Chapter 90

“I mean, sure, we did,” Moonhyuk murmured. “We just called them supporters for convenience, but most were mental-type hunters.”

“I see.”

“Yup. With Cheongho, what with the Association’s regulations and all… Anyway, because of various circumstances, we can’t easily recruit elite members. We tend to temporarily bring in necessary personnel depending on the situation, so whenever securing a healer was tough, we used to contract mental-type hunters with buff or debuff skills.”

“What about Hunter Hwang Sejun?” Eui-rim asked. “He’s a mental-type hunter too, isn’t he?”

“Ah, that punk is a bit of a special case even among mental types,” Moonhyuk said. “You can basically assume he doesn’t have any buff-type skills.”

Listening to the explanation, it roughly made sense. Eui-rim had wondered why the supporter contracting process was so systematic, and it turned out they had frequently signed aide contracts. They hadn’t merely brought in healers as contract workers.

“Still, there has never been anyone who had Supporter clearly listed as a trait like you, Eui-rim-ssi,” Hae-gun noted.

“Ah, shit! You scared the hell out of me!” Moonhyuk yelped.

As Seo Hae-gun soundlessly approached and cut into the conversation, Ahn Moonhyuk leapt into the air on the spot. Moonhyuk promptly marched over to Son Chaeyoon and began grumbling nonstop. Judging roughly by the shape of his lips, he seemed to be mouthing, ‘He won’t even let me talk to him for more than three minutes.’

“Besides, possessing a time skill makes you better than most high-grade mental types,” Hae-gun continued smoothly. “If you had intentionally announced this to the world, Eui-rim-ssi, I believe quite a few places would have made scouting offers.”

At Hae-gun’s words, Eui-rim’s eyes naturally sought him out. After hesitating, Eui-rim voiced a thought that had suddenly crossed his mind.

“Um, Seo Hae-gun-ssi.”

“Hmm?”

“This is strictly a hypothetical assumption based on the premise that there was no error in my status window and that I possessed these exact same stats from the very beginning, but…”

“Go on.”

“If I had revealed my abilities to the world under those circumstances, would you have made me a scout offer as well, Seo Hae-gun-ssi?”

The Scales only unlocked parts of the status window when life hung in the balance, and the contents of the abilities seemed to shift according to the equilibrium, but… even so, curiosity was unavoidable.

What would it have been like if he had met Seo Hae-gun with his traits and skills already laid bare? Perhaps they could have smoothly signed a contract without having to worry about Hae-gun’s wariness. “I’m not sure,” Hae-gun answered thoughtfully. “Would I have been intrigued? I certainly would have thought you were useful, but… I don’t think I would have readily made an offer.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s no way the Association would welcome such a talented individual joining our guild,” Hae-gun replied.

Eui-rim was left speechless by an answer entirely contrary to his expectations. Wait. Why are the Association’s regulations being brought up here?

“Isn’t recruitment allowed for up to eight members including the Guild Master?” Eui-rim asked. “Besides, my rank isn’t even on the higher end.”

“None of that matters,” Hae-gun said. “What counts are the skills and traits you possess, Eui-rim-ssi. On top of stopping time, you can add buffs and even perceive precognitive visions—who would look at you as merely a D-rank?”

“Yet the limitations are just as clear.”

“There are plenty of New Humans in this world whose limitations are far worse than yours, Eui-rim-ssi. Someone of your caliber can be considered well-mannered luxury.”

Because he had lacked so much compared to the skills he held, Eui-rim hadn’t realized it, but listening to Seo Hae-gun, his stats were certainly not bad by conventional standards.

It’s true that the Scales pushed its limits.

Had it not been for the crushing pressure of having to stop the Fragments of the Origin, Eui-rim, too, would have taken pride in the abilities he possessed rather than brooding over his shortcomings. “So,” Hae-gun prompted. “What do you think, Eui-rim-ssi?”

“About what?”

“The status window errors haven’t all been resolved yet, right? Do you think your stats will increase even further from here?”

“Uh… and what if they do?”

When Eui-rim asked without grasping what he meant, Seo Hae-gun’s eyes crinkled with amusement. Hae-gun lightly pinched Eui-rim’s cheek, let go, and then said something completely out of left field instead of answering, “You know our contract still has several months left, right?”

“Yes. I know.”

“Mm, then that’s fine. I just need to put in more effort for the rest.”

As Eui-rim stared blankly, wondering what on earth Hae-gun was babbling about, Hae-gun leaned down and whispered directly into his ear, “I’ll work hard to become your unshakable ideal type. Since material things alone won’t be enough to hold on to you.”

What did I just hear? Unshakable… what?

“Since you said I was your exact taste to the point of wanting to date, I’ll do my absolute best to groom my face and build my physique… Mmph.”

“You promised not to tease me.”

Tightening his jaw as he spoke, Eui-rim’s tone came out more gritted than usual.

