Ja Hwa-yeon left the counseling room and headed silently to the parking lot with Geumgang.
She got into the back seat of a heavy sedan. At first, it felt awkward even getting into such a strange vehicle, but now she had gotten quite used to it. The door closed, and the noise of the outside world disappeared like a lie.
In the quiet space, Ja Hwa-yeon stared blankly at the scenery outside the window.
Geumgang, sitting in the driver’s seat, glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror to assess her mood.
‘What on earth…’
It wasn’t anger or sadness. It was an expression he couldn’t decipher.
At that moment, she quietly spoke.
“Geumgang.”
At Ja Hwa-yeon’s low voice, Geumgang shuddered slightly, gripping the steering wheel.
The truth was, he knew that the paper handed over by Jwa Ho-beop had disappeared.
Outside the counseling room, he had seen the counselor pass him by, skillfully, but just enough for him to notice, pulling the paper away.
At that time, he pretended not to know.
No, it wasn’t simply pretending not to know.
He had tacitly allowed it.
His cowardice, unable to go against Jwa Ho-beop’s orders, nor could he reveal it to the young lady.
He had dearly wished for that young doctor, a third party, to hand over all the truths he couldn’t convey.
Geumgang, lacking the courage to meet her gaze through the rearview mirror, kept his eyes fixed in front and replied heavily.
“Yes, Lady So.”
Still gazing outside, Ja Hwa-yeon declared in a cold voice.
“Once we return to the school, immediately summon the Shima Council.”
Ja Hwa-yeon proclaimed with sharp intensity, sending chills down Geumgang’s spine. The Shima Council was a meeting held only when important matters within the sect needed to be addressed, with direct participation from the Shima.
With an unwavering voice, Geumgang replied, pouring all his loyalty into his words.
“I will obey your command.”
With that response, silence enveloped the car once more. Ja Hwa-yeon gazed at her reflection in the car window.
Her once confused mind became clear like a lie.
She was contemplating the path ahead.
‘As you wish.’
However, he didn’t provide me with the answer. He merely reminded me of the fact that I already knew the answer.
And that one statement cleared her mind as if by magic.
Yes.
The lady is, after all, the celestial maiden.
The maiden’s judgment is the law of the sect.
No one’s permission is needed.
The path is extraordinarily clear.
‘Doctor. Yu Seon-woo….’
For the first time, Ja Hwa-yeon recalled his name.
She would ensure to remember his name from now on.
***
“That’s what I think.”
“Oh… confidence~”
Jin Se-a looked at me with an inscrutable smile.
“Let’s go eat something.”
I stood up, put on my outerwear, and changed the subject.
Jin Se-a hopped along behind me, not stopping her questions.
“But really~ I won’t tell anyone~ Can you let me know?”
I pressed the elevator button and replied.
“No.”
Then I felt a light tap on my back from behind.
“Hmph.”
I laughed at Jin Se-a’s playful insistence as we got into the elevator.
Once outside, we arrived at the restaurant we had reserved.
The issue was that Jin Se-a, an S-ranked hunter, was quite a celebrity.
“Hunter Jin Se-a!!”
“Please, just one autograph!!!”
As soon as she entered the restaurant, people gathered from all directions.
“Sorry, I’ll go in first. I think it’ll be disruptive.”
“Okay.”
So Jin Se-a stood outside the restaurant, signing autographs for the crowd.
We shouldn’t interfere with business.
Through the window, I could see her being surrounded by people while signing.
Leaving that scene behind, I turned on the wall-mounted TV to stave off the boredom.
The news channel was broadcasting.
The anchor, who had been delivering today’s report in a peaceful voice, suddenly changed to an urgent tone.
– Breaking news! A new transference has been confirmed near Cheorwon, Gangwon-do… presumed to be an unregulated world and an invader….
“What? Again?”
– Recently, the influx of invaders has increased, and consequently, newly regulated worlds are also on the rise….
A phenomenon where individuals from another dimension cross over to this side for no apparent reason. People referred to it as transference and called those who crossed over invaders.
Once a transference occurred, the world with the opened path continuously emitted invaders as if it were a regular occurrence.
Such consistent exchanges… no, emissions from a world are termed a regulated world.
Prominently, the world that Ja Hwa-yeon, the celestial maiden I had just consulted, crossed over from – the Central Plains.
A fantasy world governed by swords and magic, where nobility existed, the Empire.
The city of machines and artificial intelligence, Neo City.
And many other unnamed worlds, including the post-apocalyptic world where everything had perished.
They exist in a remarkably diverse manner.
And I am one of them.
The world I crossed over from.
This world called it this way.
‘Entropy Earth.’
The structures and laws are the same as here, but there is neither magic nor superpowers.
Sometimes when watching TV, it feels like being here is just a dream.
Just like now.
