The garden was full of glowing grass and blooming flowers, each one soaked in mana and shining softly like it was showing off. Karin sat by a small lake at the edge of it and stared into the water. It was obvious she was imrsed in her thoughts.
I’m such a burden... I didn’t help anyone. From beginning to end, I just made everything worse.
She reached out and disturbed her reflection with a lazy swirl of her finger. A quiet sigh followed. Then, she just stared again, unfocused. After a few seconds, she picked up a pebble beside her and threw it into the lake. It didn’t help, but at least it gave her sothing to do. She stayed like that for a while, stuck in her own head, until a strange ripple moved through the air.
Her head shot up. “Oh my!”
The senses she’d regained as an Elder picked up the shift imdiately. There was a human presence approaching, wrapped unmistakably in her father’s mana. Karin scrambled to her feet and ducked into the trees, pressing herself into the deepest patch of shade. Of course, it didn’t take long for him to appear. Do-Jin stepped through the garden, surrounded by dark mist like it had never left him.
Karin froze. She had begged her father to save him, but now that he was awake and walking again, she realized she had no idea what to do.
What do I say? she thought while peeking from behind the shadows.
Do-Jin was looking around the garden like it was mildly interesting but not worth comnting on. Then he stopped and called out, “Co on out.”
She flinched at the sound of his voice. Can he see ?
However, his eyes were looking in the wrong direction. He wasn’t looking her way at all.
Thank goodness.
She placed her hand to her chest and let out a quiet breath, though it didn’t make her feel any less ridiculous. Karin realized this wasn’t going to solve anything if she just kept hiding like this.
I should’ve just stayed where I was. Now if I co out, it’ll be incredibly awkward, she thought, her pride recoiling at the idea. Fine. I’ll just keep pretending I’m not here until the end. Then when I suddenly show up sowhere else, it’ll feel way more natural!
She was halfway through planning her reentry when Do-Jin spoke again in a raised voice. “Are you seriously still hiding? Alright. I’m counting to three. If you’re not out by then, I’m heading back to the Central Continent.”
She flinched again at the abrupt ultimatum.
“Three.”
He didn’t even bother giving a proper countdown. He just dropped the last number like a warning and turned back to where he ca from.
Karin’s eyes went wide. She stumbled out of her hiding spot in a panic.
“W-wait! That doesn’t count! You skipped one and two. Three cos after those!” Her voice cracked, caught sowhere between desperation and outrage.
Do-Jin turned back and looked her dead in the eye. “Two and one.”
“What?” she asked, utterly bewildered.
He smirked slightly. “I counted backward.”
Karin pointed at him in disbelief. “You tricked !”
“You’re the one who went and hid,” Do-Jin said while shrugging.
“T-that’s—!” Her gaze faltered. “I’m sorry...”
Do-Jin raised an eyebrow. “For what?”
She hesitated, then started listing everything all at once in a quick murmur. “For running away. For dragging you into this. For being a nuisance. For putting you in danger...”
Do-Jin gauged her guilty expression for a mont before responding. “Yeah, alright. Forget the apology. Let’s go watch the sunrise.”
Karin blinked. “Pardon?”
“You said you liked watching the sunrise,” he replied, matter-of-factly. “So let’s go.”
“I’m a vampire,” she reminded him.
“You went alone all the ti,” Do-Jin said with a shrug. “Is it a problem if I co with you?”
“That’s not it!” Karin quickly objected, shaking her head.
“Then let’s go.”
He turned again like that was the end of the conversation. Karin stared for a while, her thoughts spinning.
The surface of the Floating Continent is crawling with dangerous creatures. I’ll be fine, but... he could be at risk.
More than that, she wanted to go to that quiet hill she always visited alone. Even if it was just for once, she wanted to sit there with him.
It’ll be alright. I’ve absorbed enough darkness to keep my powers stable even in sunlight. I can protect him.
Wings of shadow slowly stretched out from her back as she finally agreed, “Let’s go.”
Stepping forward, Karin wrapped her arms around Do-Jin’s waist and took off into the sky.
***
A heavy thud echoed across the snowy plain. One of the monsters roaming the surface of the Floating Continent collapsed with a single hit from Karin’s fist. She dusted off her hands with a few light taps and glanced around. Her sharp Elder eyes scanned far into the distance. After a mont, she nodded in satisfaction.
“All clear. I think that was the last one nearby,” she said.
Contrary to her cheerfulness, he quietly responded, “Yeah, I think so too...”
The weakest of these monsters had to be at least Level 250, and she had flattened them in one hit. Do-Jin thought that kind of brute strength was absurd, and it reminded him just how dangerous the Elder Vampire really was.
Even before I regressed, a five-man party of low-rankers couldn’t take that thing down for sure...
