Flames That Breathe, Qi Awakens
Before dawn broke, Yoo Min-jeong slipped out of her tent and went for her usual run. The high altitude made her breath come short in no time.
The other raiders training here mocked her for doing what seemed like carrier workouts.
Even with not enough time to absorb the heat from the active volcano and boost her affinity for fire, to them, Yoo Min-jeong just looked like she was needlessly pushing her body too hard.
Her heart felt like it was about to burst.
Every dawn, Yoo Min-jeong wrestled with the urge to drop this damned jogging from her training regimen. If not for the image of Kim Jun surging ten meters ahead every time she ran, she would've switched to something easier long ago.
For Yoo Min-jeong, these predawn runs were... her desperate struggle not to fall behind Kim Jun.
Wherever he was, Kim Jun was surely training even more brutally, even more tenaciously than this.
Anxiety seeped into her chest.
She knew the reason all too well.
Yeom Sang-taek was learning from Crazy Buffer Yang Hee-seon. Though retired, Yang Hee-seon had once been the strongest buffer in the world.
No doubt Yeom Sang-taek would become incredibly strong.
Choi Muhyun was gaining real combat experience in the underground arena under his father Choi Min-su's guidance. In that deadly pit where serious injuries or even death were possible, Choi Muhyun would grow into a true warrior, a true tanker.
Kim Jun had a master. That meant the master had prepared a special training program just for him.
'Me... I've got no one. Dad's gone into Jirisan.'
Maybe that's why this anxiety drove her to train even harder.
The jogging route ended with a lap around the crater.
Even though everyone else avoided the dangerous spot, Yoo Min-jeong charged ahead without hesitation.
Right nearby, scarlet lava bubbled menacingly. If it decided to surge on a whim, she wouldn't survive.
Then, footsteps approached from behind.
Yoo Min-jeong startled. No raiders here ran at dawn. And this was the crater rim, no less.
A man she'd never seen was running right beside her. But his face looked familiar.
Sculpted features, eyes glowing blue, and an aura radiating energy beyond mere handsomeness.
"Ah?"
"Fame's a real pain sometimes. Name's Jerry. You?"
"...Yoo Min-jeong."
"Korean? Then you know Yoo Wan-seop, right?"
"Yes."
Yoo Min-jeong had no intention of coasting on her father's halo. Back home, everyone knew without her saying a word, and that made things awfully uncomfortable.
"He's an amazing raider. Shame about losing his arm on Devils Day."
Yoo Min-jeong let slip that Yoo Wan-seop had resumed training.
She didn't mention being his daughter.
Jerry's face visibly brightened.
"Ah, that's great. Really. So why the run? Other raiders hate this kind of exercise."
"...It's training I've done for a long time."
Yoo Min-jeong couldn't tell a top-tier raider like Jerry about carriers.
"Aha, I knew it! Korean raiders are something else. Jogging's essential for raiders. Helps you loosen up your body. The idiots sleeping in their tents are fools. They mock tough training 'cause they know nothing."
"I didn't know."
"Doing it without knowing makes you even more impressive. I tell every raider I meet about running training, but no one takes me seriously. That's why raider quality's dropping."
They'd already lapped the crater once.
Yoo Min-jeong decided to do another lap to hear more from Jerry. Chances like this were rare.
Jerry kept running with her.
Halfway through the second lap, Yoo Min-jeong sensed the lava stirring.
"Up!"
"Up!"
Yoo Min-jeong and Jerry shouted in unison.
The moment they scrambled up the slope, lava erupted, covering the path. Thick white smoke billowed, blotting out the view.
They climbed nonstop to the hilltop and gazed down at the crater's lava pool.
"You've got sharp senses."
"It's gotten better since coming here."
"Hm, since we're fated like this, here's a tip. Master it with your body, and you'll break past Level 6 to Level 5, even Level 4. You're Level 6 now, right?"
"How'd you know?"
Yoo Min-jeong was stunned.
"I'd hardly be Jerry the Fire if I couldn't tell that much. Anyway, my advice: Fire is alive. Just like you and me. Think of it as a mere natural phenomenon, and you won't reach higher realms. Got it? Fire is alive."
