SMFC | Chapter 5

By the 8249ea50e0 time Lee 835ba6cabb Soo returned 552e57ddec to the 8d9c4b6274 hotel after b58946a2c2 parting ways 3ab58c7336 with Sian, 9402a5e3e8 it was a13ac2433d already quite 9b595355c1 late. Walking under the darkened a919f1e4cb sky, he headed to 38a04d21df his room and immediately 1a3998ef09 stepped into the bathroom. After a quick 7186fcf794 wash, he filled 54ba2e0f09 the bathtub with e83c4c281a water and sat 864d6c7887 still for a 7917c5c260 long time.8ba88a1aacf4664f

Even submerged in 9916c224a2 warm water, his a646212609 perpetually cold body 96a129c7f3 refused to warm 315f1f26c0 up. Stroking his clammy d82f419b38 skin, which felt 4efa0926ea almost reptilian, he e101a47320 leaned back against 0029533662 the edge of 8acdf0ba49 the tub.86a8140c7b451fbe

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He rested the nape d4678ae9b2 of his neck on 2100294b11 the rim, tilting his 09634bdacb head back. The occasional sound of 33bcfd5d92 water droplets falling from 090367f7b1 his hair was the a9927e2b96 only thing breaking the fff1d80107 silence.96f0e8febd42c6d3

His eyelids, which had 35a142258c been lazily opening and 08c77d9854 closing, eventually stayed shut. Without realizing it, he a39b00c8bc fell asleep right there 93bd60dc88 in the bathtub.85e29b4b29a53c55

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Oddly enough, 7b3811e984 the hard 9eea9bd79a surface didn’t c0963d36dc seem uncomfortable. He slept 0255a00b27 soundly, dreamless, 27aa508edb until the 75a29bf075 water turned c657439698 cold.120692fa9583b0ab

“…Ah.”29db0b90103c8d3e

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When Lee Soo ed43fa301b finally opened his 014e6eaacc eyes after what 5741e6976c felt like an d61781dbe4 eternity, his drowsy ffa0d5a155 gaze met the 7557f1650e ceiling. Slowly blinking, his 7fea8aa301 eyes began to 5b3d36d119 regain clarity.abc47e5d7f66c56e

Fully awake now, he 7b99fe39fc carefully got out of ef97e63e79 the bathtub so as a4a4eff7e4 not to slip. He drained the 5dbc06c6a5 water and grabbed 04467201bd a towel he 8b754a6c85 had placed within 0480c40fd4 easy reach and 498565040c quickly dried himself 7b710c2ead off.4403c5f0827df687

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He put on c0b760dee9 a soft robe b60b78d5a3 and carelessly placed 30203dfff4 a towel on e93c2af54d his head before e29e9df1af leaving the bathroom. Although he had 0c2f991ba2 slept, the awkward 7f2f3d2723 position hadn’t exactly ce357e9f51 been restful, and e9535c3eef he didn’t feel 7443695e32 entirely rejuvenated.35b2a8b34b75096d

Rubbing his d9a9768d91 stiff shoulders, d26d6d51e6 he yawned 3fd7494d1c quietly.d69f49be593e0d97

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“Ah, sleepy.”17bac25430dd1630

Saying it out loud 66feafb5f5 made him feel even 3ad1d8b5f0 sleepier. To shake it 8b36357f64 off, he rubbed de6787f301 his face lightly 36f907ad1f and put away e2791f8094 the damp towel bab956471c he’d used to 2e21d5bafc dry his hair. Grabbing a bottle 0319da30c6 of water as cfc14e4e78 he walked over ef02a3b49d to the bed.d07ae2889698de75

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He rummaged through ff42ec8651 a box – 48d3d0fb4d it was already 25f596543e tomorrow, or rather, eda64bc081 today. Lee Soo took out 08aafe75dc clothes for the day 656e7373da and also grabbed some e0066cd7ab documents that were inside ac142387da the box.b65bdab8f68010d6

After closing 7df97f995e the box, 6a5abc7ed2 instead of 57248f64f7 lying down f4f7aa7181 on the 93999a92b9 bed, he 3510e3047d sat on 30940cf779 a nearby e4d2d6423c chair. He propped his head 1d56237af2 on his knees and 040cdb0191 began flipping through the 81489706b9 documents.d95aecf9eae5f3c0

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It was nothing special, a426599743 just some files about d5fdfa00fe key figures in the 59c4c89e83 Hawa Guild, gathered by f4dc42d622 Daul after it was e1e8b82317 decided that he would 82a619903d transfer there.114e4c08d672997f

