I was Kicked Out of the Hunter’s Guild

“Uhhh…”

Na Jiseon sprinted out of the unit at full speed, her breaths coming fast and heavy.

As a hunter, she had a superhuman physique far beyond that of an ordinary person, yet even she couldn’t help feeling the burn after running several kilometers at top speed.

But right now, neither exhaustion nor physical strain registered in her mind.

The only thought consuming her was singular and clear:

I have to stop him. I can’t let him leave.

I can’t lose him… Jinhyun oppa…

With that thought, Jiseon gritted her teeth and pushed herself forward, running even faster.

In this remote mountain village, which centered around a military base, there weren’t many places for someone without a car to go.

The destination was obvious.

The bus stop.

***

“Heeheehee~”

I hummed happily, standing alone at the bus stop.

If I could, I would dance here out of sheer joy. However, there were still a few curious eyes around, so I held myself back.

As I glanced at my phone while waiting for the bus, my thoughts drifted to the place I would be heading to soon.

‘Just a little longer, and I’ll finally be free of this damned place. By tonight, I’ll be there. Finally.’

It was a place I had always wanted to visit during my military service. 

Previously, it had always been challenging to take a proper vacation long enough to make the trip.

But now?

Now, there was no one to stop me, no one to nag me, no one to tie me down. The sheer freedom was intoxicating, and I felt like I was flying.

However…

–BANG!

“Ugh!”

The loud, familiar sound of rapid footsteps snapped me out of my daydream.

I frowned instinctively, the euphoric mood I had been basking in dampened slightly.

And then, right in front of me…

As I had dreaded…

There she was.

“Heh… heh…”

The woman gasping for air and glaring at me like a rabid dog was none other than one of the two I hoped I’d never have to see again.

S-class hunter Na Jiseon.

Even though her usual noisy, irritating energy was still present, her expression looked different this time.

Her face twisted with something other than her typical smug arrogance or annoyance.

Was it anger? Or desperation?

Feeling suspicious about her sudden appearance, I crossed my arms and looked at her with irritation.

“…What are you doing here? Did you suddenly take a vacation or something? Why the hell are you here?”

“Is this… is this real?”

“…What?”

She ignored my question and pulled out her phone, shoving it in my face.

“This! This!” she exclaimed in a trembling voice. “Is this real? Really… Are you leaving like this?”

The girl, her voice urgent and trembling, shoved her phone toward me, showing the resignation video I had uploaded.

Feeling a bit dumbfounded by her frantic behavior, I replied with clear annoyance:

“…Me? Really? What do you think? Do you think I’d upload that and then stick around for kicks? No, wasn’t it your oh-so-great Guild Master who ordered this herself? Global processing, she called it. I’m not a soldier anymore, and I’m not an adjutant.”

I spat the words out, irritated by the sheer stupidity of her question.

The Guild Master wanted me discharged. I complied. I even gave a cheerful farewell in the group chat before leaving. That was the end of it simple and clear.

Yet, here she was, panting like a lunatic after sprinting across the base as if she had no idea what had happened. Her presence and her dumb questions were doing a great job of ruining my mood.

As I looked at her, I began to think this anger-management disaster of a woman might be dumber than I had initially given her credit for.

But then…

“It was… a mistake. I made….”

“…What?” I asked, frowning.

“A mistake,” Jiseon repeated, her voice trembling. “I… I’ll go back with you. I’ll fix it, okay? I’ll talk to them and make sure everything goes back to the way it was. So… please…”

Her words, desperate and quivering, made me instinctively scowl.

This girl, who’d always treated me like garbage, now looked terrified. She must have realized that without me, the guy who worked tirelessly to clean up their messes, her life was about to get a lot harder.

Of course. There weren’t many people stupid enough to willingly cater to human disasters like her and the rest of the Guild’s leadership.

She continued, her tone a mix of panic and desperation:

“I know… I know it’s not easy, but I’ll try my best, okay? Don’t you hate being unemployed like this? I mean, come on, so don’t just leave like this! Let’s… Let’s go back together!”

Her pathetic attempt to convince me was laughable. She was grasping at straws, giving reasons that made no sense.

I took one long, hard look at her, and finally, I said the words I’d always wanted to say.

“Fuck off, bitch.”

“…What?”

Jiseon froze, her face going blank at the harshness of my words. She wasn’t used to hearing me speak like this.

