The first thing I felt was the cold.
Then came the sharp sting of antiseptic, the damp moisture in the air, the aching emptiness as if my stomach had been scooped clean, the acrid chemical scent of gunpowder crawling up my throat, and the complete absence of taste.
My body curled up from the toes up.
Something heavy was pressing down on my arm.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a head of black hair. A straight forehead, a high nose bridge, closed lips, and lashes thick and unmoving.
Baek Tae-beom had collapsed asleep at the edge of the bed.
I slowly moved my eyes. And then, I recalled what I had done.
Did I get cut properly?
Thankfully, it looked like I had missed any vital organs.
When I gently lifted the blanket, I saw his abdomen wrapped in bandages. I clicked my tongue.
You dumb bastard.
But what could I do? At the thought of Baek Tae-beom getting hurt, my body had leapt into action before I knew it.
It wasn’t my fault. What could I do if my instincts bent inward like that?
The fortunate part was that I wasn’t feeling much pain.
From what I know, Hansung Guild only has one real healing-type Hunter, so it must’ve been them who used their ability on me.
On top of that, it looked like my current healing ability had played a part as well.
I stared up at the ceiling for a moment, trying to piece things together.
Because of me, the First Monster Calamity happened earlier than it should have, which meant Kang Si-hoo lost his parents sooner than expected. The shock awakened him, and he ended up forming a contract with Angrboda.
Angrboda believes she’s a true god, manipulates Kang Si-hoo’s body, and even invaded my soul. She’s using us both to enact her revenge. And her target seems to be this entire world.
Isn’t this basically full-on Ragnarok?
It was clearly a mistake. I must have subconsciously believed Kang Si-hoo would never do anything evil. Because he’s the protagonist of this world.
If he were going to do anything, I thought it would be raging at Odin—not bringing about the end of the world.
My head was beginning to throb with the weight of it all when a chat window popped up.
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Hey honey. Can you hear me?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: No, no, wait—]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Can you see me? Hello?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: I’m not your “honey.”]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Ahahahahaha!]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Hilarious. That was gold. I’m totally using that on my ad later.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: You think this is funny?]
Apollo chimed in, clearly irritated.
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: How noble of you. Throwing yourself to save your Contractor? If you’d died this time, your body would’ve been handed over to Angrboda for good. You realize that, right?]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Why do you have no sense of self-preservation? How are you even human at this point?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: I am human—but I’m a Constellation too. You going to keep nagging me?]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Whoa, Apollo. You nag other Constellations too? I thought it was just me and Dionysus. ㅇ_ㅇ;;; So hurt.]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Shut up, both of you!]
[CH. Private / One More Dazzling Than the Sun: Anyway, what you did was utterly foolish. Are you at least aware of that?]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: Still—how could I just stand there when my Contractor almost died? I care about Tae-beom too, you know.]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: Besides, death doesn’t feel very real to me anymore.]
Maybe it’s because I’ve already died once.
I just couldn’t bring myself to feel anything deep about the idea of dying.
When push comes to shove, I’ve got a body that can be resurrected, so it feels like I can just throw it around however I want. That’s why I rushed in without thinking back there.
[The Constellation, ‘One More Dazzling Than the Sun,’ clicks his tongue.]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: I know I’m going to regret it eventually.]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Apollo, are you worried about this Constellation right now? ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿]
[CH. Private / Free Wind: Are we playing happy families now? ヽ(･∀･)ﾉ]
[CH. Private / One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction: Will you shut up already?!]
Just then, the hospital room door creaked open slowly.
The first face I saw belonged to Lee Myung-won.
He came in wearing glasses, looking visibly concerned, but when our eyes met, his expression shifted into surprise.
Then I saw the man who followed behind him—and it was my turn to be shocked.
The enormous figure who barely squeezed his way into the cramped hospital room was none other than Oh Kwon-hyuk.
“Oh Kwon-hyuk?”
“You’re awake.”
“When did you regain consciousness, Choi Ga-hyeon?”
“Just now.”
Lee Myung-won approached and quietly examined my complexion.
“Song Min-ji said there was no way you’d wake up for at least a week.”
Song Min-ji—if I remember correctly, she’s the only healer in the Hansung Guild.
So it must’ve been her who treated me.
“Any part of you feeling off?”
“Other than the fact that I can’t feel much pain…”
“Then you really should thank Song Min-ji later. Honestly, this is remarkable. Your recovery is abnormally fast. Just like last time—maybe it’s something to do with your skill, Choi Ga-hyeon.”
I held back the urge to blurt out It’s because I’m a Constellation, forcing an awkward smile instead.
“But behind you…”
“Oh. He said he wanted to come visit you.”
“A hospital visit?”
The leader of a guild, coming to visit a mere Hunter?
