The scent of fresh flowers that had filled the area was now overwhelmed by the sweet fragrance emanating from Lee Sa-young. The sound of his heart pounding as if it were about to explode gradually subsided.
When Lee Sa-young touched the root he was holding, the last remaining stem withered and became poisonous. Even though he had only used his ability once, the garden of life had turned into a pitch-black poisonous swamp. Only after confirming that there was nothing left alive did Lee Sa-young murmur.
"What were you thinking, challenging the master of the rift? …You said he was under a weakening curse."
The latter part didn't seem to be directed at Cha Eui-jae.
"That's exactly my point, Guild Leader."
Seo Min-gi, who was standing behind for a while, quickly chimed in. He was wearing something that looked like an oxygen mask. Cha Eui-jae lightly slapped away Lee Sa-young's hand, which was covering his nose and mouth.
'Are you going to let go?'
With that intention, he glared at Lee Sa-young, who spoke without even turning around.
"Hey, give me that."
"Pardon?"
"You have a spare, right? Give it to me."
"…"
"I know you stockpiled."
"Yes."
A human-sized shadow appeared out of nowhere, carrying a small oxygen mask over its head, and wobbled over. Lee Sa-young nodded his head.
"Make it bigger."
The shadow quickly grew to the size of an adult man. It handed the oxygen mask to Cha Eui-jae before melting away.
[Artisan's Mass-Produced Oxygen Mask (A)]
[Wearing it in a poisoned area detoxifies a certain level of poison and helps with breathing. Better than nothing.]
[Creator: Hong Ye-seong]
Lee Sa-young whispered.
"Put it on as soon as I let go."
"…"
"Blink to answer."
This guy is full of commands. When Cha Eui-jae glared fiercely at him again, Lee Sa-young, annoyed, replied.
"If you don't want to cough up blood again, listen."
No, I have basilisk venom. Not mentioning one trait has come back as a huge burden on Cha Eui-jae.
Having no choice, Cha Eui-jae blinked. Lee Sa-young released his hand. Anyway, since he was given the item, it was only natural to use it, so Cha Eui-jae put the mask on his face. Thanks to the hard work of the basilisk venom, there wasn't much change whether he used it or not.
The surroundings became very quiet. Just when his heart seemed to calm down a bit, it started pounding loudly again. It was so loud that Lee Sa-young, standing right behind him, could hear it. A strange anxiety rose from his toes. Cha Eui-jae deliberately took a slightly deeper breath. Without even that sound, it felt like the recently disappeared anxiety would consume him.
Then a strong arm wrapped around Cha Eui-jae's shoulder and pulled him closer. With his head lowered, Lee Sa-young whispered in his ear.
"Take a deep breath."
"…"
"You're in shock right now, Hyung."
No, this isn't a shock. How many monsters have I seen? Cha Eui-jae was just…
Anxious.
Tap, tap, a small hand patted his shoulder in a steady rhythm. The faint noise penetrated the silence and his breathing. He felt his fiercely beating heart gradually calming down. Cha Eui-jae exhaled a long breath. As his mind started to clear a bit, Cha Eui-jae became curious.
'Why is Lee Sa-young here?'
Why would he come to a grade 5 rift? Even if he got a call, he could easily ignore it. No, he's the kind of guy who would ignore it, he's Lee Sa-young.
As the arm around his shoulder fell away, Cha Eui-jae turned to look at Lee Sa-young. Lee Sa-young was putting his gloves back on. He glanced at Cha Eui-jae's face and smirked as if he understood his thoughts.
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
"…"
"You didn't think I'd come?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"There's no reason for you to."
Lee Sa-young tilted his head slightly.
"Hyung, you really…"
"…"
"Have no faith in people."
Although his tone was as low as usual, it somehow felt mocking. Is this something to talk about trust? It was a rational conclusion. Feeling awkward, Cha Eui-jae rubbed the back of his neck.
"So why did you come?"
"I came to get you out."
Lee Sa-young answered and nodded towards the pitch-black poisonous swamp.
"But to think you were fighting the master of the rift."
Damn it. I should've killed it and escaped first, regardless of torn clothes. Just as Cha Eui-jae's face crumpled, Seo Min-gi shouted from afar.
"Guild Leader! It's good to take care of your customers, but there's something you need to consider!"
Lee Sa-young glanced back.
"What is it?"
"Since you melted the master of the rift instantly, there's a possibility that the rift stone it held also melted!"
As if waiting for that moment, the entire rift began to shake. The ground, the sky, even the air twisted. Seo Min-gi shrugged.
"It's already starting. Could I borrow your shadow?"
The rift stone is a type of magic stone cherished by the rift's master. Breaking it causes the rift to disappear. It's different from an exit appearing when the master dies. When a rift disappears, everyone inside is flung out to where the entrance was. Corpses and survivors alike.
Which means that survivors would see the corpses of other victims caught with them right in front of them. Bodies torn by monsters are horrifying, so rescue teams usually evacuate survivors before destroying the rift to minimize psychological trauma.
Fortunately, there shouldn't be any casualties this time… But Cha Eui-jae had another problem.
'If this continues, I'll run into the rescue team!'
