* * *
Unable to bear it any longer, Doyoung covered his face with one hand, though his breath still escaped through the gaps between his fingers.
“Have you ever felt that way? Or is it just me? This is my first time liking someone, so I don’t know if this is right or not. What about you?”
How would telling him help? He didn’t have any relationship experience either!
“I don’t know either.”
He blurted out in frustration and instantly regretted it.
No matter what, it wasn’t something to reveal to someone much younger.
“Ah, seriously. Why do I always feel like I’m becoming childish when I talk to Beom Sinje lately?”
Even calculating from before his possession, Doyoung realized their age difference exceeded ten fingers, yet since their reunion, he often found himself acting immature and swayed by Beom Sinje.
“Ah… I see. You don’t know either.”
Doyoung quickly raised his head.
He thought he heard a chuckle.
‘Was it my imagination?’
Beom Sinje still wore a contemplative expression, no different from earlier.
“If neither of us knows, we’ll have to figure it out together. Until then, please be careful. Honestly, I’m worried every time this happens.”
“What are you worried about?”
“That I might be crossing a line. That you might hate me for this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Doyoung firmly stated.
“That’s not going to happen.”
He said that because he didn’t realize everything he did here was for Beom Sinje.
What could he have done to cross a line or earn his hatred?
Hunter Beom Sinje, despite being hailed as a hero, couldn’t escape public criticism, largely due to his actions in most government agencies.
However, he was ruthless in fulfilling his role, earning the title of a cold-blooded protagonist.
‘I supported and watched over you to the end. Just for this?’
Doyoung scoffed, tapping Beom Sinje on the shoulder before turning away.
“Do whatever you want. I’ll accept it gladly.”
Even though the timeframe was set, he decided to accept Beom Sinje’s feelings.
So, he wanted to let him do whatever he wanted.
‘That’s what I’ve been busy for.’
Beom Sinje silently watched Doyoung walk away, slowly recalling his words from earlier.
“Do whatever I want?”
It seemed Doyoung had a significant misunderstanding.
“That you’d accept it gladly?”
If he knew what Beom Sinje was thinking, he would never have said that.
Beom Sinje covered his mouth with a large hand, his gaze fixed on Doyoung, who was putting distance between them.
His eyes burned with a desire he no longer intended to hide, a desire that would have made Doyoung flee in terror if he had noticed.
“Hyung, you’re in trouble.”
Why did he keep saying such dangerous things, not knowing how much Beom Sinje was holding back?
He let his hand fall, revealing lips curled into a savage smile, like a beast ready to devour its prey.
◇◆◇◆◇
“You said you found something suspicious?”
Doyoung approached his companions, speaking as he drew near.
Song Jihee responded with a nod, pointing to the ground.
“Here, this.”
He moved closer, examining the area she indicated.
On the ground were marks as if something heavy had been dragged across it.
Given the narrow gap between the ground and the inside, it suggested that a thick object had created the tracks.
‘So it’s not a cart or a bed…’
Since a special hunter found it suspicious, it meant there was something there, so Doyoung knelt down to take a closer look.
“I’ll check it.”
Just as he bent his right knee, someone approached from behind and brought him back to his original position.
In the brief confusion, Beom Sinje took his place, kneeling on the dusty ground.
The others didn’t immediately grasp what had happened.
“Hunter Song Jihee.”
But Song Jihee quickly recovered at Beom Sinje’s commanding tone.
“It’s likely a large monster’s claws dragged across the ground.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Look at this.”
This time, Lee Jihoon showed Beom Sinje the screen of his smartphone.
“It’s the output from a special lens. As you can see, the measurements are not from any animal.”
“And the guild?”
“We’re ready to send it after confirming with the Guild Master.”
They could have sent it right away, but they waited for confirmation to ensure accuracy.
“Send it. Is it difficult to determine the species?”
“Yes, most monsters that appear in Africa are still unidentified, so the guild might have trouble too.”
The analysis and data collection of monsters are meticulously researched in advanced countries, requiring significant funding and manpower.
A place struggling with basic security wouldn’t have the capacity for such tasks.
‘That’s why places like the Dungeon Ecology Research Institute operate openly without being caught.’
Who knows how much they’ve experimented on living beings here.
‘If only I had investigated more back then…’
He thought they were just a disorganized group but didn’t expect them to go this far.
If he had known, he would have prepared in advance and had Beom Sinje handle it.
“Sigh…”
“Why the sigh?”
Doyoung thought he sighed discreetly, but someone noticed right away, prompting him to speak.
“At least we’re finding things through thorough exploration.”
It seemed Beom Sinje had doubts, but Doyoung played it off.
He would tell him the truth someday, but not now.
“Yeah, luckily, in many ways.”
But why did Beom Sinje always make such ominous remarks?
He looked at him suspiciously as Beom Sinje’s lips curled into a smirk.
“Hunter Song Jihee, contact the guild and have them trace this as well.”
Beom Sinje handed her two business cards, which she accepted with a puzzled look.
“What is this?”
“One of these I found here, and the other is…”
Why is he looking at me like that again?
That suspicious gaze would make anyone feel uneasy!
Sure enough, Song Jihee followed Beom Sinje’s gaze and looked at Doyoung.
Doyoung barely managed to suppress the veins threatening to bulge on his forehead, maintaining a facade of composure.
“It’s a business card given by a foreigner I met at the hotel bar, who said to contact him if I needed consultation. But since we found the same thing here, we should check it out.”
Unlike his usual self, the guild leader explained the situation in detail.
This meant there was another layer of meaning behind his words…
Song Jihee’s gaze shifted to Park Bora, who was with them.
Seeing her shrug, it seemed she understood what was going on.
“Got it! I’ll contact them right away.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she began making a call.
Doyoung shot a sharp look at Beom Sinje but held back from speaking hastily.
There were others curious about what they had overheard just a moment ago.
Instead, Doyoung took a different approach.
“Let me take a look too, Guild Leader.”
As he stepped closer, he “accidentally” stepped on Beom Sinje’s foot, who was kneeling with one knee raised.
He noticed a slight twitch in Beom Sinje’s arched eyebrow.
Soon, Beom Sinje’s gaze fell on his cheek, but Doyoung pretended to focus intently on the ground.
“Indeed, it’s a puncture mark from something sharp.”
Speaking seriously, the intense gaze on him eased.
A sly smile briefly graced Doyoung’s lips before disappearing.
“Doesn’t it look that way to you too?”
“Hmm… Moving something like that with conventional means would be impossible. It must have been something massive, at least the size of a house.”
“Moving something that big would have been impossible with regular vehicles.”
“Exactly. They must have used large containers, which explains why they moved at night, as the locals said.”
“Hmm…”
Doyoung exhaled softly and turned to Park Bora.
“Guide Park.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Could you ask the locals if there were any dungeon occurrences around the time the research facility and containers appeared?”
“One moment.”
Park Bora, her eyes twinkling, conversed with the locals, nodding several times and asking further questions.
After a while, she relayed what she had learned to Doyoung.
* * *
…