Creator’s Favoritism

Naturally, having no flying ability whatsoever, I let out a pathetic “kek” and fell to the ground.

Sharp pain shot through my ankle as it twisted upon hitting the railroad tracks. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“Aargh…”

While I was rolling around on the tracks groaning in pain, Park Sang-oh quickly reached for his bag and scrambled to his feet.

I got up with all my might and grabbed his collar as he clung to the wire fence.

「Tito establishes plausibility for their early arrival at the platform by utilizing Jeong Changgyu’s skill, which can detect nearby hunters’ locations.」

THWACK!

Before I could even finish reading the narration box, I got kicked in the solar plexus by his back leg. The pain and dizziness hit simultaneously, nearly making me pass out while standing.

That’s when it happened. With ample illumination, light burst forth from the platform opposite the stairs, about 20 meters away.

“Sun-woo!”

“What the hell, this bastard’s a hunter too?”

The two figures who appeared were, as expected, Kang Chagyeong and Jeong Changgyu. Looking back and forth between Park Sang-oh and me in our standoff, they wore bewildered expressions, seemingly unable to grasp the situation.

Lee Chan-yu, who had been hurrying towards us, stopped in her tracks at their sudden appearance.

Until then, Park Sang-oh continued kicking my shoulders wildly while spewing curses. He was trying to shake me off as I stubbornly clung to his pant leg.

“Ugh…”

Unable to withstand the continued impacts, my body finally collapsed onto the tracks.

“Stop hitting her!!”

It was right after Kang Chagyeong shouted with uncharacteristic volume that he came charging like lightning.

Without reducing his speed at all, Chagyeong leaped straight at Park Sang-oh and tackled him.

THWACK!

There was no hesitation in his fists as they pummeled the head of the man sprawled on the ground. It made a satisfying sound like a watermelon being cracked open.

While Chagyeong stood over the fallen man breathing heavily, Lee Chan-yu and Jeong Changgyu ran towards us with startled expressions.

After restraining the once-again unconscious Park Sang-oh by twisting his arms behind his back, Lee Chan-yu stared down at me sprawled on the ground.

“You were just kicking at the air. Take the ambulance when it comes later.”

“Haha, no, I’m fine…”

Even amid all this, the panels were still being drawn. I tried my best to maintain a neutral expression, but it didn’t seem to be working.

After all, my forced smile couldn’t look natural given my concussion, sprained ankle, and various other minor injuries.

“You don’t look fine. You’re crying.”

“These are just reflexive tears.”

Barely listening to my pathetic excuse, Lee Chan-yu looked up at the sky covered in pitch-black storm clouds.

“Sun-woo, are you really okay…?”

Kang Chagyeong looked at me with genuine concern on his face. Standing beside him, Jeong Changgyu wore an exasperated expression at my miserable state.

“Hey girl, you gotta pick your battles! If you’d gotten hit in a vital spot, you could’ve died instantly! You’re out of your mind, not knowing your place…”

His nagging was giving me a headache.

The now-familiar sound of sirens gradually drew closer.

‘Every time I get involved with high-rank stuff, this is what happens.’

Completely giving up on looking cool in this episode, I was fully experiencing the throbbing pain in my ankle.

「Tito scratches his cheek while reviewing the webtoon’s development so far. His brows furrow slightly as he notices the protagonist ‘Kang Chagyeong’s’ activities aren’t standing out enough.」

Despite my literally tear-inducing efforts, the narration box was merciless.

「Though things didn’t go exactly as initially planned, Tito judges that the scene of ‘Maeng Sun-woo’ making a fool of herself due to her concussion worked out well.」

“Oh come on!.”

Getting a concussion while helping catch a criminal, and all I get in return is cold favoritism.

Though technically, Lee Chan-yu did most of the criminal catching. Either way, I wiped away my reflexive tears as I lay back down, deflated.

“Over there!”

When I weakly turned my head at the sharp cry, I saw paramedics rushing down the stairs.

Firefighters and emergency personnel who arrived with them began loading the injured one by one.

The hunter at the front of the group had a green cross mark on his right arm. It was a banner indicating they were a medical hunter.

When the medical hunter briefly gestured toward me, mist dispersed from his fingertips.

The blue mist crawled along the ground like a water snake and seeped directly into my swollen ankle.

Unlike Hyun So-ra , who could only use her healing ability through direct hand contact, it seemed this hunter could use healing skills from a distance.

A pleasantly cool sensation wrapped around the inside of my twisted ankle.

The coolness spreading through my lower body also helped calm my dizzy head.

Even the nausea I’d been suppressing through sheer willpower to avoid throwing up in front of Tito finally settled down.

I opened my eyes wide in amazement at the sensation of my injuries healing. Though not completely healed, it was remarkable that I could move at all.

While wonderingly touching my now-smooth back of the head where the bump had disappeared, I finally came to my senses.

Ah right, this isn’t the time.

“Over here! Arrest this person!”

After pulling myself together, I pointed at Park Sang-oh’s back and shouted at the top of my lungs.

