#37
Do-hyeok, who had entered the dungeon, ran quickly. A vast space. Naturally, in a place without landmarks or signs, Do-hyeok’s steps showed no hesitation. There was only one reason. He just had to go where he felt enormous energy. The master would be there.
Ha-seong was probably thoroughly searching the interior of this dungeon whose grade had been artificially raised. He couldn’t let monsters interfere. Moreover, a Nameless team had also been dispatched inside. It was a team composed of hunters without much experience either. They weren’t suitable for a dungeon that had risen to S-rank.
Do-hyeok assumed the worst-case scenario internally and increased his speed even more.
A human figure was visible in the distance. Do-hyeok stopped.
[Trait, Detection Skill (S) activated.]
Fortunately, the dot approaching from far away was green, indicating a person rather than a monster. Do-hyeok turned off his detection skill and stared at the approaching figure.
“Huh? G-Guild Leader!”
Lee Seung-woo, the youngest member of the team that had come out for today’s raid. He approached Do-hyeok while supporting team leader Park Jeong-hyeon. He seemed to feel relieved at the sight of him coming out as support.
“Is Park Jeong-hyeon okay?”
“Yes. Fortunately, he seems to have just lost consciousness.”
“Let me hear the situation report first.”
Do-hyeok felt secretly relieved seeing the two who looked fine. The other team members had scattered, but it seemed everyone was safe for now. It appeared they’d avoided the worst-case scenario he’d assumed.
“You ran away from the master?”
“Yes. We definitely knew it was a B-rank dungeon, but an incredibly strong guy appeared. How did this happen…?”
Do-hyeok didn’t explain to Seung-woo in detail. The fact that this grade of gate had been artificially raised.
“For now, hide somewhere safe. I’ll handle the master.”
“Ah, Guild Leader. By any chance, is another hunter scheduled to come out as support besides you?”
Just as he was about to leave, Seung-woo said something unexpected. Do-hyeok furrowed his brow asking what he meant. Then he slowly explained. Ha-seong’s back that he’d definitely seen earlier.
“……”
“I thought he might be a hunter who came as support… Don’t you know either, Guild Leader?”
Without saying anything, at his complicated-looking expression, Seung-woo only watched his mood. Had he perhaps made some verbal mistake?
“There’s nothing like that. For now, hide as I told you.”
“Ah, yes.”
With those words, Do-hyeok moved his body quickly. Watching him disappear from sight in an instant, Seung-woo clicked his tongue.
Do-hyeok began running even faster than before. He’d thought Ha-seong would be quietly searching or something, but Do Ha-seong had apparently acted differently from his expectations. Not only was he confronting the master monster, but he’d even revealed himself to his own guild members.
This was a clear breach of contract. When Do-hyeok had made the informant contract disguised as an employment contract with Ha-seong in the first place, the most important condition he’d put forward was that he would absolutely not expose Ha-seong’s existence to the outside. In other words, be careful. He’d chosen him as an informant precisely because he was a strong hunter whose face wasn’t known.
If even Ha-seong’s existence leaked to the outside, far from achieving revenge, he might have to start all over from the beginning.
“Really doesn’t listen worth a damn, this hyung.”
Do-hyeok stopped abruptly and muttered. When he’d told him to quietly play the informant role, Ha-seong was lightly swinging a large greatsword back and forth while confronting a monster with tremendous body movements. The monster, which was the size of several high-rise buildings in Gangnam combined, was being toyed with by hunter Do Ha-seong.
Do-hyeok, who had been staring blankly at that sight for a moment, closed his eyes once and opened them. Whatever he wanted to say, he had to resolve this situation first.
Do-hyeok watched impassively as Ha-seong successfully subdued the monster and approached as if nothing had happened.
“Why did you reveal yourself in front of guild members?”
When Do-hyeok asked, Ha-seong’s eyebrows twitched. It seemed to say “I got caught.” Finding that truly absurd, Do-hyeok ran his hand through his hair.
“I never asked hyung to raid dungeons. Of course, combat might be necessary depending on circumstances, but I don’t think I ever told you to reveal your identity.”
Do-hyeok’s voice became heavy in an instant.
Ha-seong wasn’t unaware either. That his actions might have been foolish when viewed rationally. It was fortunate that the hunter named Lee Seung-woo was the youngest and an inexperienced novice, but if it had been an experienced hunter, if that team leader hadn’t lost consciousness and had seen Ha-seong… he might have noticed that Ha-seong was no ordinary person. If that happened, Ha-seong’s value as an informant would be as good as diminished.
“Sorry.”
“Not an apology.”
