EFME 15

It was a strange dream.

A warm and gentle, sweet dream that he didn’t want to wake up from. A realistic dream, as if it had happened sometime before…….

“……No.”

Anxiety suddenly surged from within Sunyul. It was an anxiety without a discernible cause, yet it was too immense and distinct to be dismissed as just a feeling.

Sunyul gasped for breath. His heart pounded anxiously. In an instant, his body was drenched in a cold sweat. Anxiety rushed in as if he were being chased by someone.

I shouldn’t have dreams like this.

I shouldn’t remember things like this.

If that happens…….

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ advises that this is a natural course that cannot be stopped.]

‘Shut up…….’

Can’t be stopped? That’s ridiculous. It has to be stopped. He had to stop it, to protect everything.

He could hear the sound of what he had been desperately holding back slowly wearing away. The threat was approaching without a sound, soaking his feet.

But it’s still just a threat.

Nothing has happened. If this state continues, Sunyul could protect everyone.

For that.

For that, for such a long time…….

[‘Traveler of the Eternal Night’ comforts you.]

“……”

Slowly, his memory from right after the dream began to blur.

Sunyul slowly blinked and sat up. Then, he wiped his tear-drenched cheeks with his hands.

He didn’t know why he had cried so much. He felt like he had been having strange thoughts, but they had evaporated in a moment and he couldn’t remember them clearly.

It felt like his heart had been hurting a lot…….

Was it because of the dream? The dream where Heena and Haemin, who had clearly been wary of him, acted kindly was pleasant yet painful. Because he knew the two of them could never be kind to Sunyul.

Sunyul was well aware that many people would not accept him anyway. Even if he didn’t want to know, the things he had experienced so far had made him understand.

But it was okay. At least Muyoung was kind.

Why was Kwon Muyoung so kind?

He was well aware from people’s attitudes that Muyoung was unusually kind to him. No matter how much he thought about it, there was no reason for Muyoung to be kind only to him.

While he liked that kindness, it sometimes made him anxious. Because he didn’t know the reason, he was afraid it would suddenly be withdrawn at any moment.

“……”

As Sunyul was thinking dark thoughts, he suddenly felt a strange sensation and clutched his stomach. It wasn’t that it hurt, but… it was strangely agonizing.

For a moment, the memory of the Korean beef they ate after the dungeon conquest a while ago came to Sunyul’s mind. He hadn’t eaten a single bite, but everyone else had eaten it deliciously.

Strangely, he felt a sense of regret for the meat he hadn’t eaten back then. Sunyul hesitated, then peeked the door open and looked around. Then, he stealthily tiptoed down the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

After checking his surroundings once more, Sunyul carefully opened the refrigerator door. He was surprised by how loud the refrigerator was, but he held his breath to make as little noise as possible and looked inside.

“……”

Compared to the size of the refrigerator, the inside was overly neat.

Two cans of beer, four bottles of sparkling water, a few vegetables, and packaged meat and salmon were all there was. There was nothing Sunyul could eat right away.

With a glimmer of hope, Sunyul closed the refrigerator, squatted down, and opened the freezer.

It was even worse there. The only thing inside was ice. And it was only large chunks of ice that looked too big to fit in one’s mouth.

Why on earth did he buy such a huge refrigerator? When he wasn’t even going to put anything in it.

Feeling resentment towards Muyoung for the first time, Sunyul glared at the freezer.

“What are you doing.”

“Ack!”

Sunyul was so startled he fell on his butt. Muyoung was standing right next to him, though he had no idea when he’d arrived.

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m okay……”

“Why were you looking in the refrigerator?”

“……I was hungry.”

“You’re hungry?”

In the month since Sunyul had come out of the item box, he had never once said he was hungry.

“Why all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know.”

Sunyul was about to say he was sorry but closed his mouth. Muyoung didn’t really like it when Sunyul said he was sorry.

“So you’re hungry.”

“……”

“Then you should eat.”

Sunyul’s eyes widened as he watched Muyoung mutter as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Is it okay for me to eat?”

“Do I look like I wouldn’t even give you food?”

Sunyul shook his head from side to side.

Muyoung opened the refrigerator. Then, he frowned upon seeing the empty interior.

“There’s not much to feed you.”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“Alright, then.”

Muyoung took the salad and meat and headed to the kitchen. Soon, a salad drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was placed in front of Sunyul.

