APEX PREDATOR

[THERE ISN'T a single person in Korea who doesn't know who Hwang Frost is.]

As far as Wonhee knew, Hwang Frost had fallen from grace a year ago.

But, before that, he was the Nation's #1 Hunter.

Hwang Frost was the strongest member of the original Big 4 best known for his ice manipulation ability. But, apparently, he could also control other elements. For that reason, the country depended on Hwang Frost from the very beginning.

Back when humanity couldn't figure out the levels of each Crack yet, the Awakened People had no choice but to enter and raid the dungeons no matter what their Class was.

That resulted in a lot of Hunters dying.

Fortunately, Hwang Frost discovered a Crack that had a feature called 'Hidden Treasury Room.'

The humanity lucked out upon that discovery.

After all, the Hidden Treasury Room didn't have any gold or expensive minerals in it. What the Hidden Treasury Room had were blueprints and a recipe book.

Blueprints of how to make devices that could detect Cracks and their Grades.

Yeon Soobin, Wonhee's older brother who was an A-Class Hunter with an A-Grade Blacksmith ability at the time, created the device alone.

On the other hand, the recipe book contained instructions on how to brew Healing Potions.

But only an S-Class Hunter who had an S-Grade Alchemy skill could decipher the book.

Guess who's the S-Class Hunter who has an S-Grade level in Alchemy? Yes, it's my Semi Unnie– the only female member of the original Big 4.

Wonhee's older sister, Jang Semi, was called the God Alchemist for that reason.

Anyway, during the "early times" after the Outbreak, it was Hwang Frost and Graham who raided the most dangerous Cracks that appeared in the country. But there was a vast difference between the two even though both of them were a part of the Big 4.

Graham led a group of high-ranking Hunters to take down dangerous Cracks.

Hwang Frost, on the other hand, raided and destroyed S-Grade dungeons ALONE…

… and he had never lost a fight since then.

"You're fearless, aren't you?" Hwang Frost asked, sitting properly. Then he leaned against the wall while putting an arm over his bended knee. "Omnivore-ssi?"

Wonhee flinched when Hwang Frost spoke, interrupting her thinking process. Since Hwang Frost didn't move from his spot, she relaxed a bit and remained sitting on the floor right across from him. "I'm just wondering how the best Hunter in the country fell from grace."

"Wow, you're brutally honest."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Being "brutally honest" is not a flex– it's just an excuse to be mean," Wonhee explained. "And I didn't mean to be mean to you, Frost-ssi. I'm thinking about how I can beat you in a fight, so I tried to remember how you fell from grace. I wanted to see if I could use your weakness against you…"

"Are you for real?"

She nodded meekly. "But I'm reflecting on my actions now."

"Naïve people like you make me wonder how you survived this long in the kind of world we live in today."

That wasn't the first time she heard something similar to that, so she actually had a prepared answer for that after receiving that kind of comments for years.

"I'm overprotected by my family."

"Wow. Your family must be big shots then if you grew up that sheltered after the world was turned upside down."

She nodded meekly. "Yes, they're pretty important."

Wonhee wasn't bragging about her family. She was simply acknowledging the fact that she survived the Outbreak because of her family members. Not acknowledging her privilege would only make her ungrateful.

"Wow. Do I know them?"

"Probably."

"For real?" Hwang Frost asked, tilting his head to one side. "If I know them, then they must be from the government or a famous guild. I only remember people related to my field."

"Uhm, both?"

"You know I have a loose screw in my head, don't you?"

"Uhm, y-yes…"

"Omnivore-ssi, don't make me use my brainpower. Tell me who your family is."

[Then you should have just asked….!]

It wasn't like Wonhee could argue with a person who wasn't in his right mind.

So, even if she didn't want to reveal her family, she had no choice but to do it. She didn't want to provoke Hwang Frost, after all.

"M-My older brother is Hunter Yeon Soobin…"

"Yeon Soobin? The Yeon "Blacksmith God" Soobin I know?" Hwang Frost asked in disbelief. "The obnoxious, two-faced bastard who has the creepiest smile in the entire world?"

"S-Sounds about right…"

"Wow."

"A-And my older sister is Jang Semi…"

This time, Hwang Frost's red eyes widened a bit. "Huh? That nagging Witch Noona? Jang Semi, the God Alchemist?"

Wonhee clenched her hands tight, unable to listen to the X-Class Hunter insult her beloved family any longer. "Please stop insulting my siblings…"

"Soobin Hyung used to test his newly created weapons on me by stabbing, shooting, and hitting me when I least expected it. Apparently, I have the sturdiest body in the world so I wouldn't die easily even if he used me as a dummy."

"O-Oppa did that?"

Hwang Frost nodded, his red eyes dead serious. "On the other hand, Witch Noona made me drink all the poisons she made in the past to make a corresponding antidote to them. Apparently, I was the perfect test subject because I'm immune to poison. But that doesn't mean it didn't hurt taking them. There was even a time I almost died because Witch Noona made a poison that was strong enough to take down an A-Grade monster."

Wonhee immediately bowed her head. "I apologize on behalf of my older siblings…"

"Nah, you don't have to apologize. Do you think I just took it in quietly?"

He probably didn't.

