It was an interesting conclusion. No, even if they had witnessed me copying a Skill, how had they instantly concluded that I could get around the covenant?

'Just like I kept suspecting....'

There were two people who could have given them a hint. It could have been Im Haekyung, like Joo Seowon had said, or else...... it could have been Kwon Taehan, like they hadn’t said.

'Or both?'

They probably wouldn’t have been convinced by only one person saying it. They must have cross-checked, thought about it for a long time, and confirmed every suspicious circumstance before finally becoming certain.

With my mana drained and the excitement that had heated my body until just now cooling off, I felt the pain more directly. The Dungeon was collapsing anyway. We couldn’t stay here.

Instead of answering Joo Seowon’s words, I said briefly,

“Let’s go. As for the person collapsed over there, Hunter Kwon can take him... or you can take him, Seowon. Handle it however you want. Don’t pour a potion on him. He looks like he’ll wake up soon anyway.”

There was no need to check whether they accepted it. They would do it anyway.

Without bothering to check the two of them, I started walking. Right now, my mana was far too lacking, so it was hard to pay attention to the details.

When I walked in silence, the two naturally followed. I could still see the remaining dolls, but since Kwon Taehan was here, I wasn’t particularly worried.

Joo Seowon also did their job belatedly and found the exit well.

So, getting out of the Dungeon...... was not a problem at all.

The first thing I saw after leaving the Dungeon was the ground, sunken in as if a massive sphere had fallen onto it. I lowered my gaze and admired it quietly.

'Impressive.'

It didn’t just end with the ground being hollowed out. Judging from the fragments strewn here and there, it seemed to be the result of gathering the Automatons in one place and sweeping them away.

Of course, as far as I knew, there was only one person capable of using a Skill on this scale.

After confirming that I had come out of the Dungeon, Sung Uijae stared this way expressionlessly, then checked the Hunter slung over Kwon Taehan’s shoulder behind me.

“How did you end up meeting Roman? No, did Hunter Kwon have him on his back from the start?”

“I wonder.”

I slowly checked Sung Uijae’s expression. Whether Roman lived or died didn’t matter, but there was another reason I had brought Roman with us.

'A companion knows about Chase’s death?'

There were only three people called Chase’s companions, Roman included. Two of them had gone inside the Dungeon, and the remaining one had controlled the situation outside the Dungeon. The fortunate part was that communication between inside and outside the Dungeon had been cut off.

But it was almost certain the other companion who had gone inside the Dungeon also knew the truth. Then they would have told the remaining one too.

If I killed Roman too in this situation, those two would turn their suspicion toward me into certainty.

'It should still only be suspicion.'

At least Chase had never mentioned me directly.

Thankfully, Sung Uijae’s expression looked about the same as usual, so it seemed Roman’s companion had not said anything about me yet. I finished observing Sung Uijae and walked toward the staff member receiving Roman and laying him down.

“His injuries are severe, so a potion won’t be enough. I think he should be moved straight to the ward for proper treatment, then monitored afterward.”

“How did he get hurt?”

Even though I was clearly meeting the staff member’s eyes, I felt quite a few pairs of gazes at once. I rolled only my eyes slightly, slowly swept over the owners of those gazes, then moved and turned my back on all of them at once.

Looking at the staff member examining Roman with a serious expression, I answered one beat late.

“Well. S-rank Dungeons are dangerous by nature.”

“Ah, so you weren’t there when he got hurt....”

“No. I was somewhere else. It was such a mess inside that we couldn’t stay in one place.”

“Are you hurt anywhere, Hunter?”

The pain was one thing, but now my stamina was starting to drop sharply too. I loosely straightened my clothes and answered,

“If you have a potion, please give me one. I think I need some simple treatment.”

Soon, after downing the potion the staff member handed me, I checked my physical condition briefly. My mana still hadn’t fully recovered, so my whole body felt stiff, but the insane chill I’d felt just a moment ago had settled down a lot. The pain still steadily grated on my nerves, but this much would probably be resolved well enough with time.

Then Sung Uijae walked over and gripped my shoulder hard.

“Hey, Hunter Seo.”

“Yes.”

“What about Chase Holt?”

