Chapter 61
She couldn't understand what he meant at all.
Quit being a Hunter? Why? Why?
No matter how hard she thought about why he was saying the same thing as the ex-boyfriend she hated so much,
she couldn't come up with an answer.
Was I really in such a serious state that it was impossible to tell just by looking at me from the outside?
To the point where it would be better for me to quit right away?
Is that why he's worried about me?
Is he telling me to quit for my own sake?
Whatever the reason, she hated it. Being a Hunter was her goal in life.
It was a dream she'd treasured too much to give up over a single word from someone else.
For the first time since they'd met, she felt repulsed by him.
It felt as though she'd gone back to before she'd grown close to him.
‘So Mister is just like everyone else, too…?’
She was disappointed.
The tears she'd held back threatened to spill over.
She hated him for failing to understand her,
and she hated herself for making him say the same thing.
“…What?”
She asked him again in a trembling voice.
As she asked, she prayed silently.
‘Please tell me it was a joke.’
‘Please tell me you were just teasing me.’
‘Please make it so I won’t come to hate you, Mister…’
‘Please…’
But then…
He said something completely unexpected.
“Quit being a Hunter and become my manager.”
“……Whaaaat?!”
It was something she'd never even imagined.
***
[No, I mean… I'm not forcing you or anything. I just want you to think about it.]
[I did become a C-rank Hunter this time, but honestly… I can't do anything without you. I only know how to fight; I'm useless at everything else.]
[That's why I need you.]
[To be frank, I don't think we can continue together as Hunters... But I want to keep moving forward with you, you know?]
[So, Hyun-ah. I want you to become my manager.]
[It is selfish, and I am being greedy. But I want to keep our connection going, even if I have to do this.]
[You don't have to answer me right away. Take your time to think it over, then contact me.]
Lee Hyun-ah was so happy she couldn't keep from smiling.
Even though she'd watched the video dozens of times already, it still made her heart flutter as if she were reliving that moment from yesterday.
“Kyaaaah! He wants me to be his manager!”
When the video she'd been watching ended, she pressed the play button again and reveled in the happiness of watching it over and over.
Strangely, the more she watched it loop, the more her joy grew instead of fading.
The anxiety of being alone again had long since vanished.
His honest desire to have her by his side had warmed her heart, which had been as cold as ice, like a spring day.
[I can't do anything without you.]
“I can't do anything without you.”
[That's why I need you.]
“That's why I need you.”
[But I want to keep moving forward with you, you know?]
“But I want to keep moving forward with you, you know?”
She had watched the video so many times that she had memorized every word he said.
Of all of them, the words she especially liked were the ones she repeated aloud.
“He says he can't live without me! He says he absolutely needs me! He wants to be with me forever! Ehehe…”
She was that deeply caught up in what had happened yesterday.
If the battery hadn't run completely dry, she would have played the video all night.
“Mister thought about me as much as I thought about him. That makes me happiest of all…”
No, she was savoring his confession by recalling that moment even without the video.
***
“But… what should I do? Be his manager… Ehehe! Manager! Manager!!”
She began talking to herself with feigned seriousness, but soon couldn't hold back her laughter and rolled around on the bed.
Though she'd phrased it that way, she had already made up her mind.
She had decided to grant his request the moment she'd heard him.
Her failure to answer right away was her own little game of playing hard to get.
She planned to wait until the very last moment… and then delight him when he grew anxious; her heart was already pounding in anticipation.
“It is a shame to quit being a Hunter…”
She had clung to the Hunter life out of sheer stubbornness.
There was nothing she was good at, and people around her had always looked down on her.
‘Only her face is pretty; everything else about her is trash, right? A girl like that has an obvious future.’
‘She acts all high and mighty now, but later she’ll end up beneath me trying to make money, won’t she?’
In that situation, awakening had been the only opportunity that came her way.
For the first time, she had a talent that put her ahead of others.
