With the sound of flesh being pierced, the Deater’s waist was sliced on a diagonal. The cut surface slid slowly and its lower body thudded to the ground. Its upper body was skewered on Ji Hayeon’s arm, chest pierced through. In his snow-white hand he held a heart the size of a child’s head.Nine, in the meantime, was still running toward the Heukgu. Ji Hayeon pulled his arm back in time with the recoil.As the Deater’s upper body hit the floor, smoke rose from Ji Hayeon’s arm. The skin surface, which looked like it had been burned, regenerated quickly.“Ha…”Sawon let out a relieved breath. Even so, he didn’t stop cutting down the Deaters.Even I don’t usually punch through a chest with my bare fist.Sawon gave a faint smile as he passed the holed Deater.From the clean hole, as if carved out with a blade, he could gauge the force behind it. It crossed his mind that Ji Hayeon’s enhanced stamina-type ability might rival his own.Ji Hayeon hurled the still-beating heart at another Deater.At last, Nine reached the Heukgu. Ji Hayeon jumped down from Nine and threw the barrier in his arms toward the Heukgu.A deeper blue net than the existing barriers spread out. Thin lines wove together densely and regularly, wrapping around the black oval. The Heukgu heaved violently as if in fierce resistance.Kkikikikigik!The Deaters all rushed at Ji Hayeon at once. Sawon shouted.“Nine!”Nine let out a great roar and attacked the Deaters. He tore their limbs left and right like ripping paper, and with his mouth he bit into their heads, chewing until bones crackled as they broke.In the meantime, Sawon reached Ji Hayeon’s side. But Ji Hayeon had no intention of being protected. Unarmed, he focused his attacks on the Deaters’ hearts. Swinging his sword, Sawon said,“Chief, you’re being way too brutal. You’re tearing them to pieces.”“If I don’t, you’re going to have to deal with all of them.”“You don’t trust me?”Kkikikikigigik!Corpses of Deaters began to pile up around them. Even in the middle of the fight, both of them turned back several times to check, but the barrier didn’t tear.“I don’t.”Ji Hayeon muttered belatedly. That he would never trust him again. There was no way Sawon’s hearing, right beside him, would miss it.“Wow… I had no idea I was this untrustworthy.”“Gu Sawon Hunter!”He could see other hunters rushing over from far away. The only Deaters ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) still rampaging were the three or four around Sawon and Ji Hayeon.The clouds parted and bright sunlight beat down. The last Deater in Sawon’s hand split clean in two.The ground and walls around the intersection were ripped up and frayed, a complete mess. Only then did Sawon recall one fact.Ah. I wasn’t supposed to let Nine get exposed.***- You didn’t even have any orders. Why did you jump in!- What kind of mess do you think you’ve made of the Central Hunter Bureau!- What on earth did you say to a civilian for us to get a complaint like this!- Still, using the new barrier was a good call.- But how could you expose Chief Ji like that! We’re only lucky no one recognized him.His long sleeves and long pants covered his body, on top of being splattered with blood, and he was further hidden behind Nine’s massive frame, so people didn’t recognize the changed Ji Hayeon. Above all, no one even entertained the idea that an intellect-type researcher could display that level of force. That was a tremendous relief.- What’s done well is done well, and what’s done wrong is done wrong. You’re on restriction for the time being. Don’t step outside the dormitory.Sawon listened quietly to the jumbled scolding and praise pouring through the communicator.The punishment Director Kwon handed down was lighter than he’d expected. Dormitory restriction, really. Considering the dormitory was a massive building with 110 floors above ground and 10 below, he could only take it to mean, Go relax and have some fun.Even so, the reason Sawon couldn’t simply be happy was Ji Hayeon.“Chief. You okay?”“I’m fine, so go do your own work.”Maybe because he’d only used his ability for a short time and taken the neutralizer right away, Ji Hayeon hadn’t been dragged to the brink of death like before. But even after a full day had passed, his fever still hadn’t gone down. Hot air puffed out in his wheezing breaths.“They put me on restriction. I can’t go anywhere.”Sawon put a hand to Ji Hayeon’s forehead as he lay turned away. Even though it was still warm enough in the middle of the day to wear short sleeves, Ji Hayeon was trembling all over. Even under a blanket. Unable to just watch, Sawon perched on the edge of the bed.“Are you really okay just taking that one medicine? I’ll go get some other meds from the infirmary. Tell me if you need anything.”“You said you’re on restriction…”“Restriction inside the dorms only. Director Kwon went easy on me.”“What kind of restriction is that…”Ji Hayeon voiced the exact same opinion as Sawon. The blanket shivered.“This is bad.”Sawon brought over a towel dampened with lukewarm water and wiped Ji Hayeon’s forehead.Sawon had almost no experience taking care of sick people. As far as he remembered, anyway. The stamina-type Awakened he usually saw would be back on their feet and stomping around cheerfully just a few days after breaking an arm.Even getting advice from the medical staff didn’t help much, which only made him more frustrated. Sawon patted Ji Hayeon gently.