# 14
‘When you wake up, your body will feel even lighter.’
Hunters who occasionally discovered treasures in dungeons or valuable potion ingredients from monsters would borrow terminology from martial arts novels, saying they had “encountered a fortuitous opportunity.” It meant obtaining an extraordinary chance through remarkable coincidence.
To others, this incident might seem like such a fortuitous opportunity.
But not to Jin-ha.
“That piece of trash.”
The man beyond the portal had played with Jin-ha. He pretended to be a fairy sickness patient, matching Jin-ha’s concerned inquiries, then put him in danger to observe his reactions, enjoying himself with satisfaction.
And at the end…
Jin-ha roughly rubbed the back of his hand across his lips, where a certain sensation remained vivid.
“…Damn it.”
He couldn’t believe he’d been fooled by such a worthless man to the point of wanting to sponsor him and maintain a relationship even after returning to Earth.
Jin-ha wasn’t usually the sentimental type. He wasn’t the kind of person who went out of his way for others, nor was he one to open his heart so easily.
Perhaps the magic cast by that man had worked like a truth serum. Otherwise, Jin-ha wouldn’t have opened his heart so easily and tried so hard to protect the man.
While Jin-ha was swallowing his anger, Cha Ki-young began speaking nonsense despite having just upgraded his health examination.
“Huh? Mom left? Yay! Then let’s use this card to buy dinner! Something expensive! Want to eat tuna sashimi?”
Jin-ha kindly informed Cha Ki-young:
“Your health check-up probably includes a gastroscopy.”
“So what?”
“…For a gastroscopy, you need to eat something easily digestible the night before and fast from 10 PM.”
“Then shall we eat chicken?”
Jin-ha gave him a cold stare, but Cha Ki-young was already searching through delivery apps on his phone.
“Since chicken breast might be hard to digest, let’s order boneless chicken legs. Oh, should I ask Byung-seok from our shop to fry some chicken for us?”
“I told you not to be reckless with employees.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just tell him not to open the shop today.”
“……”
How does this idiot run a business so well?
Jin-ha, who had heard that Cha Ki-young’s bar had recently expanded and relocated, found it baffling. He stared at Cha Ki-young blankly before throwing a pillow at him when it seemed like he was actually going to call his employee.
“Just order some porridge, you idiot.”
Cha Ki-young caught the pillow with one hand, put his phone in his jacket pocket, and approached Jin-ha’s bed with an arrogant smile. He placed the pillow back in its original position, pulled up a chair, and sat down cockily.
“If you knew what I found out, you wouldn’t treat me like this.”
“…Did you get some results?”
“Curious?”
“Hurry up.”
Cha Ki-young took out a file from his bag and handed it to Jin-ha. On the first page was a map of the country with several cities highlighted with fluorescent markers.
“Your father moved around tremendously. From Seoul to Incheon, Busan, Muan, and Chuncheon. He went practically everywhere in the country. I was told it was quite a job tracking each location.”
Jin-ha noticed Cheongju’s Woam Mountain in North Chungcheong Province, which was emphasized with a star.
“What about this place?”
“That’s where your father was first discovered.”
“First discovered?”
“Yes. You know your father grew up in an orphanage, right? But the reason he ended up in an orphanage wasn’t something common like parental divorce—it was because he was found as a missing child.”
Cha Ki-young’s voice grew increasingly secretive as if sharing crucial information. Jin-ha leaned closer as Cha Ki-young leaned toward the bed.
“He was found sitting against a tree trunk in the bushes halfway up Woam Mountain in Cheongju. He was first taken to the police station, but couldn’t answer questions about his family. They checked nearby CCTV footage and questioned hikers and merchants, but couldn’t find any information.”
“As if he emerged from the ground.”
Cha Ki-young nodded in agreement with Jin-ha’s comment.
“Strange, isn’t it? But that’s not the only strange thing.”
Cha Ki-young gestured for Jin-ha to turn the page. The next page was a copy of personal documents issued by the orphanage.
Jin-ha paused while scanning the paper with various information.
“This photo…”
In the photo section of the document was a picture of a different child. He looked so similar that even an acquaintance might mistake him for Jin-ha’s father, but his eyes were black.
“Father’s eyes were blue. This isn’t my father.”
Outside, he pretended to have black eyes, but when he removed his artifact ring, they were blue. Only family members, Mrs. Cha (his mother’s friend), and her son Cha Ki-young knew this.
