Just moments ago, when Gongju had made me a similar offer, I had refused without hesitation.

But now, the words wouldn’t come so easily.

Restoring a severed limb was beyond the realm of conventional healing.

In a few years, Manshin capable of such feats would emerge—but at this point in time, none existed.

Nor could I procure an item with that capability right now.

“If you join us, Mr. Kangrim, we can fix it immediately.”

I knew better than anyone that Seomun Yongnyeo’s offer was no empty promise.

The Fate Protection Bureau could reattach a severed arm with ease.

I, too, knew how to restore Shin Sooa’s arm—but it would take time.

I glared at her and opened my mouth.

“……What’s the minimum contract period?”

“One year? I’d love it if you stayed longer, though.”

Living as the Bureau’s dog for a year in exchange for restoring Shin Sooa’s arm—it wasn’t a bad deal.

It would mean some hardship, but there would be ways to slip out midway.

I turned to Seomun Yongnyeo and asked.

“Do I have to join immediately?”

“Normally, yes. But since it’s you, Mr. Kangrim, I’ll graciously give you a few months’ grace period. Provided you give me a definitive answer right now.”

So she had no intention of giving me time to think it over.

If it had been my own arm, I would have refused the offer without a second thought.

Just as I was hesitating, a voice rang out.

“I’ll be declining that offer.”

It hadn’t come from my lips.

The hospital room door had opened at some point, and Shin Sooa was making her way out on unsteady legs.

Her face twisted in a scowl as she spoke.

“Seo Kangrim isn’t joining the Bureau.”

“Oh my, Ms. Sooa. Are you sure you should be up? Moving suddenly is dangerous.”

Seomun Yongnyeo approached and supported her, looking genuinely concerned for Shin Sooa’s well-being.

Shin Sooa silently glared at Seomun Yongnyeo.

“What exactly are you thinking? Telling him to join as payment for my arm. You’re not even making the offer to me.”

“Then would you like to join, Ms. Sooa? We’d welcome you with open arms as well.”

Seomun Yongnyeo appeared to have a sincere fondness for Shin Sooa.

Given that Shin Sooa was a considerably powerful hunter, it made sense that Seomun Yongnyeo would want to recruit her.

But Shin Sooa roughly pushed Seomun Yongnyeo away.

“No. I’m not joining either.”

“What a shame. It would have been wonderful if you both joined our team.”

Disappointment settled over Seomun Yongnyeo’s face.

But she quickly composed herself, drew business cards from her coat, and handed one each to me and Shin Sooa.

“Contact me whenever you change your minds. I guarantee double the salary compared to Team 2, and far better treatment.”

That made two business cards I’d received now.

I had no intention of joining the Bureau, but if I could make use of them, there was no harm in keeping the connection.

As Seomun Yongnyeo brushed past me, she whispered softly.

“We’ll meet again soon, Mr. Kangrim.”

Seomun Yongnyeo departed without leaving so much as a footstep behind.

Instead, the cloying scent of the bouquet she’d left behind lingered in the air.

I hurled it into the trash.

“Were you actually considering joining the Bureau?”

Shin Sooa glared at me as she asked.

Standing upright, her missing arm was far more conspicuous than when she’d been lying in bed.

The empty sleeve hung quietly, swaying with her movements.

“I thought about it, since it didn’t seem like a bad deal.”

“If you’re thinking of joining because of my arm, drop that thought right now. This is my responsibility, not yours.”

“Even if it weren’t your arm, I was already considering—”

“Mr. Kangrim.”

Shin Sooa’s voice had gone cold and still.

She looked me dead in the eye and spoke.

“You’re a terrible liar. It’s written all over your face, so stop.”

Her reaction stirred something irritating in me.

She’d lost an arm because of me—so why was she telling me not to join?

The words burst out before I could stop them.

“Why did you sacrifice your arm for me?”

I glared at Shin Sooa.

She seemed caught slightly off guard.

“Well, you looked like you were in danger at the time…….”

“Whether I looked like I was in danger or not, why you? What are we to each other? Why would you sacrifice yourself for someone you’ve only known for a few months?”

I couldn’t understand it.

Why she would sacrifice an arm for me.

Why she was stopping me from joining the Fate Protection Bureau.

Why, in the future, she would die for me.

