The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Sura Guild (3)

A large plane landed at one of Korea's major airports.

Crowds gathered near the gates where the deplaned passengers were starting to come out.

As the gate finally opened and people began to exit, the moment a particular woman emerged, the crowd rushed forward, holding up their cameras.

"Ai Hoon! Please look over here!"

"Unni, I'm a fan!"

"Can you give us an interview about how it feels to be in Korea?"

China's top superstar—Ai Hoon—had set foot on Korean soil.

Her popularity abroad wasn't just due to her status as a celebrity; she was also a hunter.

The more famous a hunter became, the greater their global recognition.

Her singing ability was already well-known, and her skills as a hunter were equally renowned, so it was only natural for her popularity to soar.

"Thank you~ Everyone, thank you so much."

She gave a light greeting to the cheers of her Korean fans and continued walking.

Thanks to the security escorting her, no one could mob her.

"What brought you to Korea so suddenly?"

"Even your fans are surprised by this visit!"

By nature, Ai Hoon usually never went anywhere.

That she had scheduled a trip to Korea was highly unusual.

However, she showed no inclination to respond and simply continued on her way.

"What ever happened with the Shanghai B-rank gate recently?"

"Could you at least tell us about that?"

At that moment, those words from a group of reporters brought Ai Hoon to a halt.

She turned her head toward the journalist who had asked and started walking over.

The journalists, shocked by her sudden approach, eagerly thrust their mics forward, thinking this was their chance.

"May I say a word?"

"Yes, of course!"

Ai Hoon's expression changed the moment she took the reporter's mic.

Suddenly, her eyes reddened—both fans and journalists alike were astonished.

In front of a barrage of cameras, Ai Hoon spoke.

"It's true that I'm known as a famous singer and a hunter... But I don't deserve to be praised like this."

Why was she saying something like that all of a sudden? As the journalists wondered, Ai Hoon began to cry.

"The B-rank gate that opened in Shanghai was a disaster with countless casualties. Even though I participated in the incident response... It was heartbreaking to see citizens dying right before my eyes."

It had been an unexpected gate opening with no warning.

Sometimes dimensional distortions could be observed to predict gates, but this one appeared quickly, without any such sign, due to bad luck.

Inevitably, the response was delayed, and thus there were many casualties during that time.

"But you still saved citizens and minimized the damage, didn't you?"

To a reporter's question, Ai Hoon nodded, though her expression showed no relief.

"Yes, that's true. But... there was a family by my side then. A wife, husband, and their child."

The wife's leg had been pinned under building debris and she couldn't move.

The husband and child tried to lift the debris, but it wouldn't budge.

"Thanks to me lifting the debris, the wife could escape. However..."

Because her leg was broken, her walking speed was inevitably slow.

The husband and child, carrying her, were just as slow.

At that unlucky moment, a horde of monsters showed up.

"I did my best to fight and protect that family... but in the end, I was the only one who survived."

Despite being recognized for her abilities as an A-rank, facing such a large group of monsters alone was more than she could handle.

Outnumbered, Ai Hoon could not save the family.

Because of the wife's leg, they couldn't escape fast enough, and all were slaughtered by monsters.

"It's so unfair. Why must the weak die, and only the powerful survive? What crime did they commit to deserve such a fate?"

Ai Hoon let out a scream as she recalled that moment.

Her tearful cries silenced even her passionate fans.

Everyone could empathize with the helplessness of the powerless in such situations.

"I will do everything I can to ensure that those without power are never endangered again. I want to give at least a bit of hope to the children—the ones we entrust with the future."

The most well-known of society's vulnerable are children.

Her words about helping such children moved the people.

"The reason I came to Korea is all because of that. This land, which has Hand—the city of learning—is, to me, a truly proud nation."

"Is it perhaps related to the upcoming 'Masked Singer' event in Hand?"

Another reporter's question. Ai Hoon, drying her tears, flashed a bright smile.

"That's a secret."

.

.

Afterwards, Ai Hoon left the airport and got into the waiting car.

The small interview just now only heightened the crowd's excitement for her.

Even now, fans professing respect lingered around the car.

When she briefly waved out the window, the car started moving.

"That was an incredible speech."

"Did it really come across that way?"

"It's not even worth repeating—it's obvious."

Jin Rain, sitting in the driver's seat, hit the gas as he spoke.

To his few words of praise, Ai Hoon shrugged her shoulders and turned on her phone.

"Hehe. I wonder what it's like now?"

As expected, sNS had exploded due to the recent interview.

Since Ai Hoon rarely went abroad, all eyes were on her. That stirring speech only intensified the response.

― Unni, you're so amazing!

― The true hero of our era.

― The real saint born of the continent.

― The continent is rising with new spirit, in a good way.

― I was so moved by the interview. I'm a fan from today.

― Kkyaah! Nuna, I love you! Marry me! Let's date from today!

-lol, what's wrong with the guy above?

Praise about her had already begun to dominate social media.

For Ai Hoon, their attention was the joy of life.

As she reveled in the euphoria, she scrolled down to see other comments.

― The Shanghai B-rank gate incident was really tragic. But you don't need to be discouraged.

― Everyone fails sometimes. There's no one in the world who succeeds without failing.

― Unni! Even if you couldn't save that family, you'll succeed next time.

