The screams behind him were mercifully short, cut off by the sickening sound of snapping bone and the wet tearing of fabric. Hyun-Jae didn't turn around. He couldn't. His ten years of mental conditioning screamed a single, cold truth: If you stop, you're next. He pushed his body harder, the artifact ring on his foot burning with a sharp, rhythmic heat as he sprinted through the metallic brush, dodging low-hanging crystalline branches that threatened to flay his skin.
Finally, his lungs burning like they were filled with acid, he skidded to a halt behind the massive trunk of a shimmering tree. He leaned against it, gasping for air, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He was alone. The silence of the forest had returned, but it felt heavier now, stained.
Crack.
The sound of a dry branch snapping underfoot echoed from a nearby thicket.
Hyun-Jae's blood turned to ice. He was too exhausted to outrun another pack. If it was the wolves, he was dead. His hand searched the ground, his fingers closing around a heavy, jagged piece of metallic ore. He gripped it until his knuckles turned white and spun around, his body coiled to strike with everything he had left.
"Who's there?" he hissed, raising the stone.
"Easy, kid! Lower the rock."
Hyun-Jae blinked, his vision clearing. It wasn't a monster. Standing a few meters away was a small group of humans wearing standard-issue military tactical vests, rugged enough for a hike, but woefully thin against the potential of Etherea-based attacks. They carried basic steel blades and reinforced batons.
At the center of the group was a face Hyun-Jae recognized instantly.
"Ejun?" Hyun-Jae lowered the rock slightly, his breath coming in ragged hitches.
Ejun, the high-ranking Awakened who had been with Sena in that dark alley, stared at him in genuine shock. He looked him up and down, his brow furrowing as he tried to reconcile the exhausted, sweat-soaked boy in front of him with the powerless civilian he'd seen getting shaken down for money just days ago.
"You?" Ejun blurted out, his hand resting on the hilt of a combat knife. "The kid from the alleyway? What the hell are you doing here?" He looked at the jagged rock in Hyun-Jae's hand and then at the dull, fake E-Rank mark on his neck. "You... you awakened? And you actually survived this long?".
The other C-Ranks in the group looked at Hyun-Jae with a mix of pity and annoyance. To them, an E-Rank, especially a brand-new one, was just a liability in a culling where every second mattered.
"The others... the wolves got them," Hyun-Jae said, dropping the rock as his legs finally began to shake from the adrenaline crash.
Ejun exhaled, checking the perimeter with a practiced gaze. He still looked skeptical, but there was no time for a full interrogation. "Those things are everywhere. You're lucky you ran into us instead of another pack." He stepped closer, his expression hardening. "Look, kid, I don't know how you got here, but the question is: can you keep up? We're moving toward the center of the zone, and we aren't stopping for anyone who trips."
Hyun-Jae fell into step behind the group, keeping his pace steady despite the exhaustion gnawing at his muscles. The C-Ranks moved with a practiced rhythm, their eyes constantly scanning the metallic canopy. As the initial adrenaline faded, a tense silence settled over the group, broken only by the crunch of silver leaves.
"Ejun," Hyun-Jae started, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why aren't you with Sena? I thought you were her right hand."
Ejun's stride faltered for a fraction of a second, his expression darkening. "Sena... she made a different call. She teamed up with the other B-Ranks from the European and American sectors. They decided a high-rank-only squad was the most efficient way to clear the culling."
"Oh," Hyun-Jae replied. He wasn't entirely surprised. Efficiency above all else, he thought bitterly but he didn't hate her for it. Sena didn't play favorites; she played the odds, and a group of C-Ranks was clearly a variable she didn't want to carry.
Ejun turned his head slightly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Hyun-Jae. "Forget about her. I'm more curious about you. How does a civilian get shaken down in an alleyway on Monday and show up as an Awakened on Friday? That's not how late-blooming works. Did something happen?"
Hyun-Jae felt a sweat that wasn't from the heat break out on his neck. "I... I think the stress of the countdown just triggered it. I didn't even know until the military showed up."
Ejun didn't look convinced. He opened his mouth to press further, but the forest didn't give him the chance.
Low snarls erupted from the shadows as a small pack of three obsidian-quilled wolves burst from the underbrush. They were faster than the ones before, their eyes glowing with a feral, milky light.
"Formation!" Ejun barked, his combat knife flashing.
The C-Ranks moved instantly. They were prepared this time, using their tactical vests to absorb glancing blows and their steel batons to keep the beasts at bay. Hyun-Jae felt useless. His body was too slow, his Etherea too unstable. But as one wolf lunged toward a distracted teammate, Hyun-Jae acted on instinct. He grabbed a jagged ore-stone from the ground and hurled it with every ounce of strength he had.
The stone caught the wolf right in its glowing eye. It wasn't a killing blow, but the beast yelped and faltered, giving the C-Rank soldier enough time to drive a reinforced blade through its neck.
