Chapter 7: Rescue.

Chapter 6 – Rescue.

“Damn it!! Let go of me!!”

“Stay still!”

“The Association… right, can the Hunter Association really do this?! Taking an artifact without permission is an infringement on the guild’s rights!”

An artifact is one of a guild’s important powers.

Even if it’s the nation or the Association, they cannot arbitrarily interfere with such power, but if the artifact’s power or cost is abnormal, the story changes.

If the artifact’s effect has a negative impact on society, or if its cost causes harm or injury to oneself or others, the Association directly intervenes to recover and punish.

Afterwards, they may seal or destroy the artifact.

“We already know that the artifact’s cost involves using a child as a sacrifice.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve never used a person as a sacrifice! It’s not that kind of artifact to begin with!”

“He’s not in his right mind. Drag him away, now!”

“No! I… I can’t be in a place like this!!!”

Baek Yi-hyun continued to resist and shout, but the Association hunters didn’t believe him and restrained him further, dragging him away.

Then, an alchemy hunter approached to first seal the artifact Ha-yeon had taken.

This is because, procedurally, it is a principle to seal all recovered artifacts for safety reasons.

“Then, to seal the artifact…”

“Wait!”

“…?”

“Can’t we take the child out of the artifact before sealing it? At the very least, I want to bury them with my own hands.”

“I apologize, but we cannot do that now, as we don’t know the true nature of that artifact.”

“…”

Perhaps because she had uncharacteristically lost a life she could have saved right before her eyes, Ha-yeon insisted on opening the artifact multiple times, but eventually, realizing it was futile, she handed the artifact over to the alchemy hunter.

“You’ve worked hard, Hunter Ha-yeon.”

“…I didn’t expect you to come personally, Ryu Se-jin.”

“The Association President ordered it directly, so I had no choice.”

“…”

“It looks like you should get some rest.”

Seeing her troubled expression, Ryu Se-jin didn’t say much and decided to give her some time alone.

Just as he was about to move to gather and organize all the information resulting from sealing the artifact and seizing the Crow Guild, an anomaly occurred.

“It’s not sealing?!”

“!”

The alchemy hunter was flustered because the alchemy that should have sealed the artifact wasn’t activating at all.

Hearing that, Ha-yeon, who had been stepping back, returned and asked.

“What do you mean by that!”

The hunter, unable to answer her question immediately, re-examined the artifact closely, investigated it, and then said, sweating coldly.

“This is not an artifact.”

“…What?”

“Could Baek Yi-hyun have swapped it?”

“No, that guy doesn’t have the ability to fool us. Besides, I clearly saw the artifact activating…!!!”

Ha-yeon couldn’t finish her sentence and, as if realizing something, lost her composure and rushed towards the artifact.

And before anyone could stop her, she forcibly tore open the box.

Her sudden action should have made the other hunters angry, dumbfounded, or compelled to stop her, but upon seeing the artifact—no, the contents of the box—everyone froze as if by a silent agreement.

That was because inside the box, a blood-soaked child lay with their eyes closed, cold.

“…”

A heavy silence, as if time had stopped.

Choi Ha-yeon knelt before it, silently shedding tears.

A child had died cruelly due to her mistaken judgment.

In this narrow box, unable to even stretch their legs comfortably, they had become a cold corpse.

“I’m… sorry…”

All Ha-yeon could do was apologize to the child, for whom it was already too late.

Drip-

A single cold droplet fell onto her hand.

Two droplets.

They fell onto the pale cheek of the child before her, mixing with blood.

Suddenly, rain began to fall, making time move again within the heavy atmosphere.

As Ha-yeon was drenched by the pouring cold rain, the past naturally overlapped with the present.

The day her parents died due to her mistaken judgment.

“I’m sorry…”

On that cold, rainy day, as her parents’ corpses overlapped with the child’s, Ha-yeon slowly crumbled.

Ha-yeon had become a hunter out of admiration for her parents and grandfather.

She wanted to be a hero who upheld justice, just like them.

Thirsty for justice, she protected people and received cheers and and respect, which made her certain.

A true hunter must act for justice.

Every time she upheld justice, she felt a step closer to the justice she admired.

