Cha Seohu stared blankly at Cha Sahyeon, who was smiling brightly, and stammered out a question.
“You... how are you... here...?”
“Because you’re here?”
Tilting his head as if wondering why that even needed to be asked, Cha Sahyeon opened his mouth to speak again—
CRACK!
The hem of a black robe ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) fluttered, cutting across Seohu’s field of vision.
“......!”
In the split second Seohu blinked, Cha Sahyeon had already moved to stand in front of him and swung a massive, jet-black scythe.
CLANG!
With a deafening clash, the huge ice spike that had been flying toward Cha Seohu shattered into pieces and scattered like dust.
The large scythe in Cha Sahyeon’s hand was clearly a weapon made of shadow. To shape an intangible skill into such a weapon that quickly?
‘He didn’t even have anything in his hands just a moment ago while we were talking...’
Seohu’s fingertips trembled at the sheer speed of it.
Even Ryu Sunghyun, who had achieved tremendous growth before the regression, couldn’t form skills that fast. Suddenly, the fact that Cha Sahyeon had been classified as an L-rank by the status window felt very real.
‘That weapon...’
Seohu’s eyes fixed on the scythe in Sahyeon’s hand. Black, smoke-like energy curled around the weapon like a vine from the ground up.
It wasn’t an unfamiliar weapon.
Overlapping with Sahyeon, standing in front of him now, was the image of another figure.
Taller than this, hair flowing, wielding a massive black scythe.
Seohu’s eyes dimmed, and his complexion turned even paler than before.
It felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his throat. His heart pounded wildly, and his limbs slowly froze up.
Not from the cold of the demon-type monster, but from pure fear and helplessness.
He knew—logically—that the one before him was Cha Sahyeon, not the Catastrophe. That he wouldn’t hurt him.
But even knowing that, Seohu couldn’t suppress the dread rising inside.
When he lifted his head, he saw Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon looking back at him with alarmed expressions.
In Seohu’s mind, the nightmare of that day replayed in full color.
Fear swallowed his reason.
‘Get a grip.’
Someone whispered.
It was a voice full of disdain—his own.
‘Did you come all the way here just to sit and watch?’
A sneering voice pierced through his splintered thoughts. It was no longer mockery—it was pure, vivid malice.
‘You should’ve just stayed in the room like your brother told you.’
‘No, you shouldn’t have come to the mountain at all.’
‘Stop being an idiot.’
The voice sped up.
‘Focusfocusfocus.’
‘Stop it before something really happens—’
Ding!
Cutting through the muttering came a bright chime. Amidst the swirling snowflakes, a sleek, translucent system window popped up.
《Trait: My Eyes Don’t Lie (F-rank) activated!》
《For 10 seconds, maintain composure. Memory and judgment are enhanced!》
“Ah...”
In an instant, his mind cleared. The voice in his head disappeared. The wind howled again, and the bite of the cold on his skin jolted him back to full awareness.
‘Right. I had this trait...’
He should’ve used it earlier. Seohu cursed himself and quickly reached out to grab the hem of Cha Sahyeon’s robe.
“Don’t kill it!”
Ten seconds wasn’t much.
In that fleeting moment, the first thing he did was grab Sahyeon’s robe.
Before the trait had activated, his body had been paralyzed by fear. Now, it moved freely again.
Cha Sahyeon, halting mid-swing, turned toward him.
“Why?”
“It’s rampaging—unintentionally. I don’t care if you restrain it or knock it out, but don’t kill it. We have to figure out why it’s going berserk.”
His mouth dry, Seohu licked his lips and pushed out as much explanation as he could before the trait ended.
“What about killing it to find out?”
“No. We have to save it.”
Three seconds. Two seconds.
There wasn’t enough time left to explain any more.
Just before the trait ended, Seohu whispered one last plea.
“I... want to save it...”
“.......”
《Trait: My Eyes Don’t Lie (F-rank) has ended!》
《Trait now on cooldown. (Remaining time: 5 hours 59 minutes)》
As soon as he finished speaking, the effect ended.
Cha Sahyeon stared at Seohu for a brief moment, then sighed lightly and replied.
“Got it. I’ll restrain it.”
Only then did Seohu finally let out the breath he’d been holding.
And then he realized.
‘...Did I activate the trait myself?’
He quickly swiped through the air—but the system window was already gone. He bit his lip, uneasy.
Had he used the trait unconsciously, or had the system intervened because it sensed his mental state was deteriorating?
Even he could feel that he hadn’t exactly been in his right mind.
CLANG!—CLATTER!
