Chapter 321
About an hour passed.
The sun tilted little by little. During that time, Cha Sahyeon stood there like a doll, not showing so much as an inch of movement.
His long hair fluttered in the wind. Only the green eyes revealed between the strands shone vividly.
Sitting with his back against the rooftop railing, Eun Woojeong consciously slowed his breathing. An hour of rest had made his wounds only a little better, and it was still not easy to move his body.
'Cha Seohu.......'
With arms folded, Kwon Taehyuk, who had been watching Cha Sahyeon, swallowed his impatience as he thought of Cha Seohu, whereabouts unknown.
They had quietly waited for Cha Sahyeon’s response for an hour, but even that was reaching its limit.
'Should we wait more? Or did something go wrong?'
The fact that Cha Sahyeon stood there with an emotionless face only made him more on edge.
Ten more minutes passed. Just as Kwon Taehyuk, unable to endure it, was about to speak, Cha Sahyeon lifted his head.
From the far side of the sky, a pitch-black bird flew in. “Screech,” it cried shortly, then flapped its wings and perched on the arm Cha Sahyeon extended.
After holding the bird’s gaze for a moment, Cha Sahyeon spoke.
“...Found him. We move now.”
“What? Wai—”
Before Kwon Taehyuk could stop him, shadow seized the ground beneath their feet in an instant.
Their S-rank bodies were helplessly swallowed by the black shadow that spread flat across the rooftop floor. Feeling his body lift as if floating, Kwon Taehyuk’s eyes flew wide.
Everything before his eyes turned pitch-black. And his senses were deleted.
All he could see was darkness. He couldn’t even see his own body. A chill ran down his nape as instinctive terror surged.
It felt as if he had suddenly been dropped into the middle of space. Before he could move his body gone cold and rigid, the darkness washed away and a new scene appeared.
They had moved from the rooftop to somewhere else through the shadow. In less than the blink of an eye.
Kwon Taehyuk swallowed dryly and looked down at his own body.
'That brief moment felt like days had passed.'
His gaze naturally turned to Cha Sahyeon’s back as he walked ahead.
The thought he had had again and again rose up once more. Was it really all right to leave that existence by Cha Seohu’s side? Was that the right choice?
'...Enough. We have to find Cha Seohu first.'
Forcing down his confusion, Kwon Taehyuk followed after Cha Sahyeon. Ryu Sunghyun, Eun Woojeong, and Mook Jeongho also set off.
“Where are we?”
When they emerged from a collapsed building, a desolate street spread out before them.
A place that could once have been a city. Everything had been swept away by a powerful force, leaving nothing behind.
Walking a little farther, Ryu Sunghyun soon spotted something lying on the ground.
“...A corpse?”
They were people lying dead. Bodies with not a single visible wound—that was strange, and all the more chilling.
The sky was turning the color of dusk. Following the sky, the surroundings turned red as well.
A space that had felt uncomfortably realistic now looked bitterly unreal.
As he moved his feet slowly, Kwon Taehyuk finally stopped in front of one of the bodies.
“......”
His breath paused for a moment.
Blades fallen here and there on the ground. Clothes dirtied by dust. The man lying there with eyes closed, peaceful as if asleep, had a very familiar face.
Facing his own corpse in an unfamiliar place stirred emotions beyond explanation. Just then, as Kwon Taehyuk stood blankly looking down at his own body—
“...What is this, even.”
He heard Ryu Sunghyun mutter in a rough voice.
At Ryu’s feet also lay a corpse with a familiar face.
However, unlike Kwon Taehyuk’s, Ryu’s body lay straight, as if it had just been held in someone’s arms.
And right beside the corpse—
An oval ring of light hovered, rippling.
It resembled the unidentified rift they had entered, but it flickered with a gorgeous, uncanny red light.
Everyone realized at once. The “exit” Cha Sahyeon had been searching for was precisely that.
Kwon Taehyuk clenched his fist tight.
It was truly fortunate that they had found the exit. If they got out through that, they would be able to find Cha Seohu too.
But the process was twisted beyond belief.
What even was this space? What was the identity of the B-rank Cha Seohu they had encountered here?
And this place... what did it signify?
It was far too elaborate to have been slapped together however those cult bastards pleased. This wasn’t something they could quietly bury and move past.
With a face as pale as Kwon Taehyuk’s, Ryu Sunghyun, looking back and forth between his own corpse and the exit, spoke in a suppressed voice.
