There was no response to that bright and cheerful greeting.
Kang Haeil walked in, completely unbothered by the subtle tension in the air, and looked at me as he asked:
“So. Our proud little SS-rank brother finally ended his runaway and came home. Must’ve eaten and slept real well these past three days, huh? You’re glowing.”
It sounded like a compliment, but anyone here would know it was drenched in sarcasm and mockery.
The frustrating part was that I couldn’t even come up with a proper retort because of the item stuck in my tongue.
‘What a damn shame.’
I’d be great at scratching his nerves.
I was still pissed from the shit at the Great Dungeon, so it’d be even easier.
Lying there on the bed, pinned by Kwon Seoyul, I stared up at Kang Haeil’s face and eventually shook my head.
‘...Forget it. If I think rationally, it’s best not to provoke him right now.’
If I ended up pushing Kang Haeil’s buttons and that lunatic left a wound on me, it’d be seriously bad.
I was planning to call Cha Sahyeon, yes—but that was only if I inflicted a wound on myself.
From Cha Sahyeon’s perspective, it would look like a stranger attacked me with a skill while I was bound and unable to speak.
‘That moment would turn into absolute chaos.’
If an enraged Cha Sahyeon started going off with his shadow skill, that man would show up... The whole zone would get flipped inside out... Ugh, just thinking about it gave me a headache.
Absolutely not. I had to summon Cha Sahyeon under the most peaceful possible conditions.
‘Hold it in.......’
Maybe I should just play the role of the good little brother for now, at least until I get the chance to call him.
If I’m lucky, a knife might come with lunch. Or I could steal the scissors from Hyun Dowoon.
I blinked slowly, running through all the possibilities, when Kwon Seoyul opened his mouth on my behalf.
“Seohu-hyung’s got an item jammed in his tongue, so he can’t talk~”
“I know.”
Kang Haeil responded flatly, like he’d already been briefed. Then he reached out. My hair was yanked in a single, swift motion.
“Ugh...!”
“Your ears still work, right? Yeah?”
The forceful tug on my scalp yanked my upper body upward. The stinging pain shooting across my scalp made a groan escape on its own.
‘Wait—this won’t draw blood, right?’
If this rips my scalp and blood comes out, will that count as a wound and summon Cha Sahyeon?
No, wait—how exactly does the system define “injured”? Does some blood from my scalp count as being hurt?
“Seohu.”
“Ugh!”
Shit.
Lost in thought for a second, and Kang Haeil immediately noticed. He grabbed my jaw hard.
It hurt so much I wondered if I was going to bruise. And because I’d just gotten the same treatment from Kwon Seoyul, it stung even worse.
Instinctively, I tried to push his arm away and squirmed, but of course, there was no escape.
“Hhgh, nghh....”
His thumb dug roughly into my mouth, pressing down hard on my tongue.
It pressed against the solid item embedded there.
His gaze as he looked down at me was cold. After inspecting the item in my tongue for a while, Kang Haeil slowly raised the corner of his mouth.
“If there’s an item like this, we should’ve used it way earlier. Not bad.”
“.......”
“What’re you gonna do if you can’t talk? Our dear Seohu doesn’t know how to do anything except run his mouth.”
And what, like you’re any different?
His voice sounded sympathetic, but his face was clearly enjoying the sight. God, what a prick.
His attention shifted to the handcuffs locked around my wrists. As he turned the cuffs over in his hands, he asked:
“Hyun Dowoon. Did you find out anything?”
“Ah.”
The mentioned Dowoon hesitated with an awkward look on his face.
“Uh, what I figured out is......”
“Yeah. With your shit attitude, of course you didn’t get any answers.”
Dowoon opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything in the end.
And really, it wasn’t like I’d told him anything. So it’s not like he could explain on my behalf.
‘Just stay quiet.’
I glanced at Hyun Dowoon, signaling him not to get involved.
Kang Haeil wasn’t going to feel better just because Dowoon said a few words.
While I stopped him with a look, Dowoon let out a sigh, and Kwon Seoyul, who’d been pushed aside, grumbled and cut in.
“Don’t be too rough, hyung. Father said not to stress him out.”
“When have I ever been rough with Seohu? I’ve always kept it within reason.”
“Wow.”
Seeing Kang Haeil smile like that, Kwon Seoyul [N O V E L I G H T] made a face of disgust.
“Ugh. No shame whatsoever.”
“Listen up, Kwon Seoyul.”
Kang Haeil placed his hand on my head and started stroking it like I was some kind of animal.
I twisted my head in irritation, but his hand just followed, fingers toying with my hair.
“You’re the one who figured out first that Seohu had a new skill, right? But you’ve never actually received that skill yourself, not even once.”
“Huh? That’s...”
