The tips of Cha Seohu’s fingers, caught in Ryu Sunghyun’s grasp, trembled slightly.

“...What?”

Without realizing it, Cha Seohu absentmindedly asked back, then hurriedly dropped his gaze. Cursing his own stupidity inside, he bit his lips and barely managed to answer.

“Saying that I created you, Deputy Guildmaster... you don’t have to say things like that. That wasn’t my intention at all...”

“I know.”

Even knowing that Cha Seohu was uncomfortable, Ryu Sunghyun did not let go of his hand.

“You just did your best. And the result of that... is who I am now.”

Ryu Sunghyun bent a little further at the waist. He gently took hold of Cha Seohu’s shoulder with his other hand and spoke.

“Before I met you—when you were rescued from the facility—I was... completely identical to that ‘Ryu Sunghyun.’ I would’ve lived the same life, had the same thoughts, made the same judgments. That ‘Ryu Sunghyun’ and I were the same being.”

“......”

“But when you, who had come back to life, made different choices from the future, I also became someone different from ‘Ryu Sunghyun.’ My life changed, and my thoughts and decisions changed as well.”

At those words, Cha Seohu suddenly remembered the great golden tree he had seen in his dream.

The tree Chronos had shown him to represent the flow of the world. A tree that had grown from a single root, but whose branches split in different directions and spread out anew.

Ryu Sunghyun and ‘Ryu Sunghyun’ had become different beings as their destinies changed. Like branches that had grown from the same root but ended up splitting apart.

“Does the expression ‘created’ feel too excessive to you? But I don’t think there’s any other phrase that explains me this perfectly. So...”

In the darkness, Ryu Sunghyun’s light-brown eyes shone more clearly than ever.

“Please don’t turn away from my sincerity, Hunter Cha Seohu.”

Only then did Ryu Sunghyun let go of his hand. He slowly straightened his upper body and took two steps back.

“I didn’t say all that to burden you, and I’m not demanding an answer right this instant either. I just... don’t want you to pretend not to know and ignore it.”

“......”

“I am Ryu Sunghyun. Still lacking and weak in many ways, but I’m the Ryu Sunghyun you created. And... I will wait here. Until your situation improves and your heart is ready. I just hope you don’t forget that.”

Ryu Sunghyun smiled calmly.

“I’ll come back when it’s light out. With the others. Rest some more, Hunter Cha Seohu.”

“......”

“Good night.”

Before he left the room, Ryu Sunghyun said his final farewell and opened the door.

Click.

The door closed, and Cha Seohu was left alone in the room. He had stared blankly at Ryu Sunghyun all the way to the end and had failed to respond to his farewell.

Once he was alone, only then did his frozen mind begin to move again. Slowly lowering his head, Cha Seohu looked down at his own hands.

The back of his hand, where Ryu Sunghyun had kissed him, still felt warm, as if the sensation had been engraved there. Absentmindedly stroking the back of his hand, Cha Seohu’s eyes twisted faintly.

An emotion that was hard to describe whipped through him.

Ryu Sunghyun, who had, without a moment’s hesitation, described his own existence as something that had been “created” by someone else.

The reason Ryu Sunghyun had come to think that way was clear. It was because of him. That was devastating, and at the same time... it made him feel relieved. Because the worst-case scenario he’d been afraid of hadn’t come to pass.

And that only made the guilt surge higher. Ryu Sunghyun had believed and accepted the absurd story he had poured out, and yet what he felt before anything else was relief.

But at the same time, a strange sense of responsibility and affection rose up from within that guilt.

Ryu Sunghyun wasn’t wrong.

Especially since Cha Seohu had already heard from Chronos how each world was divided, he could accept what Ryu Sunghyun had said.

A being he had created.

A man who was Ryu Sunghyun, but not ‘Ryu Sunghyun.’

A person whose fate was so deeply entangled with his own that they could not be separated.

Guilt, responsibility, affection. And... the sense of satisfaction that Cha Seohu desperately wanted to ignore, but that only grew sharper the more he tried.

Had Ryu Sunghyun known he would feel this way and chosen those words?

Maybe Ryu Sunghyun had already guessed to some extent from the beginning and asked Cha Seohu those questions on purpose.

Cha Seohu let out a hollow laugh.

'Right. No matter how much he’s changed, Ryu Sunghyun is still Ryu Sunghyun.'

There was no way the tenacity and stubbornness hidden behind that gentle, soft impression had gone anywhere.

Once he acknowledged it, his heart actually felt a little lighter. Leaning his back against the headboard of the bed and letting out a slow sigh, Cha Seohu turned his gaze toward the window.