"Watch out!" Ejun's voice echoed.
Another wolf leaped from the side, its claws raking across Hyun-Jae's shoulder before he could move. The pain was white-hot, and he collapsed to one knee, the metallic quills having sliced right through his jacket. Before the beast could go for his throat, Ejun was there, his boot connecting with the wolf's ribs and his knife finishing the job.
The skirmish ended as quickly as it began. The three wolves lay dead, their bioluminescent blood staining the grey soil.
Ejun knelt beside Hyun-Jae, his hands beginning to glow with a soft, warm green light. He placed his palm over the gash on Hyun-Jae's shoulder. The burning sensation faded instantly, replaced by a soothing coolness as the skin began to knit back together.
"You're a magnet for trouble, kid," Ejun said, though his voice was softer now, devoid of the earlier suspicion. "But thanks for the assist back there. That stone saved my teammates arm."
Hyun-Jae looked at the closed wound and then at Ejun. He felt a flicker of genuine guilt for the lies he was telling. These people were risking their lives to protect a "weak" teammate they didn't even know. For the first time since leaving home, the weight of the family photo in his pocket felt a little lighter. He was starting to trust them, and in this forest, that was the most dangerous thing of all.
The violet sky deepened into a bruised charcoal as the first night took hold. The trees seemed to hum in the darkness, vibrating with the residual energy of the planet. Ejun's team found a small hollow beneath a cluster of glowing ferns and set up a modest camp.
They couldn't risk a massive bonfire, but one of the C-Ranks used a rock and sticks to make a fire that seared strips of the wolf meat. The smell was gamey and strange, but it was protein. As the group settled into a wary silence, the flickering light of the heating element caught the side of Hyun-Jae's neck.
Ejun, who was sitting across from him cleaning his blade, suddenly paused. His eyes narrowed. "Hyun-Jae. Stay still."
Hyun-Jae froze. Ejun leaned forward, reaching out to brush a stray smudge of soot and dried blood away from Hyun-Jae's jawline. As he did, his thumb trailed over the "E-Rank" mark.
Half of the tattoo smeared away, leaving behind clean, unmarked skin.
"What is this?" Ejun's voice went dangerously flat. The other teammates stopped eating, their hands drifting toward their weapons. "The wolf grazed your neck, and when I healed the wound... the mark started falling apart. That's not a brand, Hyun-Jae. That's ink."
Hyun-Jae felt the cold realization sink into his gut. He looked at the faces of the people who had just saved his life, who had shared their food and their protection. The lie felt like a lead weight. He sighed, the tension leaving his shoulders.
"It's fake," Hyun-Jae admitted, his voice quiet. "I'm not an Awakened. Not in the way the Celestials count, anyway."
The group erupted in hushed, frantic whispers. "A civilian? the others hissed, his eyes wide with terror. "How did you get past the sensors? The military scanners check for Etherea signatures too, not just tattoos!"
Hyun-Jae didn't say a word. He reached down, unlacing his left boot. He pulled it off and slid the heavy, jagged obsidian ring off his toe. The moment it left his skin, the "pressure" he had been emitting, the fake E-Rank signature, vanished from his body. He looked and felt exactly what he was: a normal human.
He held the ring out in the dim light. The C-Ranks leaned in, staring at the artifact. Even in its damaged state, the ring pulsed with a raw, slight power that made the air around it shimmer.
"An artifact," Ejun whispered, his shock overriding his suspicion. "Tt boosts Etherea". Where the hell did a kid like you get something this high-level even if it is broken?"
"Sena," Hyun-Jae said. "She gave it to me."
The name hit Ejun like a physical blow. His jaw tightened, and a flicker of something, anger, jealousy, or perhaps a deep-seated hurt, flashed across his eyes before he pulled his professional mask back on. He looked at the ring, then at Hyun-Jae, then back at the ring.
"She gave you this?" Ejun asked, his voice strained. "This is... this isn't just a toy. This is a prototype from the Association's restricted vault. She gave this to a stranger in an alleyway?"
"I think she just didn't want my father to die for a world that's already lost," Hyun-Jae said firmly.
Ejun went silent for a long time, staring into the darkness of the forest. The rest of the crew looked at Hyun-Jae with a new kind of intensity. He wasn't just a lucky E-Rank anymore; he was a liability carrying a secret.
The atmosphere around the small heat-plate shifted instantly. The curiosity in Ejun's eyes hardened into a cold, calculating hunger. He stared at the jagged obsidian ring as if he could see the raw power humming beneath its cracked surface.
"Hyun-Jae," Ejun said, his voice dropping into a smooth, persuasive tone. "Hand it over. You're a Null. You can't even begin to tap into the potential of an artifact like that. If we take care of it, if we get it to the right people to have it repaired, that thing could reach B-Rank status. We can protect you better if the Etherea signature is handled by someone who knows how to wield it."
