Chapter 194: Promotion Celebration Party (1)

After the impromptu drinking party at my childhood friend’s house was confirmed.

I quickly headed to the supermarket near my house to prepare the essentials for the drinking party.

The list probably consisted mostly of stocking up on alcoholic beverages like soju and beer.

Since it was likely to be a dinner combined with drinks, I considered buying just enough, but then…

“…Since Eunyoung Noona will be there, maybe I should buy a bit more.”

Thinking about Eunyoung Noona’s presence made me feel it would be better to buy plenty.

Even though she wouldn’t drink herself to the point of getting completely wasted, it was still better to have more than not enough.

As I was roughly organizing my shopping list in my head, someone popped out from behind the alley and grabbed my wrist.

“Oppa, are you alone?”

“……”

I had deliberately taken the alleyway instead of the main road to get there a bit faster, but I never expected to get tangled up with some shady alleyway delinquent girl like this.

If I had known this would happen, I should have just taken the main road, even if it meant taking a longer route.

A bothersome woman, the type they call a ‘tanned delinquent’ – with skin tanned dark like a gyaru and multiple piercings – approached me haphazardly.

“You look kind of lonely, so why don’t we lonely people grab a drink together?”

The woman, who approached me with a cliché pickup line out of the blue, rambled on, her tongue adorned with a silver piercing.

“I don’t need it, so please leave.”

“Aw, come on, don’t play hard to get when you like it.”

Seeing her casually sling an arm around my shoulder and move closer as she said that, a wave of unpleasantness instantly surged within me.

No matter how broad my taste in women might be compared to the average guy, it certainly didn’t mean I’d feel attracted to just any woman.

Especially women who initiate physical contact right off the bat like this were personally my least favorite type.

I had encountered countless women of this type back in high school, so I definitely wanted nothing to do with them for the rest of my life.

Besides, if I had to be picky, her looks weren’t exactly my type either.

“I have someone to meet, so please leave. Stop clinging to me.”

“Aw, you’re lying again~. Come on, let’s hang out!”

“Even if I didn’t have anyone to meet, you’re not my type.”

“Haaah, tsk, this guy’s really playing hard to get.”

I felt a slight increase in pressure from the woman’s hand gripping my shoulder.

She probably figured that as a guy, I wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight and would just give in.

No matter how tall or muscular a man is, she likely believed that without an awakening ability, men could never physically resist women.

“Hey, I’ll give you 200,000 won if we sleep together. Huh?”

“……What?”

“I don’t usually go this far, but I really like you, you know? How about 200,000 for one night, deal?”

This fucking bitch, who does she think I am, a hired gigolo?

Even though I earn awakening points by having sex with women, I don’t stick my dick into just any woman for money.

I peeled off the woman’s left hand gripping my shoulder and then clasped her fingers.

“Oh, 200,000 won is tempting… Ah, Aaaagh! Aaaagh!”

The woman’s pained groans, which started abruptly, echoed deep within the alley.

“Get lost while I’m still talking nicely. This fucking bitch, who does she think I am, a gigolo?”

“Aaaagh! You fucking bastard!”

“Just because you have some half-baked awakening ability, do you think all the men in the world are beneath you? Pick your fights wisely.”

“Aaaagh! Agh!”

As the grip on the woman’s hand tightened, her screams grew louder.

Thinking she had gotten the message, I loosely let go of the hand I was gripping.

“Aaaagh, shit… What kind of guy has such a strong grip…”

The woman rubbed her fingers, which I had held, and glared at me irritably.

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem inclined to back down easily, as I had hoped.

Women of this type often persist relentlessly, trying to achieve their goals by force.

This was a deserted alley, so if necessary, I’d have to beat her up and chase her away.

“Even if you offered me 100 million won, I wouldn’t sleep with you, so get lost if you understand.”

“…What did you say?”

“Did you shove your dick in your earhole? I don’t have a dick to give to a trashy whore like you, you idiot.”

Since it was clear she was just some insignificant woman, I deliberately taunted the delinquent girl, provoking her.

It was something I learned shortly after acquiring the awakening ability called ‘Hunter’s Lust Management’: this ability also includes the capacity to distinguish whether the other person is a Hunter or not.

When targeting non-Hunters, instead of the expected point gain, there was only a heart symbol, as if locked, in its place. Just like the twins who weren’t ‘yet’ Hunters.

In other words, the woman in front of me was likely insignificant, someone who hadn’t even properly hunted a D-class monster, which is why I deliberately spoke provocatively to elicit an excessive reaction from her.

Women like this usually come to their senses after getting beaten up once.

“…You damn bastard!”

