The toy-like motorcycle model that fit in his palm turned into a full-sized vehicle in an instant the moment he pressed a button and threw it onto the road.
Cha Seohu got on the motorcycle and took off at once.
It was nearing 8 p.m., and the roads were busy with cars coming and going, but Cha Seohu skillfully slipped through them as he headed for his destination.
His blond hair whipped wildly in the strong wind. Already transformed into an S-rank Dealer, Cha Seohu’s over-robe fluttered as he quickly sped away from Circle Guild.
Behind Kwon Taehyuk, who was watching him leave through the shattered window of the guildmaster’s office, Eun Woojeong sneered.
“What a magnificent bunch of understanding people you are. You can’t even bring yourselves to tie him up and stop him, and instead you’re so holy that you even hand him a motorcycle in the name of ‘understanding.’”
“Hey.”
Song Jiwoon, who had already been standing there in silence with an uneasy expression, opened his mouth coldly at Eun Woojeong’s criticism.
“And how is talking about tying him up and stopping him by force supposed to be some grand, holy method? Supporter Cha Seohu made his choice, and we have no right to stop him.”
“Right?”
The corner of Eun Woojeong’s mouth twisted upward.
“How interesting. Did you use a word like that to show me just how boring of a model student you are? Or were you trying to disgust me? Either way, congratulations. It worked.”
“What’s disgusting isn’t me. It’s that head of yours, where the idea of tying someone up and stopping them by force comes so naturally.”
Song Jiwoon’s voice, which had always stayed gentle as he adapted to life in Circle Guild, turned sharp for the first time in a long while, like it had been back in his mountain-keeper days.
Ryu Sunghyun, pressing at his temple with a tired face, reluctantly cut in.
“Enough. Both of you. Nothing’s going to change no matter how much we argue among ourselves here.”
“Yeah. It’s a waste of time.”
Agreeing irritably, Eun Woojeong brushed past Song Jiwoon and Ryu Sunghyun and approached the window.
He was planning to follow Cha Seohu even by himself. Cha Seohu had already gotten pretty far, but if he used his skill and moved across the buildings, he could still catch up easily enough.
Just as Eun Woojeong put a foot on the windowsill—
Kwon Taehyuk, who had been silently staring the whole time in the direction Cha Seohu had disappeared, spoke.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
Beside Song Jiwoon, who blinked at the abrupt remark, Ryu Sunghyun raised one eyebrow. He understood immediately what Kwon Taehyuk meant.
“I know where Hunter Cha Seohu went.”
When they realized there was a crack in Circle Guild and made their plan—
out of the several places where J might have been taken, Cha Sahyeon had remembered exactly one, and he had passed that address on to Yoon Jeha.
Kwon Taehyuk had checked the address too. And he still remembered it exactly.
“...Hunter Cha Seohu won’t want that.”
Ryu Sunghyun said it in a conflicted tone. But Kwon Taehyuk’s posture, fixed on the view outside, did not change.
“I know.”
He had not stopped Cha Seohu because that had been the right thing to do.
He had given him the motorcycle because Cha Seohu had asked for it.
Kwon Taehyuk could not stop Cha Seohu. They were not in that kind of relationship.
But chasing after him...
That, he thought, was a different matter. More precisely, he wanted to believe it was different.
“I’m not forcing anyone. Decide for yourselves. I’m going.”
Saying it calmly, Kwon Taehyuk did not look particularly interested in Ryu Sunghyun’s or Song Jiwoon’s answers.
Pulling out another motorcycle from his inventory, one similar to the one he had lent Cha Seohu, Kwon Taehyuk stepped onto the windowsill and threw himself outside without hesitation.
Landing steadily from the height of the second floor, Kwon Taehyuk restored the miniaturized motorcycle to its original size and climbed on.
Watching him with one leg still propped on the windowsill, Eun Woojeong let out a hollow laugh.
‘The stiffest bastard’s the first one to move?’
Eun Woojeong, who had been watching Kwon Taehyuk for a long time as “the actor Eun Woojeong,” found this side of him fascinating.
Of course, Kwon Taehyuk had been so obvious with his eyes all this time that Eun Woojeong already knew he regarded Cha Seohu as special. But for him to act this recklessly without hesitation—
Curling one corner of his mouth at Song Jiwoon in mockery, Eun Woojeong took out the new mask he had stored in his inventory and put it on. Then he summoned chains and flew off into the night sky.
Now the only ones left in the guildmaster’s office were Ryu Sunghyun, Song Jiwoon, Song Jiwon, and the sleeping Cha Sahyeon.
“...I’ll go too.”
After a brief silence, Ryu Sunghyun made his decision.
“I...”
Song Jiwoon, who had been about to say they should go together, bit his lip.
Cha Seohu had left his younger brother in Song Jiwon’s care, and Song Jiwoon was not sure whether it would really be alright to leave his brother here and go.
He did not know the details about Cha Sahyeon, but after meeting him and fighting alongside him several times, he had realized long ago that he was no ordinary existence.
