The hair was straighter and finer than average, without a single curl. The familiar length of the completely straight strands was quite recognizable. Of course, all human hair is somewhat similar, so it was hard to be absolutely certain.

“No way...”

Unconsciously raising her hand, Ryu Seoha brushed her thick hair and alternated between looking at her beloved's handsome face and the strand of hair he held. Her eyes trembled slightly.

“That... is that my hair?”

She asked directly, despite already knowing the answer. She smiled awkwardly, meeting Choi Kanghu’s steady gaze, who nodded without hesitation. His confidence was undeniable.

“When did you pull it out?”

“I don’t have a taste for mutilation.”

He replied as if it were absurd, furrowing his brow slightly when she asked if he had done it while she was asleep.

“Then, where...?”

“From the shower booth.”

Ryu Seoha was momentarily speechless at his response, which he delivered with a strange sense of pride. Whether Choi Kanghu had collected it himself or had Secretary Jang do it, it didn’t seem like a normal action.

“On average, people lose more than 60 strands of hair a day.”

“But...”

“I occasionally found some in the living room or bedroom.”

He spoke excitedly, as if recalling a treasure hunt he had never experienced before. Unsure of where to even begin to respond, Ryu Seoha’s lips barely moved.

“And how exactly are you using that hair to maintain sanctification?”

In the end, she gave up pointing out every little thing, and her voice carried a sigh as she asked. Choi Kanghu, who had been gently patting her slumped shoulders, let his hand slip down to softly brush her slender arm.

Then, his large hand, with pale fingers, carefully took the tip of the hair strand. Han Gangseok, who had been standing by, mouth agape, suddenly turned to gaze at the distant mountains.

“Can’t you feel anything?”

Ignoring the discomfort of his subordinate, Choi Kanghu asked the question casually. Ryu Seoha tried her best to focus her senses on the strand of hair.

“It should feel familiar.”

Even with the hint Choi Kanghu provided through his smile, she found it hard to detect anything unusual. Even after hearing his explanation about his mana, the sensation still eluded her.

“Oh.”

Only after consciously concentrating for quite a while did she finally notice it—a faint and subtle sensation was flowing gently from the hair.

“Do you feel it?”

Choi Kanghu, who had been holding her fingers all along, softly asked while lightly massaging her knuckles. Ryu Seoha nodded obediently.

“The mana... it’s vibrating.”

She could feel the peculiar nature of the mana within—pulsing and rotating on a stable orbit, almost like the mana circuits within her body that automatically circulated her magic. It remained fixed inside the hair without any need for additional force.

“Did you bore a circuit into my hair?”

“It took some effort to find a suitable path, given that it’s essentially dead cells.”

Finally, she understood what Choi Kanghu meant when he mentioned applying sanctification to Han Gangseok earlier. In theory, as long as the caster infused enough mana, it seemed possible to maintain certain skills or traits.

“But why go to such lengths...”

Her curiosity shifted in another direction. Choi Kanghu despised wasting energy, so he wouldn’t have done this without a reason. As she tried to guess the motive, Ryu Seoha’s lips froze mid-sentence.

She suddenly recalled the time she had escaped with only one day left to live, and another when she had been kidnapped after losing her memories. Despite not eating the location-tracking ice cream, her lover had miraculously found her both times.

“Could it be... you put something in here, too?”

Ryu Seoha asked, hesitantly touching the back of her head. Choi Kanghu gave a straightforward nod and lowered his lips softly onto her neat bangs.

“I realized the clue when you didn’t notice the mana I had placed in your shoes.”

He whispered the reason for his success in fooling her, referencing the time he had manipulated her boots during the IHL match to make her evade. His voice carried a hint of sweetness.

Ryu Seoha hadn’t been able to sense the magic in the item at all, likely because it was in close contact with her body, blending with her internal mana. It was probably due to the special neutralizing effect between them.

“My perception stat is low, so maybe it was easy to trick me. But how did you manage to find me from so far away?”

