"Excuse me for intruding."
"Please, come in."
Despite her racing heart and nervous demeanor, a rare, genuine smile graced Cha Hae-In's face as she welcomed Kim Min-jun into her apartment. She knew inviting him over right after a dungeon raid was a little hasty, but she was genuinely happy she had taken the leap. She was incredibly lonely, and this was the very first time she had ever invited someone to her home.
Many people in the media often wondered why the beautiful, famous "Dancer" of the Hunters Guild didn't have a large social circle or any close friends.
If she could, she absolutely would. But unfortunately, her severe sensory mutation made normal socialization impossible. To her, every single Awakened individual—and even normal civilians to a lesser extent—smelled like rotting meat and rusted iron. It was a cruel, isolating biological function, but what could she do?
If she spent time with others, she was forced to press a scented handkerchief to her nose, and even that barely masked the suffocating stench. It was a living hell. Under those conditions, how could she possibly relax and make friends?
That was exactly why she lived alone in this towering penthouse. Up here, touching the clouds and completely isolated from the rest of Seoul, she could finally find a moment of peace. It was the only place where the putrid smell that haunted her daily life faded away.
It wasn't a perfect sanctuary—the ambient mana in the air still carried a faint trace of the scent—but her brain had adapted to the baseline smell, much like "nose blindness."
But her nose was far too sharp to ever completely ignore it. That was exactly why Min-jun's existence meant the absolute world to her. He didn't just lack the rotting smell; he radiated a crisp, clean scent that actively soothed her frayed nerves.
At the end of the day, despite holding the grand title of South Korea's strongest female Hunter, Cha Hae-In was just a lonely young woman. Min-jun's arrival had completely changed her life. She was no longer completely alone. Taking Choi Jong-In's highly calculated (if entirely self-serving) corporate advice to heart, she had gathered every ounce of her courage to invite Min-jun to dinner.
"Thank you for having me, Hae-In," Min-jun said, slipping off his shoes at the entryway.
They had already comfortably dropped the stiff honorifics. They were the exact same age, and maintaining formal corporate boundaries felt too rigid. More importantly, they were now the core pillars of the same Guild. Even if Min-jun preferred the efficiency of solo speedrunning, he knew that surviving massive S-Rank Gates would eventually require reliable teammates. It didn't hurt to build a solid rapport with Cha Hae-In—even if she was technically Sung Jin-woo's canonical love interest.
Still, Min-jun mentally reminded himself to keep things strictly platonic. Tangling himself up in a messy, multiversal romance plot sounded like an absolute headache.
"It's a really nice place," Min-jun noted, looking around the massive, high-ceilinged living room.
"Is it?" Hae-In blinked, genuinely surprised.
"You don't know?" Min-jun looked at her strangely.
"Well... it's looked exactly like this since the day I moved in."
"..."
Min-jun slowly scanned the penthouse. The walls were completely bare. The modern furniture looked completely untouched, like a high-end luxury hotel room that nobody actually lived in.
"...So, this is the original showroom setup," Min-jun concluded deadpan.
"Yes."
"...Hae-In, haven't you tried buying anything to decorate with your massive salary?"
"Um..." Hae-In fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, looking away nervously. "...Swords?"
Min-jun was at a complete loss for words. He slowly raised a hand, wanting to rub his temples to ward off an impending headache. But seeing her shrink back slightly, he quickly smoothed his expression into a calm, reassuring smile, pretending she hadn't just admitted to living like a feral weapon-collector.
"Is... is it weird?" she asked softly.
"No, it's perfectly normal," Min-jun lied smoothly. "You are a Master Swordsman, after all. It makes sense."
Hearing those words, Hae-In let out a heavy sigh of relief. Her shoulders visibly relaxed.
"What about you?" she asked, tilting her head. "What do you do with all your streaming and Guild money?"
"What do I do with my money?" Min-jun tapped his chin, thinking for a second. "Er... aggressive stock market investments?"
"...Is that all?"
"Yes."
"...."
"...."
The two S-Ranks stared at each other in dead silence for a few seconds before both of them simultaneously burst into quiet laughter.
"I guess you aren't that much different from me, Min-jun."
"Yup. We're both terrible at spending money like normal people."
They really were cut from the same cloth. While Cha Hae-In obsessively invested her capital into high-tier swords to survive the abyss, Kim Min-jun obsessively hoarded financial security. With the Manager running highly advanced, predictive algorithms in the background, his investments were mathematically flawless. He didn't even have to look at his portfolio; the Manager handled it all.
As they walked toward the dining room, Min-jun felt a sudden wave of appreciation for his Archer class. Frontline Fighters like Hae-In constantly chipped, shattered, and melted their million-dollar swords against monster armor. Since Min-jun's Logic Arc was completely weightless and generated its own ammunition entirely out of mana, he would never have to spend a single Won on weapon maintenance.
Still, there was one glaring, highly practical problem that needed to be addressed before dinner.
"Hae-In," Min-jun started carefully.
"Hmm?" Hae-In turned, her mood visibly soaring. She was practically glowing with happiness, ready to answer absolutely anything he asked.