Even if such a dangerous being was asleep, Song Jiwoon could not fully entrust him to Song Jiwon. His brother was a mental-type Awakener, not a Dealer.
“Jiwoon.”
The hesitant Song Jiwoon raised his eyes at Song Jiwon’s voice.
That face, identical to his own, was wearing a gentle smile. Song Jiwon looked at Song Jiwoon for a moment before speaking.
“Send the vice-guildmaster off. And as for you... I’d like you to stay by my side and help me with one thing.”
“One thing?”
“It’s something important. Cha Seohu would probably prefer you helping me over following after him anyway.”
His tone was so certain it sounded as if he had no doubt at all.
After wavering, Song Jiwoon finally nodded. He had no idea what Song Jiwon meant by asking for help, but S-ranks had already gone after Cha Seohu. While they protected Cha Seohu, someone here would also need to remain behind and protect Cha Sahyeon, his younger brother.
At Song Jiwoon’s choice, Ryu Sunghyun grabbed his shoulder firmly for a moment before letting go.
It was the first emotional exchange that had arisen between Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon, who until now had kept each other at arm’s length.
“I’ll bring him back safely.”
With those words, like a vow, Ryu Sunghyun also hurriedly left Circle Guild.
Cha Seohu rode without stopping for over two hours.
As time passed, the crowded cityscape was left behind, and a desolate road stretched ahead.
Zone T-27.
An area the government had banned people from entering after a dungeon break.
Inside the zone, ruined buildings and debris from the battle five years ago lay scattered everywhere, and there was no sign of human life.
Cha Seohu cut straight through the center of it on the motorcycle. A haze of dust rose in the wake of the bike.
Screech.
Cha Seohu finally came to a stop deep inside the zone after 2 hours and 43 minutes of the 3 hours the Cult Leader had given him had already passed.
He pulled the brake, got off the motorcycle, and lifted his head.
A tall church building came into view.
No human hands had touched it in five years, giving it a dreary appearance, and curtains covered the windows so the inside could not be seen.
But unlike the other buildings, there was no sign that it had collapsed or been damaged anywhere. It was the most intact structure in all of Zone T-27.
“Seriously...”
Looking up at the church, Cha Seohu crooked the corner of his mouth.
Just how many times had it been now with these damn churches? At this point, he was starting to genuinely wonder what churches meant to those cult bastards.
‘Do they go looking for churches and cathedrals to use as bases because they think they’re some kind of religion?’
Would they invite him to a temple next time?
Sneering inwardly, Cha Seohu had just taken a step toward the church entrance when—
“Disciple Cha Seohu.”
A low voice rang out. From the darkness beside the entrance, a person stepped forward.
It was a man whose entire body was wrapped in some strange cloth, his upper body bent at an odd angle. The skin of his jaw and both hands, visible beneath the cloth, was such a murky gray that it stood out even in the dark.
‘What the hell is this.’
Cha Seohu’s eyes narrowed.
The man before him gave off a feeling unlike anything he had ever sensed before. His presence was so faint that he felt closer to a corpse than an ordinary human being.
‘Don’t tell me. Have they finally stooped low enough to bring out zombies now?’
Letting out a hollow laugh to himself, Cha Seohu folded his arms and stood at an angle.
“Who made me your disciple? I’ve got no interest in this kind of outdated religion.”
Even at that deliberate, blatant provocation, the man showed no emotional reaction and said in the same posture,
“Please come in. He is waiting for you.”
Cha Seohu did not need to be told who was waiting.
Still bent at the waist, the man turned away from Cha Seohu and opened the church door.
Beyond the door was darkness, without a single light. The long groan of rusted hinges scraping together only deepened the ominous atmosphere.
“This way.”
Though he was not an Awakener, the man moved through that dense darkness without the slightest hesitation.
They passed through the center of the chapel. After walking past the pews lined up on both sides and reaching the very back of the church, the man opened another door.
“The stairs.”
“You should worry about your own footing instead.”
Cha Seohu, in his S-rank Dealer state, had no problem seeing the stairs clearly even in the darkness.
The man gave no reply to the taunt and simply kept walking. Watching his back as he descended the stairs without the slightest deviation, Cha Seohu suddenly realized something.
The man was closer to a doll moving according to implanted commands than to a living creature.
Just like the mannequin the Cult Leader had sent in his place during the hotel incident.
After descending the long flight of stairs and reaching the basement, the man opened the door at the end.
Creeeak. The old door swung open.
Dust rose into the air, and a gentle voice was heard.
“Ah, at last.”
The room was brilliantly lit. Cha Seohu squinted against the sudden brightness and slowly raised his gaze.
“Mr. Cha Seohu. I’ve truly missed you.”
That neat voice overflowing with goodwill—
the very same one he had heard over the phone.
Blinking slowly, Cha Seohu took in the man standing before him.
A man standing there in white ceremonial robes embroidered with gold, facing him.
A bloodstained longsword in his hand, he smiled brightly at Cha Seohu with a gentle, beautiful face.
...The Cult Leader.

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