Episode 4
“Last bastion, my foot. You knew all along.”
“I’m planning a little trade with the Association. I figured a healer the Chairman keeps so carefully hidden must be worth something, so I brought you along for a test drive.”
I should have known. No wonder he kept referring to me as an ‘Association Healer’ instead of a ‘First Division Healer.’
“So, tell me. You still planning to just walk back?”
My attempts to stay hidden for as long as possible had become utterly meaningless.
“…It’s not like Do Ju-yeon is coming anyway. It’s a pointless hypothetical.”
Even if I didn’t want to admit it, I had to face reality. Do Ju-yeon would have lost our trail, and the ‘Bastion’ had fallen. There was no point in getting on Cha Seo-hae’s bad side now.
Earlier, he’d told me to choose between being a hostage or joining the guild. Back then, I’d been far too over-excited at the mere sight of Do Ju-yeon.
‘Even if I were Cha Seo-hae, it would’ve looked like I was dying to go back to the Association.’
So much for hope. The situation had only gotten worse.
“I thought so too,” Cha Seo-hae began, his tone suddenly laced with implication just as I was resigning myself to silence. “But it looks like Do Ju-yeon is chasing us.”
“What?”
“Check for yourself.”
Cha Seo-hae jerked his chin toward the rear. I twisted my body around to look back.
‘He really is.’
The white car I’d seen earlier was pursuing us with ferocious intensity.
“How strange. For someone who acts so high and mighty all the time.”
I stole a glance at Cha Seo-hae. A thought had been nagging at me for a while now.
‘He seems to know Do Ju-yeon remarkably well.’
It felt deeper than a mere professional assessment formed from crossing paths during dungeon raids. He seemed to have a fundamental grasp of who Do Ju-yeon was. I kept the question to myself, though—I didn’t dare ask, and knowing wouldn’t exactly help my current predicament.
‘But is he really racing like that just to save me?’
Watching Do Ju-yeon’s car tear across the asphalt with the same savage desperation as our own made my heart feel heavy and conflicted. This wasn’t the same hope I’d felt before.
I couldn’t deny that he was one of the more decent personalities in the First Division. But that didn’t mean he’d ever truly been on my side.
‘It’s strange.’
It was a pathetic position to be in—being wary of the person coming to rescue me—but truthfully, there was no trust between us.
“Crazy bastard,” Cha Seo-hae muttered under his breath. He looked momentarily flustered.
‘…Is it maybe not Do Ju-yeon?’
For once, I agreed with him entirely. Do Ju-yeon was driving as if the road were a lawless wasteland, aggressively closing the gap. Cars emerging from alleys screeched to a halt, and other drivers swerved frantically to avoid his reckless lane changes.
“Master.”
“Floor it. He’s clearly lost his mind.”
“Yes, sir.”
Vrooooom!
The engine roared with newfound power. The speed was enough to make my blood run cold. I hastily grabbed the handle above the door.
“Wait, are we going to join in on this madness?”
“Join in? We’re strictly the ones running away. It looks like he’s trying to ram us from behind, and if we get hit at that speed, we’re dead.”
Cha Seo-hae sighed, looking exhausted.
“Who the hell performs a rescue like that?”
The driver glanced at the rearview mirror and asked, “Master, where to? If we head to headquarters now, there will be too many people…”
Cha Seo-hae hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.
“No, go to HQ. Ideally, I’d want somewhere deserted, but if that’s not an option, a place full of Hunters is better than civilians. At least they can look after themselves.”
“Understood.”
I blinked at him, surprised by this unexpected side of him.
‘The team always described him as a ruthless, rabid dog.’
Who knew he actually possessed a conscience? Feeling my gaze, Cha Seo-hae stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at me.
“Must be nice.”
“What?”
“Having someone chase you down like that just to take you back. You must be thrilled.”
Ah, so that’s what he meant. I couldn’t give him a straight answer. I wasn’t at all certain that what waited for me at the end of this chase was anything ‘good.’
“Your expression is different than before.”
“…….”
“Fine, don’t tell me.”
Cha Seo-hae turned his gaze back to the front. “Take a right.”
“Yes, sir.”
The congested road had suddenly given way to a deserted stretch.
Screeeech!
The sound came from the car behind us. It seemed the driver couldn’t handle the speed, and the tires were screaming against the pavement.
Vroom!
“Switch seats with me.”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
Cha Seo-hae shouted the sudden command with urgency. Frowning, I scrambled to swap places. It didn’t really matter where I sat; my hands and feet were bound, making escape impossible anyway. Even if Do Ju-yeon pulled up alongside us, I couldn’t open the door or climb over.
In the blink of an eye, Do Ju-yeon’s car was right next to ours. He seemed to be targeting the driver’s side, pressing tight against the flank where I had been sitting moments ago.
Screeeeeeeeech!
