I was Kicked Out of the Hunter’s Guild

The human field of vision is remarkably narrow.

Because of this, humans often fall into the extreme delusion that their accomplishments are entirely the result of their own efforts.

This illusion binds people in chains of arrogance, further narrowing their already limited perspectives.

In that regard…

Isena, the guild master of the 28th Guild, was someone with a very narrow field of vision.

Isena, who had achieved perfect victories in every mission she participated in, believed deeply that her success was the result of her superior abilities and overwhelming combat performance.

And, to be fair, she wasn’t entirely wrong.

Her skills as an S-class hunter were undeniably exceptional, far outshining the other hunters around her. Every time she stepped onto the battlefield, her results were nothing short of extraordinary.

But that fact only served to feed her arrogance.

Over time, this self-assured belief in her abilities blinded her to the bigger picture.

She never noticed it, not back then, and not even now.

What was happening behind her back every time she disregarded her adjutant’s orders to charge recklessly into battle…

Who had been silently working to set the stage for her “perfect victories” in every fight, ensuring she could rampage freely and claim success after success.

And now, in her overconfidence, she was completely unaware of just how much she had relied on someone else’s efforts to sustain her winning streak.

***

“Damn it! Why are there so many of them today?!”

Isena shouted in frustration as she swung her sword, cutting down yet another Abyss. She had already slain hundreds of them single-handedly, yet the tide of enemies showed no signs of letting up.

And what stood before her now were not weaklings like the Spiders she had encountered earlier. No, these were mid-tier Abyss, wolves and locusts, far stronger and more dangerous.

Unlike the early enemies, these Abyss couldn’t be killed with a casual swing of her blade. They required precision, their heads or vital points targeted in order to be taken down in a single blow.

If Isena weren’t an S-class hunter, someone who had been hardened by countless battles, she would have been overwhelmed long ago.

Even now, she managed to hold her ground only because of her honed skills and vast experience. But deep down, she knew the truth.

If the situation continued like this, even she wouldn’t be able to endure much longer.

‘Why? Why is this happening? This is just a B-class mission! A simple, routine mission with no high-tier Abyss and only moderate numbers! So why… Why hasn’t the enemy’s assault stopped?!’

Typically, when Isena initiated a battle, the enemies would be wiped out within an hour at most.

But now, after over three hours of relentless combat, the swarm of Abyss showed no signs of thinning. If anything, their momentum seemed stronger than ever.

‘I don’t understand. What’s the difference this time? Could it be… did that new adjutant lie to us? Did he trick us into taking an A-class mission and pass it off as a B-class one to screw us over?’

The thought crossed her mind, but she immediately dismissed it.

‘No… that’s not possible. If he did something like that, he’d lose his position and end up in prison.’

Even as she tried to make sense of the situation, Isena continued to wield her sword with all her might, carving through the swarm in front of her.

Then, her movements faltered.

Emerging from the chaos was a massive Abyss, a beetle-like creature, its black, glistening body towering over two meters tall.

The moment she saw it, Isena instinctively frowned.

‘A Beetle Abyss… one with almost no offensive power, but ridiculous defensive capabilities. Of course, one of these had to show up now.’

She grimaced as she prepared to activate the Rosecutter. Normally, the blade was always on, but due to the low battery, she had been using it sparingly, turning it off and on only when necessary.

But then

“…What?”

Her face froze in disbelief.

The Rosecutter refused to respond. The blade, which had been her lifeline, didn’t so much as hum.

And at that moment, Isena understood exactly what had happened.

‘Damn it… The battery’s dead. It’s really gone… and at a time like this?!’

The energy she had been conserving so carefully had finally run out.

Without the enhanced cutting power of the Rosecutter, breaking through the Beetle Abyss’s defenses was nearly impossible. Its carapace was as hard as diamond, and while a regular blade might split it momentarily, the creature’s terrifying regenerative abilities would undo the damage in seconds.

To defeat it, she would need to destroy both ends of its body simultaneously, rendering its regeneration ineffective. But without her weapon functioning at full capacity, that was out of the question.

‘Damn it… And my superhuman abilities barely work against this type of Abyss! How did it come to this?! How am I in such a crisis on a B-class mission?!’

Isena’s mind raced as she glanced around. She was completely surrounded, enemies closing in from all directions. Retreat wasn’t an option.

