Chapter 40

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Cupid's Quest
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Team K also prepared to leave.

Kim Hyeon-deok, having exhausted his healing abilities, groaned, cracked his neck, and holed up in the van. Team member Yu Min-ho, carrying Rae-young, followed him.

While Kim Seon-ju and Bok-hee gathered Team K's belongings, Ha-ra cautiously watched them.

"Um, what should I do?"

"What's wrong, Ha-ra?"

Bok-hee looked at Ha-ra. Ha-ra, feeling intimidated, hunched her shoulders.

"I'm the one who collapsed the cave..."

"Didn't Chief Jeong just take Wook with him?"

Bok-hee's eyes widened. Beside him, Kim Seon-ju laughed.

"You don't have to worry about it. This kind of thing happens a lot."

"That's right, Ha-ra. Don't worry. This happens to us so often, it's fine."

Ha-ra glanced uncomfortably at Team K's luxurious van. *Even so, can I really not worry about this...?* But the team members acted as if it truly didn't matter.

Unable to watch Ha-ra hesitate any longer, Kim Seon-ju added another word.

"When you work with an S-rank Hunter, all sorts of things happen. So on our team, no matter what happens, Mr. Kwon Wook takes all the responsibility. Collapsing one cave is no big deal. It's not like the dungeon closed, just a cave collapsed, so it can be restored."

*Is that so?* Finally relieved by those words, Ha-ra sighed. As she was about to put the sword she'd been holding back into her clothes, Bok-hee made a fuss.

"Ha-ra, your performance was insane. I was totally shocked. You collapsed a cave."

"Ah, Mr. Bok-hee. Thank you for the sword, really. I was a bit surprised myself..."

Ha-ra finally expressed her thanks. Bok-hee gave a thumbs-up.

"A total two thumbs up. I didn't know it would extend that far. It could probably reach space, right?"

*No way...* Feeling awkward, she was about to get on Team K's van when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned to see Yoon Se-heon.

"If you don't mind, let's travel together."

"Pardon?"

Se-heon pointed to his car.

"I said we needed to talk. It's a hassle to set up another time once we're back, so let's talk on the way up."

"Oh..."

Ha-ra's eyes darted around.

At that, Bok-hee blinked and said, "Oh, then you two should go ahead? Awesome, I can lie down on the way!" and quickly hopped into the van.

Thanks to him, Ha-ra hesitantly followed Se-heon.

"Um, my clothes are really dirty right now..."

"So are mine, so you don't need to worry."

Between the side dish container thrown at the werewolf and the black blood she was covered in, Ha-ra was a mess. Of course, Se-heon, who had been right beside her and gotten splattered with the same things, was no different.

Both of them had blood messily caked on their clothes, and Ha-ra's shirt even smelled faintly of kimchi.

"Get in."

Se-heon lightly pressed a button, opening the passenger door. It was a low, large, foreign sedan, different from Kwon Wook's car.

The neat, stately car was, at a glance, not the kind of vehicle one should get into in their current state, but Se-heon nonchalantly held the door open and walked around to the other side. He took off his dirty jacket, tossed it into the back seat, and sat in the driver's seat in his shirtsleeves.

"Aren't you getting in?"

"Ah, yes."

Reflexively, Ha-ra also took off her jacket, got into the passenger seat, and fastened her seatbelt. Se-heon started the engine without a word and drove off.

The express bus and the van were still a long way from departing. Unable to hide her awkwardness, Ha-ra gazed out the window.

The two were silent for a long time. Se-heon finally spoke after they entered the highway.

"First of all, thank you for saving me."

"Ah, yes."

He was talking about the werewolf incident.

Only then did Ha-ra look down at her own palm. The sting from where it had been scraped when Se-heon shielded her and pushed them to the ground finally registered.

"Do you always step forward like that in dangerous situations?"

"...Pardon?"

"You did the same in the Yeouido dungeon."

Ha-ra blinked and then gave an awkward laugh.

"Well, Mr. Yoon Se-heon, you're a civilian, and..."

"And you, Ms. Kang Ha-ra, are a Hunter. Is that it?"

*Hey, what's with his tone?* His words sounded somewhat cynical, and Ha-ra cautiously glanced at Se-heon.

His neat, thick eyebrows, set above a strong brow bone, were slightly furrowed. With his already sharp eyes and a scowl, the atmosphere was incredibly tense.

"I know you had your second awakening, Ms. Kang Ha-ra. You said you met a Constellation then."

"Ah, yes..."

It was confidential, but Se-heon was generally aware of the fact.

"But still, I feel rather strange about it all."

Ha-ra felt a sense of guilt for some reason and apologized.

"I'm sorry..."

"...Is that something for you to be sorry about, Ms. Kang Ha-ra?"

Se-heon glanced at her before fixing his gaze forward again.

"I didn't say that to rebuke you."

"Oh, I see... I'm sorry..."

