The fingertips of his limply hanging hand twitched. Seeing that his clothes were a mess from being pierced here and there, Han Geon-joo took off his own coat and draped it over his body. I smiled. The way his hand placed the coat over my shoulders felt like the ritual of covering a dead person with a white cloth.

Make sure you do this for me when I die, too.

The joke I was about to make got stuck in my throat as I recalled our previous conversation. The resulting pause in my speech was filled with self-pity, and at my hollow laugh, the man turned to look at me.

“…”

I had thought his voice sounded quite gloomy a moment ago, and sure enough, the expression on his face was not good. So much so that my heart dropped the moment our eyes met.

Why are you making that face?

I was the one who had died and come back to life, but judging by his expression, you’d think he was the one who had a near-death experience. The grief that filled his black eyes gripped my heart and then let go. I staggered and pushed my upper body up.

“You’re not fully recovered yet. Don’t get up.”

“Do I look like I’m made of glass? This much is a full recovery.”

“Then just don’t get up.”

“Will you look at this?”

As I was baffled by his unreasonable stubbornness, a voice filled with an even greater sense of absurdity than my own struck my ears.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Look at you two fooling around. Hey, brats! If you’re done, how about you help out a little?”

It was Mijeong, who had been dealing with the remaining specters in our stead. Her booming voice made the corners of my lips twitch. Thinking I had been lying down for a long time, I was about to get up, but a hand stopped my movement.

“I’ll go.”

“Do you think it’ll be faster for you to go alone, or for me to help?”

“We just need to kill three thousand more, right? I’ll do it. You just lie down.”

“I’m fine.”

“Just!”

The man gripped my shoulder tightly and shouted in frustration. It was rare for him to raise his voice, so my eyes widened.

What did he just say?

I honestly thought I might be dreaming. Otherwise, was there any reason for him to get angry? Especially in this way.

It was something he couldn’t have done unless he had lost all fear.

Did this bastard leave the memory of his broken wrist at the bottom of the swamp?

I could tolerate a certain degree of insolence from him, but I wasn’t about to put up with him openly trying to climb all over me. I raised an eyebrow, a clear threat. An unstable breath flowed from between his lips.

Slowly, he lowered his head and rested it on my shoulder, closing his eyes. His faint breathing scattered by my ear.

“If I tell you to lie down, just lie down. You just came back to life. I want you to rest.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Is it even possible to rest in a Gate?”

“There’s no need for you to overexert yourself right now, so why isn’t it possible? We can clear it without you using your strength. No one will say anything even if you rest. You’re the one who killed the Lich, who’s going to say what?”

“…”

“You took the biggest share, so can’t you enjoy your rights a little? Why are you trying to rush over there again?”

Once the floodgates of his words were open, the sentences poured out endlessly. I sighed and patted his shoulder.

“Geon-joo, you may not know this, but in times like these, the strongest one should stand at the front and…”

“That’s not it.”

A firm voice cut my words off before I could even finish. My eyes narrowed, but he lifted his head and met my gaze without avoiding it, and opened his mouth.

“That’s not it. That’s not the reason you’re trying to go.”

“Are you talking down to me?”

“Is that what’s important right now? Be honest with me. Why are you pushing yourself so hard?”

I had never thought I was pushing myself that hard. Yet I was at a loss for words, so I just touched my neck, flustered. Just as I was wondering if I had lost my voice, the man in front of me pressed down firmly on my shoulders and stood up.

“…Rest.”

Then he walked over to Mijeong, who was on the verge of exploding in anger, gave a slight nod of his head, and joined the battle. Left to watch the scene unfold on the ice floor, I calmly replayed the conversation we just had.

I couldn’t figure out why he had gotten so angry.

Was it because he was surprised?

Was this the first time I had almost died in front of him?

I had always fought like this in difficult battles, so I hadn’t really considered him. I thought back, mulling it over, then looked at the coat draped over my shoulders and shook my head.

He was sensitive and picky. He would sometimes become simple if you threw him in water, but his overall disposition was like that. That’s why he was a more difficult bastard to handle. It seemed the only way to find out why he was acting this way was to ask him directly. I sat down cross-legged, rested an elbow on one knee, cupped my chin, and watched the battle. Come to think of it, I hadn’t properly observed his combat since he came back.

Well, it won’t hurt to watch for a little while.

I could join in when my body started itching to move. My eyes followed his swift movements.

He must have practiced quite a bit, because the unnecessary movements I had pointed out all the time in the Field were gone. The hesitation and thought that used to appear between his first and second movements were no longer there. His combat motions flowed naturally, as if they had become a habit. The corners of my mouth lifted.

He’s learned well.

Deep down, I had been worried about all sorts of things, but it seemed my fears were unfounded.

