Chapter 134

Every time Woojin saw Arwen’s wings, he sometimes felt a bit envious. The ability to fly through the sky looked useful in many ways.

He had been curious about how she obtained that ability, but he had never asked directly.

If I pry too much, she might hate it.

Arwen seemed reluctant to talk about her abilities, so Woojin had simply let it pass without asking.

However, what Claire had just said was not something he could ignore.

“So you’re saying… she’s had these wings since she was born?”

“We can’t be certain. Arwen says she doesn’t remember her childhood. But she believes she has always lived with these wings.”

It was most likely an innate talent.

Claire said this while gesturing toward the antennae growing from Arwen’s forehead.

“And these cute antennae are the same.”

Moth-like wings and antennae. Arwen had always lived with these extra appendages.

They were characteristics far removed from an ordinary human. But normally they didn’t stand out. Her wings could disguise themselves as a cloak, and she could hide the antennae when necessary.

Woojin muttered with a puzzled expression,

“Can someone really be born with things like that? That feels a bit beyond common sense.”

“Well, Jin, you’re already an existence beyond common sense.”

“…That’s true.”

He wasn’t really in a position to talk as if it were someone else’s problem.

Feeling slightly awkward, Woojin scratched the back of his neck. Claire then added,

“And Rachel—was that her name? When I saw her last time, she transformed into a seal. Honestly, I thought I was going to faint from shock.”

“I probably should’ve warned you beforehand.”

Woojin hadn’t told Claire the story about Cindy and the witch. After all, commanding a witch using a forbidden artifact wasn’t exactly something to be proud of.

Back then the topic had simply been glossed over, but the witch’s ability was extremely unusual as well.

“I’ve never heard of magic like that before. Being able to transform into a seal-type beast whenever you want… it’s truly astonishing!”

This mansion was full of mysteries—things that could become the subject of a lifetime of research.

Because of that, Claire’s enthusiasm began to burn brightly. If she studied Arwen and Rachel, she might even create a completely new spell.

Woojin spoke to Arwen.

“Does it bother you to become a research subject? It doesn’t seem like something you’d enjoy.”

If you don’t want to do it, refuse.

But when Woojin suggested that, Arwen simply smiled kindly and said she was fine.

“I don’t really have anything to do, so I might as well do something like this. And… I’ve become curious about my own identity too.”

“I see.”

Since both of them were doing it willingly, there seemed to be no reason to interfere.

Woojin sat in a chair and watched them. Arwen stood quietly like someone getting their body measurements taken, while Claire busily observed the patterns on the wings through a precision magnifying lens used for gemstone crafting.

Claire was completely absorbed in her work.

Feeling like he would only get in the way, Woojin quietly stood up.

“I should go check on Cindy.”

“See you later.”

As Woojin walked out of the room, the door clicked shut behind him.

It seemed they were being cautious. If a maid or servant opened the door and saw Arwen’s wings, it might become a bit troublesome.

I wonder if they’ll get any results.

There was no way to know yet.

If their research produced results, that would be great. And even if it didn’t, the opportunity might at least help the two of them become closer.

Thinking that, Woojin walked down the hall. Before long, he arrived in front of Cindy’s office.

He knocked on the door.

“Are you busy?”

“No! Come in!”

A cheerful voice welcomed him.

When he opened the door, Cindy was—as usual—carefully going through documents on her desk.

Woojin sat across from her and asked,

“You look pretty busy. Want some help?”

“It’s fine. I’m almost done.”

She said she could finish within ten minutes and continued reviewing the papers.

Woojin yawned lazily.

It made him feel like an even more useless person—like a freeloader living at his working sister’s house.

Maybe I should find something to do.

It felt like he was the only one with nothing going on.

While he was thinking about what kind of work he could create for himself, Cindy finished her task and stretched.

“That’s enough work for today~”

She hummed cheerfully while pushing the documents aside.

Woojin grew curious.

“What kind of documents were those that you were studying so carefully?”

“Nothing special. Just information I recently purchased. I’m checking the current trends.”

Because the shark-type demonic beast had recently caused a temporary crisis in her business, Cindy was investigating whether any new opportunities were emerging.

“They say the third expedition will start within two months… but that was already expected. There’s nothing particularly interesting.”

Looking through such uninformative reports felt like a waste of time.

Having reached that conclusion, Cindy decided to spend her time doing something more enjoyable.

She suddenly declared,

“Let’s go out and have some fun!”

“Where all of a sudden?”

“Fishing! I wanted to go with you last time, but you left me behind.”

Cindy puffed her cheeks in a sulky expression.

Apparently she had been disappointed about missing the boat fishing trip.

Since Woojin had nothing else to do anyway, he nodded readily.

“Alright. Let’s go now.”

“Yay!”

They headed for the sea together.

What he learned later was that Cindy suffered from severe seasickness.

“U-uugh…”

Cindy clung weakly to the railing.

Seeing that, Woojin decided this wouldn’t work and asked the captain to immediately turn the ship around.

Ending the outing so quickly would be disappointing, so Woojin suggested changing the plan.

“Let’s fish from those rocks over there instead.”