She was satisfied, believing she had become a hero who realized justice.

Such a sense of justice, devoid of conviction, made her even more arrogant and obsessively attached to it, like a drug.

As a result…

She made a judgment to uphold justice and lost her parents.

Justice without conviction became poison, causing her parents’ deaths.

A mistaken judgment killed her parents.

She killed her parents.

On that cold, rainy day.

Her parents’ chillingly cold corpses still felt vivid to her.

Just like the small child before her eyes now.

“I… in the end…”

Other hunters witnessed Ha-yeon’s spirit crumbling, but no one could approach her.

They knew well that anything they said would only wound her further.

However.

Thump.

“!!!”

A very faint sound pulled Ha-yeon back from the abyss.

Without a moment to doubt her ears, her body reacted first, and she immediately checked the pulse of the child in the box.

The child was so cold that she thought they must be dead, and wondered if she had misheard, but she ignored such anxieties and concentrated with all her senses.

And finally, a faint heartbeat could be heard.

“They’re alive.”

“!”

“They’re alive! They’re alive, I tell you!!”

“Med… medical team! Medical team! We have a critically injured person, hurry!!”

At her words, the observing hunters snapped out of it and urgently called for the medical team.

And as if by a silent agreement, they began to move to save the child.

Ha-yeon took the child out of the box and held them in her arms, not caring that blood stained her.

She shielded the child from the cold rain with her body, sharing her own warmth.

As if determined to protect this tiny life, she held them very delicately and warmly.

The medical team, who had been on standby, moved in an orderly fashion as soon as they received the call.

Upon seeing the condition of the girl Ha-yeon held in her arms, everyone’s expressions turned grim, and they quickly administered first aid, shouting.

“Prepare for transport, quickly!”

“Pulse is weak and body temperature is too low!”

“Blankets! Bring all the blankets you have! Prepare the defibrillator too! The heart could stop at any moment!”

“Heal magic is ready! Initiating immediately!”

“Prepare an IV! No, bring everything you can prepare!!”

“Chains on the arm!? It’s hard to find a vein because of the chains!”

“Inject directly into the subclavian vein, hurry!”

Ha-yeon stared blankly at the medical hunters moving frantically, and as she grieved, feeling helpless, Ryu Se-jin, who was beside her, quietly patted her shoulder and spoke.

“It’s not your fault.”

“But…”

“For now, trust them.”

Watching the hunters continue their treatment even while swiftly moving the child onto the stretcher, Ha-yeon felt anxious but nodded heavily.

“Now, let’s focus on what we need to do.”

“…”

“What that box is, who that child is, what kind of artifact it is… we need to find those answers, don’t we?”

“!”

“I will personally go to seize the Crow Guild. Those trash… *ahem*, excuse me. Anyway, I’ll leave the interrogation of those criminals to you.”

Ha-yeon, snapped back to reality by Ryu Se-jin’s words, felt anger surge again and nodded.

She moved, suppressing her murderous intent, as if vowing never to forgive the Crow Guild for what they did to the child.

“I’ll make them pay the price, no matter what.

****

‘It’s warm.’

A warmth unfamiliar to me, who lived alone and received no affection, gently welcomed me.

I didn’t quite understand it, but I felt something difficult to explain.

A faint warmth I had barely found in the cold darkness.

This warmth, which I had never felt before, was incredibly comforting.

[Restart complete.]

Restart?

Oh, right.

My memories are slowly returning.

Adaptation of body and soul? Was that what it was called?

Now, when I open my eyes, I won’t have to struggle with sleep anymore, right?

As for a place to live or money, I can probably earn it easily by clearing some gates, so that doesn’t seem like a big problem; perhaps the current issue is my identity?

“…”

By the way, this lucid dream is more vivid than I expected.

An inexplicable warmth is currently felt in my hand.

Even though it was a dream, I held onto it tightly, afraid to let it go, and then realized that this warmth was strangely vivid.

It was as if someone was holding my hand…

…

Someone is holding my hand?!

Realizing that fact, I opened my eyes and found myself lying in a hospital.

And beside me, a woman with short red hair was holding my hand.

“???”

Who are you?