"STAND BACK!"
Hunter Jung-Il's shout cracked through the restaurant. Chairs scraped. Plates clattered. The civilians scrambled toward the far corner, pressing against the walls.
Dan Min-Jun darted forward, shoving a few people under the nearest tables. "Hide— now!" he barked, placing himself between them and the door, his trembling hands still raised as if his arms alone could stop the beast.
A tug at TaeWon's shirt snapped him back. Mrs. Jang, shaking but determined, dragged him under the same table with her. She didn't even know his name properly, yet here she was, shielding him as if he were her own son.
When he looked up, he saw Min-Jun again—knees shaking, lips pale, yet still holding his arms protectively over the table's edge.
For a heartbeat, TaeWon froze.
His luck had always been legendarily bad.
And yet, somehow, he always met people like this, people who'd throw themselves in harm's way for someone else.
Sometimes he thought it was the cruelest kind of fortune.
Because it made him wish, just for once, he'd meet someone selfish enough to let him be a coward in peace.
"Hunter Jung!" Min-Jun shouted over the ringing in their ears. "Is the shield strong enough to hold?"
"I don't know!" Jung-Il yelled back, his voice strained. "That hare— it's A-rank at least! The barrier might just held up—"
He didn't finish. Min-Jun's eyes went wide, cutting his words without a chance. "Wait... what is that?"
Jung-Il followed his gaze— and the color drained from his face.
Not only had just one hare appeared but more, from the distance, Jung-Il could immediately tell there was already fifteen of them walking toward the restaurant.
"Hunter Jung!"
Jung-Il clenched his jaw, eyes shut tight for half a second before snapping them open again. Determination replaced the fear that had been there moments ago.
"Min-Jun, stay behind me."
"What are you planning?!" Min-Jun shouted, his voice breaking. "No! That's suicide!"
"There are fifteen—fifteen A-ranked Hares!" Jung-Il's voice trembled but didn't waver. "One, maybe two, we could handle—but fifteen? If the shield breaks, we're done for!"
No. It won't break.
TaeWon wanted to say it out loud. The words clawed at his throat, desperate to escape.
But how could he? To them, he was still just the quiet deliveryman—the civilian who'd happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he suddenly claimed the shield would hold, they'd think he'd gone delirious from fear. Or worse, that he was pretending to know what he didn't.
And so he stayed silent.
His nails dug into his palms. His heart pounded. He could feel the shield's pulse in the air, the invisible barrier he'd instinctively raised humming like a heartbeat against the force of the monsters outside. It would hold—he knew it would—but only for so long.
Jung-Il took a step forward, pulling the sword from his back. Its faint glow was nothing compared to the searing purple light flickering through the sky beyond the window.
He's going to fight them, TaeWon realized. He's really going to try.
A C-rank trying to face fifteen A-ranks alone.
He wasn't equipped. He wasn't ready."Those hares came here because of our numbers. They can sense a crowd of humans. If I draw them away, they'll follow me. I don't need to fight. just distract them."
"But—"
"I can outrun them," Jung insisted.
The other hunters exchanged uneasy glances. They all knew it wasn't true.
A-ranked hares were infamous, not for their size, but for their speed. Among all known monsters, they were the fastest on land. Outrunning one was a gamble. Outrunning fifteen was suicide.
"Then I'll come with you."
"You will not!" Jung snapped. "Just give me your potions."
"That's not enough! If we split up, I can draw some of them off while you lead the rest away!"
"Then who will protect the civilians? Who'll guard the restaurant?"
Min-Jun faltered, lips trembling. "But— I can't just watch you go alone. If you're going, then I'll— I'll go first!"
"I'm the veteran here. You stay. That's an order."
Silence fell. Only the faint, sickening thud-thud of the hares ramming the barrier filled the air.
Lee TaeWon pressed a trembling hand to his temple. The headache pulsed behind his eyes. He almost wanted to punch himself, to blow out his own brain before it could make the decision he dreaded most. His breath came shallow, his lungs tight, until he realized he hadn't breathed properly in over ten minutes.
He looked up at them—Jung with his jaw set, Min-Jun with his eyes burning. Something in his chest twisted painfully.
Two hunters. Both ready to die.
Knowing they were walking straight toward certain death and yet still insist on going.
And Lee TaeWon... couldn't handle it anymore.
He pushed to his feet so abruptly that Mrs. Jung, who had been muttering prayers, flinched mid-syllable. A few others glanced up from their phones where they were hurriedly typing their wills, confusion jumping in their eyes.
While Min-Jun and Jung-Il were still locked in argument, Lee TaeWon walked past them, making his way towards the door which they only noticed by the time his hand had hovered on the metal door knob.
"Hey— what are you doing, delivery boy?" Jung-Il noticed first.
"Sir, don't open the door! Don't!" Min-Jun shouted.
"I—" Lee TaeWon shut his eyes, breath trembling, "I just need some air."
