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Chapter 01
Twelve years later.
From a beehive tucked into the corner of the roof, a single bee emerged.
It was a queen bee—slightly larger than a thumbnail, with long, slender wings.
[How dare you request an audience with me. You are an impertinent human.]
Morae smiled and held out her hand.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet me. Would you like to sit here?”
[…Though this place is shabby, I shall sit, considering your sincerity.]
The queen bee perched primly on Morae’s fingertip.
[I have heard of you. Unlike other humans, you can communicate with us, can’t you?]
“Yeah. So I was wondering if you could grant me a favor.”
[Speak.]
“See that mountain behind us? How about moving your hive there? There’s a lot more food than around here.”
[And why should I? It was you humans who dug up our home and encroached on our territory. If anyone should leave, it’s the humans—not us!]
The queen bee spread her wings as if she might take off at any moment. At the same time, a sharp wave of hostility pulsed from her. Morae gently soothed that vibration.
“I really am sorry about that. But as you know, humans can’t understand what you’re saying. So how could they ask for your permission?”
The erratic waves gradually slowed. Morae’s voice grew even softer.
“This time, I came myself—but next time, scarier humans might come and take your home by force. It’d be sad to lose the hive you worked so hard to build. You could even get hurt.”
[…Building our home here was my stubborn choice. I was sick and tired of human selfishness.]
“I get how you feel. I’d probably have done the same.”
[However, your advice has moved my heart. As you suggest, I will relocate our territory.]
The queen bee’s once-spiky aura smoothed into a gentle curve. Morae smiled brightly.
“Thank you. It’s not that far. With your beautiful wings, you’ll get there in no time.”
The queen bee rose gracefully into the air.
The worker bees that had been buzzing around Morae also became busy, their wings beating faster.
[Come visit sometime. I shall personally bestow upon you top-grade honey.]
“Really? Is it okay to give something that precious to me?”
[You are a special human. I find you quite likable.]
“Thanks. I’ll definitely come visit someday. You should get going—living in such a barren place must’ve been hard.”
The queen bee circled Morae’s head once, then paused in midair as if in farewell before flying toward the mountain.
A black swarm of bees followed behind her like an escort.
“Live well. And try not to come near places where people live.”
Morae waved gently at the bees.
When she turned around with a satisfied smile, a middle-aged woman was staring at her, looking like she might burst out laughing.
It wasn’t an unfamiliar reaction. Most clients looked like that after watching Morae work.
Morae approached her.
“It’s all finished. You should remove the empty hive—it might attract hornets.”
“Oh my, maybe it’s because we live near the mountain, but there are just so many bugs. This is already the fifth time I’ve had to get rid of a hive. I felt bad calling 119 every time…”
“I see. They’ve been pretty busy lately. Don’t worry—there won’t be any more hives forming here.”
“You mean not just this time? None at all? Oh dear, if it were this easy, I would’ve posted on Ask a Hunter ages ago.”
It had already been 27 years since dungeons first began appearing. Awakeners’ abilities were deeply tied not only to dungeon raids, but also to everyday civilian life.
As a result, intermediary sites were created where civilians could commission Awakeners. Among them, “Ask a Hunter”—commonly called Heonbu—was the most widely known.
“But what was your Awakened class again, Hunter Kang?”
“I’m a Tamer.”
“Right, a Tamer! I keep forgetting since it’s my first time hearing about it. So Tamers can talk to insects too?”
Morae simply smiled.
The kindly-looking client smiled along with her.
“Do you have any other abilities? I’d like to hire you again if I have more work.”
“Oh! I can help sick plants recover, design entire gardens, and even find lost pets. If you entrust it to me, I’ll do my best.”
“Oh my, you’re so polite and sweet. Not arrogant like other hunters. Then will you take care of our garden from now on?”
Morae bowed deeply.
“Thank you!”
Thump!
Morae tossed her bag into the backseat of the jeep and climbed into the passenger seat.
Im Songyi, who had been watching YouTube on her phone, asked without looking up.
“You done?”
“The queen bee cooperated, so it ended faster than I thought. What about you?”
“I finished ages ago. Installing an E-rank barrier in a barn doesn’t take long.”
In truth, the job Songyi took wasn’t something a C-rank Defender would normally do.
She’d deliberately accepted a nearby request so Morae wouldn’t have to travel far without a car.
Songyi, Morae’s only friend of twelve years, always helped her like this.
Morae leaned her face gently against her precious friend’s shoulder.
“Songyi.”
Only then did Songyi look up from her phone.
“What is it, Morae?”
“Thanks for coming with me.”
“…I didn’t take the job because of you. You’re being self-centered again.”
“Mm. I love you too.”
When Morae teased her, Songyi frowned, then snorted softly and adjusted the air conditioner.
“You didn’t get stung, at least.”
“That was ages ago. I calmed them down properly. The client seemed happy too—she even asked me to manage her garden.”
“She’s got a good eye.”
Morae’s cheeks flushed.
Praise from her usually cynical, blunt friend always made her heart flutter.
When Morae beamed, the corners of Songyi’s lips lifted slightly.
“Good.”
“Of course it’s good. You hungry? Let’s go.”
“Kimchi stew for dinner?”
“Sure. With the leftover pork belly we grilled last time.”
“You froze it?”
“Of course.”
“Buckle up.”
The yellow jeep rumbled softly as it pulled onto the road.
As a C-rank Defender, Songyi made decent money—enough to buy a car after only ten requests.
Defenders were a fairly common class, but once they reached a certain rank, most joined dungeon raids instead of taking civilian jobs.
Songyi could earn far more money raiding dungeons, but she had zero interest in them.
That made her situation quite different from Morae’s—an E-rank Tamer who barely scraped by due to a lack of requests.
Resting her elbow on the window, Songyi said,
“Turn on YouTube. They’re live-streaming the Yongin dungeon.”
“Okay, hold on.”
Morae pulled out her phone and opened YouTube.
At the top of the feed was a live broadcast of the dungeon incident in Yongin. A calm announcer’s voice played.
“This is breaking news regarding a B-rank dungeon that manifested early this morning in Yongin City. Reporter Kim Jimin, what’s the current situation?”
“It has been twelve hours since contact was lost with the first entry team. At approximately 2 p.m., the Ability Management Administration upgraded the dungeon’s rating to A-rank and requested emergency support from all branches.”
When a dungeon appears, the detection system immediately evaluates its rank and summons suitable Awakeners.
This time, the assembled team had failed—absurdly so.
The entire country buzzed with the news.
Whether the system misjudged the dungeon’s rank or an unknown variable was involved had yet to be determined.
“Songyi, Yongin’s close from here, right?”
“Mm, about thirty minutes by car.”
“There aren’t many A-rank hunters available right now—this is serious. Have you identified the cause of the failed raid?”
“The Ability Management Administration will address that in a press conference shortly—oh? Wait, isn’t that Hunter Gyeon Suho from the Seoul branch?”
Morae’s ears perked up.
“Songyi, did you hear that? Gyeon Suho’s joining the raid!”
“Huh? Let’s watch.”
For once, the indifferent Songyi pulled the car over.
As the vehicle stopped, the two small heads leaned close together over the phone.
The camera, which had been focused on the reporter, turned toward a man walking toward the dungeon entrance.
“There—there he goes.”
“His head’s tiny.”
His face wasn’t visible, but the towering height and broad shoulders made his identity obvious.
Gyeon Suho.