Ryu Seoha asked, her voice filled with curiosity. Choi Kanghu responded with a charming smile.

“When I periodically spread a frequency that matches the unique vibration of the mana I planted in your hair, the amplitude becomes much clearer.”

“Oh, resonance!”

Han Gangseok, who had been looking off into the distance, lit up with interest. He seemed genuinely impressed at the idea of using magical resonance for tracking.

“I learned a similar principle while studying to upgrade the classification of electromagnetic waves, but I never thought it could be used for searching...”

As she listened to Han Gangseok’s admiring explanation, Ryu Seoha thought of communication technology—how radio signals, though strong when they left the tower, weakened over long distances. Radio receivers amplify weak signals by tuning into the frequency of the broadcast they want to hear. It seemed Choi Kanghu had used a similar method to find her.

“That day... were you planning to search the entire country by helicopter?”

No matter how extraordinary his senses were, he couldn’t possibly detect the noise across the entire nation while sitting still. He must have broadened his search radius by flying.

“Well, I got lucky.”

Choi Kanghu smiled as he stroked her hair, mentioning how it was a good thing he checked the old restricted zone first. Ryu Seoha wondered if, during her kidnapping, he had intended to search the entire world. Even if he had a general idea of the church’s branch locations...

“Now that your curiosity is satisfied, shall we go inside?”

Choi Kanghu planted a light kiss on her head before wrapping one of Ryu Seoha’s strands of hair around Han Gangseok’s thumb with telekinesis.

“Handle it carefully and return it later.”

With a slight frown, Choi Kanghu firmly instructed as he tied a neat knot.

“Uh... excuse me?”

Han Gangseok was left speechless by the sudden command, but Choi Kanghu had already shifted his focus back to Ryu Seoha.

[The skill ‘Sanctification’ has been activated.]

Even without words, Ryu Seoha immediately understood his gaze and unfurled a translucent barrier with practiced ease. She then focused her mind on the magic circuits she had created inside her body.

Just as she had learned during the IHL period, she separated the fixed axis of the barrier and attempted to place it outside her body. While it sounded simple, the task required intense concentration.

“Oh?”

Han Gangseok’s eyes widened as he watched the translucent safe zone shift toward him, centered around his thumb where the strand of hair was wrapped. He marveled at the sight.

“Wow, such impressive mana control...”

The axis moved slowly but steadily, and Ryu Seoha’s brow furrowed. Unlike Han Gangseok’s praise, the outer axis felt unstable to her. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause due to her low perception stat, but she knew it wouldn’t last more than five or six hours. Fortunately, that would be enough time for now.

“I’m still inexperienced, so if you move too frequently, the barrier might break.”

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ryu Seoha admitted her limits. Han Gangseok chuckled, muttering about how too much humility could border on arrogance.

“You did very well.”

Choi Kanghu smiled softly and caressed her cheek, his praise making her beam. She placed her hand over his, both grateful and moved that he had patiently waited for her to finish, despite having the ability to intervene.

A kiss landed softly on her smiling eyes.

After pouring his mana into the strand of hair that held the axis of the sanctification, Choi Kanghu took Ryu Seoha’s hand and stepped through the gate. His steps were light, as though he were going on a pleasant outing.

“Wow...”

As soon as she entered the dungeon, Ryu Seoha couldn’t help but gasp. Realizing she had just made the kind of rookie mistake even novice hunters would avoid, she quickly pressed her lips shut, startled by her own carelessness.

How relaxed had she been? She silently reprimanded herself, yet couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scenery in front of her.

The first thing that caught her attention was the enormous waterfall.

Stretching from one side of her vision to the other, its massive width resembled the edge of a square world straight out of a fairy tale.

The lush greenery of the jungle surrounding the waterfall, combined with the gentle moonlit sky filled with fireflies, created such an unreal scene that she momentarily forgot the urgency of their mission.

“I brought lunch. Should we eat before we start?”

Choi Kanghu, who had his arm around her shoulder, seemed to feel the same way.