On the TV screen, a video that seemed to have been taken by a drone was shaking precariously.
In the center of the screen stood a man who appeared to have just undergone transference.
However, his aura was anything but ordinary.
He wore family armor covered in scratches, had a scruffy beard, and most importantly, was carrying a gigantic double-edged axe as big as himself.
He began to survey his surroundings with a tense expression.
He appeared to be an invader from the Empire.
Now, that man’s future holds one of three possibilities.
He could adapt to this world with a kind heart and become a hunter, recognized for his qualities.
Or he could overestimate his abilities and become a villain, wreaking havoc.
Or, in the worst-case scenario…
He might immediately reveal a ferocious personality and resist the hunters dispatched to the scene… and be killed on the spot.
I swallowed nervously and continued to watch the screen.
A woman in a white doctor’s gown, with no protective suit, cautiously approached him beyond the translucent barrier set by the heavily armed hunters.
The axe-wielding man seemed ready to spring at any moment, vigilant as ever. How long could that barrier hold for that doctor?
The air was thick with tension.
How long had it been?
Perhaps the doctor’s words resonated; he finally slowly lowered the axe to the ground.
And with the guidance of the hunters, he willingly surrendered himself.
I let out a sigh of relief unconsciously as I watched the screen.
At least, it seemed he had avoided the third option.
“Phew….”
The reason I was so invested in that scene.
It was due to the position of that woman in the doctor’s gown.
It was a place I would soon have to stand in.
Until now, regular counselors or psychiatrists had been deployed to respond to incidents of transference.
Communication was not an issue because the language of the invaders was automatically translated during the transference process.
However, the problem was not communication.
With invaders who were akin to ticking time bombs, many doctors and counselors lost their lives or suffered injuries when faced with their unpredictable powers.
Thus, I was created.
A hunter equipped with the physical abilities of a hunter and the skills of a counselor—South Korea’s number one.
A hunter mental counselor.
Though still not deployed in the field, under the pretext of a period of adaptation….
That perilous position would soon fully belong to me.
After becoming a counselor, I had subtly asked a staff member of the association.
“When will the second counselor be selected? The sooner, the better.”
The staff member, unable to meet my gaze, coughed awkwardly and replied.
“Ah… that’s because the requirements are very stringent…”
“… Then when?”
“Perhaps… once a position… becomes vacant, the next… recruitment…?”
“… What?”
A vacancy in the current position.
In simpler terms, it meant that a successor would appear only after I perished on duty and grass grew over my grave.
What wonderful news that was.
I gave a wry smile and took a sip of water.
– Dring.
At that moment, the sliding door of the private room opened cheerfully.
“Phew, I’m done! Sorry! Suddenly there were so many people.”
Jin Se-a plopped down in the seat across from me. She then gulped down the cup of water on the table in one go.
“Ugh… I can breathe again. So, what are you doing this afternoon? A business trip?”
“No. I’ll be seeing patients this afternoon until the end of the week.”
“Oh, really? When does the business trip start?”
Business trip.
The number of invaders that occur every year isn’t that high.
Thus, along with basic counseling, I also became responsible for visiting guilds directly. This meant home visits as well.
“Probably… next week?”
So I would see patients in the afternoon until the end of this week.
The business trips would begin from next week.
From taking care of invaders to providing mental care during business trips.
Is this right?
“Then… our guild will be the first, right?”
She leaned over the table, her golden eyes sparkling.
“Well…”
It seems right to start with the place I’ve been to. It’s certainly more comfortable with familiar people.
I absentmindedly observed her condition for the first time in a while.
[Jin Se-a]
[Main Stance]
[We want to meet you in the guild? We are desperately hoping you will visit the guild?]
I tried to forcefully piece together the text that had mixed noise.
‘They want to meet you in the guild. They desperately hope you will visit the guild?’
It isn’t easy to interpret, but I think that’s the meaning.
Her main stance had started to mix noise at some point.
Back when we fought together on the battlefield during the early days of her hunter career, it hadn’t been like this.
As time passed, she climbed higher and higher.
And from some point onward, the noise began to be mixed in.
Such cases sometimes happen.
When someone is a powerful mental-based hunter, or when their rank surpasses a certain level, interference occurs with my abilities.
Not everyone gets this in becoming stronger. It’s a rare case.
Jin Se-a is not a mental ability user.
Therefore, I speculate that her rank is high, combined with a fairly strong spirit.
Her level as a hunter is remarkable.
“Why are you staring so hard?”
At that moment, noticing my gaze, Jin Se-a leaned in closer.
I snapped out of my daze and faced her.
“So, our guild… will you come?”
I smiled back and lightly replied.
“Yeah, I’ll come.”
At that answer, Jin Se-a’s golden eyes curved satisfactorily.
Even if she left the guild.
I still considered her a reliable companion.
