chapter 1
[Failed to capture the Abyss Dungeon!]
Rankers failed to attack the Abyss dungeon.
It is known that Lee Ji-ah, who is called the best hunter in Korea, is included in the raid members.
[Comment window]
Polo: Then it is. Is Lee Ji-ah a domestic top ranker or a world top ranker? This is Lee Ji-ah’s limit.
bwldk123: What does this have to do with the failure of Lee Ji-ah to attack the top domestic and global top rankings? Can’t you see other rankers are participating?
ㄴPolo: Don’t make the mood giblets, just hit it ㅋㅋㅋ.
wldk123: No, I have to tell the story for the f*cking situation. You’re talking nonsense.
Polo: Yeah, it’s you who’s talking that doesn’t fit the situation.
Tteokbokki yum yum: I’m a boy, but since long ago, I hate to see him posting photos on social media haha I pretend to be pretty every day~ At twenty-six, I’m an auntie. Auntie, calm down now!
ㄴwldk123: Lee Ji-ah has never created an SNS account before, so what are you talking about?
ㄴTteokbokki yum yum: Isn’t it? there is? did i see
bwldk123: You’re not looking at the paparazzi photos right now, are you?
Spinach Blush: wldk123 What the hell are you doing, is Lee Ji-ah still shielding like that? wldk=Jia, is it you?
N Polo: lol
ㄴTteokbokki yum yum: It must be me lol I can’t even use the internet because I’m afraid of the Hunter
Stop.
Lee Ji-ah’s fingers that were beating the keyboard stopped.
I didn’t have the courage to reply to the sharp comments.
Because no matter what they said, they wouldn’t accept it.
“What the hell… … .”
bad comments. bad comments. bad comments.
It was all full of malicious comments.
What the hell did he do to make the whole nation so excited and biting?
The failure to capture the dungeon was obviously a loss for mankind, but on the Internet, as if enjoying a festival of victory, several people competitively ridiculed her career and bit her.
Lee Ji-ah bit her nails and repeatedly hit the f5 button.
Ride and go!
Growing comments. The Internet is full of ridicule.
The private lives of the hunters, who became more famous than celebrities, were of great interest to the public, and of course there were no malicious comments.
‘Aggression? don’t mind. It’s like a backstory. If you don’t listen to me no matter what you say behind your back, why should I care?’
Colleagues who didn’t see me gave me advice, but Lee Ji-ah, who is particularly sensitive to other people’s gaze, could not pass the malicious comments.
Druck! Druck!
Lee Ji-ah honestly read the comments one by one. Sweat ran down her chin and dripped to the floor.
Thirling!
phone ringing. The sender was the president of the Hunter Association. Lee Ji-ah answered the phone with trembling hands.
– Miss Jia.
“… … What are you doing?”
– I called because I have something to tell you.
“It’s not like we’re on the phone without a business.”
The president of the association sighed. Jia swallowed her saliva. A call from the president of the association after a dungeon capture failure. Whatever it is, it won’t be good news.
-Jia’s rank has been downgraded due to this attack failure… … .
Break up!
The phone was smashed. It was because Jia gave strength to her hands without me knowing. She looked at the Internet articles with blank eyes.
There were endless malicious comments on the internet. These are malicious comments that run like this with a single attack failure, but it’s a rank downgrade?
“Ha ha ha… … .”
Jia let out a sad laugh. It will surely be bitten so much that it cannot be compared with what it is now.
And her prediction was right. The next day, the article that Lee Ji-ah’s rank had been downgraded received a lot of comments.
Lee Ji-ah stopped all external activities and stayed at home.
The only actions she did while staying at home were looking for articles and checking comments.
Ignoring the calls of worried colleagues, she continued to read malicious comments.
And a month later, she left the house with wide eyes.
* * *
It is a world of superpowers. A small number of humans acquired magical superpowers through awakening. And I, too, was a chosen human being included in the minority.
“Hyunwoo. I need to place an order, so go to the warehouse and check the bean stock.”
“Yeah, bro.”
That’s right, today was the order day. I finished washing the dishes and headed to the warehouse. As soon as I opened the door, the smell of coffee beans hit me.
