Lee Doha’s half-closed eyes sharpened like blades.
Before anyone could stop him, he flung open the car door and dashed out.
Roy, Kim Chan, and Song Doyoon quickly followed behind.
To them, fans were as precious as family.
Especially Roy, Kim Chan, and Lee Doha’s faces were dark with concern.
These were the fans who had come all the way to the company building just to catch a glimpse of them.
‘…It’s so hot today.’
Roy bit his lip.
The weather was unbearable even for him, let alone the fans struggling in the heat.
It was late August, oppressively humid.
Even though the sun was dipping low, the kind of heat that would soak a person’s back with sweat after just ten steps was lingering.
Despite such weather, these fans had endured for an unknown stretch of time just to see them.
“What do we do…?”
“Pull yourself together.”
“Someone call 119, quick!”
The scene was chaotic.
A young woman was lying on the ground, bleeding from her abdomen.
Her face still held the tender look of youth, the kind of age where she should have been wearing a school uniform.
“Wait a moment.”
While Roy and the others stood frozen, Ki Yonghyeon, who had just parked the car, rushed over.
He took a recovery potion from his pocket and administered it to the fallen woman.
The woman, half-losing consciousness, instinctively swallowed, as if she knew this would save her.
“Haah… thank goodness…”
Kim Chan’s knees weakened, and he staggered back, running a hand through his hair.
Then realizing his cap was still pulled down low, he flung it off and gasped harshly for breath.
“Ahh, that’s our kids…”
Only then did the fans realize the people standing by them were the very idols they had been desperately waiting for.
But the shock from the recent incident left everyone unable to properly rejoice.
“Hello. I’m Hwang Roy. Can someone tell me what happened here?”
There was no way a fan standing fine a moment ago would suddenly collapse, bleeding from her stomach.
Fortunately, thanks to the potion, the wound was rapidly healing, but the front of her hoodie had a large hole.
If it wasn’t self-inflicted, it meant someone had attacked her.
At Roy’s question, the fans glanced around nervously, exchanging uneasy looks.
“I—I saw it…”
One of them hesitantly raised their right hand.
This was the person who had been standing right next to the fallen fan.
“If you don’t mind, could you tell us exactly what you saw?”
Roy tried to speak as gently as possible and approached the fan who had found the courage to speak.
“I’ll take her to the hospital. Ki Yonghyeon, please take good care of the others.”
“Yes.”
Hwang Guman hoisted the injured fan onto his back.
Although the recovery potion was administered in time to stabilize her, they planned to take her for a thorough checkup, just in case.
He wanted to stay with the kids, but Guman’s abilities paled in comparison to Ki Yonghyeon’s.
“Don’t worry and go.”
Ki Yonghyeon lightly patted Guman’s shoulder and began to raise his magical energy.
It could’ve been a personal grudge against the fan who was attacked, but his intuition told him otherwise.
This was clearly an attack aimed at one of the members.
And there was a high chance that three members of Bada Entertainment were targeted.
“I’ve been coming here every day after our broadcasts, hoping to see Roy oppa and the others…”
The fan, flushed under Roy’s direct gaze, nervously began recounting what she knew.
“The one who collapsed… also came here and met us…”
Tears welled up in her wide eyes.
It had been such a horrific scene that it left trauma not only on the injured fan but also on those who witnessed it up close.
“If it’s too hard, you can rest a little before continuing.”
The fan speaking now looked just as young and fragile as the one who had collapsed.
Lee Doha couldn’t hide his troubled feelings.
If the perpetrator were right in front of him, he would have drawn his sword without hesitation.
“No, I’m okay. I can do this…”
The fan mustered her courage, probably feeling she was the only one who saw the situation in detail.
“At first, we thought they were just an ordinary fan like us…”
Looking back, it was strange.
The person wore a black ball cap pulled low and a matching black mask.
It was unusual for a fan, not even a celebrity, to hide their face so thoroughly.
The weather was so hot that just standing still caused sweat to drip, and that outfit looked stifling.
‘When will they come? Maybe they won’t come at all. No, they said they would be here today. I definitely heard that. I must not be mistaken. No! Are you doubting my abilities now?’
The person muttered nonstop in a barely audible voice, sending chills down the spine.
Despite the mask, their voice was rough, like nails scraping metal, piercing into one’s ears.
‘Ah, I can’t hold it. I want to smell blood. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts…’
Feeling uneasy, people began to edge away from the suspicious individual.
That’s when the disaster occurred.
