* * *
[I’ll pass this on to the Bureau team that’s about to arrive.]
Strictly speaking, I wanted the Taeyang Guild to get the details through the watch, rather than Taeyang himself — and it went exactly as planned.
The vice guild master might not have a high hunter rank, but he knew how to get things done.
Cha Taeyang, that bastard… at least he had a good eye for talent.
Probably why he was after Jehee in the first place.
“Hey. So you have no idea where Jehee is? Not at all?”
“He’s probably nearby.”
“Nearby where?”
“I don’t know, damn it. If I did, you think I’d be standing here like this?”
There was nothing more to gain from talking to him, so I turned away.
At least the Taeyang side was being cooperative.
From the Bureau report to post-incident cleanup, they were taking care of most of the work themselves.
Right now, finding Jehee mattered more than investigating those guys.
If I’d run into someone nagging me for cooperation, I wouldn’t have reacted calmly — so this was a relief.
‘Jehee… where are you?’
Even now, I kept trying to sense any trace of him in as wide a radius as possible, but nothing matched Jehee’s presence.
My nerves were fraying fast.
The sun was already setting.
Soon darkness would fall completely.
Jehee might be S-rank, able to see better than a normal person in the dark, but nighttime was dangerous for reasons beyond visibility.
I’d never left him alone at this hour before — it worried me.
It was probably the first time in over a decade that he’d been alone at night.
He could be scared.
If he was stuck somewhere unable to move, then me just waiting here would be a waste of time.
Maybe I should go look for him.
But moving in earnest would break my concentration and narrow my sensing range — we could pass right by each other.
If he was coming toward this area, staying still would let me find him faster.
I wasn’t sure which was the right choice.
‘What do I do… nothing better happen to him while I’m waiting here.’
If there were others besides that pathetic bunch targeting him… if something happened to Jehee because of that…
“Damn, look at those eyes. Like you’re about to kill someone.”
“……”
“Creepy as hell. Guess I wasn’t wrong about those psycho eyes I saw back at the training center.”
At some point, Cha Taeyang had finished talking to the vice guild master and sidled back up to me.
Now that I noticed, there were more people outside — probably the Bureau staff and Taeyang Guild members.
He must’ve handed the scene over to them and had free time now.
…If he was just going to hang around making stupid comments about my eyes, he should’ve stayed away.
“Worried about Jehee?”
“……”
“I checked before coming here — no reports of any gates or dungeons appearing nearby. He probably didn’t get caught up in something like that.”
“……”
“It’s not like we have tigers or bears in Korea. At worst, a wild boar — and even that wouldn’t mess with an S-rank, it’d run. Even if some idiot did charge at him, one punch from Jehee and it’d be minced meat. So quit worrying and just wait.”
“……”
“It’s not like he’s a kid. He’s an adult — and an S-rank at the top of the charts, at that. Sure, he’s a bit reckless, but he’s sharp. Now that my guys are here, if he’s still missing after we wrap things up here, I’ll help you look. So relax those eyes of yours, will you?”
Cha Taeyang’s chatter beside me wasn’t wrong in the slightest… but that didn’t make it any more comforting.
I clasped my hands tightly in my lap, restless.
Just a few hours ago, Jehee had been right here.
I’d held him in my arms, could have kept holding him, could have touched him—but for some stupid reason, I let go and walked away.
I wanted to see him.
Yes, I was worried about him, but more than that…
I simply couldn’t stand it.
Not knowing where Jehee was, not being able to contact him—this helplessness was suffocating.
And of all times, it had to be now.
Thirteen years ago, around this very hour, something had happened to us.
Back then, too, I didn’t know if Jehee was alive or dead, didn’t know where he was.
All I could do was wait.
“Ha. Im Taehwan, you bastard. Your eyes aren’t coming back anytime soon, huh…?”
Yeah, this wasn’t working.
I’d waited long enough.
I needed to start moving and searching.
Just as I began to rise—
A sudden racket sounded outside the tent.
The heavy flapping of wings.
Birdsong was nothing unusual in the mountains, but this… this wasn’t just a few birds.