Cha Eui-jae looked around in shock and made eye contact with Lee Sa-young. Lee Sa-young also shrugged.
"Unexpected situation. What do we do now?"
"What do you mean, what do we do?"
Cha Eui-jae grabbed Lee Sa-young by the collar. He looked straight into his violet eyes through the lenses and spoke word by word.
"You don't want them to catch you for destroying the rift stone, do you?"
"…"
"Memorize what I say next in one go. We need to get our stories straight."
Lee Sa-young's lips gradually curled into a smile as he listened to Cha Eui-jae's words.
***
Yang Hye-jin, who had been spat out of the rift as if ejected, kept blinking her blurry eyes, trying to focus. Her stomach churned as if she had ridden a roller coaster fifty times in a row, and her entire body ached as if she'd been beaten repeatedly with a bat. Amid the dizziness, she had only one thought.
'Lee Sa-young, that crazy bastard…'
Why on earth did he destroy the rift before the rescue operation was complete? With her face scrunched up, Yang Hye-jin barely managed to lift her upper body off the ground, using her hands for support. The forced ejection from the rift still felt awful. She could hear the busy footsteps of people around her.
"All hunters who entered the rift have returned!"
"The… The rift's disappearance has been confirmed!"
"Checking the survivors."
"How did they defeat the rift's master so quickly? They were in there for less than 30 minutes."
As she looked around amidst the commotion, Yang Hye-jin saw that the rift management office hunters who had entered with her were groaning and unconscious, unable to withstand the sudden ejection. Being an A-grade, Yang Hye-jin was the first to regain her senses.
As she leaned over, still feeling nauseous from the dizziness, a pair of black shoes stopped near her face. She frowned and looked up.
Jung Bin stood there with a gentle smile. Was Jung Bin the support staff from the Awakened Management Bureau? If she had known it was him, she would have held onto that rascal Lee Sa-young a bit longer before entering the rift.
"Are you alright? Yang Hye-jin-ssi."
"Yes… I feel like throwing up, but I'll be fine soon."
Jung Bin offered his hand to help her up. Yang Hye-jin grabbed his hand and stood up, looking around. Following her gaze, Jung Bin asked.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Guild Leader Lee Sa-young… Where is he now?"
This couldn't be overlooked. It was against the hunter's code of conduct to destroy the rift before the rescue was complete. What if there had been casualties and the survivors were forced to see the dead bodies? Jung Bin, with an awkward smile, pointed behind him.
"He's over there. But…"
"Yes?"
"Well, I did question him once, but… it seems he had a reasonable reason for doing so. I think you'll understand once you see it."
Jung Bin stepped aside slightly. Several ambulances were lined up in the district office parking lot. Sitting at the very edge, with legs crossed, was a dark figure— clearly Lee Sa-young.
He was surprisingly neat for someone who had entered a rift, with a bright orange emergency blanket draped over his shoulder as a sign of the last bit of decency. Beside Lee Sa-young sat someone else.
The face looked oddly familiar.
'…Huh?'
The young man with a cool and neat appearance was huddled under an orange blanket, leaning on Lee Sa-young. His slightly sweaty bangs were disheveled and stuck to his forehead, and his face was particularly pale. Yang Hye-jin recognized the face well.
That's right… She had just eaten hangover soup made by that young man the night before! Yang Hye-jin cautiously asked,
"The one next to Lee Sa-young, isn't he the part-timer from the alley hangover soup restaurant?"
"Yes."
Jung Bin nodded.
"The part-timer awakened recently and came to get an inspection… and got caught up in this incident."
"Oh, my…"
Yang Hye-jin sincerely felt sorry as she checked her wristwatch. It was time for the hangover soup restaurant's ingredient preparation. Despite being busy, he had managed to make time to come for registration, only to end up in such a situation. Yang Hye-jin sighed deeply at the heartbreaking news of the kind and diligent young man. Jung Bin continued,
"According to Lee Sa-young, the rift's master this time had a power that attracted awakeners. Originally, we were supposed to stay near the master to buy time until the rescue was over, but when Lee Sa-young arrived, the part-timer, who had already been captivated, was right in front of the master…"
"Does that mean he killed it?"
"Yes."
An incident that happened while trying to save someone… Yang Hye-jin frowned and groaned, then let out another deep sigh.
"…Normally, this wouldn't just pass, but since it was done to save someone, there's not much to say."
"Haha, right? But rules are rules, so there will still be a fine."
Jung Bin said brightly, looking at the ambulance with warm eyes. Yang Hye-jin furrowed her brows after a moment of silence.
"But… is it okay to leave the part-timer next to Lee Sa-young like that? He must have used his ability to deal with the master. Couldn't it negatively affect the patient…"
"I don't know about that."
"Can you say that so casually?"
"I did bring it up, but Lee Sa-young glared at me as if he would kill me, so I ran away. Hahaha…"
Jung Bin shrugged and laughed. Yang Hye-jin stared at him with a sideways glance, then spotted a newbie retching and quickly ran over.
A little distance away, in the ambulance, Cha Eui-jae, leaning on Lee Sa-young's shoulder, was performing the trick of speaking without moving his lips.
"Did they buy it?"