Sensing the ominous mood, Cha Seohu hurried over.
“What’s going on?”
Kwon Taehyuk immediately turned to him, relief flickering in his eyes.
“Hunter Cha Seohu, your body—? Are you injured anywhere?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, we need to help the Vice Guildmaster, quick—”
Boom!
Before Cha Seohu could finish, the ground shook with a thunderous crash.
Right beside them, Mook Jeongho slammed his fist into the spot where Eun Woojeong had been a heartbeat earlier and looked up at him as he sailed into the air.
“Mr. Cha Seohu, why don’t you try reining in that pile of scrap you brought along?”
Perched on a branch, Eun Woojeong spoke with feigned ease, though the murderous annoyance aimed at Mook Jeongho was impossible to hide beneath his smooth tone.
With a short sigh, Cha Seohu reluctantly looked at Mook Jeongho.
“What are you doing.”
“Eliminating a hindrance.”
“A hindrance? Him?”
“Who’s calling who a hindrance here?”
Eun Woojeong cut in swiftly.
“Listen, Mr. Cha Seohu. Unlike a certain someone who’s violent and has zero patience, I calmly assessed the situation. In a place with this little information, moving rashly only creates danger. And instead of understanding my considerate restraint, he attacks an ally. Well, I suppose a heap of scrap can’t be expected to understand human intent.”
He lamented as if genuinely regretful.
'...That guy talks too damn much.'
Thinking that without meaning to, Cha Seohu turned back to Mook Jeongho.
“Don’t attack your own team.”
It wasn’t a suggestion or advice. It was an order.
Before coming here, Seo Representative had told them to follow Cha Seohu’s commands, so under normal circumstances he wouldn’t refuse.
“They are not the same team. They are hindrances.”
But whether the content of the order would actually get through was another matter.
“Same team: others who share the same goal and act together. That man clearly has a different goal from ours. His goal is to remain in this place as long as possible. There is also the possibility of conversion, or that he fell to a monster’s hypnosis or illusion skill. Therefore, he is to be regarded as a threat and eliminated.”
“Please wait, Hunter Cha Seohu.”
A bit unsettled by Mook Jeongho’s logic, Kwon Taehyuk spoke up.
“The head of Spiderweb pointed out that the battle between Hunter Ryu Sunghyun and that doppelgänger isn’t normal. And to correctly assess the situation, he suggested we hold back from jumping in—and I... agreed.”
“Excuse me?”
When Cha Seohu frowned and asked again, Kwon Taehyuk continued more calmly.
“I didn’t agree lightly. In the doppelgänger’s combat pattern, I saw no killing intent directed at Hunter Ryu Sunghyun. Of course, it’s extremely rough and he isn’t going easy on him, but... it’s clear. And it looks like Hunter Ryu Sunghyun is aware of that and continuing the fight.”
“What on earth...?”
Cha Seohu, who’d been trying to quickly calm Mook Jeongho and Eun Woojeong and then go help Ryu Sunghyun, only grew more confused the longer he listened.
His gaze naturally shifted to the two Ryu Sunghyuns.
Even now, thick smoke billowed around them as their fierce clash continued, making it hard to check their condition.
But the golden lightning flashing intermittently through the dust, and the constant sound of things breaking, told him they were still fighting.
What had Kwon Taehyuk and Eun Woojeong seen before he arrived? Was it really the right call not to interfere, like Kwon Taehyuk said?
'But...'
The image of the two Ryu Sunghyuns he’d seen before running off to find his sword kept surfacing in his mind.
The real Ryu Sunghyun, unstable to the extreme—and “Ryu Sunghyun,” who was pressing him hard. What if, while they watched and trusted Kwon Taehyuk’s judgment, one Ryu Sunghyun actually killed the other?
Swallowing, Cha Seohu lifted his bowed head.
No, not like this. Of course, Kwon Taehyuk’s caution and judgment were reassuring. But he couldn’t decide without seeing it with his own eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
For now, he had to help Ryu Sunghyun. Separate the two, then reassess.
He had just firmed up that plan and was about to move when—
“Looks like there’s one more turncoat.”
“......!”
In a blur, Mook Jeongho swept past Cha Seohu and grabbed Kwon Taehyuk by the collar.
