I used my ability on Kim Woo-jin while I calmed my breathing. Unlike Min Ah-rin, whose legs were already buried in the sand, Kim Woo-jin's body flew into the air.
"Hey, Han Yi-gyeol! You…!" Kim Woo-jin shouted with a distorted face.
I knew what he was going to say, but I didn't listen. I shook my head and walked over to Min Ah-rin.
"I-it… It's dangerous, Yi-gyeol-ssi."
When I got down on my knees and started digging in the sand, Min Ah-rin cried and pushed my shoulder. I didn't care and continued digging.
"I told you I would protect you," I said, as if I promised myself. I dug at the hot sand covering Min Ah-rin's body. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead.
The screams of the guild members that had been disturbing me gradually disappeared. The sand itself was devouring people at random as if it had become a monster.
"…Yi-gyeol-ssi."
Min Ah-rin was eaten up at a rapid pace as if to laugh at my crazy efforts to clear the sand. My arms and palms were burning.
"It's okay, Min Ah-rin-ssi."
Min Ah-rin didn't cry anymore. Her face was so calm that her tears had stopped. On the contrary, I was choked with extreme nervousness.
"Min Ah-rin-ssi won't die here. I know it. I mean…"
Min Ah-rin was one of the important figures around Ha Tae-heon. You couldn't just die in a place like this.
…surely, you couldn't.
Min Ah-rin, who heard my words, smiled faintly. I opened my mouth to say something more, but nothing came out. The terrible feeling that I had forgotten crept out and began to devour my reason.
With her statue-pale face and her closed eyes, Min Ah-rin disappeared into the sand. I couldn't believe what I saw before my eyes—empty, only sand. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet.
It was then that I realized that no one was around.
"Kim Woo-jin…"
Kim Woo-jin, who floated in the air to avoid the sand, was also nowhere to be seen. I staggered to my feet and cried out loudly, "Kim Woo-jin!"
Where were you? You've been following me around so much that I got tired of it, but why did you disappear without saying a word at such an important time?
"Fuck!"
Negative emotions ran up my body from my toes, like the sand that swallowed people. I struggled to swallow my anger and tried to think rationally.
I looked down on the SS-grade gate too much. If I had known this would happen, yesterday, I would have come up with some countermeasures instead of laughing and talking. A heavy sense of regret overcame me.
「You alone ruined everything.」
I heard voices. I covered my eyes with trembling hands. The smell of disinfectant came from somewhere.
「You shameless son of a bitch…」
Hwiiing, the wind scattered the voice away. Stop it. This was not the time. I tried to somehow hold onto my splitting brain.
"Hah, hah…"
Think. There must be a way to solve it. It couldn't end like this. The boss didn't appear yet, so why…
"…Han Yi-gyeol?"
Taking a deep breath, I turned around, frightened by the familiar voice. There stood the missing Cheon Sa-yeon. In the middle of the desert where everyone had disappeared, Cheon Sa-yeon and I stood face to face.
"Hmm. It's the first time I've seen this happen."
"Cheon Sa-yeon…" I called out his name absentmindedly. My mind was complicated. Wasn't Cheon Sa-yeon swallowed by the sand?
"Are—are you okay?" I couldn't even speak formally.
With trembling eyes, I scoured Cheon Sa-yeon from head to toe. Cheon Sa-yeon, holding a sword in one hand and looking at me, was the same as usual. Only then did I let my guard down and sigh.
"People have disappeared… Is it because of the boss monster?"
"..."
"You didn't get swallowed up because you're an SS-rank, right?"
"Yes."
That…
I dryly swallowed my saliva. It was clearly stated in the novel that it was cleared without much damage. Was there still a possibility? If you took care of the boss monster, you could get people back.
'Maybe they're still alive.'
Just the thought that there might be an opportunity calmed my trembling body. I blinked slowly, organizing my thoughts.
It was still too early to be reassured. There might be a time limit before saving those who were dragged into the sand. It was best to find and kill the boss monster as quickly as possible.
"Cheon…"
I raised my head to ask Cheon Sa-yeon about the boss monster and met his eyes before I knew it. I was so focused that I didn't even know he was coming. I instinctively retreated, but Cheon Sa-yeon caught me in an instant.
"Hgh!"
My vision flipped over and my body fell on the sand. Cheon Sa-yeon, who grabbed my neck, pressed down on my struggling arms and legs.
"Damn, what the hell are you doing all of a sudden…!"
