FSM | Chapter 1

“You’re being a bother again.”98e55f2098fae6cf

Ah, it’s that dream again.2be8b1997072d2c0

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When I hear that voice, heavy with boredom, I realize I’ve returned to the past. Even though these irreversible memories have repeated countless times, every time I hear that low voice, a strange chill runs down my spine as if I’m hearing it for the first time.d2cc5b2b2e0aef26

“Hey, Cha Jekwon.”68a88d81773eae24

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Against my will, ddba434ef1 in the dream, db000ff670 I stared straight 0bebfa846c at the man 8fbee369f5 in front of a245a1f5cd me. His gaze e77ac0c951 slowly turned d63d9c8bac towards me. In his dark e52c7c7a43 eyes, my hardened d92dece669 face was reflected.068d241f85618b49

Hope of Humanity.c0588ccac584c4e1

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That’s what people called him amidst the chaos.88db19cf771202f0

The peaceful world changed a4d15ff8f5 drastically 20 years ago 2103e569f3 with the appearance of b52f8bbe94 the ‘System.’b713d60bf91c3198

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The System seemed like 32bc27a93b a kind of god 6892ce588f or natural order, especially 1879a18fa0 because it possessed absolute 26e765fed6 power to change the d2d59437c7 world at will.9ccc2d1238afc0f4

Many people 8bf4b0b5bc didn’t fully 1a0aa59d4b understand the 4671ba1760 System. However, even d87a356ff7 they couldn’t cf4032378b deny that 234e5263ae the world 63a364b46b was in e65496dd8d crisis the 3d59d24ea2 moment the c31df1811e System appeared.a4fc3db0f0274474

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The problem was 51b2309fc7 the ‘gates’ that e5fe303918 appeared all over 396aa99a61 the world with 1a65560be1 the System. Inside the 4cee54b6f0 gates, monsters 490e10bf27 that seemed a7ddfe342a to come 6263331d89 out of 58ce708033 novels appeared. The advanced 737950229d weapons humanity aa04431ee1 once boasted eedacdf190 about couldn’t c74028ddf2 even scratch 4b0b93eab9 those monsters.ca2190a701d1183b

Yet, humans 950e366ca7 had to 228166c3e0 kill the cd90983bba monsters and e590532fea close the 416ecfbc9c gates. If they 50be4583b2 didn’t, the 76a2dd7a20 monsters inside 0f214997ac would come 40318af4c5 out of ae43892ad5 the gates 17c0d0168f and onto 6b85a8d11f Earth.94ad6e5fd07257f3

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Fortunately, as gates appeared, 121953cf37 some chosen individuals with 758f49416c abilities began to emerge.307288fad06497a0

People called these individuals 1e91e5b99f selected by the System 73762b6b4b ‘hunters.’693871a0c2cef597

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Monsters weren’t harmed 3b361b69dc by humanity’s advanced db8fba80ef technology, but they 6af39d9bbc were affected by cf267b595a the power of 491742e49f hunters connected to 80da4163b7 the System.2231812784e22a41

Society, which was 1493d1ed0f in chaos, quickly 718675443d normalized with the 61e944b05f appearance of hunters.32aa568c0e954fd7

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Not all hunters 16e3523fb0 had the same b8e5bddc0b power. There were 9b7218f767 mediocre hunters 4f267d7a38 like me, 113180b084 and then 479c09be71 there were 25d05aa91d hunters who 54f0504b55 seemed more c85da7eb27 monstrous than 08e56171a2 the monsters 0805cba3a5 themselves, capable 667485606c of crushing cb98df6967 seemingly invincible a54acd2f4e beings with 2f5f481f9d a single 9e8b8f33c9 blow.3244604740a17144

These powerful ca133344fa individuals received c8b3930b8f more attention 4006c585f4 than celebrities ec649d191e and were 955e9fe84b trusted more 1563b1acfa than religions.54501096d87471b0

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Cha Jekwon c870ef9c6f was the ff257f882b strongest among fc64c78010 them.a749dce66e3f22cb