A yellow moon hung in the pitch-black night sky. It looked somehow like Ryu Sunghyun’s eyes, and Cha Seohu stared at it for a long time.

***

“I truly was very worried.”

Early in the morning, following the servants who had brought breakfast, Cha Sahyeon and the S-ranks came into the room.

Seeing Cha Seohu, now neatly washed and dressed in fresh clothes, Kwon Taehyuk let out a deep sigh of relief.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m fine.”

Cha Seohu deliberately rolled his shoulders lightly. In the meantime, the servants set the dishes on the table and quietly left the room.

Eun Woojeong, who had been lifting the lids off the plates and curiously checking the food inside, opened his mouth.

“I didn’t think the Yesung Guildmaster would be this kind of worrywart. Or is this maybe something that applies only to you, Mr. Cha Seohu? The more you love someone, the more you worry about them, that kind of thing?”

Kwon Taehyuk stared for a moment at Eun Woojeong’s mask-covered face, then turned back to Cha Seohu.

“First, please eat. And... there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Something you need to tell me?”

He finished buttoning his shirt and sat down at the table. Cha Sahyeon sat right next to him, close enough to be pressed to his side.

Just in case, Seohu handed him chopsticks as well, but Sahyeon pressed his lips together and shook his head.

“We’ve already eaten in our own rooms. So don’t worry about us and just eat, Hunter Cha Seohu.”

Ryu Sunghyun spoke kindly.

Next to him, Kwon Taehyuk looked between Ryu Sunghyun and Cha Seohu and then said, in a slightly lower voice:

“I was going to tell you yesterday, but you never woke up. And at night... Hunter Ryu Sunghyun asked me to give them the room for a while, so I had no chance to deliver the message.”

He added the rest with a somewhat complicated expression.

“Judging by the mood, it seems your conversation went well.”

“Thanks to you.”

Ryu Sunghyun answered lazily in Cha Seohu’s stead.

Since he didn’t really have any appetite, Cha Seohu only drank a little water, then turned to Kwon Taehyuk.

“I’ll listen while I eat. Did something happen with the Rift we went to?”

“No. It’s nothing like that...”

Kwon Taehyuk hesitated for a moment, then, as if he had no choice, began to speak.

“The truth is... Hunter Yoon Jeha contacted me. She was looking for you, Hunter Cha Seohu.”

“Hunter Yoon Jeha?”

Cha Seohu recalled the face of someone he had been too busy /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ to think about lately. An S-rank Hunter with flamboyant red hair and an annoying personality. And... the last main character designated by the System.

She wasn’t someone he was particularly fond of, but a main character was still a main character, so he couldn’t completely ignore her.

“Why was she looking for me?”

“She didn’t explain the reason, so I’m not sure. Even when I told her she wouldn’t be able to meet you unless she explained, she stubbornly insisted on seeing you first.”

“Hm...”

Resting his chin on his hand, Cha Seohu fell into thought.

Right now, the place they were staying was inside the district. And not just anywhere, but in the central zone, where entry was strictly controlled.

Thanks to Seo Representative’s rare leniency, the S-ranks were allowed to stay here, but there was no way to know how long his attitude would remain this relaxed.

Even if they weren’t thrown out immediately, there was no way he would permit Yoon Jeha to come here as well. Above all, the case of the Unidentified Rift, for which Mook Jeongho had been needed, was now over.

He had never intended to stay here long, but even if they left, the situation outside was still complicated. The state and the Hunter Association were probably searching for him with their eyes blazing.

'It can’t be helped.'

Rubbing his forehead, Cha Seohu spoke.

“We’ll need to leave the district for a bit so I can meet Hunter Yoon Jeha and come back. It would be better if all of you came out with me as well. You all need to go back to your guilds anyway.”

“I’m free, you know? It’s not like I have anywhere special to return to.”

Eun Woojeong cut in brightly, but Cha Seohu ignored him.

“Can you contact Hunter Yoon Jeha directly?”

“Yes. I got her number.”

After looking at him for a moment, Kwon Taehyuk continued:

“If you’re going to meet Hunter Yoon Jeha, then come to our guild. Considering security, that would be safest. Besides, Hunter Yoon Jeha has been coming by our guild every day, so it should be easier to meet her there.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“...She’s been coming every day?”

When Cha Seohu asked back, dumbfounded, Kwon Taehyuk quietly nodded.

“I only heard about it afterward, but yes.”

“Hm.”

After a brief moment organizing his thoughts, Cha Seohu replied:

“Alright. Then let’s leave for the Yesung Guild today.”

And before that, he needed to meet with Seo Representative for a moment.