The Fifth Wave, Part 5

"What the hell? Why again?! I already went through this once!"

Saebyeok's anger flared as he took in his surroundings. Just moments ago, he had been writhing in agony on the floor, yet somehow he had been dragged right back into the midst of war. But his fury made no difference; just like before, he was swept helplessly into the crushing tide of battle.

And so, spear in hand, he waged war once more. He fought, and fought, and fought endlessly. The stench of blood and pus, the sickening rot of putrefying flesh—all of it grew numbingly familiar. How many battlefields had he marched across? Thrusting, slaying, slashing his way through slaughter, he picked up the mastery of various weapons from comrades he met along the way, assimilating every scrap of knowledge into his own arsenal whenever time allowed. Unarmed brawling, dagger techniques, longswords, bows, curved sabers—he wielded every instrument of death he could find amid the endless war. Yet in the end, the only weapon left in his hands was the spear.

Eventually, the war ended, giving way to peace. One by one, the brothers-in-arms who had fought by his side departed to find their own paths, but Saebyeok remained behind. Alone in a forest atop a seaside cliff, he continued his training. It was an obsession bordering on pure madness. Pushing past every physical threshold, he threw himself into manifesting the movements conceived in his mind, striving with everything he had.

Only one desire burned in his soul: the desperate longing to reach the absolute apex of the spear.

At last, he glimpsed perfection—a realm of spearmanship he could genuinely take pride in. Yet no sooner had that pride settled in his chest than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an enigmatic being wielding a pitch-black spear appeared. He could not even tell if it was of his own kin.

And he lost. He lost, and lost, and lost again.

After nearly three hundred defeats, the entity simply left, muttering that it was bored. Left in absolute despair, Saebyeok climbed silently to the edge of the cliff and threw himself into the abyss below.

"Gasp!Haaah, haah… Ah, fuck! Haaah!"

"Are you alright? Here, have some water, Oppa."

"Haaah… Jian… pant, pant… Fuck, what a goddamn nightmare…"

She pulled him into a warm, tight embrace, gently patting his back.

"It's okay. It was just a dream. A dream. You're awake now, back in reality."

"…Yeah. Thanks."

"Hehe. I'm so glad."

"Wait, Jian, what time is it?"

"It's seven in the morning."

"What?! Are you insane?! What about last night's Wave? Was everyone okay? How did—"

"Hold on, slow down. It's okay," Jian soothed, holding him steady. "Everyone is fine, and we handled everything without any problems, so don't worry."

"Phew… Really? Thank god…"

"Some people even called it an opportunity. So relax, you don't need to stress." Comforting Saebyeok, Jian recounted the events of the previous night. "From what I heard, Gayeong made an incredible contribution as our Druid."

The mart's scouting squads were carefully balanced around combat-capable members. The objective was to involve as wide a variety of survivors as possible to familiarize them with reconnaissance and search operations, all while Lee Jaehoon and Lee Sanghyeon provided vantage overwatch and fire support from rooftops or secured buildings.

On the evening of the eleventh day, while out on a sweep, Song Gayeong had detected the uncanny rustling of alien flora rather than the typical mana signature of a Summoning Stone. Doyoung, the squad leader, took her report seriously. Following her lead, the team tracked the anomaly to a detached house spewing out pitch-black briars.

"The rest of the squad hacked through the tentacle-like brambles and successfully shattered the Summoning Stone," Jian explained.

Moreover, since Gayeong supplied nearly all the fresh vegetables for the settlement, no one grumbled about her claiming the CP from the kill.

"Gayeong is the core of the mart, after all," Saebyeok said with a wry chuckle. "Even if someone wanted to be greedy, they wouldn't dare." He paused, looking down at his hands before making up his mind. "Jian, since we're already here, I might as well ingest the Microparticle Mana Symbiotic Organism Incubation Core. Shasha said all I had to do was swallow it… Keep an eye on me again, alright?"

"Of course. You can count on me."

Pop!

Gulp.

…

…

"Are you feeling alright, Oppa?" Jian asked cautiously.

"Uh…"

…

"Nothing's happening. Which honestly makes it scarier."

…

Reading the prompt hanging in his vision, Saebyeok broke the silence. "Ah. It says it's taking root, but if my mana runs low, it might cause extreme exhaustion."

"Wait, didn't you say your mana stat was quite high?"

"Yeah, it's ranked High…"

"Then there shouldn't be any problem. What a relief."

"Right… Let's head out quick. Did Shasha pack up and leave?" Saebyeok asked, feeling antsy after losing track of time.

"Yes. The shop opens daily, but each window doesn't seem to last very long. I'm not entirely certain, but once most people in the mart finished buying, the shop just vanished into thin air."

"If that store spawned randomly around the map, we'd have been totally screwed… Cruel system bastards," Saebyeok muttered as he pulled his clothes back on.

"Truly. We probably wouldn't have been able to live comfortably like this, would we?"

"Exactly… Sigh. Anyway, thank you, Jian. I got some good rest thanks to you."

"Don't mention it."

Saebyeok planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Hehe."

Heading up to the rooftop, Saebyeok found Doyoung, Seoyeon, and Heejin deep in conversation.

"Oh!! I was just about to head down! Gah, talk about timing!" Heejin squealed.

