EFME 24

“Right, Dakyung. Nice to meet you. Are you a Hunter, Dakyung?”

“No. I’m not an awakened one.”

“I see. I am. A D-rank, though.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Wondering how a D-rank got into Melior’s auction, aren’t you?”

Pedro asked in a meaningful voice. Sunyul, not understanding the question itself, tilted his head.

“Can’t D-ranks attend the auction? There are non-awakened people here too.”

The man was at a loss for words for a moment, then grinned.

“……Well, usually, people think a D-rank wouldn’t be able to get into a place like this. You’re not prejudiced, Dakyung.”

Pedro smiled and patted Sunyul’s back. He must have been telling the truth about being a Hunter, because he was quite strong and it hurt.

“My family has a lot of money. That’s why I could attend.”

“That’s great. Congratulations.”

“Yes, it is something to celebrate.”

Pedro smiled smoothly. Then he moved a little closer to Sunyul, lowered his voice, and asked secretively.

“Are you Kwon Muyoung’s partner?”

“Partner?”

“His lover.”

“What?!”

Sunyul was startled by the question he had never even imagined.

“N-No, I’m not that.”

“Your face is red.”

“It’s just, because you’re saying strange things……”

A lover. That was truly ridiculous.

……Was it really so ridiculous?

Aren’t all possibilities open for relationships that are formed later in life? It would be impossible for Sunyul to become Muyoung’s biological younger brother, but a lover might be possible.

Of course, he couldn’t imagine himself being in a romantic relationship with Muyoung.

‘Isn’t a lover something more… something, sweet and affectionate? Heart-fluttering.’

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ clicks his tongue, saying this is why virgins are hopeless.]

Sunyul ignored the constellation’s message, which seemed to be looking down on him.

The conclusion was that him and Muyoung being lovers was absurd.

“Kwon Muyoung doesn’t get along well with other people. I just asked because I thought if someone came with him, they might be his lover.”

“Absolutely not.”

Seeing Sunyul strongly deny it, Pedro chuckled.

“You’re denying it so much, it’s suspicious.”

“I’m just denying it because it’s not true……”

“Right.”

Just then, the warning alarm sounded once more. With a sense of unease, Sunyul opened his smartphone.

ᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴄɪɴɪᴛʏ ᴏғ xx ʀᴏᴀᴅ, ᴜɪ-ᴅᴏɴɢ, ɢᴀɴɢʙᴜᴋ-ɢᴜ, sᴇᴏᴜʟ, ᴜᴘɢʀᴀᴅᴇᴅ ғʀᴏᴍ ᴀ-ʀᴀɴᴋ ᴛᴏ s-ʀᴀɴᴋ. sᴛᴀʏ ɪɴᴅᴏᴏʀs. ᴘᴇᴅᴇsᴛʀɪᴀɴs, ᴇᴠᴀᴄᴜᴀᴛᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀᴇsᴛ sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ.

ᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟᴇᴅ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇ (ᴜʀʟ)

sʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɢᴜɪᴅᴇ (ᴜʀʟ)

“Tragic news.”

Pedro, who had also checked the text notification, looked around. People were murmuring.

“Shouldn’t we go to the underground shelter?”

“It’s hard to escape from the basement.”

“I think it’s fine here, the shield is A-rank……”

“But the dungeon is S-rank.”

“Just because it’s an S-rank dungeon doesn’t mean all the monsters are S-rank.”

“They said Kwon Muyoung went towards the dungeon. With Kwon Muyoung there, the monsters won’t come this far.”

At first, people were relatively hopeful. Sunyul also passed the time making small talk with Pedro. But as time went on, the situation changed.

“Hey, but shouldn’t he have caught them by now? Why is it taking so long?”

“Everyone, calm down! It will be alright.”

“How do you know it’s safe when you don’t even know the situation? If the number of monsters is large, they could easily break through the encirclement.”

“Fuck, who doesn’t know that? So what do you suggest we do? Where else is safer than here?”

The anxiety slowly spread. At first, people didn’t feel much anxiety. But as they shared their anxious stories little by little, it grew larger and larger, like a snowball rolling down a snowy field.

Only Sunyul, who hadn’t experienced the dangers of a dungeon, remained calm. It was also because he trusted Muyoung.

“……You seem quite at ease, Dakyung. Aren’t you scared?”

Pedro, who had been listening to the people chattering, spoke to him. Sunyul nodded.

“I’m not scared. The Guild Master went, so it will be okay.”

“You don’t have something else you’re counting on?”

Pedro asked in a suggestive voice. Sunyul, failing to notice the strange nuance, tilted his head.

“Something else I’m counting on?”

“Yes. You, by any chance……”

Thud. A dull sound cut off Pedro’s words and echoed through the shelter. It didn’t end with just one. Thud, thud-thud, thud-thud-thud-thud, the sounds continued in succession.

Everyone’s gaze turned at once to where the sound was coming from. Looking at the window, they saw dozens of birds crashing against the shield. If they were ordinary birds, they would have been knocked out long ago… but the birds with four wings were clearly monsters.

“Ah, ahhhhhh!”

People instantly fell into a panic. Sunyul was taken aback as well. As he stood frozen, watching the faint blue light of the shield swirl, a message from the constellation popped up.

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ warns you to run.]

[The ‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ warns you to be careful of the man in front of you.]

What on earth does that mean?

“……Dakyung.”

