I pulled my body back. But my lower back was jammed against something, and I couldn’t move at all.
It felt like a massive stone was wrapped around my waist. I’m S-rank too—wasn’t this a bit much?
“...Cha Sahyeon.”
Even when I called his name reluctantly, Cha Sahyeon only stared at me silently. I pushed against the arms wrapped tightly around my waist and said,
“Let go.”
“......”
“I said let go.”
Cha Sahyeon slowly blinked, then turned his head to the side without a word. But those arms didn’t budge an inch, and it left me speechless.
“Cha Sahyeon.”
I called his name again, warning laced in my voice. Finally, his eyebrows twitched, and he hesitated before asking,
“Can’t we... stay like this just a little longer?”
“Cut the crap and let go.”
A little longer, my ass.
I shot back without hesitation, and Cha Sahyeon pouted in protest. Look at this guy.
I was about to snap when—
“Wait.”
Cha Sahyeon suddenly turned his head the other way. A glint of sharp light flashed through those green eyes, aimed precisely at something beyond the window.
Judging by his frozen expression, this wasn’t a joke. Not that he was the type to joke around anyway.
“What is it?”
“There’s energy...”
He muttered quietly, brow furrowing.
“A monster is coming.”
“A monster?”
“I don’t know where it started, but I’m sure.”
I tried focusing, but other than the faint energy from Eun Woojeong, I couldn’t sense anything.
Cha Sahyeon was L-rank, two steps above S-rank. Of course his range was far beyond mine.
A sense of dread hit me. When I pushed his arms away again, this time he let go without resistance.
Leaving him behind, I walked toward the window. I tore off the tattered newspaper scraps stuck to it and checked outside, and my face twisted in disgust.
“Fucking hell...”
Right across the way was a familiar building—the stadium, my original destination.
‘Eun Woojeong, you crazy bastard.’
I thought he’d taken me who-knows-where while I was unconscious, but it was just an empty building near the damn stadium? The more I learned, the crazier he seemed.
‘Wait... don’t tell me—’
I quickly pulled out my phone from inventory and checked the time.
8:45 PM. I’d arrived at the stadium around 7:30 PM. Getting abducted, dragged here, arguing with Eun Woojeong about some shady deal, Cha Sahyeon showing up and everything going to shit—it had taken a little over an hour.
“Fuck...”
A sharp ache throbbed at the back of my neck.
I’d assumed at least three hours had passed while I was knocked out. But was it actually just thirty minutes?
Then I remembered what Eun Woojeong had said when he woke me.
Said it was because of my mental resilience that I woke up quickly. Not that I believed a guy who splashed water in my face would be an authority on that.
‘Just thinking about it pisses me off again.’
For a brief moment, I considered asking Cha Sahyeon to beat the shit out of him again. But sadly, there was no time for that.
‘I can really feel monster energy.’
Luckily, it was still far away. The aura was faint—easy to miss—but the presence was real.
Did a new rift open nearby? Or did a monster escape from a restricted zone?
But I didn’t see any rift in the night sky, and there weren’t any restricted zones around here.
That meant only one possibility.
‘Dungeon break...’
A heavy weight settled in my chest.
It would’ve been better if it was just a rift. A hole torn in the sky would’ve been spotted quickly and responded to by the government.
But a dungeon break was a disaster that hit without warning.
Dungeon breaks happened in two scenarios:
When a new dungeon formed—usually with an earthquake—or when a dungeon overflowed with monsters and burst.
Since there was no earthquake, it had to be the latter.
We’d have to deal with the monsters pouring out of the entrance, then enter the dungeon itself and clear out the rest.
All while preventing the scattered monsters from harming civilians.
“Unbelievable.”
I muttered and turned around.
Even now, the monster horde was creeping closer. I couldn’t handle it alone. I needed Eun Woojeong.
I picked up Eun Woojeong’s mask and robe, blown far away in the fight, and Cha Sahyeon followed behind me.
“You’re going there?”
He’d already figured out the situation. Knew where I was headed.
“If I didn’t notice anything, maybe I’d walk away. But I know what’s happening. I can’t just sit back.”
“There’s dozens of monster signatures. Why go there? It has nothing to do with you.”
“Life doesn’t work in clean little boxes, kid.”
“I’m not a kid.”
Apparently he didn’t like being called that. Funny how he liked being called a brat but not a kid.
I picked up the dusty red robe and shook it out, laughing.
“You don’t even know why I’m going there, but you’re questioning me? That’s exactly what a kid would do.”
“......”
“Go back.”
“No.”
A firm refusal. When I turned around, Cha Sahyeon had his gaze lowered, lips pressed into a tight line.
He was the picture of a sulking child. A huge guy acting like this, what the hell.
“You’re going to fight off a horde of monsters, and I’m just supposed to leave? How? I’m coming with you.”
“Quit being stubborn and leave. I don’t have time to argue.”
“I can help. That way you won’t be in danger. I can handle—”
“If I needed your help, I would’ve said so. What part of that don’t you understand?”
My voice came out sharper than intended. Cha Sahyeon blinked rapidly at the interruption.
“......”
Shrouded in darkness, standing still with jet-black shadows clinging to his form, he radiated a suffocating aura.
The small, pale face glimpsed between flickering shadows and his intense energy both pricked at something primal inside me.
That’s exactly how the Catastrophe felt before the regression. I guess nothing’s really changed. He’s not some clueless child anymore.
