[Palshillo’s Pairing Ring of Fate (Growth-type A+)]

The wedding ring of Palshillo, who created the Palshillocus through research. (Unique) (Bound)

• When together with the person who shares the pairing ring, combat ability increases by 30%.
• Mana recovery speed increases by 10%.
• Agility increases by 10%.
• If the health of the person who shares the pairing ring drops below 30%, a notification is sent to their partner.
• The total amount of mana and stamina can be shared with the person who shares the pairing ring. However, sharing is only possible upon contact.
• Unreleased (Unlocks at S-Rank)

“…”

Since there were two people wearing the ring, the blue system window appeared for both Geon-joo and me. I stared at the system window with a rigid gaze, then slowly turned my head to look at Geon-joo. He, like me, was examining the notification about the upgrade to Palshillo’s Pairing Ring of Fate. That made me realize this situation was real. That this wasn’t some useless fantasy I had created to escape reality, but the present.

Stagger. 

My legs gave out from under me.

Fuck.

It felt as if my heart hadn’t just dropped, but had been brutally minced, then stitched back together and returned to me. A wave of dizziness made me stumble. I grabbed my forehead and glared at Geon-joo. He was approaching me with a worried look in his eyes.

I was sure a forced execution quest would appear.

It always had.

It was a conclusion learned from ten years of experience seared into my body, a predestined ending in a way.

Weren’t most of the people who had been with me killed that way?

The thought that I had been lucky to avoid it just this once made it hard to even stand up straight. It was the moment Geon-joo reached out his arm to catch my staggering form.

“…!”

My eyes flew open, and I swatted away his outstretched hand. The hand, which had held a gentle warmth, was coldly slapped away and left hanging in the air.

Surprised eyes turned towards me. I couldn’t meet that gaze properly.

What if the system window that had just appeared hadn’t been a ring upgrade, but a quest to murder Han Geon-joo? Would this moment, where he and I could stand facing each other, have ever come?

My teeth chattered behind my sealed lips. My mind was in a daze.

I stumbled backward, moving away from him. His bewildered eyes still had not left me. That gaze was uncomfortable. No, to be precise, it would be correct to say it was frightening.

Since when?

Since when have you been my weakness?

Since when have you been exposed to the System?

Come to think of it, I should have been suspicious from that moment. From the moment that suspicious system notification window appeared before him.

Why didn’t I dig deeper? Why didn’t I question it more? A normal system window wouldn’t have encouraged someone to find out about me.

It was useless to regret it now. Once I realized it, it was already over. The System had set the board, and two pieces were placed upon it. One was mine, and the other would be Han Geon-joo’s.

This was a disaster.

Realizing my mistake, my face contorted as I took in the sight of his. My heart churned with a miserable feeling, but I couldn’t properly face what emotion it was. I could only vaguely feel that regret and fear were the largest parts of it.

I should have just killed him from the beginning. Or I shouldn’t have brought him here. If I had done either of those things, I wouldn’t be feeling this. Then these forgotten emotions wouldn’t have revived to grab my ankles and choke the air from my lungs, and I wouldn’t be falling apart like this.

I was too complacent. Because the System hadn’t given me a forced execution quest recently, I thought I had become the evil it wanted, and I had let my guard down too much.

“Guild Leader.”

As if snapping out of the shock, Geon-joo, having collected himself, approached me again, not seeming to tire of it. At his attempt to close the distance I had created, I took another step back.

“Why do you keep running away?” He asked, as if he couldn’t understand. “Why do you look so scared of something…”

His expression showed he had no understanding whatsoever of my sudden change in demeanor. I looked at that face and swallowed the emotions welling up inside me.

You expect me not to be scared?

The words only surged up and couldn’t escape my lips.

Thump, thump. 

It felt like my heart was beating in my eyes. As my head throbbed, the Siren’s song grew louder. This is dangerous. If I become any more intoxicated by this song, I’ll either pass out or go berserk. I would definitely lose my reason. Even knowing that, my hands were frozen and wouldn’t move. It was the complete opposite of a moment ago, when I had calmed down just by looking at him.

It felt like proof that I was being swayed by him. I wanted to laugh.

How can I be this pathetic?

The sharp despair I was tasting for the first time in a long while, and the fear of the despair yet to come, was bitter.

My body trembled as if from a chill. The other hunters, who didn’t know what was happening, were flustered.

“What’s wrong? Why is he like this?”

Mijeong was considerably surprised at this side of me she had never seen before, and Lee Han and Ho-cheol also showed signs of agitation. Normally, I would have taken in the whole scene, but right now, my vision was narrow.

The only thing I could see was Han Geon-joo.

