The Hero is Hunting me!

Two days passed.

Night had begun to fall.

In a small cabin deep within the forest...

The very place where Jinhoo had first met Min-seo.

Min-seo stood before the door and slowly opened it.

She quietly muttered,

"I’m home..."

The cabin was empty.

There was only a sofa and a small bed.

Beside the bed stood a chimney that was usually used to keep a fire burning during winter.

Min-seo stepped inside.

"Hah... Now that I think about it... I still don’t know how I managed to live in a place like this..."

---

Back when Min-seo was still a child...

She had been abandoned by her parents in this very forest.

She was only ten years old.

She knew almost nothing about the world.

Her parents had left her here without the slightest bit of mercy.

Min-seo still remembered that day.

Back when she was still living with her parents...

"Min-seo, would you like to go on a trip?"

asked her brown-haired father.

Standing beside him was her mother, whose short blonde hair looked almost identical to Min-seo’s.

The young Min-seo, still innocent and unaware of anything, was overjoyed by the invitation.

Her face lit up with excitement.

"Yes! I want to go!"

Not long afterward, they drove from the city into the forest.

Min-seo happily stared out the car window at the towering trees.

"Wow!! There are so many tall trees!"

Her father remained silent.

He paid no attention to what his own daughter was saying.

He simply continued driving deeper into the forest.

Eventually, they arrived at a clearing surrounded by countless trees.

Little Min-seo eagerly jumped out of the car.

She bounced around excitedly.

Her father stepped out while holding Min-seo’s favorite toy...

A boomerang.

"Min-seo, let’s play."

he said softly.

"Go get the boomerang!"

He threw it deep into the forest.

The innocent little girl laughed and happily chased after it.

Following its path, she saw it disappear into a patch of bushes.

She quickly pushed through them and retrieved her beloved boomerang.

A bright smile filled her face.

The moment she found it, she hurried back.

But when she returned...

No one was there.

The car...

Her father...

Her mother...

They were all gone.

They had abandoned her.

"Dad...?"

"Mom...?"

Little Min-seo called out.

Tears immediately filled her eyes.

She began crying.

But suddenly...

Her crying stopped.

A wolf’s howl echoed through the forest.

Little Min-seo froze in fear.

"H-Hello...?"

"Who’s there...?"

Her legs trembled uncontrollably.

From the bushes...

A wolf emerged.

Not just one.

Three.

Each of them was larger than her tiny body.

Min-seo stared at the terrifying beasts before her.

The wolves looked thin...

As though they hadn’t eaten for an entire week.

Their starvation only intensified their wild instincts.

"M-Mom..."

Min-seo was so frightened that her legs felt too heavy to move.

She couldn’t even run.

She collapsed onto her knees.

The wolves slowly circled around her...

As though she were the perfect prey.

Terrified beyond words, Min-seo tightly shut her eyes.

Just as the wolves lunged toward her—

A bolt of lightning struck directly onto her body.

A dazzling blue flash erupted.

The wolves were instantly blasted away.

Min-seo had no idea what had happened.

Although lightning had struck her...

She felt no pain.

She wasn’t injured.

It was at that very moment...

That Min-seo awakened her supernatural power.

Lightning.

---

Days turned into months.

Months became years.

The young Min-seo gradually adapted to life in the forest.

Four years had passed.

Without a proper home.

Without a soft bed.

Without spending her childhood like other children.

The only thing she knew...

Was survival.

The forest wasn’t inhabited only by wild animals.

Sometimes...

Mad scientists dumped their failed creations into these woods.

To them, those creatures were nothing more than failed experiments.

As time passed...

Those discarded creations matured into terrifying monsters...

Eventually becoming the rulers of the forest.

Min-seo fought those monsters every single day.

Sometimes...

She fought creatures with the head of a snake and the body of a lion.

Other times...

She battled enormous wolves that walked like humans while retaining their savage instincts.

Occasionally...

She even faced gigantic lizards capable of breathing fire.

She fought them all...

Simply to survive.

The girl who used to cry in fear after seeing ghosts...

Now stood against monsters four times larger than herself.

She had long since abandoned fear.

She lived by one principle.

"In this forest..."

"Only the strong survive."

She didn’t care if she had to fight monsters just to obtain food.

The only thing occupying her mind...

Was survival.

Every single day...

She fought.

Eventually...

Battling monsters became nothing more than part of her daily routine.

The corpses of mutated monsters piled high.

Sitting atop that mountain of bodies...

Was Min-seo.

Covered in wounds.

Her body soaked with sweat.

Her long hair fluttered in the wind.

She had become the apex predator of the forest.

