Chapter 193: B-Rank Hunter (3)

Two company-affiliated hunters are heading home after finishing their day’s work.

For the first time in a while, Kang Hye-eun and Han Min-ah, having completed a dungeon exploration as a duo without other party members, set off on their way home together in the early evening.

“So, back then, do you know what that Sung Taekyung guy said? He said something like, ‘At least it wouldn’t be boring if it were just guys…’.”

“Mm, I see…”

“Seriously, back then, my fists just flew out instinctively. I mean, there are things you can mistake, and things you absolutely shouldn’t!”

Kang Hye-eun was half-listening to Han Min-ah’s words, chattering away enthusiastically as usual beside her, as she walked.

Because, due to other worries currently occupying her mind, she had absolutely no room to spare for a conversation, even with her best friend.

Lately, every day, for Kang Hye-eun, who was agonizing over how to raise the rank of the A-Class Hunter party ‘Sky Blue Shield’, Han Min-ah’s pointless chatter wasn’t particularly important.

The A-Class Hunter party, Sky Blue Shield.

Soon, if she didn’t seriously start thinking about how to raise the party’s rank, her party would stop growing and remain stuck at the A-Class level.

Her party, currently composed of four A-Class hunters, was admittedly a group that achieved pretty good results for the company.

After experiencing several crises recently, Kang Hye-eun, as the party leader, could no longer avoid considering the addition of new party members.

The incident where Cha Yuri, the long-range firepower specialist, lost her awakened ability and almost left the party.

The incident where Han Min-ah, an animal-type hunter, took unauthorized leave due to being in heat.

And the time Sky Blue Shield barely managed to survive a high-level dungeon, accompanied by two S-Class hunters, by the skin of their teeth.

If even one or two of the incidents mentioned above had gone wrong, Sky Blue Shield would have already lost its balance and disbanded, or faltered, within the year.

Fortunately, the first two incidents were somehow resolved for various reasons, but if they were just going to solve the immediate problems without progressing, she wouldn’t be agonizing like this.

Kang Hye-eun, who wanted to retry the A+ Class dungeon they had failed once, wanted to somehow grow the current party to the next level.

The ideal scenario would be for all current members to become A+ Class hunters or higher, but she knew better than anyone that this was realistically impossible.

She herself and Cha Yuri, the long-range firepower specialist, had no particular issues.

With partners to regularly satisfy their sexual desires, they no longer had to worry about retirement, so they could just focus on their own growth as they had been doing.

The problem lay with the other two members of Sky Blue Shield.

Cheon Jihee, the close-range firepower specialist, and Han Min-ah, the scout.

In Cheon Jihee’s case, it wouldn’t have been strange if she retired at any time. She had already entered her late twenties this year, at twenty-six.

It was almost miraculous that her awakened abilities hadn’t declined and she was still maintaining her skills as an A-Class hunter.

Could it be that, unbeknownst to her, she was meeting someone elsewhere to satisfy her sexual desires? To the extent that it was the only explanation, Cheon Jihee, who was still maintaining her active skills, was indeed amazing in many ways.

If she wasn’t secretly meeting another man somewhere, she would likely retire as a hunter within a year or two at most.

That age range was practically considered the maximum expected lifespan for active hunters, as many people saw it.

If she, who like Kang Hye-eun served as a solid front-liner in Sky Blue Shield, were to disappear overnight, Sky Blue Shield would also find it somewhat difficult to tackle A-Class dungeons as they used to.

Especially since, unlike herself whose abilities were mostly defense-oriented, Cheon Jihee’s skills were versatile awakened abilities combining both offense and defense.

If Cheon Jihee were to disappear, it would take a very long time to fill that spot again.

Perhaps, they might not even find someone to fill the vacancy until the very last moment.

And while Cheon Jihee was one issue, Kang Hye-eun was also acutely aware that Han Min-ah had a realistic limitation.

It was the ambiguous awakened abilities inherent to animal-type hunters.

Increasing muscle density for higher output, detecting enemies and traps with sharp animal senses, or the intuition displayed in crisis situations, were certainly helpful in party hunts.

However, the fact that an animal-type awakener’s abilities, no matter how outstanding, could never surpass the limits of an animal, constantly lingered in her mind.

