Breaking Up with the #1 S-Class

The world is now buzzing about the downfall of S-Class Hunter Yoo Eun-ha. The Astaroth-class difficulty gate, considered the highest difficulty level that hunters can challenge. This irregularly appearing gate can only be challenged alone, and its difficulty is said to be extremely brutal. This gate is like a nightmare for the many hunters who have challenged it in attempts to conquer it. So normally, when people hear someone is challenging this gate, they don’t expect anything, but when Yoo Eun-ha said she would challenge it, people had expectations with a “maybe?” attitude. Because Yoo Eun-ha is a hunter with historically exceptional skills among hunters, because she is called a once-in-a-generation genius among hunters. But she failed. And she failed spectacularly. Only Yoo Eun-ha herself would know what process she went through to fail the Astaroth dungeon, but in any case, Yoo Eun-ha failed. And she fell from grace. [Hunter Association Decides to Collect Penalty from Yoo Eun-ha] [Yoo Eun-ha in Massive Debt] [Yoo Eun-ha Revealed to Have Been Evading Taxes…] [Yoo Eun-ha’s Past Personality Controversies] [Hunter Yoo Eun-ha Claims ‘Almost Succeeded in Conquering Astaroth-Class Gate.’ But Truth Cannot Be Verified] … After this Astaroth-class gate failure, Yoo Eun-ha lost all the abilities she had built up. And that incident was enough to collapse the kingdom she had built over time. The queen’s downfall. Yoo Eun-ha’s karma runs deeper than expected. She was always speaking rudely whenever she appeared on TV programs. She was the one who always spoke as if she were the most exceptional person in the world. Moreover, she was the one who constantly looked down on hunters of lower ranks or ordinary people. She was never kind to other people. She maintained her arrogant and haughty personality. But even so, people liked Yoo Eun-ha. So while some people disliked Yoo Eun-ha, Most people deified her, and they were so taken with her that even when she spoke that way, they liked her, calling her the “aloof goddess.” But now that’s reversed.

Once Yoo Eun-ha lost all her abilities, there was no longer any reason to deify her. It was the end of her era. “…” I looked through all the news related to Yoo Eun-ha on my smartphone. I am Lee Si-woo, her ex-boyfriend who was dumped by Yoo Eun-ha a month ago. A retired A-Class hunter who also served as Yoo Eun-ha’s manager. Naturally, as such a person, I shouldn’t have any good feelings towards Yoo Eun-ha, and honestly, I should be the one most enjoying her downfall right now. But the emotion I’m feeling now is pity. Of course, there’s a bit of satisfaction too, but after being dumped like that and seeing her end up like this, I feel more pity than joy. I didn’t want my ex-girlfriend to do well. But seeing her fall completely like this leaves a bitter taste—is that how I should express it? Anyway, my feelings are complicated. “Sigh. Who am I to worry about whom.” But I’m not in a position to worry about Yoo Eun-ha. I sighed as I turned off my smartphone. I was worried about Yoo Eun-ha, but right now, I have enough headaches with my own problems. I’m facing quite a serious situation myself now. Originally, as someone who worked as an S-Class hunter’s manager, I was supposed to receive severance pay from Yoo Eun-ha’s company. But now her company has gone completely bankrupt, so I might not be able to receive any severance pay. No, I definitely won’t receive it. I have some debt right now. Originally, I planned to receive the severance pay, clear that debt, and then live comfortably doing some safer work… But it seems that won’t be possible. In the end, the problem was money. “Hunter Lee Si-woo. Your hunter reinstatement application has been completed.” “Yes. Thank you.” I’m now at the Hunter Association office, having submitted a hunter reinstatement application. I was previously quite an active A-Class hunter, but due to various incidents and working as Yoo Eun-ha’s manager, I eventually retired. But now it seems I need to start working as a hunter again. Of course, if possible, I would like to continue as an S-Class hunter’s manager, but not just anyone can become an S-Class hunter’s manager. “So I can enter gates right away?” “Yes. You can.” My hunter reinstatement has been approved. Now I can enter gates again. Of course, as a manager, I would enter gates, but that was as a non-combat personnel. Now, I can enter gates as a hunter. And finding myself in this situation, I also feel a bit excited. When I started as a hunter at the fresh age of 20, I used to dream of becoming the strongest hunter. Of course, I compromised with reality and gave up that