“...Let’s go. We have to find Hunter Cha Seohu.”
Cha Sahyeon, who had been quietly watching the two, entered the exit first at those words. The S-ranks then headed into the exit one after another.
***
“Seohu. Have you calmed down a bit?”
Ryu Sunghyun, who had stepped out, returned. He was holding his snow-white mug.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed where Cha Seohu sat, he handed him the mug he held. As Seohu wrapped his hands around the white mug, warmth spread along with a savory scent.
Milk warmed gently with honey.
No matter how much Cha Seohu grumbled that he wasn’t a child, whenever he looked down, Ryu Sunghyun would always take care of him like this.
As warmth spread through his cold hands, his tension eased on its own. Just for today, Cha Seohu didn’t grumble and obediently drank the milk.
Watching him drink, Ryu Sunghyun gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“It’s okay. A bad dream is just a dream. A dream that ends when you wake up. You know that, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“Finish your milk, rest a little, then let’s go have dinner with the others. And how about you sleep over at hyung’s place tonight?”
Cha Seohu’s fingertips flinched, and he lowered his gaze.
“No. That much is...”
“You were really startled. What if you sleep alone and have another strange dream? If you wake up in the middle of the night, there won’t be anyone.”
There won’t be anyone.
At those words, Cha Seohu’s shoulders jerked in a small flinch. The eyes staring down at the milk trembled faintly.
Looking at him, Ryu Sunghyun smiled softly and patted his shoulder.
“Seohu. I’ve said it again and again, you’re always welcome to come over. I wish you’d stop thinking you’re being a burden. Hyung is really going to get hurt feelings.”
“...But sleeping over isn’t just hanging out.”
“If you’re at an older brother’s place, sometimes you spend the night while hanging out. All the more so when you’ve had a bad dream like today. Ask other people—everyone will say there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Cha Seohu hesitated, gauging Ryu Sunghyun’s reaction.
'Is that really so...?'
Cha Seohu had no one to ask a question like that of, besides guild members.
And asking guild members felt awkward somehow, since they all knew Ryu Sunghyun.
In the end, unable to refute, Cha Seohu nodded. Ryu Sunghyun’s smile deepened.
“Then after dinner, you’ll clock out with hyung. All right?”
The hand that had been kindly resting on his shoulder had, before he knew it, slid down to his waist.
As he wrapped an arm around Seohu’s waist and applied just enough pressure, Seohu’s body tilted sideways and leaned deeper into Ryu Sunghyun’s arms.
“Until then, rest well, Seohu.”
At Ryu’s words, a strange ripple spread out. Not noticing it, Cha Seohu’s eyes grew murky.
“Mm.......”
Answering meekly, he blinked slowly, then his eyes softly closed.
The mug in his hands dropped down. The cup did not strike the floor; it fell into an endless dark of consciousness.
***
When they passed through the exit and left the space, the first thing they felt was the scent of flowers.
A headachingly thick, acrid scent of blossoms.
Kwon Taehyuk, his eyes tightening at the corners, hastily covered his mouth and nose with his hand. Then he looked around.
A dark sky choked with thunder-flashing black clouds. A rough wind. A wide field spread out, filled with swaying, vivid red flowers.
“Ah, I might throw up.”
Murmured Eun Woojeong, who had come through last. Behind his back, the exit they had crossed turned into a ring of light and vanished.
“Wait, I sense energy.”
At Ryu Sunghyun’s words, everyone turned their heads toward the direction of the aura.
It was stronger than S-rank. Kwon Taehyuk, who had been about to draw his ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) weapon, stilled his hand. Beside him, Ryu Sunghyun’s eyes widened.
Through red petals drifting like snow, the figure revealed itself.
Soft brown hair, swaying in the wind. Kind, smiling eyes, and bright brown irises shining distinctly.
“We have guests, Seohu.”
The man, speaking in a voice filled with affection, stroked the arms looped around his own neck.
At the same time, wings of pure white light unfurled from the back of the person holding him. Floating into the air as if to shield the man, the one who appeared—whom they had all sought so desperately—was Cha Seohu.
Lifting his head with hazy eyes, Cha Seohu buffed the man he held, and the man’s aura grew even stronger.
“Good boy.”
Smiling in satisfaction, the man—another Ryu Sunghyun—raised his hand. Vivid yellow light flashed like lightning.