I Picked Up a Guide to Safe Hunter Life

Chapter 7: Red Woman (2)

Screeech—...  

The [Red Woman] opened the front door and stepped inside.  

Even though both the door lock and handle lock were double-secured... No, the front door, which should have opened outward, swung inward instead.  

That was no longer the front door to Eunha's home.  

Squelch. Squelch.  

The sound of soaking wet footsteps.  

A blood-soaked woman dripped crimson fluid as she moved toward the living room.  

The air turned cold, as if winter had arrived.  

Eunha tightly locked the bathroom door, clutching the packet of salt she had brought along with her talisman, and held her breath.  

『Red, red, it's all turning red~』  

『Everything is turning red~』  

The [Red Woman] hummed an eerie nursery rhyme as she headed toward Eunha’s bedroom.  

The stench of blood was so strong that it reached the bathroom.  

With her mouth already filled with soy sauce, Eunha had to clamp her hand over her lips to suppress the nausea rising in her throat.  

She felt like she was going to throw up.  

Was it really okay to use soy sauce instead of salt?  

But that woman had a nice voice.  

She could sing well.  

『We wander forever~』  

『Toward you, who hides so well~』  

Before she knew it, the [Red Woman] had moved from the bedroom to the kitchen, strolling leisurely through Eunha’s home with those squelching footsteps.  

The sound of the refrigerator opening and a chair scraping against the floor as she checked under the table reached Eunha’s ears.  

She was meticulous.  

If Eunha had hidden anywhere else, she would have been discovered in no time.  

『No matter how much you hide~』  

『Forever and ever, we’ll come for you~』  

Was she checking every place except the bathroom, just like the book said?  

Sometimes, she wandered through the hallway but never once glanced at the bathroom.  

As expected, following the guidebook’s instructions was the safe choice.  

『Paint it red~ Paint it all together~』  

Just ten more minutes.  

It was nerve-wracking, but she had managed to endure.  

It wasn’t as bad as she had thought.  

Eunha let out a small sigh of relief and tossed the salt packet into the bathroom trash can, feeling more at ease.  

Once ‘that’ left, she was going to eat a bowl of rice right away.  

Her mouth was so soaked in soy sauce that she wouldn’t need any more salt for a while.  

Eunha giggled to herself and plopped down onto the toilet seat.  

『Paint it red~ Bright red~』  

『You, who hides in the bathroom~』  

Click.  

Along with the chilling song,  

The bathroom door creaked open.  

『Found you~♪』  

Through the slightly open gap, the Red Woman’s face appeared.  

The blood-soaked woman smiled down at Eunha.  

Screeech—...  

And just like that,  

The door swung open.  

"Pfft—!"  

Eunha spat out the soy sauce she had been holding in her mouth and lunged to slam the bathroom door shut.  

But the Red Woman had already seen her.  

Bang, bang!  

She pounded on the door, trying to force it open.  

Even when Eunha pressed down on the door handle’s lock, the door wouldn’t latch shut.  

Click, click.  

The sound of the handle turning echoed like a hallucination in her ears.  

Eunha used all her weight to desperately hold the door shut.  

『Hahaha.』  

The woman’s hand squeezed through the gap in the door.  

Slender fingers, dripping with crimson blood.  

The droplets splattered onto the bathroom tiles, adding to the atmosphere of horror.  

Eunha, determined to push the Red Woman away, jammed the protruding fingers into the doorframe and pressed down hard.  

But instead of breaking, the fingers scratched against the wall, slipping further inside.  

The sound clawed at Eunha’s eardrums, beating as fast as her hammering heart.  

The air turned so cold that goosebumps rose on her skin, and each breath came out as a misty cloud.  

Was this what it felt like to wrestle against a ghost?  

Her heart pounded as if it would explode.  

Was it from fear, or had she simply consumed too much soy sauce, raising her blood pressure?  

Eunha desperately wanted to believe it was the soy sauce.  

"Cough! Guh...! Wait! Let’s talk this out!!"  

『Hahaha. Hahaha. Hahaha. Hahaha.』  

"Just once! I’ll go buy salt, just this once! We’re meeting for the first time, aren’t we?!"  