Fortunately, Han Min-ah of Sky Blue Shield, despite being an animal-type hunter, had managed to reach A-Class, but most animal-type hunters couldn’t overcome their limitations, stopping their growth at B-Class.

Even that was a minority, as over 70% struggled as C-Class hunters before retiring.

Furthermore, historically, there were no cases of animal-type hunters achieving A+ rank or higher, so even though Han Min-ah was her closest friend, Kang Hye-eun had to judge objectively.

Of course, that wasn’t a reason to kick Han Min-ah, the scout, out of the party.

In fact, for a high-level party like Sky Blue Shield, a scout was essential, and Han Min-ah was the most competent scout among them.

However, the one drawback was her combat ability, which had stopped at A-Class.

While she could manage to evade A+ Class monsters currently, the moment they entered a dungeon with S-Class monsters or higher, Han Min-ah, just like Cha Yuri the firepower specialist, would have to be in a protected position.

This was precisely why there were so few S-Class parties.

To protect scouts and mages, additional S-Class hunter personnel were naturally required.

Therefore, creating an S-Class hunter party requires even more members than creating an A-Class hunter party.

However, the number of S-Class hunters was extremely small, so forming parties often faced difficulties.

Even the S-Class hunter parties currently active were mostly not groups of hunters belonging to a single guild, but rather parties formed by alliances of multiple guilds.

‘It might be tough to reach S-Class, but I really want to get to A+ Class somehow.’

Becoming the strongest hunter – the childhood dream of her best friend.

Thinking he couldn’t achieve it himself, she had simply attached herself to his ambition, but as she worked towards it, she found herself getting closer to his dream too.

Therefore, for Kang Hye-eun, who wanted to move to the next level within realistic possibilities, reinforcing Sky Blue Shield was always a concern.

“Hey, Kang Hye-eun!”

Startled.

At Han Min-ah’s sudden call, Kang Hye-eun jumped slightly.

“Uh, yeah? What is it?”

“No, I’m heading that way. We should say goodbye, right?”

“Ah, right. I see…”

While lost in thought for some time, Kang Hye-eun barely realized that they had reached their usual parting crossroads.

“Hey, you’ve got something on your mind lately, haven’t you?”

“…Huh?”

“I can tell you do. How many times have I told you not to suffer alone when you have something worrying you, huh?”

Since Han Min-ah couldn’t possibly miss the subtle changes in Kang Hye-eun’s expression, which had been off since the morning expedition, Han Min-ah, before parting, figured out that Kang Hye-eun was troubled by something serious.

Under Han Min-ah’s sudden interrogation, Kang Hye-eun looked slightly intimidated.

“It’s just that, it’s not the kind of worry that gets resolved just by talking about it with others.”

“Does a worry that doesn’t get resolved even when you talk about it with others get resolved if you just suffer alone?”

“…That’s true, but…”

“If it’s not something you can talk to me about, then you don’t have to, but if there’s no solution anyway, why not just stop worrying about it and let it go?”

“…You’re right. Actually, worrying about it doesn’t really solve the problem.”

Right. So what if Sky Blue Shield doesn’t become an A+ Class party?

After all, she, Cha Yuri, and Han Min-ah would continue party hunting together anyway.

Although she didn’t know when, if her childhood friend Sung Taekyung transferred to the company, he could potentially fill Cheon Jihee’s vacant spot.

She realized she didn’t need to find a solution right away only after hearing Han Min-ah’s words.

“Thanks, Min-ah. You’ve really lightened my burden.”

“Good then. From now on, don’t frown over pointless worries.”

“Okay, I will.”

“If it’s really something you can’t tell me, maybe try telling that Sung Taekyung guy.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s a problem that will resolve itself with time anyway, so I won’t worry about it anymore.”

“Then I’m glad.”

At their final parting crossroads, the two chatted for a few more minutes, then exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways.

“Bye, Min-ah!”

“You too, Kang Hye-eun!”

With a much lighter heart, on her way home.

Kang Hye-eun casually took out her smartphone and checked if there were any missed messages.

“…Ah!”

Seeing the lovely name displayed in her KakaoTalk message window naturally eased her troubled feelings.

「We’re having drinks at your place today with Eunyoung Noona, the three of us. You okay with that?」

After a period where they were too busy to see each other, this welcome message from her boyfriend.

At that familiar KakaoTalk message, Kang Hye-eun felt her heart flutter for the first time in a while.