"Where did all the guild members go? Is there anyone else who knows what's going on?"
Someone else answered this question.
"Well... these are all the hunters of the <Silver Guild>."
"Huh?"
"There are a few hunters who are absent due to the dungeon rotation, but not many. Recently, something happened, and the numbers have dropped significantly."
He seemed uncomfortable, lowering his gaze. Park Hee-young spoke again in a trembling voice.
"It's definitely because of that bird earlier! Otherwise, why would the vice-guild leader suddenly... *sob*."
A sorrowful cry broke out. She looked as if she had received a great shock.
"Ahem, calm down. It could be a simple malfunction of the barrier stone. Let's try it again."
The mage closed his eyes and extended his hand forward. However, the translucent barrier only wavered slightly, showing no change.
"Cough, cough!"
The mage staggered, coughing roughly, possibly due to the backlash of the skill. The skill was cut off. Just as he was about to extend his hand forward again,
"Enough, enough. There's no need for that."
An elderly man from the back of the crowd stepped forward.
His swaggering gait suggested he held a high position, as the people around him stepped back nervously.
"We don't have time for this. Everyone knows how important the protective barriers installed in the guild are. We'll start working on a new barrier as soon as it gets light."
"Wait... what do you mean?"
"Didn't you hear? I mean exactly that. Ever since the young hunter took over the barrier from his father, he hasn't managed it properly."
"..."
At that moment, I really disliked this arrogant old man.
"If one protective barrier is destroyed, it can negatively affect the entire city's barrier. If left unchecked, the weakened link could cause a crack to spread, increasing the likelihood of a major breach. We can't leave it like this. We'll have to seal this place off."
"Seal it off... what about Kwon Ji-woon?"
"He'll break the seal and come out on his own when he wakes up. ...If he wakes up, that is."
"Who are you... what do you do?"
"I should have introduced myself. I'm Kim Doo-cheon, the protective barrier response officer of the <Dungeon Management Bureau>."
*Slap!* I slapped away the hand he extended for a handshake, feeling my blood boil.
What he was saying was that they were going to leave Kwon Ji-woon, who was in a coma, inside the barrier.
I don't know how important a protective barrier response officer is, but how could he say such a thing about Kwon Ji-woon?
Regardless of my personal feelings towards Kwon Ji-woon, I know this:
Top-tier healer, deputy leader of a famous guild, good-looking, and young.
While they praised Kwon Ji-woon, I remember how much the Dungeon Management Bureau had burdened him since he was young.
"Is that what you're going to say? How can the bureau do such a thing?"
"Hmm. Can you take responsibility for it, miss?"
"What?"
"Tsk, you seem to be a civilian and don't know much about it."
At that moment, I hated this arrogant old man so much that I wanted to kill him.
"The protective barriers of each guild form a large barrier, which helps suppress the occurrence of high-level breaches. When closing a breach, this barrier also provides assistance. If a high-level breach were to occur in the middle of the city due to the destruction of this link, could you take responsibility for handling it?"
"What... what...!"
I was about to shout in anger.
"...That's strange."
A calm, low voice cut through the air. It was Ki Yu-hyun.
"What's strange?"
"Before we rush to seal the barrier, we should understand the cause and the situation."
"Hmm."
"From what I know, the emergency response procedure isn't like this. It seems you're eager to seal the barrier quickly. Is there something you're hiding?"
The arrogant old man looked displeased and asked Ki Yu-hyun.
"Who are you?"
"Just a companion of Lee Eul. I don't know much."
*Smile.* After a moment of staring at the arrogant old man, Ki Yu-hyun pulled the corners of his mouth.
"Have you received any hints from your superior? It seems there's no chance of a promotion for you."
"What, what, what...!"
The promotion button seemed to have been pressed, as the arrogant old man's face turned red, and he turned his head away.
"And one more thing. The protective barrier here hasn't been destroyed."
"Huh? Is that true?"
"Yes, it was destroyed once but was immediately recreated."
"What, what, what nonsense!"
Ignoring the arrogant old man's protest, Ki Yu-hyun continued.
"As you said, this barrier is under the management of Hunter Kwon Ji-woon. While it's not a living entity, it can protect itself to some extent. It seems the barrier activated to protect Kwon Ji-woon when he suffered a critical injury."
"Critical injury?"
A bitter light flashed in his black eyes.
"It's strange. Despite being a healer and an A-rank hunter, Kwon Ji-woon suffered a critical injury inside the guild building."
