* * *
“This is bad. I can’t enter a dungeon for 20 days… I’m gonna starve to death.”
“There’s a cafeteria in the training center. Meals are only 5,000 won.”
“Yeah, I saw. Stir-fried pork’s on the menu today. But even 5,000 won is a lot for me. Ah… What am I supposed to do for lunch? You go ahead and enjoy your meal—I’ll just chug some water from the dispenser.”
Seohwa was reminded of the days he lived in constant hunger. Not even that long ago—just three years back, he had spent nearly fifteen years never knowing what it was like to feel full.
‘Hunter Seohwa. Here’s a packed meal.’
‘…You’re giving me food? Why?’
‘Because of my skill, I hate you. But I acknowledge that you’re necessary. So don’t starve to death.’
Once, before entering a training dungeon, someone from the organization had given him a packed meal.
Seohwa had been so moved that he carefully stored it in his inventory, saving it for when he was truly starving.
The day finally came. After three bites, he realized.
The meal had been poisoned.
After that, he only ate crops he grew himself.
That’s why he had insisted on having a vegetable garden when negotiating for his residence.
He avoided even store-bought food.
Poisoning a pre-packaged meal was easy for a Hunter.
Even on nights when the whole team was laughing, drinking, and eating barbecue, Seohwa sat alone in his tent, drinking nothing but water.
The memory was still vivid.
“…I’ll buy you a meal ticket, sir.”
“Oh? Really?”
“Yes. I’ll cover your meals during training.”
The middle-aged Hunter immediately grinned like he had been waiting for those words.
“You’re a good kid, Poison King!”
“Please don’t call me that. It’s Lee Yujay.”
“Then you shouldn’t call me ‘sir’ either. The name’s Wang Jungsoo.”
Just as they were introducing themselves—creak.
The door opened, and the instructor walked in. He looked nervous, like it was his first interview, and wore a perfectly pressed suit.
He handed out thin booklets titled “A Safe Guide for Adventurers: Identifying Poisonous Mushrooms and Harmful Plants” and “Avoiding Danger Zones: Safe Movement and Conduct in Dungeons.”
Seohwa assumed the instructor had simply brought extras, but no—
“We’re waiting for one more trainee to arrive.”
Which meant there were five people in total.
Wang Jungsoo muttered, “That’s it?” Seohwa, on the other hand, thought—
That’s too many.
This is way too crowded.
Dam Yunjin suddenly raised his hand.
“Let’s make the latecomer write their name with their butt!”
A childish idea coming from a 35-year-old.
The instructor, however, turned pale.
“T-That person… You can’t… That’s absolutely impossible.”
“Why? Who is it?”
Before he could answer, the door swung open.
The person who walked in exuded overwhelming presence.
It was none other than Kang Yigeon.
∗ ∗ ∗
Kang Yigeon had been in a coma for nearly two months due to an overdose of potions.
According to Korean Awakener Law, potion overdose required mandatory re-education, with no exceptions.
Seohwa had always assumed he would have to undergo the training eventually.
‘But I didn’t think it would be this soon….’
Almost as soon as he woke up, no less.
Was he really okay?
Mentally, he was said to be in an unstable state.
He could have taken the training after fully recovering.
Even for an EX-rank, this was too harsh for someone who had been a patient for so long.
What had Danbaek been doing instead of protecting the vice Guild Leader?
The Awakener Bureau told them to send him, but they really just threw him in like this…
The desperate voice that had screamed his name still echoed in his ears.
Seohwa couldn’t stop worrying about how battered both his body and mind must be.
He was so concerned, yet he couldn’t even say a word—only watch from the sidelines as the morning lecture went on.
The moment Kang Yigeon left the lecture hall, Seohwa let out a deep sigh.
Wang Jungsoo, oblivious to his inner turmoil, greeted him cheerfully.
“Hey, Yuje, let’s go grab lunch.”
“Ah.”
Seohwa took out some cash and handed it to Wang Jungsoo.
“Enjoy your meal.”
“Huh? Just me?”
“Yes. I’m on a meal plan.”
“What? You said you’d buy me food during the whole training!”
“Yes. Use this to buy your meal.”
Of course, he had never meant they would eat together.
He was simply offering to pay.
Wang Jungsoo tilted his head, looking confused as if to say, ‘Is this for real?’
But he took the money and disappeared.
Left alone in the empty lecture hall, Seohwa ate a single energy bar.
He couldn’t help but worry—was Kang Yigeon eating properly?
Even in the afternoon, Seohwa kept glancing at the back of Kang Yigeon’s head, unable to focus on anything else.
