NOVEL WEB Chapter 33
The genre Hunter Gallery has become noisy ever since the appearance of the Saintess with her magnificent mama milkers, and now a week has passed.
This place was originally the largest hunter community site in the country, bustling with malicious net trolls, making it a lively arena for new bait and playground for the wicked.
Normally, a topic would last no longer than a day, but thanks to the anticipation that a new S-grade hunter may appear and the allure of Shia’s mama milkers, the main discussions and bait in the gallery remained centered on ‘Hunter Isia’ even after a week, despite Hunter Isia not resuming her broadcast.
[When’s the streamer coming back?]
『Please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back!』
[Holding my breath until Isia turns her broadcast back on]
『Huff』
[This guy seems like the one who was floating down the Han River earlier]
ㄴ[LOL]
[Yeah, your Shia went to heaven]
ㄴ[No, she said she went to America!]
ㄴ[It’s actually heaven, I’m pretty sure]
Naturally, Shia had not turned on her broadcast during the entire week.
Nevertheless, people kept rolling out all sorts of bait. Some even skilled enough to make a mad movie compiling clips from Shia’s broadcasts emerged.
Considering that the average viewer count for hunter streamers is in the thousands, the number of people watching Isia’s broadcast wasn’t massive. However, the state-of-the-art auxiliary AI drone camera provided by the Hunter Association captured Isia from flawless angles without additional manipulation.
Thanks to this, scenes of Shia battling a horde of wyverns in the Kurtala Mountains rivaled that of any blockbuster action movie, presenting such high-quality visuals that even unedited, they left viewers in awe.
[The petite Saintess snatching a wyvern egg GIF](329)
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『The expression of the saintess in the GIF where she steals a wyvern egg is hilarious!』
[What is this? Why is it so skillfully made?]
[Absolutely adorable! LOL]
[Seeing that bright expression, she’s definitely the petite Saintess! Haha!]
[LOL]
[“Hehehehehe!!!”]
[Can you hear that from the concert? LOL]
[So now she’s going to go beat the wyvern leader and resurrect it with that bright face, right?]
ㄴ[It’s tragic, not a comedy…]
ㄴ[Wyvern: Please… kill… me…]
ㄴ[Do wyverns even have rights? LOL]
[The cruel crime scene of the saintess kidnapping infants… Quite rare.]
ㄴ[Infant kidnapping? LOL]
ㄴ[Is it a child snatching plot?]
ㄴ[Could get caught with the petite saintess… heh…]
ㄴ[Petite child getting devoured… wow.]
[Honestly, using the “mama milkers” for bait is really gross. How much do you feed a streamer who’s been off for a week?]
ㄴ[At least top-tier A-grade, if not S-grade, so no wonder they love her! LOL]
ㄴ[S-grade returnees are impressive, just look at Yujin.]
ㄴ[Heh, Yujin…]
ㄴ[You’re gay… you’re gay…]
ㄴ[It’s your life that’s gross.]
ㄴ[Honestly, it is disgusting. Why do we have to keep watching her bounce around?]
ㄴ[You’re gay… Change your IP already…]
Then a bomb dropped.
[I’m Jang-Bung, working at the association.](429)
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『I’m Jang-Bung, working at the association.
A few days ago, the chief, the vice chief, and the directors gathered to attend a meeting.
I still can’t believe why I raised my hand there.
Anyway, the important part is this.
The meeting topic was Returnee Isia.
As speculated in the gallery, Isia is indeed a returnee.
I can’t disclose much else due to confidentiality, but she’s likely to officially receive her hunter license soon.
Lots of discussions went on in the meeting, but there should be an announcement today or so.
By the way, if everything proceeds as scheduled, prepare to praise me, you minions!』
[Is this guy legitimate?]
[His tone reeks of bait though.]
ㄴ[For real, LOL.]
[What does that even mean?]
ㄴ[It’s short for ‘What’s that smartwatch about?’]
ㄴ[Dumbass…]
[What’s your position in the association?]
ㄴ[I’m in the Returnee Ethics Audit Department. Can’t disclose my real name or position.]
ㄴ[Seems legit.]
ㄴ[Can you prove it?]
ㄴ[I’m not an idiot; it’s confidential.]
[If this is real, can we resolve the gallery’s bait?]
[Is Shia broadcasting possible?]