"It's strange. You're A-rank."
Cheon Sa-yeon's face looking down at me was expressionless. The pretentious smile disappeared and lifeless black eyes were revealed.
"How come you didn't disappear, Han Yi-gyeol?"
"I—ugh, don't know!"
"And you know the existence of the boss monster."
The grip on my neck gradually grew stronger. I gathered my ability in order to escape.
"Be still."
"Hah!"
I clenched my teeth from the pain—it was like I was stabbed in the chest with an awl. My ability to move, from my heart to my hand, was forcibly blocked.
I twisted my face and grabbed his wrist with both hands.
"You—son of a bitch…"
It was another power Cheon Sa-yeon had: he could block any ability user's energy with his right hand. I never imagined that he would use this cheat-like ability on me, an A-rank.
"It was weird from the start, come to think of it."
Cheon Sa-yeon looked down at me and slowly blinked his eyes. He just looked bored with all of this.
"Up until now, nothing like this happened."
"Hgh…"
"It couldn't be that the woman intervened already?"
Cheon Sa-yeon, who was muttering unknown words, tapped my cheek with his long finger.
"What should I do, Yi-gyeol-ah? Should I kill you here or should I keep you alive?"
Crazy bastard. I gasped for breath and raised the corners of my lips with difficulty.
"Fuck you, you son of a bitch…"
"Hmm."
With that remark, the strangling power became even stronger. My face heated up and my mouth opened on its own.
"Hurgh… urgh…"
My back twisted reflexively and the pain rushed in like my chest was going to tear.
I'm really gonna die.
My eyes were closed as a fear of unknown depth came over me. This was the moment.
"Hah, cough! Haaah, hah, urgh."
The pressure on my neck disappeared and a handful of air entered my open mouth. My neck was as hot like it had been burned. Tears streamed down as I coughed. Cheon Sa-yeon, who had removed his hand from my neck, grabbed my tear-soaked face.
"How pretty."
"Hah, huff, fuck…"
In between the swears I spat out at him, my voice cracked a bit. Under Cheon Sa-yeon, I trembled beyond control with an instinctive fear.
"In the end, it'd be a bit of a waste to kill you."
With that infinitely light attitude, I gasped for breath and glared at Cheon Sa-yeon.
"Actually, I don't care how different you became."
"..."
"I'll spare you if you follow my orders."
"Crazy bastard."
There was no need to think about it. You almost killed me and you want me to follow your orders? How laughable. I laughed at Cheon Sa-yeon.
"That's an expected reaction."
"Let go of me and get the hell away from me, motherfucker."
"Then how about this?" Cheon Sa-yeon's long eyes were softly curved. "If you leave me, I will kill Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin."
"What?"
"Isn't this an enticing offer?"
"…Then that means…" I quickly grabbed Cheon Sa-yeon's arm and asked, "They're both alive, aren't they? What about the others?"
"For now."
"What do you mean?"
"They could die depending on how I act."
My anger grew at his nonchalant attitude. I shouted in a hoarse voice, "They're your guild members! They believed in you and followed you all the way here!"
Cheon Sa-yeon, who heard my words, looked at me quietly without any reaction. It was only me who was annoyed by the uncomfortable silence.
"Cheon Sa-yeon!"
"Really… You've changed a lot."
"..."
"I will save everyone as you say, so please cooperate with me."
"…what if I refuse?"
"Every single one of them will die here. Even Min Ah-rin and Kim Woo-jin, whom you were together with."
I asked with a dejected smile, "Did you bring Kim Woo-jin for this from the beginning? Because he didn't keep an eye on me?"
"Perhaps. I am a very thorough person after all," Cheon Sa-yeon replied, stroking my neck, which had a large red handprint. I realized something.
"Even Min Ah-rin…?"
Min Ah-rin, who came to see me because she was sent by Cheon Sa-yeon. I clearly remembered her smiling face as she said, "I look forward to your cooperation."
"You bastard…"
For a moment, I wanted to slap the young me from the past, who thought Cheon Sa-yeon wasn't that bad.
I knew he was a mean guy who used everything around him to get what he wanted. What the hell did I expect?
"Even if I kill the others, I have to keep those two alive. They'll become a precious leash to tie you to me in the future."
"…why are you doing this all of a sudden? You already have my sister, so why—"
"Sister?"
Cheon Sa-yeon smirked coldly.
"You already know that your sister is dead."