Rude bastard. Ha-seong cursed like that internally, but since he’d done wrong too, it couldn’t be helped. Still, it wasn’t like he had no excuse. He’d discovered some strange clue from the dungeon’s master. But it seemed better to explain that gradually.
“Your guild member was in danger. The team that came to raid didn’t realize this dungeon’s grade had risen. If I’d left them alone, they would have been seriously injured or… in the worst case, died.”
Though he appealed to the unavoidable circumstances, Do-hyeok’s brow showed no signs of relaxing. The strange sense of alienation felt from his expression. Looking at those eyes that still seemed to reproach him, Ha-seong felt a somewhat strange chill.
“…Are you saying I should have just stayed still? Whether your guild members got hurt or not?”
Ha-seong could never do that. Even in his past world, he was someone who suffered from guilt for days because he couldn’t protect a hunter in a dungeon whom he’d only met yesterday and exchanged a few words with. Protecting and saving someone. That was a mission deeply rooted in Ha-seong’s DNA.
“……”
But Do-hyeok chose silence. And Ha-seong wasn’t unaware of what that silence meant.
“Say it.”
“Everything has priorities. You can’t accomplish everything you want to do.”
As if collapse was about to begin, loud rumbling started from the distance. Monster corpses scattered around. Cracked and collapsed debris. Desolate air and wind sounds. All of those things filled the space between the two.
“Hyung doesn’t seem to understand yet, but this matter is more important to me than anything else. To the extent that I can’t tolerate even a single mistake.”
“So what you’re saying is, this revenge is the most important thing to you, and your team members’ safety is outside your priorities, so it doesn’t matter what happens to them?”
“If you want to understand it that way, do as you please.”
Before long, eyes that had shone blue had sunk coldly to black. Now only chilly air circulated between the two.
“Heartless bastard, this one.”
“I hear that a lot. You should probably make up your mind more clearly. I think I clearly said that half-hearted feelings wouldn’t work.”
Even in the midst of this, blood flowed from Ha-seong’s forehead again. Just when it seemed to have stopped, the wound had apparently reopened. Do-hyeok flinched slightly and tried to approach.
“Hey.”
Then Ha-seong’s firm voice was heard.
“I really don’t like those words. Priorities or whatever, I don’t know about such things.”
Ha-seong couldn’t understand that way of thinking no matter how hard he tried. Even if someone asked him to weigh such things, he would unconditionally prioritize saving people. It was because of that personality that Ha-seong had accepted Do-hyeok’s proposal. Because he couldn’t be someone who would turn away from someone’s request.
“If the same thing as today happens, I’ll do exactly the same thing again.”
“That’s a breach of contract.”
“I just have to not get caught.”
“The moment hyung accepted my proposal, I said we were in the same boat. So hyung should also follow my priorities…”
“Ah, enough.”
Ha-seong wiped the flowing blood with his sleeve. Do-hyeok still frowned and couldn’t take his eyes off that wound.
“Don’t make such things as priorities. You say they exist because you can’t accomplish everything? Then I’ll accomplish everything for you.”
“……”
“Your revenge, and everything else besides revenge—I’ll achieve it all for you.”
Is that enough now? As Ha-seong’s question ended, the collapse was progressing increasingly fast. Before long, the dungeon was losing its form.
“Cha Do-hyeok.”
“……”
“Cha Do-hyeok.”
“Yes.”
“Even if the hunter who was about to be in danger in front of me today had been you, I would have done exactly the same thing.”
Ha-seong left those words and calmly passed by him. The collapse would be completed soon. Before long, the road right in front began to crumble and crack. Do-hyeok stood still and mulled over what Ha-seong had said.
‘Because you were in front of me. I’ll save everyone who’s in danger before my eyes. So don’t say such things.’
A beloved voice was heard from somewhere in that memory. Like listening to a cassette tape that had reached the end of its lifespan, it had now faded so much that he couldn’t even remember what that voice had been like, but those words remained clearly in his head.
Do-hyeok clenched his fist tightly. With that one recalled memory, emotions that had been pressed down inside tried to squeeze through the gaps. They were emotions he’d forcibly buried in the past. Continuing to recall such things made him feel like he was unknowingly becoming weak. So he’d buried them without anyone knowing, even without himself knowing.
“Hey. What are you doing.”
Ha-seong’s voice was heard. Do-hyeok slowly turned his head.
“If dying crushed by a dungeon is your wish, keep staying here. For reference, I won’t save you from that.”
Saying that, Ha-seong took off the hoodie he was wearing and threw it carelessly nearby. In his white short-sleeved shirt, he slowly crossed the entrance.
Do-hyeok stared intently at the spot where he’d disappeared. Then he chuckled pointlessly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
