"Alright, fine. I'll say it here."
Go Minjun sighed, positioning himself more firmly beside her as he began.
"Yeonhwa, you're certainly talented. But if you keep working alone like this, one day it's going to get you into serious trouble."
"….."
At Minjun's words, Yeonhwa shot him a sharp glance.
She had always cleared dungeons solo.
She had lived her life without sparing her body or her life, throwing everything away in order to become stronger. But fundamentally, after her older sister Yeona had died protecting her, Yeonhwa found the very idea of relying on or entrusting something to others uncomfortable.
For her, group activities were extremely awkward.
While it was certainly beneficial to have someone you could trust to watch your back, Yeonhwa had practically fought the goblin guerrilla squad alone, opting to act independently.
"I'll admit, your skills are outstanding, and it's hard to believe you just reached A-rank recently. Honestly, I was pretty amazed myself."
"Thanks for the compliment."
"But monsters and dungeons aren't so easy. Especially lately, with more dungeons featuring unusual mechanics and mutant monsters showing up more frequently. The Goblin Empire's guerrilla squads are learning from us, adapting human weaponry, and the difficulty is only increasing, you know? I understand that you're Yeonseo's granddaughter, but still, you should take a senior's advice…"
"Please get to the point."
When Yeonhwa cut him off with a cold stare, Minjun sighed again.
"…Join our guild. As an A-rank hunter, you'll make connections, get support, and we'll even grant you priority entry into the dungeons our guild controls."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to decline."
"Just think it over. You know other guilds are also vying to recruit you, right? This is a great opportunity for you. After seeing your performance in this goblin subjugation, I realized it—Yeonhwa, you are a valuable asset for our guild, and it would benefit you too if you joined…"
"I'm not planning to join any guild."
As if expecting this response, Yeonhwa stood up.
The report to the association would be handled by someone else anyway, so there was no need for her to stay here and engage in a noisy debate.
However, Minjun, seeing she was about to leave, stepped in front of her.
"Wait, I don't get it. Why are you so opposed? Most hunters would give anything to get into one of the big guilds right out of the academy, so why haven't you joined one yet?"
"That's none of your business."
"Sure, I admit our guild would gain a lot from recruiting you, especially since you're Yeonseo's granddaughter."
Ah, of course, it all comes down to that.
Yeonhwa was well aware of this.
As the only living descendant and granddaughter of the legendary Yeonseo, Yeonhwa had been a prominent figure since her academy days, both for good and bad reasons.
She had been a public figure from birth, so much so that there was a whole timeline of her life compiled on Hunter Wiki, much of which she didn't even know about herself.
"But, Yeonhwa, hunters can't survive alone. Eventually, you'll hit a wall. Trust me, you need to join a guild for your own sake."
"I'm fine on my own. And after watching me fight today, you should know that."
"Know what?"
"I'm not in a position to trust anyone to watch my back."
Yeonhwa's ability was ice manipulation.
Not just any ice—her power was so formidable that she had reached A-rank at a young age.
At present, there were few hunters with area-of-effect attack capabilities as powerful as hers.
The reason Yeonhwa had fought alone at the front during this battle against the goblin guerrilla squad wasn't just because of her exceptional skill.
It was because coordinating with other hunters was simply impossible.
Uncontrolled ice would freeze even the hunters standing next to her.
And guilds, after all, were organizations built around cooperation and mutual benefit.
"Thanks for the offer, senior. But I'll be going now."
"…Hah, this is why your nickname back in school was 'Chang—'"
Crunch!
In that instant, Minjun froze as he met Yeonhwa's chilling gaze.
Frost crept from her hand, betraying the fact that Yeonhwa had momentarily failed to control her emotions.
"…I'll pretend I didn't hear that just now."
"…"
Without another word, Yeonhwa strode away, leaving Minjun to sigh in frustration.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go…
"Dammit, I screwed up…"
○○○○
Yeonhwa, the granddaughter of Yeonseo—the greatest and most powerful hunter, and a living legend—had not lived an easy life.
There were many things she had gained.
Yeonseo's fame and fortune were unparalleled in the hunter world, and she herself had reached near-superhuman levels.
But her personal life had been fraught with tragedy.
Her mother, who had always been frail, died shortly after giving birth to her.
Her sister, Yeona, died protecting her during the second Great Rift.
On the day a monster escaped at the academy, her teacher was seriously injured taking the hit intended for her.
