The two of them moved elsewhere first.
A brief silence fell between them as they sat in Circle Guild’s conference room.
Even accounting for how complicated and incomprehensible the situation was, the quiet felt distinctly awkward. Both of them could clearly sense the reason for that awkwardness.
Though they had been moving together to help Cha Seohu, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun weren’t all that close to begin with. Especially like this—just the two of them meeting alone—had happened so rarely that the awkwardness showed no matter what.
Kwon Taehyuk cleared his throat and spoke first.
“Was Hunter Cha Seohu... already like that when he woke up here?”
“Yes. And—was it ‘Won Guild,’ you called it? He didn’t found that guild himself here; he’s a member of ours.”
At that, Kwon Taehyuk mulled over Ryu Sunghyun’s explanation with a slightly sunken mood.
After a moment to organize his thoughts, Kwon Taehyuk spoke again.
“I heard something before I came here.”
He conveyed Park Minhyuk’s death and the cause, then asked,
“Have you checked on the ‘Catastrophe’ incidents occurring all over the world?”
“Yes. It’s practically all the guild members talk about. And the sudden changes to dungeons...”
Ryu Sunghyun’s voice trailed off into a sigh.
“Looking into it, this place is two years ahead of reality. After being rescued from the lab, Hunter Cha Seohu joined our guild right away.”
“Two years.”
Kwon Taehyuk turned his head to look out the window. The sky looked hazy.
Will it really be like this if two years pass in reality as well? Or is it just a miserable setting this unknowable space decided to fabricate on its own?
Suppressing the confusion forcing its way up, Kwon Taehyuk fixed his gaze on Ryu Sunghyun again.
“Since we don’t know what happened to Hunter Cha Seohu, let’s prioritize protecting the ‘Cha Seohu’ here first. It’s possible this space is what changed him like that.”
Of course, when they entered the rift, Cha Seohu had been in his ‘Cover’ state with golden hair. As an S-rank dealer, he shouldn’t have been easy prey to a psychic-type skill like they were.
But with no better plan, they had to protect the Cha Seohu right in front of them for now. Ryu Sunghyun seemed to agree; he nodded.
“And as for the others...”
Kwon Taehyuk fell silent.
Every last one would be a hassle to find.
The masked head of an intel group. Mook Jeongho, who had likely woken up somewhere in the district by now.
And Cha Sahyeon, the suspicious younger brother Cha Seohu cherished.
“Is Cha Sahyeon—Cha Seohu’s younger brother—not here?”
“I checked earlier too—he’s not. He’s not on the guild roster either, so unlike Hunter Cha Seohu, it seems he didn’t join our guild.”
Kwon Taehyuk clicked his tongue. It felt even more daunting.
'Seohu did say he met that Sahyeon at the lab.'
He already knew from Seohu’s own explanation that they ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) weren’t blood siblings. And that their first meeting had been at that lab where human experimentation was conducted.
'Time here is two years past the lab, so going there now would be pointless.'
Setting Cha Sahyeon aside for the moment, Kwon Taehyuk spoke.
“Then how about we start by finding the man named Mook Jeongho. At least we can figure out where he’d be.”
“I do think that’s the best option, but...”
Ryu Sunghyun rubbed the corner of his mouth, looking troubled.
“To meet him, we’ll probably have to enter the district. I don’t know if they’ll really let us in so easily here.”
“If that man has any sense, he’ll come out of the district on his own. Either wait out front, or...”
It wasn’t a method he wanted to use, but there was no helping it.
In a firm voice, Kwon Taehyuk said,
“There’s also asking the ‘Cha Seohu’ we just met... If he shares the same past as Hunter Cha Seohu, then that ‘Cha Seohu’ should be from the district too.”
“That—”
Ryu Sunghyun opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again.
Both of them knew well how Cha Seohu disliked and hid his past life in the district. They’d read it in his expression, his tone, his eyes all this time.
But the two of them, who had nothing else to go on, had no other path. They had to regroup with their companions as quickly as possible and escape this unknowable space.
'In the worst case, the real Cha Seohu might be in danger somewhere else right now.'
They had to decide, decisively.
And Kwon Taehyuk chose the path of watching the ‘Cha Seohu’ they had just encountered while, at the same time, considering the real Cha Seohu’s safety and using any means necessary.
