Ch.37The Princess Can’t Live Without You

The elevator doors opened, and I leapt across the rooftops of high-rise buildings before landing on one.

“Grrrr…”

This high-rise was quite far from the open field where we first met.

In the distance, I could see emergency helicopters and numerous rescue personnel heading toward where the mansion had been.

Meanwhile.

“……”

I’ve managed to fool everyone else.

Now, how do I fool Ms. Cheran?

I essentially kidnapped her the moment my identity was exposed.

If my true identity spreads across the world from here, I’ll be permanently isolated from human society.

Moreover, if things go wrong, everything I’ve done so far…

Attacking a Hunter branch director, deceiving a daughter from one of the World’s 10 Great Families—these crimes could brand me as a traitor to humanity, a “Villain.”

‘That can’t happen… Please, anything but the Villain’s Troupe route!’

Humans treated as monsters.

Commonly known as Villains.

They were major criminals whose names appeared on international wanted lists.

People who lost all human rights and were hunted by Hunter Associations and the World Government until death.

And the organization formed by such people was the “Villain’s Troupe,” the main antagonist group in the “Hunter’s Blood” universe.

‘Even in the original work, they said most characters would be sold as DLC later, so not many people actually met them…’

Literally a hideout for “villains with stories.”

There were no one-dimensional bad guys—just a collection of sympathetic villains with tear-jerking backstories.

And in the original work, all the Villain’s Troupe members I met came to bad ends.

As if the game developers were saying “Stop the washing machine!” they all died tragically.

‘If I end up on the Villain’s Troupe route in reality, my mental state definitely won’t survive.’

Above all, the Villain’s Troupe route is exclusively for hardcore veteran players.

And it always ends badly.

Even if you somehow reach the conclusion, all your Villain’s Troupe comrades are already annihilated, and humanity itself faces extinction—the worst possible outcome.

…That was the confirmed route with an open-ended conclusion.

“Grrrr!”

‘I have to convince Ms. Cheran somehow!’

The only option here was to kneel before Ms. Cheran and beg for my life, even if it killed me.

“Um… Mr. Shinwoo. Could you put me down first?”

“Grrrk!”

‘Yes!’

I carefully set Ms. Cheran down on the rooftop as instructed.

Then we awkwardly made eye contact.

“Mr. Shinwoo.”

“……”

“Conversation is impossible in that state, right?”

“Grrrk.”

I nodded.

Even as a humanoid monster, my jaw structure wasn’t human, so my response was always the same “grrrk.”

I nodded to indicate it was impossible.

“Then could you please return to human form?”

Ms. Cheran was trying to get me to transform back to my original form so we could talk.

…Could this be a trap?

If I return to human form now, would I immediately get punched in the solar plexus?

If that happened, I would certainly die.

But I didn’t really have any other options in this situation.

For the second time today, I emitted black smoke from my body and returned to being Han Shinwoo.

When I did, Ms. Cheran’s eyes widened in surprise, even though she had asked me to do it.

“…! So it really is possible… transformation…”

“Yes, well, that’s right…”

“…Have you been like this since birth?”

“Yes. That’s how it turned out…”

After this brief exchange, a few seconds of silence followed.

I had expected to be interrogated and treated like a criminal, so this was unexpected.

‘Why isn’t she asking anything?’

Or is she planning to execute me right here?

At that moment, I wished I had been possessed by a Hunter with a different job than Kaijufication Hunter.

“It would be troublesome if your identity was exposed, right?”

“…What?”

Ms. Cheran suddenly asked about my circumstances.

I nodded in agreement.

“I understand. Then I’ll keep it a secret.”

“……What?!”

Ms. Cheran was suddenly taking my side.

I was completely confused by this turn of events.

To be frank, from the Hunter’s perspective, I could be seen as a monster pretending to be human.

And she’s just going to let me go, like some wild deer?

Why?

What’s the reason?

I was curious about this, even though I could have just kept quiet and ended the situation here.

Wondering if I had missed some clue, I couldn’t resist my veteran player habits and asked Ms. Cheran:

“Why are you letting me go?”

When she heard that, Ms. Cheran’s eyes widened.

Then, after a moment, she looked away from me and suddenly asked something unexpected.

“Do you remember me?”

“……What?”

Of course I remember you.

You’re my mother’s disciple—how could I forget?

Besides, why would she suddenly ask if I remember her when we already know each other?

I was slow to answer.

“…Never mind.”

“……?”

“I just… I just feel like I can trust Mr. Shinwoo. I believe you’re on humanity’s side, so I’ve decided to look the other way.”

She turned back to me with a bright smile and expressed her support for me, despite my being half-monster.

“You’re on humanity’s side, right?”

“…!! Yes! Of course!”

“Hehe. That’s all I needed to know. Now, let’s head down before anyone gets suspicious.”

“Ah, yes!”

With that, Yoo Cheran opened the rooftop door first and entered the building.

And behind her, Mr. Shinwoo.

Or more precisely, as she looked back at the monster from Jamsil who had saved her and her family during that incident:

“You’ve always been my role model, Mr. Shinwoo.”

