VSP 133

“It would’ve been nice if Sejun-hyung came with us.”

Ryu Sehyun stayed silent for a moment when he heard Cha Dogyeong clicking his tongue before he finally spoke.

“First, let’s talk business.”

Since that was the priority, Dogyeong straightened his posture.

“I’m going to gather the others soon to discuss the current situation, and then I’ll announce it to the entire World Hunter Association.”

“That dungeons’ difficult are intensifying?”

Sehyun nodded. The current situation was a global phenomenon.

Dungeon difficulty levels had been rising across all ranks. While S-rank hunters didn’t feel the change much yet, it caused a lot of accidents among the lower-ranked hunters.

“Does this remind you of anything?”

Dogyeong ran a hand through his bangs.

“It’s similar to what happened right before the Final Dungeon appeared.”

The Final Dungeon. Every S-rank hunter had thrown themselves into that raid. In that place where the dungeon itself was the boss, Dogyeong fought a monster with three faces and six arms. That was when he experienced his second awakening. It was the moment he found the clue to evolve toward EX-rank.

Then, in the true final dungeon, where the traitorous Association President Park Hyeongcheol merged with the dungeon, Dogyeong fully awakened as an EX-rank hunter and cleared it.

The world found peace once he became the world’s only EX-rank hunter.

It seemed like the world had reached its happy ending.

“It’s just like back then.”

But now, as if the term ‘happy ending’ were a joke, history prepared to repeat itself.

“This is so cliché.”

If the same thing happened again, he just had to do exactly what he did before. Dogyeong, now an EX-rank hunter, wouldn’t even be surprised if the boss of that Final Dungeon, the one they called Asura, appeared in the middle of Seoul right now.

He could just destroy it again.

But why did this happen?

Dogyeong thought for a moment and spoke.

“It feels like a sequel where someone rushed the plot. If this is Season 2, it feels like a total carbon copy of Season 1. If I were the viewer, I don’t think I’d find this very interesting.”

“Actually, it isn’t fun at all,” Dogyeong muttered as he leaned back into his chair.

“What if the boss is exactly the same, and someone other than me awakens too?”

Dogyeong joked, neither man in the room took it seriously.

Since the conclusion was already obvious, the business talk ended quickly.

“Are we done with work? Is this the real reason why we’re here?”

Dogyeong smiled, aware that the topic had changed.

Sehyun looked at him. Dogyeong smiled and acted casual, but he was more quick-witted than anyone Sehyun knew.

Dogyeong likely knew exactly why he called him out here. Sehyun spoke slowly.

“You and Sejun—”

“We’re dating.”

He interrupted Ryu Sehyun. The latter looked up when he heard the answer before he could even finish asking the question.

“I said I’m dating Seo Sejun.”

Sehyun closed and opened his eyes.

“…Right.”

The appetizer he’d ordered to be served late arrived right on cue. Neither man reached for their utensils, even with the fragrant salad sitting between them.

Sehyun stared at Dogyeong after a long silence.

He hadn’t been blindsided. He’d called this meeting because he already knew, but his heart ached when he heard the confirmation from the man’s own mouth.

Maybe I wouldn’t feel this way if you were even a little bit inferior to me. Sehyun shook his head. No, that’s a pathetic thought, Ryu Sehyun.

Dogyeong’s picture-perfect looks were even more impressive in person, often making people whisper. His status as the world’s only EX-rank hunter was unrivaled, and his naturally free-spirited personality was the envy of many. Cha Dogyeong was a man who wouldn’t be lacking no matter who he stood beside.

However, the story changed a bit when that partner was Seo Sejun.

“I always thought Sejun… no, the circumstances around Sejun were strange.”

It was a sudden change of topic, but these were Ryu Sehyun’s words, he was a man who rarely talked about himself. Dogyeong nodded.

“In what way?”

“The fact that Sejun’s mana is extremely low as an S-rank.”

