I was Kicked Out of the Hunter’s Guild

“Hmm…”

It had been about two hours since noona and I started drinking together.

At some point, Ran had fallen asleep, curled up beside us. Now, it was just the two of us, quietly continuing our conversation.

“So, you’re saying that damn woman got you discharged like that?” Sooyoung noona asked, frustrated.

“Yes,” I replied with a smirk. “Honestly, I kind of feel like bowing down to her just to say thank you.”

“Hmph… In a way, I guess you could say you got pretty lucky,” she said with a soft chuckle, taking another sip of whiskey.

Her face was slightly flushed, but she showed no signs of being drunk. Neither did I.

No… if anything, the more I drank, the clearer she appeared in my eyes.

She was still beautiful, stunning, even, to the point where her early 30s didn’t seem to touch her.

She was the person I had admired since I was a child, the person who had occupied my heart as I grew older.

But in the end, she was also the person I had to let go of, the one I couldn’t stay connected with because life had pulled us in separate directions.

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. I tilted my glass back and swallowed the whiskey in one go.

“Ha…”

A hot sensation burned down my throat, intense, almost painful, like swallowing fire.

For a moment, I wondered if I had overdone it. I reached for the cooled cocoa sitting next to me and took a long sip to soothe the burn.

The sweetness of the cocoa mixed with the bitterness lingering in my throat, creating an odd but strangely comforting contrast.

Seeing me wash the alcohol down with cocoa, noona spoke up, her voice tinged with concern.

Are you okay? Don’t drink too fast,” she said. “You’ve probably been under a lot of stress all this time, but if you drink like that, you’ll make yourself sick.

“Ah… uh… I’m fine. Really,” I said, trying to wave it off. “Compared to what I went through in that crappy guild, this is nothing.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke, her tone firm but caring.

“Then you should be more careful, not less. Are you seriously trying to act tough by making yourself suffer more than you already have?”

I gave her a wry smile and replied, “Yeah… maybe I’m just used to it by now.”

My words were laced with bitterness, a reflection of the exhaustion that still lingered inside me.

At that, noona’s expression grew serious. She set her glass down on the table and looked at me with a mixture of concern and determination.

“Haa…” she sighed softly before speaking again. “Lee Jinhyun, since we’re on the topic… let me give you a piece of advice as your noona, now that you’re starting over.”

“…What are you talking about?” I asked, feeling a bit taken aback by her sudden shift in tone.

She met my eyes, her gaze steady and clear, her voice free of even the slightest hint of drunkenness.

“This is something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time,” she said.

With those words, she set down her now-empty glass, sat up straighter, and looked directly at me.

“I know you’re a really good person,” she began, her voice gentle but firm. “But you have a habit of putting up with too much. Not just in this situation, but in so many others… you endure far more than you should. Too much, and too often.”

“!…”

Hearing those words, I suddenly reflected on the life I’d been living up until now.

As she said… my life so far had been one of constant endurance.

Even when I was treated unfairly.

Even when I didn’t receive what I deserved.

Even when I was forced to take on work that wasn’t mine.

And… even when I had to bear the weight of other people’s emotional garbage.

So, what did all that endurance lead to?

The answer was clear, laid bare by my current situation.

Every single time, I had endured in silence. Every single moment, I swallowed my pride and bore the pain.

And yet, at the end of it all, all I was left with were scars.

And the only thing that felt good now was having finally left that place behind.

Looking back, I realized I’d only created disappointing results for myself.

“Don’t think that just because you’re used to enduring pain, it’s okay to keep hurting,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “If you keep piling those things up, in the end, all you’ll have left are scars that won’t ever heal.

“Patience is important, yes. But don’t let it reach the point where it hurts you. Don’t let it break you. For your own sake… and for the people around you.”

“…”

Her words hit me hard.

For the first time, I truly felt the need to revise the way I had been living.

A life of endless endurance. A life spent following only the demands of others.

Now, I understood what it left behind, nothing but bitterness and regret.

At that moment, I made a decision – I wouldn’t live that way anymore.

‘Yeah… noona’s right. Foolishly enduring things is no way to live. Just like what I did with Na Jiseon at the bus stop before I came here… I stood up for myself there, and that’s what I need to keep doing. Even if it’s just to avoid falling back into that kind of pain again…’

As those thoughts passed through my mind, I sipped the last of the cocoa in my cup, the sweet scent lingering on my tongue.

