After a chaotic awakening, the house felt unnaturally quiet.
Cha Eui-sung lazily cleared away the cups and liquor bottles, then swept the cold, untouched chicken into a bag and threw it out.
He didn’t have an appetite. There were meal replacement shakes available, but he couldn’t be bothered to make one. There was nothing scheduled for today anyway, so he didn’t need the energy.
He kept turning over the System issues in his head, but no matter how he approached it, it was all just circling the same point.
So, he decided—might as well take the entire day off. It was a bold decision, but free time still felt unfamiliar. In the past, Cha Eui-sung had been busy even on weekends. Now that he suddenly had time in abundance, he didn’t quite know what to do with it.
Should he go back to taking notes and organizing plans? But was that really rest, or just more work?
“Not being able to rest is a sickness too. I don’t get why those Hunter Association bastards keep making the sick work.”
That line from his past life came back to him out of nowhere.
Back then, he’d brushed it off, blaming the guy for being lazy. But now, he thought he might finally understand what the guy meant.
Feeling strangely guilty, Cha Eui-sung flopped down onto the sofa. He turned on the TV, sifting through memories from his First Life. A loud, chaotic variety show was on.
“Hm.”
Not entertaining. Just noisy and annoying.
Changing channels didn’t help either. He knew exactly where the jokes were meant to land—but nothing made him laugh.
“Tsk… I feel like this used to be funny.”
Before he was crushed under suffocating debt, he used to crack open a beer late at night and watch variety shows now and then.
At some point, everything just stopped feeling enjoyable.
Maybe when life becomes too brutal, everything else fades into gray—unworthy of attention or care.
With a half-hearted look, he kept flipping through the channels until his fingers stopped at a hunter-exclusive channel. At this point, that was the only kind of content he had any interest in.
—South Korea has one of the highest per capita rates of S-Rank Hunters. Currently, there are five S-Rank Hunters in the country. What’s remarkable is that three of them are affiliated with the Hunter Association, right?
—Strictly speaking, rather than affiliation, it’s more of a contractual relationship. Two of the nationally-registered Hunters had been considering emigration, but ended up staying after forming a deal with the Hunter Association.
—A loss for the Bureau of Regulation, but thank goodness we were able to prevent a brain drain. Thanks to that, we’re able to rank our most popular domestic hunters today!
—Top 10 Most Popular Hunters in Korea! Starting with number 10: an A-Rank Hunter with teleportation abilities…
The oldest trick in the Hunter-content book: rankings.
Ranking hunters and measuring their popularity happened all the time—TV, radio, the internet. No cooldown period necessary.
As if putting them in order changed their actual abilities.
But the public clung to it, obsessed.
Maybe people found joy—or maybe even some twisted thrill—in judging and categorizing those who were greater than them. The hunters who were constantly mentioned either felt secretly pleased, mildly annoyed, burdened, or didn’t give a damn at all. S-Ranks especially—most didn’t care what nonsense the public threw at them. They didn’t care about others. Even among S-Ranks, they all kept their distance—except for that one weirdo.
They were at least a little more tolerant toward me.
When Cha Eui-sung was officially registered as an S-Rank and joined the Hunter Association, all three existing S-Ranks had shown up, an extremely rare occasion that people still talked about.
Trying to build a good reputation, he had practically groveled before the Association. One guy thought he was brainwashed or gaslit and even referred him to a psychiatrist.
A few months later, after realizing this was just how he was, they all slowly started keeping their distance—like one does with a crazy person.
Naturally, they didn’t bother helping with Association work either. Damn it. If he looked even a little pitiful, maybe they’d at least lend a hand.
—In fourth place—drumroll please… the elemental ice-type user, Hunter Ji Ha-yul! He’s the youngest among the S-Ranks, right? He’s also famous for always appearing at official events with his older sister, who’s a legal professional.
—Then in third place… ooooooh… a telekinetic user from the psychic class, Hunter Kang San-woo!
“Uuuugh…”
As the rankings climbed higher, the S-Ranks who’d once made his life hell at the Hunter Association started appearing in droves. A disgruntled groan escaped Cha Eui-sung’s lips.
It wasn’t that seeing their faces again stressed him out. In fact, he even felt a bit of nostalgia. The footage and photos shown on TV now were exactly how they’d looked when he first met them.
Back then, Cha Eui-sung had been among them, too—always with a faint smile, stats jacked up like a lunatic, and an outwardly friendly image. He used to be a staple of these ranking segments. He used to enjoy being talked about. So why was it all so dull now?
“Hmm…”
More than that… no, if he was being honest, the moment Moon Tae-young accepted the drink last night had been far more interesting.