Focused entirely on Cha Seohu, Kwon Taehyuk couldn’t react to the sudden attack and was slammed into the ground.
“Kh!”
“Hey—stop it!”
Face drained of color, Cha Seohu swallowed a curse and seized Mook Jeongho’s arm just as Kwon Taehyuk moved.
Twisting his body nimbly, Kwon Taehyuk slipped out from beneath him and slashed his blade. Whoosh—the arc of steel cut the air, and Mook Jeongho tilted his head to avoid it, then widened the distance with light footwork.
“Wow, that tin can—how many enemies is he trying to make at once?”
Chin propped on his hand, watching from his tree, Eun Woojeong spoke with obvious amusement.
'No. Mook Jeongho is slowing us down over and over.'
Cold sweat beading, Cha Seohu changed plans.
Better to buff Kwon Taehyuk and Eun Woojeong first, subdue Mook Jeongho, and then help Ryu Sunghyun. The instant he moved toward Kwon Taehyuk—
“Urk!”
“Hunter Cha Seohu!”
Kwon Taehyuk’s shout rang out as Cha Seohu was yanked backward. Fingers like iron clamped around the back of his neck—Mook Jeongho’s—and a low voice rumbled.
“From now on, we eliminate those hindrances and kill the doppelgänger.”
Even among S-ranks, Mook Jeongho was using a skill. With his boosted strength, Cha Seohu couldn’t break free.
Watching him struggle to pry off his wrist, Mook Jeongho repeated coldly,
“Buff us.”
At that moment, thanks to Mook Jeongho, the battle between Ryu Sunghyun and “Ryu Sunghyun” continued without interruption.
“Guh—ugh...!”
Gasping raggedly, Ryu Sunghyun jerked his head aside. An impossibly thin golden needle sliced past, grazing his cheek.
A line of blood trailed down his face. After nearly two hours of fighting, his body was in tatters.
His forehead had split again, blood running down; his clothes were filthy and torn in places. The list of bleeding wounds was long enough to be tiring to recite.
Most troublesome was the blood constantly running from his brow. It obscured his vision, making it hard to read “Ryu Sunghyun’s” movements and attacks.
Ironically, that was a lesson, too. Against a difficult enemy, make sure their vision is continuously blocked.
Yes—this was training. By now, Ryu Sunghyun couldn’t help but realize it.
Ptooey. He spat the mouthful of blood and stood, just as the dust thinned enough for “Ryu Sunghyun” to appear.
He wasn’t pristine either—not as bad as Ryu Sunghyun, but hardly clean: dirty clothes, sliced hems, disheveled hair—
—and the marks of a few threatening strikes that had landed: a cut at his neck, a slit across the chest of his shirt where the blade had passed, and blood wetting his thigh.
“Hoo.”
Letting [N O V E L I G H T] out a short breath, “Ryu Sunghyun” smiled faintly at Ryu Sunghyun as he rose without quitting.
“I’ve got one more compliment for you. Your grit’s not bad.”
At his glib tone, Ryu Sunghyun’s lip twisted into a crooked smile.
“Complimenting me is basically patting yourself on the back, isn’t it?”
“Oh? Is that how that works?”
Still smiling, “Ryu Sunghyun” took a few steps more.
“On second thought, a plain word like ‘grit’ doesn’t quite fit.”
He slowly raised his golden longsword, its tip pointing at the Ryu Sunghyun standing opposite.
“‘Obsession.’ ‘Doggedness.’ Or maybe ‘stubborn will.’ That’s more like it. It’s an emotion that can’t be explained by perseverance alone.”
“.......”
“You feel the same way about Seohu, too. Of course, you won’t express it as roughly as you are now.”
He added it like a joke. At the mention of Cha Seohu, Ryu Sunghyun’s brow twitched in displeasure.
“Right. Keep the good feelings out of this. We should be like this to the very end.”
At that, Ryu Sunghyun lifted his blade with an expression of agreement. At some point, the sword in his hand had taken on a perfect form—just like “Ryu Sunghyun’s.”
Facing one another, they were like mirrors. A cold wind blew, and both their hair lifted at once.
To the very end.
Ryu Sunghyun and “Ryu Sunghyun” both realized the end was close.

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