When does love come and stir one's heart?
For Choi Jiwoo, that had been a question for some time.
It wasn’t that she had never experienced love.
When she was in elementary school, she had liked a boy in her class, writing him letters and giving him chocolates.
However.
After the great upheaval, and the death of her hunter older brother, Choi Jiwoo’s heart had turned cold.
The Hunter Bureau’s investigation revealed that her brother had been betrayed not by monsters, but by his fellow hunters, which led to his untimely death.
Choi Jiwoo prayed every day.
She prayed that she too would awaken, and that she could enact justice.
In the trial, the group that had harmed her brother had hired top-tier lawyers, and due to a suspended sentence, they were set free.
After that.
Choi Jiwoo prayed in her room and, eventually, awakened.
Her talent was in the three-sword style.
It was a term referring to thin swords, one of the swordsmanship talents.
Choi Jiwoo tirelessly worked on her growth.
She barely slept, constantly moving between dungeons and training grounds, developing her talents much faster than others.
At first, fighting the grotesque and enormous monsters had been difficult, but with nothing but revenge fueling her, she pushed herself to the limit.
Nothing could stop Choi Jiwoo.
High-level boss monsters, and hunters who harbored ill will toward her.
All of them fell to her rapier.
Choi Jiwoo had grown rapidly, driven by revenge for her brother.
And then, she finally encountered them.
The four hunters who killed her brother.
A raid with the culprits.
Choi Jiwoo had leveled up, then intentionally approached them.
‘Just like you did to my brother, I’ll return it tenfold.’
With revenge in her heart, Choi Jiwoo smiled brightly as she replied.
Choi Jiwoo followed the hunters who were hunting monsters and waited for the right moment.
Since they were outnumbered, it was best to take down one first before starting, so she could have the upper hand.
Just then.
A hunter with yellow-dyed hair stood before her, exposing his back completely.
A perfect unprotected state.
‘Now’s the time!’
Choi Jiwoo lunged her rapier toward the hunter’s back.
But then, at that moment...
Clang-!!
The other hunters blocked Choi Jiwoo’s attack.
They had noticed her plan from the beginning and set a trap.
Choi Jiwoo attacked the hunters with her rapier, but the skill difference was vast, and she was outnumbered.
A crisis where no hope seemed visible.
Meanwhile, the four hunters, with faces full of joy and desire, charged at Choi Jiwoo.
But then, just as Choi Jiwoo swung her rapier and the hunters charged like beasts...
Fwoosh-! Boom—!!
An unexpected turn of events.
Just as they rushed toward her, a shockwave appeared before Choi Jiwoo, sending the hunters flying backward.
The sudden explosion was none other than...
The leader of the Hunter Bureau stood before Choi Jiwoo, wielding a sword and shield.
The hunters immediately recognized him.
The tables had turned.
The four hunters adopted a combat stance, facing both Ko Gyeongseok and Choi Jiwoo.
There was no choice.
One of the hunters, with tattoos on his neck and arms, tried to ease the situation with a slick tongue, but it was of no use.
Then, they came out with audacity.
The hunters charged, seemingly intending to bury Ko Gyeongseok as well.
The young zeal and unrestrained madness fueled their charge.
From their posture, it didn’t seem like even the Hunter Bureau Chief would have an easy time.
But then.
Ko Gyeongseok drove his sword into the ground.
Boom—! Boom—! Crash—! Boom—!!
Four columns of fire erupted, engulfing the hunters.
Two of them charged through the flames, but one lost its head to Go Kyungseok's sword, while the other...
Thud!
In an instant, the battle was over.
Choi Jiwoo expressed her gratitude to Go Kyungseok.
When she awakened as a hunter and took the exam under the Hunter Bureau Chief, Go Kyungseok, who knew about her older brother’s case, secretly called her and gave her a summoning orb.
He warned that the culprits who killed her brother might target her as well and told her to use it in case of emergency.
His prediction was spot on.
Those who had killed her brother were judged, and her revenge was complete.
But...
Choi Jiwoo shook her head.
Thus began Choi Jiwoo's life as a Hunter Bureau agent.
She worked hard to clear dungeons on the brink of a dungeon break, arrest criminal hunters, and maintain order as a public servant hunter.
But perhaps because she became the Hunter Bureau's shining star, something felt off.
She had grown closer to her ideal as a hunter but was moving further from the image of the person she once wanted to be.