At this point, maybe he should admit it. That damn bastard really was a memorable person—even if you put aside the fact that he was the Demon King.
He had a presence to him, something weathered—unusual for a kid in his twenties.
It made sense, considering the life he must’ve lived, but not every troubled soul turns into a captivating eccentric. Most people just broke. A raw gem needs careful cutting and polishing to become a jewel. Smashing it apart and rubbing it with sandpaper doesn’t make it valuable.
Moon Tae-young was smart, quick-witted—dangerously so—and that made him memorable.
And when you really thought about it, even if he did some dumb shit here and there, it was at least… understandable. Knowing there was a well-crafted exterior beneath his “normal guy” filter helped build a bit more patience.
Not to mention—he was the Demon King.
“That’s… not exactly a plus.”
The words slipped out aloud before he noticed, and Cha Eui-sung grimaced. Had he just complimented the bastard?
The same bastard who literally split his head open like a piñata because he was the Demon King?
“…Goddamn it.”
He jumped to his feet and opened the cupboard. A janky detox bottle labeled “Hangover Relief” stared back at him.
What if this stuff had something in it? Was his brain actually starting to melt?
He frowned, realizing even that suspicion made him look pathetic, and sank back into the sofa.
This was all the System’s fault. His thoughts were a mess, spiraling in all directions.
♪♬♩♪-
The moment he sat down, his phone rang. A glance told him it was Kim Jeong-baek.
…Out of the blue?
Did he say he’d call?
Nope. No such arrangement.
Any urgent task I asked him to handle?
Also no. And Kim Jeong-baek wasn’t the kind of guy to report early unless something was really pressing.
Could something unexpected have happened?
Yeah, that was possible. After all, Cha Eui-sung had already been blindsided by that “Hero” nonsense this morning.
The ringtone rang for a full ten seconds. If he delayed any longer, it’d cut off. After a brief pause, he finally tapped the screen.
“Kim Jeong-baek.”
—Ah, you picked up. Well, you’re not exactly the type to nap in the afternoon.
“What’s going on?”
—Nothing serious, so don’t worry.
“Then why…”
Why are you calling me on a weekend? Normally, even if something was urgent, he’d be a bit snippy about getting calls on his day off.
The curiosity didn’t last long. After a few seconds of hesitation, Jeong-baek got straight to the point.
—It’s nothing big. Just… if you haven’t had lunch yet, I was wondering if you’d like to come eat with us.
“…Huh?”
Cha Eui-sung slowly turned his eyes and scanned his surroundings.
Okay. The ceiling wasn’t melting, and the world hadn’t collapsed. He wasn’t dreaming. Then he stared at the TV, able to see each pixel like he was zoomed in—didn’t feel like a hallucination either.
Why were so many strange things happening today, one after another? Honestly, going out for a meal wasn’t a big deal, but they weren’t exactly close enough for him to be visiting their home for lunch.
—Seo-ryong… asked. If you’d like to eat lunch with us?
“…What?”
—I mean, I’m fine either way, but Seo-ryong… tsk. She really enjoyed cooking together, you know?
“Ah…”
The voice didn’t exactly sound thrilled to be inviting someone over, but at the same time, he wasn’t telling him not to come either. Sounded like he was asking Cha Eui-sung to humor Seo-ryong a little.
Come to think of it, that kid’s eyes had sparkled more with curiosity than fear from the very start.
Sigh… Guess it’s my fault for being so easy to like—by kids and adults alike.
Cha Eui-sung stared blankly at the TV, which had moved on to rambling about some hunters’ personal lives. He didn’t particularly want to go, nor did he need to, but leaving the kid disappointed wouldn’t help anything either. Besides, it might be good to look like a nice, happy family to the outside world… And his mind had been a whirlwind of tangled thoughts all morning. If he stayed alone, he’d just keep getting dragged down by memories of the System and the past. This might actually be a good change of pace.
“Sure. Uncle’s on his way.”
—Ah. Uncle.
“You make it sound like you really hate that.”
—What? No, not at all. I’m even cooking for you, aren’t I?
***
Chiiii—
“Don’t add sugar.”
“It’s in the recipe.”
“Seo-ryong already dumped in a ton when she made the marinade.”
“Oh. Did she?”
Zzzzzt—
“Turn up the heat. You’re practically boiling the meat.”
“I did it this way last time and it turned out fine, geez.”
Ignoring the half-hearted complaints completely, Cha Eui-sung turned on the exhaust hood. Wooooong—with a low hum, the smoke began to funnel upward.
Damn it. He was invited over for lunch, so why the hell was he the one standing in front of the stove, directing the cooking?
Yep. Something was definitely off about today.
