Chapter 63

Han Arin received Perseus’s permission and then snapped her fingers, unlocking the lock with magic.

I blinked at the lock falling off in an incredibly anticlimactic manner before regaining my composure and cautiously peeked inside.

“The topmost floor, right?”

A wave of anxiety hit me—what if what I heard was fake?

But my intuition grew stronger, telling me ignoring this wouldn’t be wise. So I steadied myself and slowly looked around.

“Nothing special on the first floor.”

Of course, there wasn’t a complete lack of information. The thick layer of dust everywhere suggested it had been abandoned for a long time. But near the passage, scattered footprints indicated someone had been here recently.

Thinking maybe someone really was up there, I clutched Seorin’s hem tightly.

Seorin turned to me, smiling warmly and said,

“Hae-un and Chae-a, don’t worry—I’ll protect you no matter what. Got it?”

Even though I felt somewhat reassured hearing these words from the protagonist, I shyly nodded as a sign of gratitude.

Seorin smiled gently and moved forward—but then—

“Seorin, are you stupid?”

Han Arin stopped her, shaking her head.

“Huh?”

Seorin, clearly confused why she’d been stopped, turned around with a blank look.

Han Arin shrugged, continuing, “The hunter’s main role is combat, but that doesn’t mean we *have* to fight.”

Confused by this cryptic statement, Seorin tilted her head.

Han Arin pulled out her phone again, explaining further:

“In short, if we can avoid combat, we should.”

“That’s true… but is there even a way to avoid it? We don’t even know if a fight will happen.”

At this, Han Arin chuckled lightly while looking around.

“Who’s the boss here?”

“Perseus.”

“Meaning all responsibility falls on Perseus.”

Doubting whether this logic held water, I tilted my head, but Han Arin seemed satisfied and promptly called Perseus.

“Hae-un and Chae-a are here. We found suspicious traces at the clock tower in the amusement park.”

“—What?”

As soon as the reply came through, Han Arin hung up without another word.

Stunned by her brash behavior, I gawked silently until Han Arin grinned mischievously, holding up three fingers.

“Hae-un, wanna see something cool? One, two, three!”

As she said “three,” the surrounding mana rippled, and a man tore through space itself, stepping out.

Startled, I clung tightly to Seorin as Perseus emerged, frowning deeply.

“Hae-un and Chae-a?”

Uncertain whether I should acknowledge him, I hesitated briefly, then waved slightly since bowing would’ve been awkward in the cramped space. Perseus sighed in relief.

“They’re fine… good enough.”

With that, Han Arin giggled teasingly,

“You look just like a dad rushing over after hearing his daughter got hurt.”

“Shut up.”

“But it’s cute!”

Perseus seemed to have much to say but decided against it, dismissing her comment outright and cutting straight to the chase.

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Top floor.”

At this, Perseus glanced upward silently, then chuckled bitterly as he gripped his sword.

“Definitely unusual. Makes me wonder how we missed this till now.”

“Right? I didn’t notice either until a few minutes after entering.”

Seorin still looked puzzled listening to their conversation, while Chae-a obliviously waved at a spider dangling from the ceiling.

“So, what do we do? Go in and capture them now? Or try to exploit them?”

“Hmm… ideally, we’d observe them for a while, but given the possibility of hostages being taken like elsewhere, it might be better to subdue them immediately.”

“In that case, I’ll set up a barrier. You and Seorin go in together.”

Upon hearing this, Perseus gave Seorin a skeptical look. Clearly, he thought it safer to go alone rather than bring along an unproven rookie hunter.

I pondered for a moment, then…

‘For Seorin’s combat experience…’

Deciding it was worth asking, I grabbed his hands in a pleading pose and stared at him beseechingly.

“…Alright.”

Surprisingly easily agreeing, Perseus moved forward. Though embarrassed afterward, I resolved to endure it for Seorin’s sake, covering my burning face with both hands.

‘This might be the last time.’

My mind started wavering when Seorin affectionately ruffled my hair and said briefly,

“I’ll be back, okay? Wait for me.”

I nodded, taking Chae-a’s hand.

*

Things went as expected.

With Seorin around, most problems were already easy to solve, but adding Perseus, a top-tier ranked hunter, made unsolvable issues almost laughable.

Curious about who had spoken, I tried heading upstairs, but—

“Nope.”

Normally permissive Han Arin shook her head and hugged me tightly.

“There’s still too much scary stuff for Hae-un. Let’s stay put and wait nicely, okay?”

Though I wanted to protest, logically speaking, there wasn’t much I could contribute even if I went up. Moreover—

‘If I get kidnapped or taken hostage…’

It would only cause unnecessary trouble. Deciding to listen instead of throwing a tantrum, I nodded reluctantly.

‘Staying here is probably better anyway.’

While contemplating what I could do, I realized something useful: healing abilities.

If anyone got injured, my skills could help significantly. Determined to assist, I mentioned this to Han Arin.

She nodded, accepting this couldn’t be refused, and told me,

“Only use your healing ability in emergencies. Otherwise, let it pass. Got it?”

I hooked pinkies with her to seal the deal when suddenly, Han Arin’s phone rang.

After checking it, she sighed lightly and informed us,

“It’s okay to go up now. Shall we?”

Hesitating briefly, I nodded.

*

When we reached the top floor, we saw a heap of solid ice glowing with blue and green hues.

Despite the lingering summer heat, the scene resembled the Arctic, giving off an eerie feeling.

“…The mana structure is very unique. It’s unlikely this magic was produced by a human.”

Listening to Han Arin muttering beside me, I noticed Seorin and Perseus gesturing us over from afar. Informing Han Arin, she nodded and headed toward them.

There, we found a young girl trapped inside a massive block of ice—a girl with long sky-blue hair, slightly taller than Chae-a, around five years old.

Staring at this surreal sight for a moment, Perseus approached me with a request:

“Could you use your healing abilities once we free the girl from the ice?”

Nodding, I replied,

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

Gripping his sword, Perseus paused momentarily, adding,

“Just so you know, failing isn’t a big deal. We have healing potions, and if worse comes to worst, we can use teleportation magic.”

That must’ve been the maximum care Perseus could show. Grateful for his consideration even under pressure, I bowed slightly. Seeing this, Perseus smirked faintly before slicing into the ice.

As the ice cracked, Seorin pushed it aside using mana, managing to break it more easily than expected and successfully freeing the girl.

“Hae-un, please.”

The moment my name was called, I exhaled softly, blowing onto the girl to activate my healing ability.

Though unnecessary, I instinctively blew because it was how I first succeeded in healing.

Gradually, color returned to her pale skin.

‘Thank goodness.’

Apparently, the healing worked. Relieved, I sighed inwardly when—

“—”

The girl lying on the ground woke up, staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment before trembling violently and struggling to her feet, running away.

‘She’s scared and fleeing.’

Deciding not to force anything, I simply observed where she was heading when suddenly—

A dull thud echoed as the girl tripped and fell, likely hitting her head on some nearby ice.

Worried she might be hurt, I watched anxiously as the sky-haired girl calmly stood up, rubbing her forehead while looking around. Then, she turned back to me and spoke:

“It hurts… Can you help me?”

Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, I nodded dumbly in agreement.

---