Song Yi tumbled off as Seong Hyunjae landed, and the Seeker’s chain scooped her up mid-fall.

“Director Song! Should we keep her here?”

Director Song, helping barricade incoming tentacles, turned to us.

“Yes. They haven’t spread further.”

“They regenerate quickly; ordinary attacks do little! You have to cut and chop for ages to kill them. Haeyeon Guild Leader will arrive soon—just keep them from breaking out!”

Despite their rank, these monsters weren’t terribly threatening. Aside from binding with tentacles, they lacked offensive skills. Their toughness, rapid regeneration, and high reproduction made them a nuisance, though. They were weak to heat and cold, so any hunter with an advanced area-of-effect skill could handle them easily.

At my shout, the hunters attacking the tentacles pulled back to form a defensive cordon around the center. Seong Hyunjae drew his longsword again and sliced off any stray tentacles at the perimeter.

“You seem experienced. Do you actually mow lawns? I need to tend my own garden.”

“Offering side work? If the terms suit me, I’ll do it.”

“No partner discount?”

“Only five stars on the review.”

“Oh my, the great Sesung Guild Leader demanding paid reviews. Want your face plastered on every portal homepage? Top search tag everywhere?”

“You’re already a regular customer.”

So arrogant. As we bickered, a red dot sped across the sky far above. Hunters backing off from Peace watched as a fiery horned lion flew in, pausing midair. From that height, Yuhyun leapt down lightly.

She didn’t use Willow Leaf. Her Thunderbird’s aegis fluttered as flames roared. Centered on Yuhyun, scarlet fire swirled in a vortex, shading into dark blue. Holding the blazing ring wide,

Kaboom!

She dropped into the tentacles’ midst. Like a bomb blast, heat and flame erupted. All I saw was deep indigo-blue fire. It consumed only the tentacles, soaring precisely—controlled as if hitting an invisible wall.

Crackle, the tentacles writhed and burned away in seconds, leaving black ash. The parking lot and unfortunate cars were the only casualties beyond melted pavement. As the flames subsided, my sister appeared within the drifting embers.

“Wait, Yuhyun!”

Yuhyun turned to me, frowning at the wound on my cheek. Then the remaining ash began to move.

“You have S-Rank or higher damage immunity now; don’t waste your strength!”

The ash converged into a sphere. Yuhyun stepped back and approached me.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, just a scratch. A little. What happened was—”

“How’s your clothing?”

“It got a bit chilly with Song Yi outside in her playground.”

Hearing my answer, Yuhyun looked at Seong Hyunjae, who merely smiled. Then she shifted her gaze to Director Song. Oh no.

“Someone fired a gun but missed! It just grazed me.”

“…A gun?”

Meanwhile, the ashes began to transform. From the ground sprouted a single tall, black stalk like a root. About four meters tall, a round fruit formed at its tip.

“It’ll explode soon—get ready.”

I said, and Yuhyun turned toward the black stalk.

“We only need to burn the spores clean.”

Kentnisis colonies, if all members die, try to reproduce. In that fruit stage, even S-Rank attacks barely work. But once it bursts at the spore stage, you can burn them easily. If they drift on the wind, it’s troublesome, but Yuhyun’s abilities will catch every speck.

Thin flames swirled around Yuhyun. The fruit swelled to two or three times her size, then suddenly—

Plop—

It burst, releasing spores… spores…

“Hyung, isn’t flower before fruit?”

“Oh… yeah, normally.”

But this hadn’t flowered. Instead of fruiting, a bud had burst into a cascade of pink petals. A massive pink blossom, several meters across, unfurled. Layers of petals were gorgeous, almost beautiful.

…Weird.

“I’m a non-Awakened!”

Suddenly someone yelled. I and the other hunters turned toward the shout. Beyond the barricade stood a middle-aged man with a terrified expression, shouting again:

“They said they’d spare me if I delivered the message, so don’t attack!”

He raised both hands. Coerced by someone?

“I heard Director Han Yujin likes pink flowers, so I prepared this.”

No!

“It’s just a light greeting gift for the Director—please, relax. It’s safe.”

Safe? Whoever he is, he’s crazy. Flames shot from Yuhyun like arrows, engulfing the giant bloom in an instant.

“I’ll return after the deadline.”

…Apparently linked to that ChatterBox group. A greeting? Meanwhile, those creeps barged in and cause chaos, but we can’t? Unfair!

“Director Song, I’m a fan.”

The man fell silent. Under all the staring eyes, he stammered:

“They said to convey the final message.”

All eyes turned to Director Song. He simply looked tired.

“…First, let’s begin cleanup.”

Director Song sighed and spoke.

The aftermath was handled swiftly. We officially declared no monster incursion—it hadn’t been long since the dungeon stabilized, so explaining a monster sighting served no purpose. Instead, we labeled the strange item among the dungeon loot.

Given the Association houses the Hunter Market, and the final phenomenon was a harmless giant flower, we could easily gloss it over as “an unusual seed item that bloomed a massive flower.”

“Upstairs, we reported this as the work of an anti–Hunter terrorist group targeting hunters.”

Director Song entered the conference room holding a bouquet—not pink, but red and white.

“The initial bomb, and the shot grazing Director Han Yujin, were not dungeon items. Several overseas anti–Hunter groups exist using modern weapons.”

“In Korea, they only started appearing much later.”

Surrounded by people who knew of my regression, I spoke freely.

“Their attacks weren’t too strong. Though there was damage, today was the first monster-style incident.”

Having never left Korea, this was entirely new to me. Anti–Hunter groups had targeted the Association and major guilds before, but I’d never encountered them. Major guilds felt like ants pinching you—annoying but trivial.

“What about the man who delivered the message?”

“He was an ordinary non-Awakened civilian, held hostage via family threats.”

Director Song placed the bouquet on the table, noting they couldn’t get more info on the blackmailer.

“…It was meant for me.”

Oh dear. Another Seong Hyunjae–type stuck to Director Song. When I glanced at Seong Hyunjae, he shrugged. [N O V E L I G H T] Most likely a foreigner—could he be a stalker trailing the Sesung Guild Leader?