Even her gaze had changed.

Sharper.

Colder.

Her instincts constantly urged her to kill.

---

Several days later...

While searching for more monsters...

Min-seo frowned.

"Ugh..."

"They usually show up on their own..."

"So why can’t I find even one today?"

She hadn’t realized it herself.

The monsters that once ruled the forest...

Had already been driven to extinction...

By her own hands.

She continued wandering through the woods.

Then...

By pure coincidence...

She encountered an elderly woman gathering berries.

The old woman looked at Min-seo.

From that day onward...

Min-seo lived together with her in a cabin outside the forest.

---

Time passed quickly.

At present...

Min-seo was hanging laundry outside.

’Why do I have to do something that takes this long...?’

’If I just used my power... these clothes would dry instantly.’

she thought silently.

The elderly woman approached her.

"Min-seo..."

"I know exactly what you’re thinking."

"But don’t even think about using your powers."

Hearing the old woman’s voice, Min-seo turned toward her.

"Eh?"

"But... if I use my power, these clothes will dry much faster."

The old woman slowly shook her head.

"Your mind is still immature."

"All you know is relying on your power."

---

That night...

The two of them ate dinner together.

The old woman finished first.

She quietly looked at Min-seo.

After noticing the gaze, Min-seo looked back.

"What are you looking at?"

The old woman smiled warmly.

"Your future."

"My... future?"

The old woman nodded.

"I possess a supernatural ability too."

"Just like you."

"The difference is..."

"I’m not a fighter."

"My ability allows me to see a person’s future."

she said softly.

Min-seo fell silent.

She stopped eating and listened carefully.

The old woman continued smiling.

"Your future will be filled with hardships."

"But don’t worry."

"Your colorless life..."

"Will one day be painted by someone."

Min-seo lowered her head.

"My life has already had color..."

"Ever since the day we met..."

"Grandma..."

"I know."

"But even I..."

"Am not enough to color your entire life."

"You’re stubborn."

"Strong."

"And you never give up."

"Your personality is completely different from the person who will color your future."

"That person is strong..."

"But their heart is as gentle as lamb’s wool."

Min-seo looked toward the old woman.

"But someday..."

"That person will face the most painful truth imaginable."

"So..."

"I hope you’ll be there to help them when that day comes."

the old woman said.

"What do you mean..."

"By the most painful truth?"

Min-seo asked.

The old woman slowly closed her eyes before speaking again.

"You’ll understand..."

"When the time comes."

Min-seo tilted her head.

She couldn’t understand.

"I..."

"I don’t understand what you mean, Grandma."

The old woman smiled.

"Enough talking."

"Finish your dinner first."

Hearing that, Min-seo quietly returned to eating.

---

Five years later.

The old woman had passed away.

Min-seo sobbed uncontrollably as she buried her.

She laid her grandmother to rest behind the cabin.

---

Back to the present.

Min-seo stood before her grandmother’s grave.

The cold night wind blew fiercely.

"Grandma..."

"I miss you so much..."

"But just like you told me..."

"My life has completely changed now."

"It’s colorful..."

"And peaceful."

"I still don’t know who the person you spoke of is..."

"But..."

"I’m sure I’ll meet them someday."

---

At Jinhoo’s house.

Jinhoo had just finished taking a shower.

With a towel draped over his shoulders, he walked through the house wearing casual clothes.

He dried his wet hair as he made his way into the living room.

Looking around, he spotted So-ah sitting on the sofa watching television.

He walked over.

"So-ah."

"Where’s Min-seo?"

"I haven’t seen her all day."

"Hmm?"

"She told me earlier that she had something to take care of."

"I don’t know what she meant..."

"But I figured it wasn’t my place to pry."

Jinhoo nodded.

He had just started walking away—

Ding dong.

The doorbell rang.

Jinhoo turned toward the entrance.

"I’ll get it."

he said to everyone else.

He opened the front door.

Standing outside...

Was Min-seo.

"Oppa?"

"Min-seo!"

"Where have you been?"

"Ah..."

"I went back to my old home."

"I left a few things there..."

"So I wanted to bring them back."

Jinhoo quietly looked at her.

Feeling embarrassed under his gaze...

Min-seo’s cheeks slowly turned red.

"U-Ugh..."

"Stop staring at me like that and let me in!!"

Jinhoo smiled.

He stepped aside and let her enter.

After closing the door, he began walking toward his room.

As he walked...

He smiled to himself.

’She must’ve gone back because she missed the grandmother who raised her... That’s why she came there.’

’You can’t hide anything from me!’

’I’m the one who read this webtoon, you know!’

Nezel thought to himself with a strange smile.