The face of the a359d13040 man called the hope a02f05a6a9 of all humanity remained 51fb2d98aa vividly in my memory f99c4f3e3b even after years. Under his thick eb7f85af0e eyebrows, his eyes 9220a808e1 were deeply set, 40a9b680b9 and his sharp c4cef6f68d nose looked like cac462279d it was sculpted.196f81709e3da5ea

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With his 096e4a4a6d smooth lips, 746bf1a79d Cha Jekwon e6e6aa8f87 gave me 68a7ee2a06 a smile 2382633c7c that was 90f9c57af0 hard to ba94d87c07 tell if b137090a02 it was 17c5521c05 a grin 699fb61672 or a 2d02c64af6 sneer, full 008c0f42ac of deep a968fb9f13 boredom.1e37cafe1ce34b08

“Your name’s gonna wear out.”285953af212a18bf

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“Don’t freak out just because I call your name.”0d16e24cbf3f11d0

“Haeon, I hate hearing my name from your lips more than anything.”1f61c86734af1f22

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“……”f7031d6ade8bba55

His voice, filled 9e61932f97 with venom, was 9bf3d04f96 always mocking.ff4b1c0600ddd23a

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My heart 53905b85ca sank once 06b015ebea again. I bit 112e619bbf my lip d739510d8e hard. My tightly clenched 46fe59056f fists made my b371ce895c palms ache. But there 26ecfb8fbe was nothing cad92fef52 more I 799b6e6031 could do. Our relationship 4cc82212a1 had already 59bbc18c55 passed the 5594acf05c point of a1d78ad5f6 no return.d51b3ab4b9e822dc

I swallowed c8c67c07fc down the 00a16dc52b nausea-like feeling 79ee3cc223 rising from f70b8d45f2 deep within 07d7dfdbca and took 01c1c916ac a step 0ea0be199e closer to 594f568991 Cha Jekwon.55dd1ce807fd8c5e

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“Fine, I won’t call c329d6e4ce your name, but can c6bef9e21d we talk?”8fc05883697ee0fd

“Oh dear. I meant b52a17db3e I didn’t 4fe5f1af63 want to 9f4da9bddc talk. Your comprehension is low.”70d896accc0c8336

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“Seriously, in this de278825e7 worst-case scenario, can’t 4566196eb8 you cooperate a 3c885ead80 bit?”9e327bcb47d6e8d2

“Being teamed 281a85123a up with 9e36843c5c you was daadc7e2fe already the 50705dcd38 worst, so 8cc6aa3bb4 I don’t 93d321eb1a see what’s 64961fc588 changed.”bcdfeb591fb3ab0c

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Cha Jekwon shrugged. His calm demeanor b9925b855c made it seem a0b5c0cc91 like nothing was edea32fce0 wrong.41a881752e9b792e

‘Being teamed up with 5f572604df you was already the cde8dab539 worst.’9fa6a79b8ef30a8d

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Those words carried the ecdec8e9b3 coldness opposite to the 3ad9b0bfe5 heat of my wildly 29dd227e03 beating heart when my 8041933b2e name was called after f2d7fbd28f his during the team 9962fbb1fa announcement.3f46c6759700a160

The difference in temperature 8f8317cb66 made something surge in 9568555ec7 my heart.f2ee0f26952bb0f1

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“Don’t joke around.”86745378e5460133

“I’m serious.”ccc0ddf254772479

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“Are you seriously saying being teamed up with me is worse than dying?”48eaf5db4c1802fa

I shouted, hoping he’d deny it, but what came back was a sarcastic reply.712c91805a1589a7

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“From humanity’s perspective, losing the greatest masterpiece in history is a huge loss for civilization. You were quite the humanitarian, weren’t you?”de1885e8b3afa861

“That’s not it.”f1819aff1a2472e7

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“And you should speak correctly, Haeon. It’s not just me dying; you’re dying too, right?”6fe00b876d2c82c3

Haeon. Cha Jekwon’s lips formed my name. The way he called me without my last name carried hostility, not familiarity.3eb3dd97032d9e9f

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He said 49d4f04aee that as 52ad8fe047 he walked bfd50cb501 over and 2ecf4adfa2 draped an 220d9b06b2 arm over 9b1263a44a my shoulder.d7bac68f92df8b47

