The Girl I Saved Came Back As An S-rank Hunter

EP.10 I was Forced to Prove My Return as a Hunter

The day we decided to tackle the C-rank dungeon.

I arrived at the mountain near the dungeon’s entrance by car, which Soo-jung had prepared for us.

“Here we are, Mr Won-woo!”

Soo-jung, who was waving her hand in a friendly manner, came into view. As always, Kang So-young was sticking to her like a shadow.

“Hi. You came early. Hello to you too, Ms Secretary.”

As I approached and greeted them, Soo-jung looked at me as if something was strange.

Kang So-young, next to her, silently accepted my greeting with a slight nod.

“What’s going on? When did you two become friends?”

“Huh? Oh, when she was helping me choose my equipment, maybe?”

In fact, we didn’t become friends but rather became more uncomfortable with each other.

I greeted her first, just to be less hated in the future and as a basic courtesy in social life.

More accurately, it was to avoid being torn to pieces.

“Hmm, really?”

I wondered why Soo-jung was acting like this, looking suspiciously at me.

“By any chance, Mr Won-woo, do you have a preference for older women or something?”

Soo-jung glanced at Kang So-young and then asked me again.

Her sudden question and strange misunderstanding left me speechless.

I couldn’t tell her that I was nearly suffocated by that woman’s threats and coercion.

I didn’t want to cause trouble, so I just did my part.

“Let’s not talk nonsense and hurry to the dungeon entrance before it’s too late.”

I learned that the best way to deal with Soo-jung’s occasional impulsive actions or questions was to simply ignore them while spending time together.

However, this time, her resistance was intense.

“Useless talk? It’s the most important thing in the world! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for today?”

Her words, full of affection and resentment, poured out like a storm.

I wondered if it was appropriate to have such a conversation right before entering a dungeon, which would be tense after a long time, but I understood Soo-jung’s mindset, as she didn’t feel anxious at all being an S-rank.

“Are you listening, Mr Won-woo?”

“Yeah, I’m listening.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Did it show?”

“Ugh, seriously. That’s so mean!”

Seeing her pouty face after catching me not really paying attention and joking around, I couldn’t help but smile secretly.

Over time, she showed me her childish side, which was different from the grave impression she had when we first met.

It wasn’t a bad feeling since she decided to open her heart after confessing, showing her true self.

It was a side of Soo-jung that only I knew and could see.

Of course, sometimes, she tried to sit on my lap or deliberately press her chest against me, which was still difficult to handle.

“Young Lady, I think it is time to go.”

Unable to watch anymore, Kang So-young, who was next to us, chimed in. Soo-jung stopped pouting and nodded her head.

“Fine, we’ll talk about this later. Shall we go up, Mr Won-woo?”

With those words, her whiny face from earlier disappeared, and the atmosphere changed.

A confident and strong appearance while moving forward—that was the image of Soo-jung I knew before I met her.

“Then I’ll guide you.”

Kang So-young confidently led the way, walking ahead of us.

We walked for about 10 minutes on foot because we couldn’t go any further by car, and we saw a group of people standing in front of a dungeon portal emitting blue light.

“Ah, there they are!”

One of the men in the group shouted as he spotted us, and the people swarmed towards us.

About ten people holding cameras and microphones began to approach Soo-jung.

At a glance, it was clear that they were journalists.

“Ms Hunter, Choi Soo-jung. What is the reason for suddenly going into a C-rank dungeon today?”

“Ms Hunter, Choi Soo-jung. Please explain the reason for suddenly establishing a guild.”

Journalists eagerly raised their voices and pushed their microphones forward for interviews.

Although we were caught off guard by the sudden event, Soo-jung, who was beside me, just silently watched without saying anything, as if she was used to it.

At that moment, Kang So-young stood in front of Soo-jung and drove her magic-powered dagger into the ground.

Bang!

“Please keep your distance for safety.”

The loud sound from the dagger made the surroundings quiet instantly, and the journalists moved away from the planted dagger at Kang So-young’s soft command.

