18 A Colourful Mentor

It was already 2020, dozens of years had passed since she had been nothing more than a teen who enjoyed every little thing in life. However, Jeol, or Cho Jeol-Jong by her full name, was not someone who looked at the past very often.

Yet she found herself doing so after coming back to her office. Seneos had of course left already, it had taken her half an hour to fix the issue with the loud hunter after all.

It had been nothing more than a small issue, the staff members being a little too heavy-handed in their attempt to make the hunter go up in rankings. Jeol could understand his reserve on the topic. Going up in the rankings also meant becoming more important, having more things being expected of you. Not everyone was ready to support such things, especially for a hunter as young as the 18 years old who had raised a ruckus in the KHG's headquarters.

Yet, that little outburst had brought back memories to Jeol, memories of a time where she used to play around with her dear friends. Her parents were there, her entire family was in fact. They never left her alone for too long, something that she understood. She was like Seneos in a great many ways, especially in terms of mental problems.

Her friends were the only ones that she focused her thoughts on though. They were still there compared to her family, so all her thoughts gathered around them. She wondered if they were doing good in life, as good as her at least. Given how Sen had finished, she doubted it was the case.

He was the strongest of the group at a time, the lit fuse that brought delight to the lives of many. Oh, how things had changed.

Hearing a peculiar sound coming from one of her pockets, Jeol looked down and fetched her phone. It was a simple black smartphone, nothing too showy. She was never like that.

Her phone continued to vibrate until she answered the call while organizing the files that were laying on her desk.

"Yes, what is it ?" She asked, only to hear a voice that brought a small smile on her frigid face.

"Jeol, it's me. I saw Sen only a few minutes ago. Can you believe he didn't recognize me ? I realize that I have changed, if ever so slightly, but still. For a knight in shining armour to not recognize his princess...Disgraceful."

Jeol giggled to herself lightly before responding.

"Soo-Hi, we are not children anymore. Also, couldn't you fix that weird way of speaking during all those years ? I swear you sound like some old scholar...With the body of a 16 years old teen." Jeol mocked her friend who merely huffed.

"My speech has no problems, the incompetence of others cannot be blamed on me. If people do not understand me, well then they should go back to school. Back on the topic though, Sen seemed really pressed for time. Anything interesting happened ? Or perhaps he was simply going on another mission. I cannot believe you let him get in danger like that." Soo-Hi said, venom lacing her words.

Jeol did not wince, however, she relaxed in her chair and rolled her eyes.

"Sen is my best friend, what do you want me to do, put a collar around his neck ? Also I do not believe you are in the right position to say things like that, didn't you come back to Seoul to become a hunter ? "

"You make it sound like I came back only to get advantaged by your position." Soo-Hi deadpanned.

"I did not say it, you just did. Perhaps you are too honest with yourself, eh ? Anyway just wait for Sen, he only had a little thing to take care of. He will be back in a few hours I think. Get yourself a coffee or something. You didn't get to drink anything good in that backwater village, right ?" Jeol said with a light chuckle. It was perhaps the mark of her feelings. She was much more prone to laughing when talking casually, but only to the rare ones who were close to her.

"Backwater village.....Dear god, you really have no respect. I will go grab a coffee and wait for him. He smelled like alcohol though, I hope you didn't let him become a drunkard, or else I won't be the only one whining to you." Soo-Hi said before hanging up.

Jeol threw her phone on the desk and sighed.

"Here I thought I was the unpleasant person. Even the first talk we had in ages was only slightly better than that."

She groaned when her phone vibrated again, however it was only a message this time.

[ I took the liberty of putting my contact in your phone, I hope you don't mind. Go to the third floor, I need you. -Gumiho ]

She looked at the message a second time and shook her head.

"And here I got a superior that is friendlier than my actual friend."

With that, she left her office. She made sure to close it with her keys, just to be sure. It a simple habit of her, but it made sure no one could spy on her. The KHG was supposed to be a happy work environment, but Jeol only trusted her own words, not those of an entire company.

She made her way towards the staircase and stopped a bit when she saw two of her colleagues eating their lunch on the stairs. She knew they had seen her, so she couldn't dodge them. She walked to them and tried to walk up the stairs without having to say a thing. Weirdly enough, it worked.

They didn't even spare her a glance. She furrowed her brows before realizing what was going on. She wasn't their colleague anymore, she was a direct superior, and one that looked busy at the moment. Finally, they would stop interrupting her no matter what she was doing.

This wasn't a huge privilege, but it was still a welcome one.

As soon as she reached the third floor, she frowned at how poorly decorated it was. The KHG was entirely too simple. They painted all of their walls either white or black. Every room looked empty or futuristic. They either had no furniture or had the very basic ones and had neons in the walls.

This wasn't something she appreciated, but she wasn't in a position to complain, even after her promotion.

She looked for Gumiho but couldn't find him anywhere, that was until she heard a coffee machine starting up on her right. She turned around and saw the comical sight of Gumiho cleaning his fingers that were covered in hot coffee.

"Ahh, dammit !" He winced at the hot sensation over his hands. However, he smiled when he saw Jeol and made his way towards her.

" You came faster than I expected. I didn't think you even read your messages, to be honest. Wait for a second there, I'm going to attempt to recover my coffee...Once more." He said with a serious tone that seemed out of place with that big smile of his and his over-the-top appearance.

It was even weirder once he grabbed his new cup of coffee and sipped on it. He burned his tongue and screamed. The loud noise attracted some attention and a door opened beside the white-haired man.

A middle-aged man wearing a blue and black suit with the KHG's pin on his breast pocket came out.

"Why are you always like that ? Can't you just wait for it to cool down ? You've burned your entire body with that damn coffee. " The man said, ripping the coffee away from the hands of the colorful man.

Seeing that he wasn't about to get his due, Gumiho simply stuck out his tongue to the middle-aged man and strutted towards Jeol. He then put an arm on her shoulders and gave her a toothy grin.

"You might be wondering why I asked you to come here. Well, I needed an assistant for a little meeting, and the other officiates are all so busy...That or they hate me. So...Ready to enter the frightening society of the Hunters ?" He asked as he led her towards another room. Compared to most rooms on the third floor, it didn't have glass walls.

She swallowed a lump in her throat, realizing that this was it. She was finally entering the big playground.

She nodded and he opened the door. Immediately her eyes swept over the room and she tried to act calm when she realized who was in this room.

A cascade of auras hit her and nearly made her throw off. She was a B+ Rank, but she became nothing as soon as she stepped into that room.

"Well, dear members of the Black Mamba Clan, meet my newest colleague !"

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