As soon as morning arrived and the sun rose, the others flooded into the hospital room.
“Hunter Cha Seohu.”
The first one in was, naturally, Kwon Taehyuk. Striding over in long steps, he looked at me sitting on the bed, his jaw muscles tightening as though he were grinding his teeth.
Eun Woojeong came in behind him.
Perhaps because he was wearing the ring stolen from his dead mother, no aura could be sensed from him, just like an ordinary civilian. His hair was no longer silver either, but a normal brown.
Sweeping a sharp gaze over my body from head to toe, Eun Woojeong pressed his lips tightly together as if holding something back.
Letting out a deep sigh, Kwon Taehyuk asked,
“How is your condition?”
“Ah, I’m fi—”
I had just started to answer, thinking the question was directed at me, when Ryu Sunghyun calmly spoke first from beside me.
“He’s in better shape than we feared. Still, he’ll need a few more days of rest.”
I turned to look at him in confusion, only to see Kwon Taehyuk nod as though that were perfectly natural.
“The room Hunter Cha Seohu was using is still available, but just in case, it would be better for him to stay in this hospital room until tomorrow.”
“Yes. I agree.”
...Huh? Since when was this decided?
“Excuse me?”
“Understood. I’ll tell them to bring all meals here until tomorrow as well.”
“Meals focused on restoring stamina. He had porridge early this morning, but that was only because it was the first thing going into an empty stomach. Since the recovery skill already healed all the injuries, there’s no need for more porridge.”
“What exactly are you people.......”
This time, Eun Woojeong interrupted my incredulous protest.
“I know a good restaurant. It only serves a select few customers using top-grade ingredients. Samgyetang, abalone, eel, anything.”
Samgyetang? Abalone? Eel?
“No, I—”
Before I could refuse, Ryu Sunghyun nodded.
“That sounds good. Then let’s start with samgyetang today.”
“Wait.”
I tried to cut into the conversation at last, utterly dumbfounded, but Ryu Sunghyun suddenly turned toward me.
Then, with a gentle smile, he asked,
“That’s fine with you, right, Hunter Cha Seohu? Samgyetang?”
“Huh? Ah... yes.”
The answer slipped out before I even realized it, and Eun Woojeong immediately curled his lips upward in satisfaction while pulling out his phone.
“I’ll tell them not to hold back on the ingredients.”
“Use a good chicken. And plenty of ginseng.”
“Hmph. Even if you didn’t say it, I was already going to order that.”
“.......”
Watching Kwon Taehyuk continue making requests while Eun Woojeong scoffed at him, I let out a tired sigh.
Even after that, the discussion about my health continued for a long time.
Looking at the faces of the S-ranks seriously debating the issue as though it were more important than anything else in the world, I eventually just gave up and shut my mouth.
Anyone seeing this would think national security was at stake. Normally I would have told them to cut it out already, but after knowing they had nearly died saving me, I didn’t exactly have the conscience to complain.
Well... honestly, if it had only been Eun Woojeong, I would have told him to shut up ages ago. But with Ryu Sunghyun and Kwon Taehyuk, I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Leaving me sitting there in a state of enlightened resignation, the fiery discussion between the three dragged on past forty minutes and only came to an end when it was nearly reaching the one-hour mark.
“...Can we stop talking about my health and get to the actual point?”
At my exhausted voice, Kwon Taehyuk at least looked slightly awkward and cleared his throat before nodding.
“Understood. First, there’s new information. The younger brother Hunter Cha Seohu entrusted to Circle Guild’s care... still hasn’t woken up.”
I shot upright and asked again,
“You’re saying he’s still asleep? Without any reaction at all?”
“Yes. I heard it directly from Guildmaster Song Jiwoon during a phone call.”
Answering calmly, Kwon Taehyuk continued carefully,
“I thought it was something that should first be conveyed to you directly, so we haven’t taken any additional measures yet. Hunter Cha Seohu, if you’re worried, we can transfer your younger brother here. Hunter Song Jiwoon is currently waiting at Circle Guild.”
I almost immediately said to bring him over right away, but held myself back.
After all, I needed to go to Circle Guild to meet Chronos anyway.
'There’s still too much I don’t know.'
Whether the cult leader was really dead. What exactly that black tree had been.
Of course, there was a high chance Chronos would once again refuse to tell me anything while rambling about “prices” and “compensation,” but I still needed to meet him. He had been there right up until the moment I lost consciousness.
“No. I’ll think about it first.”
“Understood.”
Giving a brief nod, Kwon Taehyuk immediately moved on.
“Next is regarding Hunter Yoon Jeha. Hunter Ryu Sunghyun already told you that he encountered Hunter Yoon Jeha and the Hunter called ‘J’ inside the church. It’s about those two.”
I remembered Yoon Jeha, whom I had failed to rescue because I had chased after the cult leader instead.
Yoon Jeha trapped inside the slanted coffin together with flowers. The memory immediately stirred disgust inside me.