Everyone knew about Soo-jung’s personality, so they were careful and respectful after Kang So-young’s warning.

Thinking that things were settled, she looked at the journalists and spoke.

“I don’t know how you found out about this place again. I never mentioned it, after all.”

Although she said it indirectly, from Soo-jung’s perspective, it meant she was unhappy about their presence.

“We received a tip from the Hunter Association!”

At the reporter’s words, Soo-jung’s eyebrows briefly furrowed and then smoothed out.

“I see. It seems the Association kindly promoted our newly established guild.”

She said, “Thank you,” but anyone could tell from her tone that she wasn’t grateful at all.

“So, the reason you journalists hurried here is to find out why we suddenly established a guild and decided to attack a C-rank dungeon?”

They nodded in unison as if they had been waiting for the question.

While pondering and touching her sleek chin, Soo-jung smiled and opened her mouth.

“Well, I wanted to keep it a secret, but there’s no helping it now.”

Then, suddenly, her gaze turned to me, who was standing quietly beside her.

The journalists’ eyes also focused on me.

Everyone had a curious expression, wondering who I was, and murmurs of curiosity reached my ears.

It felt very awkward. A sudden sense of unease crept in.

It was a similar feeling to when I almost fell alone in an A-rank dungeon after the floor collapsed beneath me.

As if to prove my hunch was correct, Soo-jung reached her slender hand towards me and said,

“All of this was for Mr Lee Won-woo here.”

As soon as Soo-jung’s words fell, a barrage of white flashes erupted from the journalists’ cameras.

Their heightened voices began to overwhelm me.

However, afterwards, it was as if someone had planted a bomb in my head; everything was obliterated, and I couldn’t hear any conversation at all.

In the chaotic situation, as I couldn’t give any response, the journalists’ fervour for gathering even small bits of information intensified. Gradually, they approached closer.

Observing this, Kang So-young pulled out another dagger and threw it towards the ground once more.

Bang

At the sound of the explosion, the fervour subsided in an instant.

“Now, journalists, are you satisfied with the answer? We need to proceed with the dungeon attack, so please step aside. Secretary Kang, please take care of it.”

Soo-jung spoke as if she had been waiting and then looked at Kang So-young.

“Yes.”

“W-wait a moment!”

“Ms Hunter, Choi Soo-jung! What is your relationship with that man?”

Each reporter spat out their questions, but due to Kang So-young’s intervention, they eventually disappeared as if they had been chased away.

“Are you okay, Mr Won-woo?”

The person in question calmly approached me, who was standing there dumbfounded, and placed her hand on my shoulder, asking.

“Haha… Haha…”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

It’s said that when someone experiences an absurd situation, they can only laugh. It was just like that.

I collected myself and asked Soo-jung.

“Soo-jung, do you know what you’ve just done?”

“Of course. Did you think I did that without knowing?”

I asked just in case, but it was as expected.

It was now a known fact to the world that I was the man Soo-jung had been harbouring feelings for.

I recalled the comments from the article I saw the day Soo-jung came to find me.

Many people would chew me out and ask who I was; I could already see it happening.

My quiet daily life could now disappear.

I’d never had high public recognition, as the best I’d ever done was rank as a promising newcomer, but now it seemed I’d definitely experience the discomfort of everyday life.

However, I was curious about the reason Soo-jung did this, so I asked.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because it’s true—both the reason for establishing the guild and coming to the dungeon.”

“Wait… so you really established the guild because of me?”

My mind became even more distant with the fact that this was true when I had thought it was just an excuse.

“Yes, it’s really true. Although there were other reasons, the biggest one was you, Mr Won-woo.”

I couldn’t tell if I should like or dislike this. Who in the world would go so far as to establish a guild to gain someone’s love?

It was too absurdly grandiose.

There was definitely a touching aspect, but the aftermath that would follow was even bigger.

