Regression Guidelines For the Supporting Character

The black shadow that had spilled across the ground surged like a wave. In the blink of an eye, it blanketed the area—and its destination was the knight monster.
The entire space thrummed with Cha Sahyeon’s energy.
Even the knight seemed to sense the ominous flow of power and swung its blade in a hurry. The sword aimed not at Eun Woojeong, but at Cover, who stood in its path.

A sharp killing intent prickled like needles against her throat. The monster’s target was obvious.
Gripping her sword tightly, Cover lifted it to block while clutching her wounded side—
Then, a large hand suddenly wrapped around her shoulder from behind and yanked her back with force.

“Urgh…!”
Her body was pulled sharply to the right. As she staggered, someone held her upright. The whirring blade sliced through the air harmlessly in front of them.
When she looked up, a pale face glowing stark white in the darkness came into view. Between tousled strands of hair, a pair of eyes stared not at her, but straight ahead.

Cha Sahyeon held Cover in a firm grip with one arm and casually extended the other.
From the sleeve of his clothing, black shadow rippled like a snake’s tail. As his pale hand stretched forward, the shadows floating in the air obeyed his command and lunged toward the knight.
Skreeeee!

The sword that had been flying at Cover never made it back to its origin. The shadow seized it midair and slammed it to the ground.
The shadow didn’t stop at the blade. It latched onto the knight’s entire body without pause—spreading fast, like ink blooming in water, swallowing the monster whole.
That same monster that had nearly annihilated Eun Woojeong was now writhing helplessly in the shadow.

Only the knight’s right arm—the one gripping the sword—remained visible as the rest of its body was devoured.
Eventually, the swelling shadows ballooned outward, swallowing the monster completely.
Cha Sahyeon tilted his hand. With his palm now facing up, he clenched it into a fist.

Crunch!
A grotesque metallic screech erupted from within the mass of shadows, as if sheets of iron were being twisted and crumpled all at once.
The enormous, ballooned mass gradually shrank and disappeared into the floor.
Clang.

The sword, along with the armored glove gripping it, clattered to the ground, stripped of its owner.
The knight had completely vanished.
An S-rank monster, devoured in seconds without even managing a proper resistance.

Cover had watched the whole thing—eyes wide—but still found it hard to believe.
She quietly stared at the pool of shadow where the knight had been. Every time she felt Cha Sahyeon’s presence brush against her skin, a heavy, indescribable weight settled over her.
“Hyung.”

A low voice whispered near her ear. Cover flinched; it felt like the voice had wrapped around her like the shadow itself.
Locking eyes with Cha Sahyeon, she saw his furrowed brows and finally registered the situation.
“You got hurt again.”

“Mm…”
When she looked away sheepishly, the hand gripping her shoulder tightened slightly. He wasn’t letting it go.
“I told you to be careful.”

“No, this is…”
“How long has it been since we separated, and you’re already injured? What if I hadn’t left a shadow tethered to you?”
“Wait—okay, to be fair, I feel a little wronged here.”

“Wronged? About what? You obviously threw yourself in to save him.”
The “him” Cha Sahyeon referred to was Eun Woojeong, now unconscious and bloodied.
Shit. How’d he figure that out?

Was he always this sharp?
As Cover momentarily drifted into thought, Cha Sahyeon sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“This is why I told you to be careful. I shouldn’t have listened and let you go alone. With a dungeon break happening, other people were going to respond anyway. There was no need for you to handle it.”

“Hey, I’ve already taken out a bunch of monsters. If I hadn’t, they would’ve spilled into the lower—”
“Hyung.”
That single, low word cut off her flustered rebuttal.

Cover fell silent and glanced at Cha Sahyeon, scrambling mentally for a way to explain. But nothing came to mind.
She was the one who’d forcefully sent him away, who’d acted like shadows were annoying, who had gotten hurt and ended up calling him back just hours later.
As selfish as she could be, this time there was no excuse.

Maybe it was a good thing she wore a mask to hide her face. Not that it did much to hide how awkward she clearly felt.
“…Ah…”
Finally, Cover let out a breath, relaxed her body, and slumped into Cha Sahyeon’s arms.

“I’m in pain.”
It was an obvious attempt to distract. Cha Sahyeon raised a brow.
“Of course you are. Your side got ripped open. How could it not hurt?”

“Don’t be mean. Getting scolded while I’m hurt makes it worse.”
“…Ha.”
Cha Sahyeon gave a dry laugh—he was clearly exasperated. Still, concern overtook his irritation as he gently turned her around to examine the wound.

“You’re still bleeding. Is it bad? Does it hurt if I touch it?”
“Dunno. I stayed still for a while, and it felt like the bleeding slowed down.”
She removed the hand pressing on her side. Blood spilled out in a thick rush.

Cha Sahyeon grimaced as if he were the one wounded.
“Hyung, I’ll take you somewhere safe. You need to get treated.”
“Say something that makes sense.”

“Why? So you can ignore ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ me and get hurt again?”
Cha Sahyeon forced down a shaky breath and continued.
“I’ll clean it up. I’ll just kill all the monsters here.”

“Did you already forget why I sent you away? You can’t be roaming around like this.”
“I know what you’re worried about. But that was over the moment I followed you after taking care of those bastards from the church.”
“…”

When no answer came, Cha Sahyeon carefully removed Cover’s mask.
Her face, exposed, was remarkably blank. But he could read the turmoil flickering in her dark eyes.
“I’m not trying to go berserk. I just don’t want to put you in danger by staying hidden. But if this is how things are going to be… then there’s no point in me hiding. I want to stay by your side and protect you.”

