Chapter 84

“If you tell me exactly what’s bothering you, I’ll clean it up as best as I can.”

Hae-gun’s relaxed voice snapped Eui-rim from his spiraling thoughts. Unable to stifle a chuckle, Eui-rim looked up at him.

Good grief. What absurd confidence. Clean it up? Does he think he’s a janitor?

“And how exactly do you plan on cleaning them up?”

“Wouldn’t that depend on what category they fall into? For starters, if it’s Kim Si-hoon or Yoo Tae-geun, I can easily sweep them out of the way, so don’t worry.”

Treating A-rank hunters like household clutter was certainly a talent of its own. Putting Kim Si-hoon aside, Yoo Tae-geun was hardly an opponent anyone took lightly. Did every other hunter look mediocre once you stood at S-rank?

“Or was the problem how those marks were crawling around like bugs?”

“You saw that?” Eui-rim asked.

Startled by the remark, Eui-rim’s eyes widened. Hae-gun gave a wry smile, tapping his iron club lightly against the stone floor.

“I was standing right beside you, Eui-rim-ssi. The hallucinations only overwhelmed me after those marks fused, so how could I miss it?” Hae-gun paused thoughtfully, then added, “Did regaining your senses have something to do with that?”

“Pardon?”

“Because the monster wave broke out the moment you woke up. Something tells me you removed the third sigil right around then. Am I right?”

The deduction was so sharp that Eui-rim was momentarily struck dumb.

To deduce the exact sequence of events without a single hint… Is it pure hunter instinct?

“…Yes. I destroyed it.”

“And the weapon in your hand must be connected to that. Did you acquire it through a method similar to when your skill was unlocked?”

“That’s right.”

“Mm.” Stroking his chin, Hae-gun extended an open hand toward Eui-rim.

“Could you show it to me for a moment?”

“The… weapon?”

“Yes. If it’s all right with you, Eui-rim-ssi.”

Doing so posed no difficulty. Without hesitation, Eui-rim laid the sword flat and slid it across the floor. The instant Hae-gun picked up the hilt, the look in his eyes shifted. As if activating an inspection skill, his irises shimmered with an opalescent sheen.

“Timepiece Component. S-rank.” Studying the blade intently, Hae-gun read the details aloud. A faint furrow formed between his brows, betraying subtle frustration. “…Used to maintain balance under the blessing of… Un-evolved form. No attribute.”

There are still limits to what he can perceive. The blank space Hae-gun skipped over was almost certainly ‘The Scales.’ But an un-evolved form? Does that mean it can morph into another shape entirely?

“Can weapons evolve?”

“It happens on rare occasions. Though only for a tiny fraction even among S-ranks.”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“Yes. Just once.”

Eui-rim nodded in a daze. Even knowing Hae-gun still couldn’t meet his eyes, he was struck momentarily speechless.

An S-rank weapon capable of evolution… Just what on earth did the Gatekeepers bestow on me?

Were they planning to lavish him with top-tier rewards regardless of his baseline rank? If they were going that far, wouldn’t it be far simpler to just raise his hunter rank directly instead of tossing out legendary items and skills?

Once the initial shock settled, a self-deprecating chuckle slipped out. I’ve gotten greedy. All of this was merely compensation granted whenever the Balance ruptured. Thinking like this made him feel like an ungrateful beggar demanding a kingdom.

Steeling his resolve, Eui-rim steadied his breathing. After inspecting the blade for a long while, Hae-gun slid the sword back across the floor.

That said, having someone who usually hovers close keep his distance like an awkward stranger feels strangely lonely.

Surely this distance wouldn’t persist once the dungeon was cleared. Once the sigils were erased and the fragment banished, the hallucinations would dissipate.

Shaking off his wandering thoughts, Eui-rim lifted the weapon. A curious sensation of stability settled into his palm. Other weapons had always felt awkward—either too heavy or unnervingly sharp. But this blade molded into his grasp as though forged exclusively for his hands.

So the old adage about instinctively recognizing your signature weapon was true after all. Because healers rarely possessed dedicated weapons, he had always assumed combat hunters were exaggerating.

“…Phew.”

Recalling lessons from the Academy’s core curriculum, Eui-rim attuned his mana to the weapon. A moment later, amidst a flash of golden light, the blade vanished. Good. Storing it away truly does function like managing a status window.

