Chapter 46

I covered my forehead with my hand.

Yekaterina said it would be resolved if we found an expert.

Rather than recklessly looking for Gwak Sa-yeon in a situation with an opposing Returner, it would be better to explore other options.

Then it was right to get out of the building.

“It won’t be easy.”

Baek-san, who read my thoughts, spoke up.

He stared at the wall in front of him with half-closed eyes.

“That guy earlier is a Returner from the Labyrinth. And a designer at that.”

The Labyrinth, a rare but occasional existence during Dimensional Movement.

The Labyrinth Dimension, known as a place of endless mazes and death, is a hellish place where once you enter, you must wander until you find an exit.

If he’s a designer from such a Labyrinth…

“Don’t tell me this entire building has become a Labyrinth?”

Upon hearing that, Yekaterina also frowned and quickly looked around.

Since she knows Umbrella, she must be well aware of his abilities.

“Yes, the reason he didn’t reveal himself immediately even after you appeared must be because of that. I was slow to notice. He’s quite strong.”

To think such a thing was possible in that short time.

Returners are truly absurd beings.

“But he didn’t have enough time to make it complicated. A Labyrinth, once completed, doesn’t collapse easily, so there must be an exit.”

It seems we’re in for an unexpected maze.

Then the answer was simple.

“Si-ho, Seo-ho, Yekaterina, let’s move first.”

The search for the exit begins.

The smoke cleared, and above.

Umbrella, who had folded his umbrella, looked at the gaping hole.

He had definitely set up a Labyrinth throughout the building before attacking them.

As such, the building’s strength had increased thousands of times, and it was clear that it wouldn’t even get a scratch from most attacks.

Indeed, the other walls showed no signs of collapsing even after Yekaterina and Umbrella’s attacks.

The only wall that collapsed was the one he excluded from the Labyrinth when he started his first attack.

“But the floor where my Labyrinth was set up has collapsed.”

And not just one or two floors.

At least ten floors have collapsed.

If the number of floors hadn’t increased significantly due to the Labyrinth, the firepower was absurd enough to reach the building’s bottom immediately.

“This is dangerous.”

A direct hit would probably make it hard for even him to survive.

A variable.

Umbrella, who had noticed the appearance of an unexpected person, stroked his chin.

Just as Giraseong had Gwak Sa-yeon as a variable.

The World Returner Association also had Kang Ha-chan as a variable.

“Ugh, huu, Seo-ho, where did our Seo-ho go? Give him back. Give me back what’s mine!”

At that moment, a woman appeared beside him.

Half-naked but battered and dusty from being beaten and rolled around, Gwak Sa-yeon was a mess.

She grabbed the hem of Umbrella’s suit pants and looked up at him, shouting.

“You, you’re from Giraseong! Bring Seo-ho back immediately! Kill those who took him and bring Seo-ho back!”

“Hmm.”

He first took off his suit jacket and covered Gwak Sa-yeon with it.

“Lady, you must be cold. Let’s talk after you cover yourself.”

Having only received hostility and anger until now, she seemed to regain some composure from the sudden kindness, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Seo-hoo, why are you doing this to your sister, hic, like this.”

“Ah, it must hurt a lot to be abandoned by someone you love, right?”

Taking out a handkerchief, Umbrella wiped her tears with a gentlemanly smile.

“Really, why don’t you understand my heart? Seo-ho is mine. I said I wanted to have him.”

“So, Lady, may I make a suggestion?”

Seeing Gwak Sa-yeon rambling in anxiety as if her mind was broken, Umbrella spoke, and her gaze met his.

Umbrella made the handkerchief disappear like magic and held a black pill between his index finger and thumb.

“What’s taken can be taken back. What do you think? Don’t you want to reclaim it with your own strength?”

Gwak Sa-yeon’s eyes were mesmerized by the black pill.

“…I can reclaim it?”

Facing her, Umbrella only maintained his gentlemanly smile.

Seeing that smile, Gwak Sa-yeon reached out and took the pill he offered.

‘A Labyrinth must have a monster to guard it.’

Without even realizing that his gentlemanly smile was turning into malice.

It’s been about 20 minutes since we started escaping the Labyrinth.

Should we really call it a Labyrinth?

