It was well past midnight, yet the district glowed brightly with vivid neon signs.

Thudding club music and drunken laughter rang loud in their ears.

It resembled a bustling college neighborhood during a late-night party rush.

Kwon Taehyuk narrowed his eyes as he walked the streets behind Hyun Dowoon and Kwon Seoyul, who were leading the way.

“They act like ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) they don’t care about us...”

But a barrage of sharp gazes brushed against his skin.

Turning to the side, he could see Ryu Sunghyun, Song Jiwoon, and Park Minhyuk all wearing equally tense expressions.

Everyone on the street was watching them—outsiders.

The stares were subtle enough to miss if you weren’t S-rank, but every one of them was dangerously sharp.

“Is it really safe for us to keep going deeper like this?”

Park Minhyuk discreetly scanned their surroundings and swallowed dryly.

They didn’t have much choice after getting caught trying to sneak in... but still—

“If things go wrong in there, we’re not making it out alive.”

Sweating, Minhyuk glared at the backs of the two so-called guides ahead of them.

A head full of messy curls, and another with bleached, dull pink hair.

Especially the second guy—he was the same lunatic who’d caused a scene in the Association lobby with a violin performance. Just seeing him brought a fresh wave of rage.

“This way.”

After walking for some time, they arrived at a tall building—still brightly lit, despite the hour.

Its exterior resembled that of a luxurious hotel.

As the front door was opened for them by a waiting attendant, a spacious marble-floored lobby came into view.

Another staff member standing in front of the elevator bowed slightly and said,

“The tenth floor, please.”

“Seriously? They can’t even bother to ride the elevator up with us? Dragging us all the way here isn’t enough?”

Kwon Seoyul, arms crossed, grumbled loudly.

Hyun Dowoon glanced sideways at the four of them, shrugged, and said,

“Well, yeah. The order was just to escort you to the building. No reason to go up to the tenth floor.”

Both Seoyul and Dowoon clearly wanted to return to Cha Seohu as soon as possible. They considered their guide duties complete.

“Wait.”

Kwon Taehyuk reached out and grabbed Dowoon’s arm before he could leave.

“Where’s Hunter Cha Seohu? Where is he?”

“Excuse you?”

As Taehyuk moved, Seoyul grabbed his wrist hard.

Blocking Dowoon from moving forward, Seoyul let out a scornful laugh.

“What the hell do you think you're doing, grabbing our Supporter like that? You trying to die?”

“So you value Supporters—that’s why you kidnapped Cha Seohu?”

“Get your facts straight. Seohu-hyung was ours from the start. You’re the ones using him like he’s your property.”

Seoyul smacked Taehyuk’s hand away roughly.

“...‘Using him’?”

The moment Seoyul referred to Seohu like he was an object, Taehyuk felt a cold fury rise in his chest.

Sensing the killing intent from Taehyuk, Seoyul smirked and twisted his lips.

“You’ve barely known him for a year, haven’t you? Hilarious. I mean, an S-rank Supporter with no guild and nowhere to go? Must’ve looked like easy prey. You probably lost your goddamn minds when you realized he was unattached.”

“......”

“But us? We were there even when he was B-rank. Even before he awakened.”

Seoyul scanned the four of them from head to toe with disdain.

“Let me guess. You didn’t give a damn when he was just a B-rank Supporter. But the second you found out he was S-rank, you suddenly started buzzing around him like flies. Now you’re deluded enough to think you mean something to him, so you came chasing after him.”

“We—”

“Aah, forget it. I don’t care.”

Song Jiwoon tried to speak, but Seoyul cut him off with a sigh of contempt.

“I’m not interested in hearing your excuses. You should be grateful Seohu-hyung made it possible for you to walk out of here alive. Just keep your heads down and get the hell out.”

“Hey! Kwon Seoyul!”

Having said his piece, Seoyul turned his back on them without hesitation.

Whether he ever intended to go up to the tenth floor or not, he left without so much as a glance, and Hyun Dowoon hurried after him, looking flustered.

Kwon Taehyuk didn’t try to stop them. He just quietly watched them leave.

His face, once tense with anger, now only held complex emotion.

“Hunter Kwon Taehyuk.”

Ryu Sunghyun called out to him softly.

He wore a similar expression, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Finding Cha Seohu as quickly as possible came first.

Taking the elevator up to the tenth floor, they were greeted by a new attendant who bowed deeply.

“Welcome. I’ll escort you to your room.”

With silent, efficient movements, the attendant led them down the hall to a glass-paned door and opened it.

They stepped into what looked like the drawing room of a classic mansion.

A wide sofa and a wooden table sat at the center, and stairs on either side led to the upper floor.