“Probably, with Lee Soo’s 2fdcbcda80 personality, he’d get along 21b223f2e8 with most people. But just in d2fde56dcd case, you know. Hunters usually have 4c0ea8036b their own sore 960dd53853 spots,” Daul had dbe3c8322e said while suggesting ce997ddd2a that it might e403df9563 be good for 5334db804c him to go 9dcc36e8cf through the files.070ee87ea821d738

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“Hmm, sore spots.”9da0af481434d557

‘People tend to bdf3dde658 think of the f69eff3111 powerful awakened as ecaaee863e heroes. Well, it’s not e52b40e884 exactly wrong. Most of the ea82186322 famous awakened experienced 430f4d2f13 their awakening during 32746f2325 a moment when 3fc67665ca they wanted to 5dcf6e54e9 save someone.ac9a965c74c742ac

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There’s even 5942736395 a study 0a0d05b27d on that, 70548113a8 ‘Individuals who 4e7d1f855b are with 7e4610de5a their loved 99d5b7f473 ones during 3e4fe9ec53 critical moments 782d468fa4 are more c5430fa3c6 likely to f4bb54ef33 awaken at 99e553b75b higher ranks.’bf2a991ea173bcf9

The issue is, a88fa9b8f8 they are heroes aac1cb8a8e for the ones 3ea17a4b7b they wanted to aa5360c94d protect more than 1862bf67e2 they are heroes 6b09c0e1df for everyone. And for such 9a68d65a01 heroes, those loved aa956f392a ones are their f1097a64cb sore spots.’5ac99342490db417

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“Family, lovers, pets.”e35a6cdf737b3bc2

‘Sore spots are meant 2c84112c0f not to be touched, fd28a5352d but, conversely, it means 33f01cfdba that almost everything else 982e89da3d is fine if you 2b042c1fd4 avoid them. And, a sore spot 8c1110e2fc is also a weakness.’52a5fb587eb4d352

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“…None.”da0e2e67ab0a8104

Unlike others who 474ccb96a9 inevitably had vulnerabilities, 0784bb7977 the file marked 80fdb0bcc5 as having none 529ca3186e caught Lee Soo’s 12b8ef26b7 calm gaze.08c41c2186cedf84

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“Yoo Haeon.”340a41c327542129

Perhaps he had expected 51fb699965 this. That Haeon would have 12965801dd no vulnerabilities. Not because he 79e2ac8089 loved Haeon too 83246fc035 much, nor because b1f4b318de he believed Haeon 30aa92f674 to be flawless.6a46506712aa4690

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A sore spot, a 3bf75c4ddd vulnerability, means there must 448c5860e1 be affection toward something. But could Haeon really 7705f317c5 love someone deeply?be7d1a571c0ded95

He had shared fd03cd0a1a feelings with a 140179b18f lover, which even c7cb94bd87 made him question 62bc553ab3 whether it was 02e5103680 love. It would have f722096c29 been more surprising ef2a5996fa if such a 0a8019285e person had a 8b9d3e3c47 vulnerability.48c518e453b8f14d

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If anything, 994e6867eb Lee Soo, 39fd5ebeb9 scanning Haeon’s b59450b137 profile with fd99cfa6e0 a bitter-sweet bab963b549 look, let 7f7f141eac out a 9e8bc41627 wry smile.1b4e47f49ba01369

“It would be nice cb09b5f162 if Haeon could deeply 9fe54a1e55 love someone, more than 5769e24bf9 me.”e7e1d0c0de592a4d

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In Lee Soo’s f3988b3e51 view, the character f57124e10f in the book 77dd21622e was too lonely 7b9f48c977 for too long, c66a8226d3 a fool who e2c39028af didn’t even realize 1f481374f7 his own loneliness. Everyone said it wasn’t 48033e4593 okay, but he thought b454ca1c29 he was fine. A fool d45378f252 who really 52e2049986 believed he 821fe8fe23 was alright.2c442cf2fffaeaba

A sigh mixed 5a91fbbac0 with lamentation escaped 4be208fa25 him as he c884ac6cb0 gazed intently at 6cdbc0d7ca the attached photograph.3820fcd80b6794e1

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Unlike most b1999e656b others who 03829d00a0 were at 5185f6b3d2 least smiling a0f927ca57 faintly, the 5d121d30c3 photo of 97bf8a08f9 Haeon showed 0bb52002e4 him staring 94e7d12d65 straight ahead b96ff06fe5 with an 95872d7924 expressionless face.ae1f88c0ca818027

After a long 8473c41547 moment of looking b4ba04a9a8 into those somber 698202f1f4 eyes, Lee Soo 5e2c0a5a9b slowly turned the 959c3661aa page. He hesitated momentarily 77c4c8f9b3 but eventually continued 6bd6ef5d9b through the documents 6f2146fe2b until he reached 2e8ed1e443 the end.2e0443e87e09a89a