I moved only my gaze to check Sung Uijae and answered simply.

“I don’t know.”

“You couldn’t track him properly inside?”

“There were too many Automatons. It wasn’t exactly an easy environment to search.”

At that, one of Sung Uijae’s eyebrows twitched. With an expression that looked close to dissatisfaction, Sung Uijae soon slowly nodded with a sigh.

“Fine. Are you hurt?”

“It feels like I’ve used up my mana overall, and the rest is fine.”

“Your friend says they’re fine too?”

“Probably?”

At Sung Uijae’s words, I turned my head slightly and glanced at Joo Seowon.

“They don’t look hurt.”

“...I’ll finish cleaning up the site and go. You go inside.”

“Should I help?”

I said it with some sincerity, but Sung Uijae firmly refused.

“It’s fine, so go rest.”

“Having me here would make the work easier.”

“Hunter Seo.”

“Yes.”

“I know my priorities.”

After saying that, Sung Uijae looked quietly at Roman, then lightly patted my shoulder. I watched Sung Uijae go to clean up the site, then asked the staff member again.

“That’s what he says. So how do I get back to the center?”

***

Kwon Taehan stayed behind to help clean up the site. Well, if an S-rank Hunter had come as support, when would they use him if not at a time like this?

'Kwon Taehan shouldn’t have appeared at this point originally.'

When comparing the previous life and the current life, the biggest and clearest variable that had appeared for Kwon Taehan was me. Then why had Kwon Taehan gone out of his way to come all the way here?

I quietly looked into the car window. Maybe because it had gotten dark before I knew it, the back seat, with the light on, was much brighter than outside. In other words, I could see Joo Seowon sitting beside me through the car window.

Joo Seowon must have been looking at me the whole time, because the moment our eyes met through the window, they immediately turned their head to the side.

'Ah.... Really, damn it... I didn’t want to do this at this timing.'

Because the roads had been completely emptied, the car arrived at the center in no time.

I briefly reported the situation at the site and returned to the lodging originally assigned to us so I could rest. Joo Seowon followed me, stiff with whatever they were thinking.

Click. After confirming that the door had closed, I spoke without delay.

“You have something to say, right?”

“.......”

“Say it.”

When I turned to look at Joo Seowon, they had their arms crossed and their gaze lowered. Their overall behavior was too unnatural for it to be simply because they wanted to avoid my eyes. Did they dislike the current situation?

After waiting for Joo Seowon for a moment, I spoke first.

“Then should I go first?”

“...What are you going to say?”

“You’ve met Kwon Taehan before. But you lied and said you hadn’t, right?”

Only then did Joo Seowon lift their gaze. They pressed their lips shut as if swallowing down some wavering emotion, then slowly answered.

“Yeah.”

“And meeting Im Haekyung?”

“That... is true too.”

“But I didn’t know about either.... Well, you must have intended that.”

I didn’t always check Joo Seowon and Do Yehyun’s locations, but I also hadn’t been so indifferent that I wouldn’t know if they completely left my sight or went somewhere suspicious.

Then if I didn’t know, that meant Joo Seowon had intentionally omitted their own location information.

Well, I could have suspected them if I wanted to. I could also have controlled every communication network completely. The reason I hadn’t was simple. It would have taken too much effort, and to some extent, I had thought we had formed a mutual relationship of trust.

Looking at Joo Seowon, I crooked up the corner of my mouth.

“You deceived me?”

At that, Joo Seowon’s reaction, which had been quiet until just now, burst out all at once.

“You’re the one who deceived me.”

“I did?”

“You’re the one who made me use the covenant, you’re the one who approached me saying you knew my sister’s location, and you’re the crazy bastard who stuck a location tracker on a communication device to monitor me...!”

“Keep going.”

When I simply flicked my hand, Joo Seowon strode toward me, just like before, and shoved my shoulder hard enough to make a thud. My back, which had been slammed around earlier, touched the door again, and pain spread through me.

Bang!

Right after the door shook violently, Joo Seowon, whose eyes were red with anger, stood right in front of me.

The beginning had definitely seemed fairly calm, but before I knew it, anger was dripping from their tone. No...... was it anger?

