Is this what they mean by never a dull moment?

“What are you doing!”

“Lower your sword!”

Clang! Clang!

Other hunters still remaining in the tent reacted by taking combat stances. A strange sense of déjà vu came over him. This composition seemed familiar, like he had seen it before.

Some of the sharp ends of the Ruyi Sword floating in the air shifted focus to two hunters pointing weapons this way. They were representatives from Estonia and Latvia respectively.

Looking closely, the hunter surrounded by hundreds of divided Ruyi Swords was from Lithuania. They say hunters from Baltic coastal countries have strong bonds with each other.

“What are you doing right now?”

“What’s this sudden…”

Kwon Se-jeong, who had just entered after the meeting ended, and Koo Myung-ho, who was briefly exchanging opinions with another hunter, showed bewilderment at Choi Gang-hu’s sudden action they couldn’t understand.

“Mr. Choi.”

Choi Gang-hu, who had been manipulating only the swords without moving, finally shifted his black eyes after hearing Ryu Seo-ha call his name.

“He attacked first.”

His brief response was colder than the desert night air. Since he wouldn’t speak nonsense, Ryu Seo-ha’s gaze shifted to the Lithuanian hunter.

“That’s absurd!”

“Didn’t you try to snatch Ryu Seo-ha using a spatial skill to approach?”

“I was just trying to grab the map!”

The Lithuanian hunter, unable to move, vehemently protested and nodded towards the table next to Ryu Seo-ha. Specifically, the dungeon map drawn by search-type hunters.

“A suspicious excuse. The direction of the set movement coordinates was the opposite.”

“How can you be sure of that? You’re not even a spatial type like us.”

“My point exactly. You’re the suspicious one. Even with blind processing, your series and skills are too different from what’s known.”

In addition to the Estonian hunter’s point, the Latvian hunter raised further doubts. As commotion arose, hunters who had gone outside peeked in to check the situation.

It was reminiscent of the hunter practical exam. Even though he had committed a seemingly very random and unreasonable action, Choi Gang-hu had ultimately been right.

But whether it was a truth game or whatever, the atmosphere now seemed like nothing would get through. While pondering how to persuade people, he suddenly wondered if there was a need to persuade them.

“I felt a hand touch my waist too.”

“When did I ever!”

As he calmly told a lie to support Choi Gang-hu’s position, the Lithuanian hunter rebutted with an aggrieved expression. 

Though his small conscience throbbed at giving false testimony, he decided to be bold and trust Choi Gang-hu’s claim and abilities.

“Is that true?”

Kwon Se-jeong asked back with a seriously hardened expression. As a victim of a past kidnapping incident, from Korea’s standpoint, they had no choice but to be sensitive about protecting the S-rank healer.

Choi Gang-hu also turned to look at him with an expression trying to hide his surprise. His eyes trembled slightly, as if he never thought he would go so far as to lie to defend him.

“He probably touched me by accident.”

This time, as he spoke in defense of the Lithuanian hunter, everyone seemed confused.

“If it wasn’t that and he had a different purpose, he’ll try something again.”

He added nonchalantly while gazing at Choi Gang-hu with eyes full of trust. As if saying, “You can protect me perfectly no matter what tricks anyone tries, right?”

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, why don’t we let it slide for now? We have a common goal after all.”

Combat was scheduled to begin as soon as darkness lifted. In such a situation, they couldn’t allow allies to be divided.

“Tsk.”

Though Choi Gang-hu clicked his tongue softly, he obediently withdrew the Ruyi Sword. It was worth mediating only after siding with him even to the point of lying.

“You okay?”

“Ah, well.”

The Lithuanian hunter also seemed to brush it off unexpectedly lightly. He had worried what if he rushed in demanding to settle right and wrong.

Thanks to Choi Gang-hu’s exquisite control while handling hundreds of swords, no one was hurt. The spectators dispersed again, disappointed by the anticlimactic ending.

“Are you sure it’s okay to let this go like this?”

After vaguely passing over the confrontation like that, Kwon Se-jeong asked again with concern in her eyes. Her attitude suggested she would step in at the association level if he wanted.

“Pressing without any evidence will only backfire.”

If the association or government steps in and makes it an international issue, it would be awkward for this side too. While Ryu Seo-ha fully trusts Choi Gang-hu, proving his abilities is another matter.

“But if he tries something again…”

“Mr. Choi is always by my side.”

Smiling as if introducing a reliable insurance, he lightly tapped Choi Gang-hu’s arm, and Kwon Se-jeong’s expression became subtle.

“…Yes.”

She even trailed off with a slightly disgruntled face unlike her usual self. Had something happened between the two of them without him knowing?

