006 – Nymph Inoi #6
“…….”
Seo Ye-rim sat cross-legged in the meditation room set up in her private office, her eyes closed. This meditation period was an indispensable part of the schedule of S Rank Hunter Seo Ye-rim.
She didn’t particularly like how the specially made black suit clung to her body, but she couldn’t help it.
‘Clear your head and enter the world of nothingness and emptiness.’
Every time during meditation, Seo Ye-rim emptied her mind.
As one of only three S Rank Hunters in Korea, she led busier days than anyone else, and this was the only time she could find some peace.
Of course, completely emptying one’s mind was not easy without decades of practice, so distracting thoughts often arose.
These distracting thoughts were mostly memories from the past.
Seo Ye-rim recalled an article she had seen this morning online.
「Title: Global S Rank Hunter Ranking Compilation. Where do Korean Hunters Stand?」
「Content: The ultimate dream of every human being! A blog post ranking the S Rank Hunters, who are said to be closest to the strongest, has been the talk of the town for a few days! Let’s find out from 30th to 1st place!」
There were only about thirty S Rank Hunters around the world.
The discussion about their rankings and strengths was a hot topic for people. And the ranking evaluated by others for Seo Ye-rim was….
「29th: S Rank Hunter Seo Ye-rim.
Seo Ye-rim, Korea’s pride, wields flames hotter than 1300 degrees like a serpent! Her powerful firepower is comparable to that of higher-ranked Hunters! However, due to her recent poor work performance and entertainment activities, she has dropped to 29th place—.」
Being an S Rank Awakened meant existing beyond superhumans. Seo Ye-rim was no different. She could claim a protagonist-like position wherever she went.
However, among the S Rank Awakened, Seo Ye-rim’s position was 29th.
Considering that the 30th-ranked “MyTuber Kira” was a newcomer who had just reached the S Rank, Seo Ye-rim was practically at the bottom of the rankings.
“My…!?”
Seo Ye-rim felt an unbearable rage.
The devices attached to Seo Ye-rim’s body detected the anomaly and began to beep loudly.
As her emotions heightened, the fire-wielder must maintain inner peace, so Seo Ye-rim exhaled deeply.
Soon, a pre-recorded voice flowed from the speakers installed in the meditation room.
「This is the first session of the Awakened Anger Management Meditation Program. Focus your heart on the sound coming from the speakers and repeat after me.」
「First. Anger cannot control me.」
“…Anger cannot control me.”
「Second. Anger cannot control me.」
“Anger cannot control me… no… wait, I just said that!”
Whoosh—!
Unable to hold back her anger, flames erupted around Seo Ye-rim’s body. The sudden increase in temperature in the meditation room triggered the fire suppression system, drenching the room like rain.
Swoosh—.
In the end, Seo Ye-rim became a drenched rat.
Over 1300 degrees were released, but thanks to the rapid operation of the suppression system, nothing was burned.
The newly made special suit also maintained its shape without burning.
Vroom—.
At that moment, her phone outside the meditation room vibrated.
Stepping outside to check her phone, she saw that her secretary and partner, C Rank Awakened An Young-woo, was calling.
“Young-woo, what’s up?”
—The suit activated. Is something wrong? Did you get angry again during meditation?
“What? You get informed about that too? Is this inner suit designed to monitor me?”
—No, not at all. Fire-wielders occasionally lose control in civilian areas, so we’re trying to ensure quick responses and containment… Um, anyway, how’s the suit? It’s designed to withstand up to 1500 degrees, right?
“…….”
Seo Ye-rim wanted to say a lot, but she examined the suit that clung to her body. Indeed, it hadn’t burned despite the flames.
“For sure… it’s fine. Sorry for getting angry.”
Fire-wielders often ended up burning their clothes, exposing their skin.
Seo Ye-rim had experienced this enough times that paparazzi frequently followed her around.
But with this suit, she would be able to use her abilities without worrying about burning her clothes, which was a good thing in many ways.
Beep—.