Feeling a strange, long-overdue satisfaction, I didn’t hold back and poured out everything I’d been keeping inside.

“Fuck off. No matter what you say or do, my discharge has already been approved. The paperwork is finalized. I agreed to it, and I walked out. There’s zero chance I’m going back to that hellhole. So stop spewing nonsense and go on your way. You’ve got four years left, figure it out.”

Unlike the usual filter I kept on my words, this time my true feelings spilled out without restraint.

Jiseon’s face turned pale, far paler than I’d ever seen.

She probably didn’t expect me to be this blunt.

Ignoring her stunned silence, I got up from my seat, walked right past her, and stood by the roadside.

The bus was due to arrive soon.

And with that bus, I’d be gone. In a little while, I wouldn’t have to see this annoying woman’s face ever again.

But then…

“Oh… Oppa…”

“…?”

Jiseon spoke from behind me, her voice trembling.

I paused for a moment, genuinely surprised. This girl, someone much younger than me and one of the biggest pains in my life was now saying things like this?

Before I could react, she continued speaking, her voice unsteady, and her body trembling.

“Ji… Jinhyun oppa… please… don’t do this. We’ve been doing okay, haven’t we? I… I know I’ve been harsh sometimes, but… I’ll apologize for all of it. Really. Ah… You know how it is… I have a bit of a personality issue. But that was never my real intention!”

I said nothing, but she kept going, her voice rising as though she feared I would walk away at any moment.

“I… I just… I just wanted to get closer to you, oppa. That’s all! All the things I said, the yelling… It was just a joke! None of it was real!”

Her words were desperate, but to me, they felt hollow.

She was trembling, not just in her voice but in her body too, practically begging now.

When I didn’t respond, she looked up at me with tearful eyes, her voice cracking as she pleaded.

“Please… please. Don’t go. I promise I’ll change! I’ll do better, I swear! I won’t yell at you anymore, and I’ll control my temper. Just… just stay with us. Stay with me. Just like you always have…”

–SLAP!

The sound of my palm colliding with her cheek echoed faintly.

Although the physical impact was minimal, after all, she was a hunter and could shrug off far worse, but my action was enough to shut her up completely.

Jiseon stood there, frozen, dazed, and wide-eyed, as if she couldn’t believe what had just happened.

I let out a frustrated sigh, glaring at her with all the annoyance and anger I had bottled up for years.

Finally, I spoke, my voice laced with venom.

“You’re fucking unbelievable. Do you seriously think everything is fixed with a half-assed apology after you’ve spent years trying to tear me down? Do you think it’s all a joke? You’ve been walking all over me for four years, and now you sit here, crying, expecting me to forget it all?”

Jiseon blinked, her tears falling freely now as she shook her head.

“N-no… no, oppa… I didn’t mean it like that. I… I really—”

“Shut up,” I interrupted, my voice cold and final.

I locked eyes with her, making sure my words hit home.

“You think it’s fine to treat people like dirt and then cry about it when they finally leave? Do you even know how many sleepless nights I’ve had because of you? How many times have I held back my anger, tried to be a better person, just to survive being around you?”

She whimpered, shaking her head again, as though trying to deny my words.

But I wasn’t done yet.

I stared her down, and with all the anger I had suppressed for years, I delivered my final words.

“This is my last piece of advice to you. Stop living your life like this. Keep acting like a selfish lunatic, and one day, someone’s going to snap and bash your head in. Mark my words.”

Jiseon didn’t say another word. She stood there, silently crying, her face pale and her body trembling.

I didn’t feel pity, regret, or hesitation as I turned my back on her.

The bus I had been waiting for pulled up, and without a second glance, I boarded it.

The bus doors closed behind me with a hiss, and as it slowly began to move, I noticed her still standing there, crying uncontrollably.

Even as her sobs echoed faintly in my ears, I felt no guilt.

I had endured enough over the past four years. I owed her nothing. I owed any of them nothing.

As the bus rolled down the road, leaving the 28th Guild and its hellish memories behind, I leaned back in my seat, feeling lighter than I had in years.

‘But thank you,’ I thought, smirking faintly to myself. ‘Thank you for giving me the chance to say a few cool words before I left.’

With that, I let the past fade into the background.

For the first time in a long while, my thoughts turned to the future, a bright, free future.

A future where I’d finally meet the people I wanted to meet and live the life I wanted to live.