“That sounds better…”

After buying two fish traps and fishing chairs, they placed bait inside the traps and threw them into the sea, then set up the chairs securely on the rocks.

The two of them sat side by side and cast their lines.

They didn’t catch fish as easily as during boat fishing, but this had its own charm.

“Oppa, doesn’t this make you feel kind of good?”

“Yeah. Maybe it’s because the ocean looks nice.”

The feeling people often call spacing out while watching the water.

They simply sat there absentmindedly, staring quietly at the sunlight shimmering across the surface of the sea. The simple act brought a surprisingly satisfying sense of calm.

“…It reminds me of when I was a kid.”

Woojin murmured suddenly, as if reminiscing.

Cindy’s curiosity immediately sparked.

“Was it a good memory?”

“Nothing special… I once went to the beach with my family, and I ended up drifting really far away.”

As he said that, Woojin pointed toward the horizon.

Cindy followed his finger and looked at the distant sea.

“How do you even drift all the way out there?”

“I fell asleep.”

He had dozed off while lying on an inflatable tube, and when he woke up he had already drifted far away.

“So what happened?”

“What else? The rescue team came and picked me up. Then my father scolded me like crazy.”

“Hehehe!”

Cindy burst out laughing. It had been a casual story he mentioned, but apparently she found it quite entertaining.

“Tell me more stories, Oppa! This is fun and refreshing.”

“Alright.”

While gazing at the rolling sea, Woojin began recounting things from his childhood one by one.

There weren’t that many memories that immediately came to mind. So he mixed in stories from his middle and high school days as well, embellishing them a little as he spoke…

“…And then eventually, I enlisted.”

Private Kim Woojin.

Woojin had joined the army. From that point on, there weren’t many cheerful things to talk about.

Cindy tilted her head.

“Why? Was it hard?”

“Yeah. Military life didn’t really suit me.”

“That’s surprising… I feel like you’d be good at anything, Oppa.”

Woojin chuckled softly and continued.

“Back then, I was weak. Both physically and mentally. Everything about the new environment felt unfamiliar.”

During his time as a newly enlisted private, strict discipline ruled the place. There were many seniors he was afraid of.

Among them, one person stood out in his memory.

Every time Woojin stood night watch, there was someone who wandered the dim hallway. He couldn’t lie down properly because of a ruptured disc in his back, so he spent every night unable to sleep, pacing around outside.

Sergeant Choi.

He didn’t remember the man’s full name very well.

But he clearly remembered the sight of him.

Bloodshot eyes consumed by exhaustion. Unsteady footsteps. Every time Woojin saw him, he was reminded how terrible it must be to be unable to sleep.

“Maybe because he couldn’t sleep properly, he was extremely sensitive. Even the smallest mistake would make him explode in anger.”

“He must’ve been having a really hard time too.”

“Probably.”

Woojin understood why Sergeant Choi behaved that way.

Still, deep down, he wished the man would be discharged as soon as possible.

As if that wish had been granted, Sergeant Choi was discharged not long afterward.

After that, things seemed to go smoothly.

Woojin gradually adapted to military life and managed to get by without major problems.

Meanwhile, his younger sister did far better than expected on the college entrance exam and was accepted into a good university in the capital region.

“I remember thinking that a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders… and then the accident happened.”

“What kind of accident?”

Woojin hesitated slightly before speaking.

“…My whole family died.”

“….”

His parents had been driving his younger sister to her university dormitory when a major accident occurred on the highway.

And Woojin was left alone.

The mental shock was so severe that he couldn’t finish his military service and was discharged early.

Maybe that incident broke something inside him.

“I got a serious illness.”

Every time he fell asleep, he had strange dreams.

They were so vivid they were almost indistinguishable from reality. If he ran for too long, he would become breathless. His legs would ache. If he tripped and fell, he felt a dizzying pain.

They were so realistic that it felt strange to even call them dreams.

The real problem was that these dreams were horrifying nightmares.

“The Demon Realm.”

Woojin had fallen into the middle of the Demon Realm.

In that world, his role was simple—prey.

Savage monsters swarmed from all directions. Their mouths full of teeth swallowed him whole.

He was devoured.

And then…

He woke up from the nightmare.

This happened over and over again every time he fell asleep. His mind deteriorated rapidly.

He visited countless psychiatrists, but no matter who he met, they eventually just shook their heads.

Instead of telling the full truth, he simply described it to Cindy as having suffered from a severe illness.

“I had an illness that couldn’t be cured. It made me want to give up on everything.”

Why was something like this happening only to him?

It felt as if this miserable world was desperate to take even his life away.

As he fell deeper into despair…

“…I suddenly got angry.”

“Angry about what?”

Woojin thought for a moment before answering.

“Just… everything.”

He couldn’t end things like that.

There was a saying: humans may be destroyed, but they are never defeated.

He refused to surrender.

Driven by sheer stubborn determination, he fought desperately against the Demon Realm.

Along the way he met many people and experienced countless events.

After a long time passed…

He arrived at today.

…I really ran nonstop.

Looking back on it, it felt like nothing more than a brief moment.