At that sound, Seo Kangrim stopped in his tracks.

The sound of a door opening came from behind him.

He turned around to find unfamiliar faces standing there.

【What’s this? Did some unlucky guys wander in here?】

【Hey, hey, get out quick!】

True to the gods’ words, they looked like people who had stumbled into this place by bad luck.

They glanced around the burning room with visibly startled expressions.

However, despite their alarm, they didn’t retreat back outside.

Instead, upon spotting Seo Kangrim, they urgently leveled their weapons at him.

“Found Seo Kangrim!”

“Damn it, I thought we’d lost him.”

“We just need to eliminate him, right? With six of us, that’s 50 million won each?”

These were trainees from Zone 1.

Many had been eliminated when Seo Kangrim dealt with Hong Daehoon, but some still remained.

Moreover, the bounty on Seo Kangrim had now climbed to 300 million won.

“Seo Kangrim! We don’t plan to kill you. Just declare your withdrawal!”

They shouted as much, but Seo Kangrim only stared at them in silence.

The Zone 1 members exchanged whispers among themselves as they watched him.

“Damn it, why is this room on fire? Shouldn’t we get out of here first?”

“There’s a shadow demon beast over there too. Looks dangerous, doesn’t it?”

“Seo Kangrim will run soon enough. We just follow him. Hold on a little longer!”

Flames surrounded them on all sides, and Shin Sooa’s shadow was still alive.

Trapped within the flames, it hadn’t attacked yet, but there was no telling what might happen.

They naturally assumed Seo Kangrim would flee, but he stood rooted in place.

Seo Kangrim glanced at the door behind him.

‘I can’t exit this way. Shin Sooa is alone outside.’

Only two exits remained: the door through which the Zone 1 members had entered, and the door leading to the room where Shin Sooa was.

If he fled toward Shin Sooa’s room, they would follow.

Even though she had received treatment, Shin Sooa was far from her usual condition.

‘Their average stat is around 20, and their Fate Rank is roughly Ghost Grade.’

A significant number of the Zone 1 members who had come to capture Seo Kangrim were formidable fighters.

If they attacked a weakened Shin Sooa, things would become complicated.

Concluding that fighting here would be more advantageous, Seo Kangrim drew his sword.

‘I either take them all down here, or slip through the door behind them.’

As Seo Kangrim raised his sword, the Zone 1 members showed signs of alarm.

Then one of them sneered at Seo Kangrim and spoke.

“You’re not reading the situation. You want to fight here?”

“That’s right.”

“Doesn’t matter where you fight. You’ve got no chance of winning!”

He didn’t think he would lose to them, but the problem was time.

The Saw Bone Belt that Shin Sooa wore was surely tightening its blade into her even at this very moment.

How quickly he could deal with them was the critical factor.

Just then, the door behind the Zone 1 members opened.

‘Reinforcements?’

More people would only make things worse.

The door opened and someone walked in, speaking with evident interest.

“Is that Ms. Shin Sooa’s shadow over there? So this is how you were keeping it trapped! Seo Kangrim, you chose the hard path.”

The person who entered was Dokgo Jun.

He surveyed the room as if watching an entertaining spectacle, then spoke with a voice tinged with admiration.

“Seo Kangrim, you really are protagonist material. If you’d brought Shin Sooa to the brink of death, you could’ve cleared this room easily.”

As Dokgo Jun said, Seo Kangrim had chosen the difficult path.

If Shin Sooa harmed herself once more and reached the brink of death, the shadow would be neutralized as well.

In that window, Seo Kangrim could kill the shadow, restore Shin Sooa, and retrieve the Identification Tag — simple as that.

But he couldn’t bring himself to ask Shin Sooa to stab herself once more.

“Foolish, stubborn, and sincere. Ah, truly. You’re the exact opposite of me, aren’t you? Just like a protagonist.”

Dokgo Jun wore a delighted expression as he chattered incessantly.

Seeing this, the Zone 1 members spoke urgently.

“Dokgo Jun, stop your nonsense! We need to take out Seo Kangrim and get out of here.”

“Help us, quickly!”

They acted as if Dokgo Jun was on their side.

Seo Kangrim remained unmoved by their reaction, simply holding his sword.

Seeing that Seo Kangrim wasn’t particularly surprised, Dokgo Jun spoke with a sly grin.

“Seo Kangrim, you’re not very surprised? Did you know I switched to Zone 1?”

“Yes. I was expecting it.”

Since Dokgo Jun hadn’t been seen early on, Seo Kangrim had suspected he might have moved to another zone.

Zone 1 had suffered significant casualties, so it was plausible that they’d scout from other zones.

The fact that he possessed a rare Space-Time Dispatch item and knew about the Saw Bone Belt was suspicious, but if those were the rewards for being scouted, it made sense.

Seo Kangrim, still glaring at him, asked.

“Why did you move to Zone 1?”

There was no reason for Dokgo Jun to go to Zone 1.

He already had plenty of wealth, so money wouldn’t sway him, and the risk of clearing the final room with unfamiliar Zone 1 members was too great.

Dokgo Jun laughed lightly and said.

“I did a lot of reflecting last time.”

“…….”

“I was only thinking about killing Gangcheol while killing other people’s snakes. I couldn’t do what you did. Compared to your protagonist-like qualities, I fell far short.”

Amidst the flames and shadows dancing madly, he spoke with a humble expression.

“So I’m giving up on being the co-protagonist.”

“Then are you planning to become my enemy?”

To that question, Dokgo Jun merely smiled.

The other Zone 1 members watching the situation spoke as if urging him on.

“Dokgo Jun, stop saying weird things and help us!”

“Right, right. I should help.”

-Puhwak!

At that moment, crimson blood scattered across the flames.

