Tae Woon had always been unusually prone to falling. His knees were perpetually scraped and bruised, causing constant worry—until Kim Sibaek later discovered that Tae Woon only fell frequently when he was watching.
Even after learning the truth, Kim Sibaek’s heart still ached every time. Today was no exception. He rushed over to help the child who had fallen yet again.
“Hyung.”
The boy raised his tear-filled eyes, and suddenly they widened. Kim Sibaek felt as if he were being pulled into those deep, piercing pupils. Before he knew it, a burning warmth brushed his lips.
Without warning, Tae Woon—now a 35-year-old man—was passionately licking Kim Sibaek’s lips.
“…!”
Kim Sibaek jolted awake, eyes wide open. He stared blankly at the ceiling, instinctively touching his lips. The sensation from the dream—or rather, from last night—remained vividly clear.
“Ah, fuck… I’m really losing it.”
Realizing he was lingering over the memory, Kim Sibaek buried his face in self-disgust.
***
[You guys in Daejeon alright?]
[I live alone near the center, already packed my stuff and ready to bolt LOL]
[Whoa! The Guildmaster of Tobazishu showed up, said they developed a chemical to slow the fruit’s ripening!]
[LOLOL Guildmaster Yoo sniped it perfectly]
[Seriously, I always believed in you!]
└ When did Justyna become a Yoo? She hasn’t even naturalized yet LOL
└└ Didn’t you know? She’s part of the Hanyang Yoo clan.
└└ Nationality doesn’t matter—Seoul refugees all have sticky K-refugee blood running through their veins.
└ Justyna is God Justyna is God Justyna is God Justyna is God Justyna is God
└└ Hey, don’t call her Justyna—she’s literally 『Lance』 herself.
[Wait, wasn’t Justyna’s arm broken just a second ago?]
[The camera turned away briefly, and suddenly her arm was completely fine? What just happened???]
└ Earlier, a streamer sneaked into the restricted area to film secretly and got caught by the Agency Hunters. Before the stream cut off, I swear someone was healing her arm—not with bandages but actual healing powers.
└└ Bullshit, stop making stuff up.
└└ Heal my ass. Heal your brain first.
└ I saw that stream too. It’s legit. Though it was from afar, a Hunter definitely touched Justyna’s arm, and it instantly healed.
└└ LOL Then tell us who that Hunter was, attention-seeking bastards. Are you really chasing clout at a life-or-death disaster? Toss these jerks to Giantvine.
[Yo, WTF just happened?? There’s an Eid Portal right by the core, about to mutate???]
[A human was inside a monster??? How does that even make sense???]
└ Giantvine fruit bursting vs Eid Portal exploding, we’re screwed either way.
└ ??? Tae Woon just entered?? Is he insane??
└└ Holy shit, that’s Mad Dog class LOL Went in casually like he’s strolling home.
└└└ Even a mutating portal can’t stop the Mad Dog’s temperament.
└ But who’s the Hunter who went in with Tae Woon…?
└└ Seven Guild Hunter maybe?
└└└ Nah, portals about to mutate are barely manageable for A-ranks. It’d need an S-rank at least to handle the mental strain. Seven doesn’t have S-ranks. Any other guilds with S-ranks good enough to match Tae Woon?
└ Then who the hell is it???
[What do I do about my parents? We were packing to evacuate after hearing there was a portal nearby, but when they found out Tae Woon went in, they just sat back down to watch TV…ㅠㅠ I’m terrified, but they keep saying it’ll be fine…ㅠㅠ]
└ Are your parents Seoul refugees?
└└ Yeah ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└└└ Can’t blame them then. My grandma’s also a Seoul refugee—she panicked at first, worried she’d become an Eid Portal host, but once Tae Woon entered, she relaxed and started peeling mandarins while watching TV.
└ Ugh, Seoul refugees always make such a fuss LOL Like you’re the only ones who went through the Cataclysm? Even cultists would be less hysterical.
└└ You asshole, if you watched a middle-schooler bleeding out while desperately protecting people during the Cataclysm and still don’t believe in him, are you even human??
└└└ Are you also a refugee?
└└└└ My older sister was. We’d given up hope and even held a memorial service on the day she disappeared. Then she came back alive after being with Tae Woon in Seoul.
└└└└└ Glad she made it home safely.
People waited anxiously amid fear, confusion, and dread, desperate for news that the Eid Portal had been cleared. After 24 unbearable minutes—each minute dragging on like an hour—the portal stopped mutating. Cheers erupted from TVs, monitors, and phones everywhere.
