Just a three-minute walk from Gwangcheon Academy’s main gate, Yein hailed a taxi.

He opened the door first, letting Lumina climb into the back seat before following after her.

“Porter Department Store, right?” the driver asked, glancing at his tablet.

“Yes, please,” Yein replied.

As the car rolled into motion, the driver studied them through the mirror. “So, you kids are Hunter candidates?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. Funny thing, you saying Porter Department Store. That place mostly caters to ordinary folks—low-end brands, casual shopping. Some Hunters avoid it, even hate it.”

“Really.”

“The chairman of the Porter Group has been pushing campaigns to stop discrimination between ordinary people and Hunters. Some say he’s gone too far and it’s turned into reverse discrimination.”

“Hmm.”

“Still, for regular folks like me who don’t deal with dungeons or monsters, people like him are a blessing. Ha ha.”

Yein kept silent after that. The driver, sensing no reply, stopped talking.

Meanwhile, Lumina sat stiffly, lips sealed, eyes darting here and there. She heard none of it.

Why am I so nervous…

When she had walked out the gate under her umbrella beside Yein, her steps had been light, full of happiness and anticipation.

But the moment she sat beside him in the back seat, her face grew hot, her heart pounding violently.

Maybe it was because of the way he’d opened the door for her, holding his umbrella over her head first.

Or maybe it was simply because, for the first time in so long, it was just the two of them together.

Thinking back, it’s always been three… or four of us.

After Yein first approached her early in the semester, Meiling soon joined their squad. That alone had thrilled her—another friend, alongside Yein.

Not long after, senior Seo Yui entered as well.

School life, dungeons, weekends out—they always went together as a group.

Something she could never have imagined in the past.

But because they were always together, she’d lost those moments of being with Yein alone.

“Lumina.”

“Huh? H-huh!?”

Startled by her name, she jerked her head toward him.

“Are you feeling alright? You’ve been spacing out.”

“Ah, no! I’m totally fine!” She raised her arms in an L-shape to show her strength.

“Good. I just worried maybe you were forcing yourself because of me.”

For Yein’s sake, I’d push myself as much as needed.

The words burned on her tongue, but she forced them down. Even she thought they sounded too clingy.

If she said something like that and Yein’s smile froze, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

“S-so… what kind of shop did you want to see?” she asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Shoes. We bought clothes at Yongsan last time, but I never got shoes. And I’d like to stop at a bookstore too.”

“Ah, I see. What kind of shoes?”

The small talk wandered from shoes, to equipment and weapons in Hunter Market, to lunch menus—until at last the taxi pulled up in front of Porter Department Store.

Yein got out first, opened his umbrella, and shielded Lumina as she stepped out.

“It’s close. Let’s just head straight in.”

“O-oh….”

“Come on.”

“Y-yeah!”

Still flustered, she shared the umbrella with him as they walked to the entrance.

“Man, it’s pouring.” Yein shook water off his umbrella.

“Y-yeah…”

Lumina fanned her flushed cheeks quickly before he could notice.

Inside, cool air conditioning washed over them, sweeping away the sticky summer humidity.

“The shoe store’s on the second floor. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

They joined the crowd at the escalators.

“So many people, even with the rain,” Yein remarked.

“Yeah, really,” Lumina agreed, nodding.

It was so crowded they had to line up just to get on the escalator.

Together, they rose to the second floor.

Meanwhile, on the department store’s sixth floor, in the dining section—

Passersby’s gazes were all drawn to one spot.

On a bench by the glass railing sat a woman. Her wild, ash-gray hair flared like a lion’s mane, her skin the dark hue of brown sugar.

But more than anything, it was her size that stunned them.

She looked over two meters tall, her limbs packed with solid muscle.

Women gasped behind raised hands, men instinctively picturing how easily she could beat them bloody.

She hummed a tune, wireless earphones in her ears.

Through them, voices echoed:

[Team A in position.]

[Team B nearly ready.]

[Team C standing by. Awaiting your orders.]

“Good….” Her lips curved upward, “The festival begins at exactly 12:00. Move with the fireworks.”

[Understood.]

[Yes, ma’am.]

[We’ll obey.]

The line went quiet.

Still humming, she glanced at her smartwatch.

11:58.

“Then let’s begin.”

Rising from the bench, she strode off into the crowd.

“Haahh…”

Lumina sighed in contentment.

It wasn’t weariness—it was happiness.

Seated at a table, she hugged a shopping bag to her chest.

Inside was the handbag Yein had just gifted her.

“A-a present!?”

“Yeah. For coming with me today. Nothing too expensive.”

“B-but I wanted to come anyway….”

“I’ve always been grateful, you know. In the dungeon you put up with my reckless requests, and you always mediate between me and Meiling. So take it. And this too.”

On her wrist now glowed a bracelet of fiery red stone—another gift from Yein.

“I should be the one thanking you… a bag was enough, but now even this….”

Guilt tinged her joy as she clutched the bag tighter.

He’s taking a while to come back…

She peered out toward the restaurant’s window.

Just before noon, they had decided to rest and grab a meal.

