* * *
“Huff… Huff….”
Thump— Thump— Thump—
Before the sun had even risen, in the deep darkness of dawn, Jihak was out jogging around his house, his hood pulled down low to cover his face completely.
To others, it might seem too dark to exercise, but Jihak felt more at home in the darkness.
‘My stamina is pathetic.’
Jihak was exercising so early because he recently realized how poor his physical condition was.
Though he knew his strength had waned after spending just over a month in the hospital, he hadn’t anticipated it to be this bad.
‘A body that can’t even withstand such minimal exertion… This is embarrassing.’
Moreover, he had been shocked when he discovered that his body couldn’t endure showing off his strength to Jihyun, Hyunmin, and Doogi.
Compared to before, he hadn’t even used much power, yet it still wasn’t enough.
‘At this rate, I won’t be able to unleash my full strength. A typical human body can’t withstand magical energy… If that’s the case….’
During his time in hell, Jihak had encountered countless souls and learned there were places entirely different from the world he knew.
Among the souls were the greatest sorcerers and knights from their human lives.
Curious, Jihak absorbed diverse knowledge from these souls and learned how to apply it. He even researched how to use this knowledge with demonic energy.
Although unintentional at the time, it now seemed like he had prepared for his eventual return to a human form.
Thanks to that, Jihak could now convert demonic energy into mana and use it. However, he needed a body that could withstand the demonic energy.
“Phew….”
Jihak ran a considerable distance and headed towards a small mountain near his home.
Upon arriving, he paused to catch his breath, ensuring no one was around before sitting down cross-legged.
“Inhale. Exhale….”
Slowly, he began converting demonic energy into mana, absorbing it into his body.
Unlike ordinary knights who focused mana in their abdomen, mage in their hearts, or spirit summoners in their heads, Jihak absorbed mana with his entire body, which increased his body’s durability.
It was possible because he didn’t need to store mana. As someone who could use demonic energy, Jihak had no reason to accumulate mana in his body.
Sssss—
As mana gathered around Jihak, the sweat from his jog evaporated, creating steam. After about 30 minutes, the surroundings began to lighten with the approaching dawn.
“Exhale….”
Jihak finished his mana breathing exercise, opened his eyes, and stood up.
“Time to head back. I wonder if Mom’s awake.”
Feeling lighter after the exercise, Jihak ran home at a faster pace and soon arrived.
Tap, tap, tap—
Just then, someone hurriedly approached the spot Jihak had left.
“This should be the place….”
“Huff… Huff….”
One man, seemingly searching for something, looked around before another approached him.
“What’s the matter?”
“I felt someone’s presence around here.”
“I didn’t sense anything….”
“I’m certain.”
“But we don’t have time for this.”
“I know. Finding the demon is our priority… Let’s move.”
“Yes.”
They quickly left, but the first man kept glancing back, thinking, ‘Could there be another demon?’
His eyes remained fixed on where Jihak had been, as if he had missed something significant.
* * *
Breathing in the crisp dawn air, Jihak quietly entered his house.
“Where have you been?”
“Mom, you’re up?”
“Yes, I just woke up.”
“I was out exercising. I feel like I’ve lost a lot of stamina lately.”
“That makes sense, considering how long you were in the hospital. Wait a bit, and I’ll make breakfast.”
“Okay, I’ll go shower first.”
“Alright.”
A shower after morning exercise was the most refreshing part of the day. When Jihak finished, his mom was already busy preparing breakfast.
“Sit down, it’s ready.”
Today’s breakfast was different from usual. After his father’s incident, they had no steady income since his mom closed the café.
Occasionally, she worked part-time jobs introduced by her café industry contacts, but their meals were usually simple: kimchi, a couple of side dishes, and soybean paste or kimchi stew.
“Is today special? It’s not my birthday.”
“I felt like I haven’t been paying enough attention to you lately, so I made an effort.”
Breakfast included dishes they couldn’t usually afford, like bulgogi and braised fish.
“Mom, if we eat like this all the time, we’ll go broke.”
“It’s fine. Your exams start today, and… your dad’s severance pay came through.”
Mentioning his father’s severance, her voice carried sadness and longing.
‘It finally came through.’
Previously, Jihak had instructed Jihyun’s father, Kim Youngsik, to deposit the settlement money from the altercations involving Jihyun, Hyunmin, Doogi, and himself, along with his father’s severance pay.
It seemed the money had just been deposited.
“How much… did we get?”