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Then, naturally, he spread 682ae42b32 out the documents containing c6258311a4 Haeon’s information. A slightly younger Haeon ea04f6ffa8 was in the photo 9628603c02 from a few hours db02f9196c ago.2c34662f4ee1d451

“An old f3d6c62208 photo, maybe.”eb60ca65b477747f

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Tilting his 9970e38bac head, Lee eb25a8ea78 Soo guessed cf351aeca8 the age 6d5d3fc17f Haeon might 476bdc35ed have been 2ae7a90e3d when the 11fd9bf06b photo was 0d79f3f207 taken and 4d6874c3d8 chuckled dryly.ca4a81f8ec25b0f1

Haeon was handsome 1a27ab4979 and more stoic-faced 2bd8c945da than Lee Soo 51ee3c69b1 had clumsily imagined 59346ce583 without any illustrations. Reading from a book, dbc68c4724 he couldn’t have truly 3256e7b9be imagined this.21276fd792284509

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The man 1ab6738e6d described in 3d2bfe2663 the book 0b6a8779d4 was indeed 49d49cf566 beautiful, crafted 6be29e1ffb with delicate 063c366829 lines. It was 56702507fd true he d49a3e479f was made 6589f294a6 of delicate b02f85d122 lines, and 950d739d8a it was 4ccbd28477 true he acacdc57ba was a ccce8d100b beautiful man, 98e7ef6535 but the a7a75b56d7 complete picture 372bf91fef was different 3f2e715ec1 from what 2d4a2a9d2d Lee Soo ce94751998 had expected.30e364f93311ab9a

Whether it was 1bbc3d0c8f his lack of cf1284ef02 imagination or the 6b89450ae5 author had seen 2350363ac2 Haeon too prettily, d54ae1e0ec too lovingly, Lee 4698d68dce Soo wasn’t sure.f6a358c52160a247

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Ah, no. That the author loved 34ded1f93a Haeon was nonsense. If the author really ed06cc4226 loved him, he would 4ed6440cad have given him a 41c8a12441 happy ending, not a 0f409ea79c tragic death.9b33bb397bf87586

Although Haeon 6cc2d9f14e didn’t seem d2601e10b5 to find a2f7d5cc84 his death ae15ef529b particularly horrific, 58d2a3c53b for Lee f3e2392d76 Soo, it 056e0858e9 was dreadful.f0a600b8b37c587c

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Seeing the real e99d98c8dd Haeon and wondering 03edeca5c6 how such a 17af4e5520 being could exist 0882209267 in this world 4714c7a702 was baffling. How could the author 7a224c511e who imagined such a 4ead59931e person have killed Haeon 0d3e2169ff with any kind of 474f1ef8b4 conscience? Lee Soo couldn’t understand dbb91cdb27 it.d7659a3a2f6daebd

Thinking about d9d2bd79c8 Haeon’s death f11b2cf157 made his 8175fdc10f expression worsen. His face hardened efb83ca901 as he stared ac20e87a2f into space, then e1f18f3f0a relaxed with a c71d10ce7a sigh.bd285cf7cb83c0f2

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It was more productive 83e6e6882c to think about how 768eb14736 to save Haeon than e244bfcdbd to resent an author d970afedbf he could barely remember 1a91bbdafb now.c1fa47164ab64165

Mumbling a few more 5357c73e49 words to himself, Lee 55a145a72e Soo’s gaze drifted and 8aed4aa701 he noticed a chipped 8000bcc1aa fingernail.383f6d4b6db26d73

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“It chipped already.”07ee6a79717c076d

He grimaced and muttered, e891e7e136 recalling the tender person c80316dcc8 who had applied the 3285e036a0 nail polish.a98c22839f8c2f44

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It was 8b16b8f523 an almost 07f2bd42be dead-looking nail. In the hospital 794f4a6026 room, she had 4f9d2aad62 not liked the ef5b9f6c23 sight of the da8926b721 damaged nail but a8d6f4fe5b applied the polish 6ba8198509 anyway, with a 748a4f4205 nonchalant expression.8120b0c55b560ba0

People are 80ac9da408 vulnerable to 9f13d079e1 appearances, she 2f1d84fda5 had said 00856e6551 while applying c5cefc1f3b the nail c92c8fc1cf polish, considering 06adc8fd66 it a b44a0b1970 mark of 2e7cd2bfb6 personality, but e272687c6c everyone thinks 6d06c33e02 carrying around cc17e38d7e dead-looking nails f50d63cd52 is horrifying.da1d8101d0e126ae