“One, two, three or three raccoons… … .”
A Shinseri who is squatting and counting the sacks. I sighed involuntarily.
A year ago, when I accidentally awakened, I felt like I had the whole world.
Hunter recruitment advertisements that are often seen on subway screen doors. Hunters are the front-line shields that protect mankind from monsters.
People’s envy, honor, and the financial freedom that naturally follows is an added bonus.
Where is the man whose future hope was not to be a hunter when he was young? I also had a past when I dreamed of becoming a hunter. I gave up because of the realistic problem that only the Awakened could do it.
However, I became an Awakened. The opportunity to become a hunter came.
For a while, even after being drenched in joy, my ability as assessed by the association was less than garbage.
It’s called ‘Peace of Mind’.
The content of the ability calms those around you.
‘Yes? Is this really the end?’
‘Yeah, Kim Hyun-woo’s ability is all about calming people’s mind and body!’
Even thinking about it now doesn’t make any sense. Where are you going to use this?
Still, I haven’t given up on my dream.
Come talk!
I was preparing for the future by licking coffee beans instead of gallbladder in a cafe.
“… … .”
I felt a trail behind me. It was Park Ji-young, a part-timer at a cafe. she asked me with a puzzled look.
“Oppa, have you finished stocking up?”
“Yeah, after all, I was resting for a while. why?”
“The boss is looking for you urgently.”
“What’s going on?”
“A claim.”
“ah.”
Noticing what he was talking about, I hurriedly headed to the store.
A quiet cafe. A pop song that gently flows from the speaker. The voice of a woman with a sharp cut that overturned it.
“I’m sorry!? How are you going to reward me!?”
In one corner, the boss and the customer were arguing. In fact, the boss was one-sided. All service jobs are like that.
“I’m sorry, guest. It seems that there was something wrong with the order. We will refund you immediately.”
“Do you know what I am!?”
I’m sorry for giving you the money back.
But I don’t know what the situation is. I asked Park Ji-young in a whisper.
“Why are you there?”
“Hey, the customer ordered a latte. The boss obviously asked for something hot, so I gave it to him.”
“By the way?”
“As soon as you receive it, you inhale it and say that the roof of your mouth is flat. I said I ordered iced… … .”
Whoa.
This is the most frequent complaint from cafes.
In the case of someone’s fault before, they usually replace it with the one the customer wants, but the roof of his mouth was burnt, so he seemed to want compensation.
“@#$@#$@%!!”
While the customer was screaming, his eyes met with the boss. The boss pointed at the customer with a wink of his eyes.
It was a very urgent face. It was a signal for help. I shook my head in dislike. The boss’s expression turned grim.
“What did you do to harden your face!?”
The boss who manages facial expressions along with the showering of customers. He wiggled his fingers behind his back.
Tiling!
I got a text message from the boss.
[Changsik hyung: Please help me!]
Come to think of it, I haven’t had much training these days.
I want to set a pt date for tomorrow.
[Me: Can I substitute tomorrow?]
[Changsik hyung: I’ll go in! hurry!]
great.
I strode towards the customer and the boss. The boss’s face brightened in an instant. It seems that the customer didn’t like it. Seriously, I’m making a claim, but if I make a face like that, I wonder if I’m teasing you.
He cleared his throat and called the guest.
“Guest.”
“What else are you… … !”
The end of the speech faded. The angry customer’s face also softened slightly. Somehow it looked dazed. It’s a familiar face now.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“no… … . That made the latte iced… … . hot thing… … .”
“We will change it right away.”
“… … Yes. Please be careful next time.”
“Yeah, I’m very sorry.”
Leaving behind the bewildered customers, I quickly collected the cups. The boss hastily followed me.
“Hyunwoo, thank you, man!”
“Give me a shift tomorrow.”
“Of course. My brother will come in. Get a good rest tomorrow.”
oops
He hummed a hum of joy and brewed his coffee. The boss who looked at me tiredly scratched his chin.
“But, no matter how you look at it, it’s strange.”
“What?”
“No matter what complaints come in, if only you, Hyeonu, show up, the guests become gentle sheep.”