『Hahaha. Hahaha.』  

Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle…  

Eunha wailed pitifully as she spat out the soy sauce.  

If only she had salt.  

If only she had remembered to buy it on her way home.  

A trivial mistake had turned into a grudge as deep as a lingering regret.  

But all that returned from outside the bathroom was the Red Woman’s spine-chilling laughter.  

The slowly widening gap in the door yawned open like the mouth of a massive beast.  

Unfortunately, Eunha was a weakling who had failed the ‘Hunter Promotion Exam’ thirty times due to a lack of strength.  

She had never won a battle of strength against anyone.  

Clenching her teeth would only make her jaw hurt.  

Still...  

Eunha fought with everything she had to stay alive.  

Creak...  

The door opened.  

Now, the Red Woman had wedged her elbow through the gap, pressing her bloodstained hands against Eunha’s face.  

Her palms were as cold and stiff as a corpse, sending a bone-chilling cold through Eunha’s skin.  

Then, her feet, her legs, and half of her body squeezed through the doorway.  

Finally, the woman’s eerily smiling face emerged fully, grinning at Eunha.  

The hacksaw in her bloodied hand scraped against the door handle with a harsh, grating noise.  

And just like that, the door was opening—  

Eunha shoved it shut with all the strength she had left.  

Screeech—. Clack.  

At last, the door closed.  

"Hah...! Hah...!"  

She had barely managed to shut it.  

Her legs gave out, and Eunha collapsed onto the floor.  

How long had it been since she had exerted so much strength?  

She held back the nausea that threatened to rise to her throat and gasped for air.  

From the bathroom floor, where drops of blood had splattered, a sharp, metallic scent of iron filled the air.

The overwhelming stench of blood jolted Eunha back to her senses.  

She massaged her stiff neck.  

Her [Self-Healing] skill quickly restored her drained stamina, but her ragged breathing, still shaken by fear, showed no signs of returning to normal.  

Eunha kneaded her arms, which throbbed from exertion.  

"Hoo..."  

A cold sigh.  

The pounding heartbeat ringing in her ears.  

Drip... Drip...  

Blood droplets falling onto the floor.  

And in Eunha’s lowered gaze... someone’s feet.  

Eunha lifted her head.  

『…Hahat~.』  

The Red Woman was looking down at her with a chilling smile.  

Was she mocking her?  

Well, what was the point of closing the door after ‘that’ had already entered the bathroom?  

Eunha cursed her own lack of strength.  

Click.  

The door locked.  

……  

Now that it had entered the bathroom,  

The [Red Woman] looked down at the pitiful human, frozen like a stone in front of her.  

‘That’ gently cupped Eunha’s cheek with an ice-cold hand.  

Her bloodstained lips curled up to her cheekbones, revealing a raw, genuine emotion.  

『Caught you.』  

A perfectly normal voice.  

Which made it all the more disturbing.  

Kagak—!  

In one last desperate attempt, Eunha swung a kitchen knife at the [Red Woman].  

The blade, wielded with her feeble strength, aimed for ‘that’s’ neck.  

But as if defying the laws of physics, the knife stopped just before touching the woman’s skin.  

There was no sensation of piercing flesh... not even the expected recoil.  

As if its kinetic energy had simply vanished, the blade hovered in the air, unable to reach the [Red Woman].  

Eunha tightened her grip on the knife, her face filled with frustration.  

"…I’ll go borrow some salt from the neighbor."  

『You can’t.』  

The woman’s smile deepened.  

Eunha’s face hardened.  

Looking up at the blood-soaked [Red Woman], her eyes held nothing but fear and terror.  

Her entire body stiffened, as if she had turned to stone.  

All she could do was stare blankly at the monster in front of her.  

She had only seen ‘that’s’ face briefly through the intercom.  

Now, she was finally seeing it up close.  

"…"  

Everything was red.  

A woman with hair redder and darker than the sunset.  

Only her irises were pitch-black, like the night sky after the evening had faded.  

Like the twilight outside the bathroom window, being pushed down below the horizon by the encroaching darkness.  