I rushed out of the tent and saw, in the distance, birds fleeing the mountains.
Not even the same kind—different species scattering all at once.
Cha Taeyang’s voice wavered with unease.
“What the…? The birds—”
“Boss, over there! Look!”
“Huh? …What?”
It wasn’t just the birds.
Animals were streaming down the slopes—deer, squirrels, wild boars—and even swarms of insects, all abandoning the mountain.
Terrified, as if something were chasing them.
“What’s gotten into them?”
“Could it be… a landslide coming?”
“This is like some disaster movie…”
“I’ll check it out.”
“But what if all those animals come down and cause trouble for civilians nearby? We should go check.”
“That’s what the Forestry Service is for.”
“You lot help too! I’m going!”
“Boss, you’re doing it again. Always meddling… It’s not like they’re coming to attack people.”
“How much of a bonus do you even get for this ‘good deed’ crap…?”
“We’ll ask around while we’re at it—see if anyone’s seen Jehee, get leads! Move!”
“Ugh… Fine. We’re going.”
It was a rare and bizarre sight, and the noise had the whole area in a stir.
Normally, with my nerves on edge, I’d have been irritated, but I barely heard any of their chatter anyway.
“…Ah.”
From the moment I saw the birds take flight, my attention had been locked on the mountain.
I didn’t know exactly why, but my instincts told me—
There.
And when that instinct crystallized into certainty—
“Hey, Im Taehwan! Where are you going?!”
My body had already sprung forward, tearing toward the mountain.
I didn’t slow even when Taeyang’s startled voice called after me.
Unfortunately, a wide river separated the campsite from the mountain, so I had to take a long detour.
Still, that was better than sitting and waiting.
Just knowing I was getting closer to Jehee gave me strength.
The area was remote, with hardly any cars passing by.
The roads were empty, civilians kept away due to the panicked animals running wild.
I crossed quickly.
“Haa…”
The moment I reached the mountain, I knew my instincts hadn’t been wrong.
Every living thing here had fled.
Finding the one presence that remained was easy—especially when it was so powerful, and when it was the very person I’d been desperate to find.
A smile tugged at my tense lips.
‘Ah… thank god.’
It was Jehee.
Still far away, and unmoving in the middle of the slope, but I knew.
I was sure of it.
Relief came first—but it wasn’t enough just to know where he was.
I had to get to him.
I started climbing.
It didn’t take long for me to realize something was wrong.
The mountain was steeped in killing intent.
It was so strong it raised goosebumps, so sharp it felt like it was pricking my skin, blanketing the slopes like morning fog.
I was an S-rank hunter—a veteran. I’d awakened early, spent years on the field.
Even boss-class monsters didn’t usually rattle me.
But right now, my body was on edge—not because I was worried for Jehee, but because that killing intent was threatening.
A cold unease spread through me.
Scaring off the animals—fine, maybe his powers were still unstable since he’d only recently awakened.
But for it to be this menacing…
This was far too much.
And there was something else strange.
—Thump. Thud.
From the moment I stepped onto the mountain, the ground had been shaking.
Like some giant was stomping through the area.
‘A monster? …No.’
The oppressive killing intent had clouded my judgment, but I finally realized—it was just the sound of trees falling.
Even now, large and small trunks crashed down, colliding and shaking the earth violently.
And it was happening near Jehee.
‘Why?’
There were only two living beings here—Jehee and me.
No gate had opened, no dungeon spawned, no earthquake…
Which meant the cause of this, the one creating all this chaos, was obvious.
What had happened to Jehee to make him act so unlike himself?
My pace quickened.
I had to reach him.
But it wasn’t easy.
The sun had long since set, and the whole area was pitch dark.
This was the countryside—no streetlights, thick clouds hiding moon and stars, trees crowding close enough to block what little light there might have been.
Even with my phone flashlight on, the beam was swallowed by the darkness.
Without an S-rank body that could handle this visibility and the constant tremors, I might have been in real danger.
“Jehee!”
I shouted with all my strength, hoping it would reach him.
The relentless pounding of the earth… suddenly stopped.
* * *
