A hearty laugh echoed through the Tower.
Someone might have called me a madman if they saw, but it didn't matter.
Because right now, other people's gazes weren't important.
I had Memorize, which I'd heard mages called a cheat key.
And I'd obtained an unexpected skill called Quake.
On top of that, money was filling my account balance every single day.
How could I not be in a good mood?
Every day was farming, and every day was a good day.
Feeling good, I stretched and lightly cracked my neck side to side.
Feeling my stiff muscles loosen, I tried to head for the Tower's entrance.
It was then, as I was thinking about going back to take a warm shower, that I heard it.
Thud, thud.
From the shadows at the Tower's entrance, footsteps rang out at regular intervals.
There were almost no people who came to the Tower around this time.
Unless they were quite skilled, people usually challenged the Tower in parties, and to do that, they were most active during the day and afternoon.
In other words, lower-ranked Hunters who targeted the lower floors—unlike high-ranking Hunters aiming for the upper floors—didn't move around at late hours.
Wondering who it could be, I stopped walking and turned my gaze toward the sound.
A woman slowly walked out from the boundary where shadow and light met.
She wore neat black combat gear, but traces of battle stained the edges of her clothes.
Bloodstains that seemed to be from monsters.
More than anything, what was overwhelming was the momentum she displayed without hesitation.
Whether she simply had no intention of hiding it, with every step she took, she weighed down the air with mana.
The pressure made it hard to breathe.
What kind of woman was she…!
Soon, her face was visible under the light.
Jet-black hair flowing straight down to her waist, skin so pale it was almost white, and cold, indifferent eyes in which not a shred of emotional fluctuation could be found.
There was no need to scour Hunter galleries or news articles to know who she was.
Because it was a face I'd seen hundreds of times on TV and on large posters at the Hunter Association.
Because she was someone who had caused countless uproars.
Korea's youngest S-Rank Awakened.
The object of every Hunter's admiration, and the symbol of insurmountable power. It was Kim Soyeon.
Why on earth had she come out of the Tower at this hour?
No, if it was her, it wouldn't be strange for her to come out and clear it during the quiet hours.
While thinking that, I met her eyes.
"So you're White."
A small, dry voice.
She asked me with a tone and voice that truly seemed uninterested.
I couldn't react to that question. I froze.
I should have denied it outright first.
How on earth did she know?
Why did she know?
Lee Chaeyeon might have been able to infer it from various circumstantial evidence, but how did she, who had never even met me before, know?
Moreover, she pointed me out as White with a voice full of conviction from the get-go.
Suppressing my pounding heart, I answered with a deliberately calm expression.
"What are you talking about? You've got the wrong person."
Hmm, not bad.
There was no trembling in my voice, and I'd managed to hide my flustered look somewhat.
Wouldn't I just look like a Hunter coming out after raiding the Tower late at night?
But contrary to my expectations, Kim Soyeon stopped walking and looked at me.
Then, tilting her head slightly, she openly stared at me and opened her mouth.
"That's the face of someone wondering how I knew."
…Ah, dammit.
I thought I'd gotten my expression under control, but apparently not.
Seeing her speak with such conviction.
At those words thrown in a dry tone devoid of any emotion, I felt cold sweat flowing all over my body.
I thought. I had to answer well.
Depending on how I answered, my identity could be exposed.
I wasn't ready to face her yet.
In the first place, in the gallery, the first-playthrough version of her had said to definitely consult with her before meeting his current self.
That I should be careful. That I should approach cautiously.
I bit my lip hard.
I thought about what to do.
If I responded rashly here, I felt like I'd get caught up in her pace.
But regardless of whether my head was a mess or not, Kim Soyeon nodded.
She seemed to take my silence as affirmation.
With a face that was still indifferent, she spoke.
"Shall I tell you?"
"…"
"I'm on my way out after clearing the Tower too. Naturally, right before leaving the Tower, I checked to see what my records were like."
She stared straight through me.
It was a gaze that watched as if observing. As if interested.
"But by chance, really by chance… I recalled hearing that the name White had been continuously setting new records lately, so I looked below."
I quietly gulped.
I didn't take my eyes off her lips, off her face.
"The record for the 10th-floor boss stage, clear time renewed at a whopping 14 seconds. And the nickname was White."
…For real?
Did the timing really overlap by coincidence, and she witnessed it?
Was it really a coincidence?
"The funny thing is, what I saw wasn't the record having been renewed… I saw it being renewed."
