RG 75

The clock ticked. Time was passing. Time that I could neither stop nor change. The ticking of the second hand and Ryu Seonghyeon’s voice swirled together in my head.

“We’re going to protect.”

No, brother. We’re going to die.

I couldn’t say the words, as if my throat was sealed shut. How could I have said such a thing to Ryu Seonghyeon, who was smiling so sadly?

It soon hit me. Perhaps… he already knew. No matter what we did, we were all going to die.

In that case, there was only one thing left for me to do—to die with my people. Anyway, a life without them held no meaning for me. I didn’t even want to keep living a life where I had always been sheltered, always protected.

But then…

“What… what are you saying…?”

Rain poured down as if the sky had been torn open. The air in the office, usually warm, felt unbearably cold.

Song Ji-un, looking at me with a complicated expression, spoke quietly.

“Run away, Seohu.”

“…”

“When the war begins, everyone will be too distracted to notice if one or two people disappeared. Then…”

“Then you want me to run? Alone?”

The absurdity of it made me laugh briefly, without thinking.

Who would have thought Song Ji-un would say something like this? I laughed when all I wanted to do was cry.

I didn’t even know what this emotion was. Had I been disappointed in Song Ji-un, trying to send me away while others were risking their lives? Or was it the guilt of knowing that he was worried about me even in this situation?

“How can I… I can’t do it, Guildmaster. I can’t… leave on my own.”

“You won’t be alone.”

“What?”

Song Ji-un hesitated for a moment before avoiding my eyes.

“In a chaotic world like this, it would be dangerous for a Support to be on their own.”

“Wait a second.”

A terrible feeling crept over me.

My blood ran cold. I didn’t want to hear what came next. But before I could stop him, Song Ji-un spoke.

“Seonghyeon will be with you. You’ll be safe with him by your side.”

“…”

“Leave together.”

Something I had painstakingly built inside me crumbled. I wanted to scream as I felt myself fall into an endless abyss. It hurt. So much that… I could hardly breathe.

“Why… why should I be the only one to escape?”

We had all decided to fight, knowing we were going to die.

I had accepted it because I knew I couldn’t stop Ryu Seonghyeon, who had been determined to protect us without fearing death. I thought we’d die together.

Was I so weak that I hadn’t even been allowed to die with him? And what crime had Ryu Seonghyeon committed to deserve this? To carry me as a burden while running away like a coward?

“If we are going to run, we should all run together.”

“…”

“Everyone wants to live. It isn’t fair to do this to Seonghyeon, either. Why only me…?”

“Seohu.”

Song Ji-un cautiously took my hand. Unlike usual, the warmth that touched the back of my hand felt unnervingly cold.

When I raised my head, I met Song Ji-un’s gaze; this time, he didn’t avoid my eyes. His pale green eyes were deeply sunken.

“The entire guild… feels the same way.”

“…”

“Even Seonghyeon…”

“…”

Song Ji-un kept talking, but I couldn’t hear a thing.

It was only then that I realized what the guild members had truly meant when they ignored me during the meeting, no matter how much I objected. I also finally understood the true meaning behind Ryu Seonghyeon’s words, We’re going to protect them.

My vision blurred in an instant. Blinking a few times, my face quickly became wet with tears.

Ah, this misery. I resented everyone for not even allowing me to die with them, but more than anything, I loathed my own powerless self.

As I quietly let my tears fall, Song Ji-un whispered to me.

“Live, Seohu.”

That pitiful plea sounded like a curse.

I couldn’t hold on any longer and tightly closed my eyes. A deep darkness enveloped me, swallowing me whole. As my mind drifted away, like I was drowning, I asked Song Ji-un.

Guildmaster…

Is my life really worth saving?

***

“…Is it not possible?”

“At this moment… it’s the best we can do…”

The first thing I heard as my consciousness slowly sharpened was the sound of a conversation.

As I opened my eyes, greeted by a familiar voice, the gray ceiling came into view, and along with it, a flood of forgotten pain rushed back to me. Ugh. Groaning, I instinctively clutched my shoulder.

“Hunter Cover.”

The person who noticed I had woken up quickly approached me. Dazed, I lifted my gaze and saw a familiar face looking at me with concern.

“Bro…?”

Ryu Seonghyeon’s eyes widened in surprise when he heard me call him. Seeing that, it felt like someone had poured cold water over my head, instantly waking me up. I quickly sat up, fumbling to feel my face.

‘This is insane!’

Thankfully, my fingers touched the hard surface of my mask, but that didn’t make me feel any safer.

I gasped for breath and glanced around. Only Ryu Seonghyeon and Kwon Taehyeok were in the room, which appeared to be a waiting room. It was the worst-case scenario.

‘Did they see? They must have, right?’

Had anyone else seen it besides those two? Did they figure out my identity? And how much time was left before my skill wore off?

My mind was a chaotic mess.

