"Hyuk-ah!" Elena cried out, her voice breaking slightly as relief washed over her, because she had never been this glad to see him before in her life.
Who wouldn't be?
An L-ranker, the strongest hunter in the world, was standing right in front of her, like a solid wall between her and death itself. In a battlefield filled with monsters, his presence alone felt like stepping into a safe zone.
Before she could even process what was happening, the frog had collapsed almost immediately.
There was no visible strike, no movement, not even a flick of his fingers that were still resting at his side. The creature simply dropped, its body going limp as if crushed by something unseen.
Elena blinked.
Just... how did he do that?
She had always thought Jinhyuk relied on his fists and swords, something straightforward and brutal, but this was different. This was something she couldn't even comprehend, and it only reminded her again that L-rankers truly existed on another level.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"
The moment the monster fell, Jinhyuk crouched in front of her without hesitation, his expression tense as his eyes scanned her quickly. His hands moved instinctively, checking her arms and shoulders before turning her slightly, making sure there were no injuries he had missed.
"What were you thinking!" his voice suddenly rose. "Why would you come on a vacation at a time like this?"
...?
Elena's brows furrowed.
"What?" she snapped, irritation replacing the lingering gratitude as she glared at him. "Why are you suddenly getting mad at me?"
Jinhyuk froze for a split second, clearly caught off guard by his unusual actions, before looking away with a small frown.
"S-sorry," he muttered, his voice lowering. "I was just..."
He didn't finish his sentence. The words stayed stuck in his throat, because he was scared...
Scared that he might have been too late, that by the time he reached her, all that would be left was a body he couldn't save.
The thought alone had made his chest tighten in a way he wasn't used to, something unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
But he didn't say any of that.
Instead, he stayed quiet, bottling those feelings deep inside his heart.
Elena huffed, clearly unconvinced as she pushed his hands away and forced herself to stand, ignoring the sting in her knee.
"Seriously, you saved me just to scold me?" she muttered, already turning away.
Without waiting for a response, she started running again, fighting against the pain.
"Where are you going?" Jinhyuk asked, immediately following after her.
Even as he moved, monsters that got too close were dealt with instantly, their bodies dropping before they could even reach them. His movements were seamless, almost effortless, but Elena didn't notice, too focused on her own thoughts to pay attention.
"If you're going to keep being annoying, then at least take me up there!" she huffed and puffed, pointing toward a small cliff not too far ahead.
Jinhyuk followed her gaze, his eyes briefly scanning the distance before nodding.
Whether she meant it seriously or not didn't matter to him.
"Then... excuse me for a moment," he said.
"Wha—Ah! Hey—!"
Seo Elena's face flushed instantly as she was suddenly lifted off the ground, her body tensing in shock as Jinhyuk scooped her up with ease, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back.
Before she could even process what was happening, he jumped.
Clearly, not your average jump.
He leap so high that the ground disappeared beneath them in an instant, the buildings shrinking rapidly as the wind rushed past her ears. Her breath caught in her throat, her voice failing to come out properly as she clutched onto him without thinking.
If she hadn't been forcing herself to stay conscious, she was sure she would have fainted right then and there.
Is this... really the power of an L-rank?
Her thoughts spiraled as she looked down, immediately regretting it when her stomach dropped from the height. The chaos below looked smaller now, but no less terrifying, and the realization only made her grip tighten slightly.
How can he even move midair?
As if answering her question, Jinhyuk moved again.
But this time but he didn't fall.
He stepped.
Faint petals formed beneath his feet, creating brief footholds in midair before disappearing just as quickly as he pushed off again. Each movement felt natural, like someone who had done this a thousand times, as if the sky itself was something he could move across freely.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Within less than a minute, they reached the cliff Elena had pointed to earlier.
He landed smoothly, as if carrying someone at that height meant nothing to him, then gently set her down on the ground.
Only then did he glance at her.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" he asked, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Elena didn't answer immediately.
Instead, Jinhyuk's attention shifted back to the battlefield below, his gaze sharpening as he assessed the situation.
The scene was still chaotic.
Monsters continued to pour in, hunters struggling to hold their lines as the situation threatened to collapse at any moment.
Where's the A-rank...?