I had already heard from Ryu Sunghyun at dawn about what happened afterward.
The three of them had rescued not only me, but Yoon Jeha and J as well. It was truly the best outcome possible.
“Yes. Are they both all right?”
“Hunter Yoon Jeha is fine. No major injuries, and the examination results were clean. However.......”
Kwon Taehyuk paused briefly before continuing with a complicated expression.
“The Hunter called J has not regained consciousness. Hunter Yoon Jeha seems to think of him as her younger brother, and refuses to leave the room.”
“Wait, J too?”
“Yes. His condition is similar to your younger brother’s.”
That was completely unexpected.
As I frowned, Kwon Taehyuk continued calmly,
“We examined him together while Hunter Yoon Jeha was being checked, but found no physical abnormalities. His breathing is stable, and there are no external injuries. He’s simply asleep.”
“Hunter Cha Seohu.”
Ryu Sunghyun, who had been listening quietly with his arms crossed, finally spoke.
“To be honest, when we first found Hunter Yoon Jeha underground in the church, she was in a similar state. We took her out of the coffin and tried to wake her, but she didn’t react at all. It was an unnaturally deep sleep, like the effect of some item or skill. Then suddenly... she recovered completely.”
“She suddenly recovered?”
“Yes. There was one noticeable change.”
Hesitating as though uncertain how to explain it, Ryu Sunghyun eventually continued,
“A golden light wrapped around Yoon Jeha’s body and then disappeared, and after that she woke up. We still haven’t figured out what that light was.”
Golden light.
That alone was enough for me to roughly guess whose power it had been.
'Chronos.'
Yoon Jeha had been trapped there by the cult leader from the start.
If the cult leader had done something to her body, causing her to fall into a coma-like sleep...
Then the most likely explanation was that Chronos had helped her wake up. Though I had no idea why that bastard had cooperated so obediently for once.
Cha Sahyeon. And J.
After a moment of thought, I asked Kwon Taehyuk,
“Can I go see Yoon Jeha and J right now?”
Kwon Taehyuk nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. Hunter Yoon Jeha is already awake. I’ll guide you to the room.”
“Before that.”
Eun Woojeong, who had been leaning against the wall with a sour look on his face the whole time, cut in.
“You’ve got some explaining to do first, don’t you, Mr. Cha Seohu?”
“What?”
Something to explain?
I blinked.
'...Well, there is a fucking lot.'
I was hiding so many things that I couldn’t even tell what exactly Eun Woojeong was glaring at me to explain.
“What are you talking about?”
I denied it instinctively.
Eun Woojeong scoffed in disbelief.
“There it is again. That face. You made the same face when I asked about that weird guy earlier, and now you’re doing it again. Really impressive, Mr. Cha Seohu.”
“What nonsense are you babbling about now?”
Fed up with Eun Woojeong’s irritatingly roundabout way of speaking, I ignored him and started walking.
Even while being ignored, Eun Woojeong followed after me. Seriously, what was wrong with him?
“Hunter Cha Seohu.”
Like Eun Woojeong, apparently intending to come along as well, Kwon Taehyuk opened the hospital room door for me before hesitantly speaking.
“He’s not wrong.”
“...Pardon?”
“...There are things I’d like explained. Important matters.”
What, Kwon Taehyuk too?
Without thinking, I turned to Ryu Sunghyun. Meeting my eyes, Ryu Sunghyun smiled pleasantly. It was the smile of someone who had no intention of taking my side.
I could ignore it when only Eun Woojeong was making a fuss, but now these two were joining in too. At this point, even I was getting curious. What the hell was it?
Seeing the confusion on my face, Kwon Taehyuk stepped out into the hallway while still holding the door open.
“Let’s deal with Hunter Yoon Jeha’s situation first. After that, I’ll call Supporter Dan Yeoun over. It’s still early, so he’s resting right now.”
I already knew that Supporter Dan Yeoun had been urgently summoned yesterday to heal my body.
And that he had overexerted himself to the point of exhaustion, so Kwon Taehyuk had given him a hospital room to rest in.
“Why Supporter Dan Yeoun...?”
“We’ll need him when we talk.”
Kwon Taehyuk avoided my eyes awkwardly instead of explaining further.
'What the hell. This feels ominous.'
Eun Woojeong was acting offended and throwing a fit, Kwon Taehyuk kept avoiding my gaze gloomily, and Ryu Sunghyun was calmly smiling to himself.
Pressure was closing in on me from all three directions, yet I still had no idea why. I had a bad feeling that something had happened which I wouldn’t be able to brush aside casually.
“.......”
Let’s handle Yoon Jeha and J first.
And then... maybe I should look for a chance to run away. Like saying I needed to head to Circle Guild immediately.......
'Not that it’ll necessarily work.'
Feeling the gazes of three S-ranks stabbing into my back, I headed toward Yoon Jeha’s room.

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