Geo inhaled the food at the night market.

“…….”

“Do you have any questions?”

“No, you eat well.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Geo was a big eater.

“Aren’t you full?”

“I’m already a big eater, so it’s okay.”

“It’s amazing.”

“If it didn’t taste good, I would have done it in moderation, but it was all delicious.”

“Of course, people come only if it’s delicious.”

It’s true, but if all the restaurants and food were delicious, no store would have failed.

‘Anyway, the tourist attractions have become quite substantial in 31 years. When I visited with my classmates, we almost walked into history. It took a lot of effort to appease the bored kids.’

Geo roughly brushed aside the rags and chewed on rice cakes grilled over charcoal and coated with soy sauce. This was Korean tang-hoo-ru.

‘Gyeongbokgung Palace is a typical cultural heritage… It was such a dull feeling.’

It was a place with many memories, but what made those memories was not Gyeongbokgung Palace itself, but the communication with the students who were wandering around in search of their own identity while wearing hanbok.

‘Seeing that I was crying for no reason, I wonder what happened to our idol aspirant who said he was the king of Joseon in his past life. I wonder if everyone is doing well.’

If it weren’t for the students who were faithful ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) to their nonsense like high school students who couldn’t live in their right minds, Geo wouldn’t have enjoyed Gyeongbokgung Palace that much.

The hanok is beautiful and old-fashioned, but there were a few students who protested when they had to come here, especially in the summer.

‘But Gyeongbokgung Palace now has more substance. There’s definitely more to enjoy.’

The people wearing hanbok enjoyed role-playing, and often exchanged the kind of lanterns they bought with others. They all seemed happy.

“…….”

If there’s one thing I’m curious about.

‘What is that?’

Something like a transparent shadow was seen waving around in a hanbok.

‘It was the same in the fan shop, and in the alleys of the hanok village… Those similar things were walking around.’

There may have been exceptions, but all of the ones Geo saw were wearing masks.

A group of shadows that looked like a shaman swaying on a rope with a lantern, a group of children with ponytails jumping around and passing through people, a group of civil servants coming and going from inside the palace where access was restricted… .

“…Mr. Yoo Seong-woon.”

“Huh?”

“What is that called?”

“What is… Ah.”

Yoo Seong-woon said as if he thought Geo would know.

“Fairy tales, living stories. Is this the first time you’ve seen them in a place like this?”

“…….”

“They usually like places without people, so it’s rare to see them in such a noisy tourist spot. But they’re still one of the proper children of the Origin.”

I’ve heard this before.

“You told me something similar last time.”

“What? Are you talking about the children of the Origin?”

“Yes, can you explain in a little more detail?”

“…Oh, really?”

Yu Seong-un scratched the back of his neck and continued.

“I think I gave a vague explanation when I explained the gardener last time… but it was a bit vague back then. It’s hard to summarize, but I’ll explain.”

“…….”

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“There is a transcendent being that we humans define as the ‘Origin’, and you could say it’s the god of gods. It’s a kind of system that manages balance and creates various rules throughout the universe and dimensions.”

“It’s a system.”

“And this source usually creates other children. They are called ‘children of the source.’ They are beings that can be distinguished as one nature, like waves or wind, or animals and humans.”

“…….”

“These children of the source can be classified into several types….”

Yoo Seong-woon pointed to the figures of civil servants moving inside the palace. Their faces were hidden by their large hats and veils, and their sleeves were strangely long, making it impossible to identify any part of their bodies.

Their movements as a group were sharp and attractive, as if they were watching a military dance, but because of that, they did not seem like living beings. It was as if shadows were wearing clothes and imitating people.

“Those guys are called ‘fairy tales.’”

“What kind of beings are they?”

“Like most children of the source, they are not interested in humans and do not harm them. ‘Fairy tales’ are living stories and at the same time, they are beings that resemble human figures.”

“Then isn’t the spirit closer to humans?”

“They don’t really think like humans, they simply imitate traces. The children of the origin are good at decorating their appearances. It’s not something they learned later, it’s just a characteristic of their nature.”

Yoo Seong-woon continued after drinking the persimmon juice

“No matter what kind, all fairy tales wear masks, but there’s no face on the other side. They don’t have human bodies or the ability to think like humans, they just imitate appearances.”

“…….”

“Just because you draw someone doesn’t mean that the drawing becomes an actual human. Oh, of course, I don’t know about you… but usually there’s a limit to the dimension.”

“I understand.”

A portrait like mine wouldn’t be common in the world. When Geo agreed, Yoo Seong-woon continued.

“They have their own stories, and when those stories are over, they disappear. Gyeongbokgung Palace is a place with a lot of people, but strangely enough, fairy tales like that are quite common.”

Geo, who was observing the people, asked.

“Don’t people see those children of the origin?”

“Not many people do.”

Yoo Seong-un nodded.

“Ordinary people can’t detect the frequencies that dolphins or bats use. It’s similar. The children of the origin exist in the world, but not many people can detect them. It’s not like they’re hiding.”

“Ghosts?”

