“Ugh… I’m not tired… Damn it.”

Yesterday, she had a feast of chicken, soda, and beer, and immediately collapsed on the floor.

Perhaps it was because of the continuous stream of sudden events and mysterious occurrences, or maybe she was more mentally exhausted than physically.

But as expected, her body was something else; she wasn’t tired at all, but rather refreshed?

Moreover, her mental fatigue had almost completely disappeared.

“They say S-ranks are overflowing with energy after only an hour of sleep. That’s really amazing.”

Their stamina was incredible, and the speed at which they recovered it was also tremendous.

Ha-yeon chuckled at the absurd difference between her and those ranks, but soon shook her head and greeted the air, or rather, the Constellation.

“Constellation, did you sleep well?”

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash,’ playfully says that they don’t need sleep.]

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash,’ jokes that even at EX rank, sleep is hardly necessary.]

“Oh, right.”

Even beings two stages below transcendence, like S-ranks, recover after only an hour of sleep, so would EX-ranks or Constellations above them even need sleep?

No, as the Constellation said, they probably wouldn’t need it at all.

“Anyway, I should go to the Association today and sign the contract.”

She roughly filled her stomach with cereal for breakfast.

It was a bit odd to have cereal after chicken, but cereal had been her staple food for the past few years, so she had a lot of it at home, making it an unavoidable choice.

“Hmm… today, I’ll have jujube flavor.”

It was a strange cereal flavor, but it was still quite tasty with its crunchiness.

Crunchiness is weird? If I like it, what’s the big deal?

It suddenly occurred to me that I’m neither a mint chocolate lover nor a hater.

I just eat it if it’s given to me, but I don’t go out of my way to buy it – a neutral party.

Same with Hawaiian pizza.

Enough of that.

After crunching on the strange flavored cereal, she noticed her phone ringing.

And upon seeing the screen, her face couldn’t help but harden.

“That bastard… Ah, no. Team Leader?”

She had gotten into the habit of cursing her superiors, but it was her superior’s call.

Though flustered, I calmly waited for the call to end without answering it.

“I need to get a new phone…”

I’m no longer D-rank Hunter Baek Ho-yeon, but S-rank Hunter Sword Demon, Baek Ha-yeon.

I had almost no connections as Baek Ho-yeon, so I was planning to get rid of them all without regret, but I had been putting it off, and only now did I realize the urgency.

“If I join the Association and run a few gates, I’ll get money.”

That’s why I didn’t take the corpse of Underground Durin last time.

I’ll be selling monster parts that are much more expensive than that soon, so there was no need to bother taking those parts to sell.

“Then I’ll buy a new phone, clothes, and a house.”

Preferably a big one, in a location close to the Association.

“Then I should start getting ready to go out.”

She roughly washed the cereal bowl and put it on the shelf, took off her white t-shirt and black dolphin shorts, and put on Derkael’s Immortality.

It was a bit uncomfortable when she first wore it, but now that she had fought in it once, nothing was as comfortable as this.

Ha-yeon quickly washed her face and left the house.

“I’m glad it’s not too far from the Association, though.”

The distance between my one-room apartment and the Association was about a 30-minute bus ride.

The reason I bought this one-room apartment was because of the distance.

“Shall we go, then?”

With that, she took a step towards the bus stop.

And soon regretted that choice.

“Are you really Sword Demon?!”

“An S-rank Hunter lives near my house!”

“You’re so pretty…”

“What shampoo and cosmetics do you use? Huh? You don’t use any?”

“Can I get your autograph?”

I underestimated the popularity of an S-rank.

Still, image management was important, so I deliberately accepted them all.

I was planning to become a model S-rank Hunter for the Association, so image management was naturally important.

Of course, I immediately responded to confessions or other forms of sexual harassment.

“I’m drained…”

I felt more drained than when I was catching Underground Durin.

The power of people is the greatest!

“Excuse me, could I get your autograph?”

At the voice coming from the side, I immediately hardened my face, turned my head, and looked at the person.

“An Association member…?”

Surprisingly, the clothes she was wearing were a suit.

In other words, she was a Hunter from the Association.

‘She’s quite pretty.’

Long silver hair that reached her waist, contrasting with mine.

And the blue eyes shining in her eyes were truly striking.

A woman almost on par with me in terms of appearance.