“More than I expected. I hadn’t given it much thought with everything going on, but suddenly, there was 80 million won in the account.”
“80 million won!?”
That meant the actual severance was probably around 40 million won.
‘That’s quite low for his years of service.’
It was inevitable.
Father and mother had moved to Seoul from the countryside for Jihak’s education.
Father found a new job here, and mother ran a café with the little money she had saved up while working hard.
“Well, you could reopen the café with that.”
“Hmm…”
Mother couldn’t answer Jihak right away.
Because of recent experiences, she felt a bit skeptical about reopening the café, and more importantly, good locations were very expensive.
In other words, the money they had wouldn’t be enough.
“Let me think about it.”
Unable to make an easy decision, mother forced a bright smile and placed some bulgogi on Jihak’s rice.
“Eat up. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to make delicious meals for you lately.”
“As long as it’s your cooking, mom, it’s fine…”
For Jihak, even just kimchi and rice made for a happy meal.
In the afterlife, he didn’t feel hungry or tired whether he ate or not.
Thinking about this, Jihak found it strange to be human.
The longing for the food he used to eat never went away.
“I’m off. Mom, think about it. I’d like you to keep running the café.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it. Take care.”
After finishing breakfast, Jihak headed to Dojae’s house.
Since they started tutoring, Jihak and Dojae had grown close, even walking to and from school together.
“Hey, you’re out now?”
“Yeah. Hi.”
Model student Dojae always left the house at the same set time, so there was no need to wait long.
On the way to school, Dojae would naturally review yesterday’s lessons with Jihak.
“Got it?”
“Hey, I might have slacked off a bit, but I’ve got the recent stuff down for sure.”
Dojae, looking at Jihak confidently patting his head, adjusted his glasses and gave him a sharp look.
In studies, Jihak couldn’t beat Dojae.
“You know finals start today, right?”
“Yeah…”
“You bombed the midterms. To make up for it, you need to do well in the finals.”
“I know. I lost some points because of someone.”
As they reached school, Jihak saw Jihyun arriving late in a black sedan and remarked,
‘Right. If it weren’t for them during the midterms… I would’ve had time to study.’
Jihak, who could easily be in the middle ranks, messed up his midterms.
The reason was Jihyun and Hyunmin.
Because of their constant bullying, he had no time or peace of mind to study.
Flinch.
Sensing Jihak’s gaze, Jihyun suddenly shrank and looked around nervously.
“Tut tut…”
Feeling sorry for him, Jihak and Dojae approached Jihyun from behind, and Jihak gently placed his hand on Jihyun’s shoulder.
“Ah!”
Startled by the hand on his shoulder, Jihyun sank to the ground.
Seeing this, a few nearby students giggled.
“What’s got you so scared? Done something wrong?”
“N-no. Nothing. Really.”
Jihyun was known as a troublemaker at school.
Yet, within a few days, he became quiet and couldn’t stand up to Jihak.
While some students were surprised, most thought it was a good thing.
“Okay. But your friends seem different.”
“My… friends?”
Jihyun wondered if Jihak meant Hyunmin and the others, but he realized it wasn’t about them.
“Not from our class, but some kids from another class were making a ruckus. Dojae almost got his tuition money stolen.”
Mentioning the incident when he first met Dojae, Jihak saw Dojae’s slight surprise.
“Know who they are?”
Nod.
Jihyun nodded at Jihak’s words.
There weren’t many who would steal from others while hanging out with him.
“Should I go tell them to stop?”
Hearing Jihak’s calm tone, Jihyun started to sweat and his hands trembled.
“I-I’ll talk to them.”
“Can I trust you?”
“Yes. Really. I’ll handle it.”
“Good. But if those kids bother anyone else and I find out… I’ll come looking for you.”
Chill.
Understanding what Jihak meant, Jihyun nodded vigorously.
“Then I’ll go. Better talk to them…”
“Already? Take your time.”
“No, these things need to be done quickly.”
Whatever was urgent, Jihyun hurried off to inform his friends of Jihak’s message.
“Thanks.”
“Huh?”
Watching this, Dojae thanked Jihak sincerely.
“Thanks for looking out for me the other day.”
“That’s not it…”
Dojae thought Jihak did it to stop others from bothering him.
But Jihak’s intention was different.
He was just worried that anyone bothering Dojae would interfere with their tutoring.
‘Seems like he’s misunderstanding something…’
Realizing Dojae misunderstood his intention, Jihak didn’t bother correcting it.
He simply found explaining further too troublesome.
* * *
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