A blade had pierced through a Zone 1 member’s chest and protruded from the other side.

He vomited blood in disbelief.

“Keu, keuheok. Dokgo Jun, why on earth……!”

As the Zone 1 member collapsed, Dokgo Jun swiftly moved to Seo Kangrim’s side.

Seo Kangrim glared at him and asked.

“I thought you moved to Zone 1 to betray us.”

“No way. I told you. I reflected after seeing you. I’m giving up on being the co-protagonist and…….”

Dokgo Jun said with a broad smile.

“I want to be your supporting ally! That’s why I went to Zone 1. To become a double agent.”

“Don’t lie. Weren’t you planning to attack me?”

When Dokgo Jun first entered this room.

Seo Kangrim could easily sense the killing intent overflowing from him.

Dokgo Jun spoke with his ever-present smile.

“Oh, you caught me? If you’d made Shin Sooa harm herself to clear this room, I was planning to fight you.”

As expected, Dokgo Jun couldn’t be fully trusted.

Even so, he needed to use him for now.

The remaining Zone 1 members shouted at them.

“Damn it, Dokgo Jun! You’re betraying us……!”

“Doesn’t matter anymore. Attack them both!”

The Zone 1 members charged with shouts.

But at the same moment, a whip made of fire swept across the area.

-Chwaaak!

Shin Sooa’s shadow swung blazing vines wildly, launching an attack at them.

The shadow itself was ablaze, burning away like charcoal.

As the Zone 1 members faltered from the shadow’s sudden attack.

-Seogeok!

Without giving them a moment to let their guard down, Seo Kangrim charged in.

One person who couldn’t dodge the attack in time fell bleeding.

And immediately, Seo Kangrim’s consecutive strikes followed.

-Kagagang!

They barely blocked this attack, but the sword that met his was trembling violently.

The Zone 1 member gritted his teeth as he held back Seo Kangrim’s blade.

‘What—what the! He’s this strong?’

Seo Kangrim’s attacks didn’t seem to carry much weight behind them, yet they were suffocatingly heavy.

He had barely managed to block, but he couldn’t feel safe.

Seo Kangrim wasn’t the only enemy.

“Keu-a-ak!”

A person seized by Dokgo Jun’s hand was screaming.

His clothes were disintegrating beyond recognition, and his flesh was rotting away.

[Special Ability ‘Corrosion’ is activating!]

True to the ability’s name, he was being corroded alive.

If they fled from Dokgo Jun’s ‘Corrosion,’ Seo Kangrim would immediately appear and strike them.

The Zone 1 members gasped for breath and staggered backward.

‘Damn it, the situation is completely hopeless……!’

Dealing with Seo Kangrim alone was already overwhelming, but Dokgo Jun, the flames, and the shadow were all attacking them as well.

They barely dodged Dokgo Jun’s follow-up attack, but one person struck by a vine collapsed while vomiting blood.

“Keok, keuheok……!”

Shin Sooa’s shadow was attacking indiscriminately.

Even while fighting the Zone 1 members, Seo Kangrim was brilliantly fending off the attacks from the flames and the shadow.

The Zone 1 members barely held back the urge to pass out.

‘Damn it, Seo Kangrim! How is he moving so freely in these flames? Even I, with a fire attribute, am struggling against this heat……!’

Those with fire as their Five Elements attribute could at least endure the heat, but they were still taking damage as time passed.

But Seo Kangrim didn’t only have the fire attribute.

He possessed both fire and water attributes, which allowed him to withstand the flames.

Seo Kangrim quickly assessed his opponents’ conditions.

‘I need to finish this quickly. Only a few hours remain before the Saw Bone Belt activates.’

Two remained.

Once he dealt with them, everything would be over.

The moment Seo Kangrim was about to finish off the remaining enemies.

-Duung, duung…….

The sound of a drum echoed.

At that sound, everyone’s movements stopped.

“What—what’s that. Don’t tell me……?”

Someone stared at the Garden with a face full of fear.

Amidst the blazing Garden, a dark mass was surging into existence.

Like a life being born from fire.

“Damn it, what now?! Seo Kangrim alone was already too much……!”

-Kwang!

Before the words could finish, the shadow raised a sword and charged at the Zone 1 members.

The moment the swords clashed, a shockwave tore through the air in all directions.

The shockwave crushed the flames, and all the Zone 1 members were thrown to the floor.

Dokgo Jun braced against the shockwave, his eyes flashing.

“It was just getting fun, and a party crasher shows up!”

His eyes blazing with madness, he charged at the newly appeared shadow.

And the moment he was about to activate ‘Corrosion’—

“Huh? You’re……!”

-Chwaak!

As he hesitated upon seeing something, the shadow slashed deeply across Dokgo Jun.

An invisible, lightning-fast strike.

Dokgo Jun was sent flying by the sword pressure and slammed into the wall.

Seeing Dokgo Jun vomit blood in agony, Seo Kangrim was taken aback.

‘Dokgo Jun was taken down in a single strike?’

This was Dokgo Jun, of all people.

In terms of strength, he was one of the top three hunters in Zone 2.

Whose shadow could possibly take down Dokgo Jun in a single blow?

-Gi, gigik…….

After felling Dokgo Jun, the shadow slowly turned its head to look at Seo Kangrim.

The moment their eyes met, goosebumps erupted across Seo Kangrim’s entire body.

A visceral revulsion that made his innards twist.

Red lines.

Red lines were drawn across the shadow’s neck and both limbs.

It was unmistakably his own shadow.

-Ga, gagak…….

The shadow emitted a bizarre sound as it approached Seo Kangrim.

No hostility could be sensed, but something far more unpleasant emanated from it.

It was craving Seo Kangrim.

‘It’s trying to absorb me — its original……!’