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Episode 4
At least they weren’t S-rank Hunters. They weren’t returnees either. That was enough.
These small fries were manageable on her own.
Min Hyemi briefly glanced at her status window.
『Name: Min Hyemi
Rank: D
Unique Title: Protagonist of an R-Rated, High-Risk Romance Fantasy
Titles: Returnee, Distrust of Love, Misanthropy
Magic Rank: D
Physical Rank: F
Mental Rank: S』
Beneath the unpleasant 'Unique Title' lay her unimpressive Magic and Physical ranks, alongside the strikingly high Mental rank.
However, Min Hyemi’s focus landed on the Skills section.
『Skill List
S-rank <Genre Shift> (Available)』
Every returnee possessed the powerful S-rank skill, <Genre Shift>.
Known for its terrifying power and long cooldown (the time required before it can be used again), the skill was currently available for use...
"Yeseul!"
"Yes."
The moment Min Hyemi and Jung Yeseul stood up after being freed from their handcuffs, the intruders’ gazes fixed on them.
"Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!"
[Skill <Genre Shift> Activated!]
In an instant, the atmosphere around them became strangely ticklish and sticky.
As expected, the skill <Genre Shift> literally changed the surrounding atmosphere to the returnee's original genre.
That’s right — to the returnee’s 'original genre'...
"How did you unlock the handcuffs?! How did you escape?!"
One of the intruders shouted.
"Then let’s see if you can escape from me! I’ll make sure you can’t move!"
With those words, the man suddenly approached Min Hyemi, his eyes filled with uncontrollable desire…
"Eh? What’s with this weird development?!"
As a fellow returnee unaffected by the <Genre Shift> skill, Lee Ruri furrowed her brows in confusion. It was a classic Japanese-style critique.
The intruder, as if blind to everything else, single-mindedly walked toward Min Hyemi. Just as his hand was about to touch her…
Bang!
Jung Yeseul swung a baseball bat she’d grabbed from a corner of the office, landing a heavy blow to the intruder’s head.
The intruder who had been hit squarely on the head collapsed to the floor.
"Oh."
Min Hyemi let out a quiet exclamation. Jung Yeseul is stronger than she looks.
"Did you just take down my comrade?"
The second intruder shouted with a voice full of anger.
"I’ll avenge my comrade’s humiliation!"
"…...…."
"My comrade has fallen to the floor, so I’ll make sure you fall too! Preferably onto a bed!"
"This development is weird againnn!"
Lee Ruri shouted as the second intruder, like the first, fell victim to Jung Yeseul’s baseball bat and collapsed.
Min Hyemi looked at the two intruders lying on the floor with a disdainful gaze.
There was absolutely no sense or logic to their actions; it was as if their brains were entirely occupied with R-rated scenarios.
"No!"
At that moment, the third intruder, whom they had forgotten about, shouted in shock.
"You made two of my comrades lose consciousness! I’ll make sure you lose yours too!"
"This is like a poorly-written 1,000-won short story plot!"
Bang!
Regardless, the members of Recovery Team 2 successfully managed to knock out all three intruders.
Min Hyemi stared down at them with a mixture of disbelief and exasperation.
'I really didn’t want to use this skill…'
She sighed deeply. She had no desire to see the world around her suddenly devolve into a '19+ Rated High-Risk Romance Fantasy' scenario.
With another sigh, she unlocked the handcuffs of Lee Ruri and Kim Chan-neul.
"By the way, whose baseball bat was that in the office?"
"Oh, that’s mine!"
"Kim Chan-neul? I thought you only played soccer."
"These days, I’m working on a technique called the *Full Swing Energizer Shot Kick’ using a baseball bat to hit soccer balls!"
That’s against the rules… No, at this point, can we even still call that soccer?
Now safe from the intruders, they decided to stay inside the office and wait quietly for the rescue team.
After all, they didn’t have the strength to fight against the terrorist organization that had taken over the entire Disaster Countermeasures Safety Headquarters.
"Did you hear what they said earlier? That an S-rank awakened joined the terrorist group?"
