A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step (2)
Han Seohyun wasn't surprised at all by the revelation that Assemblyman Seol Rokjin was behind everything.
"I see."
He simply responded calmly.
"That guy's the mastermind behind it all."
Then he murmured the name to himself over and over, as if vowing never to forget it.
"How'd you find me?"
"I've been looking for you all along."
The way he phrased it as "you" grated a bit, but whatever. The real shocker was that he'd been searching for me even before then.
"Why?"
"I wanted to ask how to make money."
"Money?"
"To cure my brother."
I was at a loss for words. He'd planned to get treatment for Han Jo-hee. Even I had thought she was beyond saving—a lost cause, as good as dead.
These two brothers really loved each other fiercely.
I looked at Han Seohyun and made a silent vow.
"I'm going to cut out all the rotten scum in Korea, starting with Seol Rokjin. That way, no more victims like you."
Han Seohyun just blinked at my words.
"What's with that look?"
"I-it's just... your goal's way bigger than I expected."
Yeah, fair enough. It was such an absurd ambition that even I wondered if it was possible right now.
I told Han Seohyun,
"Seol Rokjin's got a squeaky-clean image. Even if we exposed him, no one would believe us."
"True. Everyone already thinks he's the victim."
"Quit calling him 'that guy.' Call me hyung."
Han Seohyun clamped his mouth shut at my words.
Ah, right after losing his brother, "hyung" might hit too close. I scrambled for an alternative. Uncle? It fit our mental age gap, but we looked about the same age now, so awkward. Master? I wasn't some lord. Hmm, nothing good.
Finally, I settled on something.
"Boss, then."
"Boss?"
"Ahem. We're gathered under the banner of toppling Seol Rokjin, right? We're a team. So as the leader, I'm naturally the boss..."
"What's the team name? Not something lame like 'Topple Seol Rokjin,' I hope."
"Eh."
I wasn't great at naming things.
I hadn't even thought about team names since I never expected to recruit anyone (who could talk to me) so soon.
"I'll call you whatever when it feels right."
Rejected.
━Not very boss-like, huh.
It was all because we didn't have a proper base yet.
"So, what should I do first?"
Han Seohyun asked sullenly. I replied,
"You good at digging?"
* * *
After freaking out at my suggestion, Han Seohyun clicked his tongue when I explained we were building a base, but he pitched in anyway.
━Necromancer, but no summons? None at all.
'He said he turned his own brother into a skeleton. Probably feels weird summoning him.'
Even using your dead brother's skeleton felt off. Sure, Han Jo-hee had no ego left now, but still.
I started dismantling nearby trees with a hand axe.
Thwack, thwack. Channeling strength into each swing left me drenched in sweat. I'd planned some physical training, but not this grueling.
I wiped my face with my lifted T-shirt. My abs peeked out, sharper than before.
After all that hell, it was only natural.
━Why hoard so much wood? It's not even winter yet.
"For furniture, firewood, you name it."
Geum Doctor hooked us up with essential artifacts, but no way were we getting furniture delivered.
We had to make do here.
I scooped up dirt to mix cement. The sand quality sucked, but it'd even out the cave floor fine.
I stacked the chopped logs to dry—for firewood or furniture, they needed seasoning.
Lost in work, sunset crept up. I called Han Seohyun for dinner.
Instant noodles again. Ugh, sick of it. As I slurped the bloated strands like a cow chewing cud,
"How long we digging here?"
"Till the base is done?"
Plus, I couldn't leave Kim Jae-ho feral like that. Good news: his wariness toward me was fading. He still hated my guts, but compared to lunging at my shadow, huge progress.
Hmm, probably stuck here a few months.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Han Seohyun asked,
"You really just building a house here?"
Watching me pour days into base-building, he seemed frustrated.
It wasn't just about the base.
"Staying here's best for now. You know I'm framed for your brother's murder."
But Han Seohyun looked unconvinced. His face was an open book. Still a kid, maybe.
"So we're doing nothing forever?"
"What can we do out there?"
"Well..."
No answer, huh. Frustrating, but he was just a clueless kid.
"I'm not wanted, though. I could do something."
"Like what?"
"Anything."
I scratched my cheek. Couldn't dismiss it as childish; I got where he was coming from.
Leaving him idle felt wrong too.
"How about training instead?"
"Training?"
"Yeah. Can't send you out 'cause I don't know your power level."
I skipped the age talk—kids get touchy about that.
"How many undead can you summon?"
"...Right now, five rats, one skele...ton max."
"Mana shortage?"
"Mana's fine, but my mental strength caps there. Head splits open."
Hmm. Stroking my chin, I asked,
"Gotta control each one manually?"
"Small ones are easy, but skeletons? Feels like micromanaging every bone. Drains everything."
So tiny critters on autopilot, but skeletons demand full focus.
Necromancers needed hordes, but so few at once? Useless for combat. Rats wouldn't scratch most foes.
"So for real fights... just your brother?"
"Yeah."
"Any other skeletons...?"
"Nope."
Great. I probed more, but Han Seohyun knew shockingly little about his talent.
Probably 'cause corpses were needed to test. He'd hustled for cash for practice materials, after all.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Bingo—I knew what he needed most.
Proper training.
"Hmm, to gauge your talent, we'll run experiments. Cool?"
I asked carefully.
His current skeleton was made from Han Jo-hee.
To test limits, some experiments might get "rough."
Risk of desecration or damage. Delicate.
He nodded.
"First contract's special. Doesn't vanish like others."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Han Seohyun jotted the floating window message and showed me.
Contract with the dead to make them your summons.
The first contracted summon grows with the awakener and never dissipates. It recovers over time if damaged. Injecting mana shortens recovery time.
Still curt, but informative enough.
His first skeleton was indestructible. Damage? Time and mana fixed it.
And "contract," huh.
"So not any corpse works?"
He nodded.
"Tiny brainless critters fine, but dog-sized needs their will for the contract."
Hence rats easy, brother first for contract. Made sense—and sparked another question.
"Your brother, then..."
Han Jo-hee consented to becoming a skeleton?
Han Seohyun grimaced. Fists clenched—pitiful. I'd avoided painful memories, but now...
"What happened that day?"
He spoke cautiously.
"Like I said, I was tailing you. Rats and birds gathering intel."
When no one could track me, he'd nearly succeeded.
Just piecing my info together when...
His phone rang.
Hospital call.
By the time he raced there, Han Jo-hee was gone.
"No one noticed her missing. Ridiculous—she dialyzed three times a day. But they swore. She was like that when they returned."
Fists tight, reliving it,
"Everyone said she named 'you' before dying. So you're the killer."
"You didn't buy it."
"You never came near."
Tailing me proved my innocence. But all pointed at me. Real killer ignored.
"Had to see her. They warned off—too gruesome, too shocking. But skipping meant never knowing the truth. So I went."
Before Han Jo-hee's corpse, Han Seohyun dragged his crumbling body up. Mangled—no inch spared. Dying embers, ashes left.
Someone trampled those ashes. Spat, defiled.
So he reached for his brother.
Their final reunion.