EVS Chapter 106

Remove the pairing?

For a moment, Sa-yoon’s thoughts came to a halt. It felt like his heart had plummeted to the basement, and he couldn’t think of what action to take. Only those five words, “removal of the pairing,” were firmly etched into his blank mind. Sa-yoon forgot to finish entering the password and fixed his gaze on the system window.

<The pairing wearer has removed the ‘Falsilo’s Fate Pairing’!>

No matter how many times he read that sentence, he couldn’t properly comprehend it. The pairing on his own finger was intact. The only one left was Han Geon-joo.

Why?

As he pondered what reason Han Geon-joo could have for removing the pairing, the presence drew closer. Fuck, belatedly remembering the quest, Sa-yoon pulled up his neck warmer to cover part of his face as the presence approached the door.

Bang! As the closed door opened, Sa-yoon lunged through the gap.

“What the…!”

Lee Jae-hee was startled by the sudden attack. Sa-yoon swung his arm to stab down at the aorta with the dagger in reverse grip, but an S-rank is an S-rank. The attack, neither fully concealed nor a complete surprise, was immediately blocked.

His wrist was caught, and their eyes met.

Crash!

Lee Jae-hee, having lost his balance due to Sa-yoon’s sudden charge, fell backward. Because their bodies were entangled from the lunge, Sa-yoon couldn’t avoid falling as well. Their bodies intertwined as they rolled on the floor. Even in that moment, several exchanges took place. The guy kicked up with his foot to strike Sa-yoon’s abdomen, while Sa-yoon’s elbow came down on Lee Jae-hee’s temple. Sa-yoon, who had rolled about two rotations from the entrance, paused as he lifted his upper body to try and gain the upper hand.

Wire.

Sharp silver threads, prepared who knows when, had formed a web around Sa-yoon’s body and upper torso.

“……”

Even at a glance, it was sturdier and sharper than the wire Sa-yoon possessed. This wasn’t something he could carelessly move against, even if he could endure the pain. One wrong move and it had enough cutting power to sever an arm.

Fuck, nothing’s going right.

Not only had he failed the surprise attack due to Han Geon-joo’s pairing removal, but he hadn’t even gained the upper hand. Even for someone like himself, subduing an S-rank with one arm lost was too much. Sa-yoon narrowed his eyes to observe Lee Jae-hee. The man who had been flustered beneath him was gone, replaced by one scrutinizing Sa-yoon’s face. He tightened the wire threateningly. The thread pressed against Sa-yoon’s neck, drawing red blood.

“Who are you?”

A question that didn’t need answering. Instead of responding obediently, Sa-yoon rolled his eyes to examine Lee Jae-hee. No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t the body of a retired hunter. His movements just now, and his keen sensitivity to killing intent, were both high-level.

This wasn’t the skill of someone ranked 99th.

Except for lacking in raw strength, he was on par with Jongsik. No, in terms of combat sense and composure, he might even be a notch above Jongsik. This wasn’t 99th place material, but easily within the top 30.

“What are you?”

Sa-yoon’s brow furrowed instantly. Just as he was about to use his Genius Eyes to check the exact stats—

Bzzt, bzzt—

A faint vibration was felt from his pants. Both Sa-yoon and the man’s gazes turned simultaneously to the black pants pocket. The man’s eyes narrowed. With Sa-yoon’s body half-restrained and unable to move, Lee Jae-hee reached for Sa-yoon’s phone.

An opening.

Confirming that the guy’s attention had shifted from him, Sa-yoon immediately unleashed his frost energy. He drew up the cold to its maximum in one go. Crack! The entrance froze over in an instant, and Lee Jae-hee’s body, caught off guard, was covered in ice, stiffening like a statue. Though he had succeeded in restraining him, being an S-rank, it wouldn’t hold for even a second.

However, even that momentary gap was enough time for Sa-yoon.

Using a skill, he called the dagger that had fallen to the floor during the scuffle. The blade moved according to his will, cutting through the frozen wire. By then, the ice surrounding Lee Jae-hee had started to crack, but it was already too late.

In terms of skill, he might have been on par with Jongsik, but he was certainly not on Sa-yoon’s level. Before the ice could fully shatter, Sa-yoon gripped the blade and lunged, striking at a vital point.

Success.

Just as he thought this and smiled—

<The attack is negated due to the opponent’s skill!>

A system window appeared, and Sa-yoon’s blade was flung far away.

Sa-yoon’s eyelids blinked slowly at the sudden turn of events. In that moment, Lee Jae-hee, who had survived the attack unscathed, rolled back three or four steps. He had recognized that his opponent was stronger and had fully entered a defensive stance.

At this point, it was right to assume that further surprise attacks relying on the opponent’s carelessness would be impossible. Sa-yoon stared at the flung blade before turning his gaze back to the target.

He deflected the attack with a skill?

His brow furrowed. It was then that two notifications appeared simultaneously.

<10 minutes remaining until the time limit!>

<Your relationship with the quest target has deteriorated. If the relationship is not restored within 24 hours, the quest will be frozen!>

Both notifications were irritating enough to curse at, but what consumed a bit more of Sa-yoon’s time was the notification related to “The Second Step Towards Activation.” The part about the quest being frozen if the relationship wasn’t restored within 24 hours didn’t make sense, but considering the “Failure to Activate the Resister” that would occur upon quest failure, it clearly meant a similar outcome would result.

