The Meeting of the Savior and the Seeker
Na-yeon stepped into the inner office room and was still engaged in lively banter with the white-haired girl called Dae-yeon.
Amid her manipulation of Na-yeon’s smartphone on the sofa, the office door swung open and the young man she had seen before stepped inside.
“Haaaar…”
“Eonni? Oppa’s here?”
The swirling white ponytail behind Na-yeon as she emerged from the room told me the child had been successfully dragged into the office.
I fixed my gaze on Do-yoon.
The young man, upon meeting my stare, showed a troubled expression before swiftly approaching Na-yeon and beginning to whisper in her ear.
“…How was he? Did he seem okay?”
“Yeah. We’re already super close.”
Can they hear us?
Do-yoon smiled brightly and addressed me.
“Nice to meet you. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“We share a bond. You’re Na-yeon’s brother, right?”
“Huh…!”
Do-yeon’s face twisted in surprise as he turned back to Na-yeon for another urgent whisper.
“The kid’s speech is weird.”
“Slow down on the fixes. …Probably from that lab.”
“Ah.”
Do-yoon fell silent.
In any case, the two saviors who had pulled me from certain death now stood together in one place.
Here, those who had rescued me from rot deserved the proper formal greeting.
I rose, faced the two of them head-on, and raised my hands in a full prostration.
Ah, follow the universal greeting of this era.
Instead, I bowed my head deeply.
“Um… thank you for saving me…?”
“Kyaaak!”
“Gueuhk!”
Na-yeon let out a piercing scream while Do-yeon clutched his chest.
I tilted my head.
“…Why? Did it look weird? I thought this was the accepted greeting method of the era.”
“Ah, no! It was adorable. Hic, I’ve been a good teacher, haven’t I?”
“The guild has turned into a daycare center.”
Na-yeon was wiping away tears.
I felt like an idiot being scolded and almost issued a stern warning, but remembering this was a moment to thank my saviors, I swallowed it down.
“I think I need to talk to your brother for a bit. Can the two of you play over there?”
“Hiiik!”
Na-yeon pushed the hidden child in front of me.
The child jumped in fright and tried to flee back behind Na-yeon, but Na-yeon immediately crouched to match the child’s eye level.
“I have an important meeting, so I’ll come back soon to take care of you, okay?”
“…Yes… yes.”
The girl bowed her head in resignation and answered.
Fascinated by the scene, I sat back on the sofa and turned my attention to the smartphone.
“Fufu.”
I laughed nonstop.
A funny YouTube video played on the screen.
Then I smacked my lips.
This device belongs to Na-yeon, so I can’t use it freely. I’ll have to give it back soon.
How much does a smartphone cost?
Money. Cash.
It’s essential for managing the sect and living in this world.
Of course it is, but money has always been the most important thing, then and now.
I looked up and glanced at the white-haired girl who was trying not to meet my eyes.
She sat carefully on the edge of the chair, fiddling with her fingers while avoiding my gaze.
She was clearly an extremely shy and cautious child.
Yet her inner thoughts were transparent.
She would be curious about the ‘me’ who appeared here.
But she was also hiding her face in shame.
I glanced around and spotted an apple in the basket Do-yoon had brought.
Splash.
The apple suddenly floated in the air, startling the child.
I smiled faintly and moved the apple with a plate to the table in front of the sofa.
Thinking about it, Na-yeon had neatly peeled the apple earlier.
“Like this.”
Shak, shuk.
One swing of my hand and the peel vanished instantly, leaving eight perfectly cut slices arranged on the plate.
“Hueek…”
The white-haired child had already flown into the air.
The child simply stared blankly at the spontaneously sliced apple with its mouth wide open.
I put a slice in my mouth and slid the plate toward the child.
“Eat… no, eat it.”
The tiny hand reached for the apple, picked it up, and brought it to its mouth.
Slurp, slurp. The cute little mouth moving was adorable.
After finishing the apple slice with delicious enjoyment, the child wiggled its body, then moved its bottom toward me and finally spoke up.
“…You’re an awakened?”
“Awakened? Um… I don’t think so.”
“For real? Then how did you do it!? I want to learn too!”
If possessing inner energy inside the body is the standard for being awakened, then I am ‘still’ not awakened.
“It’s possible depending on your training.”
“No way! Awakened people are determined at birth?”
“Hm?”
I had no choice but to question it.
In a world where the energy of nature exists, is someone who can handle inner energy predestined from birth?
I immediately searched on the smartphone.
[Awakened]
[First to manifest among surviving humanity during the Great Calamity]
[Subsequent generations are checked at birth for awakened abilities...]
...
...
The information on awakened people from the wiki was shocking.
Hunter abilities in this world were not powers gained through training.
Although rare cases of innate awakening exist, they are said to occur only once in tens of millions.
Even so.
“Hunter rank is determined by the amount of mana possessed. Normally, rank increases are impossible?”