“Why, exactly?”

My voice had grown rough without my noticing.

Shin Sooa stiffened slightly and averted her gaze.

Only after a long silence did words finally slip from her lips.

“……I’m not really sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

“You just… worry me.”

Even she didn’t seem convinced by her own words.

Shin Sooa fidgeted with the space where her arm used to be and spoke.

“At first, it was because you helped me, and because you kept suffering through everything alone. That bothered me.”

“…….”

“I also feel guilty because you ended up in danger because of me. But honestly, that alone doesn’t fully explain it either. I know it sounds strange, but…….”

She paused for a moment.

It looked like she was struggling to find the right words.

After a brief silence, her soft, measured voice came through.

“Somehow, I feel like I’ve known you for a very long time, Mr. Seo Kangrim.”

“…….”

“When I saw you in danger, my body just moved on its own.”

Shin Sooa smiled awkwardly after saying that.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? We’ve really only known each other for a few months.”

Anyone else would have thought it strange, but I couldn’t see it that way now.

After all, she and I had indeed known each other for a very long time.

Was she also under the influence of regression?

Perhaps the memories of her past life lingered somewhere in her subconscious.

Shin Sooa spoke hesitantly.

“I…… I’d like us to be colleagues. Even after we leave the Education Facility, I’d want us to keep working together…….”

Shin Sooa’s voice was small and cautious.

She let her words trail off, then asked me with visible difficulty.

“Could we keep in touch and stay friends?”

In my past life, Shin Sooa had made the exact same proposal after leaving the Education Facility.

That she wanted us to work together.

Back then, I had accepted.

To kill Shin Sooa, and steal her fortune.

“……I.”

But now was different from then.

I wanted to save Shin Sooa, to protect her fate.

But I didn’t know how. I couldn’t tell which path was the right one for the Flying Tiger Sect.

If she stayed with me, she might be killed by Baekyoung, just like my parents had been.

Yet the future the Guide of Destiny had shown me weighed heavily on my mind.

If Shin Sooa died somewhere I wasn’t, at a time I didn’t know about…….

I didn’t want that.

I didn’t want to find out too late, oblivious to everything.

I was done with regrets.

“……All right.”

My answer made Shin Sooa’s eyes go wide with surprise.

Her face brightened as she spoke.

“We’re friends, then?”

“……Sure.”

Hearing my answer, Shin Sooa beamed.

It was a giddy display, quite unlike her usual composed demeanor.

“I heard while I was hospitalized that hunters who get along sometimes form factions together. Would you want to form one with us?”

“If I feel like it.”

It was a somewhat curt answer, but Shin Sooa smiled faintly upon hearing it.

“At least you’re not turning me down flat?”

“It’s ‘if I feel like it.’ I might refuse if I change my mind.”

“Even if you refuse, I’ll keep asking.”

Hearing that, I felt the tension in me ease for some reason.

She hadn’t changed one bit from my past life.

Even when I’d declared I was leaving the faction, she had refused me several times.

Yoo Harang had teased me about it on more than one occasion because of that.

[Seo Kangrim requested withdrawal citing insufficient ability, but Shin Sooa did not approve.]

[…….]

[Seo Kangrim attempted to withdraw due to health issues, but Shin Sooa did not approve.]

[Seo Kangrim requested withdrawal citing self-improvement, but Shin Sooa did not approve.]

[Be quiet.]

That was the Shin Sooa who, whenever I submitted a withdrawal request and tried to hide, would track me down by any means necessary and drag me back.

I still couldn’t understand what possessed her to go that far.

“Brother Seo Kangrim!”

Just then, a familiar voice called out from down the corridor.

Father Yohan spotted me and came hurrying over, flustered.

He grabbed my hand tightly, his eyes brimming with tears.

“I heard that Brother Seo Kangrim had awakened, so I came to see for myself—and you really are awake…!”

“Father, it’s been a while.”

The atmosphere had been growing awkward, so Father Yohan’s arrival was a welcome relief.

Father Yohan continued, his face still overflowing with emotion.

“Thank goodness you’re awake! I was so, so worried…. Ah, the others will want to see you too!”

At those words, Shin Sooa’s expression shifted to one of sudden realization.

“Ah, you’re right. Everyone must be waiting….”