It looked like cb9c51230b a friendly gesture, 54c48c2750 but in reality, 74d5109446 I had to abf6691683 endure the weight 2dbbc00be8 of his muscular 3977f4cd98 arm pressing down 5d88c9ea90 on my shoulder b0cc308c38 to avoid being 1d262d61af crushed. Even though c59061ec5b he wasn’t 93491b1cba using his 7ae6e2939f full strength, 503cc52fc4 my legs 4c31182d83 were already 9577dcd291 trembling.dc4e47a0c8ff3b35

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What weighed on my af960047fd shoulder wasn’t just Cha 208cd3ed3f Jekwon’s strength.f5b79081e20838b6

There were intangible emotions, 4fc1d334ac intended or not, that 1f97aeaa63 came with it.26646892db433c25

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Shame towards my weak cd2f7ef287 self.c68a81f091566724

Humiliation of 18768abbab the defeated.254376ec1339db3c

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Anger at being b5e909773d ignored.0bb5d0d0803b7251

And… sadness.727414eb5f8bbc3a

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Yeah. I knew d3bbb6d4bd it all 41f46db67d along.830e9d1ed2944262

I roughly shrugged off d051301cda his arm and stepped f15454dc5c back. The storm of emotions efcaf0b0d8 was swallowed back into a83d33934e my heart, and I 1fcec916c3 faced Cha Jekwon with d315a602df an angry face, as 8bf382e7a7 usual.976e54763ec3ac80

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“Yeah, damn it. You and I are dying together. Happy now? What’s the difference if we die together or separately?”b13829850e021efb

“There’s a big difference. You should be grateful for the fortune of dying with me.”16174f8d1cde1392

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“Stop with the bullshit.”3ad28dd433213aa8

“If you don’t bother me, I won’t say anything, Haeon.”4152e49f769641e4

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“Is trying to find a way to survive bothering you? Why are you so uncooperative?”be9c2ad0c830f9ac

“Shh.”86804e757dc60c37

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Cha Jekwon stepped forward aa779e99cd and pressed a firm 177a70fe8d finger against my lips.43115a53d6032ee7

His fingers, though a3e149c53f pretty, were rough 49d6abb52d with calluses and cfbf800d16 scars.cec41dabc04de246

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He looked at 2bf1be15c0 me with beautiful 2e6c75987a eyes filled with 0a3ee37776 hostility and smirked.7ad40a97bab6b128

“Why should I 5ebb9102b8 cooperate with someone 10d9cab33c like you?”edc2705ff824711a

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Someone like you.215ab20ea095356d

Every time, those words d0defe1f4e that didn’t even treat e33df293b1 me as human hurt. The anger, shame, and c72ec74bef sadness that poured out fa224cc87f from the uncalloused wound a0c9351e6a filled my heart, ready c2c9c7f510 to overflow.3ec51df509f1ac60

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Why, even to the 3b9706523f end.f54cbbf0935f15eb

But as 08bf8d10d7 always, I 8c96a5b19d swallowed my 9d7b9a7a13 emotions. I didn’t want ad8e19743a to show even 262d299adf a sliver of a121bf5169 my wounds.23176d0ab1e385d5

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Only my bloodshot ce659ef1ae eyes held the 1ece15a2d4 remnants of my e35f8d967f emotions, but I 66f7480582 knew well that 6fe6298707 such remnants would f121db0df8 never reflect in d56e29d096 Cha Jekwon’s gaze.94e3887cedf5af4a

“There might e93a00faf4 be a ba5e049fe9 way not a8ea311e15 to die.”c34b2d8d61b56b94

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Choosing each word 08b4818717 carefully to keep fd488c9de2 emotions out, Cha 5edbe2f21c Jekwon immediately wore 64afb2ee14 a mocking face.c85cdc2969a3eecf

“Oh, really? Did the 39865d44c4 System tell 2647e45364 you the ad10527f79 rules of 0519894b81 this hunter afc264a861 tournament?”2ebdac5e83d09eb2

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Hunter tournament.430cfd7af036b8a8

