Chapter 109
A few days passed.
Shin Seha was carefully cleaning up her room.
Her first deep clean in years.
She sorted out the discarded delivery containers and tossed the clothes strewn about into the washing machine.
She was planning to go out today, too, for the first time in a while.
She intended to visit the graves of her former colleagues, whom she had been too guilty to even visit until now.
Just then.
Buzzz.
The phone lying on the table vibrated.
The caller was Park Sangcheol.
It was the association chairman, who hadn't contacted her in a while.
The moment she saw the name, Shin Seha's shoulders shrank reflexively.
Conditioned fear.
"Hoo...."
But only for a moment.
Shin Seha looked down once at the ring on her ring finger.
The cold touch of the metal soothed the trembling in her heart.
[Hunter Shin Seha? Long time no see! How have you been?]
A booming voice burst from the receiver, loud enough to make her ears ring.
"What is it?"
[What do you mean, what is it! In a few days we're holding a press conference. It's a petition signed by all the A-rank Hunters. Hunter Shin Seha, you need to take part too! That's the only way those government bastards won't dare ignore us, isn't it?]
"Haha...."
Shin Seha let out a dry laugh.
It was the same conversation as before.
How had she answered back then?
Right. She'd said she wasn't feeling well.
"I'm not feeling well. Sorry."
[How are you unwell?]
"Pardon?"
[What part hurts?]
She remembered.
She had had exactly this same conversation before.
She had always been the one being led around.
There had always been something she wanted to say at times like this.
"That's none of your business, Chairman."
[...What?]
Park Sangcheol seemed flustered and couldn't get another word out for a while.
Having barely collected himself, Park Sangcheol replied in a deliberately sly tone.
[Haha, are you sulking because I haven't contacted you in so long? That won't do... being so petty.]
[This doesn't look good. I already explained everything to you before, but rumors don't always spread according to the truth, do they?]
If this had been the old Shin Seha, she would have trembled at those words and obediently listened.
But not anymore.
Shin Seha spoke quietly.
"Get lost."
[...?]
"Don't ever contact me again. You're disgusting."
Shin Seha hung up right then and there.
A moment later, the phone started ringing again like crazy.
Persistent, aren't you.
Shin Seha went ahead and blocked the number too.
She no longer had time to be dragged around by someone like that.
***
Park Sangcheol's face turned crimson with rage.
"Th... this crazy bitch...!"
How dare some nobody ignore him?
A washed-up shut-in who had been holed up in her room for years, no less?
Park Sangcheol ground his teeth.
"If only it weren't for Daejeon...."
Because of the unidentified force that had reached out toward Daejeon, he'd kept his head down for a while.
He hadn't slept properly for days on end, worried that there might be another move at any time.
But he couldn't stay cooped up forever.
He had ambition, after all.
If he kept doing nothing like this, it was obvious that even his position as chairman would be torn away.
He couldn't let that happen.
Park Sangcheol had been gradually widening his scope of activity all this time, checking how far the force behind Daejeon was reaching.
"I'm sure of it. As long as it's not Daejeon, they won't care about anything I do at all."
So starting today, he had planned to begin operating in earnest again.
And now some brat dared to ignore him?
It was clearly because he'd been unable to stay active for a while.
It was obvious without even looking that the other Hunters would be treating him like a joke.
This wouldn't do.
He needed to reestablish discipline.
"Hmph, what could some little bitch even do?"
Park Sangcheol decided to go to her house personally and teach her some manners.
It wasn't Daejeon, and it was Incheon, so there would be no problem.
***
The sound of Shin Seha's front door being pounded as if to break it echoed through the hall.
"Open the door! You're not opening it?!"
Park Sangcheol's shouting echoed down the hallway.
A moment later, the doorknob rattled.
"If you're inside, you think I won't be able to get in!"
He seemed to be trying to pick the lock and force his way in.
But the instant Park Sangcheol grabbed the doorknob with all his strength—
Crackle-!
"Kraaaahk!"
Along with the scream, Park Sangcheol's whole body stiffened and shook in a convulsive fit.
His hair shot straight up into the air, and smoke rose from his mouth.
A powerful current surged through his body.
Creak-
The door opened.
Shin Seha was standing in front of it.
Her face, backlit by the sunlight, was ice-cold.
"What... are you... doing...."
Park Sangcheol could only groan faintly as he collapsed on the floor.
His whole body was paralyzed, unable to move.
Shin Seha looked down at him silently.
Tiny blue sparks crackled from her fingertips.
"I told you not to contact me again."
"You, you dare...!"
"Shut up."
When Shin Seha flicked her finger, Park Sangcheol's body twitched again.
"If you show up in front of me one more time.... Be prepared."
A voice as cold as ice.
Park Sangcheol trembled all over.
"Get lost."
Park Sangcheol fled in utter panic, staggering on unsteady legs.
He looked as if he'd never dare look back.
Only after confirming that Park Sangcheol had completely disappeared did Shin Seha close the door.
A satisfied smile appeared on Shin Seha's lips.
The exhilaration she'd felt for the first time in years.
The sense of accomplishment from having protected something with her own strength.
Shin Seha quietly looked down at the ring on her left ring finger.
She was no longer afraid to use magic.
A small token of hope that had made all of this change possible.
She wouldn't run away anymore.
Her life of hiding in the darkness was over.
Shin Seha made up her mind and picked up her phone to make a call.