Yoo Cheran quietly expressed her gratitude, her cheeks flushing red.

***

In the first-floor lobby of the Korean branch.

With the sudden appearance of a Russian National Authority-Level Hunter and Princess Kurumi’s kidnapping, the place was busy.

“……”

There was one person crouched alone, keeping even Hunters at a distance, preventing anyone from approaching.

It was Princess Kurumi, who was in a state of panic, surrounded by humans supposedly for her protection.

“Ugh… ugh…!”

She couldn’t even lift her head and was curled up like an armadillo.

The Hunters all maintained a distance of at least 5 meters from the princess, and while they all felt they should do something, they were sweating nervously at the fact that there was nothing they could do.

This was also true for Lee Jin-ah, who was in charge of the branch.

“Director, what should we do?”

“There’s nothing we can do. Just stand by quietly.”

Even if they wanted to help, approaching would only make things worse, and there seemed to be no solution.

As an example, beside her:

Due to the lobby being particularly crowded today with all the incidents, even though she was experienced, Sophia, who had the same Beast Hunter constitution as Princess Kurumi…

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Sis, are you okay?”

“…….Yes.”

Lee Jin-ah could only sigh as she watched Sophia trembling in a corner of the lobby, being comforted by a baby monster she had summoned.

‘This is frustrating… But we can’t just leave such an important person sitting on the floor until the mansion is repaired…’

Moreover, if this panic state continued, there was a possibility it could lead to permanent panic disorder.

This was a potentially dangerous moment for Korean-Japanese diplomacy.

Should she try sending all the Hunters in the lobby outside as a temporary measure?

‘…No. That would defeat the purpose of bringing the princess here.’

So was this a no-win situation?

If the princess disliked humans, they could summon her Lancelot to comfort her, but there were too many people here to do that.

So for now, all they could do was watch.

“Huff, huff, huff!”

Just as Jin-ah was sighing quietly:

“Sophia, are you okay?”

“…! Han Shinwoo!”

“……Han Shinwoo?”

A familiar voice came from the corner of the lobby where Sophia had been.

Turning to see how a Beast Hunter could make such a sound in such a crowded area:

“Ah, that boy…”

She saw Rolling’s adopted son from 10 years ago comforting the trembling Sophia.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Idiot! That’s what I should be asking you!”

“Haha. Is that so?”

“Brother, welcome back!”

“Yeah. I’m back, Lia.”

Lee Jin-ah’s eyes widened as she watched the two people and the monster.

‘I never thought I’d see such an expression on a Beast Hunter’s face…’

She had only heard about this in drinking sessions, so seeing it in person was truly fascinating.

She had planned to ask Sophia why the baby monster from the research wing had become her familiar if she ever got the chance to meet her.

‘This is personally quite interesting.’

Meanwhile.

Step, step.

“…! Ugh, ugh…!”

“Lia, what’s wrong?”

Jin-ah began walking toward the three of them.

As she approached, Lia recalled her traumatic past and immediately hid behind Shinwoo’s back.

Only then did the two seem to notice who had arrived.

“Hello, you two.”

“Ah, Director…”

“……”

“I’m personally interested in both of you. Especially you, Han Shinwoo, was it? I’m more interested in you.”

“…Is that so?”

Since this was Shinwoo’s first time meeting Jin-ah in human form, he tried to act as if this was their first encounter.

However, recalling the battle from not long ago, he couldn’t hide his hostility.

‘Hmm? He’s glaring at me intensely. Did I do something wrong?’

Jin-ah tilted her head, looking at Shinwoo.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Jin-ah smiled gently at Shinwoo regardless of his reaction, then turned to her left and pointed with her index finger.

“Could I entrust that person to you, Shinwoo?”

“…? That person?”

“Yes. If we leave her like that, she might develop panic disorder and potentially regress to an infantile state.”

“……?!”

Only then did Shinwoo notice Princess Kurumi crouched in a cleared space among the crowd.

“W-why should Shinwoo…?”

As Shinwoo’s hand slipped from hers, Sophia wanted to hold onto him, even forcefully if necessary.

But by the time she opened her mouth:

Tap tap tap.

Shinwoo was already running toward the person who truly needed him.

“Princess.”

“…Eh?”

Shinwoo smiled brightly and extended his hand, ready to help someone who needed him.

In the midst of the hateful red aura surrounding her, only one person emitted a white light and extended his hand to her.

Like a lifeline from heaven, the moment she grabbed that hand:

“Hwa, hwaaaaaaang!”

“There, there.”

Princess Kurumi clung to Shinwoo as if she had been terrified, as if she had wanted to die, her teeth chattering and tears and snot flowing in a manner unbefitting her noble bloodline.

She began to endlessly pour out the tears she had been holding back in her anxious heart.

“I, I thought… y-you were d-dead…! I… I was… s-so scared…!”

“Don’t worry. I’m alive.”

Meanwhile, the crowd in the lobby—Hunters, receptionists, and even Shinwoo’s senior Meisters—all stood with their mouths agape in surprise.

Except for one person.

“S-sis…”

Lia looked up worriedly at her.

Only in Sophia’s eyes could one see droplets forming that somehow expressed frustration.