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The video resumed at the very end of the scene he remembered. The moment his consciousness faded, and Han Yuseong’s obituary rang faintly in the distance.
[Beeeeep-]
Dokyeom’s body slid out of Taeseongyeon’s arms. What the camera captured was the sight of Taeseongyeon’s arms slipping downward. Probably, while Dali and the monster were merging, the camera hanging from Dali’s neck also ended up around Dokyeom’s neck and recorded the scene.
Whether Taeseongyeon pulled Dokyeom’s body up or not, the sliding画面 suddenly lifted again. The view showed over Taeseongyeon’s shoulder.
Beyond it, there were people whose expressions changed by the minute. The Sahyeon Guild hunters looked anxious, searching for somewhere to rest their eyes.
Even through the video, the heavy atmosphere was tangible. After a moment, words suddenly came through.
[Hunter Jeong Ilun.]
[…Yes.]
[Hunter Jeong Ilun handled things quite incompetently.]
[…I’m sorry.]
The reply to those heavy words was equally somber. Dokyeom knew that Jeong Ilun had struggled to take down the monsters crowding the entrance. But because of that, he got caught up and failed to see the whole picture.
While a large number of the search team hunters disappeared, failing to notice the situation was ultimately Hunter Jeong Ilun’s fault. The cause didn’t matter. In this line of work, the person responsible ends up bearing the blame that surfaces.
“…What’s that?”
Dokyeom frowned. Something was changing. A pitch-black something kept writhing within Taeseongyeon’s shadow.
Dokyeom realized what it was only after Taeseongyeon spoke again.
[From now on, the hunters will be under Hunter Jeong Ilun’s command. I’m sure you’ll control them and handle it so no word gets out. If anyone reveals this fact, then Hunter Jeong Ilun will take a scolding from me.]
It doesn’t seem like I can let it slide, but I should at least minimize the damage, right?
At those whispered words, his mouth went dry. Darkness was blooming inside the screen. Hundreds, thousands of black shadows surrounded them, rising from the ground.
Kiiii-
They were demon legions spewing pitch-black flames. Literally a ‘legion.’ Countless writhing shadows. Their numbers were endless, enough to cover the cave walls in blackness. Amid the clatter of moving armor, Taeseongyeon’s faint voice seemed to ring out for a moment,
Then a horrible sound came from close by.
Crunch-
[Aaagh…! Agh!]
[Wha, what are you doing… Uwaaaa!]
It was the sound of something being chewed and torn. Dokyeom’s eyes trembled like aspen leaves. The faces of the Sahyeon Guild hunters in the footage had turned ashen, drained of color. The moment someone took a step back, countless legions moved. There were only ominous sounds.
Among the shadows on the wall, the only one standing still was Taeseongyeon’s shadow. Then darkness fell.
“….”
Click-
Only after hearing the sound of the microphone turning off did the video end.
Dokyeom stared at the black screen for a long time with a stiff face. He forgot to breathe for a while. Only belatedly did he contort his face.
Taeseongyeon, this insane bastard….
With the full story like this, no one could open their mouths. If this was true, the Sahyeon Guild was undeniably responsible for the deaths of the Chinese hunters. However, it was an unwritten rule in the hunter world that for incidents inside a gate, no one blamed the survivors for deaths, regardless of who died.
The problem was that unlike the Chinese hunters, who were reported dead to the last man, all but one of the Sahyeon Guild hunters had come out alive.
It was only natural for the Chinese side to come at them with bloodshot eyes. With this, the arrow of criticism was bound to point at the Sahyeon Guild, and further, at Korea.
Even if they defended themselves by saying they fell into a Chinese trap and retaliated, it was obvious they’d be accused of lying.
Because there was no way to prove it.
Click-
“…Did you see it all? Can I go now?”
Baek Jiun opened the door with perfect timing, poking his head in and asking. Dokyeom narrowed his eyes at Baek Jiun’s somewhat uncomfortable expression. Probably, Taeseongyeon didn’t know this video existed.
To clear his name, releasing the video would be the right thing to do, but there was no need to make it public. On the other hand, if it was for blackmail, that was a different story.
“Jiun, come here for a second.”
“Well… I was half-asleep then, so my memories are fuzzy. I don’t think I have much to tell you, hyung…?”
“I know, so just come here. Let me use your phone.”
