It was something I had wanted to say ever since Cha Sahyeon handed me the choker item.
That if a truly dangerous moment ever came, I wanted him to protect Ryu Sunghyun.
We might be running now, but I had a bad feeling that once we reached the place where the "source of the aura" was embedded, even that would no longer be possible.
So I had to tell Cha Sahyeon in advance. Even if everything else had to be abandoned, at least protect Ryu Sunghyun.
That didn't mean the others weren't important.
Kwon Taehyuk, the main protagonist designated by the quest, and Song Jiwoon, who had cared for me like a parent even before the regression—I wanted to protect them both.
There were many people more important to me than my own life. But the reason I specifically asked Cha Sahyeon to protect Ryu Sunghyun... was, honestly, my own selfishness.
If I had to see Ryu Sunghyun die one more time, I felt like I would really lose my mind.
I didn't want to protect a world where Ryu Sunghyun was dead.
If I was going to manage Cha Sahyeon properly with a clear head and keep following what the system demanded... then Ryu Sunghyun had to live.
"Not just this time... even in the future, if danger comes, Ryu Sunghyun—"
"Hyung, what are you saying all of a sudden?"
Cha Sahyeon cut me off, his brows twisting into a grim scowl.
"Listen. I'm fine. You even attached a shadow to—ugh!"
A sharp sting grazed my cheek. When I wiped the dripping wetness, blood streaked across the back of my hand.
When Cha Sahyeon saw the wound on my face, his expression crumbled in shock.
Maybe if we'd been far apart he wouldn't have noticed, but this was the first time I'd gotten hurt while in his arms.
"...Fuck."
He muttered a curse under his breath, then abruptly reached out.
In the next instant, a monster flying at a speed my eyes couldn't track was caught mid-air in Cha Sahyeon's large hand.
Screeech!
The bat-winged monster flailed violently as black shadowy mist rose from Cha Sahyeon's palm, but it couldn't escape. In the end, it burst like a balloon.
My mouth went dry watching an S-rank monster explode right in front of me.
Cha Sahyeon had already been in a sour mood from my earlier plea. Failing to stop the monster's attack probably made him feel even worse.
He'd been holding back on using his skills because of me. But now he'd just killed one out in the open.
I swallowed hard.
"Cha Sahyeon, listen. If you care about me—"
Even if he scared me, this was something I couldn't back down from. Because we had no idea what would happen underground.
But just as I gathered my courage to speak again, I couldn't finish.
RUMBLE!
The ground shook violently, and clouds of sand billowed up. All around, there was the sound of sand slipping down somewhere, shhhhhh.
"Look over there! A staircase!"
One of the Hunters, frantically fleeing the horde of monsters, shouted and pointed forward.
Where the sand had collapsed, a stone staircase leading underground had appeared.
You didn't have to be a genius to realize this was the entrance to the place containing the "source of the aura." It was almost certainly where the boss monster was waiting.
"Go there!"
"Run if you wanna live!"
To the fleeing Hunters, it must've looked like divine intervention.
People broke into cheers and all rushed toward the stone stairs.
"Wait! Don't go charging in like that—!"
"Aaaagh!"
Park Minhyuk, who had just realized the situation and was trying to stop them, watched helplessly as a dealer beside him was snatched up into the air and devoured by a monster.
Though Park Minhyuk quickly cast a skill, it was too late. The monster sucked the flesh clean off the body before dropping the mangled corpse, now nothing but bones and skin.
Having seen that, Park Minhyuk couldn't stop the Hunters from running underground anymore.
Even if the underground was dangerous, avoiding the immediate threat took priority.
It wasn't necessarily a wrong decision. In fact, it might've been the right one.
Even if the odds were high, the idea that the underground was more dangerous was just a theory that Cha Sahyeon and I had come up with. In the end, I couldn't stop them either—and had no choice but to follow them into the depths.
"T-The ceiling—"
RUMBLE!
As the last Hunter descended the stairs to avoid the monsters, a stone wall moved into place behind us, sealing off the entrance.
Screeech. The monster cries on the other side of the sealed wall slowly faded into the distance, and a cold silence took their place.