Right after ordering, Yein excused himself for the restroom.

But nearly ten minutes had passed, and he hadn’t returned.

Just as she craned her neck farther—

BOOOOM!!

“Kyahh!”

“W-what!?”

An explosion thundered through the building, shaking the very floor.

And then—

Tatata-tat!

Gunfire rattled from every direction.

Lumina’s blood ran cold.

“Kyahhh!!”

“Help! Somebody help us!!”

Panic erupted. Screams filled the air as people scrambled from their tables. The restaurant emptied into the hallways, only to find the building already under siege.

“On the ground, now! Face down if you don’t want to die!!”

“Look up, and we’ll blow your brains out!”

Masked men barked orders, their rifles sweeping over the terrified crowd. One by one, ordinary civilians collapsed to their knees and lay flat, trembling.

But not everyone obeyed.

A small cluster stood tall, eyes hard. Their hair and eyes burned with unnatural colors that made them stand out—vivid blues, fiery reds, shimmering silvers.

They were Hunters.

“Tch. Seriously? Gun-toting clowns trying to pull off a hostage act in this day and age?”

“Idiots, the lot of them.”

“You really thought no Hunters would show up at Porter Department Store? What a joke.”

“Here’s some advice: drop your weapons and surrender. Otherwise, don’t blame us when we claim self-defense.”

“Oh?”

The deep, booming voice came from behind them.

The Hunters turned—then froze.

A woman towered there, well over two meters, her ash-gray mane of hair wild like a lion’s, muscles swelling under her skin like sculpted steel.

“That sounds fun! Why don’t you try showing me this ‘strength’ of yours!”

Her voice thundered like a stadium speaker, vibrating in their bones.

And just like that, their bravado crumbled.

It wasn’t logic or reason—it was primal instinct.

The paralysis that grips a human when a predator looms too close.

Even Hunters, who fought monsters with blades and magic, were still human at their core. Their minds conjured the image of her tearing them apart, and their bodies betrayed them—stiff, trembling, lungs locked.

The giantess scoffed at their terror and spread her arms wide.

“Everyone in this building, listen well!!”

Her voice surged with power. People clutched at their ears, some collapsing and frothing at the mouth as if their very nerves had been shaken apart.

The sound carried down through the central atrium, echoing across all six floors.

“We are Cosmos! We act to build a new order for a new world!!”

Murmurs of dread swept through the civilians. Ordinary folk paled at the name.

“The world as it is rests on the backs of Awakeners who fought and bled! Hunters who marched into the Demon Realm, bringing back resources at the cost of their lives! Without them, civilization would have crumbled into dust! And yet—how are these sacrifices repaid? What do the unawakened parasites give in return? NOTHING! They leech off us while we die for them!”

Her fury shook the halls.

“And look at this place! Look at the Porter Group! These fools push campaigns to ‘end discrimination,’ to make laws favoring the weak, the useless, the unawakened! They spit on our struggle, our blood, our sacrifices!”

She kicked the railing.

CRASH!

Glass exploded downward in glittering shards.

“If this is not reverse discrimination, then what is?!”

The civilians pressed flat against the ground, bewildered.

They knew the truth. Hunters already monopolized wealth and power.

A Hunter could kill an ordinary man like stepping on an ant.

Hunters brought back rare resources worth millions, while ordinary folk scraped by on daily wages.

Luxury stores, high-class restaurants, even this department store—everything was built for Hunters, with only a tiny fraction of elites among ordinary people able to afford entry.

Without Porter’s “anti-discrimination” policies, most of these people wouldn’t even be allowed inside.

“And Seoul is the worst offender!” the giantess roared. “Even the mayor, Cheon Ji-won, openly sides with Porter, turning his back on fellow Awakeners! That is why we—Cosmos—will burn this rotten order to ash and raise a new one!!”

While she raged, Lumina crouched low, heart hammering, her body cloaked by invisibility.

Yein… where are you?

She could slip away easily. Nobody would ever know. But leaving without him? That thought didn’t exist in her mind. She had to find him. She had to get him out.

“Uwaaaahhhh!!”

A baby’s wail suddenly pierced the chaos.

The giantess’s speech cut off. Her face twisted in a snarl.

Masked gunmen faltered under her glare.

“S-sorry, boss!!”

The culprit was a young father, kneeling, clutching his infant tightly.

“Shut that brat up! How dare you worms disrupt the boss’s speech!!”

One of the masked men aimed his rifle, barking furiously.

The baby only screamed louder, trembling against his father’s chest.

“Click.”

The giantess’s tongue clicked. Her verdict was cold.

“Kill them.”

“Yes, boss!”

The gunman’s finger curled around the trigger.

The father squeezed his eyes shut, shielding the infant with his body.

Bang!!

But instead of blood, there was a metallic clang.

The bullet flattened against a round steel shield.

“Stop. What crime does an innocent child bear?”

“…!!!”

Lumina’s eyes went wide. Her heart nearly burst out of her chest.

There he was—

Beside the shield, calm and unyielding, stood Yein.

(End of Chapter)

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