Han Jinhyuk had almost forgotten what it was like to rescue civilians inside a dungeon.
It had been nearly a year since he'd personally escorted survivors out, and now he remembered why he preferred clearing dungeons alone.
They were stressful.
Especially the children.
They cried because they were cold, complained that their legs hurt, and stopped every few minutes because they were tired.
Jinhyuk wasn't used to children. He'd forgotten just how fragile these tiny kids were.
"Mister... are we going to die?" a little boy asked with a sniffle, clutching the hem of Jinhyuk's pants.
"...You won't die," he answered awkwardly.
Surely that was enough, but the boy continued staring at him with wide, watery eyes.
Jinhyuk frowned.
"...What?"
The little boy slowly raised both arms.
"Carry me."
"...Why would I carry you?"
The little boy blinked at him as though the answer was obvious.
"Because you're strong."
"That has nothing to do with carrying you."
The boy only tightened his grip on my pants.
Why is this kid asking me to carry him? Couldn't he just ask one of his teachers?
I glanced around, hoping one of the adults would notice the situation and rescue me from this awkward encounter.
They didn't.
Every teacher was busy comforting the crying children, checking on the injured, or helping the elderly keep up.
In other words...They had completely left him to me.
I looked back down at the child.
He looked exhausted. His cheeks were red from the freezing wind, and his tiny legs trembled with every step.
"Can you still walk?"
The boy nodded. "No..."
"Which is it?"
"I can..."
He took one determined step forward.
Then immediately stumbled face-first into the snow.
"..."
"..."
I stared at the child for a long moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
Children were troublesome.
Without another word, I crouched in front of him.
"Get on."
The little boy's face immediately lit up as he climbed onto my back.
He was unbelievably light. Were children always this small?
The cold was starting to turn his cheeks bright red.
I clicked my tongue before unclasping the enchanted cloak draped over my shoulders and wrapping it around him instead.
The cloak immediately adjusted to its wearer, gently restoring his body temperature as though the freezing wind didn't exist.
"...Don't take it off."
"Okay!"
"Keep your voice down."
The boy quickly covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes widening.
"...Sowwy."
As time passed and the longer they traveled, children began to fall behind. The teachers were slowing down too.
The freezing wind showed no mercy.
One by one, their footsteps grew slower.
Several stumbled to their knees before forcing themselves back up, only to collapse again a few minutes later.
Han Jinhyuk clicked his tongue.
"Damn it."
He looked around, hoping to find a cave or even a cliff large enough to shield them from the blizzard.
Nothing.
Just endless plains of snow stretching beyond the horizon.
There wasn't a single place where they could safely stop. If they rested here, they would freeze to death. He had no survival kits in his inventory, and even if he decided to fight the monsters to clear this dungeon faster, they'd get caught in the aftermath.
It was all too risky.
"Keep moving," he said.
The survivors nodded weakly. No one complained at all. Or at least, they couldn't complain, simply because they didn't have the energy left to.
Jinhyuk reached into his subspace and took out several recovery potions.
He handed them to those who looked the worst.
But this wasn't sustainable.
Even if he distributed every potion he had, it still wouldn't be enough to keep everyone on their feet until they reached the exit.
As the hours passed, the last bottle in his inventory disappeared.
He had nothing left.
The people behind him grew slower with every step. Then, a little girl suddenly collapsed face-first into the snow.
"Yuna!"
Her teacher rushed over, quickly pulling her into her arms.
"I'm... tired..." the little girl mumbled weakly, her eyelids drooping.
Han Jinhyuk stopped walking.
His gaze lingered on the cloak wrapped around the little boy on his back.
After a brief silence, he crouched down.
"Siwoo."
The little boy looked at him.
"Can you give your cloak to your classmate?"
There was a moment of hesitation.
Then Siwoo looked toward Yuna, whose small body trembled uncontrollably against the snow.
"...Okay."
He carefully untied the cloak from around his shoulders before hugging it tightly for a second.
Then he walked over and gently draped it over Yuna instead.
She immediately curled into its warmth.
Siwoo smiled proudly before turning back to Jinhyuk.
"Don't worry, Mister."
He puffed out his tiny chest despite shivering from head to toe.
"I'm strong."
"...I can h-handle being cold."
The moment those words left the little boy's mouth... The frozen valley trembled. Everyone instinctively froze.
The snow covering the nearest mountain began sliding down its slopes in massive sheets.
At first, it looked like an avalanche.
Then the mountain moved.
An enormous hand emerged from beneath the snow, its fingers digging into the frozen earth as the colossal creature slowly pushed itself upright.
Snow exploded into the air.
The mountain they had been walking beside all this time opened a pair of glowing blue eyes.
The survivors' faces turned deathly pale.
"...Everyone, get down!"
Boom!
The giant's foot slammed into the ground several hundred meters away. Even at that distance, the impact sent countless civilians tumbling to the ground.
It was like a massive earthquake.