"...Fire is alive?"
"Think on it. See ya."
Jerry waved and headed down the mountain.
Yoo Min-jeong etched his words into her heart.
Fire is alive.
Nam Eung-ryeol sat on a rock, kicking the seawater with his feet. A light splashing rhythm.
A brief silence.
The old man kicked again, making noise with his feet.
Kim Jun lying up on that cliff was making him increasingly impatient. He needed to catch fish quick and head up.
The fish-luring dance, 'eomu', required leisure. To draw up cunning, suspicious fish like the black porgy to the surface, you had to act more nonchalant than any actor.
After getting kicked out of the Dungeon Association, he'd wandered the world aimlessly.
He'd spent months in Japan just to see Mount Fuji.
Then half a year in Florence, Italy.
He'd climb the Duomo with a bread stuffed with offal—lampredotto—in hand, filling his view with that beautiful medieval city.
Paris, exactly one month.
The city was gorgeous, but the people there rubbed him wrong. Still, he planned to revisit the Louvre someday.
Traveling Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas—everywhere—Nam Eung-ryeol met a peculiar man in Papua New Guinea. A fisherman who called sharks to the surface.
He stuck with the guy for months. Observed up close, even called sharks on command.
Nam Eung-ryeol took it a step further.
Not just sharks—he lured other fish the same way.
The shark caller marveled at the method, tried learning it, but without raider talent, he fell short.
Eomu varies by region.
Fish habits differ with sea conditions.
The porgies here responded to a soft yet forceful eomu. Kim Jun had gone to the seafloor barehanded to grab them—that method surprised Nam Eung-ryeol more.
Finally, one approached.
It circled slower than usual. Half-hypnotized.
One chance only.
Miss it, and it'd vanish to the depths. No more response to eomu.
Nam Eung-ryeol struck the surface with his qi-infused palm. The massive black porgy fainted from the vibration—a hundred times stronger than an electric shock—and floated up.
"Time to wake up today."
Grabbing the fish, Nam Eung-ryeol hopped rock to rock like stepping stones, three or four meters apart.
It was Kim Jun's third day in a coma.
Just occasional facial twitches or furrowed brows.
Nam Eung-ryeol set the meal tray beside Kim Jun. No reaction even to the grilled black porgy's aroma. Since Kim Jun collapsed, Nam Eung-ryeol hadn't eaten either.
Just sips of water now and then.
The old man checked Kim Jun's body. Pulse, temperature with his fingers.
Death's presence grew stronger.
If a doctor were here, they'd say Kim Jun was dying. Might even call survival so far a miracle.
Nam Eung-ryeol gazed down at Kim Jun.
"Pull through."
A heartfelt wish.
Regret filled him.
The accusation of killing clients out of greed as "Partrones"... might be true. No, it was. Why couldn't he let go? Why not be content?
Yet there was anticipation too.
No one but Kim Jun had climbed so close to Moomyeonggong's peak. A non-raider reaching this far was a miracle itself.
Lyposaurus's recovery helped, but without his will, it'd have ended.
He wanted to help.
No—he'd have if he could.
Any foreign power now would shatter the delicate balance, killing him instead of helping.
Kim Jun's fight.
Only he could win it.
"You can do it."
Nam Eung-ryeol reached out, stroking Kim Jun's hair.
On the fourth night, changes came to Kim Jun's body.
His pitch-black, sunburned skin peeled away, revealing fresh, pale, clear skin beneath. Occasional bone-cracking sounds echoed from within.
Nam Eung-ryeol couldn't hide his excitement.
'This is Bone Transformation!'
Nails fell out, replaced by tougher, perfect ones.
Watching through the night, Nam Eung-ryeol judged Moomyeonggong's foundation complete. But danger lingered.
Only Kim Jun waking would confirm it.
Kim Jun awoke on the fifth day.
His hazy eyes fixed on Nam Eung-ryeol as he rasped.
"Where... am I?"
Nam Eung-ryeol's heart sank. Forcing the vessel might've shattered his mind.
"Who's grandpa? Who... am I?"
Nam Eung-ryeol sighed.
Even this last hope had failed.
