“To be precise, I lured monsters to kill them instead.”

It was a plausible statement. With his surprisingly extensive knowledge, it wouldn’t have been difficult to quickly dispose of a couple of adults. But there was no need to tell this to someone he just met.

“Why?”

“I wanted this.”

The young Ryu Seo-ha suddenly pulled out two gold teeth from the front pocket of his backpack. Choi Gang-hu chuckled and shook his head.

“You’re lying.”

The child’s large eyes trembled slightly, as if he hadn’t expected to be called out so directly on his nonsensical statement.

“…I’ll give them to you.”

The small palm stained with blood held out the gold teeth. Gold is highly valued, both then and now. It’s easy to apply production-type abilities to it. It was especially compatible with wind-awakened individuals.

His intention was probably to divert Choi Gang-hu’s attention with this if possible, and if that failed, to create a weakness that would prevent them from heading to the base together, thereby laying out a last resort.

“Did you always protect others by putting your own life on the line like this?”

An angry rebuke involuntarily burst out. For the young and weak him, appealing to his own goodness must have been as important a means of survival as usefulness. To give up that advantage to protect the base.

“Why go to such lengths…”

As he showed his discomfort, the child’s hand began to tremble finely. Choi Gang-hu stared at that delicate trembling for a while before reaching out to take the gold teeth.

He had decided to watch with his own eyes. To see exactly what kind of life the young Ryu Seo-ha had lived through. For that, he needed a pretext to let him go.

“You can go now.”

When he pretended to be a thug doing a favor with a crooked nod, the anxious look on the child’s face brightened slightly, as if relieved.

The child bowed quickly and hurriedly left the building, afraid of being caught. Even in the midst of this, the sight of him muffling his footsteps and being wary of his surroundings drew a sigh.

Skill ‘Shadow Movement’ is activated.

Choi Gang-hu activated his stealth skill and began to quietly follow the young Ryu Seo-ha. The child often looked back to check if he was being followed.

Several times while re-stopping the bleeding of his wound, and while moving carefully. It was understandable to be concerned since he hadn’t particularly hidden the fact that he knew about him.

The intersection market that he arrived at, skillfully avoiding monsters lurking everywhere by hiding and moving with that small body, was in a mess.

“…Golden-horned wolves.”

Recognizing the type of monster that had invaded the market just by the shape of the excrement, Ryu Seo-ha first headed to the construction site located at the back. Then he covered his body with mud to mask his scent.

Next, after examining the faintly remaining footprints and figuring out the main movement routes of the monsters, he carefully entered the market avoiding those paths.

It took less than 10 minutes for the child to fill his backpack with daily necessities strewn under fallen shelves and come out. This was evidence of how familiar he was with this act.

As night fell while returning to the base, he hid his body in a deep place inside a commercial building. It was a dusty, narrow, and dark warehouse.

“Hooo…”

The child, who was blowing warm breath on his cold hands and feet, carefully took off his clothes after putting down the heavy backpack. His body, which he neatly wiped every nook and cranny with a single wet wipe, was full of large and small wounds.

There were scars that seemed to have been bitten by sharp teeth or torn by animal claws, but they were mainly injuries that looked like they had been hit by something blunt. Bluish-black bruises covering his entire skin. Judging by their location and shape, they weren’t simply marks from rolling around.

Choi Gang-hu, who almost unconsciously gritted his teeth, closed his eyes tightly. Reminding himself that this was just a scene within a hallucination. Grumble, the child’s stomach clock cried out as if in protest.

“…Just one.”

After hesitating for a long time while hugging the backpack, he hesitantly took out a protein bar. The sight of him hurriedly eating it until his cheeks were full like a squirrel preparing for winter was both pitiful and lovable.

The child, who stayed up all night alone rubbing his eyes even when drowsiness overwhelmed him, moved for several more hours. After encountering monsters and fleeing, he finally arrived at an elementary school after many twists and turns.

“What took you so long!”

A violent hand suddenly approached and snatched away the backpack the young Ryu Seo-ha was carrying. A man with numerous piercings on his nostrils rummaged through the bag and frowned deeply.

“Is this all? Where’s the meat? The freezer at the mart should still be working, right?”

“There were monsters in the direction of the butcher shop…”

“Damn… So you came empty-handed? Are you crazy? What happened to the guys who went with you?”

“While opening the convenience store door, the wind chime sound made both of them…”

“They all died? You bastard, what were you doing not to prevent even that, huh?”

The pierced man tapped the child’s sweat-soaked forehead irritably.

