Chapter 42

It was more like fending off monsters than cutting them down, but even that was enough to keep the monsters at bay. Cho-i stood a little distance away, quietly watching the scene.

“Even for a D-Grade, a non-combat type really can’t exert much power.”

Cho-i finally took a step forward. It would be a waste of 88 positive stories to let her die like that. It seemed like she had quite a bit of influence online, so she couldn’t die without becoming an entity.

—!!

Her foot stomped hard on the ground. A shout erupted. At the loud cry, all the rats turned their heads towards Cho-i. The monsters surrounding Ganansu also started rushing towards Cho-i. Ganansu gasped for breath and collapsed to the floor.

“W-what was that sound…?”

The sound that erupted from her throat was like the loud roar of a beast. It also sounded like an unpleasant noise coming from a throat being torn by long nails. A sound that made her skin crawl, vibrating her eardrums. Ganansu watched Cho-i’s back as she dealt with the Sewer Rats. Her sword was in her own hand, so she was bare-handed. With those white, slender hands, she literally tore the Sewer Rats to death. Her long fingers pierced two of the eight eyes and ripped them apart. She stomped on the head of a rat that was senselessly biting her ankle, making it burst, and then brushed off the white and green liquid on her clothes. Then she kicked a rat that approached her. With a

‘Hunters, they were people who did this kind of work.’

They were such amazing people. Working in a job furthest from the field, she had forgotten. She couldn’t deny the fact that she had viewed hunters as celebrities rather than actual hunters. Ah, ahh. She felt like she was going to gag and covered her mouth. The dirty air of this place and the smell of the green blood created by Cho-i Hyeon stung her nostrils. Then, suddenly, Ganansu thought.

“But her.”

A thought utterly out of place with the current situation.

“She’s even pretty while doing that….”

Ganansu, a complete sucker for beauty, recognized it. Her hair, stained with green blood, glowed green under the faint light, and her white face was splattered with it. Her fingers were stained with filth from gouging out eyeballs. Yet, her clear black eyes were still visible. She stumbled to her feet only after Cho-i had gone wild for a very short time, killing all the rats.

“That’s amazing….”

At that, Cho-i laughed as if dumbfounded.

“Huh? It’s the first time I’ve been praised for going wild in a D-Rank dungeon.”

There was a refreshing quality to her smile. As if she were a completely clean person, without a speck of dirt.

“Still, it’s a compliment, so I don’t feel bad.”

And Ganansu was fixated on Cho-i’s face, who was smiling beautifully even while covered in blood. Cho-i seemed to notice, narrowing one eye and smiling crookedly.

“…You really are beautiful.”

“You just realized that?”

She winked at Ganansu, who let out a hollow laugh and bowed her head deeply.

“I’m sorry.”

“Suddenly?”

“I’m serious this time.”

“So you weren’t serious before?”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that….”

“It’s fine. I’ve accepted your apology.”

Of course, don’t forget to create my 88 positive stories. She smiled like an angel. To be able to say such things while smiling like an angel is a talent, if anything. Ganansu said with rare sincerity.

“I’ll definitely do it.”

“I suddenly feel a lot of sincerity from you? I don’t know what you’ve realized anew, but that’s a very good attitude!”

Cho-i approached her and patted her back hard.

“Ow, that hurts! It hurts!”

“Oh, I can’t control my strength well?”

Of course, she hit her on purpose. An apology alone wouldn’t resolve everything, would it? Cho-i chuckled and pulled her along, moving to defeat the boss monster. With Cho-i leading, the journey was not difficult at all. A D-Rank dungeon is a place that can be cleared in a day even with just one B-Rank hunter, let alone an A+ Rank. Trampling over the filthy Sewer Rats, they advanced, and reaching the boss monster was a blink of an eye. Cho-i looked at the boss monster in the distance and said.

“Want to kill it?”

“Please save me.”

“So timid. I understand why you awakened here.”

She approached the boss monster.

“Inspect.”

[Eight-Headed Sewer Rat (D)]

The Eight-Headed Sewer Rat had a huge body, eight heads, and eight eyes per head. The clustered eyes were disgusting. Cho-i approached the rat, took a leap, and then stomped on the rat’s head, literally exploding it. With one rat head gone, the boss monster, now a seven-headed Sewer Rat, went wild. She chuckled and punched one of the heads that came close. The rat’s jawbone shattered, revealing its gaping throat. She ripped off the Sewer Rat’s head with all her might. The unrecognizable eyeballs of the Sewer Rat rolled on the floor. The remaining heads were mostly dealt with. Green blood drenched her entire body. Ganansu looked as if she was about to faint for real this time as the monster’s green blood splattered on Cho-i’s face as she went wild.

