The moment I saw that face, it felt like my heart stopped.
My vision flashed red again and again before returning to normal. My trembling hands wandered in the air, unable to find anywhere to rest.
As I sank down, unable to do anything but gasp for breath, someone gripped my shoulders tightly. Through the haze of my consciousness, I heard Kwon Taehyuk’s voice.
“He needs healing, Hunter Cha Seohu...!”
My mind snapped into focus.
Barely clinging to reason, I raised my head. “Ryu Sunghyun” was looking at me with a faint, bitter expression.
I could see his body, pierced through by a golden blade.
Healing. Right. I had to heal him. I had a skill now that could do that.
I forced my trembling arm upward, reaching toward him with a pale, shaking hand, and concentrated all my strength as I activated the skill.
《Skill: Divine Power (S-rank) activated!》
《Sacred energy overflows!》
I was too desperate even to recall the basic rule—that I should remove the sword first before healing.
A brilliant white light burst from my hand and poured into “Ryu Sunghyun.”
As I used the skill, I kept praying silently.
Please. Please, let it work.
I had never once doubted a skill’s effectiveness before, but right now I was terrified. A nameless dread pounded through my chest.
Through the white light, I saw “Ryu Sunghyun” looking back at me. His body... wasn’t changing. Not at all.
All the blood in me went cold.
Was my concentration failing because of my emotions? I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek and tried again, but the result was the same.
I murmured blankly,
“Why...?”
When the ominous feeling became reality, I could only stare in despair.
No matter how many times I tried, nothing changed. The wound that pierced through his body, the marks of battle across him—none of °• N o v e l i g h t •° it healed.
“Why...”
This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.
If this was how it would be, then what was the point of having a healing skill at all? A skill that couldn’t save my brother was meaningless.
“Ha... ha-ha...”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
In the end, I was the same. Whether I was a B-rank Supporter or now—still useless.
“Seohu.”
A gentle voice reached me. But the thread of reason I had barely been holding onto finally snapped, and I couldn’t respond.
“Seohu, look at me.”
He called again. Then a blood-soaked hand reached up and gripped my trembling one tightly.
My blurred vision slowly cleared. And through it, I saw the face smiling at me, even as blood ran down from his lips.
“...Hyung.”
Sunghyun hyung.
When I whispered the word weakly, his eyes curved softly. Seeing that, a sharp pain burst through my chest and stopped my breath.
I didn’t know what to say. Helplessness consumed me.
I couldn’t look him in the eyes. How could I, when he was dying before me for the second time?
“Seohu.”
“......”
“I’m okay.”
The calm words made my throat tighten, a surge of burning emotion rising up to choke me.
“How... how could you say that?”
There was no way he could be okay.
“Everything... it’s all my fault.”
From start to finish—it was all my fault.
Entering this Unidentified Rift. The doppelgänger with power strong enough to read my memories and summon him here.
Because of me, he—who had already died once—was dragged into this and forced to suffer again.
All because of me. And the healing skill I’d barely earned turned out to be useless, which made the despair even worse.
“Seohu.”
When I couldn’t finish my words, only biting my lips in silence, he gently tugged on my hand.
As if asking me to look at him—to meet his eyes. I finally lifted my gaze.
The “Ryu Sunghyun” before me was smiling in relief.
“I’m glad I got to see you again, Seohu.”
“......”
“Isn’t it? This really was... a miracle of a moment.”
His voice was sincere.
“I’d like you to forget what I said earlier.”
I stared at “Ryu Sunghyun,” dazed.
“I’m happy that you’re living a new life.”
“......”
“Back then, in the final battle... I was so glad you didn’t die. The Guildmaster and I regretted it for a long time—bringing you there...”
His steady voice began to tremble.
“I truly regretted it.”
His kind eyes glistened with moisture.
“I’m glad you’re alive. That you’re with people who care for you, that you didn’t give up. I’m proud of you.”
“......”
“I’m sure the Guildmaster... and everyone else in the guild feels the same.”