"What?! Are you insane—"
The rest of Jung's words were cut off as TaeWon stepped through the door and shut it behind him.
Silence followed.
Then came the low growls, the wide round mouth with full set of jagged teeth. The fifteen A-ranked hares turned toward him, their crimson eyes snapping all at once toward him, gleaming with animal hunger.
TaeWon stared back. Then, without a second thought, he ran.
Without using a skill, without activating any single blessing, just his legs.
With just his leg, he ran.
In the next instant, the world blurred. His body shot forward, the dust puffed up into a cloud behind the path that he had left.
The hares were stunned silly by the scene and the onlookers inside the restaurant froze, eyes wide as they had all seen what happened from the glass door.
"...Did—did anyone else see that?"
Lee TaeWon, the quiet delivery man, had just moved faster than a sports car, fast enough to even surprised the monster Hares.
"Was he in the national championship?"
"I don't know but his delivery is always known to arrive the fastest. He was even asked to appear in TV shows but he refused all of it."
Hunter Jung-Il stared frozen at the Hares that began to ran after Lee TaeWon, thinking he was an easier prey than the ones protected by the shield and for once he questioned if it was truly normal for a human to run in such speed.
But he didn't see anything, not even a single warning that a skill have been activated which made him to truly question whether Lee TaeWon was a human or a Hunter.
"We should chase after him," Jung-Il said, finally snapping to his realization as he walked toward the door, reaching out his hand only to frown. For some reason the door cannot be opened and no matter how hard he pulled, it remained tightly shut.
Dan Min-Jun who saw this slowly pulled out his phone as a text had entered:
[Has Candidate 0 moved?]
Moving his finger, the young man with bright red hair typed back.
[He just moved, sir]
******
Whenever Lee TaeWon closed his eyes, he could remember the scene of blood sprawled around him like it was just yesterday.
The wailing from people, the screams of hunters, the figure of a person straddling on top of him, hands clutched around his neck with tears spilling from his eyes as he begged over and over again to his ears 'Forgive me TaeWon. I want to survive too.'
Once he opened his eyes again, he was back to looking back at the purple sky, followed by the screeching noise from the one-eyed monster hares that had followed him. They began to drool from their mouths as they wondered when Lee TaeWon would finally stop running but it wasn't that he was tired.
He was just... scared.
Back to his place where he wasn't supposed to be, all his nerves were in a jumble.
For nine long years, he had convinced himself he'd perfected the art of retirement.
He lived quietly, keeping to the corners of the world where no one asked questions, where no one knew his name. Solitude had long ago become both punishment and refuge. And he had endured it, gladly, if it meant never stepping foot into that domain again.
But the domain never forgot him. It was always lingering around the corner, just waiting for him to enter.
Now, standing before a crumbling tower, Lee TaeWon found himself cornered. Behind him, fifteen white hares thundered closer, their single red eyes glowing through the dust.
They were still a few miles away. Five minutes to reach him, at most.
Five minutes to decide.
'Should I just kill it?'
If he did, he would live. The people in the restaurant would live and everyone would be save and sound.
But the moment he fought—truly fought—there would be questions. Those people wouldn't keep their mouth quiet and would tell everyone that he had been the one to kill these A-rank monsters.
And in no time at all, the name he'd buried would claw its way back into the light.
He couldn't sacrifice innocent lives. But he also couldn't give up the quiet peace he'd bled nine years to protect.
So what then? Run? Hide until the S-rank hunters arrived?
Pretend he was never here?
Before his answer could came, a hare had appeared right in front of him.
The hare's large size shielded the purple sky. Its mouth split open, filled with the jagged teeth that glistened with drool.
Lee TaeWon moved on instinct.
His fist shot upward, like a person who had absentmindedly swat his hand when he saw a bee.
The creature never even screamed. One moment it lunged and the next second, it was a blur crashing into the distant rubble, reduced to a grotesque heap of blood and fur.
Silence followed.
And in that silence, TaeWon's pulse rang in his ears.
Nine years of restraint— undone in a single punch...
[Apostles of Death rejoice that you have not lost your power]
[Guardians of Justice laments that your penalties are still activated]
[Arrows of Thorns believes that you will still win despite the penalties]
[Guardian of Justice insists that they have never once distrusted your ability]
"Please for the sake of god, be quiet," Lee TaeWon could almost feel tears dripping from the side of his eyes as the screen popped into his face numerous time. Ever since the past, these people behind the system would always speak, comment, or even narrate. He used to enjoy the company but right now their conversation only triggers his trauma.
He then looked at the hares and lamented how he had once again killed a monster in the domain. The punch was clean, it's as if the hate had just been shit by a canon.
What could he do now? If someone finds him here with the hare, they'll know he had done something!
In a hurry, Lee TaeWon turned around and he sped up to the Southern path.
Not his business if he can outrun his mistakes!