SSS-Class Hunter Goes On Vacation - Chapter 24

Hello, this is Daphne.

I feel sorry for greeting you so late.

I knew there were people watching over me.

But I’ve been quite busy lately. Both in terms of time and emotionally, in many ways.

Above all, I’m not a celebrity, so the fact that I have fans didn’t really sink in. So I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

Then yesterday, when I received the items you sent, I was honestly a bit surprised.

I hadn’t known because I had been deferring all receipts, but there were many items prepared just for me.

I also just found out yesterday that there are so many people donating in my name.

You must all know that it’s been a very long time since I deferred receipt, but the fact that you’ve continued to send things so consistently… I felt really sorry.

And I also felt like I realized who I’ve been working hard for.

The DIY painting kit, I used it very well and found it useful.

I’ll try to post small proofs of the other items you sent from now on.

Thank you.

It’s a difficult time, but I hope we can get through it together with strength.

Of course, the fan cafe was turned upside down by this single post.

Those who saw Yeonju’s post couldn’t help but be shocked and left comments.

[└Anonymous fan: OMG Daphne herself has appeared;

└Admin: This post has been moved to the [Notice] section by the administrator.

└Anonymous fan: …Gasp. I can’t breathe right now.

└Anonymous fan: …Me neither.

└Anonymous fan: Someone call an ambulance……]

The number of comments exploded instantly.

[└Anonymous fan: …What just happened? I… I screamed in real life and got smacked by my mom but it doesn’t hurt at all… Is this a dream? It must be a dream, right?

└Anonymous fan: Probably? I screamed and stubbed my toe getting up but it doesn’t hurt at all either.

└Anonymous fan: …Is this really Creusa?

└Anonymous fan: Daphne, I truly love and respect you. I hope you do everything you want to… Anyway…

└Anonymous fan: You’re not taking a break because you’re sick, are you? You’re not injured, right? Every time I see news articles about hunter incidents and accidents lately, my heart drops. It’s okay if you don’t do activities, just please stay healthy and well!

└Anonymous fan: That DIY painting kit… I… I gifted that. Oh my god… Oh my god… What do I do… Should I die? No… Why would I die… Daphne said she’s watching over us… I’m going to live forever. Oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do I do!!! I’m so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!

└Anonymous fan: Shout out to God-phne!!!!!!!

└Anonymous fan: I’ve been cheering you on thinking of you like a daughter, and seeing your message today really touches my heart… But you don’t have to go out of your way to reach out to us. I don’t know how you can be so kind-hearted.]

Such comments tinged with even madness increased in an instant, and it took less than an hour to reach the 9,999 comment limit set to prevent system overload.

Considering the post was uploaded at midnight, it was a very unreasonable occurrence.

Moreover, fans who couldn’t comment on the post because they were so stunned ended up writing several derivative posts, keeping the fan cafe in a feverish atmosphere from late night until morning.

It made sense, as all of Daphne’s fans knew what kind of life she had lived.

Suji lost her mother at the young age of 8 and entered the Hunter Academy at 9.

It only took about 4 years from completing the tutorial to officially debuting.

And from then on, she devoted herself solely to climbing the Tower, as if she had no attachments to life.

If Daphne had just been a strong and talented SSS-rank hunter, she wouldn’t have gathered so many fans.

But Daphne was… too young.

She had lost too much for her age, and had been the focus of media and public attention before she was old enough to mature mentally, and suffered for it.

Her backstory was also tragic.

Daphne’s mother, Peneus, was a figure who received tremendous attention during her lifetime.

And she died while climbing the Tower.

Though monsters directly took her life, people were not unaware of the cause of her misfortune.

She lived with such expectations that she couldn’t easily choose retirement even after having a child.

It must have been the public’s expectations that drove Peneus to her death.

People who felt indebted after Peneus’ death should have felt a sense of déjà vu seeing Daphne practically living in the Tower as soon as she graduated from the academy.

Although Daphne wasn’t a celebrity, nor someone who generated profits based on popularity, that’s why the fan cafe was created.

As such, the fact that Daphne personally received items and left a response expressing her gratitude held great meaning for the fans.