“Didn’t you say you’d prove your usefulness? You should have warned them in advance by using that little head of yours. If you can’t even do that, why should we keep a kid like you around? Huh? Right, isn’t it?”

He almost forgot he was in stealth and nearly intervened to cut off the man’s hand right then and there. Choi Gang-hu, trying hard to calm his anger, quietly memorized the pierced man’s face.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hey, spread your arms and jump in place. The amount you brought is not small. If anything you’ve hidden comes out, you’re really dead.”

“Woah, canned tuna!”

As the guy was about to scold the child again while enforcing discipline, a woman who suddenly appeared from somewhere picked up the canned food that filled the backpack and made a foolish sound. It was Ryu Jeong-ah.

“There’s beef jerky too! Wow, as expected of my little brother! The menu selection is amazing! Right, oppa?”

“Ack!”

The pierced man let out a short scream as the hand that was slapping his back while grinning broadly was apparently harder than it looked.

“Ack, what…!”

“Oh! Dried squid! The boss loves this! Seo-ha, let’s go! Let’s hurry inside and report!”

“Aoh…”

Regardless of how the guy reacted, Ryu Jeong-ah maintained her high tension and pulled the small hand into the indoor gymnasium.

“No, why are you going along with this nonsense?”

“If I talk back, they won’t distribute food properly.”

“That thug, he’s like that because I rejected his advances. From now on, use me as an excuse to get away.”

“Okay, I will.”

After parting with his sister, the child went up alone to the second floor where the leader of the group, an awakened one, stayed. The space, where curtains were installed to block the view from the lower floor, was filled with mattresses and various luxury items.

“Seo-ha, you’re here? You’re a bit late.”

A muscular man who came out to greet him before he could announce his return showed a suspicious smile. The child bowed slightly with an expression trying hard to hide his anxiety at the voice that seemed affectionate at first glance.

“I’m back.”

“So, all the other guys died?”

“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, why are you bowing your head? As long as you brought food, it’s fine, right?”

“…”

It was obvious why the muscular man was pretending to be generous like this. He needed a sacrificial lamb who would go out on reconnaissance without regard for their own safety.

“You’ll work hard to get more, right?”

“…Yes.”

“I heard a gate appeared in front of the subway station. Let’s quickly go to the convenience store before that bursts.”

As expected, an order to go out again immediately was given. The inside of the subway station was a place even awakened ones didn’t dare to enter easily, as it was shrouded in dark darkness.

“Then, after resting a little…”

“Ssseup─!”

The muscular man grabbed the child’s hair with his strong hand and made a hissing sound as if scolding him fiercely in response to the small opinion he gave after much hesitation.

“You should behave, right? For your sister’s sake too.”

The muscular man threatened as if admonishing him, facing the large eyes looking up at him with his head tilted back. The young Ryu Seo-ha’s eyes wavered at the statement that accurately dug into his weakness.

In a world where the rule of law had collapsed, women and children lacking physical strength were merely prey that could be easily handled. Although this group’s leader, the muscular man, was somewhat reasonable to deal with, most weren’t.

This was why they had to belong to the group controlled by the muscular man despite such treatment. For fear that Ryu Jeong-ah, left alone while he was out gathering supplies, might be exposed to attacks from outside groups.

“Let’s go quickly before those Intersection guys beat us to it.”

The muscular man lightly tapped the small head lost in thought and smirked. Right after that,

“Argh!”

A scream mixed with the smell of blood rang out. The child’s eyes widened even more at the sudden appearance of Choi Gang-hu.

“Mister…”

The terrifyingly cold gaze that had been looking down at the muscular man rolling on the floor clutching his severed wrist turned towards the child. The lips that had been expressing surprise closed tightly like a clam.

“I’m curious how Ryu Seo-ha would have handled this.”

Choi Gang-hu let out the voice he had been holding back all along. While neatly stepping on the back of the muscular man who was writhing like an insect with foam in his mouth.

“I’m not very patient.”

As he applied force to his foot, the horrifying sound of a spine being crushed and a terrible scream ringing out became entangled.

“I just can’t stand watching this.”

While continuing to speak as he crunched on the joints in order, the muscular man’s subordinates came rushing in.

“Boss!”

“Crazy, who the hell is that guy!”

“Hey, get him!”

The fate of those who attacked recklessly like that was miserable.

Skill ‘Wind Blade’ is activated.

They were all sliced away in one blow before they could even scream.

“…Hyung.”

The young Ryu Seo-ha, who had been blankly watching the scene of blood mist rising, called out to him. Before he could harbor any sentiment about the very different form of address from just moments ago,

“Is this perhaps a dream?”

The world shook violently.