Seo Ye-rim hung up and sat in front of her computer.
After turning on the internet and entering the Awakened social media site, she searched for her name, ‘Seo Ye-rim’.
Soon, many threads started to appear.
「Title: Seo Ye-rim 29th lol
Content: Shouldn’t we consider Seo Ye-rim more of a celebrity than a hunter? How has she not improved in years lol」
「Title: Ye-rim is reaching the end of her prime
Content: Ever since she became S Rank, has she been half-hearted? She used to work hard back when she was D Rank and C Rank. Now, she doesn’t even want to enter dangerous cracks, right?」
—She must have collected enough money to enjoy life until she dies. If I were her, I wouldn’t go to dangerous places either lol
—Honestly, her prime was up to B Rank, and she’s just coasting now as an A Rank.
“You guys don’t know anything…!”
A prickling sensation surged through her hair.
Seo Ye-rim was still working harder than anyone.
It just didn’t show.
After repeatedly writing and deleting rebuttals, Seo Ye-rim finally bit her lip, feeling the tears about to spill down her cheeks.
Ding—.
At that moment, her phone rang.
A text message arrived.
Thinking it might be an advertisement request from the agency, Seo Ye-rim absentmindedly glanced at her phone.
# # #
“Your office is quite peculiar.”
Seo Ye-rim’s office was located in a quiet storage complex near the seaside.
You would expect an S Rank Hunter’s office to be in a prime location with good infrastructure and accessibility, but that wasn’t the case.
Perhaps that was due to Seo Ye-rim’s specialty as a fire-wielder?
In the past, it was quite common for fire-wielders to lose control, causing firefighters to be deployed.
So, fire-wielders were typically not assigned to densely populated areas like apartments or given office spaces. It wasn’t legally prohibited, but neighbors wouldn’t like it.
“Who would have thought I’d be invited to the office?”
She thought they would meet at a cafe or something. However, Seo Ye-rim invited her to discuss ‘shoes’ at her own office.
In my opinion, this was probably also due to the peculiar nature of fire-wielders.
Seo Ye-rim might dislike me, and it could be dangerous if emotions heightened while talking.
It’d make sense that she called me to a safe location with countermeasures against unexpected fires.
As I had over 10 years of experience as a Hunter, I could easily connect the dots.
In fact, I had hoped to be called to her office.
There would likely be “Seo Ye-rim’s hair” scattered around the office.
I chuckled quietly to myself.
“The sea is beautiful…! The sea is full of water nymphs…! Some of them even had fins…!”
Inoi was immensely happy while looking at the seaside.
I knew she generally liked water, but apparently, she loved the sea as well. Could the nymphs with fins be like mermaids?
Lost in thought, I soon arrived at the office.
The building, converted from a warehouse, looked neat and spacious. At this level, it was almost like a mansion, wasn’t it?
For a moment, I felt a twinge of jealousy, thinking, ‘How bourgeois…’.
“Is this truly the witch’s lair…! It shines like the castle of the witch Medea in ancient Athens…!”
Inoi also expressed her amazement. I said to her.
“Be careful what you say; you might get roasted. She’s the 29th most powerful person in the world. Someone like us could turn to ashes with a mere wave of her hand.”
“29th, huh…! This Inoi, whatever it may be, finds it remarkable…!”
As Inoi said, being ranked 29th among S ranks was impressive indeed.
Of course, if I knew Seo Ye-rim, she wouldn’t think so herself.
“Inoi, you should erase the part about being 29th from your mind.”
Finally arriving at the entrance.
As I opened the automatic door, the clean interior came into view.
Standing awkwardly in the lobby, I heard the sound of heels clicking down the stairs from the second floor. Turning my head, Seo Ye-rim appeared wearing a coat.
Feeling a tightness in my chest, Seo Ye-rim looked me up and down before asking,
“Where are the flowers?”
What flowers?
Did she mean that since I was a guest, I should have brought some flowers or fruits?
As I felt a bit awkward, Inoi, who had been wandering around the first-floor lobby, raised her hand excitedly.
