Chapter 38
The Porter truck that had conked out after only a few meters was sent off properly after we called another one. Normally, both the person calling it and the person receiving it have to keep the load under control, but he'd said one car should be enough and then just flopped over.
In the end, the extra car we had to call was paid for by Mr. Son Youngjun and Minkyung unnie, the ones who'd made me cry.
“What are you going to do now, Eve? Want to go eat with the older sisters?”
“Ah, I...”
“Eve, if you don't want to, it's okay to say so. You don't have to force yourself to eat with us.”
Even though we’d taken little breaks here and there over the three hours, I’d walked around so much that my legs hurt too. I wanted to go home and flop around on my bed. I don’t actually have a bed, just a lonely mattress, though.
“I'm kind of tired.. hehe.”
“Hey, you heard her? I have to take Eve home, so I'm out.”
“Eve isn't coming? Then I'm going home too.”
“Then let's just call it a day here.”
“If we eat now, Minho's the one paying.”
“What are you talking about? Get lost.”
Starting with Han Dohee, who dropped out so she could take me home, and Chaea unnie, who clearly had no intention of eating if I wasn't there, people gradually dropped out one by one, and we ended up deciding to just wrap it up.
“Mr. Minho.”
“O-oh. You called?”
“Please take care of it. I already told the mod about windmill.”
“Hahaha, yeah... thanks.”
Ryu Minho did a windmill right in front of me. I'd already told the complaint board that he'd gotten a personal apology from the Awakened Gallery mod and that things had ended on good terms, so that nasty semi-anon Ingingi probably won't get banned from Awakened Gallery.
He looks a bit fierce, but he was good at Hunter work too. So why is he so aggressive online?
“Eve! Let's go!”
“Is Chaea unnie riding in Dohee unnie's car too?”
“Yeah. You don't want to ride with unnie?”
“Ah, no... she wasn't around when we came, so...”
“Dohee had to go pick up Eve, so unnie rode with a different friend.”
No matter how you look at it, Chaea unnie is popular. For one thing, the fact that she doesn't own a car and doesn't even feel inconvenienced by it is seriously peak social-butterfly behavior. If she calls, her friends all pile her into their cars and drive her around, so she never has to drive herself.
As for the old me, I just never had a reason to go outside and get into a car in the first place...
“Eve, aren't you cold in that outfit? It looks really thin.”
“Ah, this?”
The princess outfit Ophelia made looks thin, but it's actually pretty warm. Winter is almost here for good, but it still isn't terribly cold yet. Still, I guess it might be a bit too thin to wear in the middle of winter.
“Right, Eve. What did you do when you went to the Active Hunter Gallery?”
“Huh? The Active... Active Hunter Gallery? I didn't really do anything... why?”
“I saw your gallery nick there. I thought maybe you'd gone there to stir up trouble.”
“Waaah.”
I'm basically part of the Awakened Gallery old guard. Well, not exactly, since Active Hunter Gallery and Awakened Gallery don't get along that well. Then again, of course they don't—Awakened Gallery opens ten flame wars a day.
To hype up the hunter you like, you have to drag down other hunters of about the same level. So a place like Awakened Gallery, where hunter trash-talk is rampant, and Active Hunter Gallery, where hunters are being trashed in real time, can't possibly get along.
“What is this...?”
It wasn't mentioned that much, but every now and then my nickname does come up. A newly minted A-rank Hunter isn't exactly common, so I know it has some buzz, but....
[Hamjoo: Anyone running a small guild in the Gyeonggi area got any new A-rank prospects?
InsaengAnmaengHetda <<, I saw on Awakened Gallery that some guy had popped up with that name, so I guess it was a lie after all]
-Mejiring: That's just how the guys in Awakened Gallery are, I guess
-Bae50: You really believe the stuff those guys verify? lol
-Captain Kal: That nickname seems kind of familiar.
ㄴ ㅇaㅇ: Isn't that the guy who used to stir up trouble every day, saying he wanted to awaken?
ㄴ Hamjoo: Ah, then it's fake lol
ㄴ ㅇaㅇ: Looks like he did a nickname wash to match the old name and deleted all his old posts
ㄴ Captain Kal: If you're going to lie, at least make it A-rank... make it believable
“T-those bastards...?!"
“Why? What's wrong, Eve?”
“Ah, n-no... it's just...”
The Active Hunter Gallery has a suspiciously high ratio of fixed-nick users. In other words, it's thick with clique culture. They're flat-out calling the A-rank certificate I posted in Awakened Gallery a lie and roasting me nonstop.
“Looks like there are people who don't believe me when I say I'm A-rank...”
“Really?! They don't believe our Eve?! Should unnie give them a stern talking-to?!”
“Ah, n-no.. it's okay.”
Chaea unnie looks like she'd use a throwaway nick, write down her real name, spill her personal info, and say weird stuff. That's just how people who don't use community boards are...
But I can't just let them ignore me like this.
Isn't there any way to teach these bad guys a lesson?
“Uuuuuugh...”
As I was closing my eyes and thinking hard for a while, a notification rang on my phone.
