“…What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Why ask when you understood?”

“How would I know?”

“The system told me.”

“Nothing appeared for me though.”

“I guess it only shows up for me then.”

Geon-joo’s expression twisted at Sa-yoon’s nonchalant response. As Geon-joo frowned as if telling him not to joke around, Sa-yoon quietly observed him before turning his head towards the door. Geon-joo, who had been reluctantly staying put, got up from the bed a beat later.

Moving his feet carefully so as not to wake Noah, he slipped out of the room. As soon as the door closed with a thud, Geon-joo grabbed Sa-yoon’s shoulder.

“What did you mean by that just now?”

“Exactly what you heard. The system informed me that Noah is the source of destruction.”

“So, when?”

“Just now when we went out together.”

It was awkward to explain in more detail. Sa-yoon had to keep secret that he could see the status window of Awakened ones, and he didn’t want to mention the system appearing in front of Noah either. If he were Noah, he wouldn’t want to be told. How could he explain it in the first place?

Should he say that suddenly a system appeared in front of Noah and it urged him to bring about the world’s destruction?

Even if he said that, would Geon-joo believe him?

No, he would think Sa-yoon had gone mad.

Even now, wasn’t Geon-joo looking at him like he was a nutcase? If he spoke honestly, Geon-joo might declare that he wouldn’t entrust Noah to someone spouting such nonsense.

Imagining the predictable future, the corners of Sa-yoon’s mouth twisted upwards. Disliking that smile, Geon-joo’s eyes narrowed.

“Can’t you explain properly?”

“I’ve told you everything. What more is there to explain?”

“…Hah.”

A sigh filled with frustration echoed through the corridor. Geon-joo, who seemed to have given up on the conversation for a moment, rolled his eyes around before dropping his head and rubbing the exposed white nape of his neck with his hand.

His red lips opened and closed repeatedly. His gaze wandered between the floor and the wall, lingering in the air.

“It’s so sudden, I don’t understand at all…”

Sa-yoon understood. Because he had felt the same way, he waited patiently for Geon-joo’s response in a relaxed posture.

“…Are you going to kill him?”

“What?”

“Noah. You said he’s the source of destruction.”

“That’s right.”

“Are you going to kill him?”

The black eyes that had been wandering here and there returned to Sa-yoon. As the man stopped deliberately avoiding his gaze and tried to face him again, Sa-yoon remained silent. That silence must have been quite unsettling, as Geon-joo’s hand gripping Sa-yoon’s shoulder tightened.

“There are other ways, right? The Wave treatment, that should work, right?”

Eighty times.

Contemplating the number of remaining Waves, Sa-yoon took in the sight of Geon-joo, who apparently knew how to make quite a desperate expression, and closed his eyes. With his eyelids lowered, he took a breath. Noah’s confused and shaking eyes seemed to be drawn in the darkness, causing Sa-yoon to curl his lips as he grabbed Geon-joo’s hand on his shoulder and lowered it.

“You talk big for someone who collapsed after twenty Waves.”

“…”

“Relax your face, pretty boy. Who do you think I am, a murderer?”

Strictly speaking, he was a murderer. Both Sa-yoon and Geon-joo knew this fact, so an awkward silence momentarily lingered in the corridor. Realizing his slip of the tongue, Sa-yoon shrugged. It was too late to correct the statement now.

Instead, Sa-yoon voiced the thoughts that Geon-joo was curious about.

“I don’t intend to kill him.”

“Really?”

“At least not for the time being.”

He had no intention of becoming a pathetic villain who kills a child because he couldn’t handle eighty Waves. Sa-yoon glanced at the room where Noah was sleeping, then crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“It seems you don’t intend to kill him either.”

“Of course not.”

“Then that’s settled.”

“What?”

“I said that’s settled.”

Since neither he nor Geon-joo intended to kill Noah, Noah’s survival was confirmed for the time being. Sa-yoon, who would have followed Geon-joo’s opinion if he had said he would kill Noah, lowered his gaze as he looked at the pretty boy with a puzzled expression.

If they gave up one person’s life right now, they could return to the Gate without struggling. Yet they chose the path of hardship, rejecting the easy way.

Just because it was the right thing to do.

That was incredibly fascinating to him.

