Returned With Horns

* * *

"Miss Seohyun. Miss Seohyun. Wake up."

I woke up when I heard a voice calling me.

As I opened my eyes groggily, the first thing I saw was the surroundings densely covered with trees. Wondering if we had arrived at our destination, I looked around blankly and saw association employees busily moving around, checking the gate.

I tapped my earring with a click, and the leather jacket that popped out covered my top as I quietly got out of the car.

"You don't need to try too hard, just come back safely."

"Wherever I am is the safest place."

"Hehe, that's true."

Seol-ah smiled brightly and left, and I blankly looked around. Then, someone who looked like an association employee approached me. While others were dressed in suits, he alone was in casual attire, which made him quite peculiar.

"Are you the Returnee Department employee who was supposed to come today? Wow, nice to meet you. I'm Park Sangcheol from the GM Department."

"GM Department?"

"It's short for Gate Management Department. Haha. By the way, you're beautiful."

"Never mind that, where's the client?"

"They'll arrive soon. Kyunghoon! Is the mana measurement done?"

"Yes, Deputy Manager! The mana measurement results confirm it's a C-rank gate!"

As the man called Kyunghoon shouted while making a circle with his hand, Park Sangcheol nodded.

"Wasn't it already confirmed to be a C-rank gate?"

"Ah, sometimes the mana count suddenly spikes right before entry. We measure the mana right before entering to prepare for such cases."

"Gate mutation?"

"Yes. It's to prepare for gate mutation. Well, we can't determine it 100%, though."

Gate mutation. It refers to gates where the mana count suddenly rises, abruptly changing the difficulty.  The danger of such gate mutations is that if B-rank personnel enter what they think is a C-rank gate, and it suddenly mutates to A-rank, all the hunters inside are as good as dead.

Since a gate doesn't open for 14 days once a subjugation team enters, rescue can't be sent either, making gate mutations nothing short of a disaster for hunters.

However, recently, by measuring mana one more time right before entry, they've been able to greatly reduce casualties due to gate mutations, or so I heard.

"Ah, they're here."

"Is that him? The rich young master?"

"Yes. He's dazzling even to the naked eye. Wow, that's armor from Real Steel."

"Real Steel... What's that?"

"You don't know Real Steel? Ah, right, you're a returnee. It's the world's best company for making hunter armor. And it's expensive accordingly."

It doesn't look that sturdy though. Thinking that, I approached the client. The client, who seemed a bit scared and was looking around, suddenly had a blank expression.

"Uh... Who?"

"This is the association employee who will enter the gate with you today, young master."

Another man standing nearby whispered to the client.

Looking at it this way, there are quite a lot of people. Are they all security personnel? Thinking that, I quickly scanned the gathered people. Except for the "young master" client, everyone looked like B-rank hunters.

"Ah, really? Um, what's your name?"

"Chae Seohyun."

As I answered bluntly, the client's eyes became even more unfocused. What was this guy's name again? I'm sure I saw it in the documents, but I thought it wasn't worth remembering so I just skimmed through it.

Ah, Oh Sungwon. I think that was his name.

"Have you done enough mana measurements?"

"Yes. We did it until the last moment, so there probably won't be any gate mutations."

"I understand. Young master, we'll enter first. Association employee, please enter with the young master."

"Huh? Oh, okay."

As I nodded, the hunters who looked like bodyguards started to enter all at once. Ten B-rank hunters. It was more than enough to tackle a C-rank gate. They could probably clear the gate easily even if they entered alone, but today's event was Oh Sung Group's fifth son's gate outing.

After confirming that everyone had entered, I quietly pointed at the gate's entrance with my finger. Then Oh Sungwon hesitated for a moment before entering the gate. After confirming until the last moment, I quietly stepped forward. That's when it happened.

"Uh, uuh? Sudden mana count increase!"

"What?!"

"I thought this might happen."

My bad luck wouldn't change just because I came to Earth, would it? I smirked and quietly scanned the Gate Management Department employees before stepping my remaining foot into the gate.

"Tell Seol-ah I'll be a bit late."

"Uh, uuh?!"

"Y-you shouldn't enter...!"

With those words, I heard the sound of the gate closing.

* * *

"W-what is this..."