Summoning the weapon proved even easier than stowing it. Calling the blade back into his grip with a thought, Eui-rim turned his attention to Hae-gun.

Fortunately, with time, Hae-gun had recovered considerably. The minor lacerations had closed, and his torn shoulder was nearly restored.

At this rate, a single high-grade potion will finish the job once we get upstairs. Considering he had fought off an entire swarm of ghouls single-handedly, it was a miracle his injuries weren’t worse.

“Hae-gun-ssi.”

“Yes. Shall we get moving soon?”

Judging by his prompt reply, Hae-gun felt confident in his physical condition. Eui-rim watched him shake the dark blood from his iron club before speaking up.

“From here on, I’ll move alone. Please take those two and head upstairs, Hae-gun-ssi.”

“…You’re going alone, Eui-rim-ssi?”

“Yes. Touching the sigil will make the shadows go berserk again. Those two are in immediate danger, but… looking at me triggers your hallucinations. It’s safer for you to leave this chamber.”

“Then wait a moment. I’ll send Moonhyuk or Chaeyoon down to back you up.”

“No. Until the wave begins, it’s safer for me to handle it alone. There’s no guarantee they won’t succumb to the debuff as well.”

Furthermore, he was now armed with a blade blessed by The Scales. While he didn’t know the full extent of its power, with any luck, he might destroy the sigil far more cleanly than before.

Hae-gun looked thoroughly unconvinced, yet he had no counterargument. This wasn’t reckless bravado; it was sound tactical logic. Even if Hae-gun showed no overt hostility under the hallucination’s sway, exposing him further to the Fragment risked total disaster. Keeping him away until the abnormality lifted was the only sensible choice.

Raking back his dark bangs with a rough hand, Hae-gun let out a bitter laugh. Stepping over to Kim Si-hoon and the Association hunter, who were snarling like rabid beasts, he wrenched out the halberd blades pinning their shoulders. “This is the first time in my life I’ve ever felt this useless.”

He pulled them out effortlessly. Signature weapons were supposed to feel impossibly heavy to anyone other than their master.

Inhuman shrieks tore from Kim Si-hoon and the hunter, but Hae-gun paid them no heed. Gathering the chains around their necks, he dragged the thrashing pair along. “Fine. I’ll trust your judgment, Eui-rim-ssi. I won’t hold you back after you’ve come all this way.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one apologizing? An S-rank hunter, completely sidelined.”

“It isn’t your fault, Hae-gun-ssi.”

Truthfully, Eui-rim hadn’t anticipated that Hae-gun’s skills would fail either. In the previous timeline, Hae-gun had stood at the vanguard against the Shadows. Eui-rim had taken it for granted that he could rely on him here.

Skills don’t function inside the Fragment’s true domain…

Was that why the Fragment worked so desperately to spread hallucinations, lure victims in, and expand its territory? So hunters wouldn’t even be able to retaliate? The zones where skills still function must be areas that haven’t been fully corrupted yet.

The conclusion drew a hollow chuckle from him. He felt more helpless the more he understood, precisely because he had witnessed the apocalypse firsthand. Don’t spiral. The timeline has shifted, so take it one step at a time.

Meeting Hae-gun’s steady gaze, Eui-rim added, “Once the monster wave begins, I’ll need your help more than anyone else’s, Hae-gun-ssi.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m backing off without a fight.”

A sudden rattle of chains echoed through the corridor. Kim Si-hoon, who had briefly slumped, began snapping his jaws again. Readjusting his grip without flinching, Hae-gun added, “Make sure you activate that watch of yours, too. It was remarkably effective earlier.”

“The watch?”

“Yes. I triggered it while you were out, and it worked wonders. The ghouls couldn’t sense you at all.”

No wonder I didn’t have a single scratch on me. It was astonishing that amid such frantic slaughter, Hae-gun had thought to activate the Watch of Seclusion on his wrist. He should have prioritized protecting himself.

Eui-rim knew that to an S-rank, a D-rank was as vulnerable as a child, but being shielded like this left an uncomfortable weight in his chest. Even more so when his protector had taken the full brunt of the assault alone and come away bloodied.

Swallowing the knot in his throat, Eui-rim gave a firm nod. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep myself safe.”

Yet despite his reassurances, he must have looked far from convincing, for Hae-gun lingered for several long seconds, clearly reluctant to step away.

Eui-rim watched him finally turn and leave before closing his eyes. The moment the distant door clicked shut, he unleashed his skill.