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Episode 5
19+ Returning Heroine
The next day, Min Hye-mi heard that “the Security Team 1 hunters protected the Disaster Countermeasures Safety Headquarters but failed to capture the main members of this intrusion.”
“Hmm, not my problem.”
As she turned off her alarm in the morning, she thought about it.
The previous day, the headquarters had been attacked.
So what was her duty now? A vacation? A health checkup?
All wrong.
“The correct answer is to go to work!”
She still had to go to the office.
Just because the headquarters was attacked didn’t mean monsters wouldn’t appear, and hunters would fight as always. Someone had to clean up afterward, and that someone was her.
Well, the only difference today was that she was on standby at home rather than in the office.
Min Hye-mi blinked as she sat on her bed, then received the briefing about today’s site.
Her face paled as she realized something.
“Wait… my car got wrecked.”
Her car had been damaged in the headquarters’ parking lot during the attack. Of course, the headquarters would cover the repair costs, but…
“So I have to take public transportation today?”
She absolutely hated public transport. The reason was simple…
“Damn it…”
She dragged herself up as if she were going to her death.
“Hye-mi-chan, you’re late!”
“Ughhh…”
When she finally arrived at the site, Min Hye-mi let out a sigh of relief.
The area was restricted due to the scattered monster corpses, so there were no people around.
“Who knew I’d be happy to see monster corpses…”
As Min Hye-mi gazed at the blood-splattered scene with awe, Lee Ruri tilted her head and asked,
“Hye-mi-chan, what happened?”
“Uh… I got confessed to, and I got attacked seven times…”
Indeed. Even without the <Genre Shift> skill, Min Hye-mi was an incredibly beautiful and captivating woman.
She had a beautiful face even before falling into the high-level romance fantasy world, but staying there enhanced her aura even further.
As a result, whenever she went to crowded places, people would constantly rush toward her, claiming they liked her.
“Ah! Don’t confess to me if we just met, you crazy idiots!”
“Hmm…”
“Why are you asking for my number when I’m walking around with this disgusted face? Use some common sense!”
She spat out her words in frustration.
She really hated humans.
The only reason she got along with the corpse disposal team was that none of them cared about her appearance.
Lee Ruri was a narcissist, Kim Chan-neul was a soccer-obsessed guy, nicknamed “Soccer Freak,” and Jung Ye-seul sought the artistic beauty typical of indie films rather than objective beauty.
“Ruri, doesn’t stuff like this happen to you? You were a school idol too. Didn’t you ever get cast randomly or anything?”
If she were the only one experiencing this, it would feel unfair and unbearable.
“Eh, not really… oh! Last time, I performed with a ‘Girl Japan Rock Band’ during busking!”
“…”
“Chan-neul said whenever he sees a soccer club on the street, he joins in and plays! Everyone admired his skills!”
“…”
“And Ye-seul keeps lighting cigarettes with other girls… what’s that about?”
“Ugh…”
Clearly, she was the only one experiencing this.
And Ye-seul, seriously, stop that…
Min Hye-mi suddenly felt the overwhelming unfairness and bitterness of her reality.
“If only I were strong, things would be easier.”
If she were an S-rank hunter, people would fear her and stay away. No one would dare mess with her.
But she was at best a D-rank hunter, and even dealing with occasional stalkers was tough.
“I really need to become Nietzsche and kill God or something…”
That night, Min Hye-mi resolved to literally kill God.
The reason was simple.
“Ugh, how many times is this now?!”
Returning home via public transport, she encountered yet another stalker—her n-th (n > 10).
She could no longer even count the number of stalkers she’d had.
“How did I catch this stalker?”
Having dealt with this before, she had spent a fortune installing expensive protective artifacts outside her house.
“Again, Hye-mi-ssi?”
“Yes….”
Seeing the police dispatched to catch the stalker, Min Hye-mi felt awkward.
She could read the “so tired of this” expression in the officers’ eyes.
“If only I were a strong hunter…”
Living as a normal citizen, she wished she could be strong every time something like this happened.
At least as a hunter working for the Disaster Countermeasures Safety Headquarters, the police were kind.
If she were powerless, civilian, they’d start investigating only after the incident.
“People are so exhausting.”
“…”
Hearing the police leave, Min Hye-mi bit her lip tightly.
“I hate humans.”
She really hated humans…
“I just want to get strong and knock some sense into them all…”
Just as Min Hye-mi prayed,
[Quest Arrived!]
“Huh?”
A semi-transparent window appeared before her eyes.
“This is….”
She knew exactly what this phenomenon was, having heard cases from others who experienced it.
“An unexpected quest!”
Only a very small number of people received quests from the system, and completing them could make you stronger.
Sunjun from Security Team 1, and S-rank hunter Park Jumi working freelance, had all grown stronger this way!
Her eyes sparkled with hope.
Had the system granted her wish for strength?
[Balance Game!]
[Ignore the quest and continue dealing with stalkers vs. Complete the quest and get stronger]
“…”
Min Hye-mi paused. Normally, most people would choose the latter…
“But maybe it’s some weird quest?”
Given her genre background, it could be a romance quest or something.
Better to live weakly than go through that nonsense.
“No.”
She quickly made up her mind. She couldn’t live forever under constant confessions, attacks, and stalking.
Think of the police who just criticized her.
She needed power that no one could ignore.
“Yes.”
She selected “Complete the quest and get stronger.”
Light burst forth again, and the quest window appeared.
[Congratulations! You have been selected as the quest target!]
[Completing a 5-step quest will upgrade your rank from D -> S!]
“…!”
A quest that guarantees S-rank if successful. Her eyes glistened at the thought of finally punishing those who troubled her.
Next time a stalker comes, she wouldn’t call the police—she’d deal with them herself…
But when she checked the quest details, her face fell.
[First Quest!]
[Find your savior.]
[Locate the one who has saved your life!]
“What the heck?”
Who had saved her life until now?
She had always rescued herself.
“No, really.”
She had lived a relatively harsh life as an orphan.
So who could her savior be? The orphanage donors? The director and welfare staff?
“What kind of savior nonsense is this… wait.”
At that moment, she realized something, and her face turned pale.
“This is a romance plot.”
As a returning high-level romance fantasy heroine, she had read many romance fantasies.
And if she were the heroine, this usually followed the next plot:
Someone from her past had actually saved her before.
And the identity was… gasp! Surprisingly:
“First case: one of the Security Team 1 hunters.”
Min Hye-mi lived happily with a strong hunter and prospered!
“Second case: those damn bastards from another world come over.”
She became a high-level romance heroine again under their obsession!
“Third case: someone from the criminal organization Exodus.”
She lived well with a strong, obsessive individual!
This kind of plot is guaranteed.
This quest was clearly designed to make her a romance heroine!
“Where is this going? Please don’t make it the green house or blue house…”
She hoped it would be the yellow house, far from high-level chaos.