“Ugh…”

And she actually fainted. Cho-i, who had dealt with the boss monster, shuffled over to where she had fallen face down and said,

“You really do all sorts of things.”

Cho-i grabbed her by the nape of her neck, diligently collected only the magic stones, and exited the dungeon. Cho-i’s philosophy was that even small change should be treated as money. As she left the dungeon, she saw the dungeon management team waiting for her.

“Welcome back.”

“Yes.”

“The problem is…”

“It’s resolved!”

Cho-i smiled brightly. Some members of the dungeon management team awkwardly smiled along, while others, who had been diligently doing something on their smartphones, hid them behind their backs and looked around cautiously. Cho-i pretended not to notice and tossed the unconscious Ganansu to them. Literally, tossed her.

“Aargh!”

“Don’t dodge, catch her, catch her!”

“Please take her to the hospital.”

“Yes, yes, Hunter!”

“Oh, right. She awakened, so please report that, okay?”

“Huh?”

“I’m leaving then!”

Anyway, the aftermath was none of her business. She grabbed one of the dungeon management team members. It was the employee who had been diligently doing something on their smartphone earlier. Cho-i got a ride home in that employee’s car. The car seats were heavily soiled with the intestines of a rat monster, and the employee looked distressed, but that was none of her business. And so, for a while, Cho-i sued a large number of malicious commenters. A few overly confident idiots continued to post insults about her on anonymous sites, only to get hit with a second lawsuit and post apologies on the internet. And before all that, as for what happened to Ganansu…

* * *

Ganansu opened her eyes. When she opened them, she saw the hospital ceiling. She felt an aching sensation throughout her body and sat up.

“Ugh, my body…”

“You’re awake?”

“Aargh!”

Ganansu screamed at the devil’s voice coming from beside her. It was Cho-i Hyeon, the very person who had pushed her into the D-Rank dungeon, a devil with only a beautiful face. She had been waiting for her to wake up. She looked up from her smartphone and shifted her gaze to Ganansu, who was now awake.

“They said you’d wake up soon, so I turned the car around and came back.”

“Th-th-they did?”

“Of course. Come on, now that you’re up, let’s work?”

“Huh?”

“Did you forget? You have to write my positive story.”

“W-what kind of content?”

“That’s something you have to figure out.”

Cho-i handed over her smartphone. The screen was already on Huntred’s anonymous board.

“For now, use mine, and later use yours. You’ve awakened, so it will be known soon, and you’ll get your hunter license.”

“A hu-hunter license?”

“Of course, you get a license when you awaken. Paehyeok was thrilled when I told them, you know? It’s a pretty useful ability. They’d flip if they knew how you got such an ability, but oh well~”

Cho-i chuckled and continued to peer at the smartphone screen that Ganansu was holding.

“What are you doing? Write quickly.”

Ganansu had to start writing on the Huntred anonymous board, even though she had just recovered from fainting. She felt nervous with Cho-i watching her from beside her.

“Hey, this doesn’t show enough sincerity. Again.”

“Yes…!”

“Ah, this is too unrealistic. Again.”

“…Yes!”

“This is unbelievable. Why would I pay for your meals? Again.”

“Yes…”

And so, Ganansu had to write positive stories for several hours under Cho-i’s review. Cho-i was so picky, complaining that she didn’t like this for this reason, or that for that reason, tormenting her with excuses.

“Yes, this is more like Scythe.”

“…Ha.”

Ganansu’s thumb joint was throbbing. She sighed and returned the smartphone, and Cho-i took it back with a bright smile.

“I’ll check the 87 later. Do well.”

“Hiccup.”

She finally started to hiccup. Cho-i chuckled, patted her shoulder, and stood up.

“If you’re awake, go straight to Paehyeok. Everyone else is dying to get into Paehyeok, but they’re just accepting you because you were an employee, right?”

“Yes, yes? Really?”

“I put in a good word for you. You’re a support type, so you won’t go to dungeons. You’ve hit the jackpot, haven’t you? Do your best.”

With those words, Cho-i left the hospital room. Only Ganansu remained, dumbfounded. A little, just a little gratitude arose. But Ganansu, she didn’t know. That she would go to more dungeons than any other Hunter. Cho-i put her smartphone in her pocket, walked out with light steps, and hailed a taxi.

“To Sangsu-dong, please.”

On the way, in the taxi, Cho-i saw the so-called ‘Praise Cho-i Hyeon’ post that Ganansu had written.

“Ah, this is so damn funny.”

[The story of seeing H.C.Y. in person after entering a dungeon this time.]