Before Sunyul could fully understand the constellation’s words, Pedro called his name in a low voice.

“You… it’s you, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

“You’re the one who summoned them, the monsters!”

As Pedro shouted, a few people turned to look their way. Pedro’s body trembled, thoroughly agitated. Sunyul, extremely flustered, shook his head.

“What are you talking about? How could I summon monsters……”

“You’re that, aren’t you. That……”

“What?”

“Item.”

Pedro’s eyes, as he spat out the word, glittered with madness. At the same time, Pedro lunged at Sunyul. In his hand was a dagger, which he had pulled out at some unknown point.

“……”

Sunyul couldn’t even scream.

In an instant, the sharp blade tore through his skin and sliced his flesh. As the blade, which had cruelly gouged his insides, was pulled out, blood gushed out.

“This bastard, this, you monster!”

The thoroughly agitated Pedro didn’t just stab once. Like a madman, he slammed the dagger down. He raised his hands to block the successive attacks, but it only resulted in more wounds.

“W-Who are you?! Are you crazy?”

“Crazy bastard! Somebody stop him!”

It hurt. It was terribly painful, and frightening. He wished all of this were just a dream.

As the screams echoed from a distance…….

Sunyul lost consciousness.

⊹₊｡ꕤ˚₊⊹

A sharp, sterile smell pricked his nose.

In a reality that felt somewhat detached, Sunyul, with his eyes closed, slowly mulled over what had happened to him.

He wanted to think it was a dream, but the horrific pain he felt just before passing out could never have been a hallucination.

“Lim Sunyul.”

He heard Muyoung’s voice from beside him. Sunyul lifted his trembling eyelids. Muyoung’s form filled his vision.

“It’s okay.”

Muyoung took Sunyul’s hand. The warm, firm hand enveloped Sunyul’s, which had grown cool.

“It’s okay now.”

“……”

Sunyul forced a smile and nodded. The thought of the moment he was stabbed was terrifying, but the fact that Muyoung was right in front of him gradually calmed his trembling.

“Does it still hurt?”

Sunyul fumbled at the place where he had been stabbed with his free hand. There was no trace of it left. He felt a faint pain, but it wasn’t severe.

“……I’m okay.”

Muyoung gazed at the noticeably weakened Sunyul and thought of the perpetrator, whom he had beaten half to death. He only regretted that he couldn’t beat him more because others had held him back.

When he first saw Sunyul collapsed, Muyoung’s mind had gone blank, unable to think of anything.

That gruesome sight, his pale face covered in blood… he didn’t even want to recall it. For a moment, he had thought everything was over and had fallen into deep despair. If someone hadn’t told him he was recovering without any major problems…….

Recalling that moment once more, Muyoung closed and opened his eyes, his heart devastated. He couldn’t show his agitation in front of Sunyul.

He wanted to go back to where that bastard was and beat him right now… but Muyoung held it in for the time being. The important thing right now was the Sunyul in front of him.

“Right. The wounds are all healed for now. I used a potion… and you have your regeneration ability. Still, don’t overdo it for a while.”

“Yes……”

“The guy who stabbed you will be punished, so don’t worry.”

“……How?”

Sunyul was well aware that he wasn’t treated as a human. This time, he had felt it even more keenly.

Pedro had stabbed him because he was certain that Sunyul was I-21. He hadn’t hesitated. Because he firmly believed that Sunyul wasn’t human and that Sunyul had done something.

Sunyul was not legally human. Therefore, there was no way to punish him.

Muyoung looked at Sunyul’s face for a moment, then swallowed a sigh. It was something he didn’t want to say… but as long as he didn’t forcibly block the internet, it was a fact that couldn’t be completely hidden, so it was better to tell him.

“He’ll be punished for property damage.”

“Property damage……”

Sunyul muttered in a listless voice. It was a strange feeling. That his definition was ‘property’. That that was the extent of his value.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“That he’s being punished in that way.”

“Ah, no. It’s okay.”

Sunyul said, trying hard not to show his gloominess.

“At least he can be punished, right? I thought he couldn’t be punished at all……”

“I’m also sorry that it has to be for property damage.”

“It’s okay. Still, it’s not a person like that… it’s the Guild Master who’s my owner, isn’t it?”

Muyoung froze. Then he let out a deep sigh. Muyoung was angry at the people who referred to Sunyul as an object. And for Sunyul himself to refer to himself as an object… was a bit agonizing.

“That’s not something you should be thankful for.”

“……”

“I’m not your owner, I’m your guardian. And you’re not my property either.”

“……Yes.”

Sunyul answered obediently, but he couldn’t fully agree.

Could he really say he wasn’t property? When the very foundation of my existence, everything, treats me as property.

Sunyul’s expression was so transparent that Muyoung could tell he wasn’t convinced. But it didn’t seem like he could change Sunyul’s mind no matter what he said to persuade him. Not after what he had just been through.

“Lim Sunyul.”

“……Yes.”

“Just keep one thing in mind. That you always have me.”

“……”

“That one thing won’t change.”

It didn’t matter if he was seen as a guardian or an owner, Muyoung said. Just remember the fact that you have one reliable ally.

Sunyul nodded obediently. His face was a little more convinced than before.

Anything more than this would be a matter of effort over time. Thinking so, Muyoung fiddled with Sunyul’s hand.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

Sunyul stood up as if he had been waiting. He didn’t want to delay for even a moment. Muyoung told him not to move too quickly and supported him.