“I knew this was going to happen!”
Clinging desperately to the jagged edge of the cliff, I shouted. Everything had been going way too smoothly—until someone struck the monster wrong, and I got smacked clear off my feet by a wild swing of its tail. My abdomen throbbed painfully from the hit.
But that wasn’t the real issue.
The problem was that I was now dangling from a cliff, and if I let go, I’d fall straight into molten lava and burn to death.
I’m not afraid of dying—but this isn’t how it should go.
If I melt into the lava like this, how long would it take for me to resurrect? Three years? Five? Ten? Maybe even longer. By then, the world would probably be destroyed.
Pebbles crumbled loose and tumbled down. I could hear people screaming and fighting above me.
“Hyung!”
Baek Tae-beom’s voice called out to me.
“Don’t move! Damn it… You bastard!”
Don’t worry. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. I tried to brace my foot on a rock to climb up, but everything I stepped on crumbled beneath me, only making the situation more precarious.
I drove the staff I was holding in my other hand into a small crevice in the cliff wall and gritted my teeth. The rock I was clinging to was seconds from breaking. My body, hanging from the staff alone, swayed like a pendulum.
Then—
[The Constellation ‘One More Dazzling Than the Sun’ has sponsored you an item.]
I snatched the falling item out of the air. My body tilted dangerously.
“What the hell is this?”
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Eat it.
“You want me to just eat this without warning? Are you kidding me?”
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : You want to die instead? Don’t you know good things come to those who listen to their elders?
“How do you, Apollo, even know that kind of saying? And stop treating me like some kid—”
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Idiot! I said it because I was worried about you!
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Who the hell risks their own life to protect others like you do?!
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Why do you keep obsessively trying to save people?
“What are you even talking about? When have I ever—!”
I was about to yell back but sucked in a sharp breath. The staff I’d barely lodged into the cliff wall shifted, nearly causing me to fall. I clutched the item Apollo had sponsored.
You want me to eat this?
[Beautiful Embrace and Warmth of an Angel A]
[Become an angel. (Duration: 3 days)]
What kind of cursed name and explanation is that? Telling me to eat something like this—how the hell is that reasonable? But with my body about to drop into lava, my only option was to do what Apollo said.
‘If I’m going to die either way, might as well go out trying…!’
I shoved the candy-like item into my mouth—and immediately felt something change in my body. My eyes widened. A tickling sensation spread across my back, followed by the sound of clothes tearing. Soft white feathers brushed past my ear.
“Hyung! Are you okay?”
Baek Tae-beom, peeking over the cliff now that the monster had been dealt with, locked eyes with me—and his expression turned to stunned disbelief. Understandably so.
Because right now, giant angel wings had suddenly sprouted from my back, and a glowing halo was hovering over my head.
With a single flap, I shot upward and soared over the cliff. Every eye turned to me.
Someone murmured,
“Is that what the ability of an unmeasurable-rank Hunter looks like…?”
It’s not.
“Whoa, that’s so cool… Is that angel a Constellation?”
It’s really not.
A wave of indescribable embarrassment crashed over me. I slowly descended to the ground.
As soon as my feet touched down, I folded my wings tight and snuffed out the halo. Then I buried my face into Baek Tae-beom’s chest as he ran up to me. “Hyung, are you okay?” he asked softly, his voice gentle and careful.
I could only groan in response.
“This is so fucking humiliating…”
What am I, five years old? Did they really think I’d be happy about sprouting wings like this? And not just any wings—massive, snow-white, fluffy angel wings. With a literal halo on my head. How is this real. I was sure Apollo had done this just to socially annihilate me.
“What are you talking about? Hyung, you looked really beautiful just now—”
“Shut up. Please.”
Baek Tae-beom chuckled quietly.
“You were right, Hyung. About the monster’s attack patterns. When it nods twice, it breathes fire. When it shakes its head side to side, it releases cold. Thanks to that, we took it down pretty easily.”