Meeting Kwon Taehyuk’s resolutely shining eyes, Ryu Sunghyun hesitated and then agreed. For both of them, Cha Seohu’s safety mattered most.
“I’ll leave the asking to you. It seems the Cha Seohu here is inclined to rely on you in various ways.”
“Understood.”
“Then next, as for the head of Spiderweb...”
Mid-sentence, Kwon Taehyuk stopped as a powerful presence pressed against his skin.
Ryu Sunghyun immediately cast his gaze out the window. And at that moment—
BOOM!
The ground shook like an earthquake, and a thunderous crash exploded from nearby.
Screams from Circle Guild members rang out from all over the building.
“Let’s go.”
Kwon Taehyuk stood at once. There was no hesitation in the movement.
'I’ve felt this aura before.'
He threw the window open without a second thought and leapt outside. Dropping from the third floor posed no problem; he landed cleanly and headed for the main street. Ryu Sunghyun followed, jumping down and sprinting after him.
The street and road were already a wreck.
Cracked asphalt. Civilians fleeing with shrieks. Car alarms wailing loud.
And amid it all stood a broad-shouldered man, ramrod straight.
Seeing the face of the man responsible through the drifting smoke, Kwon Taehyuk narrowed his eyes.
“Mook Jeongho.”
Mook Jeongho heard the quiet call perfectly—S-rank, after all—and turned to look at Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun. His face was as expressionless as ever.
Just from meeting his gaze, they could tell.
This was the same Mook Jeongho who had entered the unidentified rift with them.
Stopping at a safe distance, Kwon Taehyuk kept his guard up and asked,
“What are you doing?”
It was fortunate, in a way, that Mook Jeongho—whom they’d been ready to dig through Seohu’s past to meet—had shown up on his own. But it undeniably made the situation far more complicated.
If he’d simply wanted to call them out, there had been plenty of gentler, quieter ways.
Prepared to draw a blade from his inventory at any instant, Kwon Taehyuk spoke again.
“You’ve realized this isn’t reality too. So why the pointless spectacle?”
Mook Jeongho blinked slowly and said,
“I needed to confirm.”
“Confirm?”
Kwon Taehyuk narrowed his eyes at the unexpected answer—when,
“Hyung...!”
The ‘Cha Seohu’ who’d noticed the commotion rushed toward Ryu Sunghyun—then spotted Mook Jeongho and went pale.
“Mook Jeongho? How are you here...”
Mook Jeongho’s gaze shifted to Cha Seohu.
There was no emotion in the way he looked at Seohu. As though looking at a stone or a tree lying on the roadside.
Letting his eyes flow back to Kwon Taehyuk, Mook Jeongho said,
“This is a fabricated world.”
“What?”
“There are many errors different from reality. And at the center of those errors is Cha Seohu.”
Errors? And Seohu is at the center?
“What do you mean by that?”
When Ryu Sunghyun stepped closer, pressing for an explanation, the anxious Cha Seohu quickly grabbed his arm.
“Hyung, don’t go near him.”
“Seohu.”
Even as he feared Mook Jeongho, Seohu held onto Ryu Sunghyun. Watching the two for a moment, Kwon Taehyuk addressed Mook Jeongho.
“Why come to that conclusion?”
“It’s simple.”
In a voice as calm as if discussing the weather, Mook Jeongho said,
“Our district does not abandon Cha Seohu. No matter what. But in the ‘district’ where I woke up, they neither looked for him nor kept him under watch. The Representative did not look after him. That is a clear error.”
Lifting his head to sweep the surroundings once, Mook Jeongho continued,
“Even when I act threateningly in front of the Circle Guild where Cha Seohu is staying, no watcher from the district shows up. That, too, is an error. Our district watches Cha Seohu every moment, always. Usually Kang Haeil or Hyun Dowoon. Sometimes Lee Seowon.”
“......”
“All of this is error. And the cause of the error is Cha Seohu. Because Cha Seohu doesn’t know he’s being watched. For reasons unknown, because he believes he’s been abandoned. This world was created through Cha Seohu’s mind.”
Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes shook wide.
His gaze reflexively shifted back. He saw the ‘Cha Seohu’ standing there with his hand on Ryu Sunghyun’s arm, his face washed with dismay.

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