Chapter 3

Huina made to hug the woman, elated that she was saved.

“Whoa, now! Cool it.”

The woman backed away, and only then did Huina realize the state she was in.

Her entire body was damp from the swim in the swamp, and she was covered with dirt and leaves from her plant gathering earlier. She looked worse than a homeless beggar.

No doubt she had grimy sweat marks trailing down her face, too.

“A sizable region was affected by a dungeon gate. It’s a downright mess. The hunters who were nearby were all called in on an emergency, and they’re saving civilians now,” the woman said.

“I’m relieved. Has the boss of the dungeon been defeated?” Huina asked.

“That happened a while ago. This is only an E-rank dungeon.”

She’d survived with such difficulty, and it was only an E-rank dungeon?

It occurred to her that perhaps she’d only been able to survive with her piddling D-rank skill because it was such a low-level dungeon.

Ugh. I suppose that also counts as good luck.

Huina got up, her body sore. She followed the woman. They began to chat on the way to the exit, which seemed to be quite far.

“Are you a metahuman, by the way?” the woman asked without any preamble.

Huina was taken aback.

“Y-yes. How did you know?”

“You were easy to detect, so you’re probably low-rank, but you were hiding yourself. You can’t do that without a hunter skill,” she pointed out.

“Oh, I see.” Huina nodded with a blank look on her face.

“There were no metahumans on the missing persons list. Are you the sort that hides their abilities and pretends to be a civilian? You know you can get fined for that, right?”

The woman sounded as though she planned on reporting Huina as soon as she got out of the dungeon. Huina quickly offered her excuse.

“No! I-I awakened just before I got sucked into this dungeon!”

“Really?” the woman inquired.

“Yes, really! I was at the office past midnight when it happened...”

The woman gave a low whistle at the sad tale. “Well, that’s good. Otherwise, you could have been killed. What’s your class?”

The woman was quite easy-going, despite her scary appearance. She asked all sorts of questions, even though they’d just met.

Huina said in a barely audible tone, “...keeper.”

“What? What keeper?”

“A H-Housekeeper.”

It made Huina’s face burn to confess her strange class.

The woman seemed surprised to hear this. Her eyes widened.

“A Housekeeper? I’ve been a hunter for quite some time, but I’ve never heard of a class like that!”

“It’s apparently a hidden class. My stats are really low, and the skills have strange-sounding names, so I can’t really tell which ones are good... But Cozy Bed and Pluck Plant did save my life.”

“Ha ha ha! Cozy Bed? Pluck Plant? Those are skill names? Gosh, you can’t get much more domestic than that!”

She stopped and doubled over, apparently finding Huina’s response extremely funny.

Huina was a little embarrassed, but she was relieved that she could make this woman laugh, at least, in return for her saving Huina’s life.

She was staring at her laughing companion, her head a blank slate, when she heard a man’s voice from behind them.

“What are you two doing here?”

The first thing that shocked Huina was the realization that someone was behind her, and the second thing was the identity of that someone.

“J-Jinhyeon Kang?”

The man simply nodded at her, as if accustomed to reactions like the one Huina showed. It was a very simple, if arrogant, replacement for an introduction.

I suppose he doesn’t need to introduce himself anywhere, though.

Huina could see why he might act that way. Every person in South Korea could recognize him with a single look.

His name was Jinhyeon Kang, and he was a hunter—the most powerful hunter in the country!

Nicknames for him were slightly embarrassing, like the “Touch of Disaster” and “Destructive Hand,” among others.

Nobody found fault with him over having such nicknames, however, thanks to his martial prowess and gorgeous face.

Handsome people were handsome no matter what they did, and the fist was stronger than any law.

He walked over to the laughing huntress with a businesslike air.

“Mina Woo. We haven’t rescued every civilian yet, and we have no time to waste. What do you think you’re doing?”

Huina realized Mina Woo was the name of her rescuer.

I’m going to look her up once I get out of here.

She wanted to send the woman’s guild a wreath, at least, as a show of thanks.

“Oh, I have here a rookie metahuman who just awakened, you see... Her abilities are hilarious,” Mina said, diligently restraining her shoulders, which had been shaking with mirth.