A pitch-black night sky had fallen over Eunha’s life now that she faced the [Red Woman].  

『It’s all turning red~』  

The Red Woman gently grasped Eunha’s hand.  

And then, she effortlessly pried the knife from her grip.  

She adjusted her grip on both the kitchen knife and the blood-stained hacksaw.  

Slowly, ever so slowly, she pressed down on Eunha’s shoulders, forcing her onto the cold bathroom floor.  

Then, climbing atop her,  

Ever so slowly... she placed the hacksaw against Eunha’s shoulder.  

『I’ll paint you red~』  

The woman’s hand moved.  

Back and forth.  

Scrape, scrape.  

……  

……  

Eunha’s home. Starlight Apartment, Unit 904.  

In the lazy afternoon, the sound of meat being sliced and someone’s screams echoed.  

Until the pitiful screams completely ceased,  

The bathroom door never opened.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

— [The call cannot be connected. After the beep, you will be directed to voicemail, and call charges will apply…]  

Beep…  

The late evening sun had begun to set.  

Eun Bangwool, fresh out of the shower, stepped into the living room and stared at her disconnected smartphone with a puzzled expression.  

Her white, water-soaked rabbit ears twitched weakly.  

"Hmmm... What’s going on?"  

The rabbit girl twirled her damp hair around her fingers, deep in thought.  

Her happy phone call with Eunha had suddenly been cut off.  

That had never happened before.  

Did Eunha accidentally press the wrong button?  

But even after calling back, there was no response.  

Only the cold, empty voice of the voicemail greeted her.  

Eunha had already looked unwell today.  

Could she have collapsed?  

Was she bedridden after failing the ‘Hunter Promotion Exam’?  

Or worse...  

Had someone broken into her home?  

Thump. Thump.  

Unpleasant thoughts sprouted like weeds, unchecked and wild.  

Her pounding heart—was it just worry?  

Or was it the sweet emotion she felt toward Eunha?  

Maybe both.  

Before she realized it, her call log had over fifty missed calls.  

Her messaging app was cluttered with all kinds of check-in messages and emojis, scattered like trash.  

But Eunha remained silent.  

Had her phone died?  

Was she too busy to answer?  

For every unanswered call and unread message, Bangwool’s worry for Eunha piled up even more.  

Thump. Thump.  

She felt suffocated.  

Bangwool scratched at her neck with her nails.  

Eunha wasn’t the type to ignore calls… Should she go to her place?  

Red scratch marks bloomed on the girl’s pale throat.  

‘…But, well… nothing bad should happen, right? There are people keeping an eye on her.’  

How long had she been agonizing?  

After dialing Eunha’s number a few more times, Bangwool took a deep breath and stood up from the sofa.  

She rubbed her reddened neck against her bath towel to soothe the irritation.  

Then, perking up her white rabbit ears, she trudged toward her bedroom.  

Eunha would be fine.

Even though she was an F-rank weakling who couldn’t even run properly, she possessed a rare ‘healing-type’ skill among Hunters.  

Being rare meant being valuable.  

And valuable things always attracted pests.  

If anything happened to Eunha, the flies swarming around her would take care of it on their own.  

Eunha herself wouldn’t know a thing, though.  

Forcing herself to feel reassured, the rabbit girl glanced around her bedroom with a blissful expression.  

A space just for her.  

A space for her and Eunha.  

A space decorated while thinking of Eunha.  

A wave of pride and tender emotions washed over her.  

Yes. Eunha would be fine.  

Tomorrow, with the same bright smile as always, she would welcome Eun Bangwool.  

She was sure of it.  

Waiting and trusting the one you liked—wasn’t that also a way of showing affection?  

"Haa~... There’s no more space left in my bedroom to put up pictures."  

Thump. Thump.  

Her heart pounded.  

Like a newborn rabbit, thump-thump.  

A heartbeat created from the tangled emotions in her chest and her feelings for Eunha.  

She gently placed her bloodstained hand over her fluttering heart.  

Then, without hesitation, she wiped away the droplets of blood trickling from the wounds on her neck.  

With a happy smile, she closed the bedroom door.  

Click—.  

And for a long time, she did not come out of her room.