“You’re going to burn a hole in his skull at this rate,” someone commented.
“Why are you so interested in Hunter Kang?”
During a short break, while Kang Yigeon had stepped out, Wang Jungsoo plopped down in front of Seohwa and whispered.
“Is there even a single hunter in Korea not interested in him?”
“Well, fair enough. But you seem especially invested.”
“He looks so sickly, like he might collapse any second. I can’t look away. If someone as powerful as him were to fall, it’d be a great loss to the world.”
“Who’s sickly?”
“He was in a coma until recently! Making him undergo training the moment he wakes up is unreasonable. Uncle, want to file a petition with me? If we get just ten signatures, the Awakener Bureau might actually respond.”
Wang Jungsoo pulled a face.
“Do we… really need to do all that? He probably just wants to get it over with. He looks fine to me.”
“Fine? He’s skin and bones—his face is practically half its usual size.”
“He’s tall, broad-shouldered, and his skin practically glows with health.”
“That pale complexion screams illness. Sitting there, he looks as fragile as a dried leaf that would crumble at the slightest touch…”
“His sun-kissed skin and upright posture are more like an ancient tree standing tall for thousands of years.”
“The moment he walked in, I was worried. He looked so ephemeral, like he might vanish into thin air.”
“I thought a grizzly bear was charging in to eat us.”
Their conversation was going nowhere.
But then, Kang Yigeon returned, cutting it short.
Wang Jungsoo glanced at his textbook while sneaking looks at the man built like a wall.
It was hard to believe he had been in a coma for almost two months.
His sheer presence was overwhelming.
Even the chair supporting him seemed pitiable—like it was at greater risk of breaking than the man himself.
‘His food expenses must be insane.’
That was the only thought that crossed Wang Jungsoo’s mind.
Meanwhile, Seohwa, still seated behind Kang Yigeon, continued to worry.
‘I should keep the emergency number ready in case he collapses.’
He pulled up 119 on his phone and spent the entire lecture fidgeting, eyes darting toward Kang Yigeon.
But even after nearly nine hours of lectures, Kang Yigeon didn’t collapse.
He was the first to gather his things and left like the wind.
“See that, Yuje? He’s not just fine—he’s completely healthy. EX-rank bodies recover differently from ours.”
“It’s all mental strength. He’s probably swallowing painkillers in secret, away from everyone’s eyes…”
“I can’t even sense his presence anymore. He’s completely gone.”
“I wish he’d just stop holding it in and collapse already…”
“…Yuje, do you have some kind of weird kink?”
Even though Wang Jungsoo couldn’t sense him, Seohwa still felt Kang Yigeon’s presence.
He had stopped in the parking lot.
That was unexpected.
Shouldn’t he have disappeared already?
He seemed to be talking to someone.
Seohwa quickly packed his things.
“Anyway, I’m heading out. See you tomorrow.”
“Wait. Yuje, what are you up to now? Heading home?”
Seohwa tensed.
“Why do you ask? When my day is over, I usually just go home like any normal person. Sometimes, I have a drink with friends—just a casual weekday evening.”
“Why are you so on edge? You’re not a cat.”
“…?”
“Dinner’s on me. Let’s eat together.”
“……”
Let’s eat together.
He couldn’t even remember the last time someone had said that to him.
At the very least, it had been more than 18 years.
“I mean, when you gave me the meal ticket earlier, I thought we’d be eating together. But you literally just gave me the ticket.”
Of course. Eating together had never been part of the deal.
“I mean, I was thick-skinned enough to accept it, but it still weighed on my conscience. Besides, I still have money left from my reimbursement. So, come on, let’s eat.”
“……”
A strange warmth gathered in his chest, creeping up to his face.
Wang Jungsoo took half a step back.
“Yuje, why is your face red…?”
His vision blurred slightly.
Wang Jungsoo dramatically crossed his arms into an X.
“Uh, listen. I’m flattered, but I have a wife built like a Triceratops and a kid as wild as a T-Rex—”
“Yes. Let’s eat together.”
“…Wait, just—just dinner, right? Purely as colleagues. As comrades.”
“Yes, Jungsoo hyung.”
“AAAHH!”
Wang Jungsoo practically leapt in horror.
“Just call me Uncle!”
Hadn’t he told him not to call him that before?
Seohwa didn’t understand, but people were impossible to understand anyway.
“Yes, Uncle.”
“……No, wait. This isn’t any better….”
As they continued speaking in circles, someone slung an arm over Seohwa’s shoulder and casually joined the conversation.
* * *
