Si-hyun hurriedly moved her steps.
She needed to resolve the situation unfolding before her quickly.
A large, muscular man was pressuring Da-young.
Da-young’s body was shaking slightly.
Normally, they would have gone through a process of checking their relationship first.
But thanks to the alcohol she hadn’t had in a long time.
Her body was experiencing alcohol for the first time since birth.
Without deep thought, action followed.
Tap, tap.
Ignoring the familiar-looking woman glaring at her, she patted the man’s back.
“Huh? What is it?”
The man turned around.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“Whoa! What a pretty lady! What do you need from me?”
The man whistled lightly and observed Si-hyun.
From head to toe.
Impressive.
Instead of answering, Si-hyun extended her arm.
Just then, Da-young shouted in surprise.
“Si-Si-hyun! This guy is a bit dangerous…!”
Da-young’s words couldn’t finish.
Si-hyun instantly took action.
She grabbed the collar of the man standing arrogantly.
The man smirked as if finding it cute.
But then—
Bam!
The giant man soared through the air and smashed headfirst into the roadside.
“…Huh?”
Da-young’s eyes widened in shock.
Her mouth fell open without her realizing it.
Not only was he big, but he was also a Hunter.
He was someone who was just a step away from a B-rank when he left a large guild.
Moreover, he looked like a close-combat Hunter.
In simple terms, he was incredibly strong.
So, she thought, no matter how strong Si-hyun was, this was dangerous.
“Da-young, are you okay?”
“Uh, um…”
Having accidentally answered in a daze, Da-young looked back and forth between Si-hyun and the man.
How strong is our Si-hyun, anyway?
“You crazy girl!”
The woman watching the situation yelled.
Soon after, she used a magic Hunter skill.
A fireball the size of a human head formed and flew at Si-hyun at high speed.
“Are you hurt?!”
“To the side! To the side!”
Da-young shouted urgently.
The magic fire attack from the magic Hunter was rushing in.
Si-hyun needed to dodge quickly, but she didn’t budge an inch.
She didn’t even turn her head.
She must not have noticed!
Da-young tried to move her body to take the hit for her.
Just then.
Si-hyun stopped Da-young with one hand and casually swung the other.
She deflected the fireball flying towards her with the back of her hand.
The fireball made a pfft! sound as it extinguished upon impact.
It was like swatting away a fly.
With just that effortless move, the magic Hunter’s skill vanished.
“Wha-What?”
The female magic Hunter took a few steps back in shock.
She had thought that white-haired girl was strong for an E-rank back in the cave.
But to easily handle her skill, which was just shy of D-rank?
A giant wall loomed before her.
A high wall that seemed endless.
“Damn…”
The giant man, who had been knocked to the ground, regained consciousness.
He slowly got up.
Si-hyun glanced at him for a moment and then spoke to Da-young.
“He’s a bad guy, right? Should I punish him?”
“Uhm…?”
Da-young, who had also been drinking like Si-hyun, nodded dazedly, unable to catch up with what was happening.
“Since he dared to bully my sister… I have to make him repent.”
Si-hyun mumbled softly to herself as she prepared a spell.
It was magic she hadn’t used in a while.
Even back in the other world, due to enemies’ high resistance, she rarely used it.
But somehow, she felt that it would work on this guy.
Snap!
Like it was a performance, Si-hyun snapped her fingers.
Then, black smoke began to billow and engulf the man.
“What the hell is this?!”
The man shook his body in resistance, swinging his arms, but he was fully consumed.
“Si-Si-hyun! What the heck is that?!”
“It’s a skill, a skill. A Paladin skill.”
“Oh, I see…”
It was a skill that looked anything but holy for a paladin.
Da-young gave up trying to understand.
Once she did, she felt at ease.
The somewhat sinister-looking black smoke began to dissipate.
Inside, the man emerged with veins bulging red in his eyes.
He looked as if he might explode with madness.
Rolling his eyes, he locked onto his target and yelled loudly.
“You crazy bitch!”
He charged at his intended target.
In the blink of an eye, the man reached her and raised his massive palm.
His target couldn’t even react.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson!”
“Ahhh!”
The woman’s cheek was slapped, and she collapsed to the ground.
However, the man didn’t stop there.
He climbed on top of her and unleashed brutal violence.
“How dare you hit me?!”
“Stop! Please!”
“Shut up, bitch!”
The woman screamed in pain, but the man did not stop.
He continued to assault her mercilessly.
Although it was a quiet street, there were definitely people around.
As people started to take notice of the commotion, Da-young whispered to Si-hyun, dripping with sweat.
“Wh-why is that guy acting like this?”
“Have you ever played games? It’s a kind of debuff. It’s a status ailment.”
“Huh? A status ailment?”
“Yeah, to that uncle right now, that lady looks like me.”
“……”
Da-young shut her mouth.
It was a bit brutal, and she thought they should intervene.
But after hearing Si-hyun’s words, her thoughts changed.
What if Si-hyun was weaker than that man?
The one under him could have been Si-hyun instead of that lady.
Or maybe herself.
Da-young watched the scene of violence with a cold gaze.
Thinking back, Si-hyun had only acted in self-defense once.
The assault was being committed by the man.
So, it seemed like they hadn’t done anything wrong.
Once she altered her mindset, she even felt a sense of relief.
She was so focused on that bastard that she had begun to feel annoyed by the woman’s gaze too.
She saw it as a neat implementation of justice.
“Ah…*”
As the woman’s face swelled to the point of being unrecognizable, the violence finally ceased.
The man stood up, looking refreshed.
Si-hyun gazed at him.