That level isn’t so bad. I was praising him internally when I saw his sword slip from a monster’s vital point. I shot up from my seat. I couldn’t stand it. Anyone who saw that scene, even a corpse, would rise from their grave.

“Oh my god, pretty boy! How could you miss that!”

I take back my praise. He hasn’t learned the basics at all.

“Your lower body is weak, that’s why your movements are slipping in the middle! Where did all the food you ate go? Brace yourself properly!”

“Well, look at you! You think the monsters are just going to offer up their necks if you go that slowly? If you just force your way through, it’s nothing more than pushing through with a stat difference. You have to move faster when you get dull, you punk!”

“You should have hit that one with your elbow just now! You lost a beat by trying to attack with your sword!”

“My fucking blood pressure. You might as well just perform a ritual for me to die.”

Once I started giving advice, everything I had been holding back burst out. As I was shouting, it started to seem fun, so I was nagging him half-jokingly, half-seriously, when I saw Lee Han looking at me with a dumbfounded expression. My brow twitched.

“Hey, brat! What are you doing over there, thinking you’re so great? If you have a shadow skill, you should be using it! If it were me, I would have used the shadow just now to…”

As if my nagging had caught fire and spread, the flames moved to Lee Han. He was aghast and, as if he didn’t want to listen, moved his body to continue the fight. While I was at it, I gave some pointers on Mijeong’s and Ho-cheol’s fighting as well. I was thinking that doing this inside a Gate wasn’t so bad when the specter count to be defeated neared a thousand. I joined the battle. After I joined, it didn’t even take an hour for the Gate to be cleared.

“See, a person has to keep their body moving.”

I, who had taken down five hundred of the remaining thousand by myself, said while rolling my shoulders. Lee Han clicked his tongue. At his impudent attitude, I was about to suggest a bet on who killed more, when I remembered something I had forgotten and my mouth fell open.

“…Scorpion.”

“Excuse me?”

“The Scorpion specters. We have to capture them…”

The tally wasn’t finished yet, so we hadn’t been moved to the reward room. There was something I had to take care of before we were moved and the Gate reset. I muttered as if possessed and turned my body. I was about to go find the Scorpion specters when suddenly, something was thrust before my eyes.

“Here you go.”

It was Han Geon-joo. He presented the Scorpion specters. My eyes widened. A calm voice asked back if I hadn’t told him to capture them earlier. I, who had said that right before dying, ruffled his hair in praise. His judgment in not annihilating them was brilliant. I grabbed the collar of the one that looked like the highest-ranking among the Scorpion specters.

“Cover your eyes, everyone.”

My voice was cold as I met the specter’s eyes. The others, who had been preparing to return, looked bewildered for a moment, but then grumbled and covered their eyes after receiving my vicious glare. Amidst it all, only Geon-joo was staring straight ahead, so I shot him a look. After a moment of studying my expression, he took out a cloth and covered his eyes. Confirming that everyone’s vision was blocked, I took a breath.

“If even one of you opens your eyes before I say it’s okay, we’re dying together.”

At my open threat, I heard tongue-clicking from here and there. They seemed displeased, but they also seemed to have no intention of resisting. I let down my guard and used my other hand to lift the fainted specter’s eyelids. Our eyes were forcibly met. Holding my breath, I used a skill.

With the notification window, a deep blue smoke began to seep out of the specter’s body, and soon, it enveloped me. Surrounded by the smoke, I inhaled it through my nose and closed my eyes. As I deactivated the Siren’s Earring, unfamiliar sounds began to register in my ears.

‘Do you think a comeback is possible in this situation? You’re talking nonsense.’

‘Why do you think it’s impossible?’

‘Because Kwon Sa-yoon…’

‘Because Kwon Sa-yoon took over the criminal guilds?’

‘…Yes. You know it well, too. What can we do with just these numbers when that bastard has all the power?’

‘Foolish Kyle. That’s why you fail.’

‘What did you say, you bastard?’

‘This time is different. Because God will help us.’

With a sinister chuckle, a light flashed from the blue smoke. Sensing the energy, I opened my eyes and saw a scene. A man with a scorpion tattoo on his face was holding up a crimson stone and laughing viciously.

Charrrrreuk.

The blue smoke covered that scene and then slowly dissipated.

“Mm.”

Frowning, I swallowed a groan and opened my mouth.

“Open your eyes.”

At the short command, those who had covered their eyes removed the cloths. I walked straight to the person closest to me.

“Han Geon-joo, catch me.”

No, it would be more correct to say it was a collapse.

Muttering in a faint voice, I fell towards him.

“Hyung!”

The last thing I remember was the surprised man catching me in his arms, and then my consciousness was cut off.