Chapter 4: Jin Se-ah

After leaving the counseling office, Ja Hwa-yeon walked silently with Geumgang toward the parking lot.

She slipped into the back seat of the large sedan.

At first, even riding in this strange conveyance had felt awkward, but now she was quite used to it.

The door closed, and the noise of the outside world was instantly silenced.

In the quiet space, Ja Hwa-yeon gazed blankly at the scenery passing outside the window.

Geumgang, sitting in the driver’s seat, glanced at her expression in the rearview mirror.

Just what…

It wasn’t anger, nor was it sadness. It was an expression he couldn’t decipher.

Just then, she spoke in a low voice.

“Geumgang.”

At Ja Hwa-yeon’s quiet call, Geumgang, still gripping the steering wheel, flinched.

He knew, of course, that the document the Left Protector had given him was gone.

He remembered the moment the counselor had brushed past him as he waited anxiously outside the office—the man had lifted the document from his person, skillfully, yet just obviously enough for him to notice.

At that moment, he had pretended not to see.

No, it wasn’t that he’d pretended not to see.

He had tacitly approved.

It was his own cowardice, unable to defy the Left Protector’s command, yet also unable to bring himself to tell the Young Lady.

He had desperately hoped that the young physician, a neutral third party, would reveal the whole truth in his stead.

That he would do what Geumgang himself could not.

That had been his fervent wish.

Lacking the courage to meet her eyes in the rearview mirror, Geumgang kept his gaze fixed straight ahead and answered heavily.

“Yes, Young Lady.”

Ja Hwa-yeon, still staring out the window, spoke in a cold voice.

“When we return to the Cult, convene the Ten Demons’ Council immediately.”

Ja Hwa-yeon’s declaration was laced with a sharp, cutting aura.

A chill ran down Geumgang’s spine.

The Ten Demons’ Council was a meeting in which the Ten Demons themselves participated, held only to address matters of grave importance to the Cult.

In an unwavering voice, filled with all his loyalty, Geumgang replied.

“I… will obey your command.”

After that, silence once again filled the car.

Ja Hwa-yeon gazed at her own reflection in the car window.

Her once-chaotic mind had become unbelievably clear.

She had been agonizing over the path she should take.

‘Whatever you wish.’

But he hadn’t given me the answer.

He had merely reminded me of a truth I already knew.

And with that one phrase, my mind cleared as if by magic.

That’s right.

I am the Heavenly Demon.

My judgment is the law of the Cult.

I need no one’s permission.

The path forward is so incredibly clear.

‘Physician. Yoo Seon-woo….’

For the first time, Ja Hwa-yeon thought of his name.

From now on, she would be sure to remember it.

*

“I’m sure it will be.”

“Ooh, so confident~”

Jin Se-ah looked at me with an unreadable smile.

“Let’s just go get something to eat.”

I stood up, put on my coat, and changed the subject.

Jin Se-ah bounced along behind me, not letting up with her questions.

“But reeeally~ I won’t tell a soul~ Can’t you just tell me~?”

I pressed the elevator button and replied.

“Nope.”

Then, I felt a light tap on my back from her palm.

“Hmph.”

I chuckled at Jin Se-ah’s pouting and stepped into the elevator.

Once outside, we arrived at the restaurant where we had reservations.

The problem was that the S-class hunter Jin Se-ah was quite the celebrity.

“Hunter Jin Se-ah!!”

“Can I please have your autograph!!!”

The moment she stepped into the restaurant, people swarmed her from all sides.

“Sorry, you go on in first. I think I’ll be in the way.”

“Okay.”

So, Jin Se-ah stood outside the restaurant, signing autographs for people.

It wouldn’t be right to disrupt their business, after all.

Through the window, I could see her surrounded by people, signing away.

Turning away from the scene, I switched on the wall-mounted TV in the corner of the restaurant to kill time.

A news channel was on.

The anchor, who had been reporting the day’s events in a peaceful voice, suddenly sounded urgent.

—We have breaking news! A new Transfer has been confirmed near Cheorwon, Gangwon Province… The individual is presumed to be an Outsider from an Unregulated World….

“What? Another one?”

—The influx of Outsiders has been increasing recently, and with it, the number of newly Regulated Worlds is also on the rise….

A phenomenon where people from other dimensions crossed over to this side for reasons unknown.

People called it a Transfer, and those who came over were called Outsiders.

And a world where a Transfer had once occurred—a world where a path had been opened—would consistently produce Outsiders.

We called these worlds, where such consistent exchange… or rather, discharge, occurred, Regulated Worlds.

Prime examples included Jungwon, the world from which the Heavenly Demon I had just counseled, Ja Hwa-yeon, had come.

The Empire, a fantasy world of swords, magic, and nobility.

Neo City, a metropolis of machines and artificial intelligence.

Besides those, there were countless others, from nameless worlds to post-apocalyptic ones where everything had been destroyed.

The variety was immense.

And I was one of them.

The world I came from.

This world called it…

‘Entropy Earth.’

A world with the same structure and laws as this one, but where neither magic nor superpowers existed.

Sometimes, when I watch TV, I feel like my being here is all a dream.

