Happy Birthday, Lee Sihyun

"What's this supposed to be?"

Jeyeon lifted the poster she'd picked up, and Jena sidled over to look.

"That's the official notice for that survival show — the thing I mentioned on the street earlier."

"So what is it, exactly?"

"Sihyun. You seriously don't know?"

Jeyeon opened her mouth, then thought better of it.

Was it strange, not knowing? Judging by everyone's faces, apparently so. If she faked half-knowledge here, it would only invite deeper suspicion. In moments like this, blunt honesty was half the battle.

"...No. I really don't."

Jena scratched the back of her head.

"You really don't use social media or anything?"

Jeyeon gave a silent nod.

"Ah. So that's why you're so clueless about the world... Now I get why you ended up at our guild."

Jena tipped her chin toward the poster.

"It's called <NEW TOP 50>. A variety show the Awakened Association is putting on."

"The Association is producing a variety show?"

"There was a controversy recently over the dungeon bidding rights. So supposedly the guilds are going to show the world a 'structure of fair competition,' or some such thing."

"Fair, you say?"

Jeyeon's brow creased faintly.

"Isn't the current Association president that Ryu Sungho person?"

And that man uses the word 'fair'?

Jena gave a short, scoffing laugh.

"Ridiculous, isn't it? But then, that man has always excelled at exactly this sort of thing."

"..."

"Bending people with words. Making the impossible look doable, and making whatever does get done look like it was all thanks to him."

Jisu, who'd been listening nearby, quietly added,

"That's how he managed to bring Seongyeon down, too."

For a moment, the office air grew heavy.

Jena rapped her knuckles lightly on the poster.

"Anyway — among hunter hopefuls right now, this thing is an absolute sensation. Everyone's dying to get on it at least once."

"It's that popular?"

"Even if you lose, all it takes is catching the viewers' eyes and you're a famous hunter practically overnight. Go on broadcast and you'll out-earn any dungeon run."

Jeyeon swallowed a hollow laugh.

Hunters weren't idols, for heaven's sake. It struck her how drastically the world had changed in her absence.

"Look here — you can't appear unless you're Level 1. So more and more kids these days are straining themselves to awaken early, then joining the first small guild that'll take them."

"..."

"If anything, the smaller the guild, the less competition. The idea is to hang your name up first and sort out the rest later."

Hoyeon cut in from the side.

"And even in the middle of all that, not one person came to us. You're the first."

Jeyeon was at a loss for words. However she listened to it, her guild's situation only sounded bleaker.

Hoyeon shrugged.

"Anyway, with the stakes this big, the Association looks ready to push it for all it's worth. The guilds are sharpening their knives, and they've even attached a famous producer."

It was a floor she had to climb anyway. Time she had to cut down regardless.

And now a prize purse came attached — dungeon bidding rights, even the public's attention.

And the one who'd laid out the board was Ryu Sungho.

...Your masterpiece, then.

Jeyeon folded the poster and closed her hand around it.

What better stage could there be to announce Seongyeon's revival?

She held the poster up toward Jena.

"I'm entering this."

Jena blinked.

"...Didn't you say earlier you weren't doing any survival show?"

"That was before I knew what it actually was."

"..."

"And it just so happens I'm Level 1."

Jena opened her mouth, then closed it again. She looked to Jisu as if begging for backup, but Jisu looked every bit as stumped.

"Sihyun. I told you on the street earlier, didn't I? We are in no position to bankroll something like that."

"I heard you."

"And yet I don't think you've grasped what that actually means."

Jena pressed a fingertip against the poster.

"At a glance, it looks like the participants are competing among themselves, right? But what you're really watching is a war between guilds. Someone has to draft your strategies in advance, front you the high-end gear — every last bit of it gets settled with money behind the scenes."

"..."

"A guild like Giwon has probably assembled an entire dedicated team for it. Poached active-ranked hunters and everything."

Hoyeon scratched the back of his neck.

"About all we can offer you is meals."

"So literally just food, then."

"We were at least planning to carry you through the low-level stretch."

They tossed it back and forth like a joke, but not one of the three was smiling.

Jeyeon studied their faces for a moment.

That sort of thing is only necessary for people awakening for the very first time.

She was someone who had climbed to the very top floor without a single one of those things. No maps. No seniors. No right answers. Dying the whole way up.

"It's fine."

Jeyeon unfolded the poster again.

"I don't need a single bit of it. Just try trusting me, once."

"Sihyun, this isn't a matter of whether we trust you or not—"

"First place. I'll take it."