Originally, it was just a normal corridor, but now it’s a complete mess due to being twisted in various ways.

But there was one thing Umbrella didn’t anticipate.

That was Si-ho’s presence.

Si-ho’s spatial sense diverged even in the maze, and from her perspective, knowing all coordinates by intuition, she could navigate the Labyrinth without any hindrance.

For the Labyrinth, a Spatial Ability User was a perfect counter.

“Si-ho, how much longer do you think it will take?”

“10 minutes.”

Even though she knows the way, it still takes about 30 minutes.

If we had wandered without Si-ho, it’s dizzying to think how long it would have taken.

“I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”

In the midst of this, Seo-ho’s apology echoed.

Seo-ho, who had been silently following us, had a very dark expression.

He seemed to think he had dragged us into this.

“Seo-ho.”

So I called him.

When Seo-ho, who had been bowing his head, looked up, I instead gave him an apologetic smile.

“It was me who suggested this. It was my proposal, even though you might be in danger. I should be the one apologizing for not preparing properly.”

“What are you talking about? Brother Kang Ha-chan, you moved with good intentions for us.”

People naturally tend to avoid responsibility.

Responsibility is always heavy and frightening.

But there are also those who take responsibility themselves.

Sometimes they may seem foolish, but such people are mostly good.

Seo-ho was one of those people.

A year younger than me, he’s now twenty-five.

He’s an adult, and as a Hunter, he’s a proper member of society.

But from society’s perspective, both he and I are still young with much life ahead.

Seo-ho is definitely more mature than his peers.

The guilt of not being able to protect his mother and Si-ho in his childhood and the responsibility to protect Si-ho now must have shaped him.

Other weaker emotions couldn’t penetrate his heart because these two feelings were too strong.

“Seo-ho, the world isn’t made up of just good intentions.”

It’s natural to want to avoid responsibility and resent others.

But Seo-ho doesn’t do that.

He’s a responsible person.

But if he keeps this up, it will eventually wear him down.

Emotions are finite resources.

“I’ve been studying to find my sister who was a Returner. To do that, I’ve become close with the World Returner Association. Helping you is also an extension of gaining the Association’s trust.”

It’s not a lie.

I wanted to find my sister, and to find her, the World Returner Association’s help was essential.

It’s just that my first connection with the Association was a coincidence.

“This matter is also beneficial to me.”

Good people feel bad if they think they’ve caused harm to others.

Especially since they can’t completely read the other person’s thoughts, they feel sorry even if they themselves suffer a loss in the face of vague goodwill.

So if they recognize the relationship as mutually beneficial, that guilt can be somewhat alleviated.

“Besides, didn’t you see earlier? That crazy woman Gwak Sa-yeon and I have some personal grievances. This matter is heavily influenced by my personal feelings.”

The exhilarating moment when I kicked her with all my resentment was more refreshing than ever.

“So don’t worry too much.”

I kept moving my legs even during the conversation.

Seo-ho, who was looking at my back, bowed his head again but didn’t apologize further.

Only Si-ho looked at me with a somewhat affectionate gaze before continuing to guide us.

“Idiot, you’ll get betrayed one day.”

Baek-san grumbled beside me, but he didn’t say more, probably thinking it was a good thing.

What a tsundere.

“They’re coming.”

At that moment, Yekaterina, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, suddenly raised her head and spoke.

As the exit approached, they also started to move.

“Location.”

When I asked, looking at Yekaterina and Baek-san, both of their heads turned to the left wall.

“Everyone, dodge!”

Then, a reddened wall collapsed, and a wave of heat engulfed us.

Boom!

As we narrowly avoided the heat wave and rolled on the floor, another crashing sound was heard.

When I quickly looked up, the opposite wall had collapsed, and Yekaterina was nowhere to be seen.

“Yekaterina!”

I called her name, but there was no answer.

Through the heat wave, I briefly saw Umbrella.

He had attacked Yekaterina and taken her away through that wall.

Damn, he knew exactly who our strongest member was.

Since he could manipulate the Labyrinth walls freely, I didn’t anticipate he could appear from anywhere.

“Si-ho, Seo-ho, are you both okay?”

“We’re fine!”

As I aimed Keraf at the wall and shouted, Si-ho’s answer came.

“Baek-san.”