“Ah, yes. I’m an A-rank Hunter from the Association. I just recently became an A-rank, so you might not know me well… Anyway, could I get your autograph?”

“Ah… I understand.”

She was an A-rank Hunter.

As expected, the aura she exuded was completely different from other people.

“Here you go.”

Ha-yeon, who had scribbled her newly created signature on the notebook she handed over, smiled and said to her.

“Could you perhaps accompany me?”

“M-Me?”

She spoke in a flustered tone, perhaps taken aback by the sudden words, but I continued without paying attention.

“I was on my way to meet the Association President. I was wondering if you could show me the way.”

In fact, I don’t know the structure of the Association building very well.

I’m a D-rank Hunter, so I only looked around once when I entered the Association, so I don’t know the structure well.

Most of the time, I was in other branches, or even received missions via text message and carried them out.

“I understand. Then please follow me.”

At her words, I headed towards the Association building in front of me.

And while following her without complaint, I suddenly became curious and asked.

“Seol-ah, how long have you been awakened as a Hunter?”

I could tell her name from the name tag on her suit.

Her real name was Lee Seol-ah.

Anyway, the reason I asked this was because it usually takes talented people about 5 years to reach A-rank.

I was curious how long it took this woman.

“It’s probably been about 3 years. I contracted with a Constellation about 6 months ago and became a B-rank, and I became an A-rank a month ago.”

3 years, huh?

I’ve been rolling around for 4 years and I’m a D-rank.

‘I really didn’t have any talent.’

Seol-ah’s talent was crazy, too.

Ha-yeon smiled faintly and boarded the elevator according to Seol-ah’s guidance and went up to the 4th floor.

“The 4th floor is the executive office. I come up here sometimes, so I know it, but not very well. Anyway, if you tell the counter in front of you that you’ve come to meet the Association President, they’ll usually let you in. Besides, you’re an S-rank Hunter, so they might just let you in.”

“Okay. Goodbye, thank you. Oh, and what’s your phone number?”

It was good to get the phone number of a talented person in advance.

It was already a confirmed fact that she would become an S-rank as long as she didn’t die soon, and apart from that, it was my dream to get the number of a beautiful woman.

‘I’m a woman now, though.’

But I can still have a romance, right?

I asked her with that thought in mind, and she surprisingly told me her phone number willingly.

“Here you go. This is my business card, the phone number written there is my phone number, so please save it. And I don’t give this to just anyone.”

Seol-ah said that while handing over a black card from the small pocket of her suit.

I received it and said I understood, and then got off the elevator that had stopped.

“Then goodbye.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

A woman was visible as soon as I got off the elevator.

She was wearing a suit like Seol-ah, but her dark circles were full, probably because she was sitting at the counter every day.

“Excuse me.”

“Ugh… Ah, ah! Yes! What brings you here?”

The woman, who had been dozing off for a moment, bowed her head and quickly came to her senses and asked her.

Ha-yeon took out the card she had received from Jin Ha-jeong last time and handed it to her, and she widened her eyes and said to Ha-yeon.

“Ah! You’re Sword Demon?!”

She said that in surprise, but she was working quickly with her hands.

And soon, she handed her a necklace with an ID card attached to it.

“If you wear this necklace and go to the back, there’s the Association President’s office, so go there.”

Ha-yeon, who put it on her neck as she said, immediately headed to the Association President’s office without delay.

Before that, she almost got distracted by the luxurious corridor and the old-fashioned architectural style, and the delicious-looking and beautiful food that was visible to the side, but she barely regained her senses and reached the door of the Association President’s office.

“It’s big… As expected of the Association President.”

It was magnificent, as it was the place where the head of the three major groups in Korea, which influence not only domestic but also foreign countries, Thunderclap Palace, Elysia Academy, and Atlas, resides.

I’ll explain these three major groups later.

“Then shall we go in?”

-Beep!

-Identity verification, temporary S-rank Hunter pass has been verified.

-Unlocking the door.

The door opened with that sound.

As expected, the security level was extraordinary.

‘It’s really amazing.’

Ha-yeon, who thought so, smiled so small that no one would notice and entered the Association President’s office.

And she was able to meet Jin Ha-jeong again.

A little later, without knowing what would happen and what rumors would spread.

How pitiful.