CHAPTER 170: [TEAMWORK MAKES ELI WORK]

[SYSTEM NOTICE: ADDITIONAL MISSIONS ASSIGNED] You will be given [2] additional missions.

Mission 1: Make Target [KAIRO] let Target [CAELEN] carry you.

Note: Target [KAIRO] must be the one to say and make the decision. Player is not allowed to directly influence the target.

Mission 2: Make Target [KAIRO] and Target [CAELEN] work together to save you.

Note: Targets must both decide to team up to save player without any external influence from player.

Eli stared blankly at the text floating before his eyes.

Then—

"No."

The word slipped out before he could stop it.

No fucking way.

His brain lagged trying to process the absurdity of what he was reading. This wasn’t a power-up mission—this was straight-up suicide.

’Are you kidding me right now?’

Sure, he expected the missions to be difficult. He knew the "power-up" wasn’t going to be something simple like extra strength or speed. But this? This was pure sadism disguised as "game mechanics."

The system didn’t just throw him into another death trap—it brought Caelen’s entire team into the dungeon.

A literal Lion’s Fang reunion.

Now two of the strongest hunters in all of Korenea—two men who hated each other’s existence—were standing shoulder to shoulder in the same cave.

And somehow, Eli was supposed to make them cooperate?

His pulse spiked.

His hands trembled.

And worst of all—the system had the audacity to make it sound easy.

’You’re out of your damn mind...’

He gritted his teeth, heart pounding against his ribs as the memory of the last few minutes replayed.

The SS-Class serpent.

The collapsing cave.

Kairo ignoring his warnings because Caelen had the nerve to show up.

And if Caelen hadn’t moved fast enough—hadn’t used his ability to tank the full brunt of that strike—they’d all be corpses by now.

Still, even after saving them, Caelen’s first instinct wasn’t relief.

It was pissing Kairo off.

Eli rubbed his temples, blood and dust still caked on his fingers.

’How the hell am I supposed to do this? They’re not just difficult—they’re... they’re fucking impossible.’

It wasn’t even that the missions were hard.

It was that both brothers were menchildren with god complexes.

He didn’t even think there was a word for being that level of immature.

’At this point, you want me to fail, right?’ he thought bitterly, glaring at the glowing text.’I’ll do it. I’ll play your stupid game. But if I die, I’m haunting you, you manipulative piece of code.’

He exhaled shakily.

’If that’s what it takes to go home... to see Mom and Lucas again... fine. I’ll do it. Even if I have to pull the dumbest, most reckless stunt of my life.’

The screen flickered out just as voices broke through his thoughts.

"Captain! You good? Eli, are you both alright?!" Mio’s voice echoed through the cavern—strained, desperate, cutting through the heavy silence that followed the serpent’s fall.

Kairo’s arm flexed instinctively, his grip around Eli tightening—a protective reflex that made Eli’s ribs ache. His tone was steady but curt when he answered, "We’re fine—"

"They’re very much fine, thanks to me!"

Caelen’s voice sliced cleanly through Kairo’s, smooth and dripping with satisfaction.

Eli winced. ’Oh, for fuck’s sake...’

Across the fractured battlefield, Punzo laughed, his voice light despite the wreckage surrounding them. "Nice one, Captain!"

The blood-soaked cave went quiet for a beat.

Then Kairo’s head turned—slowly.

His glare locked on Caelen, sharp and cold enough to make the air itself seem to shiver. The tension between them was immediate—volatile, like sparks scraping across a pool of gasoline.

Eli didn’t even have to look at them to feel it. The air grew heavy, almost suffocating. His pulse quickened.

’They’re going to start again. They’re actually going to start again.’

Oh, the system and his ’targets’ were going to be the death of him.

He was gonna die...again.

He could practically hear the way Kairo’s jaw clenched beside him, the subtle grind of his teeth.

Meanwhile, the cavern was collapsing around them in slow motion. Cracks split through the stone above, dust raining down like mist.

The serpent’s corpse was still twitching—its massive body sprawled across the entire width of the cave, half of it coiled over the shattered ledge that separated Kairo and Eli from the rest of the group.

Eli exhaled slowly through his nose, counting silently to three. Then five. Then ten.

It didn’t help.

He could still feel Kairo’s arm around his waist—firm, unyielding, almost possessive in its hold.

Every breath made him acutely aware of the weight, the warmth, the faint pulse of restrained power coiled beneath the man’s skin.

Protective? Maybe. But also suffocating.

He forced his jaw to unclench and spoke, carefully, like someone defusing a live bomb.

"Okay," he started, his voice steady but laced with strain. "I get that you two have... unresolved issues,"—he shot both of them a look—"but maybe, just maybe, we could focus on the giant dead serpent and the fact that this cave is literally collapsing before we—"

"Oh?"