No, let me correct that. Befitting the Specter Swamp, I thought I could also see specters behind him.

The souls of the people I had killed.

‘Sa-yoon-ah.’

Someone called my name. It was a familiar voice.

Whose voice was it? It was a very old memory.

Was it my parents?

That couldn’t be right. My parents were torn apart and killed by monsters more than ten years ago.

‘Kwon Sa-yoon.’

Whose voice was it this time?

I darted my eyes left and right as if lost, examining the faint souls. There were so many of them. How many could there be?

Aaaah—

The song flowing from the earring grew clearer. Now I could even make out the words the Siren was humming. The pure, clear tone recited despair, urged self-blame, and incited impulse. My surroundings became hazy, as if a fog had rolled in.

“Ah…”

I parted my lips and let out a sigh in time with the Siren’s song. The specters behind Han Geon-joo began to walk towards me. The sight was like a tidal wave.

…How many were there?

How many people had lost their lives entangled with me until now?

I stopped counting them one by one after it passed ten thousand. But I could clearly count the number of people who had died protecting me. My parents, the ahjussi, my friends, and all the guild members who had betrayed me after hearing my secret.

As my thoughts reached that point, the wave that had rushed up to my nose in an instant soaked my entire body. Drip, drip. As I stood there, drenched from head to toe, this time, dozens of graves materialized before my eyes. The names on the tombstones were familiar. My parents’ names were there, and my friends’ names were there, too. Then, I saw a blank tombstone with no name on it. 

As I witnessed Han Geon-joo’s name being carved onto it in real-time, I gasped, “Heok.”

Terrified, I instinctively stumbled back, and my balance faltered. The solid ice footing had vanished.

As my eyes, momentarily freed from the hallucination, grew wide as saucers, someone desperately reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me back.

“…There’s no ice from here on. It’s all melted.”

The whispering voice held a subtle desperation. Recognizing the owner of the voice, I began to struggle like a madman. The other three—Mijeong, Lee Han, and Ho-cheol—joined in to hold me down as I thrashed about with unfocused eyes. Four S-ranks lunged at me, but it was impossible to restrain me when my reason had faded.

D-d-d-deu—

The ice floor of the frost zone I had laid down began to heave violently, as if it would shatter at any moment, creating shards of ice. They flew like sharp daggers, attacking the group. Ho-cheol and Lee Han hastily took a defensive stance, but they were too slow. The ice shards flew faster than fired bullets, embedding themselves in the party’s arms, thighs, and backs.

“Ugh!”

The number of people groaning in pain increased. The target of the ice shards included Geon-joo. Without exception, he was grazed by the shards and began to bleed. He pulled me into his arms and fumbled with the earring in my ear.

It would bleed if he tore it out by force. But there was no other way. He tried to rip it off, but the earring wouldn’t come out. He was using far more force than when he had tried a moment ago.

It seemed only the wearer could remove it.

In the end, with no results other than making my ear bleed, Geon-joo hugged the body in his arms and called my name. He called me ‘Guild Leader’ several times, but there was no response. He tried calling me hyung, but my focus still didn’t return.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Muttering under his breath, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

“Kwon Sa-yoon!”

The yell struck me. My arms were roughly grabbed, and my body was shaken lightly. My eyes were open, but my gaze was hazy, as if I were looking at something beyond reality. Only after the thunderous voice struck me did I blink slowly, my vision clearing. I saw a man with a desperate expression. A familiar face.

“Snap out of it, please.”

We’re all going to die at this rate.

More than half of the frost zone had already collapsed. The ground they were standing on was also starting to show its limits. Geon-joo spoke imploringly and checked my expression.

“Is this because of me? If it is, then first, I’ll…”

I’ll step away.

The man said, his face crumpled in anguish, and let go of me. It was then.

“…Ah!”

My hand shot out and grabbed Geon-joo again. The movement was so agile and the force so strong that Geon-joo let out a groan, as if his wrist would break.

“Fuck.”

A low curse cut through the gap. At that word, the expressions of the Noah hunters, including Mijeong, brightened.

Because the curse, filled with irritation, meant that I had come to my senses.

“…Agh, fuck. This is why you get screwed if you wear the wrong item.”

After blinking a few times, I, having regained the sanity that had been half-eaten by the Siren, muttered viciously and ripped the blue earring out. Paying no mind to the blood that gushed out like a waterfall, I roughly pushed Geon-joo’s chest.

“Move it, pretty boy. I need to get this under control first.”

“…You’re the one holding on, Guild Leader.”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head as if he’d said something absurd, and he glanced down. I followed his gaze and, a moment later, found my other hand still gripping his wrist. My eyes widened.

What the.

Why am I holding onto him?