Chapter 44 : Prank!? Prank!! 5

"Hyung, can't you help me just this once?"

"Hey, think about it for a second. You suddenly took a break without even informing us, and the higher-ups are seriously pissed off."

"…Haah, I couldn't help it either."

"Let's hear the reason. What's the excuse for 'not being able to help it'? Did your abilities suddenly disappear or something?"

"I can't talk about that. Anyway, I've already taken the break and paid the fine. But when I come back, public opinion needs to be on my side to make the return a bit smoother."

"…Haah, fine. I'll release the guys and try to figure something out."

○○○○○

Yeonhwa, who had been granted an A-rank and a hunter name, found herself with quite a bit of free time recently.

In the past, she roamed all kinds of dungeons like an addict, always pushing herself to the limit. But once she passed a major hurdle, she suddenly had more leisure time.

In fact, unless there was a subjugation mission like when the goblin guerrilla units attacked people or ambushed them, most A-rank hunters who had received a hunter name spent their time relaxing in their rooms.

And Yeonhwa had been spending most of her time either watching Shia's streams, who she was closest to, or frequently lurking on the Hunter Gallery, reading various discussions about Shia.

Although Shia wasn't her real older sister, every time Shia became the subject of various conversations and gained attention, Yeonhwa felt a strange sense of vicarious satisfaction.

[Look at that solid holy power pouch!]

ㄴ [For real, LOL]

ㄴ [I wish I could hug her just once.]

ㄴ [Antics Saintess strikes again… Today, another one is added to the Saintess' retirement fund list…]

"Is Unnie's chest really that great…"

If Shia had even felt slightly uncomfortable with this borderline sexual harassment, Yeonhwa wouldn't have hesitated to call a lawyer and head straight to court.

Of course, it wasn't that Yeonhwa couldn't understand why people in the gallery were praising Shia's looks or her chest.

Even from Yeonhwa's perspective, Shia's appearance was incredibly beautiful, and her chest was indeed large.

"What's this now?"

At that moment, Yeonhwa tilted her head in confusion at the posts suddenly dominating the trending section.

Originally, about 30% of the trending posts on the Hunter Gallery were related to Shia, the recently emerged supernova.

There were plenty of troublemakers, perverted netizens, and idle posters, but they usually stopped at praising Shia's chest or circulating gif clips of Shia cooking Centipede Dragon and Wyvern egg stew.

Other than that, people were satisfied by Shia's impressive and overwhelming combat scenes.

"Frank & Joy? What's this?"

Yeonhwa had often visited the Hunter Gallery to gather various information about hunters and dungeons.

But she had never heard of Frank & Joy, such a malicious prank streamer, so it was unfamiliar to her.

'Ah, I remember now… They're those streamers who used to pull pranks on hunters. Their idea was so trashy that it was just unpleasant…'

People who enjoyed provocative content might like that kind of thing, but… why is this suddenly getting so much attention?

Was it always this popular?

Suddenly, related search terms and keywords about Frank & Joy began to dominate over half of the trending posts on the gallery.

Considering it had taken over this much of the trending section, it was safe to assume that almost every regular post in the gallery was now related to Frank & Joy.

[Hey, why hasn't Frank & Joy uploaded anything lately?] (121)

『I used to watch the Frank & Joy channel a lot because it was so funny, but why haven't they uploaded anything recently?

After that disaster filming in the Suwol Plains dungeon, they suddenly announced a break. Does anyone know why?』

[That broadcast was such a mess, I didn't even know what was going on.]

[No, no, they said the host was attacked.]

ㄴ [What are you talking about?]

ㄴ [Apparently, the hunters who got pranked got so pissed off they hired mercenaries to mess with the host.]

ㄴ [For real?]

[What, hunters actually hired mercenaries? Isn't that ridiculously petty?]

ㄴ [It sounds plausible.]

ㄴ [Are they crazy?]

ㄴ [If they hired mercenaries, it'd guarantee anonymity, right?]

ㄴ [LOL hiring mercenaries to beat up a streamer, the association would issue a bounty for sure LOL]

ㄴ [Nah, the association guys are salary thieves; they won't do anything.]

[(Breaking) The person who attacked the Frank & Joy channel might be Shia.] (446)

『I watched Shia's stream that day, and I think Shia is the one who attacked Choi Min-hyung.

Shia's been rumored to be S-rank and all, and if Shia really was the one who punched Choi Min-hyung, the break lines up, doesn't it?』

[S-rank? More like rumored to be S-rank.]

[But just because someone took down an S-rank monster doesn't automatically make them an S-rank hunter.]