The middle-aged medical hunter gave some instructions to the paramedics with a grave expression. Seeing the medical hunter running towards us, Lee Chan-yu got up from where she had been sitting on Park Sang-oh.

“I happened to be at Seoul Station when the gate opened. While looking for remaining monsters, I came down to the platform. And… I subdued that person because he was interfering with rescue operations.”

“Interfered with rescue operations?”

The medical hunter shot a sharp look at Park Sang-oh being loaded onto a stretcher after hearing my explanation.

“He maliciously lured a monster toward my friend before attempting to flee.”

That’s when Lee Chan-yu, who had been silent until then, added a brief comment.

“And, and he hit her too. Kicked her.”

Beside her, Kang Chagyeong timidly elaborated.

The medical hunter muttered something into his radio and pointed to the stairway leading to ground level. A group of uniformed police officers was coming down en masse.

“You all. Looks like we’ll need to stop by the police station first.”

At those words, Lee Chan-yu let out a sigh so quiet it was barely audible. Her regretful gaze swept across the wrecked train platform.

Outside the station was chaos due to waiting ambulances, lined-up reporters, and crowds.

One reporter who spotted us emerging from among the masses shouted sharply.

“They’re out!”

“What’s the extent of the damage?!”

“Hunter Lee Chan-yu, you’re recorded as this gate’s annihilator – can you tell us about the annihilation process?!”

Lee Chan-yu’s name could be heard from all around, but she kept walking while staring straight ahead.

The name of the well-known Kang Chagyeong was also called frequently. Jeong Changgyu, standing behind him, knocked away the microphones thrust towards them with his forearm.

The medical hunter cleared a path while waving his hand as if shooing away annoying flies.

While I was completely overwhelmed by the broadcast microphones jabbing at my face, someone grabbed my arm painfully.

“Hunter Maeng!”

“Yes?!”

“Please tell us about the gate annihilation!”

“But I didn’t do anything…? Chan-yu caught everything… Ow ow ow, that hurts. My arm…”

“How did the gate disaster begin? You must remember! Hunter Maeng!”

Despite me saying it hurt, the reporter’s grip on my arm only tightened, invisible flames blazing in their eyes. I felt my concussion, which had just been calmed thanks to the medical hunter, starting to act up again.

“I just came to the station to buy donuts…”

Lee Chan-yu irritably grabbed the back of my neck as I stammered with my soul completely drained.

Probably due to the number of people involved, we were split up into two police cars – me and Lee Chan-yu in one, Jeong Changgyu and Kang Chagyeong in the other.

It was my first time riding in a police car. As I was looking around the interior with curiosity, a narration box appeared before my eyes.

「Tito curses as he tries to apply the police car sketch-up he purchased for not a small amount. Contrary to his expectations, the vehicle interior is empty like a tin can.」

I should probably ignore things like this. As I turned away from the narration box with a sour expression, the next box quickly appeared.

「Instead of struggling to draw the police car interior himself, Tito decides to cleanly end the episode here and turns off his computer.」

Oh, come on! Really?

I was seriously contemplating whether there was any way to hit Tito, deity or not, when it happened.

“Come to think of it.”

My eyes met the police officer’s in the rearview mirror.

“Isn’t today the weekend, Haniyeong’s day off? What brought you to Seoul Station…?”

“Um… it was this friend’s day to go home.”

When I tried to dodge the question, the officer threw another one: “So you came to see her off?” I glanced sideways at Lee Chan-yu.

“No, I…”

“Sun-woo. Did you really come here to buy donuts?”

Lee Chan-yu suddenly asked. For some reason, her words seemed to have a hidden edge to them.

At this point, I had no choice but to agree. As I nodded enthusiastically, Lee Chan-yu stared at me for a moment before giving a slight nod of understanding.

Then she turned her gaze toward the window, her eyes somewhat indifferent.

Those eyes didn’t even bother wondering whether it was truly mere coincidence that I happened to be at Seoul Station before the gate opened, or if it was really just luck that I immediately pinpointed the platform where the monster was.

Which was a real relief for me.

The police released us after taking our witness statements. Our homeroom teacher Lee Je-gwan was waiting in front of the police station, having apparently been contacted.

“Please drop me off at the intercity bus terminal.”

With Seoul Station completely destroyed, taking a train home was obviously impossible. But it was already well past lunchtime.

“Just because you filed for weekend leave doesn’t mean you have to go home. We can just void it…”

“No. I want to go home.”

Lee Chan-yu muttered in a sullen voice. Seemingly unable to break her stubbornness, Lee Je-gwan entered the terminal’s location into the navigation.

As soon as we arrived at the terminal, Lee Chan-yu shouldered her duffel bag and got out without ceremony.

“Chan-yu!”

Lee Chan-yu turned around to look at me as I poked my head out through the open car window. Her cold face was expressionless as usual.

Either way, I felt somewhat responsible for getting her involved in the witness questioning. 

Even if she went home now, she’d have to come back up after less than a day. 

I felt sorry for causing unnecessary trouble.

“Get… get some rest!”

Lee Chan-yu gave a barely perceptible nod before turning away, like someone without any lingering attachments.