107.
Sehun picked up the glass bottle from the floor and placed the worm-like creature inside, then closed the lid.
“That person is not Hunter Yoon Hyunmin.”
Cold eyes scanned Hyunmin, who was still writhing in apparent pain. Unable to understand the situation, Seonghyun looked desperately at Siyun. Siyun opened his mouth with a calm expression.
“Hunter Han Sehun, are you back to your senses? And what do you mean by what you just said?”
Siyun had observed all of Sehun’s strange behavior. He hadn’t immediately intervened when Hyunmin was attacked because the situation seemed to be unfolding in a peculiar way.
The uneasiness he’d felt around Hyunmin also played a part. Despite being guild members who had shared hardships for years, there had been moments since entering the tower when Hyunmin felt like a stranger.
“And what is that thing anyway?”
“It’s what was controlling my mind.”
Sehun gave a puzzling answer to Siyun’s question. After putting the glass bottle in his inventory, Sehun gestured toward Hyunmin.
“Kukukuk…”
Hyunmin was making bizarre laughing sounds while covering his face with his palm.
“…Hyunmin’s face has changed, Guild Master.”
Seonghyun said in a bewildered voice. Though covered by hands, the face revealed between the fingers was different from the Hyunmin he remembered.
“Who are you?”
Siyun’s expression turned cold as he grabbed the collar of the lying Hyunmin, or rather, the unknown man.
“Can’t see well without my glasses.”
Despite facing Siyun’s fierce gaze up close, the man continued to snicker.
“…I recognize that face.”
Hyunwoo, who had been observing the situation, stepped forward. His eyes were filled with rage as he looked at the man, Researcher Heather.
Without delay, Hyunwoo took out restraint artifacts from his inventory and clamped them on Researcher Heather’s wrists and ankles. Click, click, the metal sound echoed.
It was an artifact that also prevented suicide.
“Let’s return to the safe zone for now. The dungeon doesn’t seem to be cleared yet.”
As the situation took a strange turn, Siyun sighed deeply and suggested looking around. The ominous energy continued to ripple from the door guarded by Cerberus.
Normally, when a dungeon is cleared, a portal to the next floor opens, but there was nothing like that.
It could be because they hadn’t eliminated all the other monsters yet, but seeing the door made of thorns, it seemed like new Cerberus could rush out at any moment.
While Hyunwoo and Siyun were restraining Researcher Heather, Sehun picked up Jian in his arms. The number of life recovery potion bottles rolling around exceeded ten.
“His complexion is much better than before. I think he’s past the critical point.”
“…Thank you.”
Sehun glanced up at Seonjun’s words. The end of his voice expressing gratitude was completely soaked with moisture.
“Are you really back to your normal mind now?”
Hyunsu approached Sehun and asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah. If I seem to be losing my mind again, hit me on the head with something. Can you do that?”
Hyunsu’s eyes widened at Sehun’s unexpected request, then he nodded heavily.
Sehun buried his face in Jian’s neck, whom he was holding. The strong smell of blood that overwhelmed Jian’s warm scent made his heart ache.
Because of him, Jian had nearly died. Seeing him still unconscious felt like the world was completely crumbling.
Miraculously, he had regained his senses when confronting Researcher Heather. It was possible because the parasite in his body reacted upon meeting Researcher Heather.
Although he didn’t know how long it had been hiding in his body, he had a feeling it wasn’t a short time.
When they fed the black potion to Researcher Heather, the thing inside his body also reacted. As if they were one.
After removing the worm-like creature from his body, the voice echoing in his head completely disappeared. As reason returned, waves of regret washed over his entire body.
He had responded carelessly, knowing that Researcher Heather was constantly targeting him. Instead of actively seeking him out, he had waited for the other to approach first.
Even though it was to eradicate not only Researcher Heather but all roots connected to him, Jian had almost been lost due to his negligent choice.
His vision kept blurring at the sound of Jian’s faint breathing. He was anxious despite confirming that his heart was still beating.
He was afraid Jian might never open his eyes again. The memory of being controlled by the worm came back vividly.
Remembering how Jian had burned himself to save him made it difficult to breathe.
“I’ll treat your wounds first. The blood flowing from you is making Jian hyung all bloody too.”
Hyunsu sighed softly as he watched Sehun sobbing while holding Jian. Blood from the gaping wounds was dripping onto Jian’s forehead.