With no light, the air felt crushingly heavy.
To support the other Supporters, Ryu Sunghyun created several glowing orbs with his skill, and a few others pulled out flashlights to light up the surroundings.
"...Let's keep moving."
Park Minhyuk spoke in a voice tinged with exhaustion.
Though the cries of the monsters had been cut off by the stone wall, there was still a lingering bloodlust in the air.
There was no turning back now. Only forward.
When I looked down, I saw a long stone staircase winding downward. Its end was swallowed by the dark.
It's cold...
A chill I hadn't felt on the surface coiled around my body. Even the dealers were shivering and rubbing their arms—it clearly wasn't normal cold.
Though we'd come in a rush, the strange energy down here made the Hunters tense, descending the stairs cautiously, their expressions stiff.
Ryu Sunghyun, with his light skill, naturally led at the front.
As I watched his back, heart pounding, I reached out and grabbed Cha Sahyeon's wrist.
"Cha Sahyeon."
"No."
He immediately bristled. But I didn't let go—I gripped his wrist even harder.
"I'll be fine. I've got the shadow you gave me, and I'll stay in the rear with the Supporters."
"No."
"If the boss shows up, you'll have to go fight it anyway. I really won't jump in this time. I'll only use a heal skill if the situation's bad, and it's an AoE anyway—so I can do it from the back."
"......"
"Cha Sahyeon. Please. Just do this one thing for me."
His cold eyes, which had been staring forward as if trying to ignore me, began to waver slightly at my pleading tone.
He furrowed his brow, closed his eyes tightly, then let out a long sigh.
"...Don't forget what you said, hyung."
His green eyes, filled with hurt, turned toward me.
"Don't. Absolutely don't. Intervene. Stay quietly in the back."
"I will."
Cha Sahyeon gripped my hand tightly once, then released it and walked forward to stand beside Ryu Sunghyun.
Seeing the two of «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» them side by side finally put some of my anxiety at ease.
If Cha Sahyeon wasn't paying attention to me, he'd be able to focus on protecting Ryu Sunghyun—so I needed to stay in a safe position, just like I promised.
I deliberately slowed my steps to move further to the rear. Then a familiar voice suddenly cut in.
"Don't get it."
"If you'd just stayed with me, you'd at least have survived."
"So you wait until Cha Sahyeon's gone and then come pick a fight? You're really something."
"Yeah. Say whatever you want."
J tilted his hat up slightly and looked up at me, twisting his mouth into a sneer. Unlike Cha Sahyeon, his dull green eyes held nothing but open hostility.
"You're going to die soon anyway, so I won't bother shutting you up."
"Wow, how generous of you."
I said it casually.
"You don't get it, but this is how I survive."
As expected, he gave me a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look. I gave him a faint smile.
"We've reached the bottom!"
Just then, a Hunter called out.
What had felt like an endless descent ended sooner than expected. Once the last person stepped off the stairs, a vast darkness spread out before us.
Splash.
I heard water splashing underfoot all around. We were standing on a hard surface, but it was submerged, and we couldn't see a thing.
Flashlights and light skills were useless.
Just to be sure, we scattered Ryu Sunghyun's light skill outward—but the deep, heavy darkness swallowed it completely. Ryu Sunghyun muttered in shock:
"...This is..."
His skill wasn't working. That could only mean one thing.
This space was stronger—so much so that it could suppress even Ryu Sunghyun's S-rank skill.
A chill ran down my spine. I couldn't even see the person next to me. Strange sounds spread through the pitch-black air.
Ssshhhh!
A sound like something burning. The moment I realized it—
"Gahhh—AAAGH!"
"W-Water... the water—!"
"Run—AAAGH!"
Someone shoved my shoulder hard. I lost balance and fell helplessly to the floor.
Ssshhh!
"Urgh!"
Instinctively, I tried to push myself up—but the moment my hand touched the water-covered floor, a sharp pain jolted through me, and I jerked my hand back.
Even without seeing it, I knew—I had just been burned, badly.
Not just my hand—every part of my body that had touched the water from the legs down throbbed with pain.
Ssshhhh...
The burning sound continued. Dreadfully, relentlessly.

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