I turned my head.
The person who had crept up behind me and pressed a finger against my cheek was someone whose gender was not easy to determine at a glance. They were tall and slender, almost like a statuesque, pure-looking beauty, yet when I heard their low voice, they also seemed like a man.
Glossy red lips parted, revealing white teeth. “Jeong Daon, right? Nice to meet you. Wow, you look even better in person than in the videos.”
I felt irritation flare up instantly. Couldn’t they see I was clearly angry, and they still pulled this kind of prank? More than that, the fact that I hadn’t sensed their presence at all dealt a heavy blow to my pride. Even if my stats were practically those of a beginner, this was still unacceptable. I hadn’t realized just how infuriating it would be to have the system holding my leash and limiting my abilities. It was humiliating.
I frowned and glared at the person whose gender I couldn’t tell. “You’re being rude right from our first meeting.”
“Ahaha, true. I hear that a lot. I’m Han Jaeyeong.” They held out a hand for a handshake, but I didn’t take it.
Han Jaeyeong’s eyes gleamed. “You’re cautious? Good. In fact, physical contact between Hunters is something that’s generally avoided. Especially among S-rank Hunters.”
“And who are you to start lecturing me the moment we meet?”
At my words, they rolled their eyes and laughed awkwardly. “Huh? You don’t know me?”
“It’s not that I don’t know you. I’m asking what you are.”
Of course I knew. The moment I saw their face, I recognized them. This person was a Hunter who was just as famous in Korea as Yu Hanul, Han Jaeyeong.
There were currently eleven S-rank Hunters in South Korea, four of whom had retired from active duty. That left seven active Hunters.
Among those seven, Han Jaeyeong was considered the most powerful mage. Even if they didn’t enjoy the same level of public popularity as Yu Hanul, they were bound to be famous regardless.
But so what?
“Does your status give you a reason to be excused for your rudeness?”
“Ahaha, you talk like you’re quoting some Shakespearean classic. Is that why your incantations sound so archaic too?”
At that, I frowned. Han Jaeyeong’s meaning was obvious.
So they watched the video of me using magic.
But in the footage, the reporters’ screaming had been so loud that my voice chanting the spell shouldn’t have been audible.
Han Jaeyeong, having seen through my doubt, laughed out loud. “Ahaha, technology’s pretty good these days. Once something’s recorded, you can filter out background noise and restore it to some extent. Though I couldn’t hear everything perfectly. If you get the chance later, could you tell me the complete sentence?”
“…”
I felt a headache coming on. This was…honestly unexpected.
I was planning to brush it off by saying I’d gotten lucky and picked up some item, if I was questioned later.
I hadn’t imagined they could even restore my voice. I’d wondered why someone of Han Jaeyeong’s stature had come all the way here, but if my voice had been recorded in the video, it made perfect sense. If I were in Han Jaeyeong’s position, I would have rushed over too. Using an independently developed spell on the very first day after awakening was something that simply defied common sense. No matter how much of a genius someone was, just as a butterfly can’t swim, there were limits.
Mages were, by nature, creatures incapable of suppressing their curiosity. There was no way they wouldn’t come running immediately.
And unlike Yu Hanul, they didn’t seem inclined to just let it slide.
I examined Han Jaeyeong carefully. They don’t look like they’re planning to attack me right now, but…
Among mages, there are many who, upon seeing a genius more talented than themselves, either want to kill them on the spot or shove them into their laboratory. Given that, my wariness had no choice but to rise.
Han Jaeyeong, seemingly pleased that I was sizing them up, continued to smile brightly.
And even when seen from very close up… their gender was still hard to tell. From one angle, they looked like a refreshingly striking beauty; when I heard their voice, they seemed like a refined, handsome man. Come to think of it, even the media had never gone out of its way to mention Han Jaeyeong’s gender. Was that intentional?
“Oh, are you looking because you’re curious whether I’m a man or a woman? I suppose I’ve never really shown myself in the media.” Noticing my gaze, Han Jaeyeong fluttered their eyelashes and laughed. “I’ll go with your preference, Miss Jeong. Which do you like?”
“…Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Decide first whether you’re going to speak casually or formally.”
“I’ll match your preference for that too. Which do you want?”
“…Use formal speech.”
Watching the situation unfold, Yu Hanul let out a laugh. “Daon, that person is about ten years older than you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So what?”
“Wow, what a personality.”
That last remark came from one of the trainee Hunters in the office who had been watching us. It seemed to slip out unintentionally; when our eyes met, they quickly covered their mouth.
Apparently, everyone thought my behavior was that far outside the norm. I let out a sigh.
I’d lived in South Korea for nineteen years, but this was something I still couldn’t get used to.
Is it because of lingering Confucian influence? People obsess over age for no reason.
It was exhausting enough that people were ranked by money and power, and now we also had to divide who deserved respect and who didn’t based on age… Wouldn’t it be enough to simply respect each other as different individuals? They hadn’t respected me in the first place, was I supposed to respect them just because they were older?
Honestly, the more you learn about humans, the harder they are to like.
Still smiling in circles, Han Jaeyeong added, “Oh, by the way. Extending your mandatory service period more than you think isn’t such an easy thing to do.”
"What?"
“You’ll see once you finish training and start official activities, but people end up begging to finish this crappy mandatory service even a single day earlier so they can become freelancers.”