“Yeah… even within the same rank, stronger people exist. But the size of the vessel that holds the mana? That’s supposedly predetermined.”
“Whoa.”
I set the smartphone down and looked at the child now standing right in front of me.
The excited child’s back straightened in surprise when it caught my gaze and immediately lowered its head.
I gave it a small smile.
“Child, um, would you like me to call you Dae-yeon?”
“…? Yes. I’m Dae-yeon. What’s your name?”
“I am called Wiji-yeon.”
“Ji-yeon.”
“…Yeah, call me Ji-yeon.”
Having already started to like the name ‘Ji-yeon’, I asked softly again.
“So, may I ask why Dae-yeon is interested in awakened abilities?”
“I want to get strong. I want to become a hunter and protect people.”
Dae-yeon’s eyes suddenly held a sorrow far beyond a child’s.
“Um…”
Having heard Dae-yeon’s story, the ten-year-old white-haired child, I recalled my past.
The Heavenly Demon Sect follows the law of the strong.
If you have ambition, origin and status do not matter.
An ordinary warrior could rise to the seat of the supreme being.
Some want to become stronger, some throw themselves into the Heavenly Demon Sect to avenge their grudges.
A child who lost its parents to a monster that burst out of the gate.
In this world, cases like Dae-yeon’s are not particularly rare.
“Most people live inside the city barrier these days, but there are also those who live outside.”
“Is that so?”
“Do-yoon oppa saved me, but the facility was scary. That’s why Na-yeon said I could stay here.”
No tears were visible. They had probably cried enough already.
Dae-yeon had accepted the sudden loss at a young age.
In any case, they were kind siblings.
They took in children with nowhere to go.
“So you were about to open an orphanage?”
“Yeah…?”
“Nothing at all.”
After murmuring to myself for a moment, I faced Dae-yeon directly.
In this era.
Is strength truly predetermined by birth?
I believe not.
And I wanted to prove it with my own body.
“I can make you strong.”
“Really?”
“But it won’t be easy.”
“I’ll do it.”
Dae-yeon sent a doubtful look, but having seen my abilities, the child believed quickly.
Resolution burned in those large obsidian eyes.
It was the same good gaze I had seen in a few others before.
Anyone who possesses such eyes will definitely achieve brilliant success.
And the timing was perfect to begin martial training.
I myself was about to start circulating energy, so it was only natural to watch over Dae-yeon’s training as well.
This Ji-yeon, the first disciple born in a foreign land, receives a disciple.
As a master, I crossed my arms with a proud expression.
“You will become the young sect leader of the newly founded Heavenly Demon Sect. The proper greeting is required.”
“Gubaegi…?”
“Um… so…”
***
“Requesting assistance from Hunter Kim Jin-seong of Daejeon?”
“Yeah. The underground lab incident has reached a point where even I alone cannot handle it.”
Daejeon, the S-rank hunter of the Suryong Guild, Kim Jin-seong.
His name spilled from Do-yeon’s mouth.
“I asked the hunter information agency to track the staff working in the underground lab in this area, but their trail went cold.”
Na-yeon’s face turned serious.
“In Seoul, which is under the control of the Jeokpung Guild…?”
“It’s possible.”
A far larger conspiracy was lurking than expected.
If the Jeokpung Guild, led by the strongest S-rank hunter in Korea, Lee Myeong-won, was the mastermind behind human experiments?
It would not be strange at all for a Jeokpung hunter to burst into this office right now.
Do-yoon calmed the pallid Na-yeon.
“For now, it should be fine. After all, many hunters who participated in the previous external expedition are still alive, and the situation was already chaotic due to the massive ground collapse. Since it’s something in the underworld, we won’t be able to openly search for them.”
“With only the Suryong Guild’s word, can we even report on the Jeokpung?”
“We need evidence. That’s why I have to work harder. Once I get solid proof and gain public support, Kim Jin-seong will move.”
“What about Ji-yeon?”
“You have to hide him inside the guild for a while.”
“Poor thing… I wanted to play outside and have fun…”
Do-yoon had nothing to say to Na-yeon, who was teary-eyed.
“…Already this close? As an experiment subject? What about the dangers of its unprecedented ability?”
“It’s our job to solve it. From now on, Ji-yeon is our kid too.”
“The guild will grow, so we’ll have to open an orphanage right away.”
Do-yoon sighed deeply.
The siblings, having finished their initial meeting, exited the office.
But the state of the two girls they had left to play and abandon was…
“…What are you two doing right now?”
Dae-yeon lay flat on the floor while Ji-yeon stood in front of her, arms crossed and nodding…?
“Ah, Na-yeon unnie. Perfect timing. I’ll be locked inside for a while to do closed-door training, so can you lend me one of the practice rooms?”
“…It seems Ji-yeon doesn’t want to play outside after all.”
“Better that than sorry.”