It was because of my ability to ‘peace of mind’. It was useless as a hunter, but for a service job, it was an ability that was comparable to an S rank.
I replied with an awkward smile
“That, well. Is it because my face looks comfortable?”
The boss stared at me in the face. He tilted his head.
“is it? It’s not a very comfortable face.”
“Brother, will you be angry again? Come quickly and get me an iced latte.”
“Uh, uh. Thank you, Hyunwoo.”
The boss took coffee and disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was hiding the fact that I was awakened around me.
It was because he suffered from all kinds of meddling, from what kind of ability he had to the explanation of why he was doing this while he was awakening.
It’s an ability that isn’t particularly special, so whenever I reveal my ability, I always remember that it does more harm than good.
After the customer calmed down, the store became quiet again. With nothing to do, I stared blankly at TV.
-This is the mansion of the former ranker, Ms. Lee Ji-ah. Currently, Ms. Lee Ji-ah is missing and lost contact… … .
The news was showing a house that appeared to be Lee Ji-ah’s mansion. The reporter covered the surrounding residents. Neighbors’ reputation wasn’t bad.
“Hey, what kind of dive does an S-Rank Hunter take? Isn’t it the world’s first?”
The president, who came to the side, also added a word while watching TV. Everyone had doubts about Lee Ji-ah, who suddenly disappeared. It was a global issue, not just Korea.
As the president said, it was because it was the first time that a top-tier ranker had suddenly gone without a sound.
Hunter is an honorable profession. Everyone had a sense of responsibility and mission. Among those hunters, the S rank, who runs at the forefront, dives after failing to capture the dungeon.
Thanks to that, the internet was also a mess.
Lee Ji-ah had a lot of anti-fans, but she also had a lot of fans because of her looks and abilities.
Normally, fans and anti-fans fought like dragons and tigers, but with the diving incident, the anti-fans were completely victorious.
“by the way. Hyeonu-ya, hyung will go first.”
The boss took off his apron. I looked at the clock. It was 5:30 PM.
Still have time?
“Are you going already?”
“Man, thanks to whomever you go to work tomorrow.”
“It was a fair deal.”
“right. Anyway, I’m the boss, so I’ll do whatever I want. I leave work at 5:30 today.”
The boss left. The store was still quiet. Park Ji-young also took off her apron and approached me.
“I will go too.”
“okay. See you the next day.”
“Aren’t you going to work tomorrow?”
“I made a deal with the boss by resolving the claim.”
“ah.”
“Go in carefully.”
“yes. See you the day after tomorrow.”
I glanced at the watch. 9:30 p.m. There are no customers, and it seems that it may close slowly. I was about to get up to change the business sign on the door.
Jiying.
The automatic door opened and a customer entered. It was a woman wearing a hat. What about sunglasses on a dark night? It was an unusual look.
“welcome.”
I paused as I said goodbye while regretting leaving work. A woman was striding towards the table. She held out the card.
“cappuccino. The size is grand. Cake for dessert. I’ll eat in the store and I don’t need a discount.”
come to
Exhaling like a rapid-fire gun, she sat down by the window. I quickly fulfilled her order. It can be seen that the hand movements during work hours are about twice as fast as usual.
“It’s okay. Guest.”
The woman shook her head briefly. It seemed like a greeting of its own. Returning to the counter seat, I stared intently into her face without knowing the woman and longed for it.
please.
Please leave quickly.
The woman sat down and sip coffee. He couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses, but his eyes were fixed on the phone. She spoke to herself, biting her nails with an anxious look.
“Hey, what did I do wrong? … .”
“Why don’t you leave me alone… … .”
“You disappeared because you didn’t want to see me. I did what I wanted, so why are you looking for it?”
Well… … .
are you crazy?
Since she was the only customer, the woman’s murmuring pierced my ears. It was an invasion of privacy, but it was force majeure. Why are you even telling me you can hear everything?
However, as I listened, the level of self-talk gradually increased.
“I will die… … .”
“If I die, will you regret it too?”
“Everyone who has cursed so far… … .”
“… … Is this what you want?”
No, what the f*ck are you talking about?
After all, I’m going to do a portrait at the store today.