She coughed. A bitter taste spread over her entire tongue. As she blinked her eyes slowly, the pressure on her cheek, where she was pressing, became even stronger.
“Give it up now. The item.”
Squish.
The feeling of the shoe sole touching her cheek was damp. Or perhaps it was the sensation of wet asphalt, she didn’t know.
Ae-yeon, in the state of collapsing on the ground, slowly raised her gaze and stared at Verde, who was looking down at her.
“…I don’t like it.”
Thunk!
Verde kicked Ae-yeon’s head with his shoe like kicking a ball. A force strong enough to shake her entire brain. Her field of vision changed dramatically.
However, Ae-yeon couldn’t do anything.
‘I was careless…’
I never thought the last hunter was a ‘Blocker.’
I’ve heard about Blockers, but it was the first time I’d seen one in person.
They nullify some of the opponent’s skills. It was commonly known as negation, but it was more like ‘blockage.’
The principle couldn’t be understood because the conditions for achieving it varied for each Blocker.
But I could probably guess the conditions for this hunter…
‘Arrows.’
There was a high possibility that the arrow he shot had a kind of poison that blocked the skill.
Due to the summoning beasts rushing towards her, Ae-yeon couldn’t avoid the arrow that barely grazed her. Since that arrow brushed past her, Ae-yeon’s skill had been sealed.
‘Even if they notice now, it’s too late.’
In the battle between hunters, what influenced the outcome was the rank, affinity, and ‘information.’ To grasp victory, one had to first understand the enemy, and hiding oneself was the fundamental basics. This principle was effective even in battles against monsters.
However, Ae-yeon was careless. She trusted her rank too much. Although she didn’t want to admit it, that was the cause of her defeat.
Ae-yeon stared ahead with blurred eyes.
[Trait▶ ‘Agile Movement’ activated.] [Failed.] [Abnormal condition ‘Silence.’ Use of traits and skills is restricted. Remaining time: 5:49]Although there were still 5 minutes of duration left, as expected, if she could stun the Blocker, the abnormal condition would be lifted. There might be a chance of winning.
However, at the moment, the Blocker had two comrades with him. Moreover, considering the summoned beasts, Ae-yeon was facing 1 against 10, or even more.
As long as they kept their eyes wide open, approaching the Blocker to stun him was not an easy task. Especially in this state where abilities were also sealed.
“I remembered.”
The Blocker mumbled.
“I wondered where I saw her before. That girl, she was on the news a few years ago.”
“On the news?”
“Yeah.”
The Blocker took out his phone and searched for something. Soon, he pushed the screen towards his comrades.
“Look. The fourth S-rank in Korea.”
“Huh, she looks a bit different from now, doesn’t she…?”
“No. Take a closer look. It’s her.”
They compared the face of the petite girl in the screen with Ae-yeon’s face.
One of Ae-yeon’s traits, ‘Disturbance,’ could cause confusion not only in battles but also in daily life. For example, it could make it difficult for others to recognize her face.
However, even that seemed to be released in the current situation where her skills were sealed. Verde, who had been staring intently at Ae-yeon’s face, approached.
“Is this you?”
“……. ”
Ae-yeon didn’t answer. Verde, who was staring at Ae-yeon’s muddy face, eventually laughed as if it was amusing.
“Haha, rolling on the muddy ground, interfering with others’ pockets without hesitation.”
Swish. A voice that settled in Ae-yeon’s ear like a whisper.
“Korea’s S-rank is truly a masterpiece. I can understand why Maestro left Korea and went to the United States.”
Thud!
Before the words could end, the kicking resumed abruptly. Ae-yeon endured even without uttering a small groan.
Tch, boring. Amidst the noisy rain, the sound of a tongue clicking was heard. There was no resistance, and it seemed like the enthusiasm had cooled off.
Then, the footsteps abruptly stopped.
“…Even the remaining White Nights are just a corpse in the courtyard. The next-generation young S-rank in Korea is only at this level. Koreans are truly pitiful.”
Click, click.
Followed by the continuous sound of the camera shutter.
Ae-yeon, who remained motionless, only shifted her gaze toward them. They were taking pictures. Capturing the scene of the Korean S-rank hunter lying on the muddy ground covered in blood in their album.
“How many likes do you think this photo will get?”
Click, click, click… The sound of the shutter continued endlessly.
Ae-yeon, staring at them with unfocused eyes, noticed a stranger behind them. A passerby had stopped and was looking at this place. Whish. Verde turned around as if shooting a glance.
“What’s going on?”
The passerby hesitated, then shrugged and hid his face in the umbrella as if he hadn’t seen anything.
Tap-tap… The sound of footsteps moving away. Without looking back, the red umbrella turned into a dot and disappeared.
Ae-yeon, standing on the dirty mud, silently laughed.
She didn’t expect it. At all.
Most people wouldn’t step forward for someone they didn’t know, without any gain or purpose. That was perfectly normal.
Because I used to be like that too.
“────.”
She could no longer hear what the unfortunate foreign hunter guys were shouting.
Stomach, back, shoulders. The kicking continued. Ae-yeon slowly closed her eyes.
“─Lede, over there──.”
“──What? ──Let’s pretend we didn’t see.”
Suddenly, the continuous kicking that had been relentlessly examining Ae-yeon’s body came to a stop.
What’s happening? When she lifted the eyelids she had closed,
Thud─
A black shoe came into view. Despite the weather, not a speck of mud was on it. Ae-yeon lifted her gaze as if drawn.
Pouring rain.
Pitch-black night sky.
Under the black umbrella,
“……. ”
More black than anything, the pupils.
Ae-yeon moistened her lips hesitantly.
“……Um, you?”
Perhaps it was because of her mood, there seemed to be a faint golden light in the black irises.
“Hey, you. I told you not to interfere. Can’t you hear?”
Swoooosh─
The raindrops intensified.
To Ae-yeon, the world was originally like this. Cold, selfish, and pragmatic.
“I came back to return the pamphlet.”
But perhaps…
“I’ve memorized it all too.”
It might not be just like that.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
