Cover stared at the system window for a moment, his face drawn with fatigue, then closed it without hesitation. Now wasn’t the time to leisurely look over rewards.
The moment he tried to stand, pain lanced through his body and his vision wavered. Swallowing a groan, he forced himself upright—just in time for the medical team to rush over.
“Cover Hunter, we need to treat you—”
“No, I’m fine.”
He rejected their help immediately and politely.
If he were in his original form as Cha Seohu, maybe. But right now, he couldn’t afford to let anyone touch his body. There was always the risk that medical scans or procedures could leave traces—or that they might try to use treatment as an excuse to remove his mask.
“But your injury...”
The medics looked alarmed, clearly expecting him to accept care. One of them motioned toward his shoulder.
Cover glanced at his left shoulder. Since he was wearing a black T-shirt under a black denim jacket, the blood didn’t show much. The jacket was torn and frayed, but not badly enough to draw suspicion.
It didn’t look serious, at least not from the outside. He silently thanked himself for choosing dark clothes just in case. He pointed at a towel one of them was holding.
“Could I borrow that?”
“Huh? Ah—yes, of course.”
Taking the towel the medic handed over, Cover wiped the blood off his left hand.
He could hide the wound, but not the blood that had dripped from his shoulder. He carefully cleaned himself until his hand was reasonably clean.
“Thank you.”
Satisfied, he returned the towel and turned away.
He walked past the still-dazed Park Heeseok, who remained seated in shock, and headed toward the center of the arena—just as Ryu Sunghyun came running from the opposite side.
“Cover Hunter!”
Ryu Sunghyun reached him in one bound, scanning him with worried eyes.
“Are you alright? I heard you were seriously hurt—”
“I’m fine.”
“Shouldn’t you get treatment? I can call—”
“Vice-Guildmaster.”
Cutting him off, Cover gestured to the cheering crowd.
“You just won. And you’re standing here chatting with me? Listen to that.”
“Circle! Circle! Circle!”
Only then did Ryu Sunghyun blink in realization, finally noticing the countless voices cheering his name.
“Vice-Guildmaster!”
“Whoa! Did we really win?!”
The rest of the Circle Guild, faces glowing with excitement, swarmed toward them, throwing themselves at Ryu Sunghyun in celebration.
Caught in the tangled chaos of embraces, Cover received his share of warm words too.
“Cover Hunter, that was insane!”
“How did you even stop Park Heeseok?! You S-ranks are on another level!”
“Thank you so much!”
Their hands were rough with emotion, and the pressure was enough to hurt. But Cover accepted it all calmly, making sure his mask stayed in place.
White confetti rained across the arena, and the names of Circle and Ryu Sunghyun echoed over the loudspeakers.
As the guild members embraced and celebrated their hard-earned victory, the commentators gave their final remarks.
— "When the whole world expected Ronik Guild to win, Circle Guild never gave up hope."
— "By defeating Ronik in this match, Circle Guild has boldly declared their place on the stage."
— "They’re a guild worth watching. Congratulations to all participants."
“Wow... It still doesn’t feel real.”
“Holy crap, we beat Ronik? Ronik?!”
“This has to be a dream, right? We really won?”
Even on their way out of the arena, the excitement didn’t fade.
Having laughed, shouted, and waved at the crowd, the guild members were only now starting to come back to their senses—staring blankly in awe.
I followed behind Ryu Sunghyun at the front, quietly exhaling so no one would notice. Their voices sounded muffled, as though I were underwater.
‘My condition...’
Was far worse than I’d expected. If I let my guard down even a little, I felt like I’d collapse on the spot.
Thank god for the mask hiding my expression. Once we reached the waiting room... I needed to slip away at the first opportunity.
I’d meant to watch Ryu Sunghyun’s interview and check on the state of the defeated Ronik—but there was no way I’d last that long.
“Congratulations.”
A familiar voice greeted me calmly. I looked up and saw Kwon Taehyuk leaning against the hallway wall near the waiting room.