Come to think of it, it was also strange how thoroughly he kept his blue eyes a secret.
Was there a reason he needed to hide his blue eyes, to conceal his identity?
“Right. Pretty strange, isn’t it? If it were a completely different photo, I would have thought the orphanage director made a mistake. But it looks so similar with only the eye color being different. Extremely suspicious.”
Jin-ha turned the page again at Cha Ki-young’s gesture. This time it was information about Hansori Orphanage. Cha Ki-young pointed to a specific spot on the document.
“Look at the closing date. It’s five years after your father became an adult. And thirteen children were admitted during that time. I checked, and all those kids are dead.”
It was unusual for all thirteen children admitted to one orphanage to die. Either they were murdered, or…
“Were they even alive to begin with?”
Cha Ki-young smiled at Jin-ha’s observation.
“No, they were dead from the start. They revived the family registries of dead children to make it seem like the orphanage operated longer. It was clearly fabricated for your father’s identity.”
“I see…”
“This wasn’t amateur work. Those thirteen individuals are still managed in the system as if they’re socially active today. It’s definitely connected to someone high up. So, Lee Jin-ha, tell me the truth now.”
It had been ten years since Jin-ha’s parents died. Yet his father Lee Seung-jun’s fabricated past was still being meticulously maintained, suggesting his existence was significant.
Whether that significance was positive or negative remained to be seen.
“What exactly do you want to know about my father?”
Jin-ha knew that digging further could be dangerous.
“…Then you should…”
“You know that’s not what I’m asking. Just tell me why you’re doing this.”
After staring at the fabricated information for a moment, Jin-ha placed the documents on the table and said:
“My roots.”
“Roots…? Are such things important in a world like this?”
“They are.”
Jin-ha understood Cha Ki-young’s point. Korea was considered a country that maintained its civilization well. Compared to other countries, it had suffered less damage and fewer casualties. Yet orphans were abundant. Many people didn’t know their roots.
“They’re important to me.”
After staring at Jin-ha for a moment, Cha Ki-young theatrically raised and dropped his shoulders with a sigh.
“Alright. I’ll continue tracking.”
“If it seems dangerous…”
“It’s fine. You saved my life, so I should do at least this much.”
“You’ve more than repaid that debt.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. My life is extremely valuable.”
As if I’m treating it cheaply. Cha Ki-young snorted.
Originally, Cha Ki-young considered Lee Jin-ha an enemy. He was the so-called “friend’s son” that his mother always compared him to—the one who excelled in both academics and sports. Though never verbally compared, Mrs. Cha always compared them with her gaze, and Cha Ki-young decided to become completely rebellious.
Two years into his rebellion, on high school entrance ceremony day—the day the gate overflow took Jin-ha’s parents’ lives—Cha Ki-young was also there. That day, Jin-ha saved Cha Ki-young’s life. Even while losing his parents, Jin-ha didn’t abandon Cha Ki-young.
That was more than enough reason for Cha Ki-young to act as Jin-ha’s supporter now.
“Thank you, Cha Ki-young.”
“Don’t mention it. Don’t thank me for trivial things, just show your face more often. Don’t just work all the time. Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Cha Ki-young glanced sideways at Jin-ha, who pretended not to hear him, but his lips twitched. Despite saying not to thank him, he seemed pleased when Jin-ha thanked him again.
Just then, Cha Ki-young felt his phone vibrate, checked the screen, and jumped up.
“Seok-ho brought chicken and porridge! I’ll go down and get it!”
“What? You actually ordered it?”
“Hey, I told you it’s fine. I’ll be right back!”
Before Jin-ha could say anything more, Cha Ki-young quickly left the room. Jin-ha picked up the pillow again but put it back down as the door closed, preventing him from throwing it. A deep sigh escaped. That guy is going to get himself in serious trouble someday.
Left alone, Jin-ha reopened the documents he had received earlier. He shifted his gaze to the top of the page densely filled with the results of tracking his deceased father’s past.
[Lee Seung-jun]
Country: Republic of Korea
Jin-ha closed his eyes tightly and recalled fragments from the past.
On the day he was caught in the gate overflow, Jin-ha awakened as a Hunter. When the unknown characters filling his vision, wavering with awakening fever, began to appear as Korean characters, the first thing he could read was the identity of the monster attacking his father. The next was the text from a branch extending from his father.
[Born of Abon]
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
