"Unbelievable," Raven muttered, blinking up at Aren's face—still being casually patted like a house cat that had wandered into traffic.
"I can't really reach the exit even if I sprinted at this point… two minutes really isn't enough for me…" Aren said with a sheepish laugh, his hand moving to scratch the back of his head as if admitting he forgot his homework.
"I really can't believe you…" she muttered, dumbfounded. Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment it looked like she might throttle him.
"But fine," she sighed, shaking her head in resignation. "I need to get out of here as well."
With no warning—no countdown, no prep, not even a heads-up—she crouched low like a coiled spring and yoinked Aren off the ground with a single arm, slinging him sideways like a sack of laundry. He flopped against her shoulder like dead weight, one leg dangling.
"Hold tight," she ordered, her tone cool but urgent.
Electricity sparked along her boots, dancing up her calves in wild arcs, and then—
She vanished.
A sonic boom tore through the cave behind them, air pressure shattering loose stones into dust. Her speed wasn't literal lightning, but it was close enough to make the air ripple violently in her wake. The walls blurred into watercolor streaks.
Aren's body didn't agree.
The moment they broke the sound barrier, his senses imploded. His skin peeled back from sheer force, his eyes blurred into white static, and his brain screamed a billion error messages.
He died instantly.
Revived. Died again.
Repeat.
Again.
And again.
Aren's body cycled through a morbid loop of resurrection and liquefaction like a ragdoll being microwaved on a cosmic setting.
Meanwhile, Raven didn't even notice—her eyes were locked on the timer burning in the air ahead of her like a descending guillotine.
[Exit Dungeon Before: 0:59]
The portal to the outside world shimmered up ahead—half-formed and flickering at the edges. It was starting to close.
"We aren't gonna make it!" Raven shouted, her voice shrill with urgency. Her arm extended forward, hand outstretched, fingertips inches away from salvation.
Aren, eyes bloodshot and twitching from repeated death, tilted his head weakly toward the collapsing gateway. His vision spun—but his gaze was focused.
His irises pulsed, and spiraled.
A single, silent thought echoed in his mind like a divine command:
'Don't.'
The portal twitched.
Like a scolded puppy, the dimensional rift hesitated—quivering—and then obediently widened just enough to allow them through.
"…Wha…?" Raven breathed, stunned. Her speed didn't falter, but her mind wobbled with confusion.
And then—
They broke through.
The portal blinked shut behind them with a dramatic whoomph, sealing like the lid of a pressure cooker the moment they were out.
Both of them exploded out of the dungeon gateway like cannonballs, tumbling down a grimy city alley and spilling onto the adjacent sidewalk in a tangled heap. Limbs flailed. Gravity laughed. And when the chaos stopped, Raven landed squarely on top of Aren—again.
Chest to chest. Face to chest. Her jacket fluttered around them like an accidental romantic filter.
As if fate had rolled the dice for comedy.
And technically, it had.
Unseen above the mortal plane, Law, had subtly nudged the laws of physics like a bored editor tweaking a punchline. But Aren didn't know that yet.
"Well… that was a close call…" Aren wheezed, blinking up at the cloudy sky from beneath her weight. His body still ached from the emotional whiplash of multiple deaths.
But Raven's face told a different story.
Her expression was frozen in horror. Her hands twitched, her eyes wide with dawning realization.
"Well…" she said hollowly.
Raven's mind raced. No plausible deniability. No time to vanish. This wasn't just embarrassing—it was viral.
"…this is definitely going to be a PR mess…"
Around them, the once-deserted sidewalk had filled with civilians. People who'd just been out shopping. Heading to work. Walking dogs. Scrolling their feeds.
Now, all of them were staring.
Phones rose into the air like drawn weapons. Cameras clicked. Social media feeds exploded.
Two Hunters—launched out of a well-known E-Rank dungeon in the middle of the city… tangled together in a position straight out of a trashy romance visual novel.
Snapped. Captured. Tagged.
Frozen forever in the public eye.
Like lovers.