The sound of metal grinding against metal set my teeth on edge. Sparks flew in rhythmic bursts.
‘Is this why he made me switch?’
Then, the window of the white car rolled down. I braced myself, anticipating whatever attack Do Ju-yeon was about to unleash.
“Slow down!”
“What?”
“Do it, now!”
The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror. Perhaps my desperation got through to him. Though I couldn’t see his eyes clearly through his sunglasses, I felt a momentary flash of connection. He nodded and slammed on the brakes.
Screech! CRACK.
The difference in acceleration was too much; our side mirror was sheared clean off.
Bang!
A bullet grazed the space where our car had been a split second before. If the driver hadn’t pulled back, he would have been hit.
Whiz!
The sound of the bullet whistling past the windshield made my skin crawl.
‘I knew he could copy abilities, but where is there a Shooter nearby…?’
Since he was aiming for the driver, I’d expected his signature chains. I’d seen Do Ju-yeon training before; being an S-Class, his copy speed was fast, but there was usually a lag of a few seconds. He’d worked incredibly hard to minimize that gap, but since his greatest strength was being class-neutral, eliminating the weakness entirely was near-impossible.
Cha Seo-hae’s jaw tightened. Following his gaze, I let out a dull realization.
‘He’s the Shooter.’
How could I forget? That was Cha Seo-hae’s entire identity.
‘There really is something between those two—’
K-THOOM!
Seeing us slow down, Do Ju-yeon stopped firing and rammed into our front bumper instead.
“Ugh!”
The car jolted violently, and I slammed my head hard against the window.
“Are you okay?”
Cha Seo-hae, who had been laser-focused on Do Ju-yeon, briefly looked at me. He pulled my hand away from my head to check for injuries. Seeing no immediate swelling, he spoke in a low voice.
“Release the chains.”
“Yes, sir.”
Instantly, the bindings on my hands and feet vanished.
“Hold on tight.”
Having my hands free made gripping the handle much easier. He didn’t even wait for my reply before turning away. I hadn’t even seen him draw his gun, but he was already leaning out the window, aiming at the white car.
Bang! Bang!
Two clean shots rang out. The white car began to fishtail dangerously.
‘He shot the tires.’
But at this speed, they were going to plow into the nearby houses. Cha Seo-hae must have realized the same thing.
“Can you use the chains to tie them down? Do it.”
“But they’re going too fast! Even if I can slow them, they’re bound to hit something…” the driver argued.
He was right.
“Anchor them to my side.”
“What?”
“Excuse me?”
The driver and I both stared at him, stunned by the lack of hesitation in his voice.
“This started because of me. Just do it!”
“Yes—yes, sir!”
The driver looked reluctant but obeyed the order.
Crank. Screech.
The sound of the chains tightly snaring the white car was deafening. Even while maintaining his ability, the driver kept glancing nervously at Cha Seo-hae.
‘This is bad.’
It was only a matter of time before Cha Seo-hae got hurt. I hadn’t exactly grown fond of him in this short time, but I wasn’t used to seeing someone get injured right in front of me outside of a dungeon.
Crash! Slam!
The white car collided with us several more times. The driver gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, trying to keep us from spinning out. The interior of the car was a chaotic mess of vibrations and impacts, and the violent motion made my head throb painfully.
But I was more worried about Cha Seo-hae. Chains or not, the impact was real. He was going to take the full force of the collision, yet he remained positioned to shield me.
I decided to trust the driver. Using my freed hands, I grabbed Cha Seo-hae’s wrist.
“Pull inside!”
The moment I tried to yank him back—
“Let go!”
BOOM!
The white car slammed into us with more force than ever before.
“Agh!”
The power was too much for the driver to handle; the wheel spun out of his grip.
CRUNCH!
We plowed straight into a stone wall.
“Gasp!”
The sound of the car crumpling behind me was sickening. A searing, white-hot pain surged through me, making me gasp for air. My back felt like it had been shattered. Unable to bear the agony, my upper body slumped forward.
“Hey! Stay with me! Hey!”
I tried to trigger a self-heal while I was still conscious. But it seemed my underlying chronic conditions, combined with the accumulated fatigue, had finally reached a breaking point. The heal wouldn’t take.
“Cough!”
“Dammit, don’t pass out! Open your eyes! You’re a healer! Heal yourself!”
I felt someone shaking me violently. I knew I should listen to him, but my eyelids felt like lead. It was a miracle the car hadn’t exploded. It felt like a hurricane had just passed through.
Through the haze of smoke rising from the wreckage, I saw that Cha Seo-hae was okay.
‘I didn’t want him to get hurt… but I didn’t want this for me, either…’
A faint, bitter chuckle escaped my lips. I suppose it was a relief not to have to watch someone else die in front of me. Just as that thought crossed my mind—
Ding.
[Error Resolved.]