ㄴ[Heh, my dear sister…]
Thus, the bait in the genre Hunter Gallery ignited to maximum levels, and concept posts began filling up with topics about Hunter Isia.
No matter how pretty you are, without skill, you can’t even become a topic in the gallery.
Even a compilation of a few GIFs could make a worthy concept post, but it couldn’t sustain the firepower to dominate the gallery for an entire week.
However, users of the genre Hunter Gallery, called “Susu,” likely sensed something after watching Hunter Isia’s videos.
At the very least, she appeared to be an A-grade top-tier hunter; it wouldn’t be strange if she received S-grade.
Her mama milkers being robust and her beauty surpassing that of a celebrity were merely garnishes.
The main reason Isia could become bait in the gallery was her overwhelming strength and prowess, first and foremost.
Secondly, the antics of Saint Isia stealing wyvern eggs and mercilessly slaying and resurrecting wyvern leaders drew people’s attention.
Thirdly, her ludicrous act of cooking with a wyvern egg worth over 100 million, making a stew, was absurd beyond belief. Though suspected to have a healing saint class, people couldn’t overlook the fact that she possessed bizarre and twisted tentacles while being brutal like a berserker or demon against monsters.
There was absolutely no reason for her to not thrive as bait.
And that night…
[Hunter Isia – Live Broadcast!]
After a week of silence, Isia’s broadcast resumed on the switch.
A week had passed since her trip to the Kurtala Mountains, and Shia was waiting for Yeonhwa on the road outside her home.
“…Is that Isia?”
“No way.”
“It’s the Returnee Shelter here. Looks like it’s her?”
Though Shia’s keen senses caught the murmurs of strangers talking from a distance, she reacted indifferently.
No, inside she actually felt a bit good.
Despite the events of the previous world, the conversations of people recognizing her and whispering brought Shia a peculiar pleasure.
‘The moment the Empire’s eyes towards me shifted from contempt to cheers was the best…’
The people of the Empire hadn’t viewed Shia, the Saint of the Undead, favorably from the outset.
No, everyone except Menelapie was either fearful or contemptuous of Shia.
Because she was Undead.
A dead one.
A monster that could roam while hungry and eat the living.
It was a natural and expected reaction, and that fear gradually morphed into cheers and praise as Shia healed the sick and triumphed over Menelapie and the Demon King’s army.
The memories and feelings of that time still lingered.
‘Compared to that time, this feels like a good start here. The degenerates I thought were all that turned out to be nothing. How big was my mama milkers for them to feel that way?’
Up until a moment ago, she had read concept blog posts in the genre Hunter Gallery disparaging her, yet Shia was still in good spirits.
It was like a grandmother watching her grandchildren perform a dance show.
“Sister!”
“Here comes the idiot?”
“I’m not an idiot!”
“Okay, okay, idiot.”
It was Icicle Nine! Despite Yan-hwa’s indignation, she couldn’t slight Shia, who smiled slyly and easily.
Maybe since the moment Yeonhwa was saved by Shia in the Nafthar Great Forest dungeon, she had been particularly defenseless against her.
At the academy, the nickname ‘Branch Demon’ was not earned for nothing.
People close to her always met unfortunate fates of death or injury, and Yeonhwa herself lived a life disconnected from others in cold solitude.
When she received her F-grade hunter license, she became completely withdrawn from her classmates and turned into a dungeon addict, living a life on the edge, so those who knew Yeonhwa at the academy would be shocked to see her display such a warm expression.
Shia and Yeonhwa boarded an autopilot electric vehicle that came out of the Yeon Family.
Getting in the soundproof car, it was always fascinating how quickly the surrounding noise faded away.
‘By the way, the last time I visited Yeonhwa’s house, it was enormous… I think there were maids or servants…’
Thinking about it, Yeonhwa truly seemed like she was from a wealthy family.
To someone like Shia, who was entirely a novice with cars, the price of this sleek electric vehicle looked astronomical. Moreover, it being equipped with autopilot was a huge perk since it allowed her to converse face-to-face with Yeonhwa while driving.
“Speaking of which, have you had a meal, sister?”
“Yep.”
“What did you eat?”
“There wasn’t even a door open for breakfast. I overindulged in the wyvern egg stew days ago, so my appetite wasn’t there today. So I woke early and had 20 servings of sundae soup and 10 servings of boiled pork.”
“…….”
Huh?
What on earth did I just hear?….