"Yeah, I heard. But that’s not our concern."
"True. That’s for the people hunting down the terrorists to worry about."
Jung Yeseul rummaged through the pocket of one of the fallen intruders.
Soon, she pulled out a badge from inside.
"It’s the symbol of Exodus."
"So it really was Exodus."
South Korea, being relatively well-organized in terms of its Hunter system, had a low crime rate compared to other countries. However, there was one crime organization that stood out with a powerful presence.
Exodus.
An organization that recruited awakened individuals who didn’t conform to the system, steadily growing their forces.
Their goal was to dismantle South Korea’s governmental authority and establish an anarchic state… or something like that, but Min Hyemi didn’t care to know the details.
She had no reason to be associated with them.
'A returnee from a 19+ rated high-risk romance fantasy isn’t of any interest to Exodus anyway.'
As she thought that, the sound of explosions and what seemed like combat erupted outside. It was unmistakably the sound of a battle.
"Looks like the rescue team is here."
Jung Yeseul muttered indifferently.
"They came pretty quickly."
"Indeed."
As they exchanged brief remarks, the door to the office opened.
Everyone’s eyes turned to the figure entering through the door.
'That person is…'
Min Hyemi’s eyes widened in surprise.
No, it wasn’t just her—her colleagues likely all had shocked expressions on their faces.
Because the person who had opened the door was someone they all knew very well.
His features were gentle, with a laid-back impression, and his large frame was striking.
But what stood out the most was his bright white hair, as if he had stepped straight out of a fantasy world.
To be honest, his face was exceptionally handsome. Even someone like Min Hyemi, who was wary of attractive men, didn’t feel the usual sense of fear towards him.
Perhaps it was because he wore an utterly blank expression, with a dazed look on his face. He wasn’t threatening in the slightest.
In any case, they knew exactly who this man was.
"Mr. Seon Jejun."
The world’s first returnee. An S-rank Hunter from South Korea’s Disaster Countermeasures Safety Headquarters, Security Team 1.
Seon Jejun.
If someone were to name the strongest Hunter in South Korea, he would unanimously be the one chosen.
In other words, someone like Min Hyemi, who only dealt with cleaning up after battles, had no reason to ever meet him.
'Did Security Team 1 personally come to take down Exodus?'
Well, considering Exodus was such a major organization, it made sense.
As Min Hyemi nodded to herself, coming to terms with the situation, Seon Jejun stared blankly at the three intruders lying on the floor.
"Oh…"
Soon, his gaze shifted to Min Hyemi.
"Did you kill them?"
"What?"
She frowned and asked back.
"Of course not. They’re just unconscious."
"Ah…"
Seon Jejun responded in a slow, almost lazy tone.
"I’ll take them away…"
"Sure, go ahead."
"But how do I carry all three…?"
He looked down at his hands, seemingly contemplating the logistics.
"Should I help carry one? Chan-neul, maybe you could—"
"I’ll just carry them all at once…"
Leaving those words behind, Seon Jejun dragged the three unconscious men away, all at the same time.
Min Hyemi silently watched his retreating figure.
"Hmm…"
She quickly realized that the image of Seon Jejun she had seen in the media—the 'perfect and powerful' Hunter—was far from reality.
The real Seom Jejun seemed somewhat… out of it.
'Well, I suppose that’s better.'
There were three types of men she disliked.
First, men with bad personalities.
Second, men with overbearing egos.
Third, men in general.
Fortunately, Seon Jejun only fit into the last category. So, she decided not to hate him too much and settled on just disliking him a little.
"By the way, you were surprisingly strong earlier,"
Min Hyemi said, throwing a compliment at Jung Yeseul.
"Do you train regularly?"
"A little after work,"
"Really? You never mentioned it to us."
"Because I wanted to see the surprised look on your face."
Jung Yeseul looked at Min Hyemi with an expression that was almost seductive.
"You know I crave compliments."
"Could you please stop saying weird things?"
Please, Yeseul, just stop…
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