Jena's words broke off clean.

"That Seongyeon isn't dead yet. I'll show you exactly how strong a summoner is."

The office went quiet.

Jisu seemed about to say something, then gave up on it. Hoyeon kept his mouth firmly shut. Jena blinked a few times, then smirked.

"...You do realize you're a genuinely strange kid, right?"

"Nope. First I'm hearing of it."

Once the meal was over, Jena — guild leader's hat on — took Jeyeon to the Association.

It was time for her Awakened registration.

The building had grown polished to a degree that made ten years ago look like another world entirely. Jeyeon took in her surroundings without making a show of it.

...Korea really is doing well for itself.

Pulling a registration number ticket, Jena asked,

"Hunter registration for a minor requires a guardian's consent, you see. You did run it by your parents, right?"

Jeyeon gave a vague smile.

"...Right. Not something I could decide on my own."

I decided it entirely on my own, though.

In truth, she didn't even know what sort of people Lee Sihyun's parents had been.

Being unfilial in a borrowed body didn't sit quite right.

The problem was the one last strand of conscience she had left.

While she was squirming inwardly, Jeyeon's number came up.

"Number fourteen, please."

"That's me."

At the counter sat an enormous hemispherical machine she had never once seen in her previous life.

Even the testing equipment has changed.

"Place your hand here, and face forward, please."

Jeyeon set her palm on the machine and lifted her chin.

A cold light brushed the tips of her fingers.

With a beep, the machine's voice rang out.

In an instant, the whole floor erupted.

"...Did that say S-Rank?"

"Is the machine glitching? Do S-Ranks even appear these days?"

"Ten years since Korea's seen one. Ten whole years."

Even the staff at the neighboring counters were trading glances over the murmur.

What is with everybody?

Jena's eyes had gone wide as well.

"Hold on — S-Rank?"

"Yes. By Association standards, the S-Rank is confirmed."

Jeyeon listened to the commotion and stole a glance at her status window.

S-Rank? Mine says EX-Rank.

Even now, the unfamiliar letters EX were surely blinking there. Whether the machine had misread her, or simply could not read a grade that had never been recorded before — she couldn't say.

Well. For now, finishing the registration came first.

The clerk checked the monitor and spoke up.

"There is currently no obligation to challenge the Tower, but please be advised: newly awakened S-Ranks are designated for reporting at government council level."

"..."

"Lee Sihyun, do you wish to register as a hunter?"

A new S-Rank meant this news would soon reach Ryu Sungho as well.

An S-Rank summoner, the first in ten years. Affiliated with Seongyeon, of all places.

What kind of face would that bastard make?

"Yes. I'll register."

"Then please come with me."

As the clerk led Jeyeon toward the second floor, Jena, who'd come along, struck up a conversation.

"Sihyun — you came to Seongyeon even knowing you're S-Rank?"

"Well. Yes."

S-Rank or EX-Rank, neither was what mattered right now.

"So that's where all that confidence came from."

"Honestly, do you think I talked big because I trust some grade? S-Rank or not, I'd still take first place there."

Jeyeon laughed as though the very idea were absurd.

Jena found her gaze lingering, unbidden, on that profile.

...Just now.

Wasn't that exactly how Jeyeon-unni used to smile?

<Seongyeon isn't dead yet. Just how strong a summoner is — I'll show you.>

A moment ago, she'd dismissed it as nothing more than the rookie's bravado.

Don't tell me... is this kid actually going to raise Seongyeon from the dead?

Jena shook her head quickly.

...Get a grip, Lee Jena. One S-Rank rookie walks in, and you're already leaping ten steps ahead.

And even after settling it that way in her mind, she could not take her eyes off the kid in front of her.

"One moment, please."

The clerk, halting a few steps ahead, held Jena back.

"Guardians, please wait here for a moment."

Then she took Jeyeon alone into a room.

It was furnished like a counseling office — nothing but a desk and chairs.

"Please have a seat, and place your right index finger here."

Identity verification by fingerprint, huh.

Intrigued by the unfamiliar procedure, Jeyeon pressed her index finger firmly against the device. The clerk checked the information that surfaced on the monitor.

"Lee Sihyun, it shows here that both of your parents have passed away, and no legal guardian is on file."

...There's no one?

"Correct."

Jeyeon answered like someone who had known all along. That much, she could handle.

"As of today you turn exactly eighteen, so you are eligible to register as a hunter without a guardian's consent."

"...I'm sorry — what?"

"Happy birthday."

"..."

Happy birthday, they said.

To the face of the kid who had died just that day.