Click.
With a light sound, a metal case appeared in Moon Hyuna's hand. What came out of it was none other than a cigarette.
"And with things like this around, I'm supposed to be a dungeon monster."
Long fingers drew out a cigarette and set it between her lips. Then she held the case out toward Song Taewon.
"Here."
"I'll pass."
"Back then, there probably weren't even cigarettes that worked on you yet. This one tastes pretty good."
"No, I don't—"
The tip of the cigarette pressed firmly against Song Taewon's lips. Frowning with one brow slanted, Moon Hyuna looked at him like he was being stubborn for no reason. In the end, Song Taewon parted his tightly shut lips. A cool, sharp scent seeped in through the filter.
"However it is, it's good seeing you again after so long."
Moon Hyuna raised her index finger. A small flame kindled at its tip.
"This is a skill I got a few months ago in a dungeon around LA."
She spoke as she lit the cigarette in her own mouth.
"An E-rank one that can do nothing except make a flame this tiny. Still, it's convenient."
There, she said, holding out the flame. Song Taewon hesitated a little, then lowered his head. Instead of the thick smell of blood, cigarette smoke slowly began to fill the space between them.
"What kind of dungeon is this, exactly, to look like this?"
"…I was told it was Christmas's nightmare. They said to refer to A Christmas Carol."
"Then I'm the ghost of the future? From my point of view, Director Song is the ghost of the past, though."
Exhaling a long stream of smoke, Moon Hyuna tilted her head.
"So, Taewon-ah. You died. I don't know the details, but you went into the same dungeon as Sung Hyunjae, and only Sung Hyunjae came back out. That's why there's no body of yours in your grave. Officially, you died during a dungeon raid, and your grave's at the National Cemetery. Behind Seseong Guild, that is."
Personal belongings had been placed into the empty coffin.
"Can you think of anything? Sung Hyunjae never said a word."
"…No."
"Sung Hyunjae didn't dislike you, did he. If anything, he was one of the ones he actually liked. Even if that guy scattered interest here and there, you know better than anyone that there was always a line."
No one was ever allowed inside that line. Even guild members were no exception.
"Soyoung used to say that sometimes he gave her chills too."
"That's the kind of person he is."
'The kind of person he is,' huh. So is that why Sung Hyunjae paid special attention to Song Taewon?"
"That is not the case."
"What do you mean, 'not the case'? What would you know. Me, Soyoung, the Haeyeon Guild Leader, Evelyn and Noah—though I don't know who Noah is. Anyway, all the Awakened and non-Awakened besides that were basically nothing special to Sung Hyunjae. Huh? Come to think of it."
Suddenly, Moon Hyuna burst out laughing.
"Isn't this the first time that bastard Sung Hyunjae was the one who got abandoned first?!"
"…What?"
"Damn it, I should've made more fun of him! Where is he now? Should I ask Soyoung?"
Ash dropped in soft little taps. Still regretful, Moon Hyuna turned her head and looked at the fallen corpses.
"Let's burn them. Stop making that face. They're monsters, right."
"…If they're monsters, then there's no particular need to burn them, is there."
"They feel like people to me. Even though I know they aren't, that's still how it feels, and it leaves a rotten taste in my mouth. I recognize quite a few of the faces too. Well, not that that can compare to what it's like for you, Taewon."
Moon Hyuna tossed away the cigarette and started moving the bodies. Song Taewon clenched and unclenched his fists. He hesitated only briefly before beginning to move with her.
"Funerals are for the living. What do the dead know."
Moon Hyuna returned with a large cloth and spread it over the dead.
"They're a kind of period mark. Just like a sentence has to end with a dot before the next one can begin, the living have to bring things to a close and keep living. But sometimes that doesn't go well, so they keep repeating the earlier part that's already passed. Or they close the book along with it."
A tiny flame dropped from her fingers onto the edge of the cloth. Using mana as kindling, Moon Hyuna fed the blaze. Bright red flames slowly began to spread.
"Since I'm apparently supposed to play the ghost of the future, it feels like I should do something, but the only thing that comes to mind is telling you not to die this time."
"That's not something I can simply… do."
"You say that after getting all the way to being engaged to me and then just up and dying?"
"…What?!"
Song Taewon's eyes flew wide. Toward the aghast man, Moon Hyuna continued calmly.
"Sung Hyunjae was supposed to officiate the wedding."
"T-that..."
"You were going to have a double wedding with Han Yoohyun and Kang Soyoung."
"…What?"
"Sung Hyunjae was already married."