"What are you rambling about…?" Saebyeok turned to Doyoung. "Doyoung-hyung, everything go smoothly? Jian filled me in on the basics, but…"

"Yeah, Gayeong pulled off something huge. She earned quite a bit of CP and went on a shopping spree right after. Picked up a grimoire, some tomes, and a staff. Said she can accelerate plant growth much more aggressively now."

"Oho! A true Druid! That's awesome."

"Heh, how about you? You feeling alright?"

"Not at all. Thought I was gonna die."

"Why?"

"Well, after upgrading, I had a dream… and it ended with suicide."

The air instantly froze. Everyone's expressions hardened into horrified stares. It took Saebyeok a split second to realize that every single person standing on the roof knew about his prophetic dreams.

"Ah! No, wait, not like that! It wasn't a vision! It was a dream about spearmanship! The person was insanely strong, but the conclusion was just completely empty. It made me realize I need to train a lot harder."

"You already train like a maniac, and you want to do more?" Doyoung grimaced at him in mock disgust. "Man, you would've thrived in my old unit. Seriously."

"Hyung, you couldn't pay me enough to join the Special Forces. I like taking things easy."

"Says the guy who piles mountains of work onto his own plate."

"Ha… I can't completely deny that, but I'm definitely not someone who enjoys living on the extreme edge."

"…Well, I'm just glad nothing serious happened." Doyoung gripped Saebyeok's shoulder, patting it firmly.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Hyung."

"Don't mention it! Oh, and by the way, do me a favor and take care of Heejin too. From what I can tell, Seoyeon's at her wit's end trying to manage her…"

"Wait, what?"

"I'm counting on you~!" With a boisterous wave, Doyoung and Seoyeon headed downstairs.

"Phew… Jian, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm going to take a shower and get some exercise in, so go get some rest."

"Alright, Oppa."

"Oppa, what about me?" Heejin chimed in, batting her eyelashes.

"Hmm… How about you do whatever you want?"

"Tch! So mean!!"

"There, there, Heejin. Don't pout. Come sleep with Unni. You worked hard last night too, didn't you?" Jian coaxed gently.

"Okay!! Hmph! From this second on, Unni belongs to me! I'm not giving her back to you, so consider yourself warned!!"

"Haah… Doyoung-hyung… I don't think I can handle her either…" Saebyeok groaned.

"Excuse me?! What did you just say?!!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding… Just go rest up."

"Hmph, fine!!"

What went wrong? Why did I lose in that dream?

Ever since waking up, the question had clung relentlessly to Saebyeok's thoughts.

How could that wielder of the black spear be so overwhelmingly strong? Was it even a man? Well, not that gender mattered…

In the dream, Saebyeok had possessed the head of a cephalopod atop a humanoid body. It was knowledge bestowed directly by the skill, but because the physique remained fundamentally humanoid, internalizing and tracing the trajectories of those spear techniques came far more naturally.

Saebyeok reviewed the memories of those three hundred consecutive duels step by step.

His spear shifted like a serpent right here… I tried to parry it by circling inward like this… but it got deflected. And then I completely missed the thrust slicing in from this angle! Dammit, what kind of flow was that?

He was so thoroughly captivated by the lingering afterimages of that duel that night fell before he even had a chance to test the capabilities of the newly ingested incubation core.

"Haaah…"

"Huh? Oppa, what's wrong?" Hearing his heavy sigh, Heejin poked her head out inquisitively.

"Nothing… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Just not enough training time… and not enough enlightenment…"

"Oppa!! That's an addiction!! Look at my cute face right now and detoxify yourself!!"

"Sigh… If I can't overcome this hurdle, I won't have the confidence to survive out here…"

"Unni… Oppa's broken. Do something to fix him!"

At Heejin's plea, Jian silently stepped up behind Saebyeok and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.

"Oppa, let's survive together again today, and train together tomorrow."

Saebyeok gently stroked her hands resting against his chest.

"Yeah. Let's do that."

"Whoa!!"

Pulling out a notepad from who knows where, Heejin furiously scribbled down what Jian had just done. "Note to self: do this exact move next time!!!"

…

…

"Still, Oppa, I like that Heejin never changes," Jian whispered softly.

"I don't dislike it either… In fact, I suppose I'm quite fond of it."

Jian smiled warmly. "You've already decided not to push her away, haven't you? It's okay. I've grown to adore her too. She has traits I completely lack… There are moments I feel a pang of envy or jealousy, but at this point, the mart would feel lonely without her around."

Knowing that Jian was going out of her way to be considerate and ease his emotional burden, a bittersweet weight pressed against Saebyeok's chest. "I understand what you're saying… but you're always number one to me. If you both fell into the water, I'd pull you out first without a second thought."

"Hehe. That makes me happy."

"Hey!! You two!! Why are you keeping all the fun to yourselves?!"

While Saebyeok and Jian were whispering to each other, Heejin barged in, shoving her face right between them with an indignant pout.

"Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready?" Saebyeok asked.

"I told you, my preparations are already completely flawless!!"

"Sigh… I'm worried."

"Sigh… I'm worried."

Saebyeok and Jian sighed in unison, giving Heejin identical looks of utter doubt.

"Hmph!! I'm good at this, you know! I even learned how to rappel down ropes today!!"

"Uh-huh. Sure you did."

"I'm not someone who gets treated like this in normal times, you know! Just you watch—I'm going to rack up serious achievements tonight and show you both what I'm made of!!"

…

"Jian, keep a very close eye on her so she doesn't do something crazy… I'm actually a little scared."

"Understood…"