I looked up at Oh Kwon-hyuk with a reluctant expression, and he spoke with a blank face.
“I’m sorry.”
“…What?”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
I asked, utterly baffled, and Oh Kwon-hyuk continued, his expression pained.
“I couldn’t protect you.”
“…Why would you be protecting me?”
For a moment, I wondered if there had been some bizarre miscommunication between us.
Had I enslaved Oh Kwon-hyuk without realizing it?
Or did the skill Hermes gave me malfunction somehow?
As I furrowed my brow in thought, Oh Kwon-hyuk spoke again, slowly.
“You told me to repay you with my body… but I failed to do so.”
…He’d been holding onto what I said back in the Hansung Guild lobby all this time?
“I couldn’t even be there when it mattered…!”
He looked like he was about to drop to his knees at any moment, so I quickly tried to calm him down.
“Hey… sit still for a second. You’ll wake Tae-beom.”
“……!”
At that, Oh Kwon-hyuk froze like a statue, and as I let out a long sigh, Lee Myung-won spoke in a composed voice.
“From now on, you shouldn’t allow outsiders into the dorm so carelessly, Choi Ga-hyeon. Things like today could happen again.”
“Ah, I’m really sorry about that. There wasn’t anywhere else to talk at the time…”
“We’ve already completed identification on Kang Si-hoo.”
“Really?”
Lee Myung-won nodded.
“Yes. But he had already been declared missing about two years ago.”
“Missing?”
“There were a lot of people who went missing during the First Monster Calamity. It wasn’t as bad during the second, but it seems he used that gap to assume a false identity.”
“So he’s using the identities of people who’ve either gone missing or died.”
“I don’t know why someone that dangerous wanted to meet with you, but… it also seems the fact that he was listed as a D-rank Hunter was a complete lie. We saw how he fought, after all.”
Lee Myung-won showed me the screen of his tablet and slowly swiped his finger across it.
“And from what I suspect, he’s connected to Red Apple.”
“Kang Si-hoo?”
“If you’re going to fabricate multiple identities like that, this is the guild you’d have to go through. Also… Baek Tae-beom, I suggest you stop pretending to sleep. And don’t even think about attacking Oh Kwon-hyuk. This is a hospital.”
At those words, Baek Tae-beom slowly lifted his head from where it had been buried in the bed.
Golden eyes blinked sluggishly.
He looked straight at me, and his expression twisted like he was about to cry.
“Beom-ah?”
“…Hyung.”
“You probably already know this, but Baek Tae-beom was extremely worried and blamed himself a lot. So…”
“Shut up in front of my hyung.”
Baek Tae-beom growled as he pushed himself upright. He let out a long breath, sat down on the edge of the bed, and raked a hand through his hair.
“Beom-ah? What’s wrong?”
“…How can you say that so casually?”
“Say what?”
“You got hurt like that because of me, and you don’t even seem to care?”
His words caught me off guard.
“What are you talking about? I’m the one who jumped in.”
“Hyung.”
Baek Tae-beom scrubbed his face with both hands, then muttered gloomily, almost whispering.
“Have you ever thought about how I might’ve felt?”
“…What?”
“After you got hurt like that, did you ever think about what it did to me? I already lost you once, right in front of my eyes. Did you even imagine what kind of thoughts went through my head?”
I was left speechless for a moment, unable to respond.
Baek Tae-beom bowed his head and buried his face in both hands.
His broad shoulders quivered slightly.
“After you disappeared, saying you had something to tell me, Kang Si-hoo came to me. He told me I’d never be able to protect anyone. Not even you.
And I guess he looked into my family too, because he brought up my little brother… I was so furious I could barely hold it together.”
Baek Tae-beom lowered his head even further.
Silence filled the hospital room.
“But it turned out to be true. I let you get hurt again. What can I even do? I swore to myself I’d never let you get hurt again, that I wouldn’t lose you.
So why does this keep happening?”
“Beom-ah. I told you. This happened because I jumped in. It’s not your fault.”
“I feel like I’m the one who keeps getting you hurt.”
Baek Tae-beom let those words hang in the air before standing up.
“I’m sorry. I need some air.”
“Wait…!”
I instinctively tried to get up, but Lee Myung-won pressed down on my shoulder, and I had no choice but to remain seated.
“Why are you stopping me?”
“And what exactly would you say if you followed him right now? Do you even know what to say?”
“That’s…”
“Sometimes, people just need time to think. Baek Tae-beom is in that kind of state right now.”
Oh Kwon-hyuk, still rigid as a statue, added calmly,
“Seeing someone you care about get hurt right in front of you… there’s nothing more horrifying.”
Lee Myung-won silently nodded in agreement.
That’s when the commotion outside began.
