They say the ground hardens after the rain. While it's true that relationships often grow stronger after a fight and reconciliation, the bond between these boys—forged through sweat and passion—was far hotter and stickier than any old saying could describe.
"Hyah, hyah!"
Out on the training field, shrouded in the pale haze of dawn, the entire track team was barking out their chants with full force.
"Jin-Woo, can you keep up?"
Jin-Woo, who had somehow ended up running alongside captain Choi Tae-Woong, answered coolly.
"I can keep up!" "That's the spirit! Hyah, hyah!"
Choi Tae-Woong picked up the pace a little and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Our goal is national domination!" "Our goal is national…"
The track team members, unconsciously echoing the captain's voice, noticed the changed slogan and grew confused.
"Captain! Wasn't our goal to win the regional tournament?" "Hah! In front of our new ace, our goal is as small as a bean! Again! Our goal is national domination!" "National domination!" "National domination!"
Choi Tae-Woong glanced sideways at the runner behind him—his idol.
"Sang-In, are you crying?" "N-no, sir!" "Don't go soft on me, second-year ace! The track team's ace may have changed, but how would we dominate nationals without you!" "I'll do… I'll do my best, captain!" "That's the spirit! National domination, national domination!" "National domination, national domination!" "National domination, national domination!"
Amid the team charging around the field with such vigor, Oh Young-Gil—the kid who had blundered into joining only because he'd followed Jin-Woo—was watching his face slowly turn the color of ashes.
"Hah… hah… hah…"
Listening to Young-Gil's ragged breathing right in front of him, Jin-Woo silently clicked his tongue. He had refused to turn down the track team's buy-one-get-one-free membership deal because he wanted to help build up the frail Young-Gil's stamina. But at this rate, it was only a matter of time before the kid actually died. Yet it wouldn't be easy to single Young-Gil out and pull him away from the fired-up upperclassmen either. With no other choice, Jin-Woo gathered mana at his fingertips and let it drift backward. The mana cluster floated through the air like a dandelion seed on the wind, drifting into Young-Gil's nose and mouth.
"…?"
The effects of the mana Jin-Woo had sent were immediate—stamina recovery, a temporary boost in muscular endurance, increased reflexes, increased flexibility, a massive boost to stamina regeneration, and more… It was a comprehensive buff gift basket brimming with the desire to look out for a friend. Since these were the buffs of the Shadow Monarch, who had reigned almost as a god in the other world, their effects were staggering.
"Huh? Huh-uh?"
Young-Gil's eyes went wide as the buff took hold.
'Wh-what's happening? My body… my body is burning!'
Veins standing out on his legs, Young-Gil drove his feet into the ground. Pat, pat, pat! One by one, the upperclassmen who had been ahead of him were pushed back behind him.
"Oooh!"
Before long, Young-Gil was off in a solo sprint.
'No way…?'
Impressed by Young-Gil streaking far ahead, Choi Tae-Woong roared.
"The new kid's on fire like that, and you upperclassmen are going to sit there lukewarm?" "No way!" "No way!" "Full-speed chase after the new kid—move out!" "Move out!" "Move out!"
Jin-Wou worried for a moment that he had given Young-Gil too much power, but only briefly. Once again, the flames of the track team swept across the training field today.
* * *
Teacher Park Gi-Sul—"Cobra"—who had been overseeing student conduct near the school gate, watched the hardworking track team from a distance. Contrary to his worries, Sung Jin-Woo seemed to be adapting well to track team activities without any real problems. He had even received unexpected thanks from the principal.
-Teacher Park, the track team coach mentioned that you've been keeping a close eye on Sung Jin-Woo. -Ah… yes. -That problem child has been this quiet all thanks to you, hasn't he? With you here, I feel truly at ease. -Ah…
The only things Teacher Park Gi-Sul had done so far were look at Sung Jin-Woo and then collapse or pass out, and the memory of those moments was so humiliating that he wished he could become a bonsai tree being watered by the principal. That was exactly this morning. When Teacher Park thought about the expectations the principal had placed on him and his own pathetic inability to even look Sung Jin-Woo properly, his stomach churned. That was why. Because of that situation, he had gotten drunk out of his mind and started spouting useless things to a complete stranger.
'Why did I do that…'
Every time he thought about that day, Park Gi-Sul wanted to yank out every strand of hair on his head. A few days ago, inside a gizzard skewer restaurant he had dropped into out of sheer frustration.
"Th-that ant monster—is it a monster with an ant's head but a human-shaped body?"
When the two men whose conversation he had interrupted both turned to look at him, Park finally snapped back to his senses.
"Ah… what am I saying… I'm sorry, I've had too much to drink. Please, go on with your conversation."
Park bowed his head politely and turned to go back to his seat. But Woo Jin-Cheol called out to him.
"One moment, please."
Park's face, flushed red from the alcohol, turned around, and Woo Jin-Cheol—who had already stood up—pulled a chair from the next table over to his own.
"That ant story… could you tell me a bit more?"
Where else could he go to say that whenever he looked at certain students, he kept seeing strange things? To a psychiatrist? What parent would be happy about a teacher who was a regular at a mental clinic? Unable to tell anyone and suffering in silence, Park Gi-Sul poured out his troubles with tears brimming in his eyes.
"I've been teaching students with nothing but this charisma of mine. But where could I possibly say something like this?"
Getting everything off his chest made Park feel much lighter. He finally had enough composure to look around. The two detectives beside him were listening with dead-serious eyes to what sounded like a low-quality joke. Suddenly, Park grew curious about their situation.