"…What?"
"There's an S-rank Hunter named Evelyn. The two of them got along pretty well. They lived happily. At Sung Hyunjae's wedding, you were the emcee, Taewon-ah. I sang the congratulatory song. Sung Hyunjae had been so delighted, saying Director Song had finally gotten a tailored suit as a gift. It suited you. Then at the reception that day, you confessed to me."
"Th-that..."
"You said that though you were lacking in many ways, you'd keep trying for the rest of your life. And then you went off on your own."
"I-I'm sorr..."
"At this point, shouldn't you have noticed it's a lie?"
Moon Hyuna snorted with laughter. Song Taewon, who had gone stiff and blank, blinked.
"It's true that there was a scandal involving Soyoung and the Haeyeon Guild Leader. Soyoung called me and spent three hours complaining that she was dying of injustice. 'They've really lost their minds! To begin with, I bet the words love and romance don't even exist in the Haeyeon Guild Leader's dictionary! He's so cold, just handles business and ends it! Aside from his face and his skills, there's nothing worth looking at! I'm waaay too good for him!' That's what she said."
Moon Hyuna's hand thumped lightly against Song Taewon's back. By then the flames had fully swallowed the cloth. Smoke rose thickly into the sunset sky.
"If there's something you're curious about, ask. Think of it like having your fortune read."
You're too quiet, her muttering seemed to say. Song Taewon opened his mouth, then closed it again. Nothing in particular came to mind that he was curious about regarding his own future. He had never really thought about it much in the first place.
"…Was there really nothing at all?"
"Hm? Ah, between us? What, Taewon-ah, did you maybe have feelings for me?"
"No. I mean, not that sort of feeling."
"If you put it that bluntly, that's kind of disappointing. I did."
"…What?"
"You've got a good body. You weren't exactly cute, though. Right now, you seem kind of cute too. Want to date?"
"No, that..."
"When you were alive, there wasn't any room for that either. I had a rough time in one way or another too. Breaker still hasn't collapsed yet, has it?"
Song Taewon nodded. Moon Hyuna turned her gaze to the distant sky and gave a small shrug.
"I was stubborn too. I also tried too hard to do everything cleanly. But whatever—just because you fail once doesn't mean everything's over. A lot of things actually changed for the better because Breaker fell and I left Korea. A kind of shock therapy, I guess. If I hadn't failed, Soyoung probably wouldn't have been able to keep leading Seseong Guild after Sung Hyunjae disappeared."
"…You left Korea completely?"
"My nationality's still Korean. To be exact, I'm multinational now. There turned out to be way more to do overseas. Before I knew it, I was doing more rescue work than dungeon raiding. Especially with bastards who kidnap kids, forcibly Awaken them, and traffic them."
Moon Hyuna smiled bitterly.
"At least in Korea, there was still something called the law."
"When I first left Korea, I figured I'd rest for a bit and then start again. But somehow I ended up with my own team, and then that grew too. Instead of resting, I got even busier than before. In terms of headcount alone, it's already grown bigger than Breaker used to be."
Even while saying it was hard and she was busy, Moon Hyuna's voice was bright.
"So, Mr. Song Taewon. If your life means so little to you, don't throw it away. Give it to me. I'm short on hands."
"I have plenty of work too."
"Then why did you die?"
"I also… don't know. But."
Song Taewon looked at the ashes piling up and scattering away. Whether it was because the skill rank was low but the fire was not ordinary, or because of Moon Hyuna's mana, the flames burned everything quickly and cleanly.
"It must have been necessary."
"Then that's enough."
Instead of pressing him for the details, Moon Hyuna nodded. Then, hop—she sprang backward.
"You didn't come in alone, did you? You've got a raid party, right? I think the me here is stronger than usual."
Monster or not, she had no intention of sitting meekly and being defeated. Moon Hyuna lightly shook both hands as if warming up.
"I won't go easy on you. Prepare properly and come back."
Just as Song Taewon was about to answer, a message window appeared.
[Seseong Guild zone has been temporarily closed!]
"What is it?"
"It says the Seseong Guild zone has been closed."
"What? Well, since it's based on Korea, I guess Seseong Guild would be here too. Don't tell me Sung Hyunjae is there as well?"
At Moon Hyuna's words, Song Taewon's expression hardened. If he really was there, then there were two Seseong Guild Leaders. Could there be two of other people as well? The Haeyeon Guild Leader, Bak Yerim, Noah, and Han Yoojin. It made his stomach feel as though it might twist.
"Then… I'll go."