I should have held out somehow. This situation had spiraled beyond anything I could fix, even with my abilities. My trembling fingers pressed the mask tighter against my face.

“…Hunter Cover?” Ryu Seonghyeon took a step back from my panicked self, his voice calm and gentle. “Relax. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“…”

I took a deep breath and examined Ryu Seonghyeon and Kwon Taehyeok’s faces. Neither of them showed any signs of trying to deceive me.

I couldn’t completely let my guard down, but at least the frantic pounding of my heart began to settle. Swallowing hard, I cautiously asked, “Is this… the waiting room?”

“Yes. We explained the situation to the organizers and borrowed it. The guild members and staff have already left; only Hunter Kwon Taehyeok and I stayed behind.”

“And the time…?”

“A little past 5 a.m.”

The fact that it was even later than I had expected made my head ache all the more.

The game had ended no later than 11 p.m. at most. Since I passed out immediately after the match, I had been unconscious for almost six hours.

‘Great, just great.’

The moment I realized I had lost six hours, Cha Sahyeon instantly came to mind. No doubt he was waiting for me again, without sleep.

Ryu Seonghyeon, who had been quietly watching me exhale a tense breath without saying much, turned to Kwon Taehyeok. “Hunter Kwon Taehyeok, if it’s not too much trouble, could you leave us for a moment?”

Kwon Taehyeok glanced at me. It seemed he also had quite a bit to say to me. After a brief hesitation, he nodded and stepped back. “Understood. I’ll have the car waiting, so come out when you’re done talking.”

“Thank you.”

Once Kwon Taehyeok left the waiting room, Ryu Seonghyeon pulled a chair over and sat down in front of the sofa. It was the first time since my return that Ryu Seonghyeon had approached me this closely, and I flinched without even realizing it.

Sitting with his body slightly leaned forward, Ryu Seonghyeon rubbed his chin for a while before finally speaking, “First, take this.” He reached into his jacket and handed me a white pill, the painkillers he often carried around. “The organizer sent over a C-class Support who used a skill, but the effect was minimal. Your body’s probably still in bad shape.”

Considering I had taken an attack from an S-class, that made sense. I nodded obediently and swallowed the pill.

“Especially your shoulder…”

“…”

“…Sigh…”

Ryu Seonghyeon brushed a tired hand across his eyes, sighing before continuing.

“They said the injury to your shoulder is severe. If we take you to the hospital, they can heal it immediately, but there will be records. That’s why Hunter Kwon Taehyeok and I decided to bring you here to the waiting room instead of the hospital. However, if your shoulder has lasting damage…”

“That’s fine,” I interrupted Ryu Seonghyeon mid-sentence, uncomfortable watching him struggle to explain. I stood up. “This is good enough.”

While my shoulder still throbbed with pain, the rest of my body felt much better than before I passed out. Even though the skill came from a C-class, it clearly had an effect.

As long as I had the strength to leave, the wounds didn’t matter. I grabbed the sword resting on the desk without hesitation.

“Since you went so far as to avoid hospital records, it seems you didn’t mess with my body while I was unconscious.”

“…Mess with your body? What kind of—” Ryu Seonghyeon muttered under his breath, exasperated, as he stood up. “Everyone, including Hunter Kwon Taehyeok and myself, had the same goal. We wanted to help protect your identity.”

“The same goal, huh…”

Over his voice, I could hear Song Ji-un’s voice from my dream echoing in my mind.

Of all dreams to have. I clicked my tongue inwardly and, pretending nothing was wrong, sheathed my sword back into my inventory and turned around.

“Sure. Thank them for me. And pass on my gratitude to the guildmaster of Yesung as well.”

“Huh? Wait, Hunter Cover, what are you—?”

I walked briskly to the window and opened it, prompting Ryu Seonghyeon to rush toward me, realizing something was off.

“The competition is over, so it’s only natural for me to go my own way. Thanks for your hard work, Vicemaster.”

“What… Hunter Cover!”

There was no way to escape without getting caught, with Kwon Taehyeok standing guard outside the waiting room. The only option was the window. After giving Ryu Seonghyeon a quick wave, I threw myself out of the window without hesitation.

‘Wait, what?’

And half a second later, I regretted it. This was way higher than I remembered.

“Hunter Cover!”

Right after Ryu Seonghyeon’s shout, something grabbed me tightly around the waist. He had jumped out after me, holding onto my waist while gripping the decorative edge of the building’s exterior with his other hand.

“…”

“Phew…”

Dangling in mid-air, awkwardly wrapped in Ryu Seonghyeon’s arms, I glanced at him and asked cautiously, “Did we… move to a different waiting room by any chance?”

With a brief sigh, clearly exasperated, Ryu Seonghyeon answered, “Yes. We’re in the waiting room on the fifth floor.”

Originally, Circle Guild’s waiting room had been on the second floor.

I’d jumped out thinking it was the same room. I hadn’t realized it was the fifth floor because the interiors looked so similar.