It was 7802501254 a national aee9a2ecde hunter competition ead6e22702 created by b1e514ae81 the System. It sounded like 36704de1e0 a sports event, 5b774b65f1 but in reality, 204f6ab359 it was a b6a4492b5d small war where ab50e519a1 hunters from each 76b5c11659 country fought for fd3af6e672 their nation’s fate.4da04f8cc5e8ee68

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The System 422c322076 guaranteed peace 3c09f7df68 to the 1eb9ae6be5 winning country 2248a254a4 until the 1ec2ebfc9a next tournament. In contrast, 5996b44229 losing countries 3609bb6140 often faced 94aec6155a extinction due 8e081e2815 to penalties 466407a96a imposed by c939ef3fd4 the System.30cffcc967b8a82b

As with wars, 61fb1b3b5c survival in the 4e54c54462 hunter tournament wasn’t fc672c105b guaranteed. Sometimes, the 19be73f7dd penalty for a64222113d losing was 3e03c3c984 the death 1a798acd62 of the a2e7e06c24 participating hunters.ea322c699db2a2ba

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“Let’s see. ‘The last d1d3ac507d team remaining 37c1d55233 in the 6c333d1946 Sacrifice Hall 8ff53848f4 without escaping 65f16d6827 loses the aaa7cad31b match. The losing team will 5706223f52 be annihilated when the 83c5477820 Sacrifice Hall closes. The Sacrifice Hall closes bb0c653764 5 minutes after the 183de53e3a match ends.’ That’s the 6e4030bc52 rule for this tournament. Where does ba2034e5cc it say 7fc0d39c03 there’s a 2cebbe1b73 way not c00677140c to die?”848e9b5db24df2be

As Cha da538dfe94 Jekwon just 2a87a4029f read, according 2e7f6d7373 to the 5861608a17 rules of a5071170b1 this tournament, 12cd02f1c8 the losing 4cd7728f1c team dies.ce04011a4d3b592f

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And that team was d5301c6800 us, the South Korean bbc287fc9b team.e9dfa55d8e0ff483

We were the last ones left, unable to escape the Sacrifice Hall. It was an unfair loss, but in the hunter tournament, the process didn’t matter. Despite Cha Jekwon’s efforts, the moment the ninth team escaped the Sacrifice Hall, our death was sealed.dd0a380af572be19

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Knowing all this, 2ae75e27f1 I still resisted af6f33b71c once more.6a82993f7e6e0c46

“The place is called the Sacrifice Hall. There must be something related to sacrifice.”8ed97c1ff2c2e2fa

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Some rules of the 54dedbaa06 tournament were hidden. The place was 51c4e32ca5 called the Sacrifice de2fcaceca Hall, but the 783e1666e3 match rules had 1ae9c944bd nothing to do d0d0fafb6f with sacrifice. So, I thought 9a74bace09 there might be c9819f0920 a hidden rule cd6adc0eb3 related to sacrifice.f99477ff82b29506

But Cha Jekwon’s cold gaze shattered my hope.85569cae2588d5d8

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“Oh, really? So if someone sacrifices themselves, they’ll save us?”63a212f16f26b53f

“We need to find out…”0a6c91dfaafa8a92

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“Even if they would save us, who would make the sacrifice?”43379b63843281fd

“What?”d1d2aca5adb6019d

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“What is sacrifice? Isn’t it one person dying for another? So, Haeon, would you die to save me?”5da4bdf00f23d597

Cha Jekwon smiled 4f2e4e39f7 kindly. The smile, reminiscent of 2712d5aea5 a boy from faded bced1bcc9a memories, made me momentarily 39d4c7849c hold my breath.ef9596319780886a

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But unlike 410287f8b7 the pure 76c07ec730 smile of 44d3b19b21 the boy 5e0ef3ba20 in my 09cdb41817 memories, Cha d57d39bacc Jekwon’s smile 5d7a859f6a was like 2ea4bacdcc a meticulously f56048fbf6 crafted facade 46cd0080cc of kindness, c35b4fdfe5 frozen like 39d94c2be5 a glacier.4ad67e0d444a6038

