After the storm that had swept through the house, everything had finally settled down.
They had called in a repair company to reinstall the door that had been blown off, and all the repairs were now finished.
Choi Jeongil, having been completely absorbed in fishing, had gone back to take care of the work he’d fallen behind on.
Han Suyeon had also come down without any prior plans, so she had to return immediately.
Thanks to that, only two people remained in the house.
“Mmm~”
Joo Jihye nodded repeatedly as she chewed on a strawberry.
She reveled in the sensation of the juicy flesh filling her mouth.
The strawberries were even more delicious than last time.
And seeing an entire bowl still piled high with them filled her with happiness.
She grabbed the bowl and got to her feet, heading toward the living room.
There, she saw Oh Hyeonseong sitting in a lone chair that had been placed in the otherwise empty room.
Joo Jihye flashed a triumphant smile.
“Looks like you like it?”
“Like what?”
“The chair. The house looked so empty, so I bought it. See? It really brightens up the gloomy interior.”
The chair Oh Hyeonseong was sitting in was one she had brought herself.
She had felt bad about doing nothing but eating his strawberries, so she’d decided to bring him a proper gift.
It was a high-end chair worth more than ten million won.
“I sit in it because it’s here… but I don’t understand why anyone would pay ten million won for this.”
“This is a limited-edition Boca de Lava model!”
“What does that mean?”
At his completely indifferent response, Joo Jihye shook her head in frustration.
If she hadn’t been a famous celebrity, it would have been nearly impossible for her to acquire one no matter how much money she had.
But that aside…
From an ordinary person’s perspective, the design was exceptionally bizarre.
He should’ve bought something that actually matched the surroundings. A chair this flashy was more trouble than it was worth.
“…I wonder if I could get a million won for it on Karrot.”
“W-Why would you put this on Karrot?! You can’t even find one of these for money! Wait, you’re joking, right?”
She followed Oh Hyeonseong outside, chattering away behind him.
But he merely shook his head, thinking that if it wouldn’t sell on Karrot, it probably wouldn’t sell anywhere.
“Come over here and eat!”
He plopped down on the porch and set down a basket.
The smell of roasted sweet potatoes wafted through the air, and the Spirits that had been scattered around playing immediately gathered around.
Each of them grabbed a large sweet potato and started sharing them among themselves.
“Nngh!”
Exclamations of delight came from the Spirits sitting here and there.
Oh Hyeonseong also felt the chilly winter breeze and took a big bite of the steaming roasted sweet potato.
Winter sweet potatoes really are something else.
How could a naturally grown crop have such an incredibly rich sweetness?
It was on an entirely different level from the cheap, intensely flavored commercial sauces designed to assault people’s taste buds.
He savored the flavor filling his mouth as various thoughts began to occupy his mind.
What should I have next?
Bungeoppang, hotteok, eomuk, and so on.
They were all on his winter wishlist.
Eomuk hadn’t originally been on the list, but now that he had secured the reservoir, even that had become possible.
He thought that at some point he’d have to go up to Seoul and buy an eomuk cooker or a bungeoppang machine.
“Here, you eat this too.”
Joo Jihye handed strawberries to several of the Spirits.
She had grown quite close to the Fire Spirits thanks to warming herself with them.
Seeing them happily bite into the strawberries even after finishing their sweet potatoes, a smile spread across Joo Jihye’s face.
“I think I might just move here.”
“What?”
“Ah, no! I don’t mean I’ll just freeload here.”
“That’s not what I meant. When you first came here, didn’t you say you’d rather die than live somewhere this rural?”
“I definitely did… Hmm.”
Joo Jihye fell into thought for a moment.
Was it because of the cute Spirits?
Or the unbelievably delicious food that made her eyes light up?
Of course, those things played a major part.
But it wasn’t simply because of them.
How should I put it… Every time I come here, it feels like I’ve entered another world.
A space completely different from the society she had always lived in.
It felt as though she were being healed by this isolated place, completely separated from the worries outside and the harsh realities of the world.
