Chapter 4

The Ice Empress (1)

Cha Yunha. Also known as the 'Ice Empress.'

Although she personally disliked the title because she found it embarrassing, the nickname itself clearly reflected her abilities.

The undisputed strongest ice-type ability user in Korea.

As befitted that reputation, her position in the hunter community was unparalleled.

Ranked fifth among S-rank hunters, she belonged to Black Sword, a massive guild ranked among the top three.

Her overwhelming strength and status, combined with her beautiful appearance, had earned her explosive popularity.

On the surface, she seemed to have the perfect life as a hunter, lacking nothing.

“...I can't go on like this.”

However, Cha Yunha herself was somehow dissatisfied with her current situation.

“If things continue like this, I'll only keep declining. I need a breakthrough. But...”

Cha Yunha continued pondering with a serious expression.

Click.

A short while later, her manager returned, sat in the driver's seat, and started the engine.

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting long? Let's head back.”

The limousine smoothly left the scene and entered the city's main road.

“Like I said earlier, you were amazing today! Especially when you pierced the Giant Lizard's heart with an ice spear at the end... Wow. That's Cha Yunha for you! The Ice Empress hasn't lost her touch. Let's keep this up.”

“...Yes. Thank you.”

“First, we'll head back to the guild and rest for about an hour. Then we'll go straight to the next meeting location...”

“A meeting? On a day when I've just returned from a Gate?”

“Oh, right. Did I forget to tell you...? Another commercial offer came in. And it's from a major cosmetics company, no less!”

“You didn't tell me.”

“Ah, sorry. I've been so busy lately that I forgot to mention it. Besides, the PR team suddenly passed it over to us, so there wasn't much time.”

“...”

“Still, this raid wasn't as difficult as expected, and all you have to do is meet with some people from the company for a little while... You can manage that, right?”

“...All right.”

“Great! Thanks for understanding.”

Their conversation fell silent for a moment.

“...Manager.”

“Hm? What is it, Yunha?”

“Do you really think it's all right to keep going like this?”

“Huh? What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”

“I'm worried. Lately, I feel like my growth has stagnated.”

“Your growth has stagnated?...Ah. Is this because Yu Sehwa took the fourth-place ranking from you? Hahaha, and here I thought it was something serious.”

The manager, who had been checking on Yunha through the rearview mirror, burst into hearty laughter.

In contrast, Yunha's expression remained gloomy.

“Yu Sehwa? She's overrated. She'll shine for a moment and then fade away. The media keeps trying to portray you two as rivals, with all that fire versus ice nonsense, but you don't need to pay any attention to it. Just keep working hard like you are now, and you'll reclaim fourth place in no time. No, you might even aim higher!”

“I don't know about that. When I went on a raid with her two weeks ago, I didn't get that impression at all. If anything, I even thought that... she might completely surpass me.”

“Oh, there you go again! You're far too hard on yourself. Have a little more confidence.”

The manager continued talking cheerfully.

Even so, Cha Yunha's expression showed no sign of brightening.

'...It's always like this.'

Her manager was always kind to Cha Yunha. However, his kindness was superficial.

That was why he never truly listened to what she said. He simply kept praising her, insisting that everything was fine and that things would work out.

Still, she decided to try talking to him one last time.

Having made up her mind, Yunha spoke again.

“You've been watching my Gate raids, haven't you? Including today's and the previous ones.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Of course I've watched every single one! Along with the association employees, through the drone cameras deployed inside.”

“What did you think?”

“What did I think...? Hmm... It was beautiful! Monsters freezing helplessly with a single gesture of your hand. Wow! That's the Ice Empress for you.”

“Was there anything I needed to improve?”

“Anything to improve? Hmm... I don't know. Maybe you're so perfect that you seem a little less human?”

“...Please stop joking. I'm serious.”

“Haha! Sorry. You looked so tense that I wanted to lighten the mood. Seriously, though, I don't see any problems. The strength of your freezing ability and its versatility... They've already reached their peak.”

“...”