Yeonhwa’s expression momentarily shifted strangely before she regained her composure.
Yes, Shia always had something that defied her expectations.
One shouldn’t predict her behavior, nor take her words about lack of appetite seriously.
“Well, if you ate that much, it must have cost quite a bit… Ah, it seems the association sent the financial settlement for the Kurtala Mountain expedition.”
“Yep, I checked it on my smartwatch; it came in yesterday.”
Shia operated the smartwatch on her wrist.
Unlike the moment when she had begged Yeonhwa for help due to lack of money while eating sundae soup a while ago, she now wore a confident broad smile, as if she had an invincible buff.
For killing each wyvern, the association paid 10 million won.
Overall, wyverns are classified as B-grade monsters. Being a long-appeared monster, strategies for them became widespread, which made the byproducts of wyverns flood the auctions and hunter markets.
As for the wyvern egg, they could only be obtained during their breeding season. Touching a wyvern egg wrong could lead to having to fight the entire horde of B to A+ grade wyverns, further increasing the risks, so they were treated with even greater value than wyverns.
Consequently, the sum the association paid Shia was around 700 million won after various taxes and deductions.
Indeed, it’s no empty saying that a person’s generous heart originates from a bountiful storehouse.
“So are you ready?”
“What is there to prepare? I just go and sign a few documents, right?”
“No, I mean mentally prepared, or something… are you okay?”
In reality, Shia felt no tension at all.
Even after a week of the video where her face, combat scenes, and wyvern stew-eating incident circulated and disparaged her, she wouldn’t face any significant barriers just because of a few documents and one or two inspections.
Having gone through quite a bit, feeling nervous about simply undergoing paperwork would be foolish.
“Yeah, it’s fine. Having lived as the right arm of the Emperor and a Saintess for over 60 years, I won’t flinch over something like this.”
“That’s a relief… and sister, I’ve gathered archives of the troublesome kids with the lawyer at our house. If you ask, I can make them pay for messing with your keyboard… If you change your mind, just let me know, okay?”
They’ll make them pay for messing around with keyboards, huh…
Even if she appears gentle, Yeonhwa’s occasionally cold remarks surely denote a bit of fiery spirit.
After all, she was terrifying when Yeonseo got angry when they first met.
Yeonhwa, as her granddaughter, likely wouldn’t have a meek personality.
“Yeah, I’ve already informed the Hunter Association. The auxiliary drones will be managed by us…. Ah, welcome!”
As soon as they arrived at the Returnee Management Bureau, Shia spotted a familiar face.
It was Director Choi Bomi, who had looked over her ethical audit previously.
“Hello.”
“I was just contacted and waiting for you! Oh, is Yeonhwa also doing well? I saw the video of the Goblin Ranger Crew being repelled, it was a major hit up top!”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Alright, then let’s head up right away!”
Thus, guided by the noticeably excited face of Director Choi Bomi, Shia entered a dark room resembling an interrogation chamber while Yeonhwa began observing Shia’s ethical audit proceedings from the opposite side.
Yeonhwa was effectively acting as a guarantor for the identity of Returnee Isia, and she was in a position to be notified of all matters under the jurisdiction of the Hunter Association and the Returnee Management Bureau.
Naturally, she needed to be privy to all details regarding Shia’s ethical audit and any other events.
The reason Yeonhwa proposed Shia to start hunting broadcasts a few days ago was nothing more than this.
‘Sister looked happy.’
Returnees have nothing to do.
Adapting is hard.
While each returnee has different circumstances, adapting to the newly emerged Hunter Era and finding suitable jobs or appropriate livelihoods poses great challenges.
In Shia’s case, she returned after 64 years.
Yeonhwa felt Shia’s adaptation to the modern world would be extremely tough.
Especially since she bore the abominable trait of ‘malicious predator.’
It’s not something that can merely be dismissed as excessive appetite.
Given Shia’s claims that without the Black Minotaur, she might have eaten Yeonhwa, various conditions would have to align for her to adapt to contemporary society.
When she finally went outside after a month of not stepping foot outside post-return, and seeing her whining over sundae soup made Yeonhwa feel both anger and bewilderment, her basic sentiment of sympathy for Shia rose.
Perhaps right now, the one more nervous than Shia was Yeonhwa.
Whether it was because of nervousness making her stiffen or because her thoughts ran wild with delusions, Yeonhwa found it difficult to look at herself objectively.