Naturally, everyone's gaze followed Ki Yu-hyun's movements. He stopped in front of Hunter Park Hee-young.
"Hunter Park Hee-young... right? Did you notice anything unusual?"
She flinched, her shoulders trembling.
"I... I don't know. I was... looking outside..."
"Right, outside. So you must have seen the gate disappear today."
"Of course, I saw it. It appeared prominently in the sky."
"Then, after noticing the anomaly and reporting it, the response officer came so quickly. You must have some connections."
Their gazes met in the air. Park Hee-young shouted.
"Are you... suspecting me?"
"That's something we'll find out through a thorough investigation."
Ki Yu-hyun moved closer to Park Hee-young. His voice, lowered to a whisper, was barely audible to Park Hee-young and me.
"You shouldn't expect that person to save you. ..."
I couldn't hear the rest. Whatever he said, Park Hee-young's face turned pale when Ki Yu-hyun stepped back.
The emotion in her trembling eyes was... fear.
Then, she muttered in a trembling voice.
"That... that wasn't my intention. If the vice-guild leader hadn't suspected me... I didn't mean to..."
When Ki Yu-hyun and I left, it's said that Kwon Ji-woon, who was left alone, called Park Hee-young and asked her.
Did she bring the long-tailed phoenix that was about to die?
"You don't have to say who ordered you. I already know."
"Vice-guild leader, I didn't do anything...!"
"If you just tell me why you did this, I'll handle it on my end."
In the confusion, they ended up struggling, and Kwon Ji-woon was severely injured.
At that moment, the barrier, which had been in a static state, activated to protect Kwon Ji-woon.
Park Hee-young contacted the arrogant old man, who had the same background, to clean up the mess.
"You! Shut up!"
The sound of the arrogant old man shouting angrily came from a distance.
My patience had run out.
"How... how could you..."
The reason I hadn't confronted Park Hee-young, despite her constant bad luck, was simple.
She was still Kwon Ji-woon's subordinate, and I thought she could be helpful to him.
But to betray him and even try to harm him?
Why? What could have made her do such a thing?
Unable to contain my anger, I took a step forward, but Ki Yu-hyun grabbed my arm.
"Lee Eul."
"Don't stop me."
"Would I do that?"
A large hand covered mine. His long, strong fingers dug into my clenched fist. It tickled.
I hadn't realized I had clenched my fist so tightly that it had cut my palm. I hadn't even felt the pain in my excitement.
Ki Yu-hyun gently stroked the bleeding wound with his fingers and dropped a few drops of potion. The wound healed quickly. He let go and stepped back.
"There's no need for you to hurt yourself over such a person, Lee Eul."
I felt like crying.
* * *
The situation was resolved.
Within ten minutes, a new person from the <Dungeon Management Bureau> appeared, and Hunter Park Hee-young was taken into custody.
"Why... why did the... director come here... he was in Jeju...!"
"Take her away."
The arrogant old man was also dragged away somewhere.
Now, we just needed to rescue Kwon Ji-woon, who was trapped inside the barrier. When a new mage tried to open the barrier again...
"Ugh, cough!"
The barrier didn't budge. The mage coughed violently, and a drop of blood fell from his mouth due to the backlash of the skill.
"Wait."
After a moment of silence, Ki Yu-hyun sighed and stepped forward.
"It's difficult to force the barrier open from the outside. The barrier activated to protect the caster, Kwon Ji-woon. It's pushing back any external access, perceiving it as an attack."
The mage, looking flustered, replied.
"But if we don't open it, we can't save the person inside."
"We need to go inside the barrier and wake him up, not force it open."
"That's too dangerous. Although it's not visible, the inside is a chaotic flow of aether."
"Don't worry. I'll... "
"I'll do it."
"Wait, Lee Eul?"
"I can do it."
[Main Quest: Into the Silver Storm
The barrier is protecting the caster.
Touch the barrier and rescue the caster.
Touch the barrier: 0/1
Reward: Fragment of Memory, Target's Survival]
I scanned the system window in front of me with dry eyes.
The fact that this quest appeared means I can do it. However, I didn't say I would just because the system was urging me.
This didn't happen before the regression.
The <Silver Guild> was solid, and Kwon Ji-woon was safe.
So, I subconsciously thought nothing would happen to Kwon Ji-woon this time too.
But something different happened this time, unlike before the regression. The only variable I know of is me, who returned from the future.
If this situation...
If this is because I changed the future?
Just as saving As became a big deal, could some action I didn't notice lead to this?