Chapter 72: [STRANGE]

’Now what is HE doing here?’ Eli’s eyes flew wide, the steady rhythm of the heart monitor betraying him again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Caelen stepped through the doorway, bandages wrapping across his arms and shoulders, faint molten cracks still glowing faintly beneath the gauze.

Even in his battered state, he carried himself like the world was his stage.

A smirk curved his lips, sharp and practiced, but his gaze flicked between Eli and Kairo like a predator scenting blood.

“I was going to get discharged today,” Caelen drawled, his voice low and deliberate, “and decided to pay Elione a visit. Then I ran into the lovely Mrs. Elois Ahn in the hall. She told me Kairo was here.”

His smirk thinned into something more dangerous, his eyes narrowing at the man across from him. “…Imagine my surprise to hear you talking about me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” Kairo’s reply came sharp, clipped, his crimson gaze never leaving Eli’s. He didn’t so much as glance at Caelen, as if dismissing his very presence. “I simply thought Elione should be aware you discredited him.”

Caelen chuckled—a short, amused sound that didn’t reach his eyes.

He crossed the room with slow, measured steps, each one carrying the weight of someone used to owning whatever space he entered.

Eli tracked his every movement, chest tightening with each pulse of the monitor.

Then Caelen dropped into the chair on the opposite side of Eli’s bed. Their positions formed a triangle: Kairo to the left, Caelen to the right, Eli trapped helplessly in the center.

Now they were face-to-face.

The air grew heavier, charged, like storm clouds rolling in just above the sterile hospital lights. Kairo finally turned his gaze, crimson locking onto molten gold. Neither man blinked. Neither man backed down.

Eli swallowed hard, frozen in place between them.

’What the hell… is happening right now?’ His mind screamed, his eyes darting back and forth between the two strongest S-Class Hunters in Korenea. ’Why are they both here—why at the same time?!’

And yet… the system was silent.

Silent when he needed it most.

’Of all moments, now it decides to vanish? This—this is literally a the best time to give a task! The two people I’m supposed to seduce are right here… together… glaring at each other like they’re about to fight… with ME in the middle!’

The monitor spiked.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kairo leaned back in his chair, arms folded, his gaze never once breaking from Caelen’s.Caelen leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on his knees, his smirk tugging wider, daring.

Eli’s chest tightened like a vice.

The predator and the rival.

Both staring through each other.

Both acting like he wasn’t even in the room—except he was the very reason they were here.

And Eli couldn’t decide if this was worse than fighting the statue priest.

Caelen’s molten eyes slid from Kairo to Eli, lingering with deliberate weight. The shift made Eli flinch, a cold tremor running down his spine.

His danger detection hadn’t activated—yet somehow, his instincts screamed otherwise.

’Why… why does his gaze feel dangerous even without my ability warning me?’

And then—

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Caelen asked smoothly, his tone casual but laced with something that made Eli’s chest seize.

Eli’s eyes widened. ’He’s still calling me that?! Here?! In front of Kairo?!’

From the corner of his vision, he caught Kairo’s eyebrow twitch upward—barely noticeable, but sharp enough to slice the already heavy atmosphere.

The heart monitor betrayed him instantly.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

His pulse spiked, each beat echoing in the silence like a countdown to disaster. His face burned with embarrassment, and no matter how he tried, his body refused to calm down.

“He can’t speak,” Kairo interjected flatly, his voice cutting across the room. But Caelen didn’t so much as flick an eye in his direction.

Instead, the Lion’s Fang captain leaned closer, his smirk softening just enough to look almost tender. “Are you feeling much better now? You were unconscious for a full day.”

Eli swallowed hard, forcing himself to nod despite the pounding in his chest. The monitor’s rhythm refused to steady, the sound like thunder in the quiet room.

The tension was unbearable enough—but Caelen calling him sweetheart only poured fuel into the fire.

“That’s good.” Caelen leaned back slightly, though his eyes never left Eli. “I came here to inform you about updates on the dungeon.” He tilted his head, molten cracks faintly glowing under the bandages along his neck. “The A-Class dungeon we entered had somehow… turned into an S-Class dungeon.”

Eli blinked, relief flooding him like a sudden downpour. ’Oh… so they know. That’s… a relief.’

But Caelen’s gaze narrowed the moment Eli nodded, a flicker of suspicion curling behind his smirk.

’What? Why is he looking at me like that?’

“The moment you passed out,” Caelen continued, his voice steady, “I managed to use Golden Aurora Drive on the priest. It shattered under the attack. When it did, the exit gate appeared.”

Eli froze.

’The gate… appeared? By itself?’

Normally, hunters had to return to the original rift point to escape. For a gate to manifest automatically upon a boss’s defeat…

That wasn’t just rare. That was impossible.

“Judging by your expression, you know that is strange, yes?” Caelen said, sharp eyes glinting with amusement. Then his smirk faded, the weight of his words heavy. “But it wasn’t even the strangest part. There were no resources. Nothing could be taken from that dungeon. Just endless stone walls and debris.”

Eli’s eyes widened further, his thoughts racing. ’An S-Class dungeon with… no resources? Nothing? That’s unheard of.’’

Even E-Class dungeons had little resources to take.

“Our guild master is furious,” Caelen went on, his tone shifting into something more serious, “but Midas Ryu himself said this phenomenon may be tied to the tears. Investigators from the Association are already moving in.”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Eli clenched the blanket tighter against his legs. ’So the Hunter’s Association is directly involved… Then this isn’t just unusual—it’s dangerous. If even Midas himself is paying attention… things are worse than I thought.’

Eli’s gaze lingered on Caelen, his lips parting ever so slightly. He wanted to ask—he needed to ask.

’If it’s tied to the tears, then fine—but how does a dungeon just… change classifications? From A-Class to S-Class, instantly? That doesn’t make sense. There has to be an explanation. There has to be…’

But before he could even muster the strength to try, another voice cut through, low and precise—razor-sharp.

“Aren’t you going to explain to him why you discredited him?”

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