As a child, Jiyeon had always been surrounded by false concern.
People smiled warmly at her while hiding knives behind their backs. There had never been anyone she could truly call family. Even her own brothers had attempted to take her life, all for the sake of inheriting their family's company.
Then the world fell apart.
The first great dungeon appeared, and humanity awakened alongside it.
Ironically enough, among everyone in her family, she had been the only one chosen by the System.
Jiyeon cut ties with them without hesitation.
She built her own guild from the ground up and gathered people she could trust. Hyein and Chiyeon had eventually become close enough to be considered sisters rather than mere guild members.
For someone who struggled to trust others, Jiyeon cared deeply for the few people she allowed into her life.
And somewhere along the way, Seo Elena had become one of them.
Maybe it was because Elena was weak.
Not weak in spirit, but weak in a world that devoured people like her whole. Yet despite that, she still continued trying to help others with everything she had.
Someone like that deserved to be protected.
Someone like that deserved happiness far more than suffering.
And yet, even now... Elena continued to exceed every expectation they had of her.
Silence fell across the auction hall.
Not just Jiyeon, but everyone present found themselves staring upward in complete disbelief.
Seo Elena floated above them, her platinum hair with streaks of brown drifting weightlessly behind her as a faint smile curved across her lips.
'Beautiful.' everyone collectively thought.
It was almost unreal, like an angel had descended into the middle of the abyss.
She slowly raised the staff.
The moment its tip touched the air, dozens of radiant magic circles bloomed beneath the hunters scattered throughout the room.
Soft silver light rose from the circles like drifting starlight, wrapping around their bodies in gentle waves.
Then, system windows appeared before their eyes one after another.
『 The constellation's minor blessing has descended. 』
『 All attributes have significantly increased for ten minutes. 』
『 Physical fatigue has been removed. 』
『 Mana recovery speed greatly amplified for ten minutes. 』
A warm sensation spread throughout their bodies.
The exhaustion weighing down their limbs vanished almost instantly, replaced by overwhelming strength overflowing from within.
None of them had suffered severe injuries, but fighting opponents of equal rank for such a prolonged period had steadily worn them down and drained their mana reserves.
Yet now, all of that depleted mana came surging back violently through their bodies.
It felt like collapsing from exhaustion beneath the scorching sun, only to be suddenly submerged in cold water.
The hunters stared up at Elena as though witnessing a miracle descend into the world itself.
Because this wasn't ordinary support magic.
It was a blessing granted directly by a constellation, one powerful enough to drastically amplify every aspect of a hunter's abilities.
An S-rank hunter could already contend against an L-rank with a buff of this magnitude.
If that was the case...
Just how powerful had the L-ranks become?
"Lover boy," the constellation called as she slowly descended. "Have you ever wondered why you were granted the regression ability?"
Han Jinhyuk flinched.
Of all the countless questions buried within his mind, that was the one he had wanted answered the most.
Why him?
Why had he been forced to repeat the same world over and over again?
His gaze sharpened.
If it was a constellation... then perhaps she truly knew something.
"It's been hard on you, hasn't it?" she said softly, tilting her head. "Repeating the same life endlessly. Watching people die over and over again."
Her golden eyes curved slightly.
"If you want your answer, perhaps you should start being more honest with my child."
Jinhyuk frowned.
"What does that mean?" he asked immediately. "Does Elena have something to do with my regression ability?"
"Hm..." The constellation hummed playfully. "Maybe your fates are intertwined?"
She tapped her chin dramatically.
"What was that phrase again? Ah... the Holder of Fate explained it to me before, but I forgot."
Despite her carefree tone, Jinhyuk's heart sank heavily.
"Then tell me this," he said quietly. "Is there a way to get rid of this regression ability?"
"Ah, that is—"
Her voice abruptly cut off.
The glowing crown behind her head shattered into particles of light, dissolving into the air as the golden glow in her eyes faded away.
Her silver hair slowly darkened back into its original brown.
Then her body went limp.
Jinhyuk instinctively caught Elena as she collapsed forward into his arms.
Meanwhile, the other hunters were more fired up than ever. With these temporary buffs, even foreign hunters wouldn't let such a chance go to test their limits.
The only reason the building was still standing was Lee Jaewon.
His barrier held the whole structure together, containing blast after blast from hunters who, on any other night, would have been more than enough to level the block. It was the kind of barrier work that had earned him his reputation, the strongest shield in the world wasn't an empty title.
But even he had his limits.
Without the buff, he would have collapsed already. Even with it, the strain was visible, the barrier flickering at the edges, his breathing audible to anyone standing close enough.
Containing this many S-rank hunters at full output, was not something any single person was built to sustain indefinitely.
He held on anyway.
Gilbert Kingsley smiled after receiving the buff, confidence settling over him like a second skin. The stargazers hadn't been included so they didn't know what had just changed, only that something had gone very wrong.
Steal the artifact. Injure the foreign hunters. Escape clean. That had been the plan. But an unexpected variable had walked in and unraveled all of it.
"Let me show you the difference between an L-ranker and an S-ranker."
"Please, keep it to a minimum!" Lee Jaewon's voice cut through from behind him urgently. "I can't hold the barrier much longer. The artifact, that's what they're after. Don't lose sight of that!"
Kingsley clicked his tongue.
It was a shame, but he wasn't unreasonable, and they were on foreign soil. So he settled for using his gravity to pin the cultists to the ground, including the one guarding the artifact, and crossed the room to retrieve it himself.
After that, it didn't take long. The other hunters moved in and subdued the rest one by one until the chaos finally stilled.
But there was a bigger problem.
When the cultists' faces were checked against their IDs, not all of them were Korean. Several were foreign nationals, some from countries with hunters present in this very room tonight.
What had begun as an infiltration of a national auction was quietly becoming something far more complicated. An incident like this didn't stay domestic for long when the people involved had flags behind their names