Chapter 87

“Still…”

“You have a job to do.”

Faced with words delivered in such a coaxing tone, Eui-rim had to yield. Unwilling as he was to admit it, he was thoroughly exhausted. If he pushed himself even slightly harder, he might collapse flat on his back.

They said even rigorously trained Academy graduates took a long time to grow accustomed to real combat. While Eui-rim was not entirely devoid of battle experience, facing hundreds of ghouls alone was a first, and maintaining his composure had drained a tremendous amount of energy. It was only thanks to his mental barrier that he had held out this far. Without it, he would have fainted or spiraled into panic long ago.

Hae-gun waited until Eui-rim activated the Watch of Seclusion before rejoining his companions. Only after Hae-gun stepped away did Eui-rim retreat, and in that moment, he noticed that the corridor beyond the broken wall was drowned in pitch darkness.

How did the three of them navigate that darkness? Did they just wander until they stumbled upon me? But the timing was far too precise for aimless wandering. Could they have heard me striking the wall?

As he peered into the darkness filled with doubts, a sudden clamor rang out. Taking a bag handed over by Son Chaeyoon, Hae-gun pulled out two bladed weapons at once and hurled them across the room.

No—he hadn’t merely thrown them. The two blades embedded in the floor were coated in a thick film of dark blood.

The ghouls went wild with frenzied excitement at the sight of the blood-drenched weapons. They rejoiced as though the objects flying over their heads were fresh human meat rather than cold steel.

Is that blood from the ghouls they just slaughtered? But the color looks far too vivid… Wait. What is that?

Eui-rim’s breath caught as he choked down a curse rising in his throat. Clenching his teeth to suppress a cry, he dismissed his signature weapon to divert his attention elsewhere, fusing his mana into the blade until it dissolved like a closing status window.

Yet no matter how hard he tried to redirect his thoughts, it was utterly futile. From the moment he identified the source of the blood, his eyes remained glued to it.

Coated over the blades was blood drawn from Seo Hae-gun’s own flank. Just as Hae-gun had conjured torrents from monster fluids, he had wrung out his own blood to form the crimson film.

The bloodstained weapons served as temporary bait, plunging the ghouls into disarray. Scattering their focus proved remarkably effective, making the trio’s battle far smoother than before.

“Aaargh! I’m dying!”

When the ghoul hunt finally concluded, Ahn Moonhyuk, who had been swinging his spear until the very end, let out a loud, theatrical groan. Wondering if Moonhyuk had been injured, Eui-rim looked over to find him flopping down onto the floor and whining for a potion, only for Son Chaeyoon to snap back, “You’re not even hurt right now, so why do you need a potion?”

“I need to recover my vitality! Didn’t you bring any vitamin drinks? Yeojin said mixing a potion into one tastes incredible.”

Letting Moonhyuk’s complaints go in one ear and out the other, Chaeyoon retrieved the weapons smeared with Hae-gun’s blood. She took the bag back from Hae-gun and stowed the blades away, during which a surprising fact came to light.

Eui-rim had naturally expected the blood to drip onto the floor, yet not a single droplet fell, as if the bladed weapons were seamlessly coated in laminate.

Just like the crimson membrane that grew by feeding on Seo Hae-gun’s blood and flesh in my previous life…

The mere recollection churned Eui-rim’s stomach, forcing an involuntary dry heave. Smacking his bitter lips, he deactivated the Watch of Seclusion.

“What’s wrong? Are you unwell somewhere?”

Tossing the weapon in his hand to Chaeyoon, Hae-gun rushed over in an instant. His hands moved busily, checking Eui-rim’s arms, shoulders, and sides as if terrified Eui-rim had taken ill.

You’re the injured one, so why are you fussing over me? You even had the bag this time. Why on earth are you moving around without taking a potion?

Only after confirming that Eui-rim was unharmed did Hae-gun obediently let him go. Then, following Eui-rim’s gaze, he glanced down at his own flank and spoke casually, “Ah, this.”

Ah, this? What kind of reaction is that? Was the stuff on your flank ramen broth instead of blood?

“I left it alone on purpose, so there’s no need to worry about it,” Hae-gun said.

“You intentionally didn’t treat it?”

Still unable to make sense of the answer, Eui-rim repeated the question. Hae-gun’s smile only deepened. Reading the answer in his expression, Eui-rim demanded, “Why?”

“I told you. A way to avoid seeing hallucinations came to mind.”

Hae-gun shook his ankle as casually as his tone. Even dusting mud off the soles of one’s shoes would have been done with greater care.

Looking back and forth between the shadow clinging to Hae-gun’s ankle and the wound on his flank, Eui-rim spoke in a cracked voice, “What does an open wound have to do with seeing hallucinations? The fact that you still can’t look me straight in the face remains exactly the same.”