His mind went blank again. Suddenly, he recalled the pairing removal notification he had seen earlier.

Then, the pairing removal meant…

Sa-yoon’s eyes widened at the thought that flashed through his mind. Just then, the phone in his pocket started ringing again. Knowing that he had a considerable advantage in skill and that Lee Jae-hee wouldn’t easily attack, Sa-yoon took out his phone to check. His lips moved silently at the name displayed on the screen.

[Jongsik]

It was rare for him to call for personal reasons. Even more so during an ongoing quest like now. Certain that he must be calling because of some problem, Sa-yoon connected the call as if entranced, and an urgent voice immediately burst out.

“Hyung! I’m sorry for the sudden call, but it seems that Geon-joo bastard has disappeared and likely ran away! No one saw him leave the building, but he’s definitely not in his room or anywhere in the guild…”

The voice poured out at an incredibly fast pace, as if he wasn’t even breathing while speaking. His voice echoed throughout Lee Jae-hee’s house. Sensing that the atmosphere was not right, Lee Jae-hee tensed up and drew out his wire. Sa-yoon lowered the hand holding the phone with a blank expression.

…He ran away?

It was hard to believe. Having already completed the background check, he knew everything from Han Geon-joo’s house to the stores he frequently visited. So where could he have run to? Even if he ran, he would have nowhere to go and nowhere to stay. Yet he had run away.

Why?

Because of the Noah incident?

A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily. As anger rose to his head, he didn’t even feel irritated, just laughed dejectedly. Sa-yoon glared fiercely at the system window in the corner of his vision before raising the phone.

“Hyung? Are you listening? Hyung!”

“Bring him back.”

“What?”

“I said bring him back.”

No, he would catch him himself. Sa-yoon spoke through gritted teeth and rolled his eyes to check on Lee Jae-hee. Seven minutes remained. The guy was completely on edge, so a surprise attack would be difficult. If it came to a head-on fight, it would take at least five minutes. That’s when Sa-yoon’s eyes caught the formations drawn on the floor.

Previously, he hadn’t had the mental capacity to notice, and it had been too dark to see properly, but strange pattern formations were drawn all over the floor of Lee Jae-hee’s house.

No wonder he seemed somewhat physically weak for an S-rank; it appeared he was a summoner type rather than a close combat specialist. This wasn’t mentioned in the reported information. Either he had hidden his abilities or recently acquired them. If he could handle summons as well, it would be impossible to finish within 7 minutes.

If it was a quest destined to fail, there was no need to drag it out any longer. Above all, what was more urgent now wasn’t the target in front of him, but Han Geon-joo who had run away.

Losing him would mean all that had been built up until now would be for naught. Sa-yoon laughed self-deprecatingly, hung up on Jongsik, and checked his own hand. The artifact that interfered with facial recognition was still functioning normally. A small consolation in this misfortune.

As Sa-yoon moved, Lee Jae-hee placed his hand on the floor and raised the corners of his eyes. Seeing the posture that looked ready to summon at any moment, Sa-yoon opened his inventory and pulled out all the smoke grenades he had.

Ping, ping, ping.

Dozens of smoke grenades poured out of the inventory all at once, rolling on the floor. Perhaps mistaking them for bombs, Lee Jae-hee’s body flinched. Thinking it was an overreaction since an S-rank wouldn’t die from bombs, Sa-yoon pulled up his neck warmer a bit more to cover his face and waited for the smoke to spread.

Silence fell.

If Lee Jae-hee charged first, he would die. Charging in was essentially allowing an opening, so in situations where the skill difference was clear, it was better not to do so unless aiming for a surprise attack. Seeming to know this, he didn’t act rashly, and Sa-yoon had no intention of unnecessarily wasting energy. It was a quiet tension resembling peace, created by the intersection of their respective reasons.

As the smoke spread, Lee Jae-hee’s figure gradually became obscured. Even in this situation, Sa-yoon frowned, thinking of Han Geon-joo who must be running away somewhere. When the smoke had spread sufficiently, Sa-yoon kicked off the ground and dashed towards the window.

“If you want to live, don’t follow.”

“……”

“It’ll be better for you to just cover this up.”

Whispering quietly, he threw himself towards the open window. Whether it had been left open for escape or some other reason was unclear, but fortunately, it meant he didn’t have to break through. While the smoke covered his body, Sa-yoon escaped through the window and used a skill to sprint away, calling up the quest window to check how serious the situation was.

+++

[Quest – The Second Step Towards Activation]

‘Maintain a close relationship with the Tendency holder.’

Caution: Maintain the relationship until the West-oriented Tendency holder reaches S-rank. If the relationship deteriorates, it may interfere with activation.

Reward: ?

Failure: Unable to activate the Resister

Current Relationship: XXXXX

+++

The relationship window now didn’t even have letters written on it. With warning signs flashing on both sides of the relationship filled with X’s, Sa-yoon cursed and dialed Gyeongjin while facing the next notification that appeared.

<Quest Failed!>

<Due to the failure of the Proof Quest, the penalty ‘Rank Down’ will be applied. Be cautious of slight pain! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b>

It had been a while since he’d experienced a quest failure.