As expected, the woman, provoked by my taunts, couldn’t control her sudden surge of anger and let out a string of curses.

A faint blue aura began to flow around her fist.

Is she really going to use her awakening ability just because a guy rejected her?

Just as I was about to dodge the woman’s fist, which she swung at me in uncontrolled rage.

‘Tak’

With a sound, a steel gauntlet shot out from the side and caught the incoming fist.

The charging woman’s body froze in mid-air as if fixed to the horizontal coordinates.

“…Huh?”

As the woman’s furious expression turned blank and dumbfounded.

The owner of the hand that stopped the woman’s punch was emitting an endless stream of purple energy from their entire body.

“Kang Hye-eun?”

“…You bitch.”

I called out the name of my suddenly appearing childhood friend, but perhaps due to her anger, Hye-eun didn’t seem to hear me.

She merely spat out a cold curse while looking at the woman who had attacked me.

And immediately after, the delinquent girl, held by Hye-eun’s hand, flew through the air.

“…Wha-?”

The woman, wearing a dumbfounded expression mixed with panic and confusion, flew through the air for a moment before crashing powerlessly against a wall.

“…Kahaak!”

With a loud crash, the delinquent, who had slammed into the ground with her whole body, let out a pained groan.

…Unfortunately, the suffering of the woman who had been bothering me didn’t end there.

“Aaaagh!”

Kang Hye-eun, now emitting purple energy from her entire body, was ramming herself directly into the delinquent cornered against the wall.

“Kku-ack!”

The delinquent, crushed between the wall and Hye-eun’s body, let out another pained groan.

“You, you goddamn fucking bitch!”

“Kahaak…!”

“Who the hell are you, to [mess] with our Taekyung, you fucking bitch…”

“Hey, Hye, Hye-eun! Calm down first!”

Although it was merely a body check without the shield aspect of Shield Charge, Kang Hye-eun’s attacks, emitting countless streams of purple energy, were powerful blows even without a shield.

I quickly pulled her back from behind as she, filled with rage, tried to ram into the woman pinned against the wall a second and third time.

I had intended to rough up the delinquent a bit, but certainly not to beat her mercilessly like this.

Before things could escalate into a major problem, I quickly grabbed the berserk Hye-eun and stopped her.

‘Was she always this unhesitant when using violence?’

Her unexpected behavior, which I had never seen before, stirred a strange feeling in my mind for a moment.

“…Huh? Tae, Taekyung?”

“Stop it, stop! You’ll kill her!”

“Ah, okay…”

Perhaps hearing my words finally brought her back to her senses, Hye-eun barely managed to stop her body, which had been lunging at the delinquent.

“…Hieek, sh, shiiiit…!”

The woman who had rudely picked a fight with me hobbled away quickly out of the alley.

“……”

“……”

In the somewhat heavy atmosphere, only Kang Hye-eun and I remained in the dim alley.

“Why the scary face? Calm down, Hye-eun.”

“Yeah…”

Recalling her momentary loss of control and resorting to violence, she answered while avoiding my gaze.

“How did you know to come here? This isn’t exactly on the way from your company to home, is it?”

“The supermarket where Taekyung, you, goes grocery shopping is always this one nearby…”

“Huh?”

“I thought maybe I could help carry your bags if you needed it…”

It seemed she had seen the KakaoTalk message I left and was planning to shop together before heading home.

“Tae, Taekyung, about what just happened…”

“I know. You were just momentarily agitated because you were worried about me, right?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“I’m not an idiot. Do you think I’d see you, Hye-eun, as someone who just throws violence around anywhere, given the situation? You don’t need to make excuses, I understand, so it’s okay.”

“Oh, I see…”

“Besides, even if you hadn’t stepped in, I would have acted similarly.”

Eunyoung Noona might have told me not to wield my awakening ability carelessly, but that applies only in normal situations.

When the other party initiates the confrontation and uses their ability first, like in this case, taking action is a necessary measure for self-defense.

Rather than lecturing her about using her ability carelessly, I should be grateful that Hye-eun saved me the trouble of doing it myself.

Besides, it would be quite comical for me, a newly minted B-class Hunter, to lecture Hye-eun, an A-class Hunter, about her awakening abilities.

“Since we ran into each other anyway, let’s go grocery shopping together and then head back.”

“S-sure?”

“Let’s consider it a make-up date outside after a long time. I couldn’t even meet you last time because I was busy.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

As soon as I said that, Hye-eun’s expression brightened, and she nodded. I took her hand and walked out of the alley.

By the time we finished shopping and arrived at my childhood friend’s house, time had passed, and it was already late evening.