As he used the wound healing skill, the skin that had been torn by blades quickly began to heal.
“Let’s go quickly.”
Hyunsu patted Sehun’s back. The Blue Dragon Guild members looked back and forth between Siyun and Sehun with bewildered faces. At first, they thought Sehun had attacked Hyunmin, but the situation had become strange.
The person they thought was Hyunmin had turned into a completely different person. When Siyun gestured to the confused Blue Dragon Guild members, they all followed behind Siyun, albeit with confused expressions.
Jihwan also approached and stood beside Sehun, trying hard to hide his complicated feelings.
“Jian will wake up soon. Don’t worry too much.”
In Jihwan’s view, Jian was not someone who would die leaving Sehun alone. He softened at the sight of Sehun’s tears, which he had never seen before.
Though he was only human-like in front of Jian, Sehun still drew lines with others even after knowing them for a long time.
It felt strange to see him crying as if the world had collapsed.
On the way back to the safe zone, Yongho handled most of the monsters that attacked. Jian’s condition was the most serious, but everyone had various injuries on their bodies.
Although they had killed all the eagle-type monsters, the snake-type monsters swimming in the lava were still a problem.
Each time they jumped up from the floor to attack people, Yongho used teleportation to kill the monsters and turn them into skeletons.
The bony snakes surrounded the group as if escorting them. By the time they reached the safe zone, their number had exceeded dozens.
“Ugh, I’m dying…”
As soon as they entered the safe zone, Jihwan collapsed on the floor. The others were in similar situations.
Sehun took out a makeshift bed with dungeon by-products from his inventory and laid Jian on it. He knelt beside it, and his hands were careful as he wiped the blood from Jian’s forehead and face with his sleeve.
“Sehun.”
Just then, Hyunwoo approached Sehun. Siyun, who was restraining Researcher Heather, was also with him.
“Hunter Ahn Yongho.”
As people’s gazes gathered toward them, Hyunwoo also called Yongho. Hyunsu swallowed dryly at the ominous atmosphere.
It was clear they were going to talk about Sehun’s strange symptoms and the unidentified person who had been disguised as Hyunmin.
Sensing the attention, Hyunwoo looked at Hyunsu and lowered his voice.
“Hyunsu, would you mind going over there with Jihwan for a while?”
“…Can’t I stay here?”
Hyunsu gave Hyunwoo a desperate look. He had always been so curious whenever Hyunwoo had secret conversations with Jian.
“I’ll tell you everything later. Please give us some space now. Please.”
“Alright.”
As Hyunsu reluctantly withdrew, Hyunwoo took out an artifact from his inventory. After twisting the middle of the baseball-shaped artifact, a blue barrier with a radius of 3 meters formed.
“Conversations inside this barrier won’t be heard outside.”
Hyunwoo said, taking a breath. Despite being in a disadvantageous situation, Researcher Heather maintained a calm expression.
Though gagged and unable to speak, he could still moan, but he made no sound at all even with his arms twisted behind him.
“You all know what kind of guild we are, right?”
“The Dark Net Guild’s information network is famous.”
“I know.”
Siyun and Yongho answered in turn to Hyunwoo’s question.
“Have you ever heard of the ‘Jeongho Association’?”
While Siyun just slightly furrowed his brow, Yongho’s eyes changed.
“To put it briefly, it’s an organization that conducts inhumane experiments on abandoned children. The guy Hunter Yeon Siyun is holding is a researcher who works there. He was in a high enough position to lead other researchers.”
After finishing his words, Hyunwoo took a moment to breathe and looked at Yongho.
“Hunter Ahn Yongho seems to have heard of it.”
“…Yes. The Director mentioned it to me once.”
While entrusting him with this matter, Yoonjae had briefly told Yongho about the dangers of an organization called the ‘Jeongho Association.’
Although he didn’t say it was connected to Sehun, since he mentioned it while asking for help with Sehun’s matter, Yongho had suspected there might be a connection.
“Sehun and Jian… were children who were experimented on by the ‘Jeongho Association’.”
At these unexpected words, Siyun and Yongho’s eyes wavered. Sehun continued to stroke Jian’s face as if uninterested, even though Hyunwoo was talking about him.
Researcher Heather’s eyes, which had been calm until now, slowly turned towards the two. Only after feeling the unpleasant gaze did Sehun raise his head.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