Ha-ra kept her eyes forward, shoulders hunched. Her expression was reflected in the dark car window.

*In the dungeon, and now out of it. Is 'I'm sorry' her catchphrase?* A bitter taste filled his mouth. Strangely, she reminded him of someone.

"I'm sorry, my dear Se-heon."

He was not in a good mood. Se-heon hadn't shielded Kang Ha-ra with any grand intention. In that moment, he hadn't even thought of her as an awakened being. She was just the person next to him.

He could understand Ha-ra's position. After all, Se-heon had also seen the trajectory of light she had unleashed. With that much power, she had no reason to be protected by a civilian.

If Ha-ra had remained curled up as Se-heon had shielded her, he would have undoubtedly been seriously injured. He might not have died, since there was an S-rank Hunter on the team, but...

It was strange. She had saved his life, yet he felt bad. Of course, he had an inkling as to why. The moment he saw the back of the woman who had pushed him aside and stepped forward, certain things had come to Se-heon's mind.

Se-heon let out a long sigh. Beside him, Ha-ra flinched for no reason and apologized again.

"I'm sorry..."

*Can't she just stop apologizing?* Se-heon felt a flash of irritation and opened his mouth.

"Are you aware that you saved my life?"

"Uh, yes."

"Then stop apologizing."

He expected to hear a dejected "Yes..." in response. But the woman was silent for a moment before cautiously asking an unexpected question.

"Then, Anchor Yoon, could you also not be annoyed with me...?"

"...Was I being annoyed?"

He could see Ha-ra gauging his reaction in the window's reflection.

"I'm sorry if I'm being oversensitive. But, for a while now, it seems like you've been angry because of me..."

"..."

"Ah, about Chief Jeong, I'm really, really sorry. But there were circumstances."

*I told her to stop saying sorry.* Instead of saying that, the man took another long sigh, composing his breath. Ha-ra's observation that he was annoyed had, surprisingly, hit the nail on the head.

"What circumstances? Let's hear them."

At Se-heon's words, Ha-ra hesitated for a long time. But eventually, she began to speak.

"Um, there's something I need to tell you first."

Ha-ra had just made a decision. She would tell him about the quest her Constellation had given her.

In truth, it was something she hadn't discussed with Chief Jeong. But Ha-ra felt a strong urge to tell Se-heon this story. It wasn't just to clear up his misunderstanding.

"Yoon Se-heon, grab my hand!"

Back in the cave, when she had grabbed Se-heon's hand, and when the unexpectedly long and massive beam of light had shot out from her hand. And when the werewolf had been split in two.

Ha-ra had been stunned, but at the same time, she had felt a thrill. Along with it, she realized she would never be able to forget that feeling.

In the Yeouido dungeon, she had been too flustered, it was her first time, and other people's lives had been in her hands, so she hadn't felt these things.

A certain sense of ease and superiority that only the strong could know.

Things Ha-ra had never once tasted in her life.

People often look at S-ranks and A-ranks and think, *If I made that much money, I'd quit the moment my mandatory service period was over, retire, and go build a mansion in some southern country and just lie around all day.*

But among high-ranking Hunters, almost none actually lived like that. Even after their mandatory service ended, they constantly headed into dungeons.

Among them, there were surely some who worked for the safety of others. Ha-ra had thought so, too. That everyone was reluctantly working for the sake of other people's lives.

But Ha-ra realized for the first time that might not be the case.

The dizzying sensation of a massive monster, its eyes rolled back as it charged, being split apart by her own hand. The astonishment and relief of having been on the verge of death, only to be miraculously saved.

And when she turned around.

The astonished eyes of the production crew, looking back and forth between her and the cave. The admiration held within them.

For Ha-ra, who had always lived as 'just a loser', it was a life-altering experience.

"Do you remember how I had to stick close to you in the Yeouido dungeon, Anchor Yoon?"

Ha-ra began to speak cautiously. She didn't want to make any more mistakes with this man, nor did she want to mess things up.

"Yes, I remember."

"You don't know much about the Constellation I met, do you?"

"I do not. It's confidential, and you've never mentioned it, so I had no one to ask."

"...Thank you."

She chose her words slowly.

"Did I happen to mention what kind of quest that Constellation gave me?"

"You didn't, so how would I know?"

At that, Ha-ra paused for a moment. But Se-heon didn't wait for her to catch her breath. He responded to her words while driving.

"I don't particularly like it when people speak that way. 'Do you know this, do you know that?' sounding me out."

"...I'm sorry..."

"I don't know anything, so you can speak freely. I won't be surprised no matter what you say."

Ha-ra hesitated, then finally sighed.

"Okay, I'll tell you. The truth is, my Constellation is Cupid."

"...Pardon?"

"And it told me to date you, Anchor Yoon."

His promise not to be surprised was rendered meaningless. To be precise, he was dumbfounded. If they weren't on a highway, Yoon Se-heon would have stopped the car on the spot and demanded to know what kind of crazy nonsense she was spouting.