“Ah…! This is the owner of the massive castle…!”
“…Who is this? What? A cousin or something?”
“Well, it’s a bit long to explain. This is Inoi.”
“It’s Inoi…!”
Shivering, Inoi trembled.
I wondered if she was feeling fear in front of the strict and picky Seo Ye-rim, but that wasn’t the case.
Inoi shouted in awe.
“I thought she was a wicked witch, but she’s as beautiful as a princess…! This Inoi has only seen someone so beautiful once before, and that was Princess Psyche…!”
It seemed that even the Nymph Inoi found Seo Ye-rim’s beauty impressive.
It was only natural.
The elves of Alvheim had to possess extraordinary beauty to appear in advertisements in this era where TV and MyTube were prevalent.
In any case, that wasn’t the important part.
“I have something to discuss about the shoes.”
“…….”
Seo Ye-rim stared blankly at me and Inoi in turn.
Then she said, “Come upstairs,” and went up to the second floor.
I followed her, constantly scanning the floor.
I wondered if there might be any stray hairs lying around.
But there weren’t any.
Thinking they might be on the second floor office, I climbed up to find a sofa and a huge glass window in an open space.
The ivory-colored floor gleamed, and it was spotless, almost to a pathological degree.
It was the moment when the option of picking up a fallen hair started to fade. Given the circumstances, should I just boldly say, “Can I have just one hair?”
…No, what if I get accused of sexual harassment?
“What do you want to discuss?”
Seo Ye-rim asked calmly as she sat on the sofa.
I debated whether to sit on the sofa or stay standing, ultimately choosing to stand and opening my bag, from which I pulled out the shoes.
Red shoes.
They were clean, having been polished.
“I cleaned these up. They’ve almost returned to their original state; how do they look?”
There was always the option to clean the shoes, add Seo Ye-rim’s premium on them, and resell them – perhaps I could charge more than the cost of ten million won.
However, doing that might get me accused of, “Hey, why are you selling my shoes without permission?” and Seo Ye-rim might just become 1300 degrees hot on me.
So, I simply said, “I cleaned them up nicely, so let’s call it even.”
“Did you clean off the Queen Bee’s nectar? That must have taken days of scrubbing!”
Seo Ye-rim seemed genuinely surprised.
Did she think I invested days and passion to clean off the substance? The reality was that I had merely licked it off.
In any case, Inoi was so captivated by the view of the sea beyond the vast glass window, exclaiming, “What a splendid sight…!” so as long as I kept my mouth shut, no one would find out.
I resolved to push my luck that I had indeed worked hard on the cleaning.
“I really did clean it thoroughly.”
Seo Ye-rim inspected the shoes from every angle.
She even brought her nose close to the spots where the nectar had been and sniffed.
“…It smells like flowers… Hmph, well. It’s cleaner than expected. I used to like these shoes, but with this level of cleanliness, I won’t need to buy new ones. Thank goodness.”
Seo Ye-rim smiled subtly as if truly relieved.
Although I knew she was a nasty woman who might have cursed me behind my back, I found myself captivated by that smile.
Isn’t being an S Rank Hunter and looking good the best combination?
The world is truly unfair.
“So, is that all you wanted to say?”
Seo Ye-rim asked.
Her expression was fairly tranquil.
However, if I were to say, “That’s all I had to say,” I felt I’d be kicked out of the office.
Wouldn’t it be better to come up with an excuse somehow?
I hoped for an excuse that might allow me to obtain some hair!
Suddenly—.
At that moment, something brushed against my head.
“Seo Ye-rim, your ranking is 29th, right? Aren’t you a bit anxious that your skills aren’t improving?”
“…….”
Her previously calm eyes instantly twisted into a scowl like a witch.
The die had already been cast….
I resolved to give it my all and spin a yarn!
“I just figured out how to improve as an Awakened. Thanks to, well, you know, this Inoi here! Because Inoi is a Nymph from another world, she knows how to elevate stagnant skills.”