This man, seriously. When did we make that promise, and he’s already breaking it?

Seo Hae-gun simply laughed against his palm, as if finding his reaction immensely amusing. A tickle grazed Eui-rim’s skin every time the man’s mouth curved into a grin.

“Now your face is worth looking at.”

“Pardon?”

Gently peeling Eui-rim’s hand away, Hae-gun straightened his back and said, “Your expression has been stiff as if you’ve been on edge this whole time. Feel a bit more refreshed now?”

Was I tense?

…I wasn’t sure, but my mind hadn’t been at ease. My emotions had been swinging up and down because of Seo Hae-gun, too.

“If you’re feeling better, let’s get moving,” Hae-gun said. “Chaeyoon’s more hot-tempered than she looks. If we dilly-dally, she gets cranky.”

Eui-rim’s halted feet moved at the mere touch of Hae-gun’s hand on his back. Rubbing his face to smooth over the awkward heat, Eui-rim hurried forward toward the two ahead.

Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Yet at that instant, their surroundings abruptly shook as the structure of the maze began to morph.

Following a violent tremor that made it difficult even to keep their footing, the path behind them twisted out of shape. “Moonhyuk-ah!” Hae-gun shouted.

“I know!” Moonhyuk yelled back.

Alongside Ahn Moonhyuk’s reply, four Divine Steeds were summoned. Without needing to decide who went first, each of them mounted a steed and fled the corridor the moment the walls behind them collapsed like dominoes.

Even while hugging the horse’s neck and crouching as low as possible, the pressure from the speed was immense. Galloping through the corner-riddled darkness relying on a single mote of light demanded balance on an entirely different level from running on flat ground, making it difficult even to hold on.

Crash! Thud!

Every time the flooring or ceiling collapsed, a tumultuous din reverberated. Crouching a bit lower, Eui-rim struggled to keep his wits sharp.

It’s fine. It’s not like the entire maze is collapsing. This was a place we had to leave anyway. The fact that the light hasn’t gone out means the path to our destination isn’t blocked.

“Huh?” Chaeyoon gasped.

Just then, Son Chaeyoon and Ahn Moonhyuk, who were riding in the lead, hastily reined their Divine Steeds to a halt. The light, which had been darting along at the speed of the steeds, vanished beyond the wall in a flash.

As if nothing were actually blocking the way ahead, the light simply slipped through solid stone and disappeared without a trace.

…Damn it!

“Hunter Eui-rim! Wait a second!” Chaeyoon cried.

As he bolted past the two, Chaeyoon’s urgent voice reached him, but there was no time to look back. Squeezing his eyes shut, Eui-rim held his breath.

If it were a truly impassable wall, the light wouldn’t have phased through it. Instead, it would have circled around and around to let us know we needed to smash the barrier.

So I can pass through. I just have to trust and move as the light guided.

Screeech—

Moments later, blinding white flared across his vision as a sharp ringing sounded in his ears. Forcing his eyelids open amidst a crushing pressure that enveloped his entire body, an open expanse resembling the entire Isolation Ward combined came into view.

Above the wide clearing, the fifth sigil was etched in place of a ceiling. Like the one-eyed shadow that had blanketed the heavens in the previous life, the sigil sculpted into a pitch-black form looked down on them, weeping reddish-purple blood like tears.

Kaaa-boom!

“Ugh!”

A staggering impact struck right after his eyes met the sigil. A crushing blow comparable to a meteorite surged in, to the point where the bracelet that had barely held on shattered along with its final protective barrier.

“Guild Master Kim Si-hoon?!” Eui-rim gasped.

Turning his gaze, Eui-rim saw Kim Si-hoon standing there, levitating steel furniture and pipes with telekinesis. His eyes were stained pitch-black without a trace of white, a hideous sight that clearly showed he had been tainted by the shadow and lost his mind.

And again, an iron bed hurtled toward Eui-rim. It all happened in an instant, before he could even dodge.

Crash!

Yet the iron bed was blasted away before it could even come near him.

Having breached the clearing right after crossing the wall behind him, Seo Hae-gun detonated a torrent of water, slamming every piece of metal furniture into the far wall.

“Ke-heck!” Si-hoon choked.

Closing the distance to Kim Si-hoon in a single bound, Seo Hae-gun seized the bastard by the throat.

Thud!

A shockwave strong enough to shake the floor rattled the area, and dark red frothy blood bubbled from the mouth of Kim Si-hoon, who had been slammed violently into the wall.

The moment Ahn Moonhyuk and Son Chaeyoon entered the clearing, Eui-rim froze time. Halting Kim Si-hoon’s skill took precedence over anything else right now. Though most of the metal hurtling toward them had been destroyed, Kim Si-hoon’s telekinesis could weaponize even small pebbles, making an absolute shutdown the only viable choice.