But Wonhee was too afraid to ask since she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the scary stories related to her older siblings…

[As a Civilian, I'd rather not.]

"Anyway, if those monsters are both your siblings, then you must be their half-sister."

Wonhee flinched, fully expecting Hwang Frost to accuse her of being a "product of sin" like what most people who knew her thought.

But it didn't happen.

"APA doesn't know your relationship with those two, do they?"

Wonhee shook her head. "Soobin Oppa and Semi Noona said it's better to keep my relationship with them a secret because they have a lot of enemies that might try to hurt me as revenge…"

"Sounds like they care about you a lot."

She blushed and nodded shyly. "They do…"

Hwang Frost fell silent for a moment, then he laughed. "Then APA fucked up. They touched someone they shouldn't have. I can't wait for Soobin Hyung and Witch Noona to go batshit crazy on Kwon Jiwoong. Thank goodness I'm sober right now…"

He trailed off, then suddenly fell silent as if in deep thought.

[I-Is he okay? He's completely still…]

"Why am I sober?"

"I-I don't know," Wonhee said, gulping because Hwang Frost's bewildered expression. "I'm just a Civilian… and you don't look sober to me, Frost-ssi."

Hwang Frost had red eyes.

When a person awakened, their eyes would turn golden, then yellow-ish.

But the more an Awakened Person lost his mind, the more the color of his eyes turned dark.

Awakened People with eye colors in the shade of yellow were still safe.

Those who had orange hues in them would need to have constant treatment from their Guides until their eyes returned to shades of yellow.

But Awakened People with red eyes were deemed hopeless.

"No, I'm sober," Hwang Frost insisted, clutching his head as if he was confused. "Wow. This is the first time I'm having a normal conversation with another person in months."

[This is him… having a "normal" conversation?]

Hwang Frost called threatened to devour Wonhee alive because her orange hair looked like tangerines and, apparently, tangerines were his favorite fruits.

Then he called her an herbivore.

And, finally, he kind of forced her to reveal her family.

[That wasn't a "normal" conversation…]

Not to mention Hwang Frost jumped Wonhee as soon as she entered the basement.

[What part of that is him being sober?]

"You experienced how I was when I wasn't sober," Hwang Frost said. "I jumped you as soon as I saw you, didn't I?"

"Y-Yeah."

"That's because Kwon Jiwoong has been providing Guides to me ever since he locked me up here," the X-Class Hunter explained. "I always end up draining their power and yet I barely feel the effect of their Guiding. At the end of the day, I'm still consumed by the Static."

'Static.'

It was the term used by Awakened People on the verge of breaking down to describe the noise in their head urging them to go insane.

Only the Guides had the power to stop the 'Static' from 'buzzing.'

[But what does he mean by "draining" the power of the Guides APA sent him?]

Wonhee gulped. "F-Frost-ssi, do you receive Advanced Treatment from those Guides?" She backed away slowly while hugging herself. "D-Did I almost get s-sexually assaulted?"

"Are you crazy? Only Hunters and Guides with more than 75% matching rate could perform Advanced Treatment," Hwang Frost said defensively. "Besides, in my case, just a mere touch from a Guide makes my skin crawl. I always feel like throwing up during Guiding Time."

Ah, right.

Wonhee remembered some of the news articles that she had read regarding Hwang Frost before he was declared an X-Class Hunter.

<"Hunter Frost's future looking bleak as he refuses to receive Guiding!">

<"Even A-Class Guides cannot stop Hunter Frost from going berserk?">

<"The fall of a hero: Hunter Frost blew up the National Guide Center, almost killing C and B-Class Guides…!">

Those were just some of the headlines Wonhee remembered since they went viral before.

[I'm relieved to know that Hwang Frost didn't sexually assault those Guides.]

"It's not like I refuse to receive Guiding," Hwang Frost complained in a frustrated voice. "It's not my fault that those Guides suck at their jobs."

"Don't say that to the Guides who only want to help you, Frost-ssi."

"But it hurts," he insisted. "Every time a Guide touches me, no matter the Class, it feels like my skin is being pricked…"

Oh.

Hwang Frost trailed off again.

Of course, Wonhee got nervous because the X-Hunter was looking at her with crazy eyes.

"Your touch didn't hurt."

"B-Because I'm a Civilian…"

"You're not a Civilian," Hwang Frost, his glowing red eyes looked like they were focused on something Wonhee couldn't see. "Even Awakened People faint at the sight of me."

"Maybe you t-threatened them so they fainted?"

Hwang Frost just ignored what she said. "Try saying 'Status Window.'"

As if that would work.

But since she didn't want to anger the X-Class Hunter, she did as she was told.

Wonhee gulped before speaking softly. "S-Status Window…"

And a Status Window really appeared, shocking her.

It was a semi-transparent Status Window similar to a video game's Status Window.

But she immediately noticed something strange with hers.

"Frost-ssi, it's empty," Wonhee said, a bit scared. "Nothing is written on my Status Window…"

***

sola_cola's thoughts on this chapter: I'm a sucker for the good girl x bad boy troupe. I don't like writing that kind of dynamic, but I like reading them. Hehe. And sorry for the lack of updates recently. My brain is empty these days, but I'm slowly trying to get back on track. Thanks for waiting.

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