I clenched my teeth. If I didn’t, I would scream.
My vision blurred, and before I could stop it, tears streamed down my face.
“Hu... ngh...”
Even when I tried to hold it in and speak, my throat closed, my breathing broke apart. All I could do was cling to his hand and endure the pain tearing through me.
“Ryu Sunghyun” coughed violently, spilling another mouthful of bright red blood. The focus in his light-brown eyes grew hazy.
A cold wind swept across the field. Crimson petals scattered like snow over the ground where the battle had ended.
The warmth in his hand faded rapidly.
Feeling his death in real time was more terrifying and unbearable than I’d imagined.
Desperately, as if clinging to a lifeline, I gripped his hand tighter and bent forward.
Don’t go. Hyung, don’t leave me again.
I’m tired. So tired I want to give up everything.
But I couldn’t say I was scared—to someone who told me he was happy I’d lived.
Standing a step back, the other Ryu Sunghyun asked in a hoarse voice,
“...Is he leaving?”
The “Ryu Sunghyun” blinked slowly and moved his stiff tongue to answer.
“Yes.”
His body began to crumble into golden light. The glowing dust scattered into the wind and faded.
“Ryu Sunghyun, to you...”
He didn’t finish his words, but Ryu Sunghyun’s expression showed he understood without hearing them.
“Ryu Sunghyun’s” body disintegrated too quickly to stop.
The hand I was clutching vanished, then his legs, his torso still pierced by the sword—
And before his head disappeared, he whispered,
“...Seohu.”
My name was his final word.
The golden dust drifted away with the crimson petals on the wind.
Where he had stood, only a single sword and a single flower remained.
The source of the energy.
The flower that had once emanated black, repulsive energy now shone with radiant gold.
With trembling hands, I picked it up. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could feel his presence within it.
'Seohu.'
His voice brushed past me, carried by the wind.
After “Ryu Sunghyun” vanished, the sky darkened even further and the wind turned violent.
Ku-goo-goong! A deep rumble echoed from beneath the ground. The space itself was collapsing.
Ryu Sunghyun recalled what had happened earlier, weighed down by a heavy, indescribable sadness.
[I have no intention of letting Seohu die in a place like this.]
“Ryu Sunghyun” had smiled gently and motioned with his eyes toward a sword—not the one in his own hand, but Ryu Sunghyun’s.
[The monster that possessed my body was the core sustaining this place. Even if it was consumed by me, its foundation hasn’t changed.]
[So... you understand, right?]
He had lifted the sword once more.
[Now, this is the last.]
[When the time comes to decide, don’t hesitate. Do it properly, clearly. That’s the role you have to play here.]
And just as he’d said, Ryu Sunghyun had carried out his role.
Ryu Sunghyun walked slowly, picked up the sword lying on the ground, and placed a firm hand on Cha Seohu’s shoulder.
“Let’s go, Hunter Cha Seohu.”
Cha Seohu slowly raised his head.
His white cheeks were wet with tears, but the black eyes that met his were already dry.
“He opened the exit for us.”
Ryu Sunghyun spoke firmly as he pulled Seohu to his feet.
“We have to go.”
Stumbling at first, Cha Seohu stood straight soon after. Beside them, Kwon Taehyuk watched in silence, his expression tangled and unreadable.
After gazing down for a moment at the golden flower, Seohu began to walk. His back was straight, his steps steady—but there was something restrained about them.
Not far from where “Ryu Sunghyun” had disappeared, a house stood—a house that hadn’t been visible before. It was the same house Seohu had found when he first arrived in this field.
Creak.
He opened the rusted door. Instead of an interior, a shimmering surface appeared, radiating the same energy as the Unidentified Rift—an exit leading outward.
Just before stepping through, Seohu stopped.
He gently caressed the flower he’d been holding so carefully all this time, then stored it in his inventory to keep it safe during the transfer.
After a brief glance backward, he turned away from all lingering attachments and stepped into the exit.

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