Perhaps there was a conflict of opinion over Director Hwang Munseok’s rescue operation? In the end, it was decided that Ryu Seo-ha would only help indirectly.

“More importantly, this.”

After confirming that Koo Myung-ho left first to relay news to his team members, she took out ‘Moonlight Silver Thread’ from her space expansion pouch.

“…What.”

As she quietly held out the item, Kwon Se-jeong, startled, could be seen glancing at Choi Gang-hu standing opposite. Why is she so flustered…

“A ring?”

Suddenly, the air touching his skin felt completely different. A coldness incomparable to the chilly night wind of the desert.

Looking up at Choi Gang-hu, his expressionless face, cold and stiff like a wax figure, made his gaze freeze.

It was an appearance reminiscent of a solid ice castle. If absolute zero were personified, it would probably look just like this.

“…I thought it might help with the terrorist elimination operation and tomorrow’s rescue operation.”

“So you’re just ‘lending’ it for a while.”

As he managed to calmly state his business, Kwon Se-jeong quickly picked up on his words. Emphasizing that it wasn’t a gift. Originally, he had intended to just give it.

“Yes. Use it well and be sure to return it.”

Handing over the ring carefully to avoid even accidentally touching fingers, Kwon Se-jeong received it equally carefully and swallowed dryly.

Moonlight Silver Thread (D+)

A rare growth-type pure item with no reuse cooldown or equip restrictions. Depending on perspective, it was a valuable item difficult to price. If only a method to readjust its grade could be found.

“Of course, I will.”

However, the immediate sense of crisis seemed greater than human material greed.

“It doesn’t have any special skills, but I think it will be very helpful for the operation as it can produce threads infinitely.”

“Yes, it seemed like an item good for telekinesis types to utilize.”

A few more highly artificial lines were exchanged. Around when the frost-inducing cold in the tent could be felt slowly dissipating on the skin.

“Mr. Ryu Seo-ha, let’s go out now.”

Choi Gang-hu, who had been silently watching their conversation, held out his hand. As he nodded obediently and overlapped hands, Choi interlocked fingers with stronger force than usual.

Without time to exchange greetings, he was led out of the tent by the large hand. Just as the cold wind imbued with the smell of sand was about to scratch his face, Choi Gang-hu gently pinned something resembling a tie clip to his shirt collar.

It was an item engraved with wind attribute resistance and basic barrier skills. He could feel the sharp wind passing by him coolly. As if coated about 5mm above his skin.

“Shall we take a brief walk before going in?”

Choi Gang-hu asked softly. Turning his body in a completely different direction from the group quarters with only blankets spread on the floor. Emotions were hard to read on his handsome face backlit by the bright white moonlight.

“Yes, that sounds nice.”

The immediate affirmative response seemed to please him, as the interlocked hands loosened somewhat. He gently caressed Ryu Seo-ha’s finger joints. The crunching sound of treading on sand grains drifted through the night air.

Leaving the huge temporary campsite, the stars in the sky became even clearer. Would regular dungeons also contain such an abundance of stars about to pour down? If nothing else, this one thing is really appealing.

“Do you often do that?”

While absentmindedly walking and looking up at the black curtain containing a different world of stars, Choi Gang-hu lightly asked in a tone that felt indifferent. Even turning his head, there was no returning gaze.

“Do what?”

“That behavior just now.”

He couldn’t immediately judge whether it meant getting distracted while walking together, or referred to the behavior shown in the tent earlier.

“I was wondering if it’s your hobby to give gifts to just anyone.”

As he stalled for time by unnecessarily adjusting his grip, a low voice continued. Though the tone was cool to the point of being indifferent and dispassionate, he almost burst out laughing the moment he heard it.

“The item you gave to Kwon Se-jeong…”

“So it really wasn’t just lent briefly, but given as a gift.”

It was a leading question. Though he had fallen for it spectacularly, the expression that had quickly turned cold wasn’t scary.

“Were you upset?”

“…”

Rather, it looked so cute that he was bewildered. Had some psychic monster possessed his eyes or something?

“I thought that item would be more efficient if Kwon Se-jeong used it.”

“Then did you give me this sword considering efficiency too?”

Choi Gang-hu asked back while lightly touching the Ruyi Sword hanging at his waist. Laughter flowed out again at the sight of him flaunting the sword. Usually, he kept it in [subspace] for portability and the suddenness and unexpectedness of drawing it. What a way to express jealousy.

“Of course I didn’t not consider the calculations.”

“…”

“But there was a much bigger reason.”

“What other reason?”

When he answered in a gentle tone as if soothing a sulking child, moonlight finally poured down on the man’s face as he met his eyes again.

“My heart told me to.”

It was a wonderful sight.