Chapter 82: Thunder Road, Part 2
When the trainer left, the girl remained alone in the quiet. In that silence, her thoughts rang louder than any noise. To want strength — that was one thing. But to understand why you need it — something entirely different.
People had changed. They had grown colder, more calculating. As if the fear that their home might burn down again had dried out any sympathy left in their hearts.
The world had grown quieter — but not warmer. And to Yeonghee, that felt deeply alien.
It was as if the sense of unity that once bound people together had vanished. Perhaps that was for the better — ever since demons faded from the radar, humanity had begun to worry about other things.
Seated on the floor, Yeonghee brewed tea from dried herbs. Despite the size of the house, she didn’t feel lonely in it. The silence was her companion — never oppressive, always calm.
The next day, she arrived at the Association. The high-rise building hadn’t changed much, save for the new banner painted above the entrance.
As she walked through the corridors, her tranquil gaze passed over hunters in their new uniforms.
Each uniform bore a different-colored emblem depending on the hunter’s rank. At present, Yeonghee wore a green uniform with a silver crest — marking her as an A-rank combatant.
S-rank hunters wore golden insignias, and they also could be easily distinguished by the stars on their shoulder straps.