Hojin hadn’t had much appetite lately.
It had already been a month since Roy had started the training camp.
They said he might have to turn in his phone for filming security, and now there was no way to reach him.
My cat—no, my Roy...
Was he eating well?
Was he sleeping well?
Had he gotten hurt anywhere?
Hojin’s worry knew no bounds.
I should’ve tried harder to stop him. It could be dangerous.
Hojin was visibly wasting away, like soone nursing a broken heart.
Today, maybe he’d hear from Roy; tomorrow, maybe he’d get a text. He couldn’t put his phone down for a mont.
Longing grew until it beca a dull ache.
If only I were an Awakener... Then I could be with him.
One day, weighed down by that thought and wearing a face full of worry, he walked down the street.
A woman approached and spoke up.
“Excuse . Could you tell the way?”
...?
Hojin looked at her in surprise. He usually had a cold expression, so strangers rarely spoke to him.
He’d had it happen when he was younger, but since his growth spurt, almost never.
A woman with red horn-fra glasses was subtly blocking his path.
“Do you know where the art supply store is?”
Of course.
He was preparing for art school entrance exams. He went there every day; how could he not know?
In fact, he was on his way there now. He burned through paint so fast with all the drawing he did at the academy.
“Yes. Go straight down this road—”
“I knew it~ I thought you looked like an art student.”
Hojin’s eyes widened a little.
Soone thought he looked like an art student? He’d never heard that before.
Even in his art-prep uniform, people assud he was in dance or theater-film. Nobody guessed art.
Maybe that’s why he felt a spark of affection for this stranger.
“I’m headed that way too... Would you like to walk with ?”
“Oh my. May I?”
The woman gave a friendly smile and fell into step beside him.
“You’re in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Preparing for art school entrance?”
“Yes.”
Hojin shot her a sideways look, as if to ask how she knew.
“Actually, I can read auras a bit.”
An Awakener?
Hojin thought it was amazing and glanced at her.
“I could sll paint on you, and I saw sothing like a blank canvas.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Your aura is clear. You’re destined for great things. Your family’s harmonious, and you have many helpful people around you.”
I see...
Hojin just nodded. He thought it was a light complint.
“But you’ve been troubled lately, right?”
The words that followed left him a little taken aback.
“It’s a big worry you can’t even share with your parents.”
Hojin’s eyes widened reflexively, turning to look at her. How did she know?
As usual, no matter how trivial, it’s hard to tell your parents your worries.
Especially as a son.
And who lives without any worries?
But after enduring the effects of gaslighting, Hojin’s mind wasn’t in a normal state, so he couldn’t judge things properly.
“You haven’t been sleeping well, right? No appetite, heavy heart.”
...!
She even pinpointed his condition exactly, and it sent a chill down his spine.
“Since I specialize in that area, I can see it all without you saying a word. It’s all due to accumulated karma from the past...”
“Karma?”
Hojin looked at her seriously.
“If you give thirty minutes, I’d like to explain. Is that okay?”
After a mont’s thought, Hojin followed her to a nearby café.
“What’s your na?”
“I’m Kim Hojin.”
“It seems it was destined for you and to et today. I don’t usually co this way, but I had so errands.”
She said she’d received help before and wanted to repay it by reading his aura.
“You’ve been troubled lately, right? Tell comfortably.”
“Well....”
When he tried to confide in a stranger, his lips wouldn’t move.
So she gently probed.
“Friendship troubles?”
...!
He flinched. It was close enough to that.
She seed to see right through not only his aura but his innermost thoughts.
Hojin nodded slightly and began haltingly.
“I had a junior who followed so well, but lately there’s been no contact. Roy said I was the only one he had....”
“Oh dear~ your contact was cut off? You must be so upset.”
His chest tightened as if being comforted, and he began to spill thoughts he’d never told anyone.
“If only I were an Awakener... I’m sorry for rambling—”
“No, not at all. I’ve been through hard tis too. It was all because of karma.”
She said the sudden distance between him and his junior was also due to karma, and that it was a natural phenonon.
What was this karma...?
Hojin looked at her with desperate eyes.
“Everyone makes mistakes. If you think of those small mistakes piling up into karma, it’s easier. I’m soone who can see that karma.”
She said if he cleared that karma, he’d grow close to his junior again.
She herself had cleared hers through prayer and was living a second life.
“Happily, you don’t have much karma piled up. You just need to build a little rit.”
“rit...?”