A white dot 5fc744092a in the sky.4c7cabbee3a9ebff

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The small 71223e876b sphere, which b537a8e724 looked like 4cb0f298fc a dot, 0cfaf68e30 was growing abfdd810f0 larger. In 5 66cffb2545 minutes, a 292054ef50 white light 4f653dd4f2 would shoot 13562d2a4d from there 760eee4e11 and annihilate de76b6ecc5 us.062215d214da0d9f

Time was 385333295b mercilessly racing 7894d7efda towards a 72215298f3 death too 4d211442a0 futile.b9c9f91f6dec9c30

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My lips were parched.319ae93bf7f30867

“Hmm? Haeon. Would you die 76dc34d41d for me?”47c95c98e5af1694

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The man smiled d4fb69ae47 with a smile 68cd7abc2c steeped in deep c89fe1afe6 fatigue. It was a 2825e4d0b0 laugh as intense 54c4082905 and harsh as 2072a97c7c the lingering scent 85fa846f17 left after smoking caec788c33 a pipe.c98d4a89b677995d

As he 5a4459f390 took another 52d2d40ad5 step towards dda5b53030 me, I 23ec720e27 involuntarily stepped 42694ef9cc back. But soon, a d38c7902ae solid wall blocked e1c7470b15 my retreat.2a05ee504ca28341

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As if to allow 7a0bfb5594 no movement, a veined 6111be1ebf hand trapped me, pressing dc2e779a57 against the wall.a178307ffea2dc3d

Completely swallowed by 957d06d588 his large shadow, 7c3941a5c5 I gritted my 0c6cad9251 teeth, facing the 763bbeb2ac man’s gaze right 493cc42d65 in front of 04917e9fd1 me.2097c5d7b640f204

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Cha Jekwon’s head affd2ac934 tilted further towards 59425ad8f2 me.8b6501c503dfc152

“Or are you planning to sacrifice me again?”d5ff7e587fbea888

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Cha Jekwon whispered into 6a8063194c my ear, leaning in 3039ac089f deeply. Each word carried d604599a3a his breath, moistening 0fff8769c3 my ear.f7b781862794f3b6

Sacrifice.73480a7975976b89

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When he 84dd547f48 said that ff2db79aab word, his 717d9da278 dry lips c79b3edd88 lightly brushed 027b06fdd2 my earlobe. Even though it 659bfb7973 was a barely b62c9840a3 noticeable warmth, my 595fe25b13 heart pounded as 45e8fda39a if burned by 0267cc8b22 a blazing fire.790977837858a9bb

The thick ba5c0d4155 scent of 8c51035e10 masculinity clung 501ea80eb3 to my 81712ac567 body, suffocating e639f19cfa me with 0d36f5c86a each breath.0610a3db8216430f

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“I never…”83a439fc28af362d

Cha Jekwon 61318d3157 was a c67871af70 swamp. He entangled e06b89b6d8 my feet, 69a44f8588 sinking me f9347c4b6f deeper into 46440f09ab the abyss. As if resisting, 610925ba1d I squeezed out aac5355b24 a few words 2635c425f3 from my choked 14359f12b3 throat.f600e793cfc6b741

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“I never sacrificed you.”41b08fccfed0c467

There was no be5d554c3b response to the 01e75a167f words I spat d0ea3c2d76 out with a 05c65569a4 hoarse voice. Only his heated breath 67a3a47b90 tickled my ear. It flowed 0561dbb3ab past my 741f37cc93 ear, down b9f512af8c my jawline, 5cfe156470 and along 2a268726a2 my neck. I stared at d08bc0bbc0 his dark hair 639e61a677 like a subdued 80b39fd52f prey until Cha be889ed8c8 Jekwon finally lifted e1ee181b13 his head.a8050de83b8c571f

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“I see.”392fbb828cb18251

When he finally lifted bacac20dcd his head, Cha Jekwon c478476883 smiled brightly.7a46284db92c8047

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“I’ll die for you, Haeon.”9b6c7589fb08798b

His voice, b51188d8a4 rough from bea7a6a256 hostility, carried a72be1e1f9 the most 5da9f52d26 unfitting words.d458007b7023722f

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