“….”
Cover’s mind was a tangled mess too.
Pushing Cha Sahyeon away wasn’t hard—he’d never once forced his will or dismissed her seriously.

Even now, if she coldly told him no, he would sulk and leave without protest.
But this time, she couldn’t bring herself to push him away like earlier.
If Sahyeon stays… I can deal with the monsters more safely.

She didn’t know where that knight had come from, but it was definitely connected to that giant monster.
It had taken down Eun Woojeong in an instant.
In the worst-case scenario, while they were distracted by the giant one, other knight monsters might have spread throughout the area.

Even if that wasn’t the case—could they really stop that monster, which radiated a presence far beyond S-rank, with just their group?
What if it wasn’t the last? What if something else emerged from the dungeon while they were still fighting?
The dark possibilities piled up one by one. Her throbbing head hurt more than her wounded side.

The quest window still floated in her vision: [Protect the Main Characters] — its silent pressure unrelenting.
I swear, I just wanna run away right now.
But she couldn’t—because of the damn quest.

“Fine. Alright, but let’s treat this guy first before we talk more.”
With a long sigh, Cover snatched her mask back from Sahyeon and slipped it on again.
“You can’t be seen looking like that. Wear a mask. Or something. Just keep your face hidden.”

Unfortunately, Cover didn’t have a spare mask on hand.
She’d have to wake Eun Woojeong and steal one off him. He was the leader of Spiderweb—surely he had spares.
“Mmh.”

Cha Sahyeon’s face brightened slightly at her acceptance, but his expression darkened again when she mentioned treating Eun Woojeong.
“Why bother? Just leave him.”
“He’ll die if I leave him, so I’m treating him. Use your shadows to block the view.”

There were no signs of anyone nearby, but still—they had to be careful. Though he pouted, Cha Sahyeon obeyed and spread shadows over the area.
The surroundings plunged into pitch-black darkness.
It was already night, but now she couldn’t even see her own hands.

Cover knelt and activated her skill in Eun Woojeong’s direction.
《Skill: Divine Power (S-Rank) activated!》
《Holy energy is overflowing!》
Normally, brilliant white light would’ve burst forth, but Cha Sahyeon’s superior shadow skill concealed it entirely.

How am I supposed to explain this later?
When Eun Woojeong woke up and found his body completely healed, he’d definitely be suspicious. But she couldn’t let a “main character” die.
It would’ve been ideal if there were a healer nearby, but Taehyuk had already ordered them to retreat. There was no other way.

“It’s done.”
As Cover stood up, the shadows vanished.
Eun Woojeong was still unconscious, but the skin beneath his torn clothes showed no signs of injury.

They’d need him in the next fight. For now, it would be best if he stayed peacefully asleep.
“Hyung.”
Cha Sahyeon gently shook Cover’s hand and pointed to his face.

“Look.”
Somehow, a pitch-black mask now covered his face—identical to Cover’s.
“This works, right?”

He’d made it from shadows after shaping his clothes. Cover nodded in mild amazement.
“As long as your face is covered, it’s fine. Not bad.”
A mask was less comfortable than a fabric covering, but if he insisted on wearing it—

“You did good.”
At the praise, Cha Sahyeon gave a tiny chuckle.
Even though the mask hid his face, Cover could clearly feel how happy he was. He seemed genuinely satisfied.

What’s he so happy about?
Shaking her head at the mystery, she checked the floating guide window.
[Main Character Status Guide]

Status: Healthy (Restless) Thoughts: *Why aren’t they here yet?*
Status: Slightly fatigued (Somewhat confused) Thoughts: *What happened to Cover? Did something go wrong…?*
Status: Healthy (Asleep) Thoughts: *zzZ…*

“Let’s talk while we move.”
It was finally time to go.
***

This was a dream.
[Doesn’t it hurt?]
Even knowing it was a dream, the teasing scolding tickled his chest.

[You’re hurt but not even flinching.]
The tone was grumbling, but the hands applying medicine to his scraped knuckles were impossibly gentle.
He looked up from the clear ointment being spread over his wounds. Outside, snow was falling.

[Sleep here tonight.]
The one tending to his cheek wound spoke. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked:
[By myself?]

His voice was unmistakably that of a child. Understandable—he was at that age.
[No. I’ll sleep here too.]
[…You mean with me?]

[Well, there’s only one bed.]
The blunt tone irritated him. He didn’t know why, but it did. Eun Woojeong’s words bristled with defensiveness.
[You’re a pervert.]

[…What?]
The person gave a hollow laugh.
He’d been the one to say it, but he knew it was nonsense.

Every time he came home beaten, there were always scumbags leering at him, reaching out with filthy hands.
But this person wasn’t like that.
If they were, they’d have stripped his clothes long ago—not gently applied medicine.

[Do I look like some psycho to you? Look at this face.]
Just like he expected, the person leaned in indignantly.
But Eun Woojeong couldn’t see anything. The face was covered in scratches.

Even as they spoke, he couldn’t tell if they were male or female, young or old—nothing.
[How long can I stay here?]
Would he let him stay tomorrow too? If he got hurt again, would he treat him again?

He’d been disappointed so many times, but still… he hoped. Maybe this person was different.
He tried to stop himself—but the words came out anyway.
[…]

Silence.
As the silence dragged on, Eun Woojeong tensed in dread.
Then, finally, the person answered slowly.

[Until I leave.]
He reached out and gently patted Eun Woojeong’s head, a bittersweet smile on his lips.