So she wanted to show them that she, too, was good at something.
So she wanted to show off her proud success as a Hunter.
She wanted revenge on the people who had ignored, envied, and looked down on her.
She also wanted to escape her boyfriend's shadow.
She wanted to break his claim that she couldn't do anything without his help.
She wanted to prove that she could manage perfectly well on her own.
That was why she'd clenched her teeth and endured each day despite suffering all kinds of humiliation.
“But… now that I think about it, there's no point anymore.”
“Because I have Mister, who acknowledges me, relies on me, and has eyes only for me…”
“I’ve already found my worth.”
But now, as she had said, she no longer needed to struggle.
Worrying about other people's opinions—something that did nothing to help her—no longer mattered to her at all.
He was the only thing that mattered to her.
“So all I have to worry about is Mister.”
“Mister turns into an idiot without me. I have to take care of everything for him, one thing at a time.”
“I can’t help it. Who else is going to look after him if not me? I have to be his manager. Yes, exactly.”
“But… wait a minute… Now that I think about it…!”
She stopped rolling around on the bed, then burrowed under the blankets with a serious expression.
Her face, hidden from view, was bright red, and the corners of her mouth kept rising.
“Confessing that I’m a precious, indispensable presence in Mister’s life—that he wouldn’t exist without me—and asking him to stay with me until we die…”
“I-isn’t that a proposal?! Kyaaaaah!”
“What do I do! What do I do!”
====
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I felt bad for Hyun-ah, but I had forced the issue.
Telling a girl who was doing perfectly well as a Hunter to quit and become my manager… was practically asking to get slapped.
But I absolutely needed Hyun-ah for my future as a Hunter.
This damn system was so complicated that I still hadn't managed even a simple reservation.
I probably brought this on myself by dumping everything on Hyun-ah from the beginning, but now trying to learn it step by step was driving me crazy.
It was easier simply to stay by Hyun-ah's side.
…But honestly, that was just an excuse…
The truth was that I couldn't just leave Hyun-ah alone.
She'd been on her own ever since her fight with her boyfriend.
If I left her as well, she'd probably be badly hurt.
But accepting Hyun-ah solely out of pity wasn't right,
and I thought the best course was to hire Hyun-ah as my manager.
In truth… this should probably count as pity too, but at least it would buy us some time.
Time for Hyun-ah's feelings to change, or time for my own feelings to change…
Ah, I'm becoming more and more like Siwoo.
No, but this is reality. I can't just sleep with her and then throw her away without taking responsibility…
Ha… My thoughts were getting tangled.
In times like this, there's always ‘Heroine Netori.’
I'd succeeded in my first goal: becoming a C-rank Hunter.
From now on, I had to accomplish my second goal: earning ‘Heroine Netori’ points.
The minimum required was 50,000 points.
I currently had 80 points.
I had a long way to go.
I didn't think one or two tries would be enough…
For now, I didn't even have enough points to choose a genre or anything else,
so I decided to use it for a change of pace without giving it much thought.
***
[Using the ‘Heroine Netori’ ability.]
[Select your desired genre.]
[*Error* You do not have enough points, so a genre will be selected at random.]
[Select your desired character.]
[*Error* You do not have enough points, so a character will be selected at random.]
[Select the item to use for this round.]
[*Error* You do not have enough points, so no item can be selected.]
[The genre is ‘Youthful Coming-of-Age.’]
[You are the protagonist’s roommate.]
[There are no usable items.]
[Mission: Netori the heroine.]
[Tip: The protagonist and the main heroine are on the verge of beginning an innocent first love. To get it started, the protagonist has invited the main heroine to his home.]
-Ding!
“Ah-ha.”
[Choi Siwoo: Deokbae, your department is going on an MT today, right? I just remembered, so I thought I'd message you. Have a good time!]
“Like this?”
[Guys, I'm really sorry, but something important suddenly came up, so I can't go to the MT today.]