Hyun-Jae pulled his hand back, his fingers curling tightly around the stone. He didn't know about "Rankings" for items, but he knew the weight of the ring in his palm was the only thing keeping him from being a ghost in the system. "No," he said, his voice small but firm. "I'm keeping it. I am sorry but without this I will be nothing"
Ejun exchanged a sharp, fleeting look with Myung-Dae. After a heartbeat of tension, Ejun threw his hands up and laughed, though the sound didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Alright, alright! Kid's got guts, I'll give him that," Ejun joked, patting Hyun-Jae on the shoulder. "Most people would have folded the second we asked. You've got a spine of steel, Hyun-Jae. We'll respect that. Keep your treasure."
The rest of the crew joined in, offering claps on the back and words of praise. "Yeah, a regular lion, this one," one of them muttered, leaning over the cooking plate. While Hyun-Jae was distracted by the sudden warmth of the group, Myung-Dae's hand moved in a blur. With a silent nod from Ejun, he sprinkled a fine, colorless dust over the last few strips of wolf meat.
"Here," one of them said, handing the portion to Hyun-Jae. "Eat up. You'll need your strength for tomorrow."
Hyun-Jae, feeling a wave of relief that they had accepted his refusal, ate the meat without a second thought. The taste was slightly more bitter than before, but he attributed it to the charcoal.
One by one, the other C-Ranks settled into their bedrolls, leaving only Ejun and Hyun-Jae sitting by the dying glow of the heat-plate. The silence of the forest felt heavier than before.
"You remind me of myself when I first started," Ejun remarked quietly, staring into the darkness. "Thinking I could take on the world with nothing but a bit of luck and a stubborn heart."
Hyun-Jae tried to nod, but his head felt strangely heavy. A dull, creeping warmth began to spread from his stomach to his limbs. His eyelids grew leaden, the violet glow of the trees blurring into long, shimmering streaks of light.
"I... I should stay awake for watch," Hyun-Jae mired, his tongue feeling thick and clumsy in his mouth.
"Don't worry about it," Ejun said, his voice sounding like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel. He leaned in closer, a faint, predatory smile touching his lips. "I'll watch over you. Just close your eyes, Hyun-Jae. You've earned the rest."
Hyun-Jae tried to protest, but the drowsiness was an overwhelming tide. His chin hit his chest, and within seconds, he slumped back against the metallic bark of the tree, falling into a deep, drug-induced sleep. Ejun sat perfectly still for a moment, watching the boy's breathing even out, before reaching out a hand toward Hyun-Jae's boot.
Ejun reached out and roughly pulled the boot from Hyun-Jae's limp foot. He slid the obsidian ring off, his eyes widening as he felt the surge of cold, raw Etherea hum against his skin. It was heavier than it looked, pulsing with a rhythm that felt like a dying heartbeat.
He stared at the ring, his teeth grinding in the dark. Why him? The question burned in his mind. Sena didn't have a "charitable" bone in her body. Every move she made was a cold calculation toward victory. If she had given this to a pathetic, non-awakened kid in an alleyway, there had to be a reason, a reason Ejun couldn't see. The thought that she might have a connection or a plan for this boy that didn't include her own loyal team made the resentment in his chest flare into a bitter rage.
"Wake up," Ejun hissed, kicking his second in command Myung-Dae's bedroll. "We're moving. Now."
The crew stirred, groggily sitting up in the violet gloom. Myung-Dae looked at the ring in Ejun's hand and then at the unconscious Hyun-Jae. "We're just... leaving him?"
"He's dead weight," Ejun snapped, sliding the ring into a reinforced pouch on his vest. "Worse than dead weight. He's a civilian playing soldier. We have what matters now."
One of the other men, a younger C-Rank who had shared a laugh with Hyun-Jae earlier, looked conflicted. "Ejun, he's drugged. If a pack finds him like this, he won't even be able to scream. It's a death sentence. Maybe we should at least leave him a blade or-"
"Or what? Waste more time?" Ejun's voice was like a whip. He stood over the sleeping boy, looking down with a mix of disgust and cold indifference. "Look at him. He was never going to survive the next twenty hours anyway. By taking this, we're doing him a favor. We're ending his delusion early."
"But leaving him defenseless..." the man started again.
"We aren't the ones killing him," Ejun said, turning his back on the camp. "The forest is. If he's lucky, he won't wake up before the wolves find him. Move out."
The crew hesitated for a heartbeat, glancing at the boy who had just hours ago saved one of their lives with a well-aimed stone. But the authority of their leader and the promise of the artifact's power were too strong. One by one, they shouldered their packs and vanished into the metallic grey thicket, their footsteps fading into the oppressive silence of the woods.
Hyun-Jae remained slumped against the shimmering tree, his breathing shallow and heavy. He was completely alone, his only protection gone, and the fake mark on his neck was nothing more than a smudge of charcoal and lies.