“Seo Jehyun, fuck, I wanted to believe you! That’s why I asked! Whether I should trust you. But I don’t know what’s a lie and what isn’t! You don’t know Minha’s location either, do you? Using the covenant with me was also a trick to reassure me even though you could copy my Skill and break the covenant, wasn’t it?”

“.......”

“I didn’t even know that, and every time, I wondered if I should release you from the covenant! I was worried you might die because of me! But you don’t care about that either, do you? You never did....”

Joo Seowon’s final words, after pouring out their anger wildly, had lost their strength.

Joo Seowon lowered their head for a moment, then suddenly slammed their fist against the door. I lowered my gaze and tried to gauge Joo Seowon’s unseen expression for a moment.

After a while, Joo Seowon continued in a voice colder than before.

“...Chase.”

“What about him?”

“Did you just kill Chase too? Was it really something that couldn’t be helped? No, it wasn’t. There were other options... and you chose that one, right? You keep lying to me. Why? Even if you told me the truth, I... I would have believed you. How could you know how much I wanted to trust you....”

“.......”

“I... what am I doing here? I clearly had a goal at first... but I handed it all over to you, and in the end, I’m not doing anything. Im Haekyung and Kwon Taehan both tell me to suspect you, but how could I suspect you just because of what they said? They’re just, just other people. But if you confirm it yourself....”

Joo Seowon failed to finish the end of their sentence again, their head still lowered without properly meeting my eyes. The moment I reached to grip their chin so I could see their expression, Joo Seowon’s hand was faster.

Instead of knocking my hand away, Joo Seowon covered my eyes with one hand.

“Don’t look at me like you’re observing me. Like you know what answer I want.... When really, you don’t understand anything, you’re just imitating it....”

“.......”

“What... are you? Why are you like this?”

I quietly listened to Joo Seowon’s words in the blacked-out darkness.

After all of Joo Seowon’s words ended, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Well.... Seowon, do you think I’m hiding something that impressive?”

“What else would it be? From beginning to end...!”

“You said you wanted to believe me?”

I raised the corner of my mouth and smiled for a moment, then gave a short, hollow laugh.

“Seowon, I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“You must have wanted to suspect me....”

At my words, the strength left Joo Seowon’s hand that was covering my eyes. I grabbed their wrist again, properly covered my eyes with it, and continued.

“I told you. Even if the day came when you couldn’t trust me, you had to believe me. If you had really wanted to believe me, then despite all those suspicious circumstances, you would have just... believed me. No?”

“I kept saying I wanted to believe you.”

“Because you didn’t.”

“.......”

I became genuinely curious.

“If you really trusted me, would you have asked that kind of thing?”

“Why did I end up suspecting you! It was because of your lies. But how can you....”

“No.... Seowon.”

I didn’t know exactly when they had started suspecting me, but there was no point in arguing over that moment now. Since the distrust was already this fervent...... even if I told them the truth, would they think it was the truth?

And more than anything, I had never hidden some grand intention the way Joo Seowon thought I had in the first place.

“I never planned to break the covenant from the start.”

“.......”

“It’s also true that I risked my life.”

“.......”

“I also didn’t kill Chase just because I wanted him dead, and copying your Skill to break the covenant.... Haha, Seowon. Do you know how my Skill activates?”

But even as I spoke, I intuitively understood why Joo Seowon could not trust me. They must have thought about it rationally.

I slowly went back over what Joo Seowon had just said.

“Location tracker.... You know, I had a reason to guarantee your safety... and didn’t I actually get help from it a few times? And what else did you say you were curious about?”

“You....”

“Minha’s location?”

Well, no matter how much I explained, suspicion that had already formed once could not be taken back. They would think the beginning had been warped, so everything I said after that would clearly sound like an excuse.

With only the corner of my mouth raised, I continued.

“I know that too....”

It was truly strange.

Even if Im Haekyung shook them, and even if Kwon Taehan told them the “truth”...... if they had certainty, it would not have come this far. Which meant the conclusion was obvious.

Joo Seowon had never trusted me. They had just... wanted to.

'I trusted them, though.'

Unfortunately, that was the truth.