Kwon Taehyuk wet his dry lips. After a brief hesitation, he spoke again.
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
The emotionless answer grated on him even more. A muscle twitched between Kwon Taehyuk’s brows.
“How are you so sure? Just because the district ‘gave up’ on Hunter Cha Seohu—only that one reason?”
“It’s not ‘only.’ And an outsider’s understanding is unnecessary.”
As Mook Jeongho coolly swatted away Kwon Taehyuk’s question, this time it was Ryu Sunghyun who asked,
“A space created by Hunter Cha Seohu’s mind? Do you truly think that’s possible? If so, where is the ‘real’ Cha Seohu...?”
Right then, he felt a tight grip seize his arm.
Ryu stopped and, almost without thinking, glanced beside him—then sucked in a breath. Cha Seohu, pale as a sheet, was staring at him. His lips were clamped shut; his black eyes trembled mercilessly.
'Damn.'
Only then did Ryu realize how thoughtlessly he’d spoken, and bit his tongue.
Wasn’t there a ‘Cha Seohu’ standing right here? Saying that to his face was no different than telling him he was fake.
Meeting the plainly wounded expression on Cha Seohu’s face, Ryu’s heart dropped and a sharp pain lanced through his gut like a blade.
Seeing Ryu’s stricken look, Kwon Taehyuk also grasped what their conversation had implied and hurried to speak.
“...Hunter Cha Seohu, this is—”
“Do not be swayed by useless emotion.”
Mook Jeongho’s cold voice cut in without mercy.
His odd-colored eyes fixed on Cha Seohu, whose expression was tangled with hurt and confusion.
“It’s a fake anyway. There’s no need to take his feelings into account. In fact—”
He tugged the leather glove that had slipped down a little back into place and took a step toward Ryu and Cha Seohu in the distance.
“If this world is connected to Cha Seohu, then subduing that fake should trigger a change.”
“...!”
Mook Jeongho’s killing intent speared straight at Cha Seohu.
Feeling it on their skin, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun reacted at once. Kwon summoned a blade into his hand and swiftly moved to block him.
“Are you insane?”
“Move.”
As the sharp aura pouring off Mook Jeongho prickled over him, Kwon swallowed a curse and pulled out more blades. Five knives flew from his inventory to hover, spinning, at his back.
'Is this really the right call?'
Even as he blocked Mook Jeongho’s path, Kwon couldn’t be sure he’d chosen correctly.
If they truly had to attack that ‘fake’ Cha Seohu as Mook Jeongho claimed... and by stopping him, things got worse? What if the ‘real’ Cha Seohu, outside this space, was suffering right now...?
Anxiety pressed in, but his feet, planted in Mook Jeongho’s way, wouldn’t budge.
He knew he should think rationally—but he simply couldn’t step aside.
He couldn’t bear the thought of watching Mook Jeongho push past him and attack Cha Seohu—fake or real. The mere image of it was revolting.
Expressionless as ever, Mook Jeongho looked at Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun blocking his way.
He seemed to be calculating the time it would take to deal with two S-ranks and then take care of the ‘fake’ Cha Seohu. Then he spoke again.
“This is your final warning. Move.”
Kwon swallowed and answered.
“...I’ll grant the possibility that this space might be fabricated.”
Once, he would have flatly declared that no such dungeon or item could exist.
But after experiencing those various dungeons and rifts the cult bastards had created alongside Cha Seohu, his thinking had changed.
They’d managed to open six irregular rifts simultaneously. Then creating a space this eerily realistic would be within reach, too.
However—
“I can’t agree that the cause—and the way out—amounts to ‘attack the Cha Seohu standing here.’ It isn’t certain, and yet you would attack Hunter Cha Seohu?”
After a brief silence, Mook Jeongho answered coolly,
“You do nothing but fault my method while offering no more efficient alternative. Then tell me—how do we leave here without attacking the fake?”
“Deciding to attack Cha Seohu before trying anything else is far too hasty. What if that Cha Seohu is linked, somehow, to the ‘real’ one outside? What if the physical damage he takes here is connected to the ‘real’ one somewhere else? What then? Have you considered that your rash judgment could leave wounds on the ‘real’ Cha Seohu?”
“......”
