Scattering plenty of toys around the house and lying down to stare at the ceiling felt much better than expected.
“Not bad at all.”
It truly felt like returning to her own age.
Suji smiled softly, like a bright-eyed young girl.
Ever since entering the academy, she had always been under the expectations of teachers and compared to promising foreign students.
As Daphne, she took pride in handling such gazes and expectations from those around her with ease. She also wanted to repay the other hunters who had witnessed her mother’s death alongside her.
Perhaps because of this, she had always lived as if pushed forward by the words, “As befitting the daughter of S-rank hunter Penaeus, she’s so mature.”
That sense of duty and desire for revenge had been a good driving force for her.
‘But I think I missed out on too much while living like that.’
It was the same even now.
If she let her guard down even a little, she would be caught up in the feeling that she should live desperately as if being chased.
As always, floor 81, then 82, then 83…
Rather than being satisfied with what she had accomplished, she would always be preparing for the next thing.
She hadn’t yet fully achieved revenge for her mother.
She had been hunting the monsters in the tower one by one. Even though she had clearly surpassed the height her mother had reached, she still hadn’t encountered the monster that had taken her mother’s life.
Now, it felt like everything was becoming increasingly unpredictable.
Suji pressed her heavy eyelids shut.
No one even acknowledges it. No, even if they did, she was tired of it now.
‘…If I keep living like this, I’ll quickly become obsolete.’
Climbing the tower and running gates was, in a way, a battle of information.
Even Daphne, when climbing the tower and finding it difficult to break through to the next floor, would often combine dozens of skills, research the exact timing, and spend a long time in meetings and simulations.
The way of combining countless pieces of information would change during the time she stepped back.
‘But it’s okay to think that way.’
Fortunately, there were many things she wanted to do.
She wanted to laze around watching the ambitious works released by the now star-like numerous OTT platforms, play games where she could travel to fantasy worlds and choose dormitories, or cultivate her own island.
Suji, lost in thought for a while, opened her eyes and fumbled with her pad to find a memo.
There was a checklist she had marked at some point, listing hobby activities she had thought about trying when she had free time.
1. Cooking meals for herself
2. Growing plants
3. Raising a pet
4. Decorating the house
5. Playing games
6. Watching popular movies, animations, and dramas on OTT platforms
7. Reading bestselling novels
8. Hosting a party for people she’s grateful to
9. Learning a sport
10. Drawing pictures
11. Volunteering
Suji held a pen, clicking the pad as she pondered, and eventually drew two underlines under number 5.
[This is the timeline separator]
“Are you crazy? Selling radishes at such a low price?”
Suji burst out complaining while sitting in a messy posture, covered with a blanket and holding a joystick.
But even complaining was fun.
She thought a life without tasks to do or people to scold her would be boring and tedious.
It was quite satisfying.
When she was busy, she didn’t understand why people played games, but now that she was idly rolling around, games were fun too. It was a bit different from what she usually accomplished, but there was a sense of achievement nonetheless.
And when she got bored of that, she would lie down and watch videos on OTT, order food from popular restaurants and eat.
It was a bit annoying to have to request delivery to the gate and go out to pick it up herself, but it wasn’t bad.
‘…This is fun?’
She thought she would hate herself for living carelessly and not diligently if she just rested.
But now that she was actually doing it, it seemed like she could live like this every day if she was allowed to just play.
Click, click.
Suji became absorbed in decorating her island again, using chopsticks to eat potato chips to avoid getting crumbs on the joystick.
[This is the timeline separator]While Suji was leisurely immersed in her game, the internet hunter forums were in an uproar, as if a bomb had dropped.
Hunter Ranking #1, Daphne’s Sudden Disappearance
South Korea’s #1 Ranked, SSS-grade Hunter Daphne. Abrupt halt in record updates. What happened to Daphne?
SSS-grade Hunter Daphne’s Mysterious Whereabouts. (Special article on Hunter Daphne’s achievements)
Even though Daphne had only been absent for a week, not only were newspaper articles pouring out about her absence, but the internet was also buzzing.
[Title: Where has Daphne gone?
I’m a Daphne fanatic, so I need to see her daily record-breaking to eat and poop… She hasn’t been seen for a few days…
You know, right? Our Daphne is not someone who would ever skip attending the tower.
But she’s not visible!!!! Does anyone know anything?
└You too? Me too. I’m just waiting for news… I hope she’s not hurt somewhere?
└How could Daphne get hurt? Do you know Daphne’s stats? Unless there was an S-grade disaster or something.
