Chapter 675 – What It Means to Protect (3) #PART1

“A friendly rival, huh.”

‘I wonder what Taemin thought about that.’
Judging by his reaction, he probably just felt hurt. Understandably so. It’s like… the feeling of a baby bird being thrown out of the nest. That must be how Taemin feels right now.

And so—
“What are you even talking about, hyung?”
—of course he’d react sharply like that.

Nam Cheolmin understood his brother’s reaction, but still worked his brain.
‘Maybe I’m just interpreting Mr. Hoyeol’s words the way I want to hear them.’
‘…But even if that’s true.’

Nam Cheolmin forced a smile.
“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m saying, let’s give it a proper shot.”
“Hyung, you better answer carefully.”
“Of course. I’m confident we can do well.”

Even if he’s my little brother… he can be terrifying at times.
‘Anyway, if it has anything to do with Mr. Ho-yeol.’

Swish.
Did his glasses slide down under the pressure of Taemin’s glare? Cheolmin pushed them back up and continued. First, he had to clear up the pointless misunderstanding.

“First of all, I think you’re misunderstanding something, so let me make this clear— I absolutely have no intention of stabbing Mr. Hoyeol in the back, okay?! It’s not like I’ve been possessed by a demon again or something.”
“Fair point.”

Only then did Nam Taemin ease the tension from his brow and shake out his hands.
“If it were that, I would’ve treated you with these hands myself.”
“…Treatment? Don’t you not have any skills for that?”
“If I beat you until your senses come back, that’s physical therapy.”
“Hmm. Okay, fair enough.”

Alright, Cheolmin. No more beating around the bush when you talk.
Resolving himself, he got straight to the point.

“Maybe Mr. Hoyeol has acknowledged us.”
“A… acknowledgment? Out of nowhere? For what?!”
“Why are you pretending not to know? You heard it yourself.”
“I did?”
“Yeah. ‘Friendly rivals.'”

That weird, abandoned kind of feeling. That subtle sense like a line had been drawn between them. Taemin had brushed off the words because he’d felt hurt.

“…Now that you mention it, he really did say that, huh?”

Wasn’t that a first?
“Even putting aside his usual way of speaking…”

Mr. Hoyeol had always taken the time to look out for the Holy War Alliance. Hadn’t he even helped us clear dungeons way below his level for the sake of our Great Alliance?

Nam Cheolmin nodded.
“It means we’ve finally been recognized as rivals.”
“…!”
“It means we’ve reached a level where we don’t need to be looked after anymore.”

Until now, traveling with Mr. Hoyeol? Honestly, it was like practicing how to walk while holding his hand.

It was always Hoyeol who took the lead when the Arcana continent started to erode, who charged into unmanageable rifts, and even in front of the Ten Thrones, he was always at the front.

Which is exactly why Taemin felt the weight of the words.
“…Is that so.”

Because it was Hoyeol who had ultimately pulled him into the anomaly realm.
He started to understand what Cheolmin was saying—but Taemin couldn’t quite hide his unrest.

“Yeah, I get that… but hyung, do you really think we can have a friendly rivalry with Mr. Hoyeol? I mean, more than anything, in the last battle I saw him…”

He had witnessed it. The resurrection of Park Hwigang. A power whose limits couldn’t even be estimated.

‘And Behemoth, too.’
Other players had been confused, but Taemin, watching closely near Hoyeol, had seen it—Behemoth revival at a mere gesture from him.

But—
“What happened in the last battle?”
Cheolmin asked again, but Taemin shook his head.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Hey, Nam Taemin. You know how annoying it is when someone stops mid-sentence, right? What was it?”
“No, seriously. It was nothing. I just… got distracted for a sec.”

Trailing off and avoiding eye contact—Cheolmin could tell he was hiding something. But he also knew his one and only stubborn brother well enough.

He shrugged and moved on.
“Well, it’s not the main issue. So what, you’re saying you’re not confident?”
“I’m not the only one, you know. That bastard Hisagi too…!”
“I get it. I understand how you feel.”

But that wasn’t the heart of what he wanted to say.

“Why do you think Mr. Hoyeol said what he did?”
“Because he wants to draw the line now.”
“That’s… hard to argue with.”

It wasn’t just the recent declaration of separation. Mr. Hoyeol had relinquished every title he held, including his position as Chief Mage of the Magic Tower, for reasons unknown.

Still, Cheolmin wasn’t discouraged.
“But what if this is for the best?”
“I know it’s the right call. Everything until now has been abnormal…”
“No, I mean—what if Mr. Hoyeol is finally deciding to act ‘seriously’ now?”
“Seriously…?”

Taemin paused, recalling how Hoyeol had always seemed after battles. Standing in the aftermath, he’d often wondered—

Had the Commander really gone all out?

He must not have. After all, even after battle, Hoyeol’s expression never wavered. In fights everyone feared, Hoyeol’s enemy was never the other side.

Cheolmin nodded as if that was the answer.
“Mr. Hoyeol’s only enemy has ever been himself.”

The point remained simple.

“From now on, Mr. Hoyeol is planning to go all out. He’s going to move at a pace we can’t follow. Will there even be anything left for us to do once he goes beyond that level?”

Taemin looked shocked.
“Then this whole ‘friendly rivalry’ thing…?”
“Yeah. It means now’s not the time to hesitate.”
“Hyung, I feel like I need to do something right now.”

He calculated in his head.
Competing with Hoyeol, who’s going all in, over a boss monster? No matter how he thought about it, there was no strategy that could win. Worse, were there even any unclaimed hunting grounds or rifts left?

He watched his brother frantically throwing on equipment.
‘Whatever it is, you hid something from me at the end there, didn’t you?’

So I’ll keep something to myself too, for a while.

Nam Cheolmin chuckled bitterly in his mind.
Mr. Hoyeol’s only enemy is Mr. Hoyeol himself.
That wasn’t just an idle comment.

‘You’re truly going hunting now, aren’t you, Mr. Hoyeol?’

The demon that had once possessed you…
If I had followed you into the last battlefield—
Would I have noticed the change in you?

Cheolmin wondered, just for a moment.

Ding.
“…!!”
The brothers checked their smartwatches simultaneously. It wasn’t Thursday.
Which could only mean—an emergency update.

Before even checking the details, Taemin ground his teeth.
“Behemoth’s maw revived, the demon world collapse was finally settled, right? And now, right after cleanup, another emergency update? Is this guy coordinating all this with Mr. Hoyeol or what?”
To Taemin’s comment, Cheolmin replied,
“Seems like he is…?”

His voice trembled with excitement.

──────
Emergency Update
A great achievement has been updated.
The ‘Zero Mountain Range’ has been cleared by someone!
──────