If it hadn’t been Noah, if it had been some other random passerby, he might have chosen to kill them on the spot. He knew better than anyone else that his current desire to save Noah was nothing more than a whim.

The kid he had known for quite a while turned out to be in a similar situation as himself, so he felt sympathy, and he chose to save him because he wanted him to live happily if possible.

His choice this time was born out of sympathy, a product of that process, not out of his own goodwill.

But Han Geon-joo was good.

Even if the source of destruction hadn’t been Noah, if it had been any person, he would have made a similar choice. Regardless of familiarity. Simply because that person was human.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

It seemed he had been staring at him while lost in thought. Geon-joo’s voice, asking as if the gaze that had lingered on his face for a long time was burdensome, woke Sa-yoon from his reverie. Focusing his gaze, Sa-yoon chuckled.

“It’s fascinating.”

“What is?”

“There’s something like that, pretty boy.”

“…Always talking like that, keeping things to yourself.”

His voice was thick with dissatisfaction. He still seemed curious about why Noah had suddenly become the source of destruction, but Sa-yoon ignored the persistent gaze. It was best to ignore troublesome gazes.

“Go in before he wakes up.”

Instead of playing dumb, Sa-yoon showed the kindness of opening the door himself and pushing Geon-joo into the room. As the last one to enter Noah’s room where he was sleeping, Sa-yoon closed the door. While they had been talking about Noah’s survival outside with just a door between them, the subject of their conversation had been sound asleep on the bed.

With a face as clean as could be.

Like someone who had gathered all the purity in the world.

That face was both absurd and enviable. Clicking his tongue at the expression that seemed to have shaken off all worries and anxieties, Sa-yoon went to the bed and stroked Noah’s head.

“You really won’t kill him, right?”

As if suspicion had taken root in the meantime, Geon-joo, who had been closely watching Sa-yoon’s hand caressing Noah, asked in a lowered voice. His actions clearly showed his concern that Noah might hear, which made Sa-yoon furrow his brow.

“You’re always being fooled…”

“If the Guild Master says so…”

“Enough, enough.”

They each cut off each other’s words once. Sa-yoon hid the topic that would only disadvantage him if spoken aloud and removed his hand from Noah.

“I won’t kill him.”

“…”

“Learn to trust people when they speak, pretty boy.”

Despite explaining several times, and not just anyone but himself at that, Geon-joo still wouldn’t believe him. Of course, he had deceived Geon-joo more times than he had explained, but it was still unfair.

How many times had there been such sincerity as this time?

Thinking it was about time Geon-joo started believing him, Sa-yoon narrowed his eyes as he spoke. Geon-joo, who couldn’t shake off his suspicious gaze, sat on the bed.

“Then, please let me take Noah to sleep with me.”

“Wasn’t that your aim from the beginning?”

“It wasn’t.”

“Yeah, right.”

No matter how he looked at it, the excuse of feeling uneasy seemed just that – an excuse. It appeared Geon-joo simply wanted to sleep with Noah. Feeling indignant, Sa-yoon was about to retort that Geon-joo should get on the bed himself, but sensing Noah stirring and curling up, he waved his hand instead.

He had no desire to cause a commotion and wake the child unnecessarily.

“Do as you please. Be careful not to wake Noah when you take him.”

“Alright.”

As soon as he gave permission, the corners of Geon-joo’s mouth could be seen slowly rising. Wondering if he could really be that happy, Sa-yoon watched as Geon-joo carefully tended to Noah, recalling the roughly two months he had spent with him.

Come to think of it, since bringing Han Geon-joo, it had always been Sa-yoon taking care of him, rarely the other way around. It was hard to find anyone less skilled than Geon-joo in Night Mouse, after all.

He had always been protected, and sometimes even treated as a burden.

Is that why he’s become so caring now?

Sa-yoon wondered if being constantly treated like a child and then finding someone to take care of made Geon-joo feel more responsible. He was about to ask but then closed his mouth. Geon-joo had immediately positioned himself and closed his eyes after moving Noah onto the bed.

He seemed intent on sleeping right away, tossing and turning to find a comfortable position. Not feeling inclined to wake him up for trivial conversation, Sa-yoon silently watched as Geon-joo fell asleep in less than 30 minutes, causing him to smirk.

While one was troubled, the other slept soundly just by holding a child. The same went for Noah, who had drifted off to dreamland after being comforted a little by Sa-yