Under the Starlight Guild, there were countless subsidiaries. Even a certain company famous for its yellow signboard and octopus-like operations was a step below the Starlight Guild.
The guild had penetrated every nook and cranny of the neighborhood, even to the point where local hole-in-the-wall shops bore its name, sucking up money left and right.
However, let me reiterate, the Starlight Guild never lost its identity as a hunter guild. Despite being wealthy enough to eat rice coated in gold, the guild spared no expense in nurturing hunters and training newcomers.
To give you an idea of how little they spared, it was famously said that the sidewalk blocks in front of the hunter training center were replaced once a year.
Anyway, within this Starlight Guild, there was a large exhibition hall next to the research institute that could attract both hunters and ordinary people.
Inside, there were various monsters, and of course, under government approval, there was something akin to a zoo filled with low-violence, weak monsters. Most of them were monsters captured by the Starlight Guild.
It was a place that could fully satisfy the curiosity of hunters who hadn’t yet entered gates and ordinary people who couldn’t enter gates without magical power.
The charm of seeing monsters that were only read about in books moving in real life drew many people, and thanks to admission fees and various advertising revenues, the research institute’s finances were abundant.
However, if new monsters or creatures didn’t appear, the number of visitors naturally declined. In other words, the once-abundant finances would start to dwindle.
So, in such a place, the exhibition of a new creature was somewhat special. To keep making money, newcomers had to keep coming in.
Just a few decades ago, monsters were pure terror to ordinary people, so even if one was as cute and pretty as Hana, it could easily “disappear” or be disposed of somewhere.
Fortunately, policies have softened compared to the past, and even creatures from within gates could be exhibited in the exhibition hall as long as they weren’t very violent and had a responsible hunter.
That’s right. Hana, who had no strength or abilities, had the duty to show herself in front of many people like a lion in a zoo, drawing their affection.
Just as people heal by watching cute kid or animal videos when life sucks and gets too hard, shouldn’t someone like Hana, with looks that can win over many, be used in a place like this? Left alone, she’d really be a useless kid.
If she were just an ordinary kid, it wouldn’t matter much, but being a creature from within a gate meant dealing with tons of paperwork and regulations, making maintenance costs no joke.
Because of those maintenance costs, Hana had to earn money despite her young age. Some might call it child abuse, but unfortunately, since Hana wasn’t human, she was exempt from such laws.
Anyway, with visuals that could rival any child actor, Hana was a treasure to the exhibition hall’s manager. Just imagining the exhibition hall bustling with people coming to see Hana made him smile nonstop.
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I woke up to someone poking my cheek in a room filled with lace, like a little girl’s bedroom. Waking up wasn’t a great feeling, especially since I hadn’t slept well.
The person who disturbed my sweet sleep was none other than Kim Bora. She was poking me annoyingly early in the morning, as if she had no sleep. I opened my eyes and, hating the finger poking my cheek, bit it.
Of course, I bit gently to avoid hurting her, as if warning, “Don’t touch me!” So, Kim Bora wouldn’t poke my cheek again. Although she’s probably done the same thing multiple times…
“Hana, are you up?”
Kim Bora sat next to me, grinning. Feeling the swaying bed, I turned my back to her.
I was still tired and wanted to sleep more. But Kim Bora, as if she couldn’t tolerate this, stuck her hand under my armpit and lifted me up.
I don’t know why she keeps lifting me. Dangling in the air, I kicked in anger, but my short legs couldn’t reach her. Kim Bora dragged me somewhere, and I had a bad feeling about it.
“Ta-da!”
The place she took me to was a closet. The whole room was filled with clothes, like those of celebrities or actors. I turned pale and tried to escape.
It was clear she was going to dress me up like a doll. But as if she had anticipated this, Kim Bora slammed the door shut.
“Ugh…”
Without even letting out a scream, I was caught by Kim Bora and turned into a living doll. Save me!!!
—
Kim Bora’s first suspicion started from the bathtub. After washing Hana, she noticed that half of the water in the tub had disappeared, and it had turned a greenish color, as if bath salts had been added.
But she couldn’t think any further about it. She just couldn’t figure out why it happened.
However, when the same thing happened during the second bath, she started to get an idea. She approached Hana, who was casually spinning around in the room.
Since Hana usually ran away from strangers, Kim Bora, being the closest to her among the research institute employees, knew she had to do something.
*Pluck!*
She pulled out a single strand of Hana’s hair. Hana screamed and ran away from Kim Bora.
Well, pulling hair hurts. Kim Bora then took the strand of hair and dropped it into a cup of water.
Normally, human hair would float in water, but Hana’s hair melted like coffee. The water slowly turned from white to green.
Her guess was right. She had seen it before when Hana’s hair melted in a pond, so she had some idea.
Just like how humans unconsciously lose hair, Hana’s aging hair, which naturally falls out, changed the color of the water like bath salts. Of course, the more water there was, the lighter the color.
“Hmm…”
But something made her hesitate. According to her knowledge, the byproducts of monsters from the Gates were all aggressive.
One monster’s saliva was more toxic than cyanide, and other monsters had deadly abilities too. So, Kim Bora’s hesitation was understandable.
But she couldn’t take her eyes off the water, which shimmered with a beautiful emerald glow.
And since Hana was so cute and didn’t seem to have any harmful abilities, Kim Bora decided to drink the water in the cup.
As the cold liquid passed her throat, she couldn’t help but widen her eyes.
‘!!!’
Her pupils dilated, her lips trembled, and her hands shook.
Kim Bora felt as if she had entered nirvana. Her mind, which had been foggy, instantly cleared, and the fatigue from long overtime work seemed to vanish.
Even though the water was cold, a warm, clear sensation spread through her esophagus, leaving her in awe.
It literally had the effect of cleansing both body and mind. And it had a strange addictive quality that made her want to drink more.
This… she could confidently say it was more effective than any energy drink on the market.
No, comparing this to an energy drink was an insult. No beverage or tea in this world could compare to this.
Feeling the extraordinary effects, Kim Bora slowly approached Hana, who was looking at her fearfully. She needed to get a sample to show to the director.
Hana, staring at her intensely, took a step back in fear, but there was nowhere to run in the small room.
Hana could feel Kim Bora’s intense determination, but unfortunately, with the body of an elementary school student, she couldn’t overpower an adult woman.
And so, the only sound in the room was Hana’s pitiful cries.