“I guess I’ve already become a country girl at heart—Aah!”
Joo Jihye suddenly jumped up in fright.
A bug had been slowly crawling toward her thigh.
SMACK!
At that moment, the adorable paw of an otter slammed against the wooden floor.
The bug met its immediate demise.
Blinking in surprise at the unexpected rescue, she looked at the otter.
“Th-Thank you.”
Whether or not he cared about her gratitude, Albern turned his head away with a haughty air and burrowed into Oh Hyeonseong’s arms.
When he gently stroked his fluffy belly, the otter simply flopped over onto his lap.
Watching the scene for a moment with a strange sense of envy, Joo Jihye spoke.
“But… she’s not going to retaliate, is she?”
“Retaliate? What do you mean?”
“Baek Jisu. She just suddenly took off without saying anything. What if she takes her anger out on me and I suddenly get dragged to the Bureau…?”
Remembering the incident, Joo Jihye shuddered slightly.
Baek Jisu hadn’t openly shown hostility toward her, but simply being in her presence had made Joo Jihye instinctively shrink back.
If anything, the experience had made her even more determined to avoid getting involved with the National Security Bureau.
“She won’t take it out on you. Don’t worry. That won’t happen.”
Oh Hyeonseong said it calmly.
His original plan of winning her over with a delicious meal had failed.
Baek Jisu was the kind of person who couldn’t rest until she repaid anything she received, whether it was a grudge or a favor.
He had intended to put her in his debt beforehand.
But just because that had failed didn’t mean she would go around causing trouble for others.
Click, click!
“Hmm… It’s empty.”
Oh Hyeonseong tried turning on the new torch he’d bought, but no flame came out because the gas was completely empty.
He’d bought a much sturdier one to replace the ancient torch in the storage shed and had wanted to test it out, but he didn’t have any spare gas.
On top of that, they had run out of shampoo, and several other household supplies were needed as well.
Thump.
He pressed some bills into her hand.
“…?”
“You don’t have anything else to do anyway, right? Go run some errands.”
Trudge, trudge.
Joo Jihye walked down the road without a hat or mask.
Whenever she was out on personal business, she normally covered her face.
Even so, people invariably recognized her whenever she walked down the street.
Her model-like physique naturally drew attention, and she’d become so popular recently that plenty of people could identify her at a glance.
But none of that happened here.
“Looks familiar. Are you Kim Grandma’s granddaughter?”
“Huh? No, I’m just from out of town…”
“Oh, really? Have fun while you’re here.”
The village was quiet, with few people around to run into.
And among the few people she did encounter, not a single one recognized her.
The same was true when she entered the local supermarket.
“Ahem. You don’t happen to know who I am, do you?”
“First time I’ve seen you, miss… Did you recently move here?”
The elderly shopkeeper spoke slowly.
But there wasn’t the slightest trace of excitement in her voice.
She had the utterly detached attitude of someone who had absolutely no interest in other people’s affairs.
Everyone in the village, including Oh Hyeonseong, knew the shopkeeper’s personality.
But Joo Jihye, who didn’t know that, was bewildered.
Why are the old folks here so cool?
Her preconceived notion of the countryside had been that rural residents would pry into everything about city people to an almost unbearable degree.
That notion had been shattered.
Even when people failed to recognize her elsewhere, she was accustomed to attracting plenty of attention and curious stares.
Yet here, she was being ignored more thoroughly than anywhere else.
It was exactly what she’d always wanted.
She’d wished that people would stop recognizing her wherever she went and bothering her.
But now that nobody recognized her at all, she found herself experiencing a strange mixture of emotions, almost disappointed by it.
Even I don’t understand myself…
“Oh!”
At that moment, a surprised voice came from the entrance.
A very young-looking woman, Yoo Eunha, stood there with a startled expression.
“J-Joo Jihye?”
“Ah… Yes, that’s me.”
“Wow! I’ve been really enjoying your drama! You’re absolutely the goddess of acting!”