But—strangely enough—right now, I saw sadness in him.
His eyes brimmed with sorrow as he stared at me. His trembling lower lip looked pitiful, and his clenched fists had gone pale from lack of blood.
Once I realized that, Cha Sahyeon didn’t seem so scary anymore. Honestly, being scared of a kid who looked that dejected would’ve been ridiculous.
I pressed my fingers into my temple and let out a long sigh.
“Cha Sahyeon. Do you know how many times something like this has happened already?”
The unstable rift, King Seohwa’s rampage, the dungeon break...
“All of those incidents were caused by those cult bastards who took you. And now you’re telling me to bring you into something like that? With my own hands?”
“Hyung, that’s...”
“Yeah. Maybe I’m just paranoid from being screwed over so many times. Maybe it really is just a case of poor dungeon management. But what if there’s a cause? What if the cause is those cult bastards again?”
“......”
“You think I’d take you with me into that kind of gamble?”
Cha Sahyeon’s eyes trembled uncontrollably. He stared at me «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» blankly, then raised a hand to cover his mouth.
“You haven’t told me anything about them, so I don’t know who they are. Sure, you’ve gotten stronger than before—maybe you could handle it yourself. But not like this. Not when I can’t be sure you’ll be safe.”
“Hyung...”
“You said you’d stay by my side, and I accepted that. So I’m still your guardian. And if you don’t like a guardian’s interference, you’re free to leave. Right now.”
“...As if I could ever leave you.”
You sure talk a good game.
I smirked and picked up the hat lying next to the robe.
It was the same one Eun Woojeong snatched earlier, now filthy as hell. I gave it a quick dusting as I went on.
“And when other Hunters show up to deal with the dungeon break, what do you think they’ll say if someone stronger than an S-rank is rampaging around? Sorry, but I’m not sticking around to clean up that mess.”
“Ah...”
“You knew it too, didn’t you? That’s why you brought that aura-suppressing item.”
Cha Sahyeon still looked spaced out, unable to snap out of it, so I walked away. I cleared away some of the debris piled against the wall and found Eun Woojeong lying beneath it.
‘Looks better than I expected.’
Thankfully, he was breathing fine and not bleeding anywhere.
He had some scratches here and there, but nothing major.
His energy had likely weakened from fainting mid-battle.
“...Even with the choker on and in your kid form, it’s still not okay?”
“Do I look like I think it is?”
Cha Sahyeon pouted.
“I’m grateful you helped today. But you took your choker off without permission too, so let’s just call it even. Got it? Now go.”
“You really want me to leave? For real?”
“Yeah. Hurry up and go.”
I waved my hand with a smiling face, and Cha Sahyeon slumped his shoulders slightly.
He sure had a hundred different ways to show he was feeling hurt. It was kind of impressive.
Even as I coldly shooed him away, he kept staring at me with worry until he finally muttered,
“Fine... I’ll go like you want. But I’m leaving a shadow behind. So if you’re ever in danger again, like today, I can jump in immediately.”
“What?”
“That’s the only way I’ll be able to relax. You’ve got a bad habit of charging into danger without thinking.”
“Wait, hey. Hold on a sec—”
“I’m going.”
A shadow surged up from beneath Cha Sahyeon’s feet. Just before he vanished into it, he left me with one last word of caution.
“Please take care of yourself.”
“...Hah.”
SHHH! The shadow that had risen dispersed in a wave, and with it, Cha Sahyeon vanished in an instant. I couldn’t help but scoff at his habit of doing whatever the hell he wanted—leaving his shadow behind and just disappearing.
‘Who the hell did he inherit that stubbornness from?’
Grumbling to myself, I lowered my gaze. Now that I’d sent Cha Sahyeon away, it was time to do what I had to.
“Hey, wake up.”
SMACK, SMACK!
I slapped Eun Woojeong’s cheek hard. He was S-rank, so it should sting plenty.
Each time I slapped that smug face of his, eyes still shut tight, my stress drained away a little more. Naturally, I started hitting harder and harder.
“Ugh...”
After about seven slaps, Eun Woojeong finally opened his eyes.
Up close, his eyes were shockingly beautiful. Like brilliantly cut gems, glowing with a radiant shine.
I wanted to take a better look, but unfortunately, now wasn’t the time. While I tossed him the mask and robe I’d picked up, Eun Woojeong touched his bare face and wore a conflicted expression.
He seemed to be recalling everything that had happened before he blacked out.
“...That person.”
“Huh?”
“That person. Who was he?”
His voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge to it. I guess losing really pissed him off.
“My guardian angel.”
I grinned darkly and gave him a simple answer. Eun Woojeong raised one eyebrow. I didn’t care—I just kept talking.
“Strong as hell, right? Don’t mess with me again. You almost died, seriously. I’m the one who saved your ass.”
“...It was a man. A tall man.”
Eun Woojeong muttered as if he hadn’t heard a word of my bullshit, then turned to look at me. His expression was strangely unreadable.
‘What now?’
It was an annoyingly persistent stare—hard to ignore.
I knew in my head we had to rush off to stop the monsters, but I couldn’t shake the discomfort and asked,
“What?”
“Cover is really...”
Eun Woojeong shook his head like he couldn’t believe it.
“You’ve got way too many men around you.”
“......”
...Maybe I really should’ve just let him die.
Regret came rushing in far too late.

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