ㄴ [What kind of nonsense is this now?]

ㄴ [Think about it. Monsters are living beings, and their condition changes daily. They could be injured, sick, or tired. Just because someone killed an S-rank monster doesn't mean they're an S-rank hunter.]

ㄴ [True, that makes sense.]

ㄴ [Dunno.]

ㄴ [Maybe?]

[Why would Shia attack Choi Min-hyung though, LOL]

ㄴ [Choi Min-hyung tried to prank Shia, and Shia probably thought he looked tasty LOL]

ㄴ [Oh, right, that happened LOL]

ㄴ [So Frank & Joy were in the wrong.]

ㄴ [Isn't it the other way around? What kind of person says they're going to eat a monster?]

ㄴ [Well, there's one here.]

[Ah, I knew she was trouble from the moment she started flaunting her big chest, LOL]

ㄴ [She's messing with a major corporation now, LOL]

ㄴ [Guess she wants to get blacklisted.]

ㄴ [She's not officially confirmed as S-rank, though.]

ㄴ [For real, LOL]

[Maybe she was just trying to leech off Frank & Joy.]

ㄴ [That's possible.]

ㄴ [Could be.]

ㄴ [If that was her goal, she could've just jiggled her chest a bit and gotten a collab right away, LOL]

ㄴ [Ah, LOL]

Snap!

"What the hell is this…"

As Yeonhwa's mood plummeted, the temperature in the room dropped sharply as well.

There were various opinions, from simple trolls to discussions disguised as hate speech and personal attacks, but the conclusion was clear.

'Choi Min-hyung might be a prank streamer, but he's not at fault in this case. The one in the wrong is Shia, who attacked him without understanding the situation.'

[Ah, LOL If hunters got pranked on the Frank & Joy show, shouldn't they be grateful instead?]

『Right? Getting featured by a major streamer makes them more famous. Sometimes, if it goes too far, the host even gives them some money. What more do they want?』

[Those hunter bastards are just petty, LOL]

[Are they out of their minds, LOL They got interrupted while tackling a dungeon, and they're not mad about it? That's not human, LOL]

ㄴ [Agreed.]

ㄴ [Shut up with that dumb talk, troll.]

ㄴ [Agreed.]

[Come to think of it, all the hunters who appeared on Frank & Joy have done pretty well, haven't they? Like Cheon Ah-young.]

ㄴ [Yeah, Cheon Ah-young was there.]

ㄴ [Didn't her channel blow up because of that?]

ㄴ [Technically, she got famous for camping in dungeons, but Frank & Joy made her even bigger.]

Some even started praising Choi Min-hyung, the host of Frank & Joy, while belittling other streamers and hunters without hesitation.

Seeing the artificial and clearly organized direction of public opinion, Yeonhwa stood up.

Usually, she would try to let things slide.

Even though the gallery's many troublemakers lightly sexually harassed Shia and crossed the line with their remarks, Yeonhwa had held back, as Shia didn't seem to get too upset.

In fact, like Shia thought, most people probably didn't mean any real harm.

They were just foolish and thoughtless, saying things they didn't fully understand. They weren't truly malicious.

But this was different.

From Yeonhwa's perspective, it was filled with malice.

Ding.

[Bingu, is that you?]

"It's not Bingu… Haah, Unnie."

[What? Are you bored? Want me to keep you company? I was just about to eat dinner…]

"…Could you take a look at this?"

[Hmm…?]

Just like last time, Yeonhwa sent Shia the link to the trending gallery posts, and in the meantime, she headed to Yeon Ga-mun's office, where Yeonju was working.

Yeonju was the one who handled all the administrative and clerical work for the Yeon family.

Although she wasn't blood-related to Yeonhwa or Yeonseo, she happened to share the same surname by coincidence. Yeonseo thought it would be fun to hire her, and since then, Yeonju had been handling all sorts of duties for the Yeon family.

"Miss? What brings you here?"

When Yeonhwa showed up without any prior notice, Yeonju, who had been busy working, adjusted her glasses and looked at her.

"Yeonju Unnie, could you find someone for me?"

"For what reason?"

"…They're getting on my nerves."

Yeonju, who had likely never heard Yeonhwa speak in such a sharp tone, must have realized how angry Yeonhwa was.

Bowing her head, Yeonju replied, "I'll find them within 30 minutes."

○○○○○○

"Hey, Choi Min-hyung, are you sure you should be doing this?"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"If we just keep quiet until the break ends…"

"They won't know it's us anyway."

