Chapter 217 – Epilogue 2

Epilogue 2

They put off the model student Joo Yian’s story for later. The tale of the young So Yeri Hunter picked up again.

“Right, I wanted to go to college.”

So Yeri Hunter’s eyes sparkled as the conversation jumped between topics.

Joo Hunter Yian was the only one among us who’d actually gone to university.

“Studying was your dream, then.”

Joo Hunter Yian said. The model student strikes again…

“No, not at all.”

So Yeri Hunter quickly cut him off.

“I wanted to go to mixers. MTs! OTs! Stuff like that!”

She clenched her fist enthusiastically. In the end, she just wanted to drink and party.

“You can do mixers now. There are hunter mixers these days.”

So Yeri Hunter’s eyes lit up at my words.

“Really? You’ll come with me?”

The moment I started to nod—

Someone stepped hard on my foot.

A glance sideways revealed Shin Jae-heon with his arms crossed, head tilted.

As if asking if I was planning to bail.

Secret relationship or not, no mixers, huh?

The moment I burst out laughing—

It got noisy outside.

“The lights, the lights are on!”

Car doors slamming, crowds rushing over.

“Already?”

I raised an eyebrow.

Our eyes turned to the curtained windows.

We’d been having so much fun that night had fallen unnoticed.

Light must have leaked out.

An amateur might’ve peeked through the curtains in this situation.

But we were pros, so we turned on the living room TV instead.

A massive headline filled the screen alongside drone footage of our house.

“Are you in there!”

The shouts from outside came with footage of reporters knocking on the door.

We exchanged looks.

“After-party’s over.”

Shin Jae-heon said with a regretful face. Then we all burst out laughing uncontrollably.

All four of us had slightly flushed faces while pretending not to be drunk.

Even SS-ranks had limits to alcohol tolerance, clearly.

I couldn’t stop the interview from being etched into the Knowledge Tree again.

But beyond that, I had nothing to say.

It really was freaking insane—what could I do?

‘Just one comment on your thoughts!’

But that prompted way too many words.

Just as curses were racing out of my throat—

Joo Hunter Yian barely defused the situation.

‘We’re tired today, so we’ll talk tomorrow.’

The reporters showed no signs of backing off.

‘Just one word, please!’

‘When did you clear it!’

As they refused to leave, Shin Jae-heon suddenly poked his head out.

He thrust out the half-empty bottle he’d been holding.

—Crack!

And crushed it with one hand.

‘……’

The reporters backed off politely, not wanting to end up like the bottle.

‘Good night!’

We even got an unwanted farewell.

Thanks to that, we were able to retreat to our rooms and rest.

“Whoa.”

This really is home.

I stared up at the familiar ceiling. No dungeons for a while.

Dungeons made me sick just thinking about them. Time to play! Play like crazy!

The other three in their rooms must’ve thought the same—the house was quiet.

Wake up tomorrow and it’ll be Senia, right?

After long dungeon runs, it was always like that, but I dreaded waking up to another dungeon.

I hugged the blanket tight.

Feeling the texture might make it feel more real.

As I rolled onto my side—

“!”

I nearly jumped out of bed.

Shin Jae-heon was leaning against the wall in my room, unnoticed.

I pointed at him.

“—!”

Wrong room, Your Majesty? Oh, wait, not Majesty anymore?

Before I could finish, he rushed over and clamped my mouth shut.

And mouthed:

‘Talk and we’re busted.’

What? Isn’t it common sense for sane people not to do bust-worthy stuff?

I pointed at him, and Shin Jae-heon brazenly replied:

‘We agreed to keep it secret, remember?’

Before I could ask what… my face reacted first.

Blood rushed to my cheeks, chasing away the lingering buzz.

As I spaced out, he shoved me onto the bed.

I flopped down, and saw him lift the blanket and slip in.

What?

What???

I pointed at the bed, then at him.

‘Pardon me, did the bed explode?’

I whispered very softly. Shin Jae-heon brazenly pillowed his head on his arm beside me and said:

‘Make any more noise here and we’re caught.’

He pointed toward So Yeri Hunter’s room.

I opened my mouth in disbelief.

‘Th—’

You said secret relationship, now blackmail?

…No time to argue.

My eyes went wide.

He’d pressed into me, silencing any more noise.

He stole my breath first, blocking even the faint light in my room.

Moonlight filtering softly through the curtains dimmed, then vanished completely.

The next day.

Reporters who looked like they hadn’t slept a wink mobbed us the moment we stepped outside.

“How was the first L-rank Gate!”

“As I said yesterday, the difficulty was extremely high, and that’s what everyone’s asking about.”

I could answer a bit more smoothly than yesterday.

But I wasn’t doing interviews because I liked them.

I had things to say.

“What gave you the resolve to enter an L-rank dungeon so readily!”

Then came the question I’d been waiting for.

I turned to that reporter.

“Great question.”

I smiled prettily at him. And dropped a bombshell.

“We didn’t know until right before we went.”

“Pardon?”

The reporters excitedly fired questions.

“What do you mean by that!”

“Are you saying you didn’t want to enter the L-rank dungeon!”

Say yes here and I’d look like trash, right?

But facts were facts.

“If we hadn’t heard on TV while napping that we were heading into an L-rank dungeon, we might’ve considered it.”

“That’s…!”

“Please elaborate!”

“We’re dying to know the details!”

“Shin Yuli Hunter!”

The reporters naturally went wild.

I was certain the Hunter Association Chairman watching the live TV right now had gone pale as a ghost.

“In short, we didn’t decide it. So no hero articles or anything.”

It’s cringey! As I pointed at the cameras, the reporters buzzed excitedly.

Amid it, one said:

“Some say the Shin Yuli Hunter Team’s atmosphere has changed! Any intention to officially share details on the L-rank dungeon interior?”

“Oh.”

That reporter happened to be the one whose question I’d liked earlier.

As we four turned toward him simultaneously, he flinched.

How’d they know the atmosphere changed?

To be precise, I didn’t know about atmosphere, but S-ranks becoming SS-ranks—with stats skyrocketing—would look that way.

After my chat, Shin Jae-heon’s popped up.

Shin Jae-heon eyed me with narrowed eyes.

Did this jerk forget about secrecy?

But his follow-up was unexpected.

You memorize reporter faces too? Wait, that wasn’t the point.

“Hold on, you reporter—”

“Relax, relax.”

So Yeri Hunter quickly pulled my hand down. Joo Hunter Yian chuckled.

“Let’s talk at the Hunter Association first.”

His voice reached the reporters.