└Honestly, you never know what could happen in the tower. It’s a completely new realm.
└I’m a government employee so I know something… but I’m hesitant to say because it’s just a guess.
└└What is it?
└└It’s illegal to just hint like this and not say anything.
└└Please tell us. What is it?
└└Ah, I’m a bit cautious because it’s not certain… It just seems like she’s not coming to work. If she was hurt somewhere, we would have been notified. But there was nothing like that…
└└└This is the Management Office. This comment is suspected of leaking information related to a hunter’s personal details. We request self-deletion within 10 minutes.
└└└[This comment has been deleted by the administrator.]] [Title: Did Daphne emigrate?
I heard even A-rank hunters, not just S-rank, receive tons of emigration offers.
But Daphne is SSS-rank, right?
She must be getting a ton of emigration offers?
They’ll offer a lot of money and support, won’t they?
But what does Korea do? Just make her tired of being the talk of bored internet users?
└She really might have emigrated. Among SSS-rank hunters, honestly, Daphne is the only one who diligently climbs the tower like this. That’s why South Korea has been maintaining the #1 spot in tower conquest rankings. But people haven’t been grateful for that all this time.
└└True that. Big facts.
└└Real facts
└It’s not emigration. She might have received offers but she didn’t emigrate
└└How do you know?
└└If Daphne had emigrated, the national ranking would have immediately fluctuated. But it’s unchanged. Agree?
└└Ah, this makes sense
└The South Korean government must be handling it well.
└But it’s true that the treatment of hunters in our country is poor.
└└It might be different for someone like God-phne?] [Title: All this fuss over Daphne not being seen for just a week
Isn’t this a huge overreaction?
Don’t you know Daphne’s attention-seeking level?
She’ll probably come out on her own soon
└What’s with this guy
└Who breeds these mentally ill kids?
└But it’s not wrong that she’s not someone to worry about at this level, right? She’ll probably be back soon.
└Reported.
└Reported 222
└If you want to go crazy, do it quietly at home; You’re the attention seeker here.
└Don’t feed the troll. You guys are the problem. Why are you even replying here?]
However, contrary to the public opinion that Daphne would soon return, her disappearance continued for nearly a month.
There was no immediate negative impact on reality.
Waves continued to come, but in most cases, C-grade or D-grade monsters appeared. This means it was at a level that the Hunter Response Team officials could manage.
And South Korea is a country that provides more hunter buffs than any other country. Moreover, up to B-grade monster attack strategies had long been researched and distributed by the pioneers climbing the tower.
There shouldn’t be anything that would require calling an SSS-grade hunter immediately.
But anxiety gradually sprouted in people’s hearts.
Whenever two or three people gathered, they whispered about Daphne’s disappearance, and internet forums were completely filled with speculative posts about Daphne’s whereabouts.
[Title: Daphne’s Return Prayer ShrineI’m going to pray here every day until God-phne returns.
└Daphne, please come back
└Daphne, please just let us know you’re okay
└Daphne, are you alright?] [Title: Where are all the people who said Daphne would return in a week?
Why are the kids who ranted that our God-phne is an attention seeker so quiet now?
You have fingers to curse but no brains to apologize?
I’m really worried about the future of this country
You should be ashamed
└Exactly. You should see people as people.
└We really should live with gratitude
└If I were Daphne, I wouldn’t come back either lol. How many kids are there talking nonsense about attention-seeking without even knowing how hard she works lol. Would you feel like working?
└I agree with everything from ! to ?
└333] [Title: I don’t know the details, but
If nothing’s wrong with Daphne
I hope she takes this opportunity to rest well and come back.
└Agree. Honestly, is Daphne even 20 yet? At an age when she should be having fun, she’s been climbing the tower so much.
└Exactly. It’s just people who don’t know about hunter work talking nonsense… Anyone who knows the atmosphere at the top floors of the tower could never talk like that. You actually have to see a lot of people die… It’s devastating.
└I heard it was hard, but I didn’t know it was that bad. I feel a bit sorry too.
└How can you not know it’s that bad? It’s all taught even in hunter tutorial classes. Honestly, everyone just knows and turns a blind eye. Because it’s not their business.
└Everyone keeps saying God-phne, God-phne, so it’s like… she seems like a celestial being… not human… It just seems like she can do anything easily. Like climbing the tower would be easy…
└This is why casually talking on the internet is a problem
└Right. I hope she takes this chance to heal without thinking about anything and comes back.]
When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem
This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Synopsis:
“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”
Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.
Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.
While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…
Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.
_____
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