ETVC C31

Chapter 31

All preparations for my discharge were complete. After one last glance to ensure nothing was forgotten, I sat upon the bed and drew out my telephone.

[Discharged.]

I then opened the guild’s newly formed group chat and left a message, lest anyone waste their steps in coming to visit me.

“Ride with me.”

Like an apparition, Baek Soohyuk returned at that very moment, laying a hand lightly upon my shoulder.

“There is no need.”

My body, deprived of proper rest, cried out with exhaustion. In the game, Baek Woojin had seemed sturdier than this. Why then was I so feeble?

Is it because of the ever-present rate of assimilation?

If so, then perhaps I was not wielding even half the strength and stamina that rightfully belonged to Woojin. Indeed, I had scarcely tested his full repertoire of skills.

“If you collapse upon the road, what then? And should an enemy appear in this state, what will you do?”

Feigning reluctance, I allowed myself to be guided to the car. My lips were sharp, yet I was grateful nonetheless that he would see me safely home.

Perhaps, as assimilation deepens, I too shall grow stronger.

My gaze drifted back to the window as my thoughts continued. I longed for a simple life, yet I did not wish to be naught but a burden. Someday, when I might retreat to some mountain valley, breathing clean air, I desired to be strong enough to fend off beasts or wandering monsters with my own hands.

“What thoughts keep you so bound?”

“They are of no concern to you. Attend to the road. If disaster strikes, you may well remain unscathed, but I shall not.”

“As you command.”

There was a light mischief dancing in his tone, a playfulness I had never known in him. Yet it was but fleeting. Soon he returned to his usual gravity, eyes fixed firmly ahead.

It seems we are drawing closer, and yet the quest remains incomplete. Perhaps, unlike others, this one demands continuity until the end. Were it like a courting simulation, with points of affection laid bare, how much simpler it would be.

While musing thus, I noticed a newly opened Dream Shop, before which a line stretched long.

“Surely you have not squandered time upon such empty trifles?”

By now, I trusted that Soohyuk would know how to sift my barbs, discerning the concern beneath. True enough, his eyes did not leave the road as he answered.

“Once, I tried. Yet finding it hollow, I abandoned it swiftly.”

Not one for idle escapism, surely. Perhaps in the days of mourning his parents, he had sought some small comfort there.

“Unexpected. I had thought you lived only upon your own excellence, deeming such folk contemptible.”

I had thought he, like Kang Gwonhoo, would scorn such things.

“If that is how I appear, then I have lived poorly indeed.”

My impression of him had not been wholly wrong—he was a perfectionist, relentless in his ideals, both for himself and for others. Yet unlike Gwonhoo, he would temper his severity with compassion, striving to aid those who faltered. For him, that was righteousness. And thus, step by step, he grew into not merely a mighty hunter, but a greater man. Unlike Woojin, who strayed. Perhaps that was why he could even sever ties with Woojin—because in his eyes, it was the right path toward a better world.

Bitterness rose upon my tongue.

And yet, he has reversed his stance toward me. Once he declared me as good as a stranger, and now…

Perhaps it was only because of the thread that tied us through his parents. Or perhaps he feared what Woojin might do if left unchecked.

Still, had he wished to lull me into complacency, he would have softened his speech long before now.

It was then—

Screech.

“Hold fast.”

His teeth clenched, Soohyuk’s voice cut the air. The car surged, the numbers upon the gauge leaping past one hundred and thirty in an instant.

Even if the road is clear, this is madness…

I gripped the handle tightly, then cast a glance toward him. His eyes were upon the mirror.

Could it be…?

I twisted about. We were being pursued.

The needle now soared beyond one hundred and forty, yet still the foe clung to our trail.

“Ugh—”

It felt less like riding in a carriage than upon some wild contraption of amusement. With one arm I held the great cage containing Meow, while the other clung desperately to the bar before me.

Screech—

The wheel turned sharply, the tires shrieking. The world spun, view whipping past until nausea clawed at me. I had never known carriage-sickness before, yet now I tasted it for the first time.

“Endure, but a little longer.”

Though his words sought to reassure, Soohyuk’s lips were bloodless where he bit them, his eyes ever darting to the mirror. Despite his reckless speed, the pursuer drew only nearer. I loathed to admit it, but their driver was the more skilled.

Soohyuk, as guildmaster and S-rank hunter, rarely had cause to drive with such abandon. That his ability sufficed even thus far was in itself surprising. But the foe—aye, they drove as one who had mastered the art.

“This will not do.”

Ahead lay a busier district, two or three streets hence. He knew, as did I, that he could not shake them before we reached it. His hands tightened and loosened upon the wheel, mind racing.

“When I count to three, clutch the cage, and throw yourself toward me.”

The command was shocking.

“What?”

No explanation, brusque and extreme.

“There is no time. One.”

He began the count at once, heedless of my protest. His speed lessened, while behind us the foe bore down, as if intent to ram us.

“You must tell me what—”

“Two.”

His focus was absolute—on the wheel, on the enemy. For me, there were but two choices: remain in the doomed vehicle, or trust him. Whatever his flaws, he did not wish me dead.

“Three!”

“So be it!”

Clutching Meow’s cage tight, I cast myself upon him. In the same instant, Soohyuk flung wide the driver’s door, wrapped me in his arms, and hurled us both outward. His movements were so swift they defied the eye.

Crash—

As our bodies struck the ground, his hand slammed into the road, the force resounding like thunder. Yet instead of rolling across the pavement, I found us arrested, held fast.

“Hah…”

His fingers had sunk into the asphalt itself, holding us as an anchor. By sheer strength alone, he had withstood the force of our ejection. The shock fell upon him entirely.

Boom!

Behind us, the pursuing car ploughed into ours, exploding in a ball of flame, just as he had foreseen. Soohyuk’s arm only tightened about me.

Hot.

His broad chest pressed hard against my back, radiating heat and weight together. My heart thundered, loud as though in my very ears.

It is only because I am frightened—and grateful.

Yet the sight of the blazing wreck only made its rhythm wilder still.

Even knowing his strength, I had never thought he would go so far. He might have gone on his way, heedless of pursuit. Even amid the blast, he would have stood unscathed.

But foolish, righteous man—that he would go thus far, for my sake.

Though my assimilation is yet shallow, though I cannot wield all Woojin’s might, still I wore the body of a hunter. He need not have borne all alone. Yet I knew—curse or no curse—he would have acted the same.

“Are you hurt?”

Having borne the full brunt himself, his first thought was for me.