"By the way… why were two detectives talking about monsters in a place like this?"
After a brief exchange of glances with the junior detective, Woo Jin-Cheol explained the situation—leaving out, of course, his own experience of having seen a real monster.
"…So the higher-ups ordered an investigation, but it's been incredibly difficult to find any leads. Right now, we're desperate enough to grab at a single straw."
Woo Jin-Cheol pulled a business card from his breast pocket and handed it over.
"So I was wondering if we might come by the school for a visit to investigate? Would that be alright?" "Ah, of course. We'll naturally cooperate. Please come by anytime."
The gathering ended on a warm and friendly note, but as time passed, Park began to worry whether he hadn't made a bigger deal out of it than necessary.
'What connection could a student possibly have with missing-person cases…?'
Especially a kid who came to school before dawn every day to throw himself into club activities. Park Gi-Sul—who had been stealing glances at Jin-Woo without staring too hard, afraid of seeing strange things again—shook his head. Then he spoke to the teacher who was standing guard at the gate with him.
"Teacher Yoon, sorry, but I drank too much yesterday and my stomach's…" "Ha ha, Teacher Park, don't be sorry. Go inside and rest. I've got things covered here." "Yeah, thanks."
Before going in, Park stole one last glance at Jin-Woo, then shuffled off inside the faculty office. Jin-Woo, who had shown absolutely no interest in Park up to that point, finally shifted his gaze that way.
'…'
Lately, one teacher's stares had been getting increasingly obvious. That was something he couldn't ignore. In the darkness, the voice of Belion, the grand marshal of the army of shadows, came softly.
[My liege… wouldn't it be better to simply erase that human's memories and take his ability?]
When Jin-Woo had first returned through the dimensional rift after the war ended, a proxy of the Rulers had offered him advice. Even a tiny fraction of a Monarch's power could have an enormous impact on the world. So Jin-Woo had done his best to avoid direct interference in anything beyond what was absolutely necessary.
'Not yet… let me keep watching a little longer.' [Understood, my liege.]
Jin-Woo gazed at the entrance to the faculty office where Teacher Park Gi-Sul had disappeared without a word, then turned around. The track team members, who had already headed to the clubhouse, were waving him over.
* * *
At the school gate, Woo Jin-Cheol hesitated several times. It had already been a week since he had received unexpected information at that gizzard skewer restaurant. From then until now, countless thoughts had crossed his mind. He could have dismissed it all as the ramblings of a crazy teacher. But sometimes, when a link suddenly appears between things that seem to have no connection at all, a clue that seemed impossible to unravel suddenly falls into place.
'The missing persons who encountered monsters… and the monsters visible only through a teacher's eyes…'
Woo Jin-Cheol had found a subtle link between the two. It was the kind of hunch that couldn't be explained in theoretical terms. The problem was this: the biggest obstacle was—what, exactly, should he ask that student? He couldn't just barge up to a student named Sung Jin-Woo and start asking about monsters based on what one teacher had told him. But if he tried to ask indirectly, the question was far too broad.
-Know anything about shadow monsters? How about ants that walk upright like humans?
No matter how he practiced, it never came out right. Woo Jin-Cheol sighed as he stared at the notebook containing his case notes.
'Expecting not to be treated like a lunatic for asking something like this is just wishful thinking…'
In the end, after long deliberation, Woo Jin-Cheol turned to leave. He could come back some other time with a different excuse, but now didn't seem to be the right moment. Just as he was about to step out, he casually glanced at the ground. A flicker of movement—something that anyone without Woo Jin-Cheol's famously sharp eye for detail would have missed. A shadow had just moved from the tree-lined street on one side to the school wall on the other. He had seen it clearly. A chill spread over his entire body as he turned his head toward the school.
'Something… there really is something!'
Woo Jin-Cheol steeled his resolve. Let them point fingers and call him crazy if they wanted. If he could find out the truth behind this emptiness that visited him from time to time. If he could learn the exact reason why seeing those ant monsters had, even if only for a moment, put his mind at ease. With a set expression, Woo Jin-Cheol stepped through the school gate.
* * *
At that same moment, Jin-Woo was twirling his mechanical pencil as he sat through geography class, during which several students had already started nodding off.
'Did he spot a sentry?'
So it was Woo Jin-Cheol, former chairman of the Hunter's Association. Even without his old memories, his sharp eyes were still as keen as ever. Jin-Woo closed his eyes and recalled the last face he had seen of the man. The image of Woo Jin-Cheol—teary-eyed and choking back sobs—when he had said he would bear the war against the Monarchs alone was still vivid. The voice pleading for revenge after Chairman Ko Gun-Hee had met with an accident still lingered in his mind. Could that be why? Even though this visit was certainly an uncomfortable complication for the ordinary life he was trying to maintain, the smile that surfaced at the corners of Jin-Woo's mouth refused to fade. Soon the sound of a knock on the classroom door was followed by the geography teacher's startled voice.
"A d-detective?" "It's nothing serious. I just have a few things to ask of a student named Sung Jin-Woo."
The whole class gasped at the news that a detective had arrived, and all eyes turned to Jin-Woo. The moment he'd been expecting had come. Jin-Woo, who had kept his eyes closed until then, opened them with a smile. In that instant, as Woo Jin-Cheol stepped over the classroom threshold, his eyes met those of one student. Even without the geography teacher calling him over, he could tell at a glance that this was Sung Jin-Woo. Thump. Thump. Thump. Woo Jin-Cheol's heart began to pound as if it would burst.