Yoo Eunha exclaimed excitedly.
She had always been interested in the Hunter world, but even without that, there was no way she could’ve reacted any other way.
The drama starring Joo Jihye had recently taken the number-one spot on the OTT charts and had been generating tremendous buzz ever since it began airing.
Among younger people in particular, it had become a common topic of conversation wherever they went.
“But… what brings you to this village?”
It didn’t seem like she was filming a drama or variety show.
For someone of her status to come all the way out to a remote rural village was certainly surprising.
Joo Jihye thought for a moment before answering.
She’d met Yoo Eunha before and knew that the woman was acquainted with Oh Hyeonseong.
“Yes…?! Wait, then does that mean that person I saw at the shelter…?”
“That’s right.”
Yoo Eunha clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
She hadn’t had the time to take a proper look back then because of how chaotic everything had been, but the silhouette of the man whose face had been hidden matched perfectly.
“Wow… What is that guy, anyway?”
He’d apparently been an employee of the Disaster Management Bureau, yet somehow he was also acquainted with the star of Aegis.
At this point, he might as well be the most well-connected person in the Hunter world.
“Oh, anyway! I was actually planning to visit Oppa’s house today, so this worked out perfectly!”
Yoo Eunha clapped her hands.
After the tainted-energy incident, the siblings had been so busy dealing with the aftermath of the farming disaster that they hadn’t had a moment to breathe.
But things had finally settled down somewhat, and Yoo Eunha had been planning to visit Oh Hyeonseong’s house again after quite some time.
She’d stopped by this supermarket to buy some food to bring along.
Come to think of it, he’ll probably be even more excited than I would.
Her biological older brother, Yoo Seungsu, wasn’t particularly interested in the Hunter world.
Even when he met the famous Han Suyeon of the Disaster Management Bureau, his reaction had been far less enthusiastic than Yoo Eunha’s.
But Joo Jihye was different.
Not only did she follow her on social media, she watched every one of her works and even collected her merchandise.
She was a genuine, hardcore fan.
If Yoo Seungsu ever met her in person, he would almost certainly be absolutely blown away.
Bzzzzing!
But at that moment, Joo Jihye’s phone rang.
The sound was somewhat different from an ordinary incoming call.
Joo Jihye pulled out her phone, and her expression immediately turned serious.
Then, without even finishing her conversation, she ran back toward the house.
THUD!
Joo Jihye burst through the front gate and set down the bags she’d bought.
Oh Hyeonseong happened to be coming outside and ran into her.
“Oh, good work.”
“I think I have to leave right away.”
“What? Why?”
She had said she would probably stay for several more days, so Oh Hyeonseong tilted his head at the sudden announcement that she was leaving.
Joo Jihye held out her phone screen toward him.
“It’s an emergency summons.”
“This is…”
Oh Hyeonseong’s expression became serious as he read the message.
The government had issued an emergency summons for Joo Jihye and all other high-ranking Hunters of Grade 10 or above.
The message didn’t specify exactly how many people would be gathering, but there would be enough to form at least one raid team.
In other words, this was about an S-rank Gate.
“An S-rank Gate… It can’t be an ordinary one, can it?”
“No. If they’re issuing an emergency summons like this, then the Gate must be very close to becoming active.”
Gate detection and response were divided into four stages.
The first was the preliminary-sign stage, before a Gate actually formed.
The second was the inactive stage, when the Gate existed but could not yet be entered.
The third was activation, when the Gate became accessible.
And finally, there was eruption, when monsters began pouring out of the Gate into the outside world.
If they were issuing an emergency summons to this degree, it meant the Gate was either approaching the third stage or had already entered it.
At the S-rank level, the chances of detection being delayed were extremely low.
Which meant this had to be a Gate with an exceptionally short window.
Joo Jihye swallowed hard.
She had raided an enormous number of Gates throughout her career.
But there had only been one time when she’d been summoned like this without even having time to discuss it with her agency.
It was the Busan Gate, one year ago.