“Ji Hayeon. How do we get your fever down? What do we do to make you get better faster?”“It’s from neutralizing the Metena. If I just stay like this, I’ll get better soon.”Ji Hayeon pulled his blanket up even higher. Watching that, Sawon lay down behind him. Then he stretched out his long arm and wrapped it, blanket and all, around Ji Hayeon’s body.Maybe because he still hadn’t fully recovered, Ji Hayeon still had his bulked-up body. Just the other day, his waist had fit neatly inside one of Sawon’s arms. Now it was a bit much to hold him with one arm.With a little grunt, Sawon stretched his arm out farther and pulled Ji Hayeon tightly into his arms.“What are you doing…”“You know stamina-types run hot, right? If we stay like this, you’ll warm up a bit.”Sawon murmured as he patted the blanket. Hurry up and get better, our frail Chief.“Is this… you teasing me or what…”“I’m seriously trying to make you get better.”Beep. Beep.Just then, a squeaky-toy sound came from behind them.“Nine.”Sawon lowered his voice in warning.Beep. Beep. Beep.Beep, beep, beep, beep, beeeep.But the squeaky-toy sounds only sped up. Sawon got up and headed toward the source.“Nine. I told you you have to behave for a while.”Nine was standing beside Sawon’s bed, kneading the squeaky toy for all it was worth.Beep, beep, beep.Normally he would at least pretend to listen, but Nine didn’t even look at him, like he was sulking about something. Sawon crouched down.“What’s wrong. Are you mad at me about something?”Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.“Is it because I don’t hold you and only dote on Ji Hayeon?”Beeeeeeeeep.“Want your food? A snack?”Beep.The sound stopped, and Nine looked up at Sawon.This brat’s really getting more and more like a human baby.Sawon reached out a hand to Nine.“Come on. I’ll give you food and snacks.”Dragging the squeaky toy along with his long arm, Nine crawled into Sawon’s arms. When he checked the time, it was already about lunch.Ji Hayeon had said he didn’t need to take any other medicine, but that didn’t mean it was okay to skip meals. Wondering what to feed them, Sawon passed the two beds in the living room and went into the kitchen.First, he took out some cereal and poured it into Nine’s personal bowl. Then he peeled the only fruit in the house, a banana, and sliced it on top.“Let’s eat your snack and your food.”Carrying the plate, Sawon mimed an airplane as he brought it to the table.“Whoooosh.”Nine let out a squeaky laugh like he was pleased. At times like this, Sawon felt like he was raising a child.On the other hand, it also felt like keeping a pet dog or cat. He couldn’t talk, but between his hands, feet, expressions, and eyes, he sprayed his feelings everywhere—how could you not find him adorable.“Our pretty Nine, eat up.”Nine sat at the table, grinning wide as he grabbed the bowl. From the way he ate the contents with his fingers one by one, you could tell exactly how he felt.“Adorable brat.”This time Sawon looked for rice. He washed his hands, rinsed the rice, then put it in a pot and set it to boil.He rummaged through the fridge and freezer, wondering what else he could add, but there wasn’t anything particularly edible. Strictly speaking, it was a miracle this kitchen even had rice.Sawon stirred the salted porridge diligently. But the way he was stirring hard, the situation and his attitude felt strangely familiar.When have I ever made porridge before?He thought it over carefully, but in the last five years, Sawon hadn’t once made porridge. He had no memory of it, and barely knew how, yet he was continuing the motion naturally, which he found absurd.The moment he stopped stirring, the porridge started to stick. Without even time to think about it, Sawon hurriedly began stirring again.“Chief. At least have a spoonful of this.”Sawon dragged over a chair and set the bowl on the bedside table.“Mm? Eat at least something. I made it for you, Chief.”At those words, Ji Hayeon shifted and turned his body. His eyes peeked out from under the blanket.“Made what… what?”“This.”Sawon held out the porridge. On top of the fairly decent-looking white rice porridge, he’d sprinkled finely crushed seasoned seaweed.“Should I have left the seaweed off?”Ji Hayeon stared at it quietly, then slowly sat up.“……”“Does it look that bad? I tried a bite and it just tastes like rice wrapped in seaweed.”After staring at it for a long while, Ji Hayeon reached out his hand. Maybe because of the fever, the skin around his eyes was still red. Sawon ran his fingers once through Ji Hayeon’s messy hair, smoothing it back.“If you can eat something else, I’ll go buy food from the cafeteria.”But Ji Hayeon shook his head and quietly picked up the spoon.“I can’t eat anything else. I always… when I’m sick, I just eat white rice porridge with seaweed on it.”“Oh, yeah? Lucky for us, that’s exactly what this is, then.”Sawon grinned, pleased with himself. Ji Hayeon just stared down at the bowl and quietly spooned up the porridge.But he felt a strange gaze from somewhere. It felt a little like killing intent, and a little like jealousy… a weird kind of stare.Sawon turned his eyes in the direction of the feeling. In the kitchen doorway, Nine was hiding his body and poking only his head out, looking this way. His pitch-black eyes didn’t blink once as he glared at Ji Hayeon’s back like he was burning a hole through it.

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