Hello, I'm S-rank Hunter Hwang Eunha
The world was the day I was dragged into another dimension.
Things called Gates, the kind you'd see in Hunter stories, opened.
And from then on, Awakened individuals, who had awakened to special abilities, appeared, as if there were chosen humans tasked with protecting the world.
And in such a world, I...
Perhaps I was an Awakened with one of the strongest abilities.
However, having experienced various things in that other dimension, I disliked my abilities being known externally, so I tried my best to hide them.
Because now, I just wanted to live quietly.
So, from the moment I returned to the modern world, I lived as quietly as possible, trying not to cause any trouble, but I always wondered.
Why wouldn't the world just leave me alone?
Of course, I couldn't find an answer.
Anyway, now, five years after becoming a woman and returning to the modern world, I was kicked out of the house and was forcibly walking to clear a dungeon.
*
"Haa, seriously, really."
Jung Jinwook's head throbbed.
If someone asked who it was, he could confidently answer.
His head hurt because of the woman he had just kicked out of the house, and lately, he just kept sighing.
Just a moment ago, she said she didn't want to go outside, and seeing her push her hand into the brief opening of the door, his head started aching all by itself.
[ Next up in the news. It's been three months since the number of Gates stopped increasing or decreasing, and the number of new Awakened has recently sharply declined, leading to concerns from various sectors. In response, the government has announced measures such as requesting Hunter activities from Awakened individuals who enjoy their daily lives without registering as Hunters........ ]
He blankly flipped through channels, saw the news article, and turned off the television.
Hunters were dying in dungeons just the same, so a decrease in new Awakened meant the overall number of Hunters was decreasing.
But who didn't know that?
"Ah, here it comes again."
Jung Jinwook sat in his chair, holding his forehead, and then frowned in annoyance when he saw his phone vibrating with an incoming call.
Yu Hayoung.
She was the manager for the freeloader in his house who, without knowing any better, got hooked by the Association's smooth talk and registered as a Hunter, and the name of a poor person who might go bald because of her freeloading.
Of course, every time the freeloader in his house ignored a dispatch request, she would call him, to the point where just seeing those three characters of her name now annoyed him.
"Hello?"
[ Um, um, Jinwook-gun....... Is Hunter Hwang Eunha perhaps at home......? ]
"I just kicked her out of the house, so you can take that as your answer. I'm hanging up."
He coolly ignored Yu Hayoung's voice desperately calling his name from the other end of the phone and coolly pressed the call end button.
The one named Hwang Eunha.
Even if she was a freeloader, she was still a woman, so he wondered if kicking her out was a bit too much.
'Nah, it's fine. That bitch needs to be kicked out at least once. And what could possibly happen?'
But then he shook his head from side to side.
Woman, my ass.
Every time he saw that kid, who used to be a man, talk like that, claiming to be a woman now, annoyance welled up inside him.
Those who didn't know the truth might pay attention to that bitch's behavior, but.......
'Ugh, did I really kick her out for nothing?'
Anyway, after thinking this and that, Jung Jinwook ran his hand through his hair and quickly put on his going-out clothes.
He had kicked her out because he couldn't stand seeing her like that at home after he got back from school.
But now that he had kicked her out, he was worried she might have run off somewhere strange, so he couldn't possibly stay still at home.
*
"You jerk."
I sighed, clutching the finger that had been caught in the door crack earlier.
No, even if I did act like that at home.
I wondered how he could kick me out of the house like that, especially when I looked like a woman now.
If some bad people attacked me outside and something happened, would he take responsibility?
"Oh, right."
As I babbled on with such nonsense, I remembered my phone was in my padded jacket pocket and quickly turned it on.
He told me to either check in at school or clear a dungeon.
Since I didn't dare go to school in my current state, wearing only a long padded jacket and sweatpants,
I thought I'd clear an easy dungeon and then go home.
'What? Only 10% battery left?'
But seeing the phone's low battery,
I quickly opened the Hunter app, picked the closest dungeon, and pressed the 'Apply for Clear' button.
Of course, joining any party without checking the conditions was something one should ideally avoid.
But if my phone died while I was fussing over conditions, I really wouldn't be able to go home, so I had no choice.
"Oh?"
And was my choice the right one?