They had continued to send gifts and message books knowing that Daphne wasn’t receiving them, but deep down they had thought the items would never be accepted.

While the comments on the original post set as an announcement were at least pretending to be rational in case Daphne might see them, the comments on the derivative posts were all just wailing.

[This is the timeline separator]

Team Daphne, sitting separately one by one, at first just glared at the ‘DIY painting kit’.

Honestly, it wasn’t easy to imagine themselves painting on the paper in front of them.

But when Suji picked up the brush first, soon the others reluctantly began to move their hands as well.

However, it wasn’t long before complaints started to erupt.

“…Is this supposed to be healing?”

“Be quiet, Peace. The team leader said it’s healing.”

“Saint, you. You, take off those rabbit ears right now.”

“You should at least allow the rabbit ears. Peace is glowing as bright as the sun from all the speed buffs right now, are you in any position to say that?”

“Am I the only one who used speed buffs? Elaine is just keeping quiet, but she’s sparkling so much she could be called a fixed star!”

“Hahaha, Elaine is a fixed star! Elaine as bright as the sun, hahaha, that’s too funny.”

“I’ve been wondering if the team leader’s sense of humor is really okay like this for the past few days.”

While complaining, they moved their brushes at an incomprehensibly fast speed.

The ‘DIY Masterpiece Painting’ kit contained several painting brushes with different tips, acrylic paints, a palette, stencils, coating, brushes, and a numbered canvas divided into sections.

Therefore, it wasn’t just about speed, but accurately painting the designated colors within the specified sections.

Unfortunately, the canvases Suji assigned to the four for a fair competition were divided into such intricate sections that it would be strange if there weren’t any control mishaps.

“No, how am I supposed to apply from light to dark colors! Ah, I really can’t do this!”

“Then just give up!”

“For whose sake, for whose sake? I absolutely can’t live with losing, you know? By the way, Kandinsky? Who on earth is this person who painted like this?”

“I’m Shin Yunbok, so shut that mouth of yours.”

Every time Saint and Peace exchanged words and grumbled, Suji couldn’t contain her joy and burst into laughter.

[This is the timeline separator]

Yeonju crossed her legs and rested them next to the keyboard, leaning back into the chair as if burying herself in it.

In the darkness, she stared blankly at the window where a voting poll was displayed.

[1st place Kandinsky 3,796 votes about 38%

2nd place Plum Blossom 3,296 votes about 33%

3rd place Fierce Tiger 1,798 votes about 18%

4th place Shin Yunbok 1,098 votes about 11%]

In conclusion, first place belonged to Kandinsky.

Yeonju, who had posted the voting form, knew who had painted each of the four pictures.

“…No matter how it’s decided, it still ends up like this.”

Yeonju murmured like a sigh and habitually moved her hand in a downward gesture.

As she scrolled down, the screen of the terminal floating before her eyes moved up, revealing the comment section below the voting poll.

[└Anonymous fan: But how long did it take to paint these? Team Daphne couldn’t have been just coloring for a week.

└Anonymous fan: Doesn’t Kandinsky seem to have the best coloring? The lines don’t go outside and the colors are good too.

└Anonymous fan: I think Plum Blossom is like Daphne. It’s extremely neat.

└Anonymous fan: I can feel the madness from Kandinsky…

└Anonymous fan: I was torn between Plum Blossom and Kandinsky, but I just voted for Kandinsky. Plum Blossom is neater, but Kandinsky feels like it was painted with real effort, you know?

└Anonymous fan: But Fierce Tiger, while it’s colored perfectly within the borders… it seems to lack sincerity. It looks like it was left unfinished here and there, which is a bit disappointing.

└Anonymous fan: For Fierce Tiger, it’s not a matter of sincerity, but maybe they ran out of time or paint? One side is extremely meticulous.

└Anonymous fan: Shin Yunbok did really well too. It’s a shame.

└Anonymous fan: Looks like Shin Yunbok ran out of time the most… seeing the few spots left unpainted…

└Anonymous fan: I’m really curious who is who.]

The fans’ guesses were quite accurate.

The person who painted Plum Blossom was Daphne. The one who ruined all the brushes while painting Fierce Tiger was Elaine.