“Now that it’s come to this, you have no choice but to come to me, Mr Won-woo, right? And there won’t be any chance for other women to set their sights on you either, hehe.”

Certainly, if someone were to mess with the man Soo-jung had her eyes on, they could taste the disaster of their lives.

“Sigh, haven’t you worried about something like that? Is your popularity as a hunter dropping or something like that?”

“You know I’ve never been interested in that sort of thing since the beginning, right?”

That was true. Soo-jung had never been that type from the start.

She was the kind of person who didn’t care about others’ opinions and would charge forward if she liked someone.

That must have been why she was so proactive on the day we signed the contract.

“Still, I did consider you to some extent. I sent the reporters away with a ‘no comment’ to all their questions. I haven’t given a definite answer yet, have I? I only left enough for them to speculate.”

It was a somewhat twisted consideration.

It seemed like she was trying to comfort me, but it didn’t comfort me at all. I could only sigh.

“It is about time for you to enter the dungeon.”

Kang So-young came over to us, pointing at the dungeon portal.

The portal, emitting a blue light, was gradually turning dark.

“If you delay any longer, monsters may come out, so get ready.”

“Right, we should. I don’t want to recklessly use solo play due to a dungeon overrun.”

When a dungeon is neglected for a certain period of time, monsters come out of it as they do from a gate, and it’s called a dungeon overrun.

The hunters’ primary mission is to enter the dungeon and remove the magic stone called the dungeon core to eliminate the dungeon.

It was my long-awaited task.

Slap. Slap.

I slapped my cheeks firmly twice with both hands.

There was nothing I could do about what had already happened. For now, focusing on the dungeon right in front of me was the priority.

After mentally preparing myself and checking my equipment again, I looked at Kang So-young and said, “I’m ready.”

“I’m ready too.”

Kang So-Young nodded and subtly moved closer to me, pretending to examine my equipment.

Just as I was about to say that I had already checked, Kang So-young’s voice resounded in my head.

[If the Young Lady gets hurt even a little, you’ll be hurt twice as much.]

I didn’t know how she did it, but I wondered if that was something to say to someone about to enter a dungeon.

‘Don’t shake my hard-won mental state, you overprotective fool!’

However, knowing that her words were sincere, I gave a slight nod to show that I understood.

“Mr Won-woo, I know it’s been a while, and you’re nervous, but let’s go in. Us!”

Soo-jung, who didn’t know my situation, seemed excited at the thought of going together.

In her mind, she could have already been considering it a date.

Finally, after all the twists and turns, we stood in front of the portal.

“Then let’s go in.”

I stepped forward in sync with Soo-jung’s signal. It had been a while since I felt the slimy sensation of the dungeon portal.

As soon as more than half of my body entered the portal, the world seemed to shake, and then it disappeared from my sight.

A moment later, we found ourselves in a different place.

“It’s been a really long time.”

I could tell we had come in as the wind blew through the thick grass and the open plain.

It was the first time I had been to a dungeon since about six months ago.

Moreover, it was practically the first time in three years that I had come to one as a hunter, not a porter.

The mere thought of standing here again filled my chest with emotion.

But the sentimentality ended there once we entered the dungeon. It was a place where you never knew what might happen if you let your guard down.

“As the advance team said, the path is straight for now.”

Looking at the well-trodden area, unlike the thickly grown grass elsewhere, I checked the advanced team’s information once again.

“You seem to have read the advance team’s report quite thoroughly.”

“Yeah, researching beforehand has become a habit now.”

An advance team is usually a group of fast hunters or machines like drones that are dispatched to gather information when a dungeon is discovered.

There are specialised guilds for the advanced teams; they adopt a method of providing information in exchange for payment.

Of course, not all of the information could be completely relied upon, but given the nature of dungeons, where information is directly linked to one’s life, it is indispensable to review and compare the information in advance, as it could be of great help.

“Let’s just follow the path and walk straight.”

“Okay! I’ll just move according to your directions, Mr Won-woo.”

So the two of us began walking along the long, stretching path.