Looking up at the sky, he could see the moon fading and the sun on the verge of rising. As he dropped to the ground in a comfortable spot, the wide-open snowfield stretched endlessly in front of him. At the edge of it, the horizon glowed faintly. Everything was bathed in a soft blue hue under the dying moonlight.
“Not a bad view,” he muttered.
“Isn’t it?” she said with a smile. “Out of all the places I’ve found, this one’s the most beautiful. It took years just to find it.”
There was sothing surreal about the scenery. The nature, untouched and impossibly vast, felt almost sacred. As he took in the view, Karin quietly sat down beside him. In that mont, neither of them spoke. Karin fidgeted with her fingers, unsure what to say. Her eyes drifted to the setting moon.
Then, Do-Jin broke the silence with a calm but firm voice. “I saw your mories.”
After sitting for a few seconds in stunned silence, she asked, “How?”
“They said you used your blood to save . Guess that’s why I ended up seeing so of what’s in it.”
There was a longer pause this ti before she lowered her gaze. “Then... you must know now that everything I say, every expression I make... they’re all fake. I’m just an empty shell mimicking humans.” Her voice was small and deflated.
Instead of answering, he just reached out and smacked the back of her head.
“Huh?” Karin turned toward him with her eyes wide with confusion.
He scowled. “What the hell is your head made of? A rock? My hand’s going numb.”
Karin couldn’t help but be stunned at what she heard.
He went on without letting her speak. “No wonder you’ve been filling your head with useless shit.”
“I don’t understand...”
“What’s the big deal about ‘feelings’ or a ‘heart’? People act like they’re so profound mystery, but they’re truly not. If you take a closer look, you’ll know they’re nothing special.”
He spoke like none of the things she’d spent her whole life searching for really mattered at all. Karin’s expression hardened. This was her first sharp reaction since the conversation started.
“That’s only because you’re human,” she said with her voice rising slightly. “You’ve had those things since the mont you were born. Things like feelings, a heart, a beating pulse, you take them for granted, so of course you’d say they don’t matter!”
“No,” Do-Jin said, cutting her off before she could go on. He turned to face her and said, “That’s not it. Feelings, thoughts, all of it, you learn them. You pick them up as you grow. You learn them from what you see, what you hear, and what you go through.”
His voice unwavering, Do-Jin added, “Human emotions aren’t born perfect. They’re shaped. And your expressions, your way of speaking, they’re no different. They change depending on the people around you. Even after you’re grown, they keep changing.”
Karin shook her head slowly. “I don’t understand. I really don’t.”
“You think all of it’s fake,” he said. “You think you’re just acting and that it’s not real, but everything you’re pretending to feel is already part of you.”
“No... I’m still hiding what’s really inside,” she said, her voice dropping again.
Do-Jin raised his hand and ran it gently over her head.
“Everyone does,” he said. “Nobody shows everything. We all hide things we don’t want others to see. Everyone just hides it and goes on living, included.”
His hand lingered for a mont before falling away. “Just wanting to hide that part of yourself... that alone makes you human.”
“You think so...?” Karin asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Her eyes were filled with equal parts hope and doubt. Do-Jin t her gaze and gave a firm nod.
“Yeah. And seriously, don’t be stupid. You think soone without a heart would even worry about this? You’re only struggling because you do have one.”
“I have a heart? No different from a human’s?” she asked softly, placing a hand over her chest.
It felt like sothing inside her stirred. Her heart shouldn’t be beating, at least not anymore. Even when she focused with Elder-level senses, there was no physical change. Yet, ever since she’d t him, things had started to shift in ways she couldn’t explain.
“Strange,” she murmured. “It almost feels like... it hurts.”
Do-Jin’s eyes followed the fading moon as he spoke. “That’s your heart. That’s what it is.”
[An unbelievable miracle!]
[Affinity with a race previously impossible to bond with has been unlocked.]
[You have ford a connection with Vampire Elder Karin Tirund.]
[Due to the newly ford bond, Karin Tirund’s Affection has increased by ?? points and is now ??.]
[Relationship established!]
[Vampire Lord Carneth Tirund now holds significant favor toward you.]
[Carneth Tirund’s Affection has increased by 50 points and is now 50.]
[Achievent Unlocked: Friend of the Vampires]
[Reward: All stats 10]
[ 10 Affection with all mbers of the Vampire race.]
A flood of system ssages lit up across Do-Jin’s vision one after another, but it didn’t stop there.
[Quest Complete!]
[You’ve earned 30,000 Gold.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have improved your relationship with the vampires, once considered a serious threat to humanity.]
[You have distorted the course of fate.]
[A new requirent for the great achievent Fatebreaker has been partially fulfilled.]
[Rewards for completing the Fate Quest and partial progress on Fatebreaker have been replaced with compensation from NPC Carneth Tirund.]
The notifications suggested the future was already beginning to change.
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