“Uh… They can see them similarly, but the fact that they don’t understand humans at all is a bit different. No matter how much they look like humans, they’re empty inside. Their roots are different.”

He said as if something had occurred to him.

“Oh, that’s right. They say that in the past, no one could see those children of the origin. They say that because the Earth was greatly influenced by the origin, dungeons were created… and the Awakened were born… and the ecosystem itself changed, they were able to see them.”

It was a mysterious story, like a fairy tale.

“As you can see, I am one of the few people who can perceive the source.”

“I guess so too.”

“Hmm, I guess so.”

I tried to hide it, but Yoo Seong-woon looked a little awkward. It was probably because he thought of me as something other than human.

‘Anyway, if you are Mr. Yoo Seong-woon, you will know that I am a harmless being that cannot kill even an ant, whether I am human or not, so it doesn’t matter.’

Fearing that he would be dragged out of the portrait, Geo did not correct him and looked at the view of Gyeongbokgung Palace again.

‘The Earth and humanity have become stronger.’

I was definitely eliminated. Geo, who only knows how to eat, sleep, and draw, lost confidence in surviving in this harsh world.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

“How many people can see the source?”

“Are you asking about the percentage of all humans? Well, not many.”

“I see.”

If you are special, you are bound to get stabbed. Geo decides to devote his life to portraits once again.

“…….”

Geo, who was sitting blankly on the bench, soon noticed a small commotion.

“I hear the sound of a fight.”

“That’s rare, in a tourist spot like this.”

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Yoo Seong-woon, who was leaning against his chair, leaned forward.

“The security guards will arrest him soon, but….”

As expected, the security guards wearing thick hanbok caught the man who was yelling. He was a middle-aged man, but he was making a fuss about running into a handsome man wearing a scholar’s ​​uniform.

The scholar, who had been grabbed by the collar and was adjusting his shirt, looked embarrassed.

“…….”

He was clearly a good-looking young man, but…

Let’s make a frame and determine the safety level (0/1)

Reward: Seal

Geo had a hunch.

“Geo?”

“…….”

A frame.

Geo raised both hands, made a camera shape, and held them up to his eyes.

Dangerous ★★★★★

Five stars.

'Very dangerous?'

It seemed like the guards had caught the wrong person to drag out.

Would you like to check the history?

[Yes/No]
Do I really need to do that?

"……."

The young man in the scholar's uniform met Geo's eyes.

'I was staring at you too intently.'

Yoo Seong-woon seemed to find Geo's sudden behavior strange, but he didn't say anything.

The scholar looked Geo up and down as if he was checking him out, then nodded and passed by. His expression seemed to indicate that he thought he had picked a fight.

"Knock knock."

"Oh, that's surprising."

Yoo Seong-woon was startled by Honey's sudden appearance.

“…Huh? Water bird? Wait, Geo, you showed me this guy last time….”

“It’s Honey.”

“You could bring this guy out?”

“I don’t know because I’ve never tried other birds.”

“Um, yeah, uh… I see.”

Yoo Seong-un looked somewhat relieved.

“It’s almost time for the Earth to end.”

“It seems like it’s holding up well, so I don’t know why you’re suddenly saying something so out of the blue.”

“It was definitely a sand castle that would crumble if you hit it….”

Yoo Seong-un, who had been smiling with a resigned face, soon returned to his usual expression and asked.

“So, why is that guy? Are you worried?”

“He looked dangerous.”

“…Really?”

“He didn’t seem to like me.”

A scary person.

“I didn’t want to pick a fight.”

I had momentarily forgotten that if you make eye contact for more than 3 seconds, it’s either ‘Does that guy like me?’ or ‘Is that guy trying to fight me?’

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

‘I should have spoken to him politely and kindly before the 3 seconds passed, but his resume was too impressive, so I missed the timing to act friendly. Sergio, who was called the 21st century’s Pokemon trainer, must have lost all his intuition.’

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They say that if you make eye contact, it’s a battle. Whether it’s good or bad.

‘I think that guy just interpreted it in a bad way.’

In this tough era where businessmen in suits beat up monsters,

What am I supposed to do if I pick a fight with a guy who has a risk rating of five stars?

‘No, shouldn’t the risk of someone just passing by be this high?’

Geo spoke sincerely, resenting this crazy hellish Republic of Korea.

“It’s scary.”

“Even if you say it’s scary, it’s hard to take it seriously… Are you being sarcastic?”

“I think we should go back to the hotel.”

“If you want to.”

Geo left Gyeongbokgung Palace after gently putting Honey, who was trying to peek out from between his scarf, inside. He must have liked the sparkling fish, because he had already put it in his stomach.

And then he passed out on the hotel bed and woke up at 3:32 in the morning.

“…….”

Geo confirmed that Honey was gone.

“Please.”

Can’t you just leave me in peace right now?

I might start crying.

“…….”

A dark and deserted alley in a slum.

“…So, what on earth was that kid just now?”

The man, now out of his scholar’s ​​uniform, roughly ran his hand through his hair.

‘It felt weird.’

It was a man wearing pitch-black hanbok. He was so wrapped up that his face couldn’t be seen.

