Yoon Seo suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and looked to the side. A bony hand was extending a clump of blue moss toward him.
'Seo Chaeyoon, eat this.'
'Did you remove the poison from that?'
'I don't know. But eat it anyway.'
'Aah, why are you picking on my poor Chaeyoon? Give it to me, I'll remove the poison for you.'
'Once the poison is removed, there'll be nothing left to eat. Seo Chaeyoon is S-rank, so he won't die from a little poison. Better to fill your stomach.'
There were some people who just shoved moss at him without a second thought…
'I was starving. Is that the right way to say it?'
'That's right. You're getting better at Korean now.'
'I have now mastered Korean. When I leave, I will become a translator.'
'I'll cheer you on.'
'Hey, Chaeyoon. If you're hungry, want to eat this? It doesn't taste good, but it's poison-free.'
'Seo Chaeyoon, if you're hungry, they say to eat this. No taste, no poison.'
'I don't need translation for that…'
There was a time he laughed, and it had been a long time since.
Yoon Seo blinked, and the starved people vanished as the present scene came back into view. Soo Jaehee, Hong Euiyoon, and Park Soobin were practically inhaling their kimchi fried rice, while Kwon Jihan was half-opening the cap of his water bottle, staring at Yoon Seo.
"What?"
"No, I just thought you might need water."
"I don't."
"Okay. What were you thinking about?"
Kwon Jihan asked as he closed the bottle cap.
Yoon Seo thought briefly before answering.
"The moss over there."
Yoon Seo pointed at the dark green moss densely covering the wall. Not only Kwon Jihan, but everyone nearby also looked at the moss.
"Yeah, what about the moss?"
"That dark green moss tastes a bit sour."
"..."
"The purple moss below it is a bit spicy."
"..."
"Come to think of it, the sour or spicy flavors might have been because the poison wasn't fully removed."
"..."
"It just crossed my mind. Let's eat."
"..."
After Yoon Seo made the atmosphere solemn, he picked up his spoon again and took a big scoop of the kimchi fried rice sprinkled with sesame seeds, putting it in his mouth.
He closed his lips and chewed more than twenty times, nom nom.
While he was chewing thoroughly, the surroundings remained silent for quite some time.
***
Burning them with
"Good work. Today, we had dozens of injured again, so we'll rest for a day and head down tomorrow at 7 a.m."
While Do Deungsoo and the lower-ranked hunters cleaned up the battlefield, Kwon Jihan and Yoon Seo took turns washing up. With the tall ceiling and wide ground, they had parked eight campers, one of which belonged to Kwon Jihan and Yoon Seo.
"Hyung, sit down."
As soon as Yoon Seo came out after washing, Kwon Jihan made him sit on the bed. Without knowing why, Yoon Seo sat down, and Kwon Jihan brought a first aid kit and knelt down in front of him.
"Your ankle."
"My ankle isn't injured, though."
"Shush, just give it here, hyung. Before I use force."
"You think you can beat me if you use force?"
"Ah, come on, please."
Kwon Jihan twisted his shoulders as if pleading, and Yoon Seo eventually lifted his right foot.
From his foot to his knee, Yoon Seo's leg was completely bruised in deep blue—it was all from the bruising. Though he had light injuries all over his body, his leg was the worst. He had slammed it against a rock during the battle. The moment he groaned in pain, healing skills from Park Soobin and others around him flew towards him, but none worked.
Kwon Jihan carefully placed Yoon Seo's foot on his thigh and began treating it with a serious expression.
"It's not fractured, right?"
"No, there's no problem with the bones."
"Well, that's a relief, but it must hurt a lot."
"Not really. If I wasn't an Awakened, my leg would've broken."
"If you weren't an Awakened, your leg would've broken, been healed, and gone back to normal."
"..."
What's this? Is Kwon Jihan mad again?
Yoon Seo glanced at Kwon Jihan's face, trying to gauge his mood. That's when it happened.
[The God of Life says, 'Kwon Jihan' is angry.]
A message from the God of Life popped up, as if advising Yoon Seo to tread carefully. He quietly lowered his gaze.
In the stillness, Kwon Jihan continued his treatment with skilled hands. After finishing, he tidily pulled down Yoon Seo's pant leg and spoke.
"Hyung, I just got a system message. It says my rage gauge is full. It's asking if I want to activate my Berserker trait."
"What?"
"Oh, never mind, the cooldown hasn't reset yet, so it canceled automatically."
"..."
Yoon Seo felt a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't just the fact that he'd never seen the trait activation message before, but something else…
"Why is your rage gauge full in the first place?"
"I don't know. I was just healing my hyung's bruised leg, which is resistance to healing skills. So why did it trigger?"
"..."
"Don't worry. The rage gauge reset to zero, but it'll fill up quickly. Just watching you fight fills it right up."
Kwon Jihan said it so casually, then put the first-aid kit back in its place. Sitting next to Yoon Seo, he started lightly tickling the sleeping Riceball with his finger, looking as normal as ever. But Yoon Seo wasn't fooled.
