Chapter 19: If We Really Wanted To?

11:00 AM.

It was time for a rather early lunch.

Jin Se-ah was heading to Yoo Seon-woo’s counseling office in the sports car provided to her by the Haetae Guild—a perk of being an S-class hunter.

It was a surprise visit.

Wouldn’t he be happy to see me?

The sunlight pouring through the windshield was dazzling. The bright, clear sky made it the perfect day for a meal with Seon-woo.

Originally, she had planned to drop by yesterday before he left for his house call at the Union Guild. But she didn’t want to interfere with his first official day of work, so she had forced herself to wait.

Her patience had only served to heighten her anticipation.

Jin Se-ah knew he had awakened a new ability.

A smile bloomed on her lips as she recalled his clumsy, cute attempt to test it on her.

She was curious. About him, and about every little thing concerning his new power.

‘No need for me to bring it up first, though.’

He would surely be stewing in guilt, agonizing over it all by himself. She wouldn’t even have to ask.

The moment he saw her, he’d start fidgeting and apologize for secretly using his ability on her.

That was just the kind of person Yoo Seon-woo was.

He was kind to a fault. So much so that it sometimes worried her.

Lost in thought, she arrived at the building before she knew it.

She parked her car haphazardly and went inside.

But just then…

The moment she rounded the corner on the floor of Yoo Seon-woo’s office—

Screeeak!

The office door was flung open violently, and someone burst into the hallway.

White hair with a striking red streak.

It was a face Jin Se-ah recognized. Luna, the Outsider from the Union Guild.

Her face and neck were flushed a deep crimson. Staring straight ahead, she sprinted down the hall, seemingly oblivious to Jin Se-ah standing right beside her.

But Jin Se-ah, an S-class hunter, heard it.

And even now, she was still hearing it.

—THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The sound of Luna’s heart, pounding crazily as if it were about to explode.

All of Jin Se-ah’s senses zeroed in on the girl, analyzing the frantic sounds bursting from her.

“…”

The playful smile that had graced Jin Se-ah’s face moments before slowly vanished.

With a completely emotionless expression, she glanced back and forth between Luna’s disappearing figure and the firmly shut door of the counseling office.

Her golden eyes glinted coldly, like those of a predator that had just found traces of another female encroaching on its territory.

She had already accepted it.

From the moment he officially became a counselor, it was inevitable that he would have contact with female patients.

But, at least to Jin Se-ah’s senses, that heartbeat just now…

Just then.

Squeak.

The office door opened once again.

“Oh?”

A man’s voice. It was Yoo Seon-woo.

In the split second it took to register his voice, Jin Se-ah fixed her expression.

Her cold eyes softened, curving gently like crescent moons. Her tightly shut lips formed a lovely smile.

She was back to being the ‘Jin Se-ah’ everyone knew.

“What’s up? You didn’t even call.”

Yoo Seon-woo, who seemed to have come out to check the hallway, smiled as if he was happy to see her.

“I came to take you to lunch!”

Jin Se-ah beamed, greeting him with equal cheer.

*

A room filled with pink furniture.

Pastel-toned wallpaper and cotton-candy-colored curtains.

By the head of the bed, a giant, carrot-shaped doll as tall as she was—her one and only friend, Tosooni—stood silent guard.

This was her Rabbit Hole, a place that always protected her from the dangers and gazes of the outside world.

Lying in the deepest part of that Rabbit Hole, on her soft bed with the covers pulled over her head, Luna was looking at something.

It was a laptop.

A considerable amount of time had passed since she’d arrived here, and she had finally gotten the hang of this strange thing called the internet.

Of course… she had intentionally refrained from searching for information about herself.

She was afraid. She didn’t have the courage to face the articles full of hatred and contempt that would surely pour out if she searched for the word ‘beast-human’—the same kind of vitriol she had heard back in the Empire.

But today was different.

She would see with her own two eyes.

She would see if her counselor was truly right.

With trembling fingers, Luna typed the source of the video he had shown her yesterday into the search bar.

[Hunter Gallery]

“En… ter…” she whispered, her voice almost inaudible as she swallowed dryly.

Click.

The screen changed.

And there, a world Luna had never experienced before unfolded.

[Title: Day 119 of praying for my Hunter Awakening.]

[Title: Aren’t there just gonna be more and more Outsiders from now on?]

[Title: If you’re gonna keep posting pics of male hunters, fuck off to the male hunter gallery, you fucker]

Here, there was no race, no borders, no class, no status. Only chaotic freedom.

A space where anyone who could type could make their voice heard.

“Ah…”

An exclamation escaped Luna’s lips.

She felt a strange sense of liberation.

Then, in a corner of the screen, an icon shaped like a magnifying glass caught her eye.

Next to it was the word ‘Search.’

Carefully… Luna typed the word that had shackled her for her entire life into that small space.

‘Beast-human.’

Enter.

Instantly, countless posts filled her vision.