If he could locate the strongest one, he could eliminate it first and leave the rest to the other hunters. That would stabilize the situation much faster.
But even as he thought that, he didn't move.
Handling everything himself wasn't always the best option.
If he stepped in too much, his identity would inevitably draw attention, and that alone would become a problem. Not to mention, in situations like this, hunters were just as concerned about profit as they were about survival.
When a dungeon break occurred, everyone involved would receive compensation.
But monster byproducts... That was different.
Those belonged to whoever claimed them.
Which meant that even in the middle of chaos, with lives on the line, there were still hunters more focused on securing kills than protecting others.
Jinhyuk frowned slightly at the thought.
Annoying.
Still, he turned his attention back to Seo Elena, ready to tell her to stay put and avoid unnecessary danger while he handled the situation himself.
But the words never came out.
He paused.
For a brief moment, his vision was overwhelmed by a light so bright that it didn't belong in the middle of the night, forcing his eyes to narrow as he instinctively looked toward its source.
His gaze landed on her.
Seo Elena stood there, her figure illuminated in a way that felt almost unreal, as if she didn't quite belong to the battlefield they were standing on.
A halo had formed behind her head, glowing softly yet brilliantly, resembling a small sun suspended in the darkness. The light cast gentle reflections along her silhouette, making her appear almost untouchable, something distant and sacred.
Jinhyuk didn't move.
He simply watched as if entranced.
Her hand was raised slightly, trembling under the strain as beads of sweat slid down her forehead, her brows drawn together in intense concentration. She didn't look at him, nor at the battlefield below, because all of her focus was poured into that single moment.
Elena gathered everything she had.
Then within moments later... An incredible massive magic circle unfolded across the sky, expanding slowly until it covered a large portion of the battlefield below. Its intricate patterns glowed faintly, pulsing with a quiet power before drops of light began to fall.
At first, they looked like rain.
But they were too bright?
Each droplet shimmered as it fell, carrying a soft glow that made them resemble fragments of something more divine rather than simple water.
The hunters noticed immediately.
Their movements faltered for a split second, confusion flashing across their faces as they instinctively prepared for another unknown threat. In a battlefield like this, anything unfamiliar was dangerous.
No one trusted it at first, but when the droplets touched one hunter, and then another...
Everything changed.
A shallow wound closed instantly, the torn flesh knitting back together as if it had never been injured. Another hunter, whose arm had been broken at an unnatural angle, felt the bones shift back into place with only a faint discomfort before restoring completely.
The more the light touched them, the more it healed.
Minor injuries disappeared within one drop.
Severe wounds followed, disappearing after a few drops.
It was overwhelming and so unbelievable they couldn't believe it was real.
But it was. They couldn't deny that.
Relief spread through the battlefield, though confusion and curiosity remained.
No one knew where it came from.
Even those who tried to look up at the sky or scan their surroundings could not find the source of the magic. The area it covered was too wide, and the light itself made it difficult to trace back to a single point.
Among them, a hunter who specialized in concealment had been streaming the situation before his phone slipped from his hands. The device now lay on the ground, tilted at an awkward angle, capturing only a partial view of the battlefield.
He had lost both of his legs.
The pain had been unbearable, forcing him to focus all of his remaining mana on hiding his presence while he waited for help that might never come. He had already begun to lose hope.
Then the droplets reached him.
A strange warmth spread through his body, unfamiliar and almost frightening at first, as if something was rewriting him from the inside. Slowly, impossibly, his flesh began to reform, muscles reconnecting, veins threading back together as if time itself had reversed.
Bone.
Tissue.
Skin.
Within moments, his legs were restored.
Completely.
His eyes widened, and his breath hitching as disbelief overtook him, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
After about a minute, the rain stopped.
The magic circle faded from the sky, and the light disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.
The hunters looked around, some calling out, others trying to locate the caster, but no one could identify where the ability had come from. There was no clear direction, no visible figure, nothing that pointed to a source.
In the end, they had no choice but to return their focus to the battle.
However, the situation had changed.
With their injuries healed and their stamina restored, the hunters were able to regain control much more quickly than before.
Standing at the cliff, Han Jinhyuk remained silent, his gaze fixed on the battlefield below for a moment before shifting back to Elena.