The space spanned both the tenth and eleventh floors, creating a lavish, open structure. For a moment, Park Minhyuk forgot the situation and looked around.

“Please wait here a moment.”

After guiding them to the sofa and pouring tea into their cups, the attendant finally withdrew.

A floral fragrance drifted gently from the tea—but none of them touched their cups.

As Hyun Dowoon had said, they’d been treated with extravagant hospitality up to this point.

Yet the nagging sense of unease, like thorns poking from inside their stomachs, wouldn’t go away.

What was the cause of that discomfort?

The four realized it the moment they stepped into this drawing room.

Of course...

It was a feeling Kwon Taehyuk was all too familiar with after dealing with countless elites through Yesung Guild.

And Ryu Sunghyun, Song Jiwoon, and Park Minhyuk—who had each spent years honing their awareness—noticed it just as easily.

This was an extremely deliberate display of dominance.

They had expected the man referred to as the “Representative” to be unwelcoming. But this was on another level entirely.

The four of them remained on edge, ready to retaliate the moment an ambush broke out.

Then, from beyond the glass doors came the presence of someone powerful.

A foreign aura approached quickly.

Creak. The faint sound of a door opening was followed by crisp footsteps echoing across the marble floor.

The four, seated on the sofa, all turned their eyes toward the person entering.

A cleanly exposed forehead, a sharp nose bridge, and a well-defined jawline. Piercing, dark eyes that seemed to cut through their very thoughts.

The man sat confidently in the seat of honor, leaning back casually as he greeted them.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

His lips curled smoothly into a smile.

“I’m Representative Seo, in charge of managing the C-281 district.”

***

The attendant treating his wound bowed respectfully.

“All done.”

The palm that had been bleeding was now tightly wrapped in bandages.

It had been wrapped so thoroughly that Seohu couldn’t even curl his left hand. As he examined it from different angles, Cha Sahyeon finally spoke.

“...Hyung.”

It was a short call, but the pressure to explain everything that had happened was unmistakable.

His low voice and those gleaming green eyes were oppressive. Feeling overwhelmed, Seohu lowered his gaze and carefully dropped his hand.

“Sorry.”

“You think I want an apology?”

Sahyeon glared at him with clear dissatisfaction.

“What the hell did you do to end up with a trap item on you? Is that why I couldn’t call you, why you got caught?”

“Well, that’s...”

“I saw on the news that you were going to the Hunter Association. So why are you here? Was the whole kidnapping thing true?”

“It kind of just... Wait, where did you hear I was kidnapped?”

“The internet.”

Sahyeon replied sullenly as he handed over Seohu’s phone and inventory.

They were the things Seohu had entrusted to him before entering the Great Dungeon.

Just in case, Seohu turned the phone on—and sure enough, there were several searches in the history. Mostly for his name and news related to him.

Wait—when did he get so good at using a phone?

They say kids learn fast, but still...

What if he stumbled into some weird ideology while browsing? Maybe it was time to start supervising this kind of stuff.

Staring at the screen, Seohu suddenly remembered.

“I don’t even have time to be worrying about this. I need to focus on the Seed’s progress...”

As soon as things were settled here, he’d have to go find Chronos.

That bastard might know more ways to suppress the Seed’s advancement.

There were questions about the Quest to ask, and new intel on those pseudo-religious freaks from the dungeon that needed to be shared.

“Can’t do any of that if I don’t get out of here first.”

By now, those four were probably already meeting with that man.

They said they were “invited as guests,” so they wouldn’t be treated too roughly—but still, it bothered him that he couldn’t be there in person.

Sighing at the thought of the poor S-ranks being dragged into this mess, he suddenly felt warmth press against his shoulder.

“Hyuuuung.”

Realizing Seohu had drifted off mid-conversation, Sahyeon snuggled into his chest.

He felt genuinely sorry for the kid, so he accepted the embrace quietly.

Sahyeon had been anxious the whole time, terrified that Seohu would get hurt. Seeing him injured must’ve been a huge shock.

Before diving into explanations, Seohu figured he should at least ease his mind a little.

When he didn’t push him away and instead patted his back, Sahyeon seized the chance to nuzzle his lips against Seohu’s neck and cheek.

“Okay, but this is a bit much...”

As Seohu squirmed at the ticklish sensation of his lips and debated telling him to stop—

CLACK!

Something hard hit the floor with a loud noise.

Reflexively turning toward the door, Seohu saw Hyun Dowoon, pale as a sheet, having just dropped his phone—and Kwon Seoyul, eyes wide and wild.

“......”

“......”

“......”

A chilling silence fell over the room.

Veins popped on Seoyul’s forehead as one corner of his mouth lifted in disbelief. That trembling smirk twitched as he muttered,

“...The fuck?”