While muttering about pain, they dug their hand deep into the abdomen of a nearby fan with sharpened nails, scratching so deeply that red lines appeared on their skin.
The white shirt the attacked fan wore was instantly soaked in crimson.
No one had seen so much blood flowing right before their eyes.
The fan’s face, lips trembling as they looked toward them, twisted in agony.
“After that, I looked around, but the person had disappeared…”
Someone had been attacked.
The fans nearby instantly panicked, some screaming in fear.
In the chaos, no one saw exactly when the assailant fled.
The injured fan’s eyes slowly dimmed as she collapsed, and everyone froze like statues.
“Hic… it’s all my fault… I should have followed them wherever they went…”
She hadn’t even screamed—just stood there dumbfounded like an idiot.
“No, don’t blame yourself.”
Roy gently placed his hand on the crown of her head and softly stroked her hair.
How terrifying it must have been.
For a normal person, not even a Hunter, witnessing such a brutal attack on someone nearby was unfamiliar and terrifying.
“What’s going on here?”
While Roy comforted the sobbing fan, Gong Taecheon arrived after getting a call from Ki Yonghyeon.
Behind him were hunters dispatched from the Association.
“You all should head back to the dorm. I’ll safely escort the fans home.”
He had just calmed down Han Jihoo, who was about to explode at the news of trouble.
Jihoo was ready to run off and see the members himself, making Taecheon sweat just to hold him back.
If Jihoo got hurt, the company would face its biggest crisis since its founding.
“But still…”
Kim Chan, wiping tears while comforting the startled fans, wanted nothing more than to personally see them safely home.
“Hey, it’s dangerous. Hurry up and get in the car with Yonghyeon.”
Taecheon, wearing a stern face none of them had seen before, urged Roy and the others to get moving.
“Thank you for telling us even though it must’ve been hard to talk about.”
“I’m just glad it could help…”
Roy had to say goodbye to the fans as well.
Though he smiled lightly in front of them to ease their worries, the moment he got into the car, his expression stiffened fearfully.
‘Earth’
Roy’s instincts told him this was definitely an incident connected to himself and the Continent of As.
Fans were just as important to Roy as the members were.
The unconditional love they gave was something Roy had never experienced before.
That’s why Roy worked even harder on missions and training his singing and dancing skills—not just for his personal goals, but to repay the love they showed him.
‘Can we find them?’
{We’re scouring within a 10 km radius right now. Given they attacked and vanished like a ghost, this is no ordinary civilian. At this time of day, the chances of them escaping much further are slim.}
Earth also had a bad feeling.
It seemed Joel wasn’t the only one who had slipped in from the Continent of As to avoid attracting attention.
That meant serious trouble.
Joel and Roy had detected him early, and while his power wasn’t overwhelmingly threatening, the Continent held many stronger beings than Joel—especially among the hostile factions toward Roy.
{If we pick up anything suspicious, I’ll let you know immediately.}
‘Please.’
Roy gently stroked Ris’s shell.
‘Ris, help Earth and track down any suspicious traces.’
“Pii-.” (Leave it to me, Contract Holder.)
The wind could go anywhere.
Among the spirits, Ris’s ability was specialized in tracking.
Closing his eyes, Ris began to use his power.
A stream of wind flowed from his body, drifting out of the car and into the air.
“Is everyone okay?”
***
As soon as the dormitory door opened, Han Jihoo came running out barefoot.
He scanned everyone from Roy to the others, head to toe, before letting out a long breath that made his chest rise and fall.
“Thank goodness you’re all safe… You don’t know how worried I was…”
Lee Hajun’s face was already streaked with tears.
Kim Chan, clearly shocked, hugged Hajun and patted his back as the latter hiccupped.
“Is the injured fan okay?”
At Kim Jaewoo’s question, Roy nodded.
“Yonghyeon hyung gave her a recovery potion immediately, so she got better quickly.”
“But the mental shock…”
Roy wore a pained expression.
Most Hunter Idols were like this, but among the debut group members, Joonyoung especially couldn’t help but fuss over fans.
Maybe deep down, they all thought it would’ve been better if they themselves had been hurt instead.
Just like Roy.
“Let’s get inside. We have schedules starting tomorrow. They’re important and can’t be postponed.”
Jihoo led the way as everyone burst out, unintentionally gathering in front of the dorm without even entering.
It hadn’t been long since they’d parted—only a few hours—but everyone was still busy trying to calm their rattled nerves from the accident.