Love.
The fluttering feeling she had once felt as a child no longer came to her.
No matter how many celebrities or handsome men she saw, she didn’t feel attracted to them.
No, she didn’t even know what attraction was anymore.
She no longer had an interest in the opposite sex.
When she looked at someone, she was just relieved if she didn’t feel like they might be the culprit.
‘I can't go back now...’
The countless pains and sorrows she had endured had seemingly killed her ability to feel romantic emotions.
She felt like it was time to completely let go of love...
But then something changed inside her.
Kang Hyunsoo.
The moment she saw him, the man who saved the Samcheon Guild hunters by standing against Babylon, a warm breeze like spring filled her heart.
At first, she didn’t recognize it.
She just saw him being attacked by masked hunters and, thinking it looked dangerous, decided to help a little.
But as time passed and they experienced several incidents together, her feelings began to change.
He could have handed the case over to another department, but he insisted on handling it himself. He was interrogating Babylon hunters, tracking down their remnants, all to protect Hyunsoo.
It wasn’t just a sense of justice or duty.
There seemed to be something more.
But even Choi Jiwoo herself didn’t fully understand why she felt this way.
This feeling was so foreign to her that she didn’t know how to deal with it. So, she threw herself into work to distract herself, trying to resolve it by focusing on her duties.
<Choi Jiwoo Hunter – Kang Hyunsoo Hunter, how are you? The investigation at Jaewon University is finished. The cleanup at Paju Stadium is also done. I’m compiling the collected data and information. I think we’ll have conclusions soon.>
<Choi Jiwoo Hunter – I’m interrogating the Babylon agents and locating their base. Once this is finished, I believe things will ease up for you.>
Choi Jiwoo occasionally sent texts to Kang Hyunsoo to stay in touch.
She wanted to talk, but all she could discuss was work.
She wanted to eat together, but there was never an opportunity.
However, during her ongoing investigation of Babylon, the end was finally in sight.
Most of the Babylon agents started revealing information about their base.
Once the investigation was finished, she would have no reason to contact Kang Hyunsoo anymore.
So, Choi Jiwoo gathered her courage.
She had already found and searched Babylon’s base once, but due to a lack of manpower, she asked for Kang Hyunsoo's help.
Their long-awaited meeting was finally set.
Choi Jiwoo even went as far as to wear makeup, something she didn’t usually do, as she waited for him.
But then...
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"Hello, Hunter Choi Jiwoo. Long time no see."
"...?"
The moment she had been eagerly waiting for had come, yet Choi Jiwoo couldn’t fully enjoy it.
In Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
She had arranged to meet in a city near Babylon’s hidden base, [N O V E L I G H T] but she failed to recognize Kang Hyunsoo.
Instead of him, a tall, handsome man appeared.
Then, she realized...
The man in front of her had the same voice as Kang Hyunsoo.
"K-Kang Hyunsoo Hunter?!"
Choi Jiwoo covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide in shock.
His appearance was so transformed that even an ordinary celebrity would pale in comparison.
Could it be her eyes playing tricks?
Choi Jiwoo rubbed her eyes and looked at him again, but the result was the same.
"Wh-what happened? Is this really the Kang Hyunsoo I know?"
"I lost some weight. Bought some clothes too."
"No way... Can someone change this much just by that?"
Choi Jiwoo, with an expression of disbelief, scanned him from head to toe.
He had definitely lost some weight, and his fashion had completely changed.
Especially his outfit—normally a bit too bold for an average person—looked perfect on him.
It was like he was shooting a photo spread in everyday clothes.
A shirt with a slight V-neck and a long coat with a waist tie—none of it felt over the top, but instead gave him a daring, impressive look.
And that wasn’t all.
"But you came earlier than the scheduled time. Have you eaten?"
"Yes, I ate already. How about you, Hunter Kang Hyunsoo?"
"I ate as well. Shall we stop by a café and grab a drink before we leave?"
"Th-thank you..."
Before, she used to answer questions briefly and only when necessary, but now, he was speaking smoothly.
It wasn’t just his appearance that had changed.
What could she say? It felt like Kang Hyunsoo had leveled up in his daily life, just like how hunters level up.
As they headed to the café, Choi Jiwoo couldn’t help but steal glances at him.
And then, it finally hit her.
‘Ah... I’m... nervous...’
The long-frozen emotions inside her melted, all because of Kang Hyunsoo.