'I'm fucked.'
My reflection in her black pupils was of a pathetic loser dripping sweat.
A fool who couldn't hide even an ounce of agitation was standing there.
And in her eyes, a very faint trace of sorrow was mixed in.
"And I came out immediately. The time it took me to walk out of the Tower, and the time you just came out. The margin of error between the two timestamps is within one second."
Crazy.
In other words, she'd come out immediately just to check it.
Because she was curious who it was.
The youngest S-Rank in the world, Kim Soyeon-nimnim herself, had been curious about someone like me and came out specifically to confirm.
"And at this silent hour, the only person here besides me… is you alone."
"…"
"Therefore, you are White. QED."
It was suffocating. Truly, it was choking.
Should I insist it was a stretch? Impossible.
Even a kindergartener would nod at her deduction.
It was neither a gut feeling nor a forced guess.
A perfect noose that was physically irrefutable.
Considering that she'd coincidentally witnessed the record renewal firsthand and matched the time of exiting the Tower, denying it didn't make sense at all.
Above all, her eyes were full of conviction.
As if it didn't matter what I said, she was already convinced.
The only thing I could do was keep my mouth shut.
With my mouth closed, I thought.
Kim Soyeon was one of those who wouldn't hesitate to nag if something went wrong.
But the appearance she was showing now… honestly, it felt disconnected.
Confusing. Dizzying.
That dry indifference that logically pinpointed someone else's secret without the slightest care for another's emotional turmoil.
A violent structure. Intellectual.
Only one thing came to mind.
So, I spat it out.
"Why are you speaking casually, you crazy bitch."
Just like that.
"…What?"
"So what. What do you want me to do about it."
I forced the corners of my lips up crookedly.
I glared at her as if representing my unpleasant feelings.
"Let's say I am White. Even if the timing overlapped by coincidence as you said, so what."
"…Hey, you."
"So, does that famous S-Rank have some business with someone like me at this hour?"
"…"
For the first time, she was flustered.
She couldn't respond to the temper I was suddenly showing.
"Do you know me? Why are you speaking casually?"
"…I don't."
"If you don't know me, why speak casually? Is that funny? You wanna die?"
"…No."
"So what do you want. Do you have business with me?"
"No."
"…"
"None at all."
Fuck. I want to press further, but I'll let it slide.
Seeing her still flustered, I turned my back without hesitation.
Though I'd poured out harsh words at her to my heart's content, my head was blank.
My head was empty and white because my identity had been exposed so suddenly.
What, she came just to check?
She must know that the large guilds are desperate to find this person.
Just because? Just to confirm?
"W-wait a moment!"
Her voice came from behind.
But ignoring it, I walked while looking forward. With quick steps, as if fleeing.
I hurried to my lodging.
Arriving in my room, I muttered in a hollow voice.
"They say you never know what will happen in life…"
I clicked my tongue.
Taking a can of beer from the refrigerator, I chugged it and threw myself onto the sofa.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, the image of Kim Soyeon I'd encountered came to mind and I shuddered without realizing it.
To share this confused state of mind, I opened the gallery.
Posts were still chattering about trivial matters.
I pressed write and composed a post.
Title: I just ran into Kim Soyeon
Author: Baek Ubin
[TL;DR. What do I do? I panicked and said some fucked up shit]
I took another swig of beer.
Usually when I posted something like this, Cheonma or Archmage would make a fuss.
Not even a minute after posting, a new post appeared at the top with a notification sound.
Title: Gallery owner, look
Author: Kim Soyeon
[I'll tell you one weakness. Back then, I was going commando. Yep]
"Pffft—!!!"
I splendidly spat out the beer I'd held in my mouth.
I saw it spraying over the sofa and table.
Choking as my breath hitched, I doubted my own two eyes.
No, for real?
Wondering if I'd seen wrong, I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but it was the same content.
Commando? Really?
As if representing my confusion, comments began to appear.
ㄴ Wtf commando lmao
ㄴ Hey Ubin, go check if it's real
My mouth didn't close the entire time I read down the comments.
"Wait, hold on."
Smirking in disbelief, my finger that had been about to close the gallery window froze stiffly in midair.
Putting down the beer can and wiping my mouth, I gazed blankly at the night view of the city visible outside the window.
And then plopping back down on the sofa, I muttered in a low voice.
"Ah, I am curious though."
The weather is just perfect for curiosity.