As they said that, Han Jaeyeong looked up and down at the guy standing in front of me, who was hesitating, unsure of what to do next.
“But over something this trivial…”
By “something this trivial,” they meant the trainee Hunter who had picked a fight with me. The look in their eyes was openly contemptuous, a gaze that regarded the other as less than dust. It was completely different from the friendly look they’d directed at me just moments ago, and not only the guy standing in front of me but all the young 18th Class’ trainee Hunters in the office froze at once.
“I don’t think it’s worth putting the leash on any tighter over something so insignificant. These nobodies here don’t really matter, but Hunter Jeong Daon is far too valuable a talent to have serving the government for a long time, don’t you think?”
“Hunter Han Jaeyeong,” Yu Hanul cut in.
The two seemed to know each other already; Yu Hanul was looking at Han Jaeyeong as if he was utterly sick of them.
So even Yu Hanul could make that kind of expression.
“These are rookie Hunters who have just completed their registration. Please behave kindly.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Haaah…” Letting out a sigh as though the ground might cave in, Yu Hanul shook his head and stepped between me and Han Jaeyeong, creating some distance. Then he turned to the boy whose face had turned red, apparently wounded in his pride by Han Jaeyeong’s words. “What’s your name?”
“Y-yes? I’m… Lee Yunseok.”
“Hunter Lee Yunseok, you shouldn’t go around speaking ill of others so carelessly. Especially when it’s a Hunter stronger than you, someone you’re quite likely to be clearing the same dungeons with in the future. Building that kind of hostility isn’t a good strategy.”
Strangely enough, when Yu Hanul spoke, it didn’t feel like nagging or being scolded. Instead, it felt like genuinely sincere advice. Lee Yunseok opened his mouth with an awkward expression. “Ah, yes. Thank you…?”
“Do you really think that’s the kind of advice that deserves a thank-you?” Han Jaeyeong chattered on with a beaming smile at Lee Yunseok, who stood there looking bewildered. “You’ve already made an enemy of someone stronger than you, and he’s asking whether that seems like a good strategy. Our Hanul is just putting it nicely.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Newbies really have no sense of fear. Hanul’s not even a mage like me who needs meat shields, why would you pull aggro in front of a swordsman who charges in like a hunk of metal all by himself?”
Unable to hold back any longer, Yu Hanul cut in. “Please don’t use that kind of language, Hunter Han Jaeyeong. People might question your character.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“Sounds like you’re well surrounded by people, then.”
“…What?”
"Huh?"
When both Yu Hanul and Han Jaeyeong turned to look at me at the same time in response to my comment, I shrugged. “No one lies about someone having a good personality.”
“Mm…”
“Ahahahaha!”
Compared to Yu Hanul’s uneasy reaction, Han Jaeyeong laughed it off cheerfully. If anything, it showed a certain generosity, though they didn’t seem to place much weight on it. After all, they had come all this way out of curiosity about my original magic. My personality or reactions probably weren’t all that important to them.
“Takes the wind right out of it.” I glared past Yu Hanul and Han Jaeyeong at the guy called Lee Yunseok.
Feeling my gaze, he flinched.
Result calculation has been suspended.
The quest "Doing Good Deeds Will Bring Blessings¿" is in progress.
Whether I ran into him later at the training center or inside a dungeon… my thought that I’d need to deal with him at least once hadn’t changed, but the atmosphere was no longer suited for that.
And I don’t want to use magic again in front of Han Jaeyeong.
Yu Hanul was a swordsman, so he didn’t seem to have clearly noticed the strangeness of the magic I’d used, but Han Jaeyeong was a different story. As a proper mage, how irregular an existence I was was something I understood better than anyone. That was why I didn’t want to show it off unnecessarily. Especially now, when Han Jaeyeong could position themselves behind me without me even sensing their presence.
It would be better to leave this place as soon as possible. I asked Yu Hanul, “…Is that all for today’s procedures?”
“No. Next, we go up to the 18th floor for another ability stat test—” As he answered my question, Yu Hanul faintly raised an eyebrow.
A moment later, so did Han Jaeyeong. “Hmm?” Their gaze followed where Yu Hanul was looking.
Both of them were staring at the glass door of the office, which had been closed. Smoke was seeping out from above the glass door.
In fact, I only realized that after I was knocked to the floor.
Thunk! Yu Hanul grabbed my head and slammed me down against the floor.
It hurt badly. But before I could protest, one of his hands covered my nose and mouth, while with the other he picked something up and threw it toward the window on one side of the office.
Crash! The window shattered.
As the high-rise window broke, a gust of wind whooshed into the office. The smoke that had been forcing its way in through the glass door was pushed back out by the wind.
“Nice situational awareness… though a bit late.” While I was still dazed, Han Jaeyeong spoke casually. “We already inhaled it.”
[Warning!] Overall level has temporarily decreased.
Before I could even process the meaning of that system message— Pop! The fluorescent lights that had been on in the office suddenly went out. At the same time, screams echoed from all over the building.
"A monster!"
“A monster has appeared!”
And driving the point home, as expected, was the system message, the collective intelligence that moves for the survival of humanity.
A Dungeon Break has occurred.
"..."
Was I…having a nightmare right now?