"Can you actually cook?"
"....."
Cha Hae-In's bright, sunny mood instantly crashed into the floor.
Despite his entirely justified skepticism, the meal was surprisingly fantastic.
"What do you think?" Hae-In asked, her chest puffing out proudly as she watched Min-jun practically inhale the last bite of his meal.
He might have looked down on her domestic skills ten minutes ago, assuming she was just a battle-crazed warrior who only knew how to swing a blade. But she had clearly put a massive amount of effort into mastering this recipe.
"How is it?!" she pressed, leaning over the table.
"It's genuinely delicious," Min-jun admitted, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. "Can I have seconds?"
"Of course!" Hae-In beamed, immediately taking his plate to serve him more.
Watching her happily scoop more food onto his plate, Min-jun wondered if true happiness was really just this simple.
At this moment, the rest of the chaotic world completely faded away. It was just the two of them, sharing a warm, quiet dinner. It was such a mundane, everyday occurrence for normal people. But for the two of them—feared as walking natural disasters, worshipped as corporate idols, and treated like monsters by regular society—these quiet moments of human connection were incredibly rare.
He noticed the complete lack of family photos in the penthouse. Unlike him, who had Jinah bursting through his front door and Jin-woo watching his back, Cha Hae-In was entirely alone.
An hour later, Min-jun gently placed his chopsticks down and checked his watch.
"You're leaving already?" Hae-In asked, her voice dropping slightly.
"It's getting a little late," Min-jun smiled gently, standing up. "I can't exactly stay with you all night, right?"
Hae-In's face instantly burned a brilliant, violent shade of crimson. She desperately wanted to refute him—to blurt out that her penthouse had five empty guest bedrooms and it was perfectly fine if he stayed. But she bit her tongue, utterly terrified that he would mistakenly think she was a loose, shameless woman trying to trap him.
Even so, the thought of the penthouse returning to its suffocating, lonely silence made her chest physically ache.
"...You're right," she murmured, looking down at the table. "But..."
"But...?"
"You haven't tried my tiramisu yet!"
It was a brilliant, desperate spark of inspiration. She quickly voiced the first excuse her panicked brain could invent. "It's my specialty! It's even more delicious than dinner! You really have to try it!"
"...." Min-jun paused. He was already completely full.
"...Or... do you not want to?" she asked, her gray eyes looking up at him with a dangerously cute, almost pleading expression.
Min-jun's psychological defenses instantly shattered.
"I'd love to," Min-jun replied hurriedly, offering a warm smile. "But I really do need to get back tonight. Please let me try your tiramisu next time."
"Okay~!" Hae-In instantly brightened, securing the promise of a second date.
"Then, I'll head home first. I'm looking forward to it, Hae-In. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Min-jun!"
Min-jun maintained his gentle, composed smile as he stepped out of the front door and walked toward the private elevator. He had absolutely no idea that the second the heavy oak door clicked shut, South Korea's most terrifying female S-Rank Hunter immediately slid down the wood, plopping onto the floor. She aggressively clutched the fabric over her chest, desperately trying to calm her violently hammering heart.
Meanwhile, inside the elevator, Min-jun's expression grew highly complex as his smartphone suddenly buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out.
[Jinah: Oppa, are you almost home? I'm making dinner for you! I even saved those expensive pastries you bought for dessert! Hurry up!]
"..."
Min-jun stared blankly at the glowing screen, feeling the heavy, undeniable weight of the food currently sitting in his stomach.
The world was constantly on the brink of apocalyptic annihilation. There were terrifying Monarchs in the shadows, unmapped Dungeons ready to break, and god-like Rulers manipulating the timeline. He was an S-Rank anomaly forced to navigate an incredibly dangerous cyberpunk corporate hellscape.
Yet, out of all the catastrophic, life-threatening trials he had faced today... having to go home and eat a second massive dinner was undeniably the most difficult hurdle of his Hunter career.
Min-jun could only shake his head with a heavy sigh. He couldn't afford to get tangled up in messy relationship dynamics right now. He needed to focus entirely on improving his raw strength and digesting the combat data he had gathered from today's speedruns.
But before Min-jun could fully unpack his own growing powers, the multiversal connection flared deep within the Manager's network.
Far across the dimensional void, in the dark, cursed-energy-filled world of Jujutsu Kaisen, another anomaly was making his move.
It was time for Suzuki Zenin to return to his deeply corrupt family estate. And he was not returning to ask for permission; he was returning to violently rip the title of Clan Head straight from his father's hands.
---
Yup, tomorrow is the JJK!
While some might wish to see more Solo Leveling, please wait for a while.
But, based on my wish, after JJK, it will be Arifureta, then Naruto.
What about Naruto?
Hmm... I haven't thought about it since I haven't even finished the Arifureta, or even written the Naruto arc, but I will either write Solo Leveling, or have the new Suzuki.
This Suzuki, er... I mean, the 5th, probably, from a futuristic world; the 6th, probably, from a slice-of-life; and the 7th... let's see how it goes.
Still, look forward to it!