Every hunter had probably wondered about that at least once. How is he an S-rank? Why is his mana the only thing so low when his other specs are so high?

“Sejun has the looks and the personality that people love, yet I thought it was strange how few people were around him.”

And Seo Sejun didn’t have a single friend. He completed his compulsory education and attended school diligently. He wasn’t exactly bullied, but he graduated without a single person he could call a friend.

“It was the same for us.”

People didn’t flock to Sejun’s side even after he awakened. No matter how much trouble Sejun caused, other hunters stayed away from him regardless of their ranks. It was as if they weren’t allowed to get close.

Both Dogyeong and Sehyun knew exactly what that was. It was due to the restriction that existed until everything ended.

“But as soon as that restriction vanished, people swarmed Sejun. Everyone was dying to stand by his side.”

There was some friction at first because of the momentum from the past, but people eventually surrounded Sejun as if it were inevitable.

“I used to think you were the protagonist of this world. Lately, I’ve started to think differently.”

“Think what?”

“I think Sejun is the real protagonist of this world.”

Dogyeong didn’t feel particularly offended by the comment that excluded him from the lead role. He often thought the same thing himself.

Everything seemed to revolve around Seo Sejun, for better or worse. That was true both in the past, when the restriction existed, and now.

It felt as though someone was interested in Sejun and played favorites with him. He set aside whether that was actually good or bad for Sejun.

“A lot changed as the world found peace after the Final Dungeon, but the change around Sejun-hyung is a bit extreme.”

“Yeah. The media and public opinion might be slower than us, but it won’t take long.”

The change already started. These days, the name Seo Sejun didn’t come with labels like ‘incompetent S-rank.’ The atmosphere felt more like people were dealing with a rising star.

Image wasn’t everything for a hunter, but good public opinion never hurt. This was especially true for someone like Seo Sejun, who had been pushed around and hurt without even realizing it.

Anyone who remembered the past Sejun, the man who acted confident and arrogant while taking every hit to the heart, would welcome this change.

Naturally, Dogyeong loved it. Seo Sejun looked handsome even when he curled up in a corner to cry, but Dogyeong preferred to see him smile. It was even better if Sejun smiled right in front of him.

“These are my feelings, so I know them best. Before, there was a restriction that kept me from approaching Sejun even if I had feelings for him. Now, that’s gone. You just didn’t miss your timing.”

He let out a self-deprecating sigh.

“Do you like Sejun?”

That wasn’t even a question. They only started dating recently, so Dogyeong hadn’t shown it much in front of Sejun yet, but this relationship required a major resolution on his part.

He decided to be with Sejun because he liked him so much that he couldn’t stand it anymore, even with all the risks.

While Sejun simply felt the fluttering heart of a first romance, Dogyeong harbored dark thoughts beneath the surface. He didn’t know if Seo Sejun realized it, but Dogyeong had no intention of ever letting him go.

He wanted to see Sejun smile, he wanted to touch him, and he wanted Sejun to be happy and free of pain.

He only knew one answer for what to call these feelings.

Even a snot-nosed kid would have the same answer. It was impossible not to know.

My naive hyung, how did you end up caught by someone like me? Dogyeong sighed while pretending to feel sorry, then he spoke.

“Yeah, I like him.”

Even children would call this emotion love.

“You say I timed it well? You’re right. I know better than anyone how popular Seo Sejun is.”

That was why this meeting happened in the first place. This was why Ryu Sehyun, a man who didn’t care about others, wasted his time to call out Cha Dogyeong, someone he wasn’t even close with. It was also why Dogyeong, who usually would’ve refused, accepted the invitation.

“But I caught Seo Sejun first, and he likes me.”

Dogyeong claimed ownership in a way that he himself found childish, basically saying, “Anyway, I claimed Seo Sejun first.”

But feelings were naturally childish. Dogyeong decided to be as immature as he wanted.

Despite those childish words, only silence filled the room.