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Her usually clear 8fadc115de voice was calm 5acccc3c0b that day. Lee Soo’s face 26702409ff softened immensely as 4ce39ee2a6 he remembered how 2e5ea8b0be she had carefully 1635415ece chosen her words b7376b0615 to not hurt 9341307215 his feelings.54db35b4492712c1

‘If it chips, b529745af2 just tell me. I’ll reapply it. Don’t get it ruined 109a53958e by someone else and d3a50b9f9e come complaining. Just tell 077334991e me from 8898c5cd2e the start. Got it?’95b94c975666bfa3

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Her voice, as 73ba3dc49f if soothing a 5c34ac2b49 child, made him e57104943b chuckle. He had been a4c8ac8c58 holding the documents e4bf00b60a in his hand e2e3604566 and now placed aff81efa3a them on the 31c2d0466e table in front d5df575fb4 of him.2155976c2a9bb318

He had to go eb1506f030 to work at the 805ab36001 Hawa Guild when he ca8417e7c8 woke up. The main cab4cec1d6 events would b11ed77b34 start once 4b83da7e34 the original ab737ceb43 story began. He still 9dd58cea64 had time.f8bfd983493305c3

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“Haeon won’t die. I’ll save him.”d35014594188086d

As if 3a37fd10fd vowing, Lee b24fbaddb1 Soo muttered 023870f037 and took 440a1d591b a deep a6ca00da71 breath.a1634311c56db02e

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It would be ba9fba8e09 nice if this 72ab95b767 world could be 83b62eb9e5 a bit kinder b307d50f0a to Haeon. Thinking of his 03fa914ce6 death, Lee Soo 6350ba7acf lowered his lips c06a2deeed and then absentmindedly ff01ca4ea5 rubbed the edge 4af5f147c6 of the table.8430b512fd9ec5a7

Haeon was now c797d4bf65 25 years old, a589783298 with two years 3c2f4c1d23 left until the 6b275211c1 original story. If he could d34a7ad78a become close to ac823c767f Haeon slowly, gain 3dd7c2a67e his trust, and 4e9c3cf5f1 then be diligent 4c4136efe0 around the time 3f02586b85 the original story 79b2c2d0b3 starts, Haeon could d3e7ff39d4 be saved.5257ca1dd6999230

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The protagonist’s misfortunes fb30950347 that would occur 9e7e048cc0 before then could 9ddd64bab1 be mitigated with f1341a4266 a little help 73d79ece79 on the side. Joo’s help as 3e515adf88 the heroine could 1c5c161950 also be more 97713bfdb8 easily resolved with 3e6e8ee1f2 his involvement.7702c9993e5dc4af

And if a3a6940de0 dying… was b185ebfd72 due to c50238e7d6 incorrect dungeon c50bed3f68 preparations because 767cecc5b9 of faulty 2b07c95b38 information, he 595abbb760 could prepare ecf768783e separately with c18ba8e4e5 correct information.7fd222356cf15857

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He might 658105e402 die from 4d0e1674d7 his physical f8545a9372 condition before a7cdb10dd8 then… but dcada7b3fd maybe Haeon 4c81d7b5ca could extend 37066a2ee9 his life b925c3ab2b just a 8128652749 little?2562cb520d5de6df

Even if ef28383515 it was 748cc21d54 just half e5ea68743e a year 0147672c24 longer, that bdd8d05723 should be 660e7a47df enough to dce0fa9667 save Haeon. Thinking he should ask dd81635412 him later, Lee Soo 1b555209ee nodded.b964b64bade37bec

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“Should I play 9e962592ff the role of fefc4c7b85 a prophet if c0f75bd637 it gets tough…”cbaccddb6d679d14

Laughing at 854a8b20cc the thought 1a8a5f3e32 of telling fe2a68aa32 Haeon he d9904153f6 had foreseen a1feec2ed0 the future, 2834c33f8d advising on 61e42912e1 which dungeons 536e782c79 to enter, 267cd3d0c4 not to 7b18bba1ea trust the 49f1276d4e dungeon information 5d91d0a4ca managers, and ba74f25926 to know 5e0e4cfe99 the strategies c203cf53d5 in advance 20fbdc5576 as if 0a8339a05e he had 0bd09821be seen them.1f372ec70eef217a

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Pulling out his laptop 1851e7e26f to organize the thoughts 8e3fe885f0 in his head, Lee 427397cc09 Soo stared at the 0ff2bdb2c0 blank screen. Reading the sentence carved e87d77d3c5 there, he slowly lifted fb3d18a433 the corners of his 2276295d6e lips.ac1fe98fff8c8014

“See you soon, 9c07002420 my protagonist.”b4013d7b49e22a99

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