Choi Min-hyung snapped at the manager and staff, who were voicing their concerns, while scrolling through the internet.

Fortunately, things were still going well.

If that damned woman hadn't messed with him and rendered his abilities useless, he wouldn't have had to cave under Cheon Ah-young's pressure and put the broadcast on hold.

If his powers were still intact, he'd be roaming dungeons right now, finding new hunters to prank and giving his viewers that primal thrill while making a fortune from them. But everything was that damned woman Shia's fault.

'Good. I've managed to manipulate the gallery's reactions and public opinion to my advantage.'

Thanks to getting in touch with a "hyung" from the String Union, the disruption and public manipulation had become much easier.

There was a reason Choi Min-hyung was trying to manipulate public opinion so recklessly.

With the sudden break, he wanted to create as many allies among the viewers as possible.

And in the process, even though it was a bit malicious, promoting himself on the biggest website in Korea served its purpose as well.

However, Choi Min-hyung's real goal was to bring Shia down out of sheer malice.

Even though she had only broadcasted twice officially, after thoroughly researching her, Choi Min-hyung speculated that Shia would skyrocket in popularity, possibly attracting big corporations and massive fan followings.

Not only was she pretty, but she was also strong.

And on top of that, she had the bizarre element of eating monsters in dungeons…

A weird taste, but that only added to her appeal.

There was no way she wouldn't rise to fame.

'I've been brought to the brink of ruin, and the woman who stole my powers is going to thrive? I can't let that happen.'

At the very least, he wanted to make that damned woman experience hell.

She took his powers, and healing? Screw that.

He was going to show her just how rotten the world of hunter streamers could be.

Within half a day of manipulating public opinion like this, people on the gallery would brand Shia as the worst kind of monster, a whore who tried to leech off the Frank & Joy show and threw a tantrum because she couldn't.

Though there were still a few dissenting voices from netizens, the flood of manipulated comments and public opinion stirred up by the String Union soon drowned them out.

Ding-dong.

"Ah, who's that?"

"Seems like the pizza we ordered is here?"

"Go grab it."

"Yes! I'm going."

One of the staff opened the door and stepped out while Choi Min-hyung continued scrolling through the gallery and checking his smartwatch.

"Uh, Min-hyung?"

"What is it? Set the pizza on the table outside. It'll smell if we eat it here."

"It's not that… I think you should come out here."

"What?"

Choi Min-hyung frowned, glaring at the staff member who looked troubled.

"Ah, damn, what is it this time? If it's nothing, I'm not going to let this go…"

"…"

"It's you, isn't it?"

BANG!!!!

"Eek!!"

"What, what the hell is going on!?"

In an instant, Choi Min-hyung lost consciousness due to the sudden impact and pain.

It was a brief moment of less than a second, but when Choi Min-hyung regained consciousness, he found himself pinned against the wall.

Not just pinned—his arms and legs were shackled to the wall by cold ice, as if they were cuffs.

"He…heek…"

"Isn't that Yeonhwa…?"

"The granddaughter of Yeonseo who just got her hunter name…!?"

"Crazy, Min-hyung, who did you mess with…!?"

As the panicked manager and staff looked on, Yeonhwa glared at them coldly.

"Everyone, get out. You can call the police, but I'll tell you now—it won't matter."

"Y-yes!"

"I-I'm leaving!"

"Bingu, you can't just do that the moment we meet."

"I'm not Bingu…haah."

Recognizing a familiar voice, Choi Min-hyung lifted his head.

"W-what the hell…why are you here…?"

It was Shia.

How could he forget?

The face he saw at the Suwol Plains was exactly the same.

But don't be fooled by her appearance.

This woman was his enemy, the one who stole his powers.

Because of her, his broadcast was forced into a hiatus, and he was teetering on the brink of ruin.

"Unnie, you can be angry. It's him."

"…Unnie? You damn b*tches…are you f*cking insane?! What the hell are you doing in someone else's house…!"

"Hey."

Crack!

"Gah!?"

The ice that had been shackling his limbs tightened further, pressing down on Choi Min-hyung's wrists and ankles, causing him to gasp in pain.

"Shut that filthy mouth before my unnie has to speak."

"Bingu."

As Shia slowly approached Choi Min-hyung, she began breaking the ice shackles Yeonhwa had placed on him, one by one.

The shackles, thick and solid as steel, snapped easily in her hands like they were made of brittle snacks.

Freed from the restraints, Choi Min-hyung stared at Shia in bewilderment.

He still couldn't grasp what had happened to him.

Why was Yeonhwa here?

Why was Shia here?

How did they even know to come here?