― It must have been mentally tough. As a fellow hunter, let me advise you—stay strong.

There were just as many words of comfort as there were of praise.

As she scrolled lower, Ai Hoon's hands trembled with emotion.

At a glance, it seemed like she might be crying...

"Hu hu hu hu hu... Puhahahahaha!!"

She suddenly burst out laughing.

"Are these people idiots or what? Ahahahahaha!"

From her perspective, those words of comfort could only be laughable.

The family that lost their lives during the gate incident.

In reality, the one who killed them wasn't the monsters, but Ai Hoon herself.

The internet users who pledged loyalty to her, not knowing this, seemed pathetic and foolish.

"Huh?"

But it wasn't all praise.

Suddenly, she came across some strange comments and pulled a sour expression.

― Is a few people dying from a gate incident really a big deal? You're still so naïve for a hunter.

― Stop making a big deal out of it. The weak die, only the strong survive.

― Tears of grief, lol. Anybody can see you're acting.

― Just squeezing out tears to grab attention.

-lol, crocodile tears always win.

― Plus, the Masked Singer guest is basically leaked already.

― Anyone can see she's the one scheduled to appear.

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

Enraged by the barrage of malicious comments, Ai Hoon's hands trembled once again.

― If you care about protecting the weak, why Hand?

― Isn't Hand just a place where promising kids gather?

― Why don't you go do relief work in the slums or third world countries instead? Why show up in Hand?

― Such a justice crusader cosplay, lol.

― What a hypocrite.

At that moment, a crack ran across her phone. Even though it was made with a special case, it couldn't withstand her trembling grip. Luckily the phone was still working, but Ai Hoon's anger hadn't subsided.

"Isn't there something we can do about these people?"

"Don't worry. I've already put measures in place."

Her phone screen, newly cracked, began to change.

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.............................................

Until just seconds ago, the negative comments were disappearing without warning.

Watching the clean sweep, Ai Hoon's face brightened again.

"By the way, how's that little Kang Ah-rin?"

"As you might expect..."

Jin Rain started telling Ai Hoon about the time he met Kang Ah-rin one-on-one, even about the sudden slash she threw at him disguised as a handshake.

Hearing this, Ai Hoon simply burst out laughing.

"Aha! Even better! That means you've given up on that brat, right?"

"That's correct. But doesn't it strike you as odd?"

"What?"

"How Sura... No, how Kang Ah-rin can maintain that mentality."

Kang Ah-rin had been dragged into the Sura guild and treated in a way no different from abuse.

It would make sense for her to grow up harboring hatred toward them, yet at the time she was under ten years old.

At that age, with emotional development incomplete, brainwashing is usually easy.

Kang Ah-rin, too, had been subject to gaslighting; it shouldn't have been possible for her to nurture hatred.

And yet, Kang Ah-rin was not brainwashed.

"Truly. If only things had gone smoothly back then, none of this troublesome plan would have even begun."

Did some sort of protective barrier shield her from brainwashing?

While they questioned this, they realized they had already arrived in a city.

[Welcome to Hand.]

They entered the city and saw its large signboard above.

Only two days remained until the Masked Singer event.

On that day, the true show they had prepared would begin.

The catastrophe that would strike Hand.

The boy Ma Seongjin who would become the cause of that catastrophe.

And the Sura guild that would defeat him and sweep away all calamity.

At the same time, the birth of a new Sura. Truly a perfect scenario.

The two got out of the car and entered a quiet alley.

Inside an abandoned building, numerous guild members awaited them.

"We've been waiting."

A bearded man in a training uniform greeted Ai Hoon.

He was Ji Ryong-seong, known as the Sura guild's top executive and an SS-rank hunter.

Besides him, all of Sura guild's elite forces had gathered here.

"The plan progressed in order as expected."

"Everyone, you've done well."

"And..."

Ji Ryong-seong dropped something he was holding onto the floor.

It was a human corpse, a member of the Holy Church, the guild's enemy.

Apparently, he was snooping around, but he had picked the wrong opponent.

"The lurking pest has been disposed of in advance. You may rest easy now."

"Well done. In that case..."

Fwoosh—

With a wave of Ai Hoon's hand, the corpse burst into flames like firewood.

Soon, it was completely incinerated, erased from the world.

Having finished with the trash, she received several photos from Ji Ryong-seong.

In them was a student wearing a name tag reading "Ma Seongjin".

Upon seeing the boy, Ai Hoon slowly curled her lips into a smile.

"Did you plant 'that' in this kid's body?"

"Not yet. We still need someone to approach him, but with everyone's faces looking like this..."

All the guild members looked intimidating.

No kid would willingly follow them. So they were still debating who to use.

"I'll do it, then."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure."

Looking at the boy in the photo, Ai Hoon licked her lips.

"This is Kang Ah-rin's boyfriend, isn't he?"

.

.

The last day of the midterm evaluations.

All the students, having finished a term's worth of exams, were excited.

With the real start of autumn, happiness doubled.

But unlike the others, one boy walked along with a bored expression.

Beep beep—

Just then, a car approached the boy.

As he turned to the call, he spotted Ai Hoon in the driver's seat, wearing sunglasses.

"Hey, kid. Is your name Ma Seongjin, by any chance?"

The boy nodded. At that, Ai Hoon flashed him an alluring smile.