“The media calls you the best ice-type ability user in Korea, but I disagree! As far as I'm concerned, Yunha, you're the best in the world.”

The manager's gaze once again shifted toward Yunha in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

“—Does that make our little princess feel better?”

As he delivered that cheesy line with a wink, a shiver ran down Yunha's spine.

'I almost swore at him just now...'

Her manager wasn't a bad person, but it was genuinely difficult to tolerate the things he occasionally said.

She'd carefully tried hinting several times that she wished he'd stop, but nothing had changed, so she'd eventually given up.

Suppressing the irritation rising inside her, Yunha struggled to maintain a neutral expression.

“...Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Then that's settled. If you're sleepy, get some rest. I'll wake you when we arrive.”

She wasn't sleepy.

Nevertheless, Yunha closed her eyes, leaned her head against the window, and pretended to sleep.

Because she'd realized that continuing the conversation wouldn't change anything.

'...This is frustrating.'

Talking to her manager was frustrating. Recently, she'd been feeling that frustration much more frequently.

Nothing in the world was perfect. Naturally, Cha Yunha wasn't a perfect hunter either.

If her manager had properly watched her recent battles, he would certainly have noticed the same things she had.

'...Are ice-type abilities really that perfect?'

Directly freezing monsters or striking them with conjured ice, creating various types of terrain with ice structures to support teammates or pressure monsters.

The public regarded ice-type abilities as 'a perfect all-rounder with no weaknesses.'

In fact, ice-type ability users occupied many of the top positions in hunter rankings around the world, and Korea was no exception.

But Cha Yunha herself thought differently.

'Lately, battles have been going wrong more and more often. In particular, my offensive power is lacking.'

The number of monsters resistant to her freezing ability had increased noticeably, and her backup strategy of attacking with conjured ice was gradually beginning to show its limitations as well.

The time required to defeat monsters of the same level was growing longer and longer.

'I need a way. Some way to strengthen my abilities. Whether it's a new application or something else...'

But even if Yunha brought up these concerns, would her manager really listen?

'...Of course he wouldn't take it seriously. He'd just brush it off as needless worrying again.'

If he had genuinely been paying attention to her battles, he should have noticed long ago.

Battles taking increasingly longer, monsters gradually developing greater resistance to freezing—obvious abnormalities that anyone working in the hunter industry should have recognized.

Yet her manager was completely unaware.

That left two possibilities. Either he'd lied about watching her battles, or he lacked even the most basic ability to evaluate them.

Either way, he wouldn't be able to resolve Yunha's concerns.

'I should visit the guild's Strategic Analysis Department myself sometime.'

Having made that decision, Yunha kept her eyes closed and continued pretending to sleep until the car arrived at Black Sword's headquarters.

“We're here, Yunha!”

The two got out of the car.

“Get some rest in the lounge! I have some other work to take care of. I'll come pick you up when it's time.”

“Yes. See you later.”

After seeing her manager hurry off somewhere, Yunha began walking toward the main entrance of the Black Sword building.

Ring, ring, ring—

“?”

Cha Yunha's smartphone suddenly rang.

When she checked, it was an unfamiliar number.

“Who could this be?”

She almost never received calls from unknown numbers.

Black Sword managed Yunha's contact information so strictly that she'd never even received an ordinary spam call.

After hesitating over what to do, Yunha tapped her smartphone screen and brought it to her ear.

“Hello?”

-Is this Cha Yunha's number?

“Who's calling?”

-Pleased to meet you. I'm Baek Dohyeon, guild master of Revenant.

“...”

Revenant, Revenant... Only after repeating the name several times in her head did she remember where she'd heard it before.

It was a newly established guild that had recently attracted attention.

Because Baekmyeong Group was directly involved, the hunter industry had been buzzing for some time about the conglomerate finally entering the hunter business.

-What can Baekmyeong possibly accomplish? No matter how much money they pour into it, they don't have the necessary experience. Besides, that Baek Dohyeon fellow is nothing but a thug. And now he's saying he wants to be number one? Ha. What a joke...

That was what her manager had said.

