RG 74

Cover glanced at the status screen with a tired expression before dismissing it without hesitation. Now wasn’t the time to leisurely check rewards. The moment he tried to rise, a sharp pain jolted through him, causing his vision to blur. Stifling a groan, he barely managed to stand before the medical team rushed over to him.

“Cover, let us treat you…”

“No, I’m fine.”

Without a second thought, Cover politely refused their assistance.

Unless it was Cha Seohu, there was no way he could entrust his body to someone else. They might leave traces of his physical information, or worse, use the treatment as an excuse to remove his mask.

“But you’re injured…”

The medical staff were taken aback by Cover’s clean refusal, having expected him to accept treatment. They glanced at his shoulder.

Cover followed their gaze, inspecting his left shoulder where he had been struck earlier. Dressed in a black t-shirt and black denim jacket, the injury wasn’t too noticeable, though his jacket was a bit tattered.

Still, it didn’t look like he was too badly hurt. He was glad he had worn dark clothing to hide the injury. Pointing at the towel the medical team was holding, he asked, “Could I borrow that?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, of course.”

Cover took the towel, wiping his blood-soaked left hand. Even if he could hide the injury, it was harder to conceal the blood dripping down from his shoulder. He cleaned himself as thoroughly as possible, and his hand finally looked somewhat clean.

“Thank you.”

Satisfied, Cover handed back the towel and turned away.

As he passed by Park Huiseok, who was still slumped on the ground in a daze, Cover headed toward the center of the arena, where Ryu Seonghyeon was running toward him from the opposite side.

“Hunter Cover!” Ryu Seonghyeon rushed up to him, concern etched on his face as he looked Cover over. “Are you okay? I heard you were badly injured.”

“I’m fine.”

“But don’t you need medical attention? If you tell the medics—”

“More importantly, Vicemaster,” Cover cut him off and pointed to the stands. “We won. Are you just going to stand here chatting with me? Listen.”

Circle! Circle! Circle!

The crowd’s cheers filled the arena. Only then did Ryu Seonghyeon realize the overwhelming support directed toward them. He blinked, stunned.

“Vicemaster!”

“Whoa! Did we really win?”

It was at that moment that the Circle guild members, faces flushed with excitement, rushed over to Ryu Seonghyeon, embracing him roughly.

Caught up in the swarm of elated guild members, Cover, too, was showered with warm words.

“Hunter Cover, that was incredible!”

“How did you stop Park Huiseok? As expected from an S-class!”

“Thank you so much!”

Though their hands were rough with emotion, and it might have been painful, Cover quietly accepted the praise, careful not to let his mask slip.

White confetti fluttered down across the arena as the names of Circle and Ryu Seonghyeon echoed through the air. Watching the Circle guild members embrace each other in celebration, the commentators gave their final remarks.

— While everyone expected Ronic Guild to win, only Circle held onto hope until the end.

— With this victory over Ronic, Circle has boldly declared their place in the world.

— This guild has a bright future ahead. Great work to all the participants.

***

“Wow… I still can’t believe it.”

“Are you kidding? We beat Ronic? The Ronic?”

“No way. This has to be a dream, right? We actually won?”

Even as they made their way out of the arena and toward the waiting room, the excitement of victory showed no signs of fading.

The Circle guild members, who had been laughing, rolling on the ground, and waving to the crowd, now seemed to be coming back to their senses. They still looked dazed by the whole experience.

I followed behind Ryu Seonghyeon, who was walking at the front, taking slow, measured breaths to avoid drawing attention. The guild members’ chatter sounded muffled, like I was submerged underwater.

‘My condition…’

It was far worse than I’d expected. If I let my guard down even a little, I’d collapse on the spot.

I was grateful my mask hid my expression. As soon as we reached the waiting room… I needed to slip away the moment I got the chance.

Originally, I’d planned to stick around to watch Ryu Seonghyeon’s interview and check on the defeated Ronic Guild’s situation, but… I didn’t think I could hold out that long.

“Congratulations.”

A familiar voice greeted me calmly. When I looked up, I saw Kwon Taehyeok leaning against the hallway wall near the waiting room.

Ryu Seonghyeon shook hands with Kwon Taehyeok, offering his genuine thanks, “Thank you, Hunter Kwon Taehyeok.”