Yoon Seo rolled his eyes, trying to change the subject.
"That's the first time I've seen a message asking if we want to activate a trait."
"Yeah, it's the first time for me too. Haven't you ever gotten a message like that?"
"No, never."
Kwon Jihan pondered for a moment and then spoke.
"What do you think your 'Creator' trait is like? You said you haven't gained any related skills, right?"
"Yeah."
"When my trait's gauge fills up, it activates automatically. Maybe the Creator trait also has a gauge—like, when the desire to create something hits a certain threshold, it activates."
"Well, it'll probably never activate, then. I don't have anything I want to make."
"Try desperately wanting to create a potion that heals healing resistance. What's the harm in trying?"
"I can't. I'm grateful for this healing resistance, so it'll never happen."
"…Right, I forgot."
Kwon Jihan fell silent again, seemingly lost in thought but without any sign of displeasure.
Suddenly, Yoon Seo remembered something Kwon Jihan had said before—during a conversation they had while discussing 'Existing Spirit.'
'Could it be that we got such great items because it was right after the Great Cataclysm?'
'The displaced beings suddenly appeared on an unprotected Earth, and the gods of protection hurriedly supported humanity. To avert total destruction, they handed out extremely powerful weapons.'
So, could this trait also have something special?
[The God of Life yawns.]
[The God of Death scoffs.]
Or… maybe not.
They continued talking about traits for a while longer, before eventually lying down in their respective beds. Neither of them turned off the lights, nor did they seem interested in sleeping. Yoon Seo absentmindedly petted Riceball and stared at the ceiling when Kwon Jihan suddenly spoke.
"Hyung, when we get back to Earth, let's just stay home and watch dramas. No going out."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I just realized I've never taken a break since I awakened. Never taken a single vacation."
"...."
"You haven't either."
"No, I rested plenty for ten ye—"
"Nope. You haven't rested either, Hyung."
Kwon Jihan softly but firmly denied it and continued speaking.
"When we get out of the dungeon, I'm going to take a long vacation. If they don't let me, maybe I'll leave the guild and work as a mercenary. I want to live less intensely now. Even if a dungeon on the verge of exploding appears or the flood bell rings, I'll just ignore it and watch dramas with you. I'll learn knitting and baking from you. We can go fishing and hiking together. I want to live like that—away from the world's chaos. A little less righteously."
"Less righteously?"
"Yeah."
"...."
Kwon Jihan's voice was calm, but Yoon Seo felt anything but calm. A whirlwind of emotions surged through him. It didn't matter whether Kwon Jihan was being sincere or just saying it casually. The fact that someone who once spoke of the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak was now talking like this represented such a big change.
Yoon Seo thought that a less righteous Kwon Jihan would still be admirable. And he wanted to witness this freer, more relaxed version of him. To see him enjoying a variety of hobbies.
With calloused hands holding knitting needles, he'd ask, 'Hyung, what's the difference between knit and purl stitches?'
Or he'd pour a whole stick of butter and say, 'Why isn't this mixing?' with wide eyes.
He'd be amazed at a fishing spot, saying, 'Was catching a 90cm red seabream really that hard?'
They could search for more cloud shapes, like a small bird that resembles Riceball or dogs that look like the two Jindo puppies Kwon Jihan used to raise. At a scenic cabin deep in the forest, they'd sit in comfy chairs and gaze lazily at the bright blue sky.
Just imagining it brought peace to Yoon Seo's heart. In the past, he could only find peace when imagining everything would end once he died, but now it was the opposite.
It would be truly enjoyable.
To watch a peaceful, relaxed Kwon Jihan by his side….
And Yoon Seo knew what was needed to achieve that peace for him.
"Kwon Jihan Hunter."
Yoon Seo spoke to the awaiting Kwon Jihan.
"I'll teach you baking when we leave the dungeon. Let's try baking something other than chocolate crack cookies. Knitting too. We can go fishing, hiking, and even play the piano together."
"Coloring books too."
"Sure, coloring books too."
Yoon Seo smiled and continued.
"Once you've had your fill of fun, go back to saving the weak. The children being bullied by thugs need someone kind to help them."
"...."
Kwon Jihan blinked slowly, looking at Yoon Seo.
"Then what will you be doing?"
"I'll be standing behind the person helping those children."
"...."
"You'll save the weak, and I'll protect the kind person saving them…."
Yoon Seo smiled again.
He felt like something heavy that had been pressing on his chest had suddenly lifted.
He couldn't quite understand why he was feeling this overwhelming sense of relief. But one thing was clear—Kwon Jihan's change had brought about a change in himself as well.
Kwon Jihan's expression, blankly staring at him, was so endearing that Yoon Seo was about to speak again. But at that moment, he sensed someone approaching the camper van, their footsteps quick. Both of them knew who it was.
After two knocks, Kwon Jihan told the person to come in, and the door opened.
"Seo Chaeyoon."
Hwashim, with a more serious expression than usual, looked directly at Yoon Seo.
"There's an alert—the medium is nearby."