"Why do you look so miserable? Ah, wait. Is Sung Hyunjae here too? There are two Sung Hyunjaes?"
"…That is possible."
"Oh dear!"
Moon Hyuna clutched her stomach and laughed loudly. Song Taewon let out a long sigh. Sung Hyunjae was one problem, but Han Yoojin was another. The two of them—or rather, the four of them—might do who knew what, so he had to find them as quickly as—
KWAANG!
Moon Hyuna's foot suddenly slammed hard into the ground. Drawing out her halberd, she charged at Song Taewon with terrifying speed. In the gale crashing toward him, Song Taewon hurriedly lowered his center of gravity and crossed both arms in front of himself. There was no time to evade.
At the moment he braced for broken arms—
Thunk! Crunch!
Blood splashed.
It was not Song Taewon's.
Swallowing the blood rising up her throat, Moon Hyuna swung her halberd. Kaga-gagak—silver chains wrapped around the great shaft of the weapon, pulled violently, and then stopped.
"Damn it, what… what the hell is that."
Standing in front of Song Taewon, Moon Hyuna looked up at the sky.
Under the sunset, impossible moonlight was pouring down.
"Hunter Moon Hyuna!"
"Do you have a Gate Stone? You'd better just leave this dungeon."
Blood ran down from the silver chains piercing Moon Hyuna in several places. The moonlight swayed loftily, then flashed sharply once again before Song Taewon could answer. Again, the attack was aimed precisely at Song Taewon.
"I said get out!"
Moon Hyuna kicked Song Taewon away. He tried to hold his ground, but his body could not overcome the force and slid backward. Both of Moon Hyuna's arms tensed around the halberd. The chains drawn taut snapped one by one, and toward the moonlight flying in anew, fierce mana roared forth.
"What kind of monster are you!"
The ground beneath Moon Hyuna's feet caved in. Every muscle in her body strained tight as the pure white halberd carved through the air in a mighty arc.
Kwagwagwagwa—
The wind howled, the paved ground split and cracked and then outright overturned. Every nearby window shattered with a crash. The building directly before Moon Hyuna also split wide, and unable to withstand the mounting pressure, caved inward at its center.
Within that monstrous force, the chains sharpened from moonlight collided head-on with the halberd.
Chaeng, chaeeng!
With dazzling light, the ringing of metal spread outward. Through dozens, hundreds, thousands of reverberations, the light faded, and the halberd—left ragged—thudded deep into the ground. Moon Hyuna, barely still standing, began to blur away.
"Taewon-ah, run."
Song Taewon staggered backward.
Leaving Moon Hyuna or any other Hunter behind in danger and fleeing was, for him, never an option that should have existed. If she had not been a monster, then even if he could not endure beside her for even a single instant, he would have stood at her side.
But this dungeon contained real raiders.
Song Taewon gritted his teeth and turned his body away.
The moonlight circled slowly, as if assessing the situation. Soon it found its retreating target and grew paler and brighter.
Srrr—
The trailing light, hanging like a veil, solidified and began to take on a hard texture. A chiming like little bells rattled at Song Taewon's ears. Silver chains cut through the finely trembling air and shot toward his back.
Kagang!
"What kind of hardship is this!"
Once again, someone blocked the attack aimed at Song Taewon. A blade sliced through the chains in one stroke, and a small hand suddenly seized the back of Song Taewon's neck.
"Rabbit!"
With that shout, the two of them disappeared from the spot. The moonlight tore through the empty road with a crashing grind.
The scenery around him changed abruptly. Song Taewon spun around roughly and tore himself free from the hand gripping the back of his neck. His eyes widened a little as he turned.
"I swear, why is it that there isn't a single normal one around the eldest?"
The face of the boy clicking his tongue was familiar. If Han Yoojin had had a younger brother even younger than Han Yoohyun, perhaps he would have looked exactly like this. Under Song Taewon's gaze, the boy—Young Chaos—looked back up at him.
"Where is Gangnam?"
"From here..."
Song Taewon looked around. Seoul City Hall came into view.
"About thirty or forty minutes by car."
"Then let's go first. Hide your mana as much as possible, and don't use it."
Young Chaos walked a few steps, then stopped again.
"Which way?"
"This way. But who are you?"
He did not seem to be any ordinary boy. As Young Chaos resumed his loose, swaying steps, he answered.
"An old man who nearly worked himself sick cleaning up after brats."
"...."
"I never should have given him my sword!"
Quietly, Song Taewon followed behind the self-proclaimed old man.
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