Baek Jiun glanced at Dokyeom with suspicion, then hesitantly approached and sat on the edge of Dokyeom’s bed. Dokyeom tapped the laptop.
“Edit this video and send it to someone.”
“To who?”
Dokyeom’s gaze paused on the screen for a moment. He didn’t think Taeseongyeon did this thoughtlessly. Maybe the old ‘Taeseongyeon’ would have, but at least the current ‘Taeseongyeon’ must have thought about the aftermath.
“To Taeseongyeon.”
On the other hand, if he did this even knowing that, it was a different story. There were things to ask him, things to confirm, so meeting him was the top priority now.
Of course, there were also other things he wanted to ask for.
***
There was no need for a long message to send to Taeseongyeon. Dokyeom only extracted a few seconds from the video Baek Jiun had edited and attached it. He added a warm message suggesting they meet.
The ‘1’ floating beside the text disappeared. Assuming Taeseongyeon understood upon reading, Dokyeom handed the phone back to Baek Jiun.
“What, that’s it? What if he contacts?”
“What happened to my phone?”
“Ah, reporters kept calling, so I turned it off. It should be in the drawer? Over there. But what if he contacts?”
Dokyeom looked around, spotted the drawer on the left, went over, and opened it one by one. As soon as he found his phone, he plugged it into the charger and turned it on.
“There are a lot of messages, so it’s better not to turn it on. But hyung, are you listening to me? Are you telling me to answer if he calls?”
“I’ll send an emoticon, so relax.”
Taeseongyeon was the kind of person who, even when sending long messages, would only reply with a smiling emoticon. Business was always done in person, and texts or calls were brief.
That was Taeseongyeon’s way of communication.
Baek Jiun nodded with a reluctant expression. A moment later, when a white screen appeared on his phone, he let out a hollow laugh. It was true. Just as Dokyeom said, there was only a ‘^^’ emoticon as a reply.
“But hyung, aren’t you going to eat? No, how can you get up and not think about having a meal? Ah, just stay there. I’ll go downstairs and buy something.”
Baek Jiun grumbled, telling him to just lay out the table and wait, that he’d buy some porridge so don’t go anywhere, and then shuffled out of the room in his slippers.
As the door clicked shut, Dokyeom leaned back against the headboard and glanced out the window. The sun was just setting. The wide open sky had a familiar bird floating around, and the clouds were dyed in warm colors like paint.
It was a peaceful moment. Even if Dokyeom wasn’t.
“…Ha, what the hell is this? I’m such a fool.”
Dokyeom’s gaze went to his own forearm, which was trembling as he tried to suppress the shaking. When he released the tension, the arm shook uncontrollably. It was the arm that had been bitten by the monster. A throbbing pain also raised its head from that spot. When he rolled up his sleeve, Dokyeom faced the grim reality he had suspected.
The arm was black and dead, as if festering. There was no way Baek Jiun hadn’t noticed. Whether the doctor or the nurse, someone must have seen it repeatedly while setting up the IV.
Maybe word had already reached Taeseongyeon. The problem was,
“How the hell am I supposed to fix this….”
Dokyeom didn’t know how to treat this wound either. It might be impossible to heal with simple medicine or skills. That was probably why Baek Jiun said a healing hunter had visited.
Because they couldn’t heal it.
It was one mountain after another.
Sighing, Dokyeom looked down at his hand. Suddenly remembering that ten days had passed, he thought he should check if he looked okay and headed straight to the bathroom.
As soon as he saw the mirror above the sink, he was startled by his own ghostly pale face and stepped back, but aside from that, he looked better than expected. What struck him more was that he was out of breath.
“I’m dying from exhaustion, ha….”
If just getting up and moving left him this breathless, his body was really weak. Considering how he’d run around, this was manageable. At least receiving Taeseongyeon’s mana wasn’t in vain.
Shoooo-
Since he was in the bathroom anyway, Dokyeom roughly washed his disheveled appearance. When he came out shaking his head, Baek Jiun had already set the table, taken out the porridge he’d bought, and was giggling while watching TV.
As soon as Baek Jiun saw Dokyeom come out of the bathroom, he quickly got up from where he was lying.
“Hyung, you should eat and then wash up or something. I didn’t know where you went, my heart nearly dropped. The porridge must be cold already.”
“Where would I go looking like this?”
“Well… you know it well. Since it’s already like this, just think of it as recuperating and rest here comfortably. Maybe stay for about ten days before being discharged?”
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