If it hadn’t been for Han Go-eun from Yesung, it would’ve been much harder to withstand the attacks from Ronic guild members. Though Kwon Taehyeok had gotten involved because of me, Yesung had been a valuable ally for Circle.

Han Go-eun, who noticed Kwon Taehyeok belatedly, looked surprised and asked, “Guildmaster! You’re still here? I thought you’d left without seeing everything.”

“I had some business. Hunter Han Go-eun, are you uninjured?”

“Yes. Thanks to Hunter Cover, I didn’t get a single scratch.”

As soon as Han Go-eun said this, everyone’s eyes turned to me.

‘Great.’

I clicked my tongue inwardly, forcing myself to speak in a casual tone, “Protecting a Support is a DPS’s basic duty, right?”

Kwon Taehyeok stared at me for a moment with an unreadable expression before asking in a probing tone, “Are you injured?”

“I am, actually. But are you worried about me now?” I replied playfully, causing Kwon Taehyeok to grimace as if to say ‘I knew it,’ before turning back to Ryu Seonghyeon.

“Has there been any word from Ronic? They returned to the waiting room before we did.”

“No, nothing yet.”

“Their guildmaster looked completely shocked. Even if they reach out, it’ll probably be after they’ve processed what happened.”

“Honestly, though, do you think they’ll even bother? Sure, it’s polite for competing guilds to congratulate each other after a match, but Ronic doesn’t seem like the type to follow those norms.”

“Actually, I have something to say about the guildmaster of Ronic. While they were defending the Nexus, the guildmaster…”

The conversation shifted to Ronic. As I watched the group huddling together and chatting, my vision turned white.

“…”

Instinctively, I reached up to touch my face. My fingers brushed against the cold, hard surface of my mask. My vision alternated between fading to white and returning. When I glanced down, I saw my left hand, which I had wiped clean earlier, was once again covered in blood.

A chilling sensation crept up from my toes, freezing me in place. Gasping, my labored breathing filled my ears. It felt as though someone was choking me, cutting off my air.

‘No, not here…’

A wave of panic crashed over me.

There were too many eyes on me—Kwon Taehyeok and Ryu Seonghyeon included. If I lost consciousness here…

‘I have to hold on.’

Just long enough to get out of here.

Forget about finding a good excuse. I needed to ditch everything and run. I could explain things to Ryu Seonghyeon later. Right now, I just had to escape.

My mind was too far gone to think straight. All I could focus on was the need to run.

As I gasped for air and took a step forward—

“Ah…”

Beeep—! A piercing sound rang out, and my vision went white once again. The strength in my legs gave out, and my body helplessly tilted forward.

Just before I lost consciousness, the white light faded, and I saw Kwon Taehyeok and Ryu Seonghyeon. Their shocked faces were the last thing I saw before pitch-black darkness swallowed me.

***

The world was ending. That was the one truth everyone who survived could agree on.

By the time it became more common to count the number of lucky survivors than the dead, Circle made the decision to join the war against the Great Calamity.

And I was the one who fiercely opposed that decision.

***

“Seohu.” 

Ryu Seonghyeon pulled me out of the meeting, where I had been openly protesting, and grabbed both of my shoulders as he spoke.

“You’ve heard that the number of guilds joining the war is too low. That’s why we have to…”

“Why us?!”

Unable to contain my rising anger, I shoved Ryu Seonghyeon away and shouted.

“Why do we have to do it? Why should we help?!”

“Seohu…”

“Did they ever help us when our guild was struggling?”

“…”

“Why do we always have to be the ones to help? And this war, this is…”

Even in my rage, I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Going up against the Great Calamity? It was a suicide mission. We weren’t joining to protect the world—we were joining to die. Others might not understand, but I knew. I had faced the Great Calamity myself.

Choking back the hot emotions that threatened to spill over, I begged Ryu Seonghyeon.

“Please. Let’s just run away. Plenty of people have already fled. I… I don’t want to see you, the guildmaster, or any of the guild members…”

I didn’t want to watch them die.

As a Support, I couldn’t fight alongside them. The only thing I could do was stand at the very back and witness everyone fall helplessly.

“…”

Ryu Seonghyeon quietly looked at me, then reached out to touch my cheek. His lips twitched as if he was about to say something, but he hesitated and then gave me a bitter smile.

“No, Seohu.”

“Brother…”

“That’s not it. We’re not going there to die…”

His eyes, filled with sadness, looked directly at me.

“We’re going to protect.”