As Choi Min-hyung, still confused, was lifted to his feet by Shia, she gave him a soft smile.

"Did you hate me?"

"…That's…"

"Strange. I treated you properly."

"Properly? After you treated me, I lost my powers!"

Startled by Choi Min-hyung's sudden shouting, Shia tilted her head, genuinely puzzled, and looked back at Yeonhwa.

"A 'loss of powers' refers to someone who has lost their abilities due to external or internal causes. It's a slang term."

"…I still don't get it."

At those words, Shia extended her hand toward Choi Min-hyung.

Not knowing what she was about to do, Choi Min-hyung flinched at the gesture.

"Your treatment was successful."

"…Bullsh*t…"

"Have you tried using your powers again?"

"I transform using monster DNA! But after you treated me, all the monster DNA disappeared!"

"I asked if you've tried using them."

Choi Min-hyung's face flushed red with anger.

How could he try when the DNA was gone…!

"Try it."

"…You f*cking…"

"Watch your mouth when you're talking to my unnie."

"…"

Choi Min-hyung, biting his lips in frustration, reluctantly tried to channel his magic and activate [Shapeshifter].

And then…

"Huh…?"

"What the…? It worked?"

Only the stunned voice of Choi Min-hyung and Yeonhwa's incredulous remark could be heard.

Choi Min-hyung's arm had transformed into that of a werewolf. Not just his arm—his legs also transformed with ease.

"Even without the DNA, the Shapeshifter still…"

What's going on?

Just yesterday, it wasn't working at all…

"The Great Healing I cast not only boosts regenerative abilities but also elevates the body, including mana, to its peak condition. It seems like either your ability evolved due to the sudden surge of mana, or you had trouble adjusting to it."

"…I…see…"

"So, he was just acting out on his own, wasn't he, Unnie?"

"Bingu, don't be too harsh."

With a gentle smile, Shia looked at Choi Min-hyung.

For someone who had been mercilessly harassed by the malicious public opinion on the Hunter Gallery, Shia appeared incredibly calm and unfazed.

"I'm sorry. If I did something wrong, I'll apologize. So, let's stop this."

"..."

Shia's words were clear.

Forgiveness.

Let's not fight anymore.

"Life is too short to spend it fighting. Let's try to live kindly, just a little bit."

"…Y-yes…"

Reluctantly, Choi Min-hyung nodded, his head hanging in embarrassment.

There was nothing more to say.

If he had been able to use his powers all along…if he had just gone for a thorough checkup at the hospital…

Then this whole thing could have ended as just a minor incident.

"Hehe, so we've made peace, right?"

"..."

Although Choi Min-hyung's face was still stiff with discontent, he couldn't argue with Shia.

His powers were intact, so there was no justification left.

Above all, he knew all too well that the trolling he had been doing on the Hunter Gallery was something to be ashamed of.

"Yeonhwa, I'll wait downstairs. Let's grab dinner together since we're out."

"Yes, Unnie."

As Shia left without hesitation, only Choi Min-hyung and Yeonhwa were left in the room.

"Haa, anyway, I guess this is all wrapped up, so let's just…"

Crack!!

"Aaagh!?"

Choi Min-hyung screamed as sharp pain shot through his foot, just as he was about to brush Yeonhwa off and send her away.

"No, no! Shia said she forgave me, so why are you…!?"

"Unnie forgave you…but did I ever say I'd forgive you?"

"Screw you, you b*tch! What the hell does this have to do with you!? I've never even…"

"You did. Plenty of times. Do you know why the association has left you alone all this time?"

Grabbing Choi Min-hyung by the collar as he was pinned by the ice in his foot, Yeonhwa smirked.

"Because you're too pathetic and disgusting."

"…What?"

"You think what you're doing, pranking hunters legally, is legit? Don't be ridiculous. Scumbags like you are the reason hunters' reputations, built by people like my grandmother Yeonseo, are in the gutter."

"Ruining a reputation doesn't mean I'm breaking the law…"

"You want me to explain how you've violated the hunter code of conduct hundreds of times?"

"That's…!"

"Oh, you didn't know? Do you think that excuse is going to fly now? What are you, a child?"

At her words, Choi Min-hyung shut his mouth, realizing he had no real defense.

Crunch!

"Gaaahh!?"

He screamed again as sharp pain erupted from his hand.

Yeonhwa's ice had covered his hand, and her usual sword was embedded into it.

Thanks to Yeonhwa's mercy, his hand was completely frozen, so there was no blood.

The sudden attack had effectively sealed Choi Min-hyung's Shapeshifter ability.

