Chapter 111: Training for Tomorrow

As a result, Seoul’s temperature returned to normal the moment the hunters exited the gate.

Those who had been exposed to the brief, abnormal cold wave quickly adjusted to the sudden return of summer heat, slipping back into short sleeves and resuming their daily routines.

Dokyeom was no different. As if questioning the layers he’d worn just days before, he fanned himself with his hand while gathering his belongings and stepping out of the hospital. The blazing sun bore down on the crown of his head.

He was finally saying goodbye to the hospital where he’d spent three days. In truth, he wanted to stay a few more days and milk it, but he had matters to settle with Taeseongyeon, and at this point, he needed to sort out what needed to be done.

Besides—

[The demon ‘Orias’ of the ‘Lemegeton’ wails that they missed your sable.]

‘Orias’, who had been held captive by the ‘Managers’ and lectured, had just returned. They had come early this morning while Dokyeom was half-asleep, spilling out their lament. The memory of having to respond to them was all too vivid.

“Alright, I get it. I missed you too, okay?”

[The demon ‘Orias’ of the ‘Lemegeton’ declares they will die because of your completely unconvincing lies, and steps onto the windowsill.]

…That was the reality.

While listening to Orias’s grumbling about jumping out the window, a small compact car pulled up in front of the hospital. A hand popped out of the wide-open window and waved back and forth like a windshield wiper the moment it spotted Dokyeom.

“Looks like perfect timing.”

Beom Yeonhu’s voice sounded from behind, returning after completing the discharge procedures. His broad back, which naturally took the luggage from Dokyeom’s hands, moved ahead first.

Looking at that solid back, Dokyeom suddenly felt something had changed. A quiet feeling. Or a peaceful flow.

He could vaguely guess that this incident had become a turning point for Beom Yeonhu. It might have influenced the shift in his state of mind.

Watching the broad back leading the way, Dokyeom pulled Agon and Dali along and followed behind.

“Whoa, here comes our famous Hunter Han!”

“Ah, yes.”

“What kind of lackluster answer is that? You’re draining the energy out of the person congratulating you. Oh, I watched that video live too. Wow, you totally carried them, didn’t you?”

Kim Seongyun, with a teasing expression, slapped the door panel and cackled. Still, among Beom Yeonhu’s friends, he was one of the more reliable ones, so his attitude didn’t feel malicious.

“Ah, who knew that mess would happen when I was down in the countryside visiting my grandfather? If it weren’t for that, I would’ve come along somehow… I saw Kang Taesan and Byeon Yeongchan’s faces—they were completely pale. What a sight. Such a waste.”

Even as he laughed and cackled, Kim Seongyun clicked his tongue in lament. He stepped on the accelerator only after Beom Yeonhu loaded all the luggage and got into the car.

Sure enough, even in this sweltering weather, the broken air conditioner showed no signs of working. Dokyeom fanned himself with his hand and caught the wind pouring in through the open car window.

Then, after a moment, Kim Seongyun suddenly spoke.

“Hey, weren’t you saying you needed to pick up the test results you got the other day? Wouldn’t it be better to stop by the Association on the way? It’s on the route anyway.”

“Right, I almost forgot… Sure, I’ll leave it to you, Seongyun.”

“Then shall we head to the Association first?”

The car, with its blinker on, soon turned onto an unintended route. Dokyeom quietly watched the scenery reflected in the rearview mirror.

If it was a test result sheet, that meant he had undergone a rank assessment. Taking the test meant Beom Yeonhu himself had become curious about his own changes.

“Hyung, why the sudden test? Are you sick?”

“It’s not that I’m sick; the representative recommended it.”

“Taeseongyeon-ssi did?”

Beom Yeonhu merely nodded in response, ending the conversation. It felt as though he was deliberately holding back on this topic.

Maybe his rank went up.

That must be what Beom Yeonhu was thinking. Yet his eyes, with their long tails, seemed full of thoughts. It must be a complicated feeling for him. Because it was a process he had gone through several times, and the results had always been disheartening.

Whether it would end in mere hope or in joy could only be determined after receiving the paper.

“Dokyeom, if you’re tired, get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get to the hotel.”

Beom Yeonhu’s voice, suggesting Dokyeom rest as if the ride was long, sounded muffled and heavy. His eyes were already closing from the crushing fatigue, and he felt glad for the suggestion.

He had been in this state ever since waking up in the hospital room. It seemed like excessive aftereffects, but considering he hadn’t slept properly for days on the snowy mountain, his body might now be making a fuss over the accumulated fatigue.

[The demon ‘Orias’ of the ‘Lemegeton’ looks at you with pity, saying you’ve become a sick chicken.]