This wasn’t just an ordinary battle—it was the worst crisis she had faced since becoming a hunter.

For the first time in her career, she felt despair.

She couldn’t understand how it had come to this.

Even with the Rosecutter’s battery depleted, she had handled S-class missions before. Missions that were far more challenging than this one.

Yet here she was—struggling against what should have been a simple B-class mission.

‘What the hell is wrong? I’ve fought the same way I always do, so why… Why won’t this mission end? Why are these Abyss so strong, so persistent? It’s just B-class, right? Isn’t this the kind of mission you breeze through, the kind you finish as casually as having tea after dinner? So why… Why am I in danger now? For what reason?!’

Caught in an unfamiliar storm of doubt and fear, Isena bombarded herself with unanswerable questions.

And in the midst of her confusion, a face she didn’t want to think about appeared in her mind.

Lee Jinhyun.

The adjutant she had discarded without hesitation, dismissing him as useless.

The memory of his calm, unremarkable face lingered in her thoughts, unbidden.

‘No… no way. That’s ridiculous. There’s no way things are going badly just because someone like him is gone. What did he ever do? There’s no way my success depended on someone like him!’

She shook her head violently, trying to banish the thought.

But her denial did nothing to change the reality in front of her.

The Beetle Abyss, its massive body gleaming in the dim light, began to lumber toward her. And with it came the swarm—an unending tide of Abyss that surrounded her, ready to strike.

Isena’s breaths grew uneven as the encirclement tightened.

Her hands trembled as she gripped her weapon, and for the first time in her life, tears began to well up in her eyes.

The realization hit her like a cold slap:

‘I… I can’t escape this. Am I really… Is this really how it ends for me?’

At that moment

-CRACK!-

“Uh?”

The Beetle Abyss, looming over Isena with its impenetrable armor, suddenly collapsed, its head blown apart in an instant.

A moment of stunned silence followed before Isena realized what had happened.

Bullets whizzed past her, cutting down the swarm of Abyss surrounding her.

“It’s Isena!” a familiar voice called out.

“Ah… Choi Yujin!”

The rescue team had arrived, just in time.

Relief flooded Isena’s face as she took a shaky breath, realizing she had narrowly escaped death. Reinvigorated by the reinforcements, she summoned the last remnants of her strength and willpower, gripping her weapon tightly. She rejoined the fight, cutting through the Abyss nearest to her.

For another 30 grueling minutes, the bloodshed continued.

By the time it was over, the ground was littered with the bodies of countless Abyss.

-CRACK!-

With a final blow, Isena crushed the skull of the last remaining Abyss in her hand.

“Guh…” she exhaled, her body nearly collapsing from sheer exhaustion.

The battle had ended.

Choi Yujin immediately rushed over to Isena, who looked like she could barely stand. Concern etched across her face, Yujin knelt down and began checking Isena’s condition.

“Oh my god… Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine,” Isena replied, waving her off. “It’s just a scratch on my shoulder. This isn’t even enough to call an injury.”

Yujin frowned, her expression filled with guilt. “I’m sorry… If we’d gotten here sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Though no one had died, the aftermath of the battle was devastating.

By the time Yujin’s group had arrived, the defensive camp had already been breached. The injuries among the hunters under Isena ’s command were severe.

Three A-rank hunters had sustained minor injuries, while one was seriously injured.

Nearly all the B-rank hunters, save for one, were critically injured.

The C-class hunters were lucky to escape with only light bruises, but their pale faces and trembling bodies made it clear that the trauma had deeply affected them.

Yujin tried to comfort Isena, forcing a weak smile despite the grim situation.

“Well… at least the mission was successful. We took some losses, but—”

Before she could finish, Isena abruptly stood up, her face filled with cold fury.

“…Isena?” Yujin asked cautiously, startled by her sudden movement.

Isena’s eyes burned with rage as she muttered through gritted teeth. “Something’s wrong. No matter what problems we had before the battle started, there’s no way the 28th Guild, our guild should have struggled like this on a simple B-class mission.”

“That… that’s true…” Yujin stammered, her face pale. “So what do you want to do?”

Isena didn’t hesitate. Her voice was ice-cold as she pulled out her phone and began dialing a number with trembling hands.

“This has to be that damn adjutant… That bastard must have planned this to screw us over. When we get back, I’m going to kill him myself.”

[ TL Note: Sorry for the delay, was busy with a personal matter ]