* * *

One of my two guesses was right. Min Ga-on was a crazy bastard. In the end, I couldn’t hold back and spoke first.

“…Hey, you—do you not have a job?”

Min Ga-on, casually sitting in the empty café beside me, tilted his head. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, filtering through his black hair and giving it a faint bluish glow. The thin silver-rimmed glasses on his sharp nose suited him perfectly. His eyes, seen through an extra layer of lenses, sparkled beautifully, almost like ice crystals.

“I’m doing it right now.”

That pretending-to-be-innocent expression had been nothing but irritating.

He really had seemed busy all day, exchanging emails on his tablet. Still, for an S-rank hunter and the head of a guild, there had to be things he couldn’t handle through messages alone. 

Even when I turned on my phone, it had been hard to find any news segment that didn’t show Min Ga-on’s face. And according to the news I’d seen at the hospital, Min Ga-on had been the hero who eliminated the first S-rank gate to appear in years. 

Whether it was negotiations with the Hunter Association, disputes with other guilds, or meetings for interviews or advertisements, I was sure there had been plenty of people lining up to see him, right?

‘If not, he could train his skills, or just spend time with his lover!’

I wished he would at least do something on his own… But contrary to that hope, he never left my side for more than five minutes. After sticking with me all day, inside and outside the house, for two whole weeks, I was starting to get fed up. Even if he was concerned about me as a patient, this was going too far.

On top of that, the “home” Min Ga-on had brought me to after leaving the hospital wasn’t Ryu Yeon-ho’s. None of Ryu Yeon-ho’s belongings were there. It was clear they had always lived separately. And yet, he still stayed right beside me, watching everything I did.

The house, with its modern interior decorated entirely to Min Ga-on’s taste and blue lighting, felt like a fancy prison. I had no idea what this calculating guy was planning, but I wished he would at least explain why he was following me around. Feeling drained, I slumped over the table—and Min Ga-on immediately took the chance to start talking to me.

“Why? Are you bored, Yeon-ho hyung?”

Please… just stop already. Last time, I had absentmindedly nodded at the same question, and we had ended up watching a movie alone in a theater that had been completely rented out for us, and even rode roller coasters alone in a theme park that had been entirely booked.

The reason this café had been empty was that Min Ga-on had rented the whole place for the day. Otherwise, it would have filled up instantly with people recognizing him.

At this moment, only one barista was quietly working at a counter far away. 

Even the sound of footsteps was almost completely absorbed by the thick carpet. Because of him, I had had an unexpected experience of living like a wealthy heir.

‘Could he stop bothering me and just focus on his own work?’

While holding back my irritation, my eyes wandered and I scanned the café inside and out—the entrance, possible emergency exit routes, even the area outside the window. Quickly checking my surroundings like this had become a habit, just as it had when I first entered a dungeon. 

Even though I knew my current F-rank body couldn’t make proper use of the details I’d noticed, my mind still worked like Hong Jun, the S-rank hunter I once was. I let out a bitter laugh when I realized I had even scanned the structures on the rooftop of the building across the street while Min Ga-on’s attention was momentarily on his tablet.

‘Will this really make a difference?’

A wave of helplessness and bitterness hit me. But I couldn’t just do nothing. There were too many things I needed to figure out. Without thinking, I tapped my fingers on the table, sorting through my thoughts one by one.

First, I need to find out who killed me. Second, why the possession occurred. Third, whether there was any way to use my skills with this weak body.

The tap, tap, tap of my fingernails against the table oddly matched the rhythm of my anxious heartbeat.

‘And lastly, I want to test this F-rank healing skill quickly…’

In any case, it was unlikely I would get answers to the first three questions right away. But I could easily test an F-rank skill as long as I had the time. By now, my curiosity had become stronger than my self-control. When I realized my body was reacting with anticipation to see the effects of this unknown skill, I let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.

‘I already died once because of a skill, and now I’m obsessing over it again…’

Even with this weak body, I couldn’t resist the urge to check my skills. When I opened the skill window in my mind, the list I had gone over so many times before appeared once again.

[List of Skills: 5

1. 1. Attack Skill: “Abyssal Hellfire” (S)

1. 1. Attack Skill: “Inferno” (S)

1. 1. Support Skill: “Blazing Gaze” (S)

1. 1. Support Skill: “Melting Point” (S)

1. 1. Healing Skill: “□□□ □□” (F)]

That was all the information the system showed me. The so-called ‘system,’ which I started seeing once I awakened as a hunter, was by default extremely unhelpful. I found it easier to think of it as a game-style status window that only showed a sliver of information. 

It didn’t tell me what the skill actually did, what category it belonged to, or how much mana it used. It didn’t provide any of the information I needed to use the skill properly. Uncovering that information depended entirely on the hunter’s own will and effort. To truly master a skill, I had to go through countless failures and repeated attempts. Hunters called that process ‘testing.’

‘Still, it was a relief that the healing skill activated by chance last time.’

It flashed through my mind in an instant, but I still remembered the information I saw back then clearly.

– Recovery success rate: 9%

– Recovery effect: 3%

– Recovery sustain effect

– Cooldown: 48 hours

‘If a skill has three or more effects, it should normally be at least S-rank or A-rank.’

No matter how I looked at the skill, it seemed strange in every way. It went against everything I’d experienced so far. I’d worked as a hunter for ten years, but I had never heard of a skill like this. Still, since it was a healing skill, I could’ve asked any healers I knew, even if it was just a desperate attempt. 

The problem was, whether back when I was Hong Jun or now, I didn’t have any connections at all. So I had no choice but to test it myself. Every time the cooldown ended, I used the skill without any plan. The first person I tried it on was the housekeeper who cleaned Min Ga-on’s house.

[…]

The system remained silent. With no response, it was clear the skill couldn’t be used on ordinary people. That wasn’t surprising, since some skills simply didn’t affect them.

The second person I tested it on was the female secretary who occasionally delivered guild reports to Min Ga-on. Despite her role as a secretary, the presence she carried made it clear she was a fairly high-ranked hunter.

[…]

This time too, the system remained unresponsive.

‘What…? A skill that doesn’t work on hunters either?’

That couldn’t be. I had clearly seen the skill activate on Min Ga-on at the hospital.

‘Could it… only activate on certain people?’

The final test subject was Min Ga-on. Honestly, I would have preferred not to choose him because there was no way to know what might happen. Considering his sharp senses, it was a particularly risky move. 

The sensory abilities of an S-rank hunter were far beyond those of ordinary people. Any attempt I made would likely be noticed immediately. But after failing on every other visible target, I had no other choice.

‘If this skill reveals who I am… I’ll deny it no matter what.’

With that determined thought, I activated the skill on Min Ga-on.

[…]

The system stayed completely quiet.

‘What on earth is this useless skill!’

It should at least work on the same target, shouldn’t it? I struggled to keep from losing my temper. My mind felt like it was about to explode.

‘I’ll figure out the activation conditions, no matter what it takes.’

If I didn’t figure this out, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. My mouth tasted bitter, and my determination to understand the skill burned inside me.

Usually, the higher the skill’s rank, the harder it was to figure out how it worked. 

When I was Hong Jun-il, I had already maxed out my five S-rank skills. I couldn’t let my pride allow me to give up on a simple F-rank skill.