An Unwelcome Savior

I’ve been doing this in every single village we stop at. I hate—absolutely hate—admitting it, but being a member of Yoo Se-rim’s party has made traveling between settlements significantly easier. Dealing with the locals from a baseline of hospitality and respect meant my situation was objectively better than before. It galled me, but facts were facts.

‘Everyone treats Yoo Se-rim like he’s the strongest R-rank expert alive….’

From what I’d seen, he never seemed to be giving his all or even getting tired—not in the past, and certainly not now. It was infuriating. Whether he was clearing monsters on the field or receiving a hero’s welcome in town, he maintained that same effortless, nonchalant air.

‘With that kind of skill, he could easily go solo. Why does he insist on dragging a C-rank like me along…?’

He even brought Ping, his pet bird. I knew for a fact that Ping stayed exactly like that until the day I died. In other words, the bird wasn’t some kind of hidden ultimate weapon. I’d asked him once, back in the day, why on earth he kept the thing. His answer had been ridiculous.

“It’s a bit of a hassle, but I feel like life needs a certain amount of burden to be worth living, so I’m keeping him.”

I had only tilted my head at the incomprehensible nonsense, while Yoo Se-rim just gave one of his vague, lukewarm smiles. What a frustrating bastard. Even now, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Was it that when you reached R-rank, the world became so monotonous that you had to chase cheap thrills or pick up eccentric hobbies?

From my perspective—someone who desperately needed to find his brother—that kind of “leisurely play” felt like a personal insult. Why did someone like me, who truly needed power, awaken as a C-rank nobody, while a screw-loose guy like Yoo Se-rim awakened as an R-rank to spend his days nursing a bird?

‘Sigh… the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Let’s just drop it.’

I calmed my nerves and focused on our second destination.

‘I cannot lose Seong Gyu-rim here.’

If she died because of me again, I would never be able to forgive myself. I planned on stabbing Yoo Se-rim in the back eventually, but I intended to leave only after making sure she survived. To that end, I was prepared to act like I knew this dungeon inside out, even if it looked suspicious. I had the perfect excuse: my “unstoppable” older brother, Han Seong-hoon.

‘If they ask how I know so much, I’ll just say my brother told me.’

As soon as we reached the village nearest to the dungeon, the first thing I did was…

“You want us to wear winter gear?”

“Artifacts with cold resistance are better, but if you don’t have them, you need to wear these.”

I pointed out the party’s excessively thin and light outfits as I dumped a pile of winter clothes I’d ordered from “the other side” out of my luggage.

“I was wondering what you were hauling around in that huge pack…”

Seong Gyu-rim looked impressed, appearing touched by the fact that I’d written her name on her set with a marker.

“Oh, even for me… wait, did you buy these for the whole party?”

“Yes.”

Truthfully, I only wanted to prepare Gyu-rim’s, but I bought the rest to avoid any weird misunderstandings and to make my “advice” more persuasive. The others took their labeled gear, one by one. Everyone except Yoo Se-rim.

“Could I ask for an explanation as to why we need winter gear?”

“Because I happen to know the name of the dungeon we’re heading into.”

“…!”

The party looked shocked, while Yoo Se-rim remained still, his gear untouched. I expected him to press me, to demand how I knew, but…

“Understood. It must be a cold place, then.”

“……”

“Ah, as for the gear… I have a cold-resistance artifact, so I’ll be fine.”

He turned away just like that. I stared at the remaining set of clothes, bit my lip, and shoved it back into my bag. The man truly had a talent for ruining a person’s mood over the smallest things.

[Intruders in the holy place…] [How profane.]

Dressed in our winter gear, we ascended the snow-covered mountain. The second dungeon was called [The Temple of Bitter Cold]. True to its name, it was an ancient, frozen sanctuary.

Strangely, however, the number of monsters on the path was significantly lower than I remembered.

‘What’s going on? Last time, we were swarmed by Apostles and Paladins… but now there’s only one or two?’

Since the area around a dungeon usually has the highest density of monsters, I wasn’t the only one who found it odd. For the first time, Yoo Se-rim dropped his bland smile. His face went blank as he carefully examined the traces left in the snow.

“Looks like a party went in ahead of us,” Kim Jae-ho muttered suspiciously.

Yoo Se-rim furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t a party.”

The moment he spoke, the faint sound of clashing steel echoed through the air. I moved cautiously toward the sound. Before long, I saw a man gracefully swinging a sword, his long black hair fluttering in the wind.

‘He looks familiar….’

I felt a nagging sense of recognition. His back was toward me, so I couldn’t see his face, but I was certain we had met in the past. As he finished off the monsters and slowly turned toward me, a lightbulb went off in my head.

‘That’s…!’

[Die—!]

Perhaps I had been too focused on him. I failed to notice a Paladin hiding between the trees. It lunged, thrusting its blade toward me. At this rate, I was a dead man. The thick snow made it impossible to move my body as I wanted; in my clumsy attempt to dodge, I lost my balance and tumbled backward.

The monster raised its sword high above its head to deliver a finishing blow.

“[The Shroud of—]!”

I tried to force a debuff to block it, but there was no time. The blade was already hovering over my forehead before I could finish the incantation.

Clang! Whish—!

In that instant, the black-haired man I’d been watching appeared in front of me, parrying the blade inches from my nose and piercing the Paladin’s heart in one fluid motion. Yoo Se-rim’s whip arrived a second later, binding the monster’s wrists.

My heart hammered against my ribs as the black-haired man slowly looked down at me.

“……What, you’re one of Yoo Se-rim’s? I shouldn’t have bothered.”

The man was strikingly beautiful, like a figure carved from jade, but his voice was a chilling, deep bass that stood in stark contrast to his pretty face. Suddenly, I realized how I could have ever forgotten him.

‘Baek Hee-do….’

Yoo Se-rim’s only true rival, and an R-rank warrior who was famously reported to have died during the ‘Lightning Spirit Sword’ incident.

“Th-thank you.”

“……Whatever. Get lost.”

Baek Hee-do scanned my outfit with a look of distaste before crunching away through the snow. I couldn’t take my eyes off his back; in this white landscape, he was like a drop of ink that commanded all attention.

“……Are you alright?”

Yoo Se-rim had approached silently. I snapped my head up, startled by his voice while I was still watching Baek Hee-do’s disciplined stride.

Yoo Se-rim was wearing an expression I had never seen before. It wasn’t his usual bland mask or his fake-kind smile. His eyes were downcast, his face cold and distant.

Actually, I had seen that face once.

The day Yoo Se-rim abandoned me.

“……I’m fine.”

Recalling that moment, I ignored his outstretched hand and pushed myself up. Yoo Se-rim didn’t comment on my rudeness. However, when I glanced back at the retreating figure of Baek Hee-do, he spoke as if issuing a warning.

“His name is Baek Hee-do. We studied under the same master.”

“……”

“So, he and I don’t get along very well. You might get ignored or even attacked just for being in my party, so be careful.”

“……”

Even after hearing that, I continued to stare at Baek Hee-do until he became a mere speck in the distance. Strangely, even though the threat of death had passed, my heart wouldn’t stop racing.