Sure, it was good that she had taken down that annoying woman they had seen in the dungeon.
But it didn’t feel right that the man who had committed the violence wore such a smug expression.
She turned her body and walked toward a shady alley.
“H-Hey, where are you going?!”
The man hurriedly followed her.
Da-young contemplated whether to intervene or not.
…Would it be okay since it was Si-hyun?
She decided to stop thinking deeply.
The two disappeared into the dark alleyway.
A few minutes passed.
The man emerged first.
With a pale, corpse-like expression.
As if his very soul had left him, his eyes held no life.
He walked up to Da-young slowly.
Da-young flinched for a moment but remained still.
“I’m sorry! It was all my fault! I won’t go near here again!”
The man buried his head into the ground and shouted with all his might.
His voice was so sincere that Da-young subconsciously nodded.
“Should I teach him more?”
“Uh, that’s enough.”
At that moment, Si-hyun approached and asked, and Da-young shook her head.
It felt exhilarating, like downing a chilled beer.
This man was just a mere member of a large guild.
But still, it was something.
Thanks to Si-hyun, she finally felt refreshed after a long time.
But it was a waste to spend more time on these worthless fools.
“Si-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“You called me sister earlier. I want to hear it again.”
“…I never said that.”
“Oh, I definitely heard it.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ugh…”
Da-young pouted her lips.
She cutely puffed her cheeks.
Si-hyun stared at her expression for a moment and then said.
“Da-young, shall we go for a second round?”
“Let’s go!”
Da-young replied energetically.
It was a relief as they were running low on drinks anyway.
They had plenty of snacks left but felt uneasy about the venue.
The two gulped down the remaining drinks.
Da-young went into the establishment, paid, and returned.
She looked at Si-hyun, who had been waiting for her.
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but her cheeks were flushed.
She smiled happily as she gazed at her.
So adorable and lovely.
There was a dangerously cute charm in her heart.
She wanted to be called sister by Si-hyun in a friendly manner.
Da-young had a new goal in life.
*
The next morning.
Han-gyeol diligently went to work at the guild as usual.
As part of his daily routine, he entered Da-young’s office and greeted her.
Then, he naturally leaned forward on the table and murmured.
“Master, smells like alcohol.”
“Oh, really?”
“It seems you drank a lot. Who did you drink with?”
With Han-gyeol’s question, Da-young grinned widely.
“I drank with Si-hyun. Just the two of us.”
“Huh? With Si-hyun?!”
Han-gyeol jumped up in surprise at the unexpected answer.
Da-young chuckled, “Yeah. Jealous?”
“Why didn’t you invite me…?”
“Why would I?”
Han-gyeol looked at Da-young with eyes full of envy.
That made her playful.
Should I tease him a bit more?
“Well, since it was just girls hanging out, maybe we got close faster than with guys?”
“Well, I guess that makes sense, but you know?”
“That you’re a horn-dog?”
“Absolutely not!”
Han-gyeol shouted in protest at Da-young’s joke.
Da-young enjoyed that reaction while thinking.
‘It’s true Si-hyun could sway plenty of guys.’
Honestly, even she thought it was strange not to fall for Si-hyun when looking at her.
Of course, whether Si-hyun was interested in romance was a separate matter.
In Da-young’s eyes, she seemed indifferent to such things.
Well, Si-hyun usually defaulted to an expressionless face.
“Yesterday was really incredible! She tossed that guy who was like 2 meters tall with one hand!”
“What? 2 meters tall?!”
“Yeah! You know that guy from our old guild, right?”
“Oh! You ran into him? That sounds dangerous… He’s got a terrible attitude.”
“Our Si-hyun protected me—”
“Ugh…”
As Da-young spoke playfully, Han-gyeol clutched his head.
He was so envious of the Master.
“That’s not all! She deflected a magic Hunter’s fireball with the back of her hand.”
“What?”
Han-gyeol blinked repetitively, unable to comprehend Da-young’s words.
She what?
“Without even looking, she just swish! and the fire magic was gone!”
Da-young mimicked Si-hyun’s move with her arms.
But Han-gyeol still couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“That’s possible?”
“It’s probably because she’s that strong. She’s a Paladin, after all.”
“No, but you said she didn’t even look at it. How does that work?”
“It just works, so she did it?”
“Oh right?”
Of course, the Master wouldn’t lie.
Han-gyeol slowly started to accept it.
“Man, I’m so envious. Next time, please invite me too.”
“Why not just get her number first? You don’t even know Si-hyun’s number.”
“……”
“Are you repeating ‘those are sour grapes in your head’ right now?”
“……You know too much about me.”
With a sulky voice, Han-gyeol muttered.
Da-young responded with an expression of pity.
Just then, Da-young’s phone vibrated.
“Hello? Oh, Ji-han? Oh, you’re done? It’s been a while; let’s meet. Be careful coming back. Okay.”
After a brief phone call, Da-young tucked her phone into her pocket.
Han-gyeol, who had been silently waiting, opened his mouth.
“Ji-han already finished the Dungeon raid?”
“Yeah. Looks like the kid’s really talented.”
“He might actually rank up to B-rank soon.”
“You need to level up to C-rank quickly too!”
“Yeah, yeah…”
Han-gyeol sighed at the continuation of the scolding.
‘Should I leave soon?’ he thought, unconsciously picking up his phone to check messages.
“Oh…”
The Master’s profile was a picture of her with Si-hyun.
Without realizing, he accidentally pressed both the power button and volume button at the same time.
“You screenshot my profile to look at Si-hyun, didn’t you?”
“……You’re too sharp.”
Caught red-handed, Han-gyeol scratched his cheek.