Jinhyeon didn’t seem to like this response and furrowed his brows slightly.

Huina was only a D-rank Housekeeper, however, and she felt her knees go weak. There were only a few S-rank hunters in the world, and they sure were intimidating.

“It is dangerous to expose information about your abilities or stats to someone else,” he said to Huina.

He didn’t forget to rebuke Mina.

“What are you doing to a naive rookie like her? I don’t expect you to behave like a high-ranked hunter, but the least you can do is maintain your manners.”

“You sound like an old man. What am I, a vampire, about to suck out her blood and marrow? I’m not like that,” Mina muttered.

Huina hesitated for a moment before siding with her. “It’s all right. I don’t mind. I’m low rank, and my abilities are nothing to write home about. They’re just a bit peculiar, is all.”

Mina winked at her, as if to thank her.

Jinhyeon sighed quietly, seemingly exasperated.

“Even so, it’s best to keep information about your hunter abilities a secret for your own safety.”

“I understand…,” Huina offered submissively.

He was two years older than she was, as far as she knew. She couldn’t understand, however, why she felt like she was being scolded by someone much older than her brother, who was already four years older.

Mina didn’t yield to his lecturing, however, and said excitedly, “But you know, her class is really something! Would you like to hear about it? You’re not the sort to talk about it anywhere else.”

Jinhyeon refused outright.

“No. I’m not interested in other people’s abilities.”

He was very businesslike and cold.

Very level-headed.

Huina didn’t feel like revealing her class to someone as scary as him, either.

To say that she was a D-rank Housekeeper in front of an S-rank hunter... would probably only net her mockery.

“Tsk. You’re such a cold fish. In any case, are you done? You can leave now. I’ll get back to work.”

Mina waved him away as if she didn’t find him intimidating at all.

Don’t tell me this is going to turn into a fight?

Huina was nervous, but, to her surprise, Jinhyeon simply nodded, turning and walking away without another word.

“He’s such a stuck-up person, isn’t he?” Mina commented as soon as he was gone.

Huina gave a tired smile, unable to say anything.

“Ha ha... ha...”

“Well, he’s right that I probably shouldn’t have asked you. I guess that was a bit immature of me. Sorry,” Mina apologized smoothly.

Huina scratched her grimy cheek and shook her head.

“No. You saved my life. Telling you about my class is the least I could do. Besides, my class is so strange, I would probably have told someone about it, even if it wasn’t you,” she said quietly.

Mina marveled.

“Wow. You have a knack for putting things nicely, don’t you?”

“What? Me?”

She’d simply spoken with the usual modesty required by society, but Mina seemed to find it quite impressive.

“None of the bastards I know talk as pretty as you do.”

“I’m sure many people thank you for saving their lives...”

“Most of the people I save are busy pissing their pants and crying. They forget to thank me most of the time. I’ve never seen someone as calm as you.”

“Oh...”

Huina realized that perhaps she was a surprisingly brave soul.

Mina patted her on the shoulder and produced a business card.

“I like you. Hit me up sometime. We can grab a bite to eat. You can ask me any questions you might have about living as a hunter.”

Huina was taken aback by this unexpected kind gesture.

“Huh? Oh. Thank you. You’re too kind.”

“It’s fine. I don’t make empty promises. Do hit me up later, all right? I don’t have much to laugh about these days, and it was nice having such a giggle.”

She pushed her business card toward Huina again, so Huina took it very carefully and put it in her shabby pocket.

Mina looked down at her with a satisfied smile and clapped her hands.

“Now then, enough idle chatter. I’ll take you outside the gate. There are emergency rescue personnel outside, so get your check-up from them. They’ll instruct you on how to deal with any damage caused by the dungeon.”

Mina walked off through the jungle as she spoke, while Huina scurried after her, eager not to lose her.

* * *

“H-how is this possible?”

Huina fell to her knees at the sight of the ruins around her.

She’d somehow survived the monsters in the dungeon gate, but now reality had seized her by the throat.

“Miss! Are your legs injured? Would you like me to call a stretcher over for you?” called a rescue worker, grabbing Huina’s shoulders.

She didn’t even seem to hear him.

She muttered stupidly, “My job... My house... How could I lose both on the same day?”