Jinhyuk looked up at the towering giant. Only one of them had awakened so far, but its sheer size and the destruction it caused were already pushing the civilians to their limit.
How was he supposed to protect everyone when he was the only awakened present?
His gaze darted toward the civilians huddled behind him.
Then back to the giant.
"...Damn it."
There was no way to hide anywhere. No shelter or caves to keep the others safe. He was going to have to risk fighting one quietly without waking the others up.
...Or so he thought.
What was challenging had now become close to impossible.
The colossal being in front of them had roared, forcing the others to awaken.
Four figures all around stood up like giants, looking down on the humans like they were simply bugs that kept chittering until they woke up from their slumber.
"Hide! Whatever you do, do not let it sense you!" Han Jinhyuk yelled, a sweat of anxiety trickling down his forehead despite the harshness of the cold.
He leapt into the air and wasted no time. He did his best to cut down his enemies without causing a lot of harm to the civilians.
Even if he was the strongest hunter alive, there was only so much a single hunter can do when protecting civilians. Against a huge monster like these, the aftermath alone is deadly enough so he had to hold back.
The monsters itself was something he could handle if he had gone all out, but not only was he forced to lessen his powers but he had to make sure they people aren't getting caught up.
"Ahhhhh!" He heard a scream.
He turned around and saw a monster approaching them, its loud footstep so strong it made them unbalanced. At this rate, they'd get crushed to death.
He had no choice.
He used all of his strength in killing the boss that was occupying him, causing an avalanche of snow to fall down.
He didn't have time to think. He needed to protect the civilians from getting crushed to death, but with this distance, they would die first.
"No!!" He yelled in frustration, gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly it could've shattered.
If only I could protect them with a barrier...!
Just at the same time he was bracing himself for the worst, a huge barrier covering all of them appeared, completely stopping the attack of the monster.
Jinhyuk tried to use his senses for any sign of another hunter, but there was no one. And none of them had any sort of ability which meant... was this powers his?
He didn't have time to dwell on it. Taking advantage of the opening, he activated the fifth form of his ability.
A barrier immediately formed around the civilians, shielding them from the chaos outside. Not even a single speck of snow could penetrate it.
With the civilians safely protected, Jinhyuk turned his attention to the monsters.
It was just as expected. His awakened ability, Blossoming, made quick work of them. One after another, the monsters fell, unable to withstand his attacks.
Within minutes, the fight was over.
After making sure none of the monsters would get back up, Jinhyuk finally turned around and looked toward the civilians, his gaze settling on the barrier still protecting them.
There's no mistake about it. This barrier was his.
But how?
Jinhyuk had only ever awakened offensive abilities. The only other explanation was that he'd somehow formed a contract with another constellation specializing in defensive abilities, like Jaewon from the KHA. But that was impossible. He hadn't made any such contract.
Could it be another constellation?
If they were powerful enough, even constellations could force their power to descend into the mortal world and interfere with humans.
"Mister! Waaahhh!"
Siwoo came running toward him, his tear-streaked face buried against Jinhyuk's combat pants. The boy's snot was already making a mess of them.
Normally, Jinhyuk would've pushed him away without a second thought. But after everything they'd been through together, even a coldhearted hunter like him seemed to have developed a soft spot for the kid.
He grabbed Siwoo by the scruff of his clothes and lifted him off the ground.
The boy dangled from his grip, still sobbing about how terrifying everything had been. Yet, before long, his tears gave way to excitement.
"Mister, I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"
Jinhyuk raised an eyebrow.
"I wanna awaken as a hunter and become strong! Then I can protect people just like you did!"
Jinhyuk stared at the boy for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
Kids really were a handful.
·•—–٠✤٠—–•·
By the time they emerged from the dungeon, reporters had already gathered outside, as usual. They circled the barricades like hounds waiting for their prey.
And today, their prey was none other than Han Jinhyuk himself.
The moment he appeared, a swarm of reporters surged forward, shoving their cameras toward him and trying to push past the barricades.
The sudden commotion startled the children. Some immediately burst into tears, while Siwoo, still being carried in Jinhyuk's arms, wailed even louder than before.
Jinhyuk frowned.
"You should take the children and leave. I'll handle things here," he told the surviving civilians.
The adults hesitated, glancing nervously at the reporters before bowing their heads in gratitude. One of them hurried over to take the children, but Siwoo immediately tightened his grip around Jinhyuk's neck.
"No! I don't wanna go!"
"Siwoo."
"I wanna stay with Mister!"
Jinhyuk stared at him.
Of all the times to be stubborn.
"Go with the adults. I'll be there in a minute."
"But—"
"Do you want to become a hunter or not?"
Siwoo immediately fell silent.
Jinhyuk took the opportunity to hand him over to one of the adults, who quickly carried him away with the other children. Siwoo continued looking back, his little face still scrunched up from crying.
"I'll become a hunter just like you, Mister!"
Jinhyuk didn't respond. He simply raised a hand in acknowledgment before turning toward the reporters.
The moment the children were out of reach, his expression turned cold.