The partner who had accompanied her on a dungeon expedition died in an unfortunate accident.
Everyone who had tried to connect with or be kind to Yeonhwa met with a bad end.
As time passed, no one dared to get close to her anymore.
Sitting in the electric car on the way home, Yeonhwa found herself recalling the conversation she had just had with her senior.
A nickname from her school days, huh… yeah…
She knew what it must have been.
"Chang-gwi…"
Chang-gwi.
A ghost who, after being killed by a tiger, becomes a vengeful spirit that brings more victims to the tiger's den.
In Yeonhwa's case, it was more akin to a servant of the 'monsters,' working on behalf of something evil.
It wouldn't be surprising if an outsider saw her that way.
Even in life-threatening situations, Yeonhwa had always somehow survived.
In return, however, she had lost her mother, her sister, her teacher, her friends… everyone except her grandmother, Yeonseo.
At first, it had been sad and lonely.
She had distanced herself from people out of resentment, struggled to accept a future that seemed destined for misfortune, and eventually ended up doing everything alone.
She had become addicted to dungeons, slowly destroying her own body. To remember the people she had lost, she had done whatever it took to become stronger.
The result?
That nickname, "Chang-gwi."
It was ironic.
A Chang-gwi is said to constantly seek out new victims in order to free itself from being a slave to the tiger.
The victims are usually family, relatives, and friends.
Families that had suffered from a tiger would not even marry into distant branches of such families.
And that description fit Yeonhwa perfectly.
Of course, no one at the academy had dared to openly mock her as Chang-gwi.
Her skills were far superior to her peers, and above all, she was Yeonseo's granddaughter.
No one dared to provoke her, but Yeonhwa was well aware of how people talked about her behind her back.
It had always left her incredulous, seeing how her peers feared her as if she were a ghost.
As she wrestled with these unwanted memories, Yeonhwa finally arrived home.
"Welcome back, miss."
"…I'm exhausted, so just have dinner without me."
"Understood."
Even after returning to her family's estate, Yeonhwa's sour mood didn't improve.
Her domineering nature tended to present a challenge to her rivals.
She was aware of her differences from others and had lived her life accordingly.
Too thorny to be considered a gentle flower, and too unlovely to be compared to a rose.
Pushing aside these faintly rising feelings, Yeonhwa lay down on her bed, not even bothering to take off her coat.
"Ugh… I'm so done with this crap. Might as well check the forums."
Surprisingly, one of Yeonhwa's hobbies was browsing online communities.
With little real conversation in her life, and no friends since the day she received her hunter certification, Yeonhwa had gradually found herself turning to the internet for a sense of connection.
Though she wasn't exactly an active poster, she frequently visited the largest domestic online community—the Hunter Gallery.
She still didn't fully understand the strange memes and cryptic slang people posted, but after years of browsing, she had grown accustomed to the chaotic nature of online forums.
She had even started to enjoy some of the ridiculous banter.
There were the occasional crazy trolls who would post disturbing images, but with the real-life community being so narrow, Yeonhwa found herself spending more and more time on the forums.
And as she scrolled through the trending posts, something familiar caught her eye.
Upvotes: 1034
Seeing the post with over a thousand upvotes, Yeonhwa figured it must be something noteworthy, so she clicked on it. Instantly, she was greeted by a GIF of a silver-haired woman massacring wyverns.
'What is this?'
It was Shia.
It was definitely Shia.
As Yeonhwa blinked, wondering if her exhaustion was making her see things, she returned her gaze to the post.
『I was exploring this obscure streaming channel earlier.
You can tell from the pictures that this 'noona' isn't just any ordinary noona.
The channel didn't even have a proper title. It just displayed the username "Hunter Isiah," which is probably her real name.
It wasn't clear if it was a deliberate setup or not, but she didn't seem aware that she was streaming.
At first, I clicked in because I was drawn in by her… well, her impressive 'maternal assets,' but once I was in, I was blown away.
Not only is she drop-dead gorgeous and, yes, those 'assets' are definitely real, but the real kicker was when she started taking down those wyverns.
Some of you may have recognized the location from the pictures—it's the Kurrtala Mountain Range in Gyerongsan. It's an A-rank restricted area, so no one can enter without permission. You can't sneak in either, as it's a dungeon within the 2nd Guards Division's zone. Any unauthorized entry, and you're immediately thrown out.
I've attached the full fight as a GIF and some clips, so check it out.』
[Who is this, you weeb?]