Yeonhwa's power was the ice element.

Since the arms and legs were the first things to transform with Shapeshifter, Yeonhwa's surprise ice attack on his limbs made it impossible for him to use his powers to resist.

"Let's wrap this up in 3 minutes. Unnie's waiting downstairs."

"You f*cking b*tch! Even if you're Yeonseo's granddaughter, you think you can get away with this…"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

At that moment, as Choi Min-hyung met Yeonhwa's cold, glacier-like gaze, he couldn't say anything.

Crack!

"…!?"

No, he really couldn't say anything.

The cold air flowing from Yeonhwa sealed his lips, making them immovable.

Shut that filthy mouth of yours.

You have no right to speak.

"Yeah, I am Yeonseo's granddaughter."

"…Mmmph…mmmph!"

"People have called me the cherished young lady of the Hunter Association, the Bureau of Returnee Management, and the Yeon family. When I was younger, I thought it was a ridiculous and useless title. I wasn't interested in anything but getting stronger, and I rarely took advantage of the association or my grandmother for personal gain…"

Yeonseo was a living legend.

And the Hunter Association, which she had essentially built from the ground up.

The Returnee Management Bureau, which was an annex of the Hunter Association.

Yeonhwa was born into this world as one of the most noble individuals in the hunter society.

Even if Yeonhwa had decided to lose her mind and wreak havoc, there would have been no problem.

Yeonhwa was the real deal, a born noble in this era of hunters, the only blood relative of a living legend, and a genius who surpassed A-rank right after graduating from the academy.

"But that 'young lady' title…for today, it seems to be pretty useful."

In this hunter era, there was no one who could stop Yeonhwa, at least not at this point.

"I'll ask again. Are you mad? So, what are you going to do about it? Report me? Go ahead, report me. If you've got the money to spare, having a long debate with the Yeon family's lawyers doesn't sound too bad."

"M-mmph…!"

"You laid a disgusting trap for the unnie who saved my life…and even though she forgave you and let you go…did you really think I'd just let you continue being a scummy streamer?"

Yeonhwa's raw power far exceeded that of another A-rank like Cheon Ah-young, and even if Choi Min-hyung had full access to his powers, he wouldn't have been able to beat Yeonhwa.

Society was governed by ethics and the rule of law, but everywhere, there was a line that shouldn't be crossed.

And when someone did, there was always someone ready to enforce consequences.

"You did this to others when you pranked them, didn't you? Don't be too upset. Think of it as bad luck, like running into a natural disaster."

"…Mmmph…!"

"Don't overthink it. This time, you just happened to run into a disaster."

And today, Yeonhwa decided to live as the noble lady of the Yeon family and the Hunter Association.

Just for today, for today only.

"Unnie cast the Great Healing on you five times, didn't she?"

"…Mm…Mmph!?"

Crack-crack-crack!

The ice that had sealed his mouth began to spread, consuming Choi Min-hyung's entire body like an infectious disease.

It was cold.

No, it was beyond cold. So cold that it felt like he was being burned by molten lava.

"In that case, slicing you up a bit should be fine, right?"

"…Mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!!!"

For daring to touch my precious unnie…

You'll never be able to run your mouth again.

○○○○○

Exactly 3 minutes later, Shia and Yeonhwa met downstairs at Choi Min-hyung's apartment.

"Did you take care of everything?"

At the sight of Shia's smiling face, Yeonhwa hesitated for a moment.

"Yeonhwa."

"…Unnie?"

She had been calling her Bingu earlier, but now hearing her use her real name felt…strange.

When Shia turned around and looked at Yeonhwa with a bright smile, she said,

"It's okay."

"...…"

What did she mean by that?

What was okay?

Did she know what I did?

Does she mean that she understands because I'm her person?

As Yeonhwa thought about this, she recalled that Shia had lived in a different world, in an empire, for over 60 years.

Not just as an ordinary citizen or a common person, either.

She had lived as the 'Empress's' right hand for 60 years.

Yeonhwa didn't know much about the empire, but if it was an empire, she could guess that political intrigue and fierce power struggles were an everyday occurrence.

'But for Unnie, who came from that world…who lived as the Empress's right hand…did she really not know what I was going to do? Could she have left Choi Min-hyung's place on purpose?'

Did she know but pretend not to?

Could it have been her intention?

Yeonhwa didn't think Shia was capable of harboring such cunning and dark thoughts.

Maybe she wasn't thinking about anything at all.

Maybe it was just a casual remark.

But still…

Unnie's face seemed a bit…brighter.