Just like right now.

On the TV screen, shaky drone footage filled the screen.

At the center of the frame stood a man who looked as if he had just completed his Transfer.

But his aura was anything but ordinary.

He wore heavily scratched leather armor, had a shaggy beard, and, most decisively, wielded a massive double-bladed axe as large as he was.

He began to look around with a tense expression.

He appeared to be an Outsider from the Empire.

Now, that man’s future would follow one of three paths.

He could have a good heart, adapt to this world, have his talents recognized, and become a hunter.

Or, he could become a villain, overconfident in his own power and bent on destruction.

Or, in the worst-case scenario…

He could immediately reveal a ferocious nature, resist the hunters dispatched to the scene… and be killed on the spot.

I swallowed hard and continued to watch the screen.

Beyond the translucent force field deployed by heavily armed hunters, a woman in a pure white doctor’s gown, without any protective gear, was cautiously approaching him.

The axe-wielding man took a stance as if ready to pounce at any moment, his guard never lowering.

How long could that force field really protect the doctor?

The tension was palpable.

I don’t know how much time passed.

Whether the doctor’s words had gotten through or not, the man finally, slowly, lowered his axe to the ground.

Then, guided by the hunters, he surrendered without further resistance.

Watching the screen, I let out a sigh of relief without realizing it.

It seemed he had, at the very least, avoided the third option.

“Phew….”

The reason I was so invested in that scene…

Was because that woman’s position in the doctor’s gown…

Was one I would soon have to fill.

Until now, civilian counselors or psychiatrists like her had been deployed to handle Transfer sites.

The reasoning was that since the Outsiders’ languages were automatically translated during the Transfer process, communication itself wasn’t an issue.

But communication was never the problem.

Countless doctors and counselors had lost their lives or returned injured after facing Outsiders who were no different from ticking time bombs, armed with unpredictable powers.

And so, my position was created.

I was to be the Republic of Korea’s very first Hunter Mental Counselor, one equipped with both the physical abilities of a hunter and the skills of a psychiatrist.

For now, I wasn’t being deployed to the field under the pretext of an adaptation period, but…

That perilous role would soon fall entirely to me.

After becoming a counselor, I had once casually asked an Association employee.

‘When are you planning to hire a second counselor? The sooner, the better, I’d think.’

The employee, unable to meet my eyes, had cleared his throat and replied.

‘Ah… well, the requirements are quite stringent, you see….’

‘…So, around when, do you think?’

‘Perhaps… when the current position… becomes vacant, the next… recruitment will…?’

‘…Excuse me?’

When the current position becomes vacant.

In other words, they’d only hire my successor after I died on the job and was six feet under.

What wonderful news.

I gave a bitter smile and drank some water.

Screech.

Just then, the sliding door to our private room opened with a cheerful sound.

“Phew, all done! Sorry! A crowd just suddenly formed.”

Jin Se-ah plopped down in the seat across from me. Then she chugged the glass of water on the table in one go.

“Ah… that’s better. So, what are you doing this afternoon? A house call?”

“Nope. I have clinic appointments this afternoon, too, until the end of the week.”

“Oh, really? When do the house calls start?”

House calls.

The number of Outsiders appearing each year wasn’t high enough to keep me busy full-time. So, in addition to my regular counseling sessions, I was also tasked with making on-site visits to various guilds for treatment.

“Probably… next week?”

So, clinic appointments in the afternoon until the end of this week.

House calls would start next week.

From Outsider care to on-site mental care for hunters.

Was this really my life?

“Then… you’ll come to our guild first, right?”

She leaned her upper body far over the table, her golden eyes sparkling.

“Hmm….”

It did seem right to start with the guild I used to belong to.

And I was more comfortable with people I knew.

After a moment, I casually checked her status.

[Jin Se-ah]

[Main Stance]

[Wants to ■eet you at the guild■? She is ※esperately hopi▲g you will visit the guil▲d ■?※◆]

I forced myself to piece together the text from amidst the static.

‘Wants to meet you at the guild? She is desperately hoping you will visit the guild?’

It wasn’t easy to interpret, but that was probably the gist of it.

For some time now, her Main Stance had been riddled with static.

It hadn’t been like this in the early days of our hunter careers, when we fought together on the battlefield.

As time went on, she climbed higher and higher.

And at some point, this static had started to interfere.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when my ability was used on a powerful mental-type hunter, or on someone whose class had risen above a certain level.

It didn’t happen with everyone who grew stronger; it was a rare occurrence.

Jin Se-ah wasn’t a mental-type ability user.

Therefore, I surmised that her class was high, and on top of that, her mental fortitude was exceptionally strong.

Her prowess as a hunter was, after all, immense.

“Where are you staring so intently?”

Just then, Jin Se-ah seemed to notice my gaze and leaned her face in closer.

I snapped out of my daze and met her eyes.

“So, our guild. You’ll come, right?”

I smiled back and answered lightly.

“Yeah, I’ll go.”

At my answer, Jin Se-ah’s golden eyes curved in satisfaction.

Even though I had left the guild, I still considered her a trustworthy colleague.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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