Baek Tae-beom gestured behind him as he spoke. I’d already seen the monster’s corpse from above during the descent. It would soon crumble into dust, but that grotesquely massive monster was the biggest I’d seen since that dungeon with Lee Myung-won.
It nearly killed me, too—smacked off by its tail like a rag doll.
“I’m really sorry!”
Jin Ha-yoon, the cause of the whole mess, came running toward me with his white robes flapping, bowing deeply in front of me. He looked utterly panicked, guilt flooding his face as he repeated his apologies like a mantra.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would turn out like that. I really am sorry, I mean it.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m still alive, after all…”
Baek Tae-beom shot him a look full of contempt, but I waved it off and sent Jin Ha-yoon away.
Well—after checking his status, to be precise.
[Viewing target information.]
[Jin Ha-yoon of the Void]
[Title: Of the Void, Sunken, Beautiful Praise…
Rank: A
Status: Cannot be verified.
Contracted Constellation: Currently concealing their identity.
Owned Coins: Cannot be verified.
Owned Skills: Cannot be verified.
Due to skill interference, proper information cannot be displayed.]
Why did I feel so uneasy?
But this wasn’t the immediate issue at hand.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : We need to talk.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : Apollo.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Talk about what?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : I have nothing to say to you.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : What did you mean by saying I prioritize other people’s lives over my own?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Exactly what I said. You still don’t get it?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Even after hearing it from your own Contractor?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : You don’t even value your own damn body! You’ve always been like that! Acting like you’ve got thirty thousand lives to spare!
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : When have I ever done that!
Why was he getting so emotional? I didn’t understand. Whether I took care of myself or not, what business of his was it?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : See? You’re not even pretending to listen.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : This is why I said I had nothing to say to you!
[The Constellation ‘Free Wind’ slaps ‘One More Dazzling Than the Sun’ on the back.]
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : What the hell was that for?!
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : Knew it. I knew this was how the conversation would go. (ﾒﾟ皿ﾟ)
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : Why couldn’t you just say you were upset because he wouldn’t let you worry about him?
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Who said I was worried?!
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : Ga-hyeon, believe it or not, all that yelling Apollo’s been doing—he did it because he was worried about you.
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : Just like your Contractor. You get what I’m saying?
I was struck speechless for a moment.
‘He was worried… about me?’
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : He was scared you’d get hurt by always putting others first. Scared something really terrible would happen. He’s been anxious this whole time.
[CH.#fdl990/Free Wind] : And you think your Contractor is any different? Probably even more so than Apollo. But he doesn’t say anything because he respects your choices.
Suddenly, I felt strange. Maybe I’d been underestimating myself all this time without even realizing it. I’d grown so used to having nothing, to never being exceptional, that I kept pushing away the feelings others gave me.
When was the last time anyone had worried about me? Had there ever been such a time?
Had I ever truly worried about myself?
Of course not. For someone like me, that kind of concern was a luxury too far out of reach.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : I’m sorry, Apollo.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : I wasn’t worried.
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : I’m sorry for making you worry.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : I said I wasn’t worried!
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : ……
[CH.#fdl990/One Who Seeks to Prevent Destruction] : I’ll try to do better.
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : ……
[CH.#fdl990/One More Dazzling Than the Sun] : Do whatever you want.
“What’s wrong, Hyung?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
We collected the bracelets from the dead and treated the wounded, then continued moving with the group. I glanced around. At best, only about fifty people remained. Less than half of those who entered with us.
‘Looks like more ran than died…’
But I couldn’t blame them. After watching so many people die right in front of you, how could anyone fault those who fled?
“There’s a staircase up ahead!”
[A new quest has been updated.]
[Dungeon <Tower of Hellnest>]
[??? ??? Final Floor ???
Estimated Rank: S
Reward: ???]
“Is that… a house?”
Someone murmured with uncertainty.
As we climbed the stairs, what came into view was a massive cluster of mansions—and, at their center, a towering palace.