The phone, making a mockery of its 10% remaining battery display, instantly flickered and died.
I wonder if there was a battery display error or something.......
"Ehh."
I let out a small sigh and headed towards where I had seen the dungeon on the map earlier.
Let's see.
Did I bring my Hunter ID?
Hmm, you can't enter a dungeon without a Hunter ID, can you?
'Ugh, seriously. How could I forget to ask for my wallet.......'
I remembered that my wallet wasn't in my pocket, and annoyed by the series of situations that had suddenly erupted,
I irritably ran my hands through my hair and cursed, "Damn it."
But I couldn't go home, because Jung Jinwook really wouldn't open the door if I went back.......
'If all else fails, I'll just call Yu Hayoung.'
I let out a small sigh and started walking towards the dungeon.
If I didn't have my Hunter ID, I could just show them my ability, and no one would be able to say anything.
"Stop. This is a dungeon appearance zone, and no one except Hunters can enter........"
"S-rank Hunter Hwang Eunha."
And as I expected, a soldier guarding the dungeon appearance zone in cooperation with the Hunter Association blocked my path.
I lifted two trucks behind the soldiers without touching them and gave them a look that asked, 'Can I still not enter?'
"Hwang, Hunter Hwang Eunha-nim. Still, if you don't have your Hunter ID........"
"Hey, if a Dungeon Break happens because of this, are you going to take responsibility?"
"Th-that........"
"Shut up and move. Otherwise, I'll flip those trucks over and embed them in the ground."
I wanted to go home quickly.
Seeing the soldiers blocking my path, I slightly threatened them by performing the bizarre feat of flipping trucks in the air.
The two soldiers, with reluctant expressions, had no choice but to clear the way for me.
"Thanks for moving."
I gently lowered the trucks so they wouldn't be damaged and offered my thanks.
Then I walked towards the party members, who were staring blankly at me, their ranks unknown.
"Hello, party members. I'm S-rank Hunter Hwang Eunha."
*
The party members couldn't close their mouths, watching the bizarre feats performed by the black-haired woman in front of them, who had only casually thrown on a long padded jacket.
She tore up the cave floor, assembled it as she pleased, then threw it like a bullet, shattering everything in front of her.
She simply flicked away the rather troublesome insect-type monsters swarming from the front with her power.
Then she threw the stone fragments on the ground like buckshot, turning the insects into meat paste.
"Party Leader-nim. What can we, with our low ranks, do?"
"We're useless, so let's just eat popcorn."
All they knew about Psychokinesis users was that they were offensive support Hunters among magic-type abilities, using surrounding objects as weapons.
Even then, Psychokinesis was a minority ability, explained as having endless applications but few users and not very high limits, to the extent that lifting a 1-ton truck would earn a B-rank assessment.
But what was this scene before their eyes?
That woman, Hwang Eunha, had clearly introduced herself as a Psychokinesis user.
So, all these things they were seeing now meant she was destroying the dungeon itself with Psychokinesis.
"But, does no one really know that woman? They said she was S-rank."
"No way, isn't that a lie?"
"Well, I don't know. The country wouldn't just leave someone that strong alone, would they?"
"Y-yeah, that's true."
The way Hwang Eunha destroyed the dungeon was so thorough that it was fitting to describe it as a martial arts-type Hunter smashing through everything in their path.
The scars left throughout the cave and the corpses of the magic beasts were utterly shattered.
As if she was taking out her stress on the magic beasts.
The party members were utterly overwhelmed by her might, which had thoroughly destroyed everything, far beyond anything they had seen during their own Hunter activities.
"Excuse me?"
While they were blankly discussing topics among themselves like, 'Were Psychokinesis users that strong?' and 'How strong do you have to be to destroy a dungeon like this?',
they flinched momentarily upon hearing the voice of the person who had just destroyed everything in front of them.
It was as if they were possessed; they thought she would only speak after destroying the entire dungeon.
"Party Leader-nim?"
"Ah, yes, yes!"
"You don't have to give me the magic stones, so handle those yourselves. Just split the dungeon clear incentive evenly and distribute it to me. Got it?"
Anyway, they couldn't ignore the words of the person who had comfortably carried them through without them having to do anything.
The party leader, looking up, only then realized that they had already reached the boss room.
