Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character-Chapter 296

Cha Seohu gave Eun Woojeong a light shove when he didn’t answer right away, like he’d expected this all along.

“You really overthink everything.”

Clicking his tongue, Cha Seohu turned his back without hesitation.

He was the one who flirted first, yet now he was putting on that indifferent face. For some reason, Eun Woojeong felt a surge of frustration and clenched his fist tightly just as he was about to speak.

“Hyung.”

Just before Eun Woojeong could call out to him, another voice abruptly cut in.

Cha Sahyeon descended with large black wings fluttering behind him. He glanced at Eun Woojeong only briefly before immediately turning to Cha Seohu.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Where were you?”

“Hmm, I took care of one of them first.”

Cha Sahyeon casually dropped what he was holding in his right hand onto the ground.

A neatly severed goat head. It was the last remaining head out of the two that were left.

Cha Seohu and Eun Woojeong had struggled to deal with the monster by forcefully tearing it apart since they lacked the strength to pierce its tough skin, but Cha Sahyeon had simply sliced through it cleanly with a blade formed from shadow.

‘Damn.’

So this is what an L-rank looks like?

It hit Seohu all over again just how powerful Sahyeon truly was.

While staring with mixed emotions at the monster's head rolling across the floor, Cha Sahyeon extended his left hand.

“I found this during the fight and yanked it out.”

A flower with deep green leaves. Just looking at it made Seohu feel sick to his stomach. That unpleasant aura—

It was none other than the [Source of Energy]. Cha Seohu’s face instantly brightened.

“Nice work!”

An incredible gain he hadn’t even anticipated.

Seohu quickly stashed the flower in his inventory and looked up at the sky. One of the six rifts was shrinking rapidly.

So it really had been the cause.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips. Hunters who had been fighting also noticed one of the rifts disappearing, and their faces lit up with hope.

Now that the most troublesome goat monsters had all been dealt with, the next step was to focus on quickly locating the remaining [Sources of Energy].

“If we find the rest of the flowers—”

“Cha Seohu Hunter!”

A shout cut him off, and when he turned around, Kwon Taehyuk, Ryu Sunghyun, and Song Jiwoon were running over, having returned from searching for the flowers.

While running, Kwon Taehyuk spotted Eun Woojeong and furrowed his brows, but chose not to mention him and instead held out the flower first.

“Is this it?”

“Yes. Where did you find it?”

“Behind the hotel.”

Following him, Ryu Sunghyun and Song Jiwoon each handed over flowers they had retrieved and answered.

“I found mine in an alley on the south side. Some suspicious people were guarding it.”

“Mine was on the rooftop of a commercial building to the west. It was planted in a small flower bed.”

South and west. And the hotel’s back, as Kwon Taehyuk had said, would be north. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The flower locations weren’t consistent in placement, but the directions were starting to become clear.

“The rifts are closing.”

At Kwon Taehyuk’s words, Cha Seohu looked up again.

The red rifts that had dyed the sky were starting to vanish one by one. Out of the six total, four had now been resolved.

Only two rifts remained.

Flowers had been located in three directions, and the central one had just been handled by Cha Sahyeon...

‘The last one must be to the east.’

S-ranks and Cha Sahyeon, thinking the same as Seohu, all turned their gazes eastward. Over there stood a tall clocktower.

It was a distance that an S-rank could cover in five minutes on foot. The flower was likely planted either inside the tower or in an alley behind it.

“I’ll go.”

“Please do.”

Just as Kwon Taehyuk gripped his sword and was about to set off—

“......!”

Surprisingly, the rift on the left—the remaining two—began to shrink on its own!

Caught off guard, Seohu stared blankly at the vanishing rift, then realization struck him.

‘Shit, don’t tell me that was Yoon Jeha?’

That troublesome S-rank whose whereabouts had been unknown—did she actually get it done?

‘So the system didn’t pick her as a main character for nothing, huh?’

Of course, he couldn’t be certain yet that it was Yoon Jeha’s doing, but the chances were high.

Out of everyone he’d explained the flowers to and formally asked for cooperation, she was the only one not present here.