ㅡ띠링!
“Who is it..? Ophelia, maybe.”
I thought for a moment it was a message from Ophelia, but when I turned on the screen, it wasn't a message—it was a DM on social media. Ophelia doesn't use social media, so there was no way she could've sent a DM.
“Maxy..?”
-_camila_MAXY : Eve!!! im in korea!!❤️❤️❤️
-_camila_MAXY : ¿Podemos encontrarnos?😍😍
-_camila_MAXY : Estoy en Seúl ahora mismo!!
“What does this even mean...”
I can read a little English, but this definitely isn't English. Maxy is Mexican... so maybe it's Spanish?
“What is it? Who is it?”
“Ah, Maxy sent me a message...”
“Maxy? You mean that S-rank Hunter?”
“Yes, that's right. She'd DMed me before.”
“Wow, that's amazing. Did she DM you because you're cute?”
“I don't know about that.. but it looks like she's in Korea now.”
Han Dohee, who'd been driving up front while listening to our conversation, nodded. Since some time had passed after the Manchurian subjugation campaign started, it was about time for some Hunters to finish their contracts and return.
Apparently, quite a few Hunters would come into Korea for a few days and then head back to their home countries.
“If it's Maxy, she'd probably be with Utaha. If you ask that unnie, she might know.”
“Chaerin unnie?”
“Yeah.”
When S-rank Hunters come to Korea, most of them contact Yu Chaerin unnie. There are two S-ranks in Korea, but Chaerin unnie is the only one they can actually get in touch with.
The Nova Guild is also Korea's most internationally recognized guild. And the Osung Group's facilities are much better than the ones the Korean Hunter Association provides.
“I only know she's in Korea, not much else.... This doesn't seem like English. It looks like Mexican to me?”
“Mexican? They speak Mexican Spanish, don't they? It's probably Spanish.”
“Aha.”
“What does Mexico have to do with Spain?”
-_Princess_Eve : OK
-_Princess_Eve : THANK YOU
-_Princess_Eve : YOU
-_camila_MAXY : LMAO uppercase🤣🤣🤣🤣
“What is this...”
* * * * *
“Eve, you worked hard today. Hurry and go inside and rest. Do you have anything to eat at home?”
“Ah, yes! Ophelia cooked for me.”
“Oh, I see. We're heading out then?”
“Go inside quickly! It's cold!”
“Yes! Goodbye!”
Han Dohee and Chaea unnie dropped me off at home first. I think Chaea unnie's place was actually a little closer, distance-wise, but it felt like they were taking care of me.
“Uuuh... I'm tired.”
ㅡ삐빗!
“What, you're hungry too? Want to go eat?”
Dangdang has recently gotten a taste for its feed. Its face is a monitor, so it's weird how it eats. Since its head is so big, if it buries its face in the bowl, you can't see anything.
A few minutes later, the feed in the bowl is completely gone, and its belly is bloated, so it just rolls around.
At this rate, isn't this thing going to get fat?
“Minyum, hurry and open the door for me.”
ㅡ철컥!
The metal front door is surprisingly heavy. I can pull it open if I yank hard enough with my arm, but I'm too tired to have the strength for that.
Of course, it's only natural that Minyum and Suri, who actually go out and hunt monsters, are stronger than I am... but they're metal, you know. I'm the one whose muscles have all disappeared, so of course this is hard for me.
ㅡ삐리릿
“Heh, I'm home.”
Minyum is big enough now that it can easily open the window so Suri can get inside by herself. Originally, when Suri came back after going out, I used to open the window for her, but now Minyum does it all.
ㅡ사락, 사락….
Ophelia's craftsmanship means the princess outfit isn't terribly uncomfortable, but it's not exactly comfortable either. If I just take it off and toss it aside, Minyum clicks and clacks as it tidies everything up.
Come to think of it, Ophelia still hasn't come back.
“Looks like it's taking a while.”
Ophelia made a few dishes so I could eat if I got hungry after going out, but somehow the refrigerator has stopped being my territory, and I don't really know what's what anymore.
Ophelia kept buying all sorts of things and stuffing them in there, so I guess it's turned into a maze.
ㅡ키잇!
“Huh? What is it?”
ㅡ키잇..
“You want me to wash my hands before eating? Tch, fine... Minyum, take something I can eat out of the fridge for me.”
ㅡ철컥!
I washed my hands in the bathroom, and I'd already changed into pajamas too. Minyum is taking the food out.
“Mm, nice and warm.”
Now that my body is comfortable, I remember what I need to do.
“Active Hunter Gallery. I can't forgive them...!”
I'll show them how scary a princess can be. How dare they dismiss my verification as a lie. Ryu Minho did the same thing to me, and he ended up windmilling on the stone floor, didn't he?
“But how am I supposed to do it...”
But Active Hunter Gallery isn't even my gallery, and most of the people there are firmly in that clique, so it'd be hard to mess with them.
Isn't there some way to make them praise me?
ㅡ철컥!
“Oh, a sandwich.”
I'll eat first and think about it.