“This won’t do, Agon. Lend me your shoulder.”

Dokyeom, nodding off like a sick chicken as Orias put it, leaned his head against Agon’s broad shoulder and closed his eyes. A hand came up over the shoulder and gently stroked his hair. Eventually, it rubbed against his skin throughout the ride, checking his health by his body temperature, even touching his earlobe.

Perhaps that was why; it felt like he had only closed his eyes for a moment, but when he woke, the car had stopped. Through blurry vision, he looked ahead to see Beom Yeonhu’s seat empty, and beside him, Kim Seongyun was drinking a beverage.

“What, you’re awake? It might take a while, so just sleep more. He went in a long time ago, but that bastard Beom Yeonhu isn’t coming out. Something about a re-examination.”

“When… did he go?”

“About thirty minutes ago. I called him, and he’s said ‘I’m coming’ five times already.”

Hearing that, Dokyeom realized his stiff neck and stretched out long. The heat instantly rushed in. He flapped his clothes to create a breeze, when suddenly thirst surged up.

“I’ll quickly go grab some water, so please watch them for a moment. If you see Yeonhu hyung, I’ll bring him along.”

“…These kids, you know? They’re really fierce. Especially that one with the blue eyes.”

“They’re docile if you don’t provoke them, yes.”

Dokyeom squeezed out of the car and straightened his hunched back. After telling Agon and Dali not to bite anyone, he started walking, but footsteps sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw the two monsters, who had heard his earlier words, following him.

Dokyeom could only sigh and extend his hand.

“Alright, let’s go, go. You guys must have thorns in your mouths when you’re apart.”

Leading the two monsters under the scorching sun, he headed toward a rest area with a vending machine and shade canopy. The deep shadow seemed to slightly blunt the onslaught of heat.

Dokyeom quickly grabbed a water from the vending machine and gulped it down. Then he gave some snacks from the snack vending machine to Dali and handed a new bottle of water to Agon. He patted the seat next to him.

“Agon, come here. Let’s have a talk about our future.”

Agon, who had slightly furrowed his smooth brow, sat down silently at the spot where the pale hand patted. Their eyes suddenly met. Dokyeom turned his body and calmly met Agon’s gaze.

Those hours when his mind went dark.

When the had released and his body tore apart, Agon must have experienced the aftereffects too. It was during one early morning, when Dokyeom had woken with a start for some reason, that the image of Agon lying collapsed, twitching his fingertips, surfaced in a fragmented memory.

Agon’s breath, as he habitually stroked Dokyeom’s back, was quiet. He tilted his head as if asking why he woke, looking at Dokyeom. His languidly opened, water-colored eyes met Dokyeom’s gaze for a moment, then scanned his body, and as if deciding to sleep again, he licked his eyelids with his tongue.

The hazy memories from inside the cave. There, Agon had been ‘outside the line’. Behind people who didn’t even care about him, he struggled to rise, gasping for breath alone from skill aftereffects.

Who could understand that pain?

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll use your skill for an hour each day. Don’t refuse. If you refuse, you’ll go through what happened then again.”

Those steps, swallowing pain and struggling to get up to approach Dokyeom, kept being pushed back by the people surrounding Dokyeom’s writhing form. It was like a wall.

Should I kill them all?

Dokyeom had no way of knowing the murderous intent that flickered in those eyes, but he knew exactly the situation Agon had faced at the time. Even Dali had been forced back as if chased away.

He wondered how furious and anxious Agon must have been.

Both of them must have found that situation unbearably painful. All of it stemmed from not having enough ‘experience’ to cope with skill aftereffects.

“Whether you keep at it until you get used to it, or until you adapt to the pain, let’s first try and see. After that, whether you refuse or not, I’ll leave it to your choice. For now, let’s at least get to the point where you can escape minimal crisis situations.”

So that it never happens again.

He must have understood well. Agon’s eyes, blinking slowly, dropped like a setting moon. Those eyes were deep in thought. But in the end, as if convinced, Agon nodded and replied with a sigh.

_Shwaek—_

“Dali, you have to do it too when hyung asks you later.”

_Ppyaek—_

Dali, who had been sitting next to Agon eating snacks, opened their small mouth to answer. Then, blinking their gentle eyes, they suddenly held out a snack.

“Oh my, our Dali. Worried hyung might starve? Hyung will just have one, so the rest are all yours.”

Dokyeom picked up one of the rice crackers Dali offered and put it in his mouth, crunching on it. At that moment, from far away, at the entrance of the Hunter Association building, someone familiar walked out. Their pace was twice as fast as usual, as if being chased.

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