When he’d explained that the flowers needed to be located and neutralized as quickly as possible, she had just laughed, saying, “Ah~ That kind of thing’s my specialty! OK, OK~”

‘Her reaction was so flippant I hadn’t expected much, but if she really did it...’

This was a golden opportunity.

A chance to find the final flower and end this rift crisis once and for all.

“Everyone spread out and look for the last flower! If we find just one more, we can eliminate all the rifts!”

The S-ranks quickly understood and nodded.

Knowing the end was near, their expressions became energized.

Thanks to the five sealed rifts, the number of gremlins raining from the sky had significantly decreased. They could now ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) manage without Seohu’s buffs and heals.

Since it was the last flower, Cha Seohu planned to join the search himself.

“Cha Sahyeon. Let’s go.”

He grabbed Cha Sahyeon’s arm.

“Cha Sahyeon?”

But something was wrong.

Normally, Sahyeon would’ve answered with a quick “Yeah,” but now he stood still, fixated on something as if in a trance.

Puzzled by his little brother’s strange behavior, Seohu followed Sahyeon’s gaze upward.

Across from the hotel, atop a building rooftop, stood a tall man.

The wind whipped through his long garments. His face was obscured by the low hood of a robe, but the energy radiating from him was unmistakably ominous.

‘Who is that...?’

An ominous feeling crept up Seohu’s spine.

Without thinking, he took a step back. Just then, Sahyeon, who had also been staring at the man, murmured softly.

“The cult leader...”

“What?”

At that moment, the man raised a long iron staff in his hand.

At the top of the staff was a square lantern, and within it flickered a strange green light.

With every shake of the staff, the lantern clattered and swayed. For some reason, Seohu couldn’t tear his eyes away.

His vision blurred. A wave of dizziness hit him. Just as he pressed a hand to his forehead—

KIIIIIIIIING!

“Urgh!”

“Hgh, khh...!”

“AAAGH!”

That same bizarre sound that had echoed when the rifts first opened now roared across the sky once again.

But this time, it was far more intense.

Seohu’s body nearly collapsed, and Sahyeon caught him just in time. Around them, S-ranks clutched their heads and dropped to their knees one after another.

If even the S-ranks were like this, there was no way other Hunters could endure it.

Screams rang out from all sides as Hunters collapsed. From each fallen body, blood streamed from ears and eyes alike.

The sensation of something drilling into your brain through your ears—so agonizing it stole the breath from your lungs.

Feeling the blood dampening his ears, Seohu barely managed to lift his eyelids.

The first thing he registered through his blurry vision was a crimson light.

“Hyung!”

Sahyeon cried out in panic, but Seohu had no time to answer. He blinked, and finally identified what was causing that red glow.

“Hyung, snap out of it!”

As Seohu’s limp body kept slipping, Sahyeon gripped him tight and took off.

Over Sahyeon’s shoulder, Seohu saw it—a giant meteor engulfed in flames.

The same attack that had once decimated the medical facility was now falling again at terrifying speed.

‘No.’

Held in Sahyeon’s arms, Seohu reached out toward the people getting farther and farther away.

“Wait, no, wait a second—!”

He could see S-ranks on their knees, unable to stand. Behind them, Hunters writhed on the ground, bleeding from every orifice.

Snapping back to his senses, Seohu began to thrash in Sahyeon’s arms.

“Wait—there are still people down there!”

Sahyeon gritted his teeth and flared his wings wide, soaring into the air.

At the same time, the meteor slammed into the ground.

“......!”

A violent gust and dense smoke exploded outward.

Even though they’d avoided a direct hit, the heat radiating from the blast still burned.

Through the haze, Seohu could see flames consuming everything in sight.

His face went pale.

“Put me down. Put me down right now, Sahyeon.”

“No.”

That cold refusal made Seohu’s fingers tremble.

Even at this height, the heat was searing his skin. If it was this bad for S-ranks, it made sense that Sahyeon had refused.

He was worried about Seohu—about him alone.

“......”

Seohu barely managed to swallow the flood of emotion rising in his chest.

This wasn’t the time to argue with Sahyeon.

Still in his brother’s arms, Seohu clasped his hands together. In that position, he activated a holy power skill.

From the center of their embrace, a radiant white light spread outward.