Caelen’s voice slid in, smooth and cutting, his smirk curling like a blade. His golden eyes gleamed with amusement. "This coming from the guy who screamed at us to shut the fuck up and, what was it again? Triggered the serpent to attack?"

Eli froze mid-sentence. His jaw dropped. "I—what—no! That wasn’t—"

"Mm," Caelen hummed, expression maddeningly smug. "Pretty sure it was. It lunged the moment you yelled."

"I was already feeling danger before that—"

Kairo’s voice cut clean through his protest.

Calm.

Collected.

Annoyingly reasonable sounding.

"You still shouldn’t have yelled," he said, his tone flat but authoritative. His grip around Eli adjusted slightly, the motion efficient, practiced—like he was carrying a fragile package, not a human being. "Next time, if you have something to say, be calmer."

Eli blinked.

Once.

Twice.

"Be calmer?" he repeated, incredulous. "You were all fighting—no one was listening when I tried to speak calmly!"

Caelen’s smirk widened. "Didn’t sound that calm to me," he drawled, his tone deliberately teasing, like he was daring Eli to blow up again.

At least, that’s what it felt like. He was baiting him. Taunting him.

Kairo, on the other hand, remained infuriatingly composed. "If that’s true, then tap me next time," he said simply, not even looking at Eli as he scanned the shaking cave around them. "There are better options than alerting the serpent to attack. Keep in mind—this is the first SS-Class boss in existence."

His tone was matter-of-fact. Unbothered. Dismissive.

Eli stared at him in disbelief.

’Is he—? Is he actually lecturing me right now?’

And the worst part?

They weren’t even arguing anymore.

Kairo was calmly scolding him while Caelen stood there, grinning like this was the most entertaining thing he’d seen all week.

The realization hit Eli like a slap.

They were agreeing.

In their own twisted way, they were agreeing—and it was physically painful to watch.

He could feel his eye twitch, the muscle spasm pulsing in visible agony. His brain couldn’t decide whether to scream, laugh, or throw himself into the nearest hole in the ground.

These two—these walking egos—who couldn’t be within fifty feet of each other without causing natural disasters... were somehow united in their mutual hobby of making his life miserable.

Eli pressed a hand over his face, dragging it down slowly until his palm covered his mouth.

"Oh, great," he muttered, voice muffled and dripping with exhaustion. "So you two can’t agree on anything, except when I’m apparently wrong."

Caelen tilted his head, smugness incarnate. "Is that sass I hear?" he asked lightly, eyes glinting with delight.

"Would you just shut up—"

Kairo’s arm tightened abruptly, pulling Eli back before he could lunge forward. "You already admitted you were at fault," he said in that same calm, even tone that made Eli want to scream. "Don’t make it worse."

Caelen’s smirk sharpened. "Eh. Seems to me he wants to do more than just snap."

Eli made a strangled noise that was somewhere between a scream and the dying sound of someone whose soul had finally given up. His hands flew to his head.

’They’re impossible. Actually, completely impossible.’

He groaned into his palms.

But then—he peeked up through his fingers, gaze flicking between them.

How were they actually able to do this?

Eli stared between them, disbelief tightening in his chest. It didn’t even seem like they realized what they were doing—how they’d just stopped fighting mid-storm, only to turn their combined focus toward him like it was second nature.

It was unsettling. Almost terrifying.

They weren’t agreeing consciously. There was no truce, no mutual understanding. They were just... in sync when it came to him.

That thought alone made Eli’s pulse stutter.

Kairo’s eyes flicked to him briefly, assessing, quiet, unreadable. The same sharp, calculating stare that weighed risk and weakness all at once.

Caelen, on the other hand, was still smirking—arms crossed, expression smug but his gaze equally sharp, equally fixed on Eli.

Two different kinds of danger—one ice-cold control, the other reckless fire.

And both, somehow, pointed at him.

The realization settled like a stone in Eli’s gut.

’Wait.’

He blinked slowly, watching how both of them tilted their heads just slightly in unison when he didn’t answer—like they were expecting something from him.

A reaction. A word. Anything.

That was something they shared, wasn’t it?

That ability to shift their entire attention in his direction at the slightest movement, the smallest sound.

Their petty sniping.

Their perfectly timed interruptions.

The way their voices layered over each other when correcting him, even their damn tones syncing—mocking, firm, familiar.

It wasn’t harmony, but it was close enough to count.

A strange, dangerous spark flickered in the back of Eli’s mind.

He swallowed hard, a slow, involuntary smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth despite himself.

’They’re similar when it comes to me,’ he realized, pulse quickening.

’It’s messed up—completely fucked up—but this might be...’

His fingers twitched. His mind began racing, connecting dots that probably shouldn’t be connected.

’Something I can use.’