Sunyul picked up the salad Muyoung handed him with a fork and put it in his mouth. He liked the refreshing taste. Seeing Sunyul busily moving his hands, Muyoung returned to the kitchen.

Soon, a delicious smell began to waft from the kitchen. Sunyul sniffed the air while eating his salad. It was the smell of the meat he had thought of a moment ago. He felt hungry even though he was clearly eating a salad.

Sunyul finished his salad and went over to Muyoung’s side. Muyoung was stir-frying bite-sized pieces of meat with prepared onions and mushrooms. He seemed to be at the final stage, as Sunyul watched intently while he turned off the heat and plated the food.

“I didn’t have many options since I just used what was here. I don’t know if you’ll like it……”

“It looks delicious.”

“Good.”

Muyoung carried the two plates to the dining table. Sitting across from each other, Sunyul speared a piece of meat with his fork and tried it.

“It’s delicious.”

“That’s a relief.”

Sunyul ate about half the meat, then got thirsty and took out some sparkling water to drink. After such a satisfying meal, a pleasant feeling of fullness washed over him. So much so that he wondered why he hadn’t been eating until now.

Muyoung watched Sunyul with a rather satisfied look in his eyes.

Around the time they had almost finished their meal, Juyeong approached. The homunculus tilted his head upon seeing the dish he hadn’t had a hand in making.

“You should have called for me, Master.”

“I’ll call you from next time, so don’t worry about it today and do something else.”

“Understood, Master.”

Juyeong went elsewhere.

Not long after, the sound of the front door opening was heard. The person entering the house was none other than Chief Choi.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

Chief Choi, who greeted him politely, was holding a large shopping bag.

“I prepared this in a hurry, but I’m not sure if it will suit your taste.”

“We’ll know once he eats it. You can go now.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

After just delivering the shopping bag, Chief Choi left immediately. After Chief Choi left, Muyoung took out what was inside. What came out was none other than a ripe, red apple.

“I was going to put more ingredients in, but since we’re going into a dungeon today.”

“Ah.”

“Did you forget?”

“No, I remember.”

Of course, he remembered. It was just that it felt disappointing and regrettable all over again.

Today was the day Muyoung was going into a dungeon. Not like last time, where Sunyul went with him, but for Muyoung to do his work.

He heard it was an A-rank dungeon. It wasn’t an extremely difficult one, but it was quite large, so the conquest was scheduled to take three or four days. Although he was upset, he had no choice but to wait.

Sunyul watched Muyoung peel an apple. Taking out a dagger with a sharp, blue-tinged blade from his inventory, Muyoung peeled the apple quite skillfully.

“You’re good at peeling.”

“If you go around dungeons enough, everyone can do this much.”

“Do you prepare your own meals? Even you, Guild Master?”

“Not these days. I did it a lot in the early days of the dungeon outbreaks when there were no people and we had to move in small groups.”

“You awakened not long after the dungeons appeared, right, Guild Master?”

“That’s right.”

Muyoung replied as he cut the well-peeled apple into bite-sized pieces.

The first dungeon appeared when Kwon Muyoung was seventeen. The world was in chaos, and three months after the first dungeon appeared, Kwon Muyoung awakened as the fifth S-rank in the world and the first in South Korea.

Having awakened during a chaotic time, Muyoung conquered dungeons with hardly any sleep. Muyoung’s contributions were so absolute that it was predicted the number of casualties in Korea would have been several times higher without him. Thanks to that, Muyoung held an unrivaled position.

It pained him to think that such a person was recently getting criticized for helping him.

“Don’t think useless thoughts and eat.”

Muyoung said, as if he knew exactly what Sunyul was thinking. Sunyul nodded and ate the apple. The apple Muyoung peeled for him was just sweet and delicious.

Sunyul went to the guild building with Muyoung. In one hand, he was pulling a suitcase containing his luggage for the next few days.

Muyoung said he would take care of his work in the morning and then leave for the dungeon in the afternoon. Instead of going into the break room, Sunyul sat on the sofa in the Guild Master’s office, playing a game and stealing glances at Muyoung from time to time.

He spent his time like that until around lunchtime, when I Bada came to visit the Guild Master’s office.

The person who was supposed to take care of Sunyul for the three or four days Muyoung was gone was none other than Bada.

“I Bada, take good care of him while I’m gone.”

“I got it.”

Bada, who had spoken bluntly, stared intently at Sunyul. He had seen him a few times coming and going, but……. The thought of being alone with him made him extremely nervous.

Even more so because Bada had a somewhat scary-looking face.