“And you tried to kill off the guys who used it first during the Great Dungeon, but even that failed.”
“Ugh...”
“Then some dumbass decided to walk into the Association all on his own, and now the whole world knows about the first-ever SS-rank Supporter, thanks to the headlines.”
The hand that had been stroking my head slowly slid down. His fingers brushed my cheek, then moved to fondle my ear.
He pressed firmly on my earlobe, meeting my gaze with a gentle smile.
“Of course, Seohu, you’re not going to give it up that easily, are you?”
When I saw the blue shimmer ripple through Kang Haeil’s eyes, a bad feeling surged over me.
‘I figured this would happen.......’
My heart started pounding faster.
Even Kwon Seoyul—who had once lunged at me, demanding I use my skill on him—wasn’t trying to stop Kang Haeil anymore. He just shrugged and slipped off the bed.
“......!”
That triggered it. My hair was yanked again, and my body was shoved deep into the mattress.
Kang Haeil’s low chuckle echoed faintly in my ears.
A black sedan slid quietly into the underground parking garage.
A man stepped out from the back seat and headed toward the elevators. The sound of his shoes echoed in the hallway, prompting the two men already there to turn and look.
“Hunter Kwon Taehyuk.”
Kwon Taehyuk gave a polite nod as he approached Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon. Song Jiwoon muttered like a sigh.
“So you got called too, Guildmaster of Yesung.”
“Did you both come here because of Team Leader Park Minhyuk as well?”
“Yes.”
“If Team Leader Park Minhyuk from the Association is contacting us in this way, then it really must be......”
He was the one who had escorted Cha Seohu directly to the Association after they cleared the Great Dungeon.
Now, he’d sent a discreet message asking for a private meeting.
The location was technically the Association, but the fact that he told them to enter secretly through the underground garage at a late hour clearly indicated this wasn’t an official matter.
And if the Association was secretly asking three guild members for a covert meeting—at a time like this—there could only be one reason.
A dark shadow fell over Song Jiwoon’s pale face.
“So it really is true that Hunter Cha Seohu was kidnapped.”
Just then, the elevator arrived.
Kwon Taehyuk stepped in and pressed the button as he spoke in a hard voice.
“It seems that way.”
“You’d already suspected, hadn’t you?”
Kwon Taehyuk stared emotionlessly at the floor number display as the elevator rose.
“Because I know who took him.”
The day he escorted Cha Seohu to the hotel—
There had been a Hunter who clashed hard with him there. An S-rank Dealer who manipulated water.
And coincidentally, the Hunter who turned the Association’s lobby into a waterlogged mess... was also said to be S-rank.
Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes darkened as he recalled the blonde man who’d maintained a light, flippant demeanor the entire time they fought.
The elevator stopped, and the three men exited, immediately turning into the hallway and entering the investigation room.
Park Minhyuk, already inside the dimly lit room, stood up quickly to greet them.
“Welcome, Guildmaster of Yesung, Guildmaster and Vice-Guildmaster of Circle.”
Bowing respectfully, Park Minhyuk gestured for them to take a seat.
“First of all, I’m sorry for the sudden request.”
“No need for apologies.”
Kwon Taehyuk cut off the apology bluntly and continued.
“It’s already been three days. No—give it a few more hours, and it’ll be the fourth. Is the Association really planning to keep its mouth shut?”
Park Minhyuk, who had prepared a briefing of sorts, looked a bit flustered by Kwon Taehyuk’s immediate dive into the issue, but answered nonetheless.
“I’m still trying to persuade the President... but as you said, too much time has already passed. So the decision has been made—we’ll prioritize rescuing Hunter Cha Seohu.”
He rubbed his forehead in frustration before adding:
“...The Association President doesn’t know about this.”
So this was Vice President Choi Gyeonghui’s decision, then.
Kwon Taehyuk, who understood how the Association functioned, instantly figured out who was backing Park Minhyuk.
He glanced sideways.
Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon both looked visibly displeased.
They were holding back their dissatisfaction with the Association and Park Minhyuk—because rescuing Cha Seohu came first.
Kwon Taehyuk felt the same.
Even right after Cha Seohu had been kidnapped, the Association tried to hush it up for their own benefit. Only when that failed did they come begging for help. It pissed him off.
But...
What mattered most right now was Cha Seohu.
“We’ll cooperate. We’ll share what we know.”
“Information? You mean information about the Hunter who attacked the Association?”
“Yes. I’ve got what I personally dug up...”
Kwon Taehyuk pulled a document from his inventory.
“And what I received from an anonymous informant.”
“An anonymous informant?”
Kwon Taehyuk handed over the papers with a conflicted look on his face. At the corner of the sheet was a small printed logo.
A solid black spider.

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