For the first time, Mook Jeongho fell silent in the face of a question.
But it wasn’t because he was persuaded. On the contrary, his eyes grew even colder. It meant he’d given up on words and intended to resolve this by force.
Kwon clicked his tongue and glanced back.
Ryu met his eyes and nodded, face set. It was an answer: while Kwon held Mook Jeongho back, he would take Cha Seohu and get out.
Mook Jeongho lowered his upper body like a beast about to pounce on prey. At the same time, the blades spinning behind Kwon’s back whirred faster.
Just before they truly clashed—
Ka-ga-gak!
A stark white light came streaking from somewhere and slammed into the ground. The taut wire of tension snapped a fraction as both Kwon and Mook Jeongho halted.
What had struck precisely between them was a white iron chain tipped with a hook. A moment later, someone slid down the chain that had bitten into the ground.
Tap—. The head of Spiderweb landed lightly and let out a heated breath.
“Wow. You people still have the energy to pick fights even in a dump like this? Cough—haha... If my body were in decent shape I’d even applaud.”
Speaking breezily behind a mask, he swayed for a second. The fabric around his side was soaked dark with blood.
“Stop fighting and follow me. I found a way out of here.”
“What?”
The sudden claim made not only Kwon Taehyuk, but also Ryu Sunghyun and Mook Jeongho, knit their brows.
Kwon stepped in fast and asked,
“What do you mean, you ‘found a way’?”
“I mean I found a way.”
“Cut the word games.”
Even in pain, Eun Woojeong gave a small, careless shrug and pointed somewhere. At the end of his finger were a building and its rooftop.
High up. With S-rank eyes, all three of them picked out the tall man standing on the rooftop railing.
Long hair streaming in the wind. A worn robe draped over his body.
When their eyes met the vivid green irises gleaming through the strands of hair, a chill crawled up their spines despite the distance.
Without meaning to, Kwon murmured,
“That’s...”
At first, he couldn’t place him.
'Does such a thing even exist?'
But then he understood.
Cha Sahyeon.
Cha Seohu’s younger brother.
'You’re telling me that man is the same being as that thing up there?'
His grip on the blade tightened on its own.
Forcing his gaze from the rooftop, Kwon turned back to the head of Spiderweb and asked in a low, rough voice,
“...You—your injury. Did he do that?”
“Hm?”
Still pressing a hand to his side, the man tilted his head. Silver hair swayed softly.
“No, this was... a personal matter.”
“This isn’t reality, and you’re saying you got hurt over a ‘personal matter’?”
“It isn’t reality, but it’s astonishingly similar to it. The time seems to be two years later. If it’s that close to reality, isn’t it also possible to get hurt over personal affairs?”
He answered glibly, then summoned a fresh chain and fired it toward a nearby building.
“Staying here won’t change anything. I agree that thing is unsettling, but surprisingly enough, it’s also the one that helped me. At the very least, it doesn’t seem inclined to kill us. Let’s regroup.”
Just as he was about to ride the chain across, the head of Spiderweb noticed Cha Seohu behind Ryu and paused.
Then, in a light, emotionless tone, he said,
“Oh, and ‘that one’ is basically a meaningless doll, so leave him. Dragging around a B-rank for no reason is just a nuisance. I’ll be going on ahead.”
Having said his piece, he flew off without a backward glance.
On the road where a cold hush had fallen, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun met each other’s eyes.
Scarlet flowers swayed gently in a wind ❖ Nоvеlight ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеlight) tinged with the scent of blood.
Amid the red blooms that filled the vast meadow sat a man.
Humming a beautiful tune, the man held someone in his arms—someone wrapped in a white robe.
“Sleep deeper. Deeper.”
He whispered tenderly and stroked Cha Seohu’s golden hair with a gentle hand.
Cha Seohu’s brow knit; his tightly pressed lashes quivered. At the same time, the man’s face shifted a little more.
His hair took on a faintly browner cast, and golden light flickered through the eyes looking down at Cha Seohu. With a face that resembled someone all too much, the man smiled deep and soft.
“Good. Give me more. Your memories. Entrust everything to me...”
Patting Cha Seohu’s chest so he wouldn’t wake, the man began to sing again, sweet and low. In time with the song, the red flowers rustled and swayed.

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