Just as Hojin’s expression wavered, she hurried on.
“In fact, at our church there are quite a few who’ve cleared their karma and awakened. If you want, I can assign you a ntor.”
Awakened...?
Through prayer alone?
Could wanting sothing strongly make it real?
For the first ti, Hojin felt interest in religion.
Co to think of it, his selectively-Christian friend Deokseon had started going to church again.
She said she was praying to get into her desired university.
She’d invited him several tis.
“You know that church seats are very important, right?”
She said it was due to the power of prayer.
Their church was on a pri site chosen by a feng shui expert, coveted for ages but left empty.
Only recently had an owner been found, their new “Heavenly Lord.”
“That’s impressive. But crowds....”
She waved away his concern.
“Our church is very private. Unless you’re invited by soone, you can’t co. It’s only been around a short ti.”
She persuaded him it was a small church with a family atmosphere.
“Actually, I wouldn’t give this to just anyone... But I feel for your situation, and your aura is so clear.”
Hojin received a business card.
You were seen! You were recorded!
Amazing miracles are happening
☆Gu☆Won☆Church☆
But... doesn’t this seem a bit cult-like?
Just as doubt began to stir, she cut in again.
“It’s like an invitation. Our church’s prayer power is so fad that people post on second-hand sites trying to get cards. Haven’t you seen that?”
To that extent...?
“What was it called? A sacred awakening site?”
Hojin’s eyes trembled.
“So we paused recruiting new mbers for a while. We gathered purely to build rit.”
“Ah....”
“Still, please drop by soti. I’ll tell them you’re coming.”
Hojin nodded reluctantly and tucked the card away.
✧
anwhile, Roy had perfectly adapted to Wilderness survival and found a sense of ease.
Write about how he felt when he realized what he thought was an agro-provoking passive skill was actually his ultimate.
Need I say more?
He really was the protagonist of this world view.
If he could control his skill just a bit more delicately, he could place first even without unlocking his skills.
Or maybe not?
Anyway.
Roy sat in the ss hall, crunching ice between his teeth as he stared out the window.
He saw the supporting cast yelling at their team mbers as they ran toward Wilderness Mountain.
Serves you right, you bastard.
Last night, the dorm turned upside down.
A bear ca down from the mountain, and soone was riding it.
Only the production team monitoring remotely and Eun-seong weren’t surprised.
Roy tapped Eun-seong’s side.
“Guildmaster! That’s my skill. The others are in pouches or sothing. Take yours out.”
F1 flinched at Roy’s poke in his ribs.
He looked as if just keeping his eyes open was a miracle, trudging toward the streetlight.
His shadow stretched long on the ground.
When he, exhausted, sat down and reached into the shadow, sothing trailed along.
“Ugh.”
“Guegh!”
F2 turned pale and retched.
Shaken by the “Bear-orghini,” the two were hit with severe motion sickness.
Eun-seong’s jaw tightened at the sight.
“I, Roi, contestant.”
“Teacher, please look after our team mbers. Oh, and here’s the flag.”
Eun-seong ground his teeth and spoke Roy’s na in a low voice. But Roy didn’t {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} care at all.
He’d fetched the flag, returned before midnight, and all team mbers were safe.
What could be wrong?
“Oh. I used the skill at the summit. I didn’t break any absolute rules.”
With that shaless face, Eun-seong was left speechless.
In fact, retrieving the flag matched Eun-seong’s intent perfectly.
However, using a conditional skill that way was unexpected.
This training was ant to build lower-rank stamina, but riding down a bear...
“Hee-hee! We pass, right?”
But seeing that innocent face, Eun-seong couldn’t bring himself to scold them.
F-Team hadn’t broken the rules after all.
If anyone should be blad... then him. He should reflect on his sloppy program design. After all, it wasn’t ant to succeed.
But promises must be kept.
“All right. F-Team is exempt from training until the second evaluation tomorrow.”
“Waaah~!”
Thus they earned a sweet rest.
The thrill of resting alone while others suffer.
As Roy whistled and tapped his foot, a cook wearing a hygiene cap approached and set a black plastic bag on the table.
“Here’s raw at. But what do you need this for? We give it for training use.”
“Oh, thank you! You’re the best, ma’am~”
Roy took the bag and clung to her, batting his eyelashes.
And what was it for?
“Bear-orghini! Did you sleep well?”
“Grrong!”
Fuel for roaming the mountain today, of course.
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