Oh Sungwon. The fifth son of Oh Sung Group's CEO. He was an ordinary man, unlike what you'd expect from a chaebol family's son. Of course, he was filthy rich, but unlike his other siblings, he had graduated from a regular high school and a decent four-year university in Seoul, and was preparing for employment.

Why would a chaebol's son prepare for employment? It was because Oh Sungwon had wished for an ordinary life.

But that wish was shattered a year ago. Awakening as a hunter. He had awakened to mana.

According to South Korean law, hunters must close a gate once a year without exception.

For ordinary hunters, there was no reason not to enter gates that paid well, but for him who was already swimming in money, there was no reason to risk his life entering gates.

However, even he, as the son of a major corporation, or rather, precisely because he was the son of a major corporation, couldn't escape the clutches of the media.

When articles flooded and talks of legal review came up in the National Assembly, Oh Sungwon finally had to enter a gate. Of course, thanks to the Oh Sung Group's CEO, who cared for Oh Sungwon, providing ample security, he was able to complete the gate subjugation without much difficulty.

But since that day, Oh Sungwon became even more averse to gates. It was understandable in a way.

Monster hides being torn, internal organs spilling out, blood soaking the surroundings. How could Oh Sungwon, who had lived as an ordinary person all his life, endure such sights?

But no matter how much he postponed it, he eventually had to tackle a gate, so Oh Sungwon had no choice but to be dragged to the gate like a calf being led to the slaughterhouse.

"But why. Why today of all days..."

The sky is red. It was a symptom of gate mutation. Even the hunters who had entered first seemed bewildered, looking at each other with confused faces, as if it was their first time experiencing a gate mutation.

Oh Sungwon, who had consistently studied theory since becoming a hunter and was well-versed in it, knew well what a gate mutation meant.

Death, it meant that death was approaching them. As Oh Sungwon was blankly staring at the sky, wanting to escape this reality, the beautiful voice he had heard earlier pierced his ears.

"Wow, look how red it is."

As he slightly turned his head, he saw the association employee from earlier looking at the sky with a relaxed face.

It was the complete opposite of how everyone else was looking at the sky with terrified faces.

"Oh Sungwon."

"Yes?"

"What would you do if I save you?"

"...Are you saying you'll save me?"

"Yeah. I have ability, and you have money."

"Money... Do you need money?"

"Yeah."

Whatever she was thinking, the association employee was grinning with her hand in the pocket attached to her leather jacket. Now that he looked, strangely, there were horns growing on her forehead. What are those horns? As he was thinking that, a sharp voice was heard from behind.

"Hey. Are you saying you can resolve this gate mutation alone?"

"Yeah."

"Are you saying you're Han Ayoung or something?"

"...Han Ayoung? Why is her name coming up here?"

At her tilting her head, the hunters who had asked the question blankly stared at her as if dumbfounded.

"She's the only S-rank in the Hunter Association. Yaksha Han Ayoung."

"Her? Ah, she was quite strong."

"You're talking as if you're stronger than her."

"Because I am stronger."

Saying that, Seohyun quietly drew the sword hanging at her waist. The finely honed sword glowed with a bluish light. Come to think of it, why doesn't that sword have a scabbard? Just as that thought crossed his mind, Seohyun quietly swung her sword.

"What are you... ahh?!"

"You should watch your feet."

The monsters that had suddenly appeared as the ground caved in were instantly cut into pieces and fell. The hunter who had almost been ambushed looked at Seohyun with a face that seemed at a loss for words. She had been the only one to notice the ambush that no one else had detected.

"Hermit Lurker..."

Hermit Lurker. A monster that digs into the ground and ambushes when living beings come near. Basically, it only reveals its main body when it's confident of a perfect hunt, so people who have seen the main body of a Hermit Lurker are extremely rare, she remembered reading in the monster encyclopedia. And the rank of such Hermit Lurkers is...

"It's an A-rank monster."

"It's at least an A-rank mutation."

"We're screwed. This is bad."

The hunters who sighed while looking at the monster that had fallen in pieces slightly turned their gaze towards Seohyun. Seohyun, who had a sword resting on her shoulder and a smirk on her face, opened her mouth while looking at them.

"So, are you feeling inclined to trust and follow me now?"