“Cough…!”

This useless body had caused trouble again. Sneaking out quietly was impossible, and I couldn’t hold back the cough any longer. After that first cough, a strong coughing fit took over, and I could barely breathe. 

Just like the first time I faced Min Ga-on at the hospital, the two powerful energies were about to collide, and it was almost inevitable. Honestly, this body should be called a patient, not a hunter.

“Yeon-ho hyung!”

Startled, Min Ga-on quickly withdrew his energy, and judging by the blood in my cough, I seemed to be affected even more severely this time. I saw a flicker of fear on Min Ga-on’s face as he looked at me—like the desperate fear of losing someone important. Even while coughing up blood, curiosity came over me more than anything else.

‘I only coughed up a little blood, and he’s this worried?’

When his opponent lost the will to fight, Cha Ju‑heon also immediately lost his momentum. He furrowed his brows and glared at me as I crouched behind Min Ga-on, wiping the blood from my lips with the back of my hand.

“…What the hell is this piece of trash?”

First, he felt disgust, then a sharp, scrutinizing look, as if trying to discover something. I could feel Cha Ju-heon staring at my face, like he was trying to remember something. The cold marble floor and glass walls of the high-rise suddenly felt like a trapped slaughterhouse. 

There was nothing good about drawing the attention of a crazy bastard like Cha Ju-heon. I kept my head down behind Min Ga-on as a chilling muttering reached my ears.

“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

The lightning arcing between his fingers wasn’t just a threat. It was a kind of game Cha Ju-heon enjoyed. Like a predator playing with its prey, he was slowly cornering his target. That’s why I was determined to stay hidden behind Min Ga-on no matter what…

Suddenly, it occurred to me that the original Ryu Yeon-ho might actually know Cha Ju-heon. Cold sweat began forming on my forehead as I realized I was in an unexpected situation.

‘Should I act like I know him, or not…?’

But before I could think, he acted faster. Cha Ju-heon stepped forward and reached out his large hand toward me. Min Ga-on, fully alert because of my condition, tried to block him—but he was too slow. Cha Ju-heon’s hand had already grabbed my chin roughly.

“Move aside. I have no business with you.”

His warning to Min Ga-on came out in a low, rough voice. Cha Ju-heon seized my chin and forced my face up, locking eyes with me. Up close, a bitter, whiskey-like scent drifted from him. 

A madness I couldn’t make sense of flickered in his piercing eyes. In the dark, his predator-like gaze glinted as it scanned me from head to toe.

“Aha, I was wondering where I’d seen you before…”

Cha Ju-heon muttered something so quietly I could barely hear it, and his gaze suddenly turned crude. The slick leather of his glove pressed against my lips as it slowly traced the dried blood still left there.

“Min Ga-on, is this your type? A weak body and a seductive face.”

Cha Ju-heon’s voice lowered, sounding dangerous. ‘Not bad,’ he murmured, and a hint of desire flickered in his eyes.

‘What is this crazy bastard saying right now?’

A seductive face? As a guy, I never thought I’d hear something like that from another man. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to me, and I could tell his intentions weren’t good. Heat rushed up my face. 

I couldn’t tell whether the feeling boiling in my chest was anger or embarrassment. I clenched my fists, then slowly forced them to relax. I really wanted to punch that smug face of his, but I already knew I’d only end up breaking my own hand if I tried.

‘Calm down. You’re Ryu Yeon-ho right now. Getting angry won’t help—only Ryu Yeon-ho will end up suffering.’

Just as I took a deep breath to calm myself, a strange sensation spread through me from where Cha Ju-heon had touched me. It felt as if a long-dormant flame was igniting within me. What started as a tiny spark exploded through my entire body like wildfire. At the same time, a familiar feeling I had experienced many times before washed over me.

[Healing skill, “□□□ □□” (F) has been activated!]

I couldn’t believe it, but the moment I realized what the words meant, my eyes widened. A shiver ran down my spine.

‘Did the skill activate?’

So this skill hadn’t only been triggered by Min Ga-on…? I felt foolish for having spent so much time agonizing over it without even realizing. The only thing Min Ga-on and Cha Ju-heon had in common that could trigger the skill had been that they were both S-rank hunters. 

A healing skill that activated just by coming into contact with an S-rank hunter? I had never even imagined such a ridiculous condition. But there hadn’t been any time to dwell on that. The messages kept flashing in my mind, bright and sparkling like sunlight on morning dew.

[The recovery effect lowers the target’s mental corruption. (87% → 81%)]

The skill that had kept failing because of its low success rate finally activated. Then, an unfamiliar message I’d never seen before appeared in the system.

‘Mental corruption?’

During my time as Hong Jun, I had used countless skills and items, but I had never seen a stat like this before. It felt like a hidden stat from a virtual world had suddenly appeared on the interface.

‘What on earth is this?’

My thoughts were all tangled. Literally, it meant that Cha Ju-heon was suffering from “mental corruption.” That also implied there was something out there contaminating him. But if his corruption had dropped from 87% to 81%, did that mean I could heal him with my skill?

A wave of dizziness hit me. My vision went dark, and everything around me blurred. The feel of the leather gloves in Cha Ju-heon’s hand, the sharp smell of whiskey, and the surrounding sounds all faded, as if someone had dulled my senses.

Faint particles of light swirled in the empty air and came together, and suddenly, an unfamiliar screen filled my view. Like a cutscene in a game, a scene began playing on its own. As if pulled by an invisible force, my consciousness was drawn into the screen.

Reality seemed to collapse, and a strange, drifting feeling washed over me, like I was trapped in someone else’s dream. In the vivid scene, I could see a group of hunters gathered inside a dungeon. I didn’t know how the footage had been recorded, and the transmission was unstable. Static flickered on and off across the video. Still, I could clearly tell who the focus was: Cha Ju-heon.

「You take the lead.」

The person Cha Ju-heon had pointed out in the video was a hunter I didn’t know. The big man’s face had gone pale the moment he was singled out. Judging by the thick, heavy armor layered on his body, he had been clearly a tank. 

In a way, that had made sense—a tank’s job was to absorb the monsters’ attacks at the front while the damage dealers attacked. But at that moment, it didn’t seem like anyone would dare step forward. Before them stretched a deep void, and something was inside it.

–Kneel before me.

A terrifying voice, like metal being scraped, echoed. From the abyss, a nightmarish figure slowly emerged. It looked like a shadow wearing a black, spiked helmet, its irregular spikes jutting out in every direction. The front had eye holes, but they were empty.

‘This is… the boss monster from the sixth S-rank gate that opened.’

I hadn’t taken part in the raid, but after the gate was cleared, plenty of information came out. The boss monster crowned with spikes, Halphas the Architect. In the next scene, I immediately understood why it was given the title ‘Architect.’

「Why aren’t you moving!?」

Cha Ju‑heon raised his hands, sparks flickering between them as he threatened the man. Blue and white lightning crackled constantly along his fingers. Strange scars burned into his bare hands by his own lightning skill. It looked as if the scars under his skin were moving, like snakes. Behind the man stood Cha Ju‑heon, and in front loomed the boss monster. 

The man looked completely hopeless, like an insect trapped between two giant spiders. Finally, unable to resist the threat, the hunter began to move forward on trembling legs, one step at a time. Each step thudded against the floor like the pounding of his own heart. Then, suddenly, a cold light gleamed in the seemingly empty eyes of the boss monster.

–I will build my fortress with your bones.

A warning voice echoed as if from a deep underground prison. At the same time, the stone floor seemed to come alive. Tiny cracks spread quickly, forming geometric patterns that pulsed with an ominous energy.