Sister seems angry about adapting.
She acts unbothered, but how much is she actually struggling? How hungry must she be?
She says people’s gazes are fine, but are they really?
And even without being a malicious predator, Shia loves to eat a lot, which leads to huge food expenses.
Being an A-grade hunter, Yeonhwa won’t always be there to care for Shia, and her grandmother Yeonseo is even busier than Yeonhwa.
So, how would Shia find a job that suits her nature—earning enough while also being able to enjoy herself—without hassle?
Simply recommending Shia become a hunter wouldn’t stem from mere optimism.
Shia was a predator who would hunt monsters and gorge on their meat.
And the hunter world ultimately boils down to a battleground of interests, conflicts of individuals, and even political scheming.
If Shia were tossed into the midst of that world, would everything just turn out smoothly as imagined?
There are many low-grade hunters as well.
Especially considering the high likelihood that criminal awakened ones or returnees could lure Isia into the hunters’ world as they get exposed, it was essential to double the monitoring from the public and the Hunter Association. The best way to protect Isia would be to become an officially recognized Hunter streaming streamer by the Hunter Association.
‘Though I can’t fully trust the association… it’s still better than other options.’
The day Yeonhwa suggested broadcasting to Shia, she immediately contacted Director Choi Bomi of the Returnee Management Bureau.
[I think Returnee Isia is interested in Hunter broadcasting. What’s the management bureau’s stance? Any problems in ethics audit?]
Along with various questions she had thrown at her, surprisingly, Director Choi Bomi appeared glad and said she’d positively consider it, asking for some time.
‘They must have seen the broadcast of sister Isia, right?’
It’s unlikely they were already proposing Isia’s Hunter broadcast before Yeonhwa had a chance to reach out, but the affirmative follow-up on Yeonhwa’s proposal means that both the Returnee Management Bureau and the Association saw several benefits in having Isia do her Hunter broadcast.
‘Yeah, nothing will go wrong…’
Hiding the discomforting unease that arose, Yeonhwa began watching the proceedings of Shia’s ethical audit.
●●●●●
The ethical audit wasn’t particularly difficult.
Just like last time, she sat across from Director Choi Bomi, signed the ‘Consent Form’ she presented, and next, they showed her random pictures, prompting her to say the first words that came to mind.
“This one is a tree.”
“Fruits, cabin, forest, because looking at that reminds me of a massive tree in the empress Menelapie’s backyard.”
“So Menelapie, is she that empress you mentioned last time?”
“Yep. Even when I had business with her, I couldn’t always see her; the empress is usually busy.”
“That’s true. People at the top must be extremely busy. Just look at our vice chief…”
“When Menelapie wasn’t around, I used to climb up that tree and take naps. When I woke up, she would sometimes be lying next to me sleeping… We would wrap around each other saying we were cold, but with both our big mama milkers, it was a little uncomfortable. Still, it felt good…”
“You seemed very close?”
“….Yeah.”
Yeah, they were… very close…
Very, very close…
“Alright, now for the next picture, let’s look at the sea.”
“Sea dragon, ocean, meat, ship, harbor, the food in the harbor city tasted great as it was greasy…”
“Oh wow, was there a sea in your world? There are some returnees who came from a land that has no sea at all.”
“There weren’t as many oceans compared to Earth. The Demon King evaporated four out of the eight oceans there.”
“Oh my…”
“Still, me, Teresa, and Menelapie beat that Demon King, so we should see some recovery soon.”
“Hehe, turns out you’re a real hero like a savior, Isia?”
“The savior is Menelapie. I’m the Saintess. Teresa is the Witch.”
“Oh…”
Using the ethical audit as an excuse to reminisce about the past was really fun.
Maybe it was this connection of thoughts that brought forth memories flood from the past that she hadn’t even imagined.
I wonder if Director Choi Bomi could feel some of my joy or emotions as well.
“Well, then umm. The final test. In essence, all these documents and tests you’ve completed so far have passed successfully but…”
“Any problems?”
“No, it’s just that the final test could make you feel uncomfortable, so I’d like to ask for your understanding beforehand.”
“It’s fine.”
Among the malicious individuals in the genre Hunter Gallery, it seemed adorable.
A test for ethical auditing is no big deal…
“Humans.”
Ah, no…
“Have you ever eaten a person, Miss Saintess of the Undead Isia?”
“……….”
This is a bit… intense…