At the same time, I began to feel a warm sense of ease settling in. Only then did I realize just how intoxicated I was.

“…Thank you, noona,” I said, looking at her with a small smile. “I’ll keep in mind what you said.”

“Yes, please do,” she replied, smiling back at me. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my younger brother.”

Sooyoung noona smiled gently as she poured the last of the whiskey into her glass.

Something about her in that moment, her warmth, her beauty, made her look even more stunning than usual.

I could feel my face flush slightly as the thought crossed my mind.

“You seem to have drunk a lot,” she said with a knowing smile. “So, how about we call it a night? If you don’t have a place to stay, you can sleep here.”

Looking at her as she set down her empty glass, I nodded, my voice small and tinged with embarrassment.

“Then… shall we? Honestly, it’d feel a little weird going to an inn in this state.”

A sudden, slightly intense wave of intoxication washed over me as the tension in my body finally released.

Feeling a bit dizzy, I nodded and accepted her suggestion.

The stairs next to the café led to a cozy second-floor space, her home.

With my steps unsteady, I began ascending the stairs, trying to steady my staggering body. Sooyoung noona followed close behind, carrying Ran on her back with ease.

As we climbed, she spoke in a slightly cautious tone, breaking the silence.

“Oh, come to think of it… I forgot to ask. Jinhyun, what are you going to do next? Do you have a job in mind?”

“Ummm… well, that…” I answered, my tongue slightly twisted from the alcohol. “To be honest, I don’t know yet. I only got discharged the day before yesterday…”

Hearing my words, she hesitated for a moment before speaking again, her voice carrying a hint of expectation.

“Really? Then, Jinhyun… would you like to meet my younger sister?”

“…Your younger sister?”

At her words, I blinked in confusion, my drunken mind struggling to process what she’d said.

I’d never heard Sooyoung noona mention having a sister before.

“Yeah,” she continued, her tone calm but slightly playful. “Actually, it’s a bit of a long story… but she’s been looking for people recently. Since you were an adjutant at the Hunter Guild, I thought it might suit you pretty well.”

“…Is that so?” I mumbled, though my thoughts were muddled.

At that moment, the sight of the sofa came into view.

I didn’t need to be told twice. Without hesitation, I threw myself onto it, letting the exhaustion and intoxication completely overtake me.

As my strength drained away, noona’s voice reached me one last time, soft and slightly muffled.

“Alright then. Let’s talk more tomorrow. Sleep well.”

“…Yeah,” I muttered faintly, barely managing a response before sleep pulled me under.

***

Elsewhere.

“My name is Choi Han, newly appointed as an adjutant. I look forward to working with you, Guild Master Isena.”

“Thank you, Choi Han. I look forward to working with you as well,” Isena replied with a bright smile.

The man standing in front of her had been specially selected and sent by the government, evaluated as highly competent before being assigned to the 28th Hunter Guild.

However, to be honest, Isena didn’t care much about his actual abilities.

In her mind, an adjutant’s work was straightforward: managing schedules, running errands, and handling the bare minimum to keep operations running. It wasn’t a particularly difficult job, and beyond that, the role was just a formality required by higher-ups to approve missions.

What did catch Isena attention, though, was this new adjutant’s appearance.

Choi Han was strikingly handsome, so much so that, in her mind, he couldn’t even be compared to the plain and unremarkable Lee Jinhyun.

‘Now this… this is what an adjutant should look like. Just having someone so handsome around brightens the atmosphere!’

Isena’s thoughts bubbled with satisfaction as she observed Choi Han.

‘To think I can work with someone like this instead of that unattractive, dull Lee Jin-hyun…’

Her mood lifted, and beside her, Choi Yujin seemed to share the sentiment, her expression filled with anticipation for the future.

On the other hand, the reactions of the other guild members were far less enthusiastic.

The two S-class hunters, Seo Jiyoon and Na Jiseon, along with the A-class hunters who had come out to greet the new adjutant, couldn’t help but feel a wave of unease.

As they looked at the smiling man standing in front of them, completely unaware of what he was about to step into, a mix of anxiety, pity, and dread began to grow in their hearts.