He seemed to be about 190cm tall, but it was hard to tell who he was based on gender and height alone.

“It feels weird.”

If it were normal, I would have just passed by, thinking that some weird kid was picking a fight.

But.

“At that time, what was that hand gesture….”

He made a hand gesture that seemed to imitate a picture frame or something.

For a moment, it felt like every single thing about him was being revealed.

“…….”

The man scratched his head.

“…This won’t work, damn it, this is weird. That kid must have been an Awakened one, right?”

The person sitting next to him was a hunter named Yoo Seong-un. The curator of Bisabal was standing next to him, personally guiding him, so he must have been a rich young master who had recently awakened.

‘Because he had an unlucky manners embedded in his body.’

But it was difficult.

‘If the thing I was planning were to be known…’

He wouldn’t simply be demoted to a 5th-grade citizen.

There were more awakened people than you could imagine who had the skill to freely check someone’s thoughts or memories, or to glimpse into that person’s past. It wasn’t that rare of a skill, just that they didn’t talk about it because they were worried about getting stabbed somewhere.

So the pitch-black man I saw at the Gyeongbokgung night market might have used that kind of skill to spy on his thoughts. Considering that unexpected hand gesture, it was a very reasonable conclusion.

“…….”

Whoa… .

I sighed.

“The event will start soon, what is this, I wonder.”

If you think about the aftereffects, you can’t just let this go. That’s how dangerous what he was doing was, and it was a betrayal of humanity.

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I’ve never felt any guilt, but I couldn’t help but get caught and get in trouble.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was the same.

“I have to kill him.”

How much time and effort had he put into securing a spot in the Temple of the Sun? Now, I couldn’t just ignore the danger factor because it left a bad aftertaste.

I was determined to track down the traces of the man I saw at Gyeongbokgung Palace.

“…….”

“…….”

“…What is it?”

A squishy bird was sitting on a pipe.

Inside, fish, which were tourist attractions, were swimming, so it was quite bright. I wondered why I only noticed it now in this dark alley.

“…….”

It was strange.

‘… ‘This is the first time I’ve seen a city monster.’

Moreover, most bird-shaped monsters, especially small ones like this, usually traveled in groups. All beasts or monsters that traveled alone were capable of defending themselves.

So how likely was it that this insignificant-looking bird was an ordinary monster?

“…This, damn it, really….”

Was that surveillance monster that bastard I saw at Gyeongbokgung Palace attached?

‘It was a trainer?’

I didn’t know it was a professional hunter. Somehow that sinister bastard, Yoo Seong-un, treated it so kindly. Did that mean it was an Awakened who was worth it?

The man gripped his staff tightly.

“…Well, that’s good.”

It seemed like the owner of this bird was a rookie. He could clearly sense his master’s scent from the bird. It seemed like he hadn’t thought that he would be caught when he sent the spy.

The man forced a smile.

“If you noticed something strange, you should have told Yoo Seong-un right away.”

He didn’t feel threatened by this bird that was just blankly staring at him. It really seemed to be a surveillance camera, but if so, it would have been easier to track it down.

‘You weren’t sure enough to tell Yoo Seong-un?’

Not reporting your suspicions to your superiors in advance. It was a mistake that rookie hunters often make.

‘How stupid.’

Even if he didn’t know exactly what this bird was, he had to deal with it now.

Thinking that, the man reached out and grabbed a bird that was barely big enough to fit in his mouth… .

―Kwakjik.

“…….”

“…….”

“Huh?”

The hand.

disappeared.

“…….”

His hand was visible inside the bird’s transparent body. The fish’s back, swaying, wrapped around his dismembered hand.

Soon, the two of them slowly melted away.

“…Ah.”

“Kkuk.”

“Fuck.”

The man wasn’t incompetent.

“Guruk?”

“This, this fucking shit….”

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“Gururururuk?”

“…This is ridiculous.”

“Gukguruk.”

He was in a position where he could be proud, as a priest of the sun and a rank that was by no means easy.

However, all of this was a situation where things that could not have happened in common sense overlapped like a disaster rather than a miracle. It wasn’t a problem that a single individual could do anything about.

The small bird’s body began to swell strangely.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Guruk?”

Feathers that glittered with a light that made it hard to tell if it was the moon or the sun.

Strong claws and long legs that resembled hooks.

And a large beak.

“No…!”

Knock—.

The sound of running water is heard.

“Woooo, whoosh…!”

And then the sound of stirring is heard.

“…! …!!!”

“…….”

“……!!”

“…….”

“…….”

Soon,

silence flowed.

“…….”

The man was nowhere to be seen.

“Kuruk.”

Only a very small bird was flying leisurely.

“Honey.”

Geo likes small and harmless things.

However, the children of the origin were good at making things up.

“Where have you been?”

“Kuruk.”

“It’s cute, that’s enough.”

Then.

What exactly is the essence?

“There’s a bungeoppang over there.”

“Kuk!!”

“You’re my son after all.”

“Kuruk?”

“I’ll reveal something delicious.”

Even the child of the source himself wouldn’t know that.