Ryu Sunghyun offered him a handshake, expressing his thanks sincerely.
“Thank you, Hunter Kwon Taehyuk.”
If it weren’t for Han Goeun, whom Yesung had sent, it would’ve been much harder to withstand Ronik’s assault. Though Kwon Taehyuk was tangled up in this because of me, Circle owed a lot to Yesung.
Noticing Kwon Taehyuk late, Han Goeun looked surprised.
“Guildmaster! You’re still here? I thought you’d left already.”
“Had something to do. Are you hurt, Hunter Han Goeun?”
“No. Cover Hunter helped me when it got dangerous. I didn’t even get scratched.”
All eyes turned to me the moment she said that.
‘Tch.’
Suppressing a sigh, I spoke as casually as I could.
“Protecting Supporters is basic duty for a dealer, isn’t it?”
Kwon Taehyuk stared at me for a moment, unreadable, then asked,
“You injured?”
“I mean, yeah. But... are you worried about me right now?”
I answered jokingly, and he made a face like figures before turning back to Ryu Sunghyun.
“Ronik hasn’t said anything yet?”
“No, nothing.”
“Judging by their Guildmaster’s face, he’s probably still in shock. If they say anything, it’ll be after they’ve calmed down.”
“Honestly though, do you think they’ll say anything? Sure, it's common courtesy for competing guilds to offer congratulations after a match... but Ronik? Yeah, right.”
“Actually, I have something to say about the Ronik Guildmaster. When we were guarding the Nexus—he...”
As the topic shifted to Ronik, I listened to their hushed conversation—when my vision turned white.
“......”
I instinctively reached toward my eyes. My fingers touched the cold, hard surface of the mask.
My vision kept flashing—white, then back. I looked down. My left hand, which I’d wiped clean earlier, was soaked with blood again.
A freezing chill surged from my toes upward. My breathing turned shallow and frantic—like someone was strangling me.
‘No. Not here...’
A wave of danger crashed into me.
There were too many eyes watching. Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun were here too. If I lost consciousness now—
‘I have to hold on.’
At least until I could get away.
No more excuses. No clever cover. Just run. I’d explain it to Ryu Sunghyun later—just not here. Right now, I had to run.
My mind was barely functioning. Just run, was all I could think.
I took a shaky step forward, gasping.
“Ah...”
BEEEEEEP—
A high-pitched whine rang in my ears as my vision turned white again. My legs gave out.
As consciousness slipped, the white faded—and I saw Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun. Their shocked faces were the last thing I saw before—
Everything went black.
The world was ending. That was the one truth every survivor understood.
By the time it became easier to count the living than the dead, Circle decided to join the war against the Catastrophe.
And the one who fought that decision hardest—was me.
[Seohu.]
Ryu Sunghyun had pulled me out of the meeting, where I’d been voicing my opposition, and now held my shoulders in the hallway.
[You heard ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the news too, right? There aren’t enough guilds joining. That’s why we have to—]
[Why us?!]
I couldn’t hold it in. I shoved him back, shouting.
[Why do we have to? Why should we help?!]
[Seohu...]
[Did they help us when our guild was suffering?!]
[...]
[Why is it always us helping them? This war—it’s not just any war. It’s—]
Even in my fury, I couldn’t finish the sentence.
They were going to fight the Catastrophe. It was suicide. They weren’t fighting to save the world. They were marching to their deaths.
Maybe others didn’t know—but I did. I’d seen it with my own eyes.
[Please, Bro. Let’s run. Lots of people ran already.]
I fought back the surge of emotion and pleaded.
[I... I don’t want to watch you die. Or the Guildmaster. Or the others...]
I was a Supporter. I couldn’t fight beside them.
All I could do was stand at the back and watch everyone fall one by one.
Ryu Sunghyun silently reached out and touched my cheek. His lips parted, hesitating, then curled into a pained smile.
[No, Seohu.]
[Brother...]
[That’s not it. We’re not going to die—]
His eyes glimmered with a sorrowful light as he looked at me.
[We’re going to protect.]

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