He wasn't entirely wrong. Baek Dohyeon. The notorious troublemaker of Baekmyeong Group.

There were stories of him being tasered by police officers dispatched after he caused a drunken disturbance, pestering female influencers he followed on social media through direct messages, and videos circulating of him shouting at employees...

More recently, he'd apparently gotten into an argument with some hunter over a game, gone to confront her in person, and received a thorough beating.

Baek Dohyeon was so notorious that even Yunha, who paid little attention to worldly affairs, knew his name. Naturally, it was for all the wrong reasons.

-Revenant intends to continue recruiting promising hunters who will build the future alongside us.

-I'd like to ask about your specific goals!

-Number one. Naturally, I have no intention of settling for anything less than the top of the industry.

She recalled Baek Dohyeon's bold declaration, which she'd happened to overhear while passing by as her manager watched an interview with him on his phone.

“Revenant. That's the newly established guild, isn't it? Are you calling to recruit me?”

-Oh, so you've heard of our guild. That makes things easier...

“I'll decline.”

-...Oh dear. That's rather cold of you. You haven't even heard what I have to say.

“Is there anything worth hearing? Black Sword, the veteran major guild I've belonged to, has been operating for nearly ten years. And then there's your newly established guild, which is only a few days old and doesn't have a single hunter. Isn't it obvious which one I should choose?”

If anything, Yunha had slightly raised her assessment of Dohyeon.

She was impressed by his audacity in attempting to recruit a top-ranked S-rank hunter from a major guild despite leading a newly established guild himself.

“From my perspective, there's absolutely no reason to choose your guild. Goodbye.”

Just as Yunha was about to hang up, a remark from her smartphone stopped her.

-Do you really believe there's absolutely no reason for you to join us?

It sounded like typical empty bravado. Yet something about his voice seemed strangely meaningful.

“...What do you mean?”

-I believe there is a reason.

“Then let's hear it.”

-Haven't you been troubled by something lately?

“Ha. What a cheap line. You sound like a fortune-teller. Everyone has a worry or two—”

-To be precise, I'm talking about your abilities.

“...!”

-Ms. Yunha?

“...How absurd. I'm hanging up.”

Click.

She'd hung up in a panic, but Yunha's startled heart refused to settle down.

'How did he know?'

A concern she'd never discussed with anyone. Could that man somehow know about it?

But Yunha soon shook her head.

'It must have been a lucky guess. Every hunter worries about their abilities at least once...'

Trying to reassure herself, Yunha entered Black Sword's main entrance.

However, even as she rode the elevator upward, the uneasy feeling lingering in a corner of her heart refused to disappear.

Nor could she shake the name that had become firmly lodged in her mind.

Baek Dohyeon of Revenant.

_______________

“—She hung up. Weren't you boasting that you could definitely recruit her? It seems you've only made her dislike you instead.”

Seohyeon, who had been listening beside me during my conversation with Cha Yunha, gave me a look that seemed to say, 'Just as I expected.'

“No, this confirms it.”

“Pardon?”

“Cha Yunha is currently struggling with concerns about her own abilities.”

“...? How could you possibly tell that from the conversation just now? Weren't you just making a random remark?”

Because I already knew.

-Hey, Cha Yunha. Did you know? Whenever someone hits a nerve, you freeze up for a moment and can't do anything.

-What? No way.

-...You ate the emergency rations in the storage room, didn't you?

-...!

-The ones I'd set aside on the Association President's orders. They were supposed to be distributed to the hunters returning from missions.

-...N-no, I didn't.

-See? If you're hungry, just say so. I would've made you something.

-...Shut up.

There was a habit of hers I'd learned about when we served together in the resistance.

That confirmed it.

Just as she'd told me in my previous life, she was feeling the limitations of her abilities during this period.

“Now that I know exactly what to focus on, shall we get started in earnest?”

I needed to bring her into our guild as quickly as possible.

Only then could she develop properly and become the talent I needed for my plans.

And there was one more thing.

...Because I also needed to ask her about that mysterious ring she'd given me.