The sharp, cold stare directed at me jolted me back to my senses. Quickly, I pulled my fallen cap down over my head again and forced a nonchalant smile.
"You're late, aren't you?"
"What do you think you're doing here?"
Grunting, I shoved away the Inog's corpse and forced °• N o v e l i g h t •° my shaky legs to straighten as I stood up.
"What do you mean, what? Blocking the rift, obviously."
"That's not what I asked. Why are you blocking it alone?"
Kwon Taehyuk's words were much shorter than before. At this rate, wasn't it practically speaking in banmal?
"I just happened to be passing by and saw it? No big reason," I said, shrugging deliberately light-heartedly.
Kwon Taehyuk frowned, his suspicious gaze raking me from head to toe. Under that sharp scrutiny, I reflexively pulled my cap lower and adjusted my mask to make sure it was on properly.
"You're telling me you fought alone to this point without any reason?"
"...You think I'm that heartless? Regular people were about to die. Obviously, I had to do something. Besides, I figured if I held on a little longer, reinforcements would come. I knew Yesung Guild was dealing with the first rift nearby."
Just then, I heard the sounds of cars arriving at the base of the building — the Yesung Guild Hunters who had followed Kwon Taehyuk.
Finally. I let out a small breath of relief and smiled at Kwon Taehyuk, who was still glaring at me.
"If it were anyone else, maybe not. But you, I trusted you'd realize a second rift had opened and come right away."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
I was being honest about trusting him, but somehow he looked even more displeased.
I lifted a thumbs-up dramatically and said,
"The idol of all Hunters! Strong and righteous! The proud number one ranked Hunter and Guildmaster of Yesung! Ah, well, I guess I'm number one now."
"......."
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just quoting headlines from the internet. Anyway, in a situation like this, who else would I trust but you? And, look, you showed up at the perfect time, didn't you?"
Kwon Taehyuk frowned deeply and turned his head sharply. After all that praise, all I got back was a look of utter exasperation. Seriously, what an expensive man.
Anyway, with this, my job was done. As I rubbed my shoulder — blood trickling steadily under my clothes — I quietly considered an escape route without drawing attention.
Then —
A sharp pressure pricked at my skin.
When I turned toward the source, my shoulder involuntarily flinched.
Four sharp blades floated in midair, all aimed straight at me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Huh?"
How did he notice I was about to sneak away? Seriously, this guy's instincts were scary sharp.
Poking lightly at one of the blades pointed at my forehead, I said,
"I'm just heading out. Now that you're here, and the support team's here, there's no need for me to stick around."
"According to who?"
"Obviously according to—ugh!"
Kwon Taehyuk strode forward and grabbed my collar without hesitation.
"If you don't want to be dragged by force, cooperate until the rift is fully cleared."
The black eyes glaring down at me burned with a fierce determination that sent a chill down my spine.
'He's not even trying to rip my mask off — just grabbing my collar — somehow that's scarier.'
Given how exhausted I was, he could have easily ripped off my mask and forced a confrontation. But it seemed he didn't even consider such a method.
"...I'm really tired, you know."
"You won't die from just this."
Seriously, I'm dead tired. I fought all those monsters alone, without even an attack skill, and he treats me like this?
The injustice welled up inside me, but I couldn't spill my guts to Kwon Taehyuk. Even if I did, it wasn't like he'd understand.
'No helping it. I'll just pretend to cooperate and slip away later.'
Once Kwon Taehyuk got tangled up fighting monsters, he'd lose track of me easily.
Resigned, I allowed him to drag me along — until suddenly—
Screeeeech!
"......!"
A hideous screech pierced the air from high above. Both Kwon Taehyuk and I lifted our heads toward the sky at the same time.
The sound had come from the rift.
The second rift, which had fallen silent after the last wave, now pulsed with an ominous, radiant light.
"What is that..."
A terrible premonition seized me.
Rumble—!
With the sound of thunder, the rift shuddered violently.
Hunters, support team members, everyone who had gathered stopped moving, frozen as they stared up.
Crack, crackle!
Blue fractures spread across the rift, like glass about to shatter. The space split wider — and from within the black smoke, something burst out.
It was a twisted, grotesque red arm and hand.
Crack!
The monster forced the rift wider with its body. Like its arm, its entire figure was blood-red.
Two massive fangs jutted from its mouth, and a wild mane blazed like fire around its head — resembling a lion — but below the neck, it had the perfect build of a human.
An overwhelming aura radiated from the creature. Sensing it too, Kwon Taehyuk muttered grimly.
"S-rank."
The first rift's monsters, and even the second wave I had fought, were nothing compared to this.
I swallowed dryly, narrowing my eyes.
'An S-rank monster... in the second rift? Why?'
Before regression, the tragedy here had been bad — but no S-rank monsters had appeared. At most, the highest grade was supposed to be A-rank.
That's why I had even dared plan to hold out until Kwon Taehyuk arrived.
But now?
My mind spun wildly.
'Did the future change?'
Why?
What could have changed?
As I struggled with confusion, the monster — now halfway out of the rift — cast its piercing gaze downward. It immediately spotted Kwon Taehyuk and me, exhaled heavily, and dropped from the sky.
"Get out of the way!"
The Hunters underneath scrambled to avoid being crushed.
Crash!
The monster smashed down, flattening a parked car like paper. In its hand gleamed a long, blood-stained machete.
"Wait. There's more coming."
I could feel it — more presences emerging.
Just as expected, the wider-ripped rift spewed out more creatures.
Scree! Screech!
Making insect-like noises, dozens of grotesque monsters rained down. They had round bodies with grotesque mouths and eyes, and six thin arms.
Thankfully, their level was B-rank, not S — but there were too many, easily over ten. If even one slipped past, the evacuating civilians could be slaughtered.
The support team Hunters would have to handle them.
Meanwhile, Kwon Taehyuk and I would deal with the S-rank monster.
Kwon Taehyuk flicked his gaze toward the S-rank monster.
Sharp as ever — He must have reached the same conclusion I had.
I sighed and offered a warning.
"I'll fight alongside you, but don't expect much."
"I wasn't expecting anything."
Kwon Taehyuk coldly brushed me off and leapt straight down the building.
How heartless. Muttering inwardly, I jumped after him.
"G-Guildmaster!"
"Leave this one to us. Focus on handling the new monsters!"
Commanding the panicking guild members, Kwon Taehyuk summoned his floating blades forward.
He must have pulled out extra weapons from his inventory. The number of blades hovering behind him had increased from six to nine.
As Kwon Taehyuk gripped one blade in his hand and finished his preparations, I calmly observed the S-rank monster before us.
'Is that machete its only weapon?'
If so, good.
Since Kwon Taehyuk was far more skilled than me, it would be best if I drew attention while he landed critical hits.
The monster's long, heavy machete, smeared with dried black blood, exuded pure menace just by sight.freewebnovel.com
Suppressing my instinctive fear, I said quietly,
"I'll go first."
Kicking off the ground, I sprinted forward, leaving Kwon Taehyuk behind.
Grraah!
The monster let out a bestial roar and opened its jaws as it lunged at me.
[Main Quest: Endure the Second Rift. (Remaining Time: 7 hours 12 minutes)]

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