The party members, including the leader, who had been following Hwang Eunha from behind, wore bewildered expressions at her call.
"Yes, yes. We'll do that."
"And this guy will die if you stab him once or twice, and even if you don't, he'll die on his own in a bit, so for recovery... you can do it quickly or however you want."
"Huh? You're not finishing it?"
"W-well, I have something urgent to do. So, I'll leave it to you."
Since the magic beasts that had appeared earlier were insect-type, they had expected the boss of this dungeon to be formidable.
But the boss, which they had thought would be difficult, was already pulp, a near-corpse that would die instantly with just a few stabs.
*
Yu Hayoung was restless.
She, who usually never moved even when dispatch requests were made, had, for some reason, submitted a dungeon clear application.
The problem wasn't anything else, but the news that she, who hated moving, had actually moved herself, somehow.
She already lived far from the field.
She wondered if something might have happened to her after entering the dungeon.
Even though she was a delinquent Hunter who coolly ignored the Association's requests and did no activities after merely registering as a Hunter,
her ability alone was formidable, making her one of the few S-rank Hunters in the country, and they couldn't afford to lose her in vain like this.
"H-Hunter-nim?"
"What is it?"
"A-are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay. Why, were you worried something might have happened?"
Of course, that worry turned into a blank expression when she saw me emerge without a speck of dust on my body.
I tilted my head, looking at Yu Hayoung, who was making a strange expression at me.
"Ah, no, it's not that, but just in case."
"What, why are you worrying about me, it's not like you? Not that there's anything wrong with it."
I said that, gave a slight smile, and walked past her.
My phone was off now, so I couldn't check, but since I had completely destroyed a dungeon, no one would be able to say anything for a while.......
"Oh? Jinwook-ah?"
Speak of the devil.
From afar, Jung Jinwook came into my sight, walking with difficulty, panting, "Hah, hah, she's damn fast......."
"Hey, clearing a dungeon was just something I said, I sent you out to go to school, and you immediately came to smash a dungeon?"
"L-let go of m-my cheeks (L-let, let go of this)........"
"I told you not to do dangerous things at all if you weren't going to, right? Why are you so disobedient?"
While Jung Jinwook pulled on both my cheeks with his hands,
the party members, who had emerged from behind with dazed expressions, dragging bundles of magic stones, handed them over to the Association representative, saying, "H-here they are......."
What on earth had happened inside?
After complaining for a moment, Jung Jinwook let go of my cheeks and turned around.
"Let's go."
"Huh? Where?"
"Where else? Aren't you going to check attendance? You'll really get academic probation if you don't."
"Anyway, that university didn't pick me based on my grades. They picked me through a special admission to use me for publicity."
"Still, since you're already in, it'd be good if you attended diligently."
I lightly held the sleeve of Jung Jinwook, who was speaking like that, with the tips of both my fingers and shook my head.
This guy, he clearly wasn't even paying attention to what I looked like right now.
"Why?"
"Just let me change my clothes and........"
"You, if you go inside, you'll say it's too much trouble and you won't come out again, won't you?"
"No, I'll definitely come out."
"Yeah, and that's not the first or second time I've fallen for that, is it?"
But Jung Jinwook seemed to have no intention of going home.
I sighed and considered using Psychokinesis to forcibly go home.
But I wondered if it was right to use my ability on a friend just because they weren't doing what I wanted, so I stopped.
"You, you did wash before coming out, didn't you?"
"Bullshit. You dragged me out and kicked me out, and now you're spouting nonsense again, aren't you?"
"Ugh, gross."
"You're really gonna die. Want to get hit by an S-rank Hunter?"
Somehow, we headed home, but for some reason, Jung Jinwook...
told me to wash up at home and just throw on some clothes, so I had no choice but to come out in just jeans and a hoodie.
Even though there were still several outfits in my closet that my family had bought me but I hadn't worn due to my laziness.
"But, is this the right way to our school?"
"Why?"
"Because the direction we're going feels strange."
But Jung Jinwook merely shrugged at my question.
Without getting an answer, I was led by my friend's hand to a place that was...
Rodeo Street near the school, the kind of place I would normally find extremely annoying and wonder why we were even there.
And specifically, a street filled with clothing stores that I would never, ever visit.