Chapter 2: Hello, I'm S-rank Hunter Hwang Eun-ha

The day I was dragged into another world was the day the world changed.  

Gates—the kind you’d see in hunter-themed stories—began to open.  

And as if chosen humans had been given a mission to protect the world from them, awakened individuals with supernatural abilities began to appear.  

And in that world…  

I might just be one of the strongest among them.  

However, having gone through all sorts of things in the other world, I didn't want my abilities known, so I tended to hide them as much as possible. 

I just wanted to live quietly now.  

So, ever since I returned to the modern world, I’ve tried my best to avoid trouble and live in peace. But one question always lingered in my mind:  

Why won’t the world just leave me alone?

Of course, I never found an answer.  

Anyway, five years after returning to this world—now as a woman—I found myself kicked out of the house and forced to go dungeon-crawling.  

---  

"Ugh, seriously…"  

Jinwook's head was throbbing.

If asked who was responsible, he could answer confidently.

His head hurt because of the woman he'd just kicked out of the house, and lately, he couldn't stop sighing.

Just earlier, seeing her try to shove her hand through the door in the brief moment it was open, whining about not wanting to go out, made his head ache automatically.

[Breaking news: For the past three months, the number of Gates has remained stagnant, and the number of newly awakened individuals has sharply declined, raising concerns across all sectors. In response, the government has announced measures to encourage unregistered awakened individuals to participate in hunter activities…]  

He absentmindedly flipped through channels before shutting off the TV in irritation.  

Hunters were dying in dungeons just the same, but with fewer new awakenings, the total number of hunters was dwindling.  

And who doesn’t know that already?  

"Ah, here we go again."  

Jin-wook sat in his chair, rubbing his forehead, when his phone buzzed. He scowled at the caller ID.  

Yoo Ha-young.  

The name belonged to the poor soul assigned as the handler for that freeloader in his house—the one who’d foolishly registered as a hunter after falling for the Association’s sweet talk.  

And thanks to that freeloader ignoring every dispatch request, Ha-young kept calling him instead. At this point, just seeing those three letters on the screen was enough to make his blood boil.  

"Hello." 

[Uh, Jin-wook… Is Hunter Hwang Eun-ha… home by any chance?]  

"I just kicked her out, so assume she’s not. Hanging up now."  

He coolly ignored Ha-young’s desperate voice on the other end and pressed the ‘end call’ button with equal coolness.  

Hwang Eun-ha.  

Sure, she was a freeloader, but kicking out a girl like that might’ve been a bit much.  

‘Eh, whatever. That brat needed to get kicked out at least once. And it’s not like anything’ll happen.’  

But then he shook his head.  

Girl? Please. 

That bastard was originally a guy. Every time he saw her acting all cutesy, saying she was a girl now, irritation bubbled up inside him.  

People who didn’t know the truth might fall for that act, but…  

‘Ugh, did I really go too far kicking her out?’  

After some conflicted thoughts, Jin-wook ruffled his hair and threw on some casual clothes.  

Sure, he’d kicked her out because he couldn’t stand the sight of her lazing around at home after school.  

But now that she was gone, he couldn’t shake the worry that she might’ve wandered off somewhere dangerous. He couldn’t just sit still.  

---  

"Jerk." 

I sighed, cradling my fingers, which had gotten caught in the door earlier.  

I mean, sure, I’d been acting up at home, but still.  

How could he kick me out like that? I look like a girl now—what if some creep attacked me outside? Would he take responsibility then?  

"Oh, right."  

While muttering nonsense, I remembered my phone in my pocket and quickly turned it on.  

I was supposed to either check in at school or clear a dungeon today.  

Since I didn’t have the guts to go to school in just a long padded coat and sweatpants, I figured I’d clear an easy dungeon and head back.  

‘Huh? Only 10% battery?’

But seeing the low battery, I hurriedly opened the Hunter app, picked the nearest dungeon, and clicked ‘Join Clear Request.’  

Normally, I’d avoid blindly joining any party, but if my phone died while I was being picky, I’d really have no way back home.  

"Huh?" 

And was my choice the right one?  

The phone, as if mocking the supposed 10% battery, instantly died.  

Was the battery indicator glitched or something? 

"Ugh."

I let out a small sigh and headed toward the dungeon I’d seen on the map earlier.  

Wait a second.  

Did I even bring my Hunter license?  

Hmm, can’t enter a dungeon without it, right?  

‘Ugh, seriously. How could I forget to ask for my wallet…?’ 

Realizing I didn’t have my wallet, I irritably ran my hands through my hair and cursed, "Ah, damn it." 

But going home wasn’t an option—Jin-wook would *definitely* keep the door locked.  

‘Worst case, I’ll just call Yoo Ha-young.’  

With another sigh, I started walking toward the dungeon.  

If I didn’t have my license, I’d just show them my abilities. No one could argue with that.  

"Halt. This is a restricted dungeon zone—only authorized hunters may—" 

"S-Rank Hunter, Hwang Eun-ha." 

Just as I expected, the soldiers guarding the dungeon entrance blocked my way, but—  

I lifted two trucks behind them without lifting a finger and gave them a look that said, "Still gonna stop me?" 

"H-Hunter Hwang Eun-ha! But without your license—" 

"Hey, you wanna take responsibility if that dungeon breaks out?"

"W-Well…" 

"Shut up and move. Or I’ll flip those trucks and slam them into the ground."

I just wanted to go home.  

Seeing the hesitant soldiers, I flipped the trucks midair as a little threat.  

Reluctantly, they stepped aside.  

"Thanks for moving."  

I gently set the trucks down to avoid damaging them, then walked past the stunned party members—who had no idea what rank I was.  

"Hello, party members. I’m S-Rank Hunter Hwang Eun-ha." 