“Wait. If I possess you, your body will definitely suffer aftereffects this time. Be more careful.”

I nodded, sweating coldly.

The sound of Yekaterina and Umbrella fighting beyond the wall was gradually fading.

Thud thud thud thud!

But the problem was that another sound was also approaching.

Something was running straight towards us.

The moment my gaze turned in that direction, I witnessed something horrifying.

A monster with multiple legs reminiscent of a spider and crustacean, larger than a person, and an abnormally large body that anyone would associate with a Dimensional Being was shaking the ground as it ran towards us.

But this monster was different from ordinary Dimensional Beings.

Because at the center of the monster was a woman I knew too well.

A half-naked upper body protruding from the monster’s body.

Her eyes, as if corrupted by the monster, were only staring in our direction.

Gwak Sa-yeon.

She was running towards us, fused with a Dimensional Being.

Ahhh! What is that?

She was already a monster, but now she’s become a real monster!

“Seo-hoooooo!”

Screaming something incomprehensible, Gwak Sa-yeon ran towards us like a madwoman, and I grabbed Seo-ho and Si-ho and jumped into the collapsed wall.

Crash!

The sound of Gwak Sa-yeon, unable to control her speed, falling echoed.

Realizing I almost got crushed under her, I shuddered and rubbed my arms.

“Isn’t that Gwak Sa-yeon?!”

“…Seems like it.”

Answering Seo-ho’s question, cold sweat dripped from my forehead.

The grotesque appearance of a human fused with a Dimensional Being was shocking even to me.

After all, even though I hated her, she was someone I knew.

“Tsk, that Umbrella guy must have had Arclai. It’s a vile drug that extracts mana from Dimensional Beings and fuses it with humans. She’s now a Dimensional Being.”

Of course, I had no intention of saving her.

Whether Gwak Sa-yeon could return as a Dimensional Being or not was none of my business.

But there was a problem.

That woman is now targeting us, and I can’t control the firepower of Thunderbolt.

“If Gwak Sa-yeon gets hit by Thunderbolt.”

“She’ll die.”

I exhaled softly and looked at the two people behind me.

Having lived in modern society, I couldn’t help but hesitate at the thought of killing someone.

‘Get a grip, Kang Ha-chan. If I hesitate, Si-ho and Seo-ho could be in big trouble.’

I hate Gwak Sa-yeon enough to want to kill her, but I can’t bring myself to actually kill her because modern society’s education restrains me.

But since she can kill us, I need to break free from those restraints now.

“Kang Ha-chan, as long as there are Returners around you, things like this will keep happening.”

Baek-san, who noticed my hesitation, spoke in a low voice.

“Returners turn a blind eye to the guilt of killing using another world as an excuse. And that blindness gradually dulls them until they feel nothing about killing people.”

Then, the sound of Gwak Sa-yeon slowly starting to move again came from beyond the wall.

“I’m not telling you to become dull. I’m not telling you not to feel emotions. But.”

My hand holding Keraf started to tighten again.

“You’re not strong enough to decide someone’s life or death to protect those around you. Remember, weighing the life of an enemy is greed.”

My hesitation could lead to Si-ho and Seo-ho’s death.

That’s all there is to it.

“Si-ho, we need to bind Gwak Sa-yeon.”

When I called Si-ho, she also nodded with a firm expression.

My Thunderbolt, thanks to Baek-san, has definite firepower, but fine control is impossible.

Moreover, since I can’t control it, it’s a one-shot that drains all the Aura latent in my body.

I tried not to show it, but I was still feeling weak from using Thunderbolt earlier to break the floor.

In other words, if I miss this shot, it’s game over.

“Can you do it?”

So I needed Si-ho’s help.

With Si-ho’s power, we could bind Gwak Sa-yeon.

“Manager.”

In response to my request, Si-ho looked straight at me and smiled.

“In times like this, you can just say ‘bind her.'”

Saying the most grateful words to me.

“Brother Kang Ha-chan, I’ll help too. Gwak Sa-yeon is targeting me, right?”

Even though he’s already been through a nightmare because of her, I bit my lip and nodded.

I knew he would feel worse if I excluded him for being in danger.

“Let’s do it.”

So determination filled my eyes.

We must defeat Gwak Sa-yeon.