Another ice spike came flying in, but it shattered against the scythe once again.
Cha Sahyeon narrowed his eyes in irritation, and black energy suddenly surged from beneath his feet.
“I’m not confident I can fight that thing without killing it—we’re too far apart in skill.”
The writhing black shadow rose endlessly into the sky.
“If I send this in, it should play with it for a bit. It’s S-rank too.”
RUMBLE!
The shadow soared into the air, its mass swelling wildly as it took form. Seohu recognized it immediately by its scaled head and vertical pupils.
Krurrrrk!
A massive serpent’s head roared from within the stormclouds. Its ominous presence crashed from the sky to the earth like a tidal wave as it dove down with its jaws open.
“Wait—!”
Just as Seohu and Song Jiwoon realized the serpent’s target was The One Who Walks Above Snow and shouted in alarm, a wave of blinding white ice surged upward to intercept it.
CRACK, SCREEEECH!
The snake’s deadly fangs collided with spiked ice crystals. BOOM!—ice and shadow tangled and exploded together.
It seemed Cha Sahyeon’s shadow was no joke either. The monster, who had been solely fixated on Seohu until now, was now completely preoccupied with defending against the serpent’s assault.
Seizing the moment, Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon finally reached Seohu.
“Hunter Cha Seohu!”
Still seated in the snow, Seohu forced a small smile when he saw them.
“Are you both alright?”
“Of course we are.”
Seeing them unharmed grounded him again—even without the trait.
Ryu Sunghyun, relieved to see Seohu uninjured, reached out to help him up.
“Hyung.”
But a large hand suddenly cut in.
Before Ryu could grab him, Cha Sahyeon had already grabbed Seohu’s arm and pulled him to his feet in one swift motion.
The black robe blocked Seohu from Ryu’s view. The hand Ryu had extended toward Seohu found nowhere to go, stopped by the fabric.
Ryu’s golden-brown eyes met Cha Sahyeon’s sharp green gaze.
‘That energy...’
The heavy aura pouring off the stranger triggered a memory in Ryu Sunghyun.
A B-rank dungeon owned by Yesung Guild, back when he had just started getting involved with Seohu.
He had approached to say hello—only to be halted by a sharp killing intent.
This was the same.
But back then, it had come from a child. Who is this man...?
SCREECH!
A piercing cry split the air.
They turned to see the shadow snake collapsed on the ground, parts of it frozen solid.
Behind it, The One Who Walks Above Snow slowly stood upright. She wasn’t unscathed.
Her left shoulder and side were soaked in blood, and the skin on her dangling arm had turned black from venom.
“Well, with that much damage, you all can handle it from here.”
Even though his shadow had lost, Cha Sahyeon seemed utterly unconcerned. He waved his hand, and the snake crumbled away.
A moment later, a new shadow took form—a bird, which flapped its wings twice in the air and landed naturally on Seohu’s shoulder.
Seohu glanced at the bird on his shoulder, then at Sahyeon, who was still holding him up, and spoke to Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon.
“We can restrain her now. I’ll take care of her wounds... just catch her before she runs.”
“...Understood.”
With a bitter look, Song Jiwoon nodded and approached The One Who Walks Above Snow. Ryu, after a long glance at Seohu, followed.
Once the two had moved on, silence settled between Seohu and Sahyeon.
Within it, Seohu watched without blinking as Ryu Sunghyun’s skill flared brightly, and Song Jiwoon’s ice intertwined with the monster’s.
Just as Sahyeon had said, The One Who Walks Above Snow was clearly weakened now, barely managing to hold her own against the combined assault.
She would soon be subdued.
“Hyung.”
“......”
“Hyuuung.”
Trying to ignore him, Seohu furrowed his brows and finally turned to look at Sahyeon.
Beneath windswept black hair, a smiling face met him. Soft lips curved upward, and a gentle voice followed.
“I came back quick, didn’t I?”
“......”
“I even brought an item that’ll mask my aura.”
When Sahyeon leaned in again, Seohu instinctively tried to step back—but Sahyeon’s arm around his waist didn’t let go.
A chill crept down Seohu’s spine. He bit back the curses rising in his throat and muttered quietly,
“Let go.”
“The terrain’s unstable. I shouldn’t.”
“I don’t care. Let go.”
“Nope. Anyway, hyung—wanna see what item I brought—”
“Let me go!”
Seohu cut him off and shoved him away.
Worried he might hurt Seohu if he resisted, Sahyeon released him easily.
Then he silently watched as Seohu walked away, toward Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon, turning his back on him without a word.

Comments

Loading...