Saying that, Shin Sooa tried to clap lightly, but realizing it was impossible, she awkwardly let her arm drop.

……I need to restore it as quickly as possible.

“Go on ahead. I’ll just change clothes and follow right behind. Father, could you guide me to the training room?”

“Y-yes, of course. I’ll see you shortly, then.”

Father Yohan beamed and led me onto the elevator.

The building appeared to be one under the Bureau’s jurisdiction.

The upper floors housed treatment facilities, while the lower levels contained amenities exclusively for hunters.

As the elevator descended, Father Yohan chattered away.

“Thank goodness. You have no idea how worried everyone was…! When you were carried out half-dead, and again when we heard about your Special Ability….”

Father Yohan, who had been chatting cheerfully, cut himself off abruptly.

Come to think of it, my Special Ability had been revealed to the others.

Father Yohan spoke, glancing at me nervously.

“Um, Brother. There’s something I need to tell you….”

“What is it?”

“When the others see you… they might be a bit, wary. It might be best to prepare yourself mentally….”

I simply gave a single nod.

I had a rough idea of what was going on.

The elevator descended, floor after floor, before coming to a stop on the second floor.

-Ttiring

As the doors opened with a chime, there were far more people than I expected.

Since I’d been unconscious for a week, I assumed everyone had already been directed elsewhere.

Dokgo Jun was nowhere to be seen among them.

Whether that shameless no-show was a blessing or a curse, I couldn’t tell.

Among the familiar and unfamiliar faces, I spotted a Zone 2 member I’d exchanged words with a few times, going pale with terror when he saw me.

“S-Seo Kangrim…?”

His voice was steeped in horror and fear.

The moment his lips formed my name, the atmosphere among the crowd shifted instantly.

It was as though a Demon Beast had appeared in their midst.

As everyone froze—unable to approach me, yet unable to leave—caught in a state of alert, someone stepped forward through the crowd.

“Thought you were dead. Guess you’re alive, huh?”

That was exactly what I wanted to say to him.

Seeing Choi Sangwon after so long, he looked quite different from his disheveled appearance in the Demon Realm—clean-cut and well-dressed.

He spoke with a look that suggested he was staring at a piece of trash.

“You murderous bastard. Who are you going to kill this time to steal their fortune?”

Choi Sangwon was glaring at me.

No—it wasn’t just Choi Sangwon. Everyone was glaring at me.

The people who had once greeted me warmly.

The people who had approached me asking to form a party.

They had been smiling then, but now everything was different.

Gazes laced with contempt and fear.

It was a look I had seen often in my past life.

Choi Sangwon kept his distance and spoke with venom.

“You’re the top training cadet? How many people did you kill and steal abilities from to earn that title?”

“…….”

“Now I understand why you kept following me around. You were targeting me! You were going to kill me and take my ability!”

Every word of it was wrong from start to finish.

I had never followed him around in the first place.

Nor had I any intention of killing him.

Choi Sangwon kept running his mouth the entire time.

“It’s outrageous that they’d let a criminal like him walk free! The Bureau should arrest him!”

At his words, people began to murmur one by one.

“Yeah, he’s clearly dangerous… Why is the Bureau just leaving him be?”

“Who knows what he might do.”

“W-We should report this to the Bureau!”

“Sisters, Brothers! Please calm down…!”

Father Yohan tried desperately to calm them down, but it was no use.

As people began to echo his sentiments, Choi Sangwon seemed to grow even more emboldened.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed through the crowd.

“Master!”

The ones who came running from inside were Yoon Bom, Yoon Gyeoul, and Jang Taeheon.

Just as Yoon Bom was about to rush toward me, Choi Sangwon seized her arm.

“Yoon Bom, what are you doing?”

“Let go of me.”

“That man is dangerous, you know that!”

“Let go of me.”

“Seo Kangrim is a murderer! You’ve been deceived. He’s been dragging you around, waiting for a chance to steal your abilit—”

-Kwang!

At that moment, Choi Sangwon’s body crashed to the floor with a thunderous noise.

The impact was so violent that the floor cracked beneath him.

“I said let go.”

“Kkeuk, keugh….”

“Never call my Master that again.”

She looked down at Choi Sangwon with icy eyes and spoke.

“Unless you want to die.”