The “Second Step Toward Activation” quest that had been frozen was completely gone from the quest list. In its place was a newly updated activation quest.

Starting again with reuniting with the trait holder.

And this time, it was explicitly specified as Han Geon-joo alone.

Even though the quest was starting over from the beginning, it seemed that the fact that “Supreme Being Under Heaven” had previously initiated the activation couldn’t be undone.

Should he be happy about this or not?

What was certain was that he had regained the means to activate “Resister,” which he had half given up on since meeting Lee Jaehee had yielded no results.

The Resister.

He had vaguely thought it might be a trait that opposed the true evil of humanity, but now Sa-yoon was certain.

It clearly meant resisting the damned fate the gods had spoken of.

‘Will you end your life as evil?’

They had definitely said that.

What exactly was this fate?

‘Sa-yoon. Child who resembles the sun. Foolish sinner.’

What did that calling mean?

“Hmm…”

As he tried to recall what had happened during the inquisition, he couldn’t remember properly. Those moments were gradually fading, like a dream dreamt while half-asleep. Sa-yoon frowned and tried to ruminate on what had happened there to prevent forgetting, but he let out a short groan. A headache swept over him. The throbbing pain was unnaturally sharp and intense.

Is this a warning not to remember carelessly?

“Are you alright?”

As he held his forehead and lowered his head, Jaehee approached.

Ah.

With a sudden thought, Sa-yoon grabbed his arm. Then he hesitated.

Fuck, I can’t just ask him to use his skill when its cost is his lifespan.

While he was contemplating how to phrase it—

Doruk, Jaehee’s pupils rolled from side to side. Looking at his eyes moving as if reading something while focused on empty space, Sa-yoon released his hand. A sigh close to a gasp escaped between his lips. Even without Sa-yoon saying anything, Jaehee, obsessed with exploration, was reading divine secrets on his own.

Actually, reading divine secrets didn’t require payment, so it wasn’t a problem. It was probably as natural for Jaehee as seeing objects with his eyes.

But speaking about it was an issue.

Will he tell me what he’s seeing right now?

…He probably will.

Considering Jaehee’s nature, he was unlikely to not share.

This was complicated in its own way. It was as if he thought he had about a billion years of life left. Jaehee used divine revelation excessively.

What if he suddenly dies?

He wished he could at least see Jaehee’s remaining lifespan. Sa-yoon sighed at the vague description that appeared even when using “Genius’s Eye” to check Jaehee’s skill information.

“There’s nothing particularly different.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes. Not much has changed. Is that what you wanted me to look at?”

He was perceptive too. Sa-yoon exhaled and relaxed his body at the news that nothing major had changed.

It was disappointing that Jaehee didn’t elaborate further, but Sa-yoon knew this was Jaehee’s best effort. To speak more in detail would require using his skill, and if nothing significant had changed, there was no need to use his skill and sacrifice his lifespan.

I should be satisfied with what I know.

He had finished grasping roughly how his situation was unfolding. The top priority was to find Han Geon-joo again, and after that, the quest would explain itself. Feeling intrigued at having lost his way and found it again, Sa-yoon finally brought up something he had temporarily set aside.

“What happened with the festival?”

Though he said festival, he was really asking about what happened after his death. Jaehee, who had emptied his teacup and refilled it, sat in the chair and toyed with the cup. His eyes sank deeply.

“There’s a lot to tell, so it will take quite some time.”

“A lot happened, I guess?”

“More accurately, a lot of time has passed.”

“A lot of time has passed?”

Sa-yoon asked in surprise. Only then did Jaehee let out a small exclamation, “Ah,” and raised his head to look at Sa-yoon.

“Three months.”

“…What?”

For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

Three months?

There was only one explanation that made sense in this context. Sa-yoon blinked and asked again. Jaehee provided a slightly more detailed answer.

“I’m referring to the period you were unconscious. It’s now three months after the Festival of Harmony.”

“……”

He was too shocked to speak.

He had never spent this much time lying down, nor had he ever fainted for so long. As he was bewildered by this unprecedented experience, Jaehee took a sip of tea. He was peacefully drinking while Sa-yoon was so shocked he couldn’t even swallow his saliva.

“Therefore, if I were to tell you everything that happened during that time, I need to organize my thoughts. Please wait a moment.”

Sa-yoon turned his head, looking for the calendar in his room.

It wasn’t a joke or a lie—the calendar on the table in his room had indeed changed to March.

Huh.

Having instantly lost three months, Sa-yoon quietly sighed. After a moment, Jaehee began speaking.

“First, the gate closed.”

“It closed?”

“More precisely, it was sealed. Shortly after you collapsed, system error messages began appearing before everyone. Then a notification stating that the system would be rechecked appeared, and time briefly stopped. More accurately, everything except the hunters who were there stopped.”