[Read the post, dumbass…]
[She's Hunter Isiah.]
[Whoa, what's up with that GIF???]
[Is this fake or legit?]
[If it's fake, a movie studio should hire her right now, lol.]
[She's a B-rank hunter, but judging by this, she's probably well above A-rank.]
[For real?]
[Yeah, look at the speed. The way she steps on a wyvern and uses it as a springboard to leap into the air is something even most A-ranks can't pull off. And crushing a wyvern's head with one punch? Her strength and reflexes are off the charts.]
[Cut the BS, man. B-rank hunters were pulling stunts like that on TV the other day.]
[Are you really comparing a rehearsed performance on TV where they've memorized where all the platforms are to someone annihilating a bunch of wyverns in real combat?]
[Lol, yeah, nailed it.]
[Holy crap… she's stepping on the wyverns mid-air.]
[And look at those 'maternal assets' jiggling majestically.]
[LMAO]
[Mom! When I grow up, I want to be a 'maternal asset'!]
[This guy's lost it, hahaha.]
"…What the hell is this…"
Why is Shia being mentioned on the Hunter Gallery all of a sudden?
Yeonhwa knew that Shia had been issued a temporary Hunter certificate and had gone on a mission to Gyeryongsan Mountain.
But when, where, and why exactly?
Why on earth had Shia's story spread through the Hunter Gallery, a notorious den of malicious gossipers, like she was some kind of streamer doing a live Hunter broadcast?
It wasn't that Yeonhwa particularly looked down on people who did Hunter broadcasts.
In fact, she personally respected them.
Communicating with viewers from dungeons where life and death hung in the balance, showcasing excellent combat skills, and even doing regular streams with occasional jokes was something Yeonhwa couldn't even begin to imagine—an incredible amount of diligence and stress.
In reality, Yeonhwa herself frequently watched Hunter broadcasts, and above all, her grandmother, Yeonseo, had occasionally done broadcasts as well.
"No, but why Shia Unnie…?"
[Have you heard of the Saintess of Kanttabiya?](322)
Views: 1,942
Seeing the mysterious term "Saintess of Kanttabiya," Yeonhwa, curious, clicked on the post.
"…..What is this… Pu-huh!"
And the moment she saw the high-definition gif, Yeonhwa felt a laugh burst out of her, despite herself.
The gif showed Shia, with a bright smile and wyvern blood slightly smeared on her cheek, smashing the head of an A+ grade wyvern leader—not just once, but multiple times.
Shia was beautiful.
Even putting aside her magnificent maternal pouch, she was tall, and her overall style was great.
Seeing her with writhing, bizarre tentacles, reviving wyverns after killing them, and crushing their heads or snapping their spines the moment they showed any sign of resistance left people in a daze.
『Hey, are you awake now, wyvern?』
[Wow… what a psycho LOL]
ㄴ[For real LOL]
ㄴ[The way she revives it just to kill it again is hilarious LOL]
[Ugh! Just kill me already!]
ㄴ[This heavy yet chilling sensation…]
ㄴ[Dead…]
ㄴ[Eh.. why die? You should fight back..]
[Welcome back, wyvern]
ㄴ[LOLOLOLOL]
The community had already gone wild.
Originally, the Hunter Gallery was a place where tens of thousands of people, who lived in constant boredom, gathered, spinning various threads of gossip all day.
So, once fresh bait started rolling, everyone who logged into the gallery began discussing Hunter Ishia.
[Hunter Ishia: Let me summarize.](119)
Views: 783
『First off, here's the list of people who recently got promoted to A-rank Hunter.
This list was officially released by the Hunter Association, so it's reliable.
From the names, it seems like they're all Korean.
Looking here, there's no one named Hunter Ishia at all.
From this info alone, it seems like Ishia isn't even an A-rank Hunter.
I also checked foreign Hunter lists, and there's no one matching the name.
The most likely possibility is that she's a Returnee.
If that's the case, and she's the Saintess of Kanttabiya, then she's a Returnee who got promoted to A-rank immediately after returning for the first time in 11 years.
If you look at the gif, you can tell that she crushed the wyvern's skull with one hand.
And even after that, there's no sign of her getting tired or breathing hard.
She probably has significant stamina or some kind of healing or doping ability.
Her features: 10/10 in looks, her maternal pouch is grand, and she's freakishly strong.
Her reflexes seem sharp, and based on the drone camera angles, she's probably using a very expensive camera.