It was the company that had sent the shield last time.
[One Star Management]
* * *
I opened the system and checked Sandworm's status.
Time until resummon available: 0 seconds.
At last, I could summon it again.
"...."
Beside me stood Chohogi.
He was holding the snack Sandworm liked.
It looked almost as if he had prepared a welcome party.
I was glad the two of them seemed to get along well.
"Sandworm."
At my call, the dirt floor of the basement rustled slightly.
A moment later, a tiny worm no bigger than a pinky finger poked its head up through the soil.
It looked around, then soon spotted me and wriggled happily.
Sandworm rapidly grew in size.
It grew like a snake, then soon tried to slither up my leg.
"Honestly."
It was obvious this thing was doing it on purpose.
I remembered the first time I summoned Sandworm.
That situation had been just like this too.
I'd freaked out and stomped on it over and over with my foot.
A truly mischievous prank.
"Long time no see."
I calmly grabbed its body and lifted it up.
Then I looped it around my arm like a snake.
Not finding my reaction amusing, the thing shrank down in an instant.
Sandworm soon wrapped itself around me in a familiar ring-like shape.
[Sandworm complains that I was late.]
The worm's voice rang in my head.
"Sorry, I had some business to take care of."
[Sandworm says it'll let it slide this time.]
The worm was right.
In truth, the summon cooldown had ended long ago.
I had just been so preoccupied with dealing with Shin Seha's matters that I'd temporarily forgotten about Sandworm's existence.
So the memory's still intact, huh.
I let out a sigh of relief.
I had secretly worried that when the summon was dismissed, a different individual might appear, or that its memories would be reset.
[Sandworm says that wasn't impossible.]
[It speculates that if summoning had been repeated through a simple skill, its memories would have been reset.]
The thing answered as if it had read my mind.
[Sandworm expresses its gratitude.]
[It predicts that if you, Master, hadn't raised its rank through essence, it definitely would have ended up that way.]
[Sandworm explains that because it raised its rank, it could maintain the continuity of its memories as a unique individual.]
"Ah, so that was it?"
Only then did I realize.
Why it had insisted from the very first summon on being called repeatedly while feeding on my mana.
And why it had shown such enthusiasm for raising its rank, too.
Sandworm had apparently been afraid of losing its memories.
"Guess I'll have to get more essence for you."
Chohogi and Sandworm.
Both of them were creatures I'd grown attached to without even realizing it.
The odds of that happening were getting slimmer and slimmer, but if they were gone for good, I'd be sad.
"...."
[....]
Then Chohogi came closer and held out the snack from behind his back.
Sandworm stared quietly at the snack for a moment.
It must have been surprised that Chohogi was looking after it.
The worm quickly devoured the snack in one bite.
[Sandworm judges that Chohogi is someone who'll go far.]
Watching that, Chohogi nodded with satisfaction.
I snorted a laugh.
[Sandworm asks what happened to the black mage.]
"I was just about to deal with him, actually."
I pointed at the vial I had just taken out of the fridge.
The blender and centrifuge had already been delivered.
Today, I planned to interrogate him calmly.
Just then.
My phone rang loudly in my pocket.
The caller was the broker.
"Hello?"
[Boss? Do you have a minute right now?]
His voice sounded unusually urgent.
I couldn't help but feel uneasy and asked seriously.
"Yes, I'm fine. What's going on?"
[A call just came in to One Star Management....]
The broker seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
[Do you know the A-rank Hunter Shin Seha, who retired from active duty a few years ago?]
"Shin Seha? I know her. But why...."
[She says she wants to join our management!]
"...What?"
I couldn't believe my ears.
"You're joking, right?"
[I confirmed it several times myself. She was extremely determined about it. And the shield you sent last time—was that your doing, Boss?]
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
How was I supposed to explain this?
"For now... put that on hold. I'll look into it and call you back."
I hurriedly hung up.
Shin Seha, coming to our company?
She must have been joking.
My head was in knots from the unexpected news.
"No, what is she thinking...."
I hurriedly logged into the Mage Gallery.
The first thing that caught my eye was Jung Taeyeon's post.
[Title: Guess I'll need to meet a newbie if I want a ring made too?]
[Author: MagicIsFirepower]
[Content: I like face-to-face consultations too. When are you free?]
Jung Taeyeon already seemed to have figured everything out and was full of anticipation.
"Ah.... Did I really just blurt that out without thinking about what comes after?"
At this rate, I might really have to meet all four people from the Mage Gallery.
Because I'd been too busy worrying about Pkkatju's mental state to think about anything else.
"No, that's not what's important right now."
I quickly scrolled past that post and looked for another one.
I was able to find the post I wanted right away.
[Title: Someone just died in our apartment.]
[Author: Pkkatju]
[That was yesterday's weak 'me']
[Tomorrow, I'll be reborn as a new 'me'.]
[Watashi reproduction, daeyo.]
Under the post were comments from other mages who didn't know what was going on.
ㄴFridge: You die a lot.
ㄴBeetle: Long time no see, hi.
ㄴMagicIsFirepower: I thought you'd suddenly left the gallery, so I figured something must've happened.
Carefully, I left a comment.
ㄴㅇㅇ(222.222): Thinking of taking up Hunter work again?
ㄴPkkatju: (roughly a meme holding a ✪)
"Are they serious...."
I stared blankly at the monitor.
I'd only offered a little help.
Yet the matter had grown bigger than I'd thought.