dream, and I don’t have such dreams now either, but somehow my current self seems to overlap with how I felt when I first started as a hunter. With that expectation, I was about to leave the Hunter Association office. “Oh, right. Hunter Lee Si-woo. Please be a bit careful now.” “Pardon? Is something wrong?” “Due to the aftermath of the Astaroth-class gate failure, the system might be a bit unstable.” “How specifically?” “Umm… Like a gate that was thought to be C-Class turns out to be A-Class. Of course, the possibility is extremely rare, but I’m just saying just in case.” “I see.” At that moment, the receptionist who had helped with my hunter reinstatement process spoke to me. It was said with a somewhat worried tone. Indeed, the larger the gate, the greater the impact when it fails. Even with Abyss-class, situations can occur where the state of dungeons changes. And if it’s Astaroth-class, it would be much worse. Of course, the possibility of such a situation occurring is very rare. They say only those with extremely bad luck would experience it. “But I don’t think anything will happen.” However, such things aren’t uncommon, and in the first place, being a hunter is a profession where you risk your life for money. I smiled at the receptionist who was concerned about me, then left. “Hmm… This seems most appropriate.” When you’re affiliated with the Hunter Association, you can receive information about nearby gates through a mobile app. After returning as a hunter, I was standing in front of a gate to do my first job. It was a C-Class difficulty gate with an entry limit of 1 person. And the mobs that appeared were so unremarkable that it was a gate where you could barely cover the cost of potions. To be honest, this gate is completely meaningless to conquer for ordinary hunters. There’s no profit to be gained even if cleared. It’s the kind of gate that is called a “crappy gate” among hunters. So typically, such gates are conquered by civil servants from the Hunter Association when the time is about to expire. “Since returning hunters aren’t popular… there’s no choice but to prove myself.” But even such gates are useful for returning hunters like me. In reality, returning hunters are very unpopular. So they’re not easily accepted into parties, guilds, or even public parties. The reason returning hunters are unpopular is because their skills can’t be evaluated. To be frank, just because someone who was A-Class a few years ago returns doesn’t guarantee they’re still A-Class. That’s my current situation. I was an A-Class hunter before retirement, but that was 3 years ago. I still have the A-Class rank, but neither others nor I know exactly what my skill level is, so I need to figure that out first. So even gates like this have their uses. I plan to join a party and a guild when working as a hunter. I could join what’s called a public party without joining those, but I feel the stability is on a completely different level. Usually, to join a guild or party, you need to submit records of recently cleared dungeons. So I plan to clear this dungeon I’m facing now and join any party or guild. And then, by performing well there, I aim to join a guild or party that matches my level. “Let’s quickly clear this.” I stretched and loosened my shoulders. Then I stepped into the gate. In the rippling dimension, I was transported to another dimension. Now I’ve entered a C-Class gate. “Huh…? Is this really C-Class…?” And the moment the dimension changed with a flash, I couldn’t help but sense an ominous feeling. What was spread before my eyes was a place like hell, with a sea of lava spread out and a pitch-black sky covering everything. When I checked the gate information app from the Hunter Association, there was no such information. It was completely different from the images I had seen. “Huh? That’s Yoo Eun-ha’s equipment?” With an ominous feeling, I looked around and encountered an object emitting a faint light. And approaching to examine it, it was an object very familiar to me. Attribute Brooch. It was an item she always wore that enhanced the attributes she possessed. As her former boyfriend and manager, I naturally recognized Yoo Eun-ha’s belongings at a glance. “Why is this here?” But why would the Attribute Brooch be here? I wondered if Yoo Eun-ha might have challenged a C-Class gate, but that thought was quickly dismissed. “N-No way?” A scene flashed in my mind. In the news article showing Yoo Eun-ha failing to conquer the Astaroth-class gate, she wasn’t wearing the brooch. An ominous premonition crossed my mind. “Haha… This is crazy.” The ominous premonition that the gate I just entered might be the Astaroth-class gate.