I don't know what kind it is, but it doesn't seem commercially available.
What I'm most curious about is the twisted tentacle-like thing on her back.
It looks like it's either part of her body or something she conjures up, like a mutant-type ability, considering how it wraps around and tosses the wyvern.
And judging by how she revives the wyvern with its head blown off, if that's not fake and it's her real ability, then Korea's finally got a true healer Saintess, following China's Saintess.
But, based on her abilities, she doesn't seem like a pure healer.
It's more like she finds the source of the injury, beats it to a pulp, and crushes it to bits.
It's unclear if she can heal people, so that's something to confirm later.
All in all, though, she seems capable of reaching S-rank.
If she really hits S-rank, the Saintess of Kanttabiya will be the first Returnee in 48 years to reach S-rank, following S-rank Hunter Yujin.』
[Good analysis]
[Great analysis]
[But who the hell are you to act like an expert?]
ㄴ[What a load of crap]
[For real LOL, hyping her up again]
ㄴ[Do you even know how hard it is to become S-rank?]
ㄴ[Agreed. If anyone could make S-rank, it wouldn't be called S-rank.]
ㄴ[Still, she's probably A-rank.]
ㄴ[I doubt the video's even real.]
ㄴ[That's true. The poster said they didn't even know it was being broadcast, but the drone angles and production quality are way too good.]
"She's definitely S-rank…."
Yeonhwa, who had seen Shia up close, was convinced Shia could achieve S-rank in no time.
After all, she had seen Shia take down a Black Minotaur in an instant and grill eopjinsal with her. If that wasn't S-rank, what was?
The fact that there were people on the gallery who made fairly accurate deductions made Yeonhwa nod in agreement.
But the question remained unanswered.
Why had Shia, who had gone on a simple mission to get a temporary Hunter certificate, become so famous as if she'd broadcasted the whole thing?
'…Maybe she messed up the drone controls?'
Shia was terrible with machines.
As someone who had returned to the present after 64 years, it was possible she was unfamiliar with modern devices.
If she had accidentally mishandled a new drone camera, unknowingly broadcasting everything, it would explain everything.
"Turns out it's not such a big deal after all…"
With a chuckle, Yeonhwa smiled and began browsing more posts related to Shia from her bed.
Of course, there were plenty of annoying and out-of-line posts too.
There were at least hundreds of comments making lewd jokes about Shia's large maternal pouch, and there were baseless rumors and hate-filled speculations as well.
"…Irritating."
For a moment, Yeonhwa felt the urge to use the Yeon family's power to show those people just how terrifying reality could be.
But Shia wasn't a professional streamer; she probably didn't even know that her broadcast had gone out.
Right, if Shia wanted to deal with those crossing the line later, she could take care of it then.
With that thought, Yeonhwa found herself watching a clip of Shia eating with a Hunter she had apparently met in the dungeon, a woman named Cheon Ah-young.
[A-rank Cheon Ah-young and the Saintess eat a 1-billion-won egg](424)
Views: 1,731
『[Video clip] Wyvern's first egg costs over 1 billion won, and it looks so damn delicious.』
[What kind of madman doesn't sell a 1-billion-won wyvern egg but eats it himself LOL There's no way LOL]
ㄴ[Ta-da! Turns out there was no such thing as "no way."]
ㄴ[Seriously, this is crazy LOL]
ㄴ[So the reason she beat the wyvern so spectacularly was to steal its egg and eat it?]
[Wyvern egg theft gif]
ㄴ[LOLOLOLOL]
ㄴ[What even is this LOL]
ㄴ[Someone turn this into a meme, please]
ㄴ[She's taking the egg with tentacles LOL]
ㄴ[Look at her expression LOL She's so damn happy LOL]
ㄴ[This is nuts LOL]
ㄴ[My stomach hurts LOL]
ㄴ[Is this… really a Saintess…?]
[But it looks delicious, and Cheon Ah-young is loving it too.]
ㄴ[Cheon Ah-young's been starving for three days, so it makes sense.]
ㄴ[If a 1-billion-won egg didn't taste good, that'd be weird LOL]
ㄴ[Did the Saintess bring soy sauce and other ingredients to the dungeon just to cook that egg?]
ㄴ[Seems like it, huh?]
ㄴ[LOL what an explanation LOL]
The moment Yeonhwa saw that scene, she recalled the phone call she had received from Shia earlier in the day.
