“Do you know why I put you bastards into the magic stone squad?”
“Because we had guts.”
“It was because you looked like you knew more than the others. You think you’re the only one? That brat’s no joke either. He straight-up told me he’s combat class. If he was the type to listen when told, he wouldn’t have said that in the first place. The ones who know more live better! That’s why I did it, you bastard! But if the one who knows better says he’s going to throw his life away, what do you expect me to do, just nod and send him off? Stop talking nonsense and go train.”
“Did you get attached to me or something.”
“Attached, my ass. If you die too, there’s no one left to send to the magic stone squad! And you son of a bitch, you don’t have the look of a man about to die. If you understand that, then get the hell out.”
With that, Kim Gapjun stood and turned his back as though he couldn’t bear the sight any longer. His broad shoulders, held behind his back, looked weighed down by burdens too heavy to carry.
Sehyun gave up on the conversation and rose to his feet.
“I’ll be going.”
Kim Gapjun didn’t even respond.
When Sehyun stepped outside the chief’s house, the bright blue sky filled his vision. Fog blanketed the village’s surroundings, but the sky directly above was strangely clear. At least they could see the sky during the day; at night, the fog closed in, sealing them inside a dome.
Only after a long sigh did Sehyun drop his gaze. The moment he did, he spotted two familiar figures loitering near the training ground.
A boy not yet grown, and a large man with fins on his back — Lee Jaeyoung and Gwak Junghan.
It was still far from afternoon. Under the hot sun, Sehyun stepped toward them.
***
Magic Stone Squad 2 returned just as the blood-red sky began to darken. People, weary of waiting, had started preparing dinner with anxious faces.
While everyone sat in dejection, huddled and silent, figures staggered in at the village gate.
At someone’s shout, all turned — and there stood five survivors.
The villagers burst into tears at the sight, crying in their stead, embracing them proudly for surviving.
Amid the crowd, Sehyun stood quietly, watching. The five supported one another, barely upright.
But they were far from unscathed. Their clothes were shredded, their bodies bloody wrecks. Two had broken legs, unable to touch the ground. And yet, their eyes brimmed not with fear but with the glow of achievement.
Their unflinching composure gave hope to all, planting the will to endure and a compass to keep moving forward.
Seeing Baek Dohyun standing among them, looking comparatively intact, Sehyun realized his worries had been needless. They looked stronger, fiercer — they must have leveled up inside the tower.
Sehyun turned toward the chief’s house. Kim Gapjun had come out to the railing, staring in a daze. He didn’t need to guess to know the man was looking at Squad 2.
Though he went back inside soon after, Sehyun had seen him wipe his eyes with his sleeve before he did.
Dinner that night had the air of a festival. For the first time in a while, joy filled the village. The cooking team steamed all the leftover crabs and presented them to Squad 2.
While food was being prepared, the wounded were healed enough by a support-class woman’s skill to move on their own.
Baek Dohyun was no exception. The problem was, the moment he was healed, he refused everyone’s congratulations, scooped up a load of crab, and marched straight toward Sehyun.
Jaeyoung and Junghan’s faces twisted in disgust the instant they saw the crabs.
“You made it back alive.”
“Eat this.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t? Why not?”
Baek Dohyun stopped, staring sharply, as though he’d kill if given the wrong answer. Sehyun only shrugged and replied in the same tone as that morning.
“Shellfish allergy.”
Baek Dohyun’s face crumpled at once, then softened into a look of deep pity as his eyes scanned him up and down.
What. Why.
“You eat it. No—Jaeyoung, you take some. Mr. Gwak Junghan too.”
“Don’t touch it. I’m eating it all.”
“Share a little, will you?”
“Forget it, hyung. Let that primitive bastard eat it.”
“I’ll pass too. The ones who nearly died should eat. You need your strength back.”
They’d devoured crab that morning, but now, full-bellied, they turned it away, looking at Baek Dohyun like he was some savage race. His eyebrow twitched at the sight.
“Huh? That looks like fish.”
“That’s one I caught earlier. Mr. Sehyun, want some?”
“I’ll get it! Wait here, hyung!”
Jaeyoung leapt up and darted off toward the line forming. His nimble movements made Sehyun silently gape in surprise. Beside him, Baek Dohyun spoke.
“See me later. Alone.”
“When?”
“Before bed.”
“Fine by me.”
He’d meant to call him out anyway. He had a request for him.
“How about the training ground?”
“Depends on how you act.”
As soon as the training ground was mentioned, Baek Dohyun reached for the crab he hadn’t touched. Snapping a leg, he pulled out the flesh and chewed steadily, no change in expression. He looked more like a man forcing down rations to live than someone enjoying food.
“Hyung! Got the fattest one for you!”
In the distance, Jaeyoung came running back with a plate holding a plump fish, round as chicken meat. Hungry, Sehyun split it in three and shared with Jaeyoung and Junghan.
Baek Dohyun’s eyes showed faint expectation, but by the time Sehyun noticed, only the head and scraps of meat were left. Naturally, Baek Dohyun refused the fish head with a furious look and kept chewing his crab instead.
The dinner, so lively it felt like the last they’d ever have, finally wound down late. Everyone knew they were clinging to the afterglow. But as night fell and the fog thickened, people drifted back to their lodgings.
When cleanup was finished and silence settled over the village, Sehyun slipped quietly from his hut. Leaving Jaeyoung in Gwak Junghan’s care, he crept out. In the fog, he glimpsed Baek Dohyun waiting before the training ground, sword in hand.
Sehyun hurried toward him.
“Left the kid behind?”
“He’s just a kid.”
Baek Dohyun didn’t look satisfied, but he said no more. He only jerked his chin at the training ground, ordering him inside.
Unlike yesterday, it was empty. He’d already familiarized himself with the faces of Squad 3, but none of them had the look of sturdy trees like Squad 2. His gut and instinct told him as much.
“Better say this now. If you can Awaken, do it tonight.”
“So Mr. Baek Dohyun, you Awakened already?”
He’d meant it as a jab, but Baek Dohyun neither confirmed nor denied. Which usually meant yes.
“…So you did.”
“I had no choice. Would’ve died otherwise.”
“When?”
“In the tower.”
That meant it had been desperate. Sehyun lowered his gaze, and when Baek Dohyun stepped close, he looked up. Between the sharp lines of his face, his calm eyes glowed with a different color than yesterday.
His outward appearance was the same, but close up, Sehyun could tell.
“You look… the same.”
“I’m using mental suggestion on them.”
“Then I’m under it too?”
“Yeah.”
“Creepy…”
Sehyun gave a bitter smile. Of course, Baek Dohyun hadn’t explained Awakening to anyone. Sehyun had only guessed from fragments. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was right.
“I’m hardly one to talk, but… better not say that sort of thing anywhere. Unless you want to get beaten.”
“Which thing. That Awakening makes you lose reason? Or that you should Awaken? If it’s the first, I actually want to say it’s true.”
“Yeah, no. I don’t want to know. If you’re done, I’ll go.”
Not something worth knowing. Sehyun turned, but was caught after one step.
“Do you know that in an empire, the king is granted one demand?”