Other hunters might have been surprised by talk of the system stopping time, but Sa-yoon wasn’t.

He had been thoroughly played by the system’s tricks.

Having already experienced regressing to the previous day on his own, what was so significant about time merely stopping?

When Sa-yoon didn’t show surprise, Jaehee observed his expression with interest before continuing his explanation.

“When time resumed flowing, the dragon was sucked back into the gate, and the gate itself closed again. Like a torn world being mended, the gate’s cracks gradually disappeared before completely vanishing. Then damaged buildings were restored, monster corpses disappeared, and…”

Pausing briefly, the man took a breath and moistened his throat.

“…the people who had died came back to life.”

“……”

Having experienced revival himself, Sa-yoon chose silence. The man who had paused his story tilted his head askew to observe Sa-yoon. When Sa-yoon showed discomfort at the persistent gaze that seemed intent on capturing even the slightest movement, the intensity of the sharp gaze diminished.

“We figured out the situation a bit later. Things were strange, too unusual to simply say everything had been restored. The first to notice was Hunter Lee Han, who checked the time on his phone. He said the time was strange, and other hunters, alarmed, checked their own phones. The result was unanimous.”

“It went back?”

When Sa-yoon asked, foreseeing what had happened, Jaehee nodded.

“Yes. Time had returned to just before the gate opened.”

In other words, they had experienced a collective regression.

That’s quite a cleanup operation—it must have been a serious error.

He vaguely remembered what he had heard during the inquisition. They had mentioned twisting the timeline, so it seemed the gate that opened during the festival was one that should have opened in the future.

It certainly was unusually powerful.

After thinking briefly, Sa-yoon looked down at his body. If time had been reversed and everyone who died had come back to life, it meant no one had witnessed his death and revival. That was welcome news, but if that were the case, shouldn’t he have recovered completely as well?

But why…

“Why was I unconscious for as long as three months?”

“That’s exactly why everyone was worried. All the hunters returned safely, but only you didn’t wake up. Because of this, the hunters who participated in the festival waited about a month for you to wake up, but there was no movement. Eventually, people with scheduled commitments left one by one, and since we couldn’t stay on Jeju Island indefinitely, I brought you back to the guild.”

There was a plausible reason for being unconscious for three months.

The inquisition.

How badly had his body been injured during that inquisition?

Though he couldn’t remember exactly, his body had been damaged badly enough that death wouldn’t have been surprising. Perhaps it took three months to recover from that.

These damn gods are never helpful.

As he frowned, Jaehee continued his explanation.

It seemed there was still more to tell, though he had thought it was over.

“Although what happened that day became as if it never happened, all the hunters who were there remember the opening of an S-rank or higher gate. Many people gained insights.”

“What insights? That they were too incompetent?”

“Put simply, yes.”

Though he had spoken mockingly, Jaehee unexpectedly agreed readily. Sa-yoon flinched momentarily before shaking his head.

“It’s not that the people there were weak, but that gate was abnormally strong.”

“That’s why everyone became more vigilant. Because such a gate might appear someday. If that gate were to open where you aren’t present, would there be any hunter who could stop it?”

“I don’t know about stopping it, but there are about two hunters who could respond.”

Two hunters who didn’t attend the Festival of Harmony. If he were to force himself to add one more, maybe Lee Han.

Thinking this, he spoke, and Jaehee opened his mouth.

“There’s no hunter who can guarantee they could stop it. So everyone agreed to cooperate if a gate like this opens again. That idea grew into an agreement between countries belonging to the World Hunter Association, and each country decided to keep hunters who could deal with apocalyptic disasters within their borders.”

They’re handling this better than expected?

Sa-yoon inwardly marveled as he heard the explanation that countries would create special hunter teams to respond to the apocalypse. Honestly, he had expected them to just sit on their hands, but their response was surprisingly quick.

It was while he was nodding that he heard something disconcerting.

“Korea has also decided to form a team by gathering elite hunters from top-tier guilds. And Sa-yoon has received an offer to join this team. Actually, it’s more of a semi-forceful recruitment than an offer. The moment you refuse, you become a global public enemy.”

“……”

After a moment of blank staring, Sa-yoon pointed at himself with his finger.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“My guild?”

“Yes.”

“Jaehee, I’m the leader of Night Rats.”

“Do you think the government made this offer without knowing that?”

Of course they knew when they made the offer.

…But this is a criminal guild?

Sa-yoon stared blankly at Jaehee, perplexed.

“Is today perhaps April 1st?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Right.

It’s not April Fools’ Day.

Wait, really?

It was the most absurd moment since he had established the criminal guild.