---  

The party members couldn’t close their mouths as they watched the girl in the long padded coat perform unbelievable feats.  

She tore up the cave floor, reassembled it at will, and used the debris as projectiles to obliterate everything in front of her.  

When swarms of troublesome insect-type monsters charged, she casually swatted them away with her powers, then turned the remaining rock fragments into shotgun-like pellets, turning the monsters into minced meat.  

"Party leader… What are we, low-rank hunters, even supposed to do here?"  

"We’re useless. Let’s just eat popcorn." 

All they knew about psychokinesis users was that they manipulated objects to support attacks—a rare offensive subtype among magic-based hunters.  

Even then, psychokinesis was considered limited—lifting a 1-ton truck would only earn you a B-rank rating at best.  

But this?  

This was something else entirely.  

The girl had introduced herself as a psychokinesis user, yet she was demolishing the dungeon itself.  

The aftermath looked like something out of a martial arts novel—a warrior crushing everything in their path.  

The scars left on the cave walls and the mangled corpses of monsters were thorough in their destruction.  

As if she was taking out her stress on them.  

Compared to what they’d seen in their own hunter careers, her overwhelming power left them speechless.  

"Hey, you guys?"  

While they were muttering among themselves—"Are psychokinesis users supposed to be this strong?", "How much power does it take to wreck a dungeon like this?"—  

The very person responsible for the destruction suddenly spoke up, making them flinch.  

They’d expected her to only address them after finishing, but—  

"Party leader?"  

"Ah, y-yes?!"  

"You can keep the magic stones. Just split the dungeon clear reward and send my share to me. Got it?"  

Well, they couldn’t exactly refuse the person who’d carried them effortlessly.  

The party leader nodded dumbly, only now realizing they’d reached the boss room.  

The other party members, who’d been chasing after Hwang Eun-ha, wore expressions of utter defeat.  

"Y-Yes, we’ll do that."  

"Also, this guy’ll die after a few stabs. Even if you don’t, he’ll croak soon anyway, so… just collect it quickly or whatever." 

"Huh? You’re not finishing it?"  

"I’ve got something urgent. Handle it."  

Given that the earlier monsters were insect-types, the boss should’ve been tough, but—  

The supposedly fearsome boss was already reduced to mush, barely hanging on. A few slashes would finish it off.  

---  

Yoo Ha-young was fidgeting nervously.  

The girl who usually ignored dispatch requests had somehow signed up for a dungeon clear.  

The problem wasn’t that—it was the fact that *she’d actually gone to the dungeon herself*.  

Considering how far she lived from the action, Ha-young couldn’t help but worry.  

What if something happened inside?  

Sure, the girl had a habit of ignoring the Association’s requests and was a delinquent hunter in every sense—registered but inactive.  

But her abilities were monstrous.  

As one of the nation’s few S-rank hunters, losing her would be catastrophic.  

"H-Hunter?!"  

"What?"  

"A-Are you okay?"  

"Of course I am. Why, did something happen?"  

Her worry was unfounded—the girl walked out without a speck of dust on her.  

But Ha-young’s expression remained uneasy as she stared at her.  

"Uh, no, nothing like that… Just checking."  

"Weird. Since when do you worry about me? Not that I mind."  

I smirked slightly and walked past her.  

My phone was dead, but after wrecking an entire dungeon, they wouldn’t dare complain for a while—  

"Huh? Jin-wook?"  

Speak of the devil.  

In the distance, Jin-wook was trudging toward me, panting. "Huff… Damn, you’re fast…"  

"Hey, I sent you out to clear a dungeon as an excuse—you were supposed to go to school! Instead, you came straight here to smash a dungeon?"  

"L-Lemme go…"  

"I told you—if you’re not gonna do it safely, don’t do it at all! Why don’t you ever listen?!"  

While Jin-wook pinched and stretched my cheeks, the dazed party members stumbled out behind me, carrying bundles of magic stones.  

"H-Here you go…" they said, handing them over to the Association staff.  

What the hell had happened inside?  

After a brief scolding, Jin-wook finally let go of my cheeks and turned away.  

"Let’s go."  

"Huh? Where?" 

"Where else? Aren’t you gonna check in at school? You’ll really get expelled."  

"That college only accepted me for publicity anyway. They didn’t care about my grades—just wanted me for their ‘special admissions’ promo."  

"Still, since you’re enrolled, you might as well take it seriously."  

I lightly grabbed the hem of his sleeve with both hands and shook my head.  

This guy definitely wasn’t paying attention to what I was wearing right now.  

"What?"  

"Let me just change clothes first…"  

"Oh no. If you go home, you’ll just laze around and refuse to leave again."  

"No, I’ll definitely come out this time."  

"Yeah, and how many times have you said that before?"  

But Jin-wook seemed determined not to let me go home.  

I considered using my powers to force my way back, but—  

Was it right to use them on a friend just because they weren’t doing what I wanted?  

"Hey, you did shower before leaving, right?"  

"Hell no. You’re the one who kicked me out, and now you’re complaining?"  

"Ugh, gross."  

"I’ll kill you. Wanna get punched by an S-rank hunter?"  

Somehow, we ended up heading home, but for some reason, Jin-wook insisted I shower and change quickly.  

So I had no choice but to throw on jeans and a hoodie.  

There were plenty of clothes in my closet—gifts from him that I’d been too lazy to wear—but today wasn’t the day.  

"Hey, is this really the way to school?" 

"Why?"  

"Feels like we’re going the wrong way." 

Jin-wook just shrugged.  

Without an answer, I let myself be dragged along—only to realize we’d arrived somewhere I’d never willingly go.  

A place I’d normally groan about, calling it "such a hassle."  

The Rodeo Street near campus—packed with clothing stores I’d never visit.