Shia had panicked, saying she had used the wrong kind of soy sauce, not dark soy sauce but light soy sauce.
The memory was still fresh in Yeonhwa's mind.
"…So that's why she sounded so flustered back then."
Pu-huh, Yeonhwa found herself chuckling again.
It wasn't mockery.
Just the thought of Shia diligently handling soy sauce and garlic, trying to make the wyvern *jangjorim* shown in the gif, made her laugh naturally.
Was she starting to enjoy this?
Yeonhwa continued to click on and read every post that mentioned Shia, whether it contained drawings or gifs.
It was fun.
Though she didn't know why, Yeonhwa realized that the gloom she had felt earlier had completely disappeared while looking at the posts about Shia.
Thinking about the nickname "Chang-gwi" and how much it pissed her off,
Feeling sad and depressed when she thought of her sister,
All of it had vanished as she watched Shia happily eat wyvern *jangjorim*.
'Have I ever felt like this before…?'
How strange.
Shrugging her shoulders, Yeonhwa got up from her seat.
The feeling of gloom was gone. She was tired, though, so she decided to wash up and then spend more time browsing Hunter Gallery afterward.
In the past, when she felt down, her mood would remain low all day, but thanks to Shia… something really strange had happened.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
"Miss, you have a guest."
"A guest?"
"Yes, a person named Ishia is here."
"…!"
Hearing that, Yeonhwa quickly grabbed the crumpled coat from earlier and threw it over her shoulders as she stood up.
"Bring her to my room."
"Yes, Miss."
As the voice faded, Yeonhwa checked her appearance.
She couldn't afford to look sloppy, especially not when meeting her sister.
While she was smoothing out the wrinkles, she heard footsteps approaching from the distance.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
It was Shia.
She hadn't changed much since the first time they met.
The only difference was that, just like in the gif, one of her cheeks was smeared with dried red liquid.
Was that wyvern blood?
Did she come here straight from the state she'd been in in the gif?!
"Shia Unnie? What brings you here at this hour…?"
"It's nothing much…."
Shia pulled out an egg, the size of her head, from her backpack.
A wyvern egg.
It was the same one Yeonhwa had seen earlier on the gallery—the egg Shia had made *jangjorim* with.
"It's a gift."
"…..No, it's fine… You're the one who's short on living expenses, Unnie. I'm okay, so you should sell it on the Hunter Market…"
"Just take it."
Shia's bright smile made Yeonhwa feel a slight tickle in her heart.
"I already made jangjorim with one?"
"..."
So those gifs and broadcast clips weren't fake after all…
"It was really delicious. I wish I could've eaten it with you. The *jangjorim* was great, but… while I was eating, I kept thinking about you."
"I see…"
"Yeah, so I brought this as a gift. Also, thanks for helping with the soy sauce advice earlier."
To the Yeon family, a wyvern egg wasn't that great of a gift.
Yeonhwa had eaten exotic foods like wyvern eggs several times before.
But this was the first time she had ever received one as a gift.
"I don't know if I'll be able to eat it; it seems too precious."
"Try to eat it quickly. They say it's best when it's fresh."
"…I'll do my best."
And Shia, smiling sweetly, placed her hand on Yeonhwa's head.
"You must have had a hard time."
"Excuse me?"
"Your hair's messy. There's dust on your shoulders. And you look tired."
"..."
"You've done well. You're amazing, my little Bingu."
"I'm not Bingu…"
"Okay, okay…. Well, I won't disturb our little Bingu's rest, so I'll head out now."
"Why don't you stay a little longer…."
"No."
With that, Shia left Yeonhwa's room without a second thought.
"Our hard-working Bingu needs a good rest tonight."
"....."
Yeonhwa suddenly wondered how many people had ever told her to rest.
Yeonseo, who loved her dearly, lived a very busy life as a living legend, so it was hard to even see her often.
The people who worked for the Yeon family treated Yeonhwa with utmost respect, but their service was primarily based on obedience.
"You've done well. You're amazing. Rest well."
It had been such a long time since anyone had said those words to her….
"Good night, Bingu."
"…Goodbye, Unnie."
Waving at Shia as she walked away, Yeonhwa soon turned her gaze to the round wyvern egg in her hand.
"…Unnie said it was delicious…."
Should I try making wyvern *jangjorim* too…?
With a small smile, Yeonhwa gently caressed the wyvern egg, which still held traces of Shia's touch.