When the Hunters who had entered the portal finally returned to reality, the live chat—which had been flooding nonstop—briefly froze in shock.
—???????
—WTF is going on
—**?
—Is that really Tae Woon?? Looks like he got swapped with a monster inside…
—Even if Tae Woon were carrying an unconscious person princess-style, he’d get mocked. But this is the opposite…?
—LMAO The world must’ve ended, and we’re all dead, dreaming this nonsense.
—Tae Woon looks surprisingly pretty being carried like that. Looks totally natural, like a princess LOL
—↑ Have you lost it?
—He probably weighs at least 100 kg, but they’re effortlessly carrying him like he’s some plush doll. Definitely an S-rank.
—Maybe he was seriously injured inside the portal…
—But he walked just fine when they put him down???
—Then why was he being carried??
—Not just carried—he was holding onto their neck really intimately. What’s their relationship?
—Seriously, who the hell is that Hunter??
Kim Sibaek, completely unaware he’d become an overnight celebrity—the kind of figure people obsessed over for their daily dopamine rush—went about his usual day, aside from the troubling dream. With his new resident registration card in hand, he stopped by the bank early that morning to open a savings account and even bought snacks for Lord Biendeoé before heading home.
“It’s fortunate no one died, but it certainly feels unnatural.”
[Death and Beauty strongly believes there’s something artificial behind it.]
Even in Mak Slechth, it was exceptionally rare for Giantvine to sprout and overrun urban buildings without causing a single fatality. Injuries were minimal as well—most escaped unscathed or with just minor scratches. Those seriously wounded were confined entirely to the group transferred from the Management Center and those discovered at the Manastone Exchange.
“Without my intervention, the seriously injured would likely have died.”
That was clearly intentional. Gathering the severely injured into a single place was suspiciously artificial.
If the Paladins of Chaos or their followers were responsible, they had gained little from such an elaborate scheme. If anything, they had merely exposed humanity to the unsettling reality that monsters and humans could cooperate—or worse, that monsters could manipulate humans.
The Eid Portal’s host had promptly committed suicide upon discovery. An autopsy revealed drug consumption as the cause of the portal’s creation. Investigators were busy tracing the host’s past movements, but whether it would yield useful results remained uncertain.
Overall, the situation felt disturbingly unfinished—as if a carefully planned event had abruptly halted halfway through.
“By the way, what exactly was that ‘Fragment of Longing’ mentioned as the clear reward?”
[Death and Beauty is equally puzzled, encouraging you to think carefully about whether you truly gained nothing from the Eid Portal.]
Something gained from the Eid Portal… Kim Sibaek thoughtfully stroked his chin. Other than the manastones earned from combat, he had acquired nothing tangible. He was experienced enough that a fight with an ordinary monster wouldn’t grant him meaningful growth. If he had to pinpoint one benefit…
“I got to see a lot of adorable, 14-year-old Woonie.”
[Death and Beauty recoils in disgust, questioning how you can still find him cute after what he did immediately upon exiting the portal.]
“Well… it’s true that 35-year-old Woonie said something that made me want to smack him. But that doesn’t change the cuteness of his 14-year-old self. Besides, he’s still cute even at 35.”
“……”
Lord Biendeoé’s bird-like face wore an unmistakably speechless expression.
[Death and Beauty laments deeply, remarking that her Apostle’s condition is severe.]
“When you put it that way… maybe briefly meeting Woonie’s younger self was the actual reward.”
He’d said it casually, but now that he thought about it, it sounded quite plausible. He’d seen a version of Tae Woon he’d believed lost forever and gained deeper insight into what Tae Woon had endured in Seoul twenty-one years ago.
“For someone else, maybe it wouldn’t mean much, but for me, it’s more than enough.”
[Death and Beauty concedes, stating if her Apostle feels satisfied, she has no further objections.]
As long as her Apostle felt fulfilled, any reward would suffice. While Lord Biendeoé busied herself grooming her feathers with her beak, Kim Sibaek suddenly asked, his voice oddly serious:
“Still… how did our sweet Woonie—an innocent angel who seemed accidentally dropped from heaven—grow up to become an adult who says such harsh things?”
[Death and Beauty despairs, asking how your god could possibly know something like that.]
In her distress, Lord Biendeoé accidentally plucked out three feathers, causing a brief fuss. As Kim Sibaek calmly brushed and arranged the fallen feathers, Lord Biendeoé quietly observed him before finally speaking. Although using Divine Power felt wasteful, Divine Words simply couldn’t convey the nuance.
“Sibaek.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Why are you relieved that your younger brother only desired a physical relationship?”