Hearing Eui-rim’s words, Hae-gun hesitated briefly, then reached out and cupped Eui-rim’s chin with one hand as though making a firm resolution. “I can look if I want to. I was simply being cautious until we dealt with those things, just to prepare for any contingency.”

Lifting his gaze at the unexpected touch, their eyes met instantly. Staring quietly at Seo Hae-gun, Eui-rim stiffened upon catching a bluish-gray gleam flashing across Hae-gun’s irises.

…What was that just now? An illusion?

The hand cupping his chin slipped away, yet it felt as though an odd distance had opened between them. Rubbing the spot on his chin where the touch had lingered with an inexplicable pang, Eui-rim listened as Hae-gun brushed back his hair and continued, “See? What did I tell you? I’m completely fine.”

“Using physical pain to snap yourself awake—is that what this is?”

“That’s right,” Hae-gun replied. “Reminding myself that this is reality. Otherwise, I’ll end up dragged under.”

Eui-rim’s question had been half-sarcastic, yet an unexpectedly straightforward confirmation came back.

Chewing over Hae-gun’s words in his head, Eui-rim knitted his brows at an inexplicable discomfort.

‘Otherwise, I’ll end up dragged under.’ That sounded remarkably like an answer born of direct experience. Is it just my imagination?

…Wait. Come to think of it, hadn’t Hae-gun also said earlier that a way to avoid seeing hallucinations had ‘come to mind’?

Just in case, Eui-rim opened Seo Hae-gun’s status window, but nothing had changed significantly regarding his status abnormalities. He remained an entity radiating a powerful sense of foreignness, nothing more than an incomplete existence forced to start anew in an imperfect state.

Standing frozen for quite some time, Eui-rim forced his lips to move. “Would that work for other people as well?”

“Hm? What would?”

“Your method for dealing with the hallucinations.”

Considering the question for a moment, Hae-gun shook his head. “No. It wouldn’t work on the others. To begin with, the hallucinations they see are of a different nature from mine.”

“…You sound strangely certain about that.”

Up until they eliminated the fourth sigil, Hae-gun had seemed to know nothing at all. Had something happened in that brief span? Why was he acting as though he had achieved sudden enlightenment?

Hae-gun chuckled, as if finding Eui-rim’s silent skepticism entirely valid. “I know, right? I’m thinking of quitting hunting and becoming a shaman while I’m at it. What do you think? It honestly feels like I just received divine possession.”

“What? Guild Master, are you possessed by a ghost?”

Startled by Moonhyuk’s voice chiming in, Eui-rim flinched, and Hae-gun’s hand stroked his shoulder in a soothing rhythm. Hae-gun shot Moonhyuk a dry look before turning to Chaeyoon, who was approaching right behind him.

“Finished?”

“Yes,” Chaeyoon replied. “Confirmed kill on every last one, right down to the final straggler.”

“Wow, what a fiery brush-off,” Moonhyuk grumbled, turning to Eui-rim. “Eui-rim-ssi, don’t stay near that man. If you ask me, I don’t think he’s in his right mind yet. On the way here, he suddenly stabbed his own flank with a knife, flooded the entire hallway to soak us to the bone… He was pulling every eccentric stunt imaginable.”

“Stabbed his flank?” Stunned, Eui-rim asked, and Moonhyuk nodded vehemently.

With an exhausted expression, Moonhyuk dismissed the Divine Steed he had summoned. “Yes! He stepped forward saying we just had to go this way, and then out of nowhere, he stabbed himself right in the side.”

Baffled, Eui-rim looked at Seo Hae-gun, only to receive the blithe reply that it couldn’t be helped if he wanted to take precautions. Flabbergasted, Eui-rim opened and closed his mouth soundlessly before he managed to speak.

“Then what about the flood?”

“I soaked everything on purpose, too,” Hae-gun explained. “Monsters derived from the shadow domain are different from ordinary ones.”

Adding that he had intended to explain anyway, Hae-gun brushed his fingertips against Eui-rim’s wet bangs and drenched sleeve. “Those things neither burn in fire nor get wet in water. Aside from physical strikes, almost nothing works on them. On top of that, they even shift their shapes to lure prey, so I just submerged everything first. In the end, whatever gets soaked is human.”

Only then did the torrent that had burst through the crack in the wall make sense, drawing a faint breath from Eui-rim. So that was it. That was why a raging wave had crashed into the room without warning.

The spray had scattered like a sprinkler, drenching the entire space in an instant. The only ones soaked head to toe were the four of them, while the ghouls that let the water pass right through them had charged forward completely dry and unbothered.