The moment I saw it, my mind went completely blank. I couldn’t remember what I’d been thinking just a second ago—nothing came to mind.
As soon as Ryu Sunghyun finished speaking, a dreadful silence fell.
It was so quiet you could hear an ant crawling by, and my breath caught in my throat.
“Uh...”
The silence was dragging on so long that I was afraid it might look like I’d figured something out, so I just opened my mouth without thinking.
“I’m... not... uncomf... I-I’m not...”
Fuck.
I should’ve just shut up.
I scrambled to fix it, mentally crying.
“N-no! I mean, what I meant was, um, of course it’s not uncomfortable! But even if I’m fine, Vice-Guildmaster, you might be uncomfortable, so I just thought you... might’ve forgotten we were holding hands, so I...”
“Hunter Cha Seohu.”
“Yes?”
“If you’re uncomfortable, it’s okay to just say so.”
The forced smile I’d pulled up froze in place.
“You were holding hands with Hunter Kwon for a while earlier, so I figured you were fine with it.”
“...What?”
“Well, you didn’t even notice you were still holding hands when you entered the venue, so I thought, wow, you must be really comfortable with it.”
His voice was gentle, but the words came across like a jab.
“But the moment I hold your hand, you bring it up right away. Must be really uncomfortable, huh?”
“...”
A cold sweat ran down my back.
I’d known Ryu Sunghyun since before the regression. I knew exactly what kind of mood he was in when he made that kind of expression, and used that kind of tone.
‘Why... why is he mad?’
All I did was casually ask if we could let go of hands.
It honestly felt unfair, but saying so would obviously make everything worse.
I swallowed hard and carefully offered a sort-of explanation.
“When we entered, it was my first time coming to this kind of event, so I was flustered and didn’t notice right away. And really... I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes. I’m fine, I just thought maybe you might be uncomfortable, Vice-Guildmaster. Haha, I mean, holding hands with a grown man like me isn’t exactly pleasant or anything—”
“...”
“...”
I trailed off as I looked at Ryu Sunghyun’s expression.
‘Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that last part.’
The worst part was that even during this whole conversation, we were still holding hands.
It felt like a leash around my neck—I couldn’t run, just stood there fidgeting while Ryu Sunghyun stared silently at me. Then finally, he opened his mouth.
“I’m glad to hear you’re not uncomfortable. Then should we just keep going like this? You never know—an enemy could appear out of nowhere.”
“R-right. Understood.”
So we ended up walking down the hallway still holding hands. The situation hadn’t changed, but my head was spinning like a storm.
‘What the hell is going on?’
What kind of conversation had I just had with Ryu Sunghyun?
Holding hands? Well, considering we already knew that cult bastards were hiding in the hotel, his logic about staying prepared made perfect sense.
But...
But the conversation we’d just had didn’t feel like it was only about that.
What was really messing with my head wasn’t just the conversation—it was Ryu Sunghyun’s bright red ears from earlier.
Maybe I’d seen wrong because I was too flustered?
Holding onto that hope, I glanced up. I saw Ryu Sunghyun walking ahead of me, holding my hand.
But his neck... was red. His ears were still red. And my heart sank.
“...”
God, this is driving me crazy.
What the hell is this situation?
‘No way. No fucking way...’
Is Ryu Sunghyun... like Kwon Taehyuk?
No, but why? Was Ryu Sunghyun even into guys? Before the regression, there hadn’t been even the slightest hint of that.
‘Not that I ever saw him with a woman either, but still...’
Even when he was hanging out with the other male guild members, he’d sometimes joke around about what kind of women he liked. I’d even seen him answer questions like “why don’t you date?” with “who knows when I’ll die, how could I?”
No matter how I looked at it, Ryu Sunghyun now was different from the one before the regression. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how, but something had clearly changed.
Why did he change?
Because I didn’t join the Circle Guild? Because my buff skill’s rank increased? So then...
‘Because of me?’
My stomach turned.
It might’ve been a hasty conclusion, but really, I was the only variable that had changed between now and before.
Considering all the run-ins and incidents we’d had together, it was a strong possibility, not just a minor detail.
And right when my thoughts reached that point, something important suddenly came to mind.
‘The buff skill’s side effect...!’