[Title: Collection of Hunter Elice’s tail twitches.gif]

[Title: My experience dating a wolf beast-human]

[Title: Rebuttal to the theory that beast-humans are in heat 365 days a year]

[Title: Current ranking of beast-human Outsider hunters]

The form and style varied, but she couldn’t find a single negative word about beast-humans.

If she had to categorize it, the sentiment was closer to adoration.

However.

[Title: But honestly, isn’t it a fact that pureblood hunters are having a hard time competing because of beast-humans’ physiques?]

Luna’s heart dropped.

Judging by the title, it seemed certain there would be criticism of beast-human hunters for encroaching on the positions of their own country’s people.

She steeled herself and clicked on the post.

[Author: OO] [Views: 212314] [Likes: 1971]

Long story short, the standing of my beloved pureblood awakened hunters—my tissue-thieves—has been seriously diminished.

‘…Tissue thief?’

Luna tilted her head. It was a word she couldn’t understand. Why, when discussing the standing of existing hunters, was there talk of stealing tissues? Confused, she scrolled down.

I feel bad saying this, but beast-humans’ bodies are just insane.

Starting with the rabbit beast-human Elice, all the way to the fox beast-human Elena. Their figures are already fucking… lol gg

And below that, several explosive pin-up photos of her twin sister, Elice, and another fox beast-human hunter in swimsuits were attached.

(Photo)

(Photo)

(Photo)

BAAAAAAANG lololol

I can’t take it, grrrr…

The moment she saw that last sentence, Luna understood everything.

The meaning of the phrase ‘tissue thief.’ What ‘position’ referred to. The reason they were going on about physiques and figures.

Luna’s face once again turned beet red, all the way to her neck.

“Coun…selor…”

Without realizing it, she called out to the counselor, who wasn’t even there, her voice thick with heat.

Then, Luna’s hand slowly rose and began to feel her own shoulder.

The very spot Yoo Seon-woo had squeezed ‘tightly’ this morning.

But Luna wasn’t even aware of what she was doing.

So this post wasn’t about beast-humans taking jobs away from existing hunters.

It was about… beast-humans taking the place of existing hunters as the objects of men’s lust.

Just as she was staring at this chaotic scene with the blanket pulled over her head—

SLAM!

The door to her room was thrown open violently without a knock.

“Sis!!! What are you doing!!”

The only being who could enter her sole sanctuary, the Rabbit Hole, without permission.

Her twin sister and fellow rabbit, Elice.

Flump!

As she spoke, she threw herself right on top of Luna, who was curled up under the covers.

“Heek?!”

Luna let out a startled shriek at the sudden weight.

Finding Luna’s reaction amusing, Elice giggled and yanked the blanket away.

“What are you looking at that’s so interesting all by your… oho?”

Revealed from under the blanket was the elder rabbit sister, Luna, her face bright red. On the laptop screen was a pin-up photo of Elice herself, licking an ice cream cone in a swimsuit for a magazine feature.

She had shot it once for an event.

“What’s thiiiis?”

Elice leaned in closer with a mischievous expression, trying to get a better look.

Her playful gaze naturally drifted to the comment section below the photo.

“…?”

Elice began to read them.

Her eyes widened for a moment, then she burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.

“Ahahahaha! What is this, sis? Were you looking at my photoshoot? And reading these pervy comments too?”

“N-No! I was just… wondering if it was true…”

Luna desperately tried to close the laptop, but Elice was faster.

She wrapped her arms tightly around Luna’s squirming waist, pinning her down. Then, she whispered each of the nasty comments, her breath hot against Luna’s ear.

“Ah~ With rabbits, you’ve gotta grab their ears tiiightly… hold them still, and then like this… ungh… unghhh…”

“No! No!! That’s not it!!”

Luna began to squirm, on the verge of tears, but Elice only hugged her tighter and more gleefully.

It had been a while since her sister had reacted so strongly, and Elice was getting excited.

She proceeded to read the next comment aloud.

“Okay, next up is~ let’s see… See a red-faced rabbit beast-human on the street? It’s 100% a sure thing. Just drag her away and… Wow… these guys don’t mess around, huh?”

She let out a chuckle.

Elice was used to the lecherous stares from the nobles of the Empire and the suggestive undertones in her fans’ gazes, but it had been a while since she’d encountered such raw, primal desire.

She looked down at her sister in her arms, who had now stopped resisting.

Luna had gone limp in Elice’s embrace, her face flushed red like an overheated engine. She seemed half-unconscious, the focus in her red eyes hazy.

Elice prepared one last remark.

The most powerful final push to shove her sister, who was finally about to take a step out into the world.

“Oh… but there is one piece of correct information here. Right, sis?”

With a dazed look, Luna barely managed to lift her head.

Elice whispered very quietly into Luna’s ear.

“The part about our species’ Instinct Manifestation Period… that if we really wanted to, it could be 365 days a year…”

“…”

“How… did they know?”

With those words, Luna fainted.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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