Moomyeonggong, achieved at the cost of Dungeon Association expulsion... was just an incomplete art after all.
Body transformed, but mind broken by agony.
Then, stifled laughter.
Kim Jun clutched his mouth, shoulders shaking.
"You rascal!"
"I'm starving. Could crunch rocks like snacks."
Kim Jun grinned wide.
Relieved, Nam Eung-ryeol smacked his occiput and headed to the hut. The meal was ready but cold—grilled fish, veggie soup.
He prepped extra fish just in case, grilled it fresh, reheated the soup.
Then called Kim Jun to eat.
He devoured it so eagerly, Nam Eung-ryeol's mood lifted.
Nam Eung-ryeol sat too, eating a bit. He'd starved like Kim Jun.
"Slow down, kid."
"How'd you catch this? Even scraping the seafloor, fat ones like this are rare."
Kim Jun pointed at the red sea bream dominating half the tray. His mouth was stuffed with its flesh.
"I'll teach you later."
"One more bowl, please."
Kim Jun held out his empty bowl.
Taking it, Nam Eung-ryeol subtly jabbed his solar plexus with a finger.
As qi-tipped force pierced inward, rebound force surged from within.
The finger bounced back.
Both startled.
Playing it cool, Nam Eung-ryeol grabbed the bowl and went to the pot, grinning unseen. Just the start, but the body was complete.
That rebound proved it.
"What was that?"
Kim Jun glared.
"Checking training results."
The old man stood tall.
"If it failed, I'd be comatose again."
"Exactly."
Nam Eung-ryeol hid his joy. Leaders must stay cool. Authority demands it.
Absurd, Kim Jun took the bowl.
Plenty to say, but food first.
While Kim Jun wolfed five bowls, Nam Eung-ryeol jabbed thrice more—chest, shoulder, back. All rebounded.
"Satisfied now?"
"Tch, that mouth of yours."
A sly smile crept on.
Nam Eung-ryeol was thrilled—the body exceeded expectations.
"Training's over, right?"
"Vessel's ready. But now it begins. What fills it matters more, no?"
"True enough."
"Attitude's gotten cocky."
"Blame the teacher."
Even that didn't irk Nam Eung-ryeol.
This hellish trial between life and death changes the heart, the personality naturally.
Already gutsy, now he'd never back down anywhere.
Come to think, Go Cheolmin was meek when they met. Training turned the mild man into a berserk bear.
"Follow me."
Nam Eung-ryeol led Kim Jun to Yeongun Island's largest forest. Dense canopy, deep shade.
A broad rock sat in the center.
"Sit."
Kim Jun plopped casually, legs stretched on the rock. Training done. His body told him.
Never felt this refreshed.
"Close your eyes. Feel what's around you."
Nam Eung-ryeol fought showing anticipation.
Kim Jun closed his eyes slowly.
"Nothing."
"Don't try. Just be still. You'll feel tiny particles floating in the air."
After 15 minutes, Kim Jun gasped.
"Ah! I feel it!"
"That's qi. Dealers and buffers call it mana."
"......"
Kim Jun went speechless.
He knew qi and mana. Only raiders sense them. Normals can't, any method.
Modern science couldn't prove them. Only dungeon cores reacted.
'I sense qi? Detect mana? Then... I can be a raider?'
"Don't get excited. You still can't be a raider."
Nam Eung-ryeol burst the bubble.
Kim Jun's eyes snapped open, glaring. Focus gone, particles vanished.
"Frustrated?"
"Obviously. After all that hell."
"Don't despair too much. You can learn not just martial arts, but magic too."
"...What's that mean?"
"Dungeon Association won't recognize you as a raider. No awakening. You forged this body through effort. Lyposaurus recovery helped, but it was just a condition. Without will, you'd have failed."
"Can't be raider without being born one."
Kim Jun nailed it.
"Right."
Nam Eung-ryeol hid nothing. The stronger he got, the more opposition, resistance, attacks. Might fight the whole Association.
"Eh, carrier's not bad."
Kim Jun shrugged.
"Really think that?"
"Just be the universe's strongest carrier."
Nam Eung-ryeol couldn't hold back laughter at that.
His booming guffaws shook the forest.