Back in the Great Dungeon, Ryu Sunghyun had suffered a side effect after receiving a buff from me.
That side effect... it heightened the recipient’s sex drive. What if it made him mistake that for genuine attraction?
I’d brushed it off as a one-time incident, but what if he’d been suffering the aftereffects all this time?
‘Once this mess is over, I really need to sit down and talk with him properly.’
If he’s feeling confused because of some lingering side effect, then # Nоvеlight # just clearing up the truth could help him a lot.
‘Phew.’
Pinpointing the cause calmed my nerves and helped me relax a bit.
‘I feel kind of bad now.’
To think I’d completely forgotten what happened in the Great Dungeon while he’s been dealing with all this. The guilt hit me hard.
Now that I understood the situation, Ryu Sunghyun’s stubbornness about holding hands didn’t seem annoying anymore—it was kind of cute, and honestly, kind of sad.
I gently gripped his hand, which had only been loosely hanging on like it could slip away at any moment.
He flinched at the sudden movement and looked back at me.
His eyes widened in surprise, and I gave him a small smile.
“Um, it’s because I’m grateful.”
He blinked a few times, then smiled back. Thankfully, he looked a lot better than before.
“Um, Vice-Guildmaster.”
“Yes?”
“If it’s alright... could we meet up separately later? There’s something I want to talk about.”
“...Of course. That’s fine.”
He hesitated, but he didn’t refuse.
Still holding hands, we made our way to the garden. First, we checked to see if there were any regular hotel guests around.
Normally, the garden would be open until 9 PM, but maybe because of the event tonight, it was completely empty. Still, multicolored bulbs were strung up like decorations, so checking things out wouldn’t be too hard.
“It’s pretty.”
At Ryu Sunghyun’s quiet remark of awe, I nodded.
The garden was filled with landscaped trees and lights that sparkled like stars—perfect for a nighttime stroll.
We’d come here to catch those cult bastards before they could do anything stupid, but the atmosphere was starting to feel weirdly like a date.
‘No, no. A date? With Sunghyun-hyung? What the hell am I thinking.’
I must still be mentally out of it after what happened in the hallway.
I barely managed to rein in my wandering thoughts and looked back at Ryu Sunghyun.
“You’d say no if I suggested we split up and check in different directions, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
Despite his smiling face, his tone was firm. He squeezed my hand tighter, to the point it almost hurt.
‘It really does feel like a leash.’
With no other choice, I searched the wide garden with Ryu Sunghyun, one section at a time.
It started at the eastern entrance and led to the western exit. It had a simple maze-like layout, and in addition to the landscaping, there were cartoon character statues and cute installations scattered around that would appeal to kids—lots of blind spots.
If we just skimmed through, we might miss one of the cult bastards hiding.
And since Ryu Sunghyun and I were sticking together hand-in-hand, it naturally took up quite a bit of time.
‘It’s moments like this when hiding my identity as Cover gets annoying.’
It was night, so I could transform into an S-rank dealer right away and fight if I needed to. If I could just do that, Sunghyun-hyung would’ve been fine with us splitting up.
Feeling regretful, I was looking up at the biggest character statue in the middle of the garden when—
“...!”
Whoosh—the sound of something slicing through the air sent chills down my spine.
Chaeng!
I instinctively turned my head and the sharp clang of a blade deflecting rang in my ears.
A dagger, glinting under the lights, had flown through the air and buried itself deep in the garden floor.
Ryu Sunghyun had batted away the incoming weapon barehanded, and his golden eyes were flashing with light.
“Fuck!”
From behind a tree on the left side of the statue, a dark figure burst out, cursing as he bolted.
A flash of bright yellow light chased after him like lightning.
“Wait, Vice-Guildmaster! Don’t kill him!”
Someone suspicious who attacked us the moment we entered the garden?
That bastard was definitely one of the cult freaks we were after. I shouted urgently at Ryu Sunghyun, who had stepped in front of me protectively.
“We need to take him alive no matter what!”
Only if we captured him alive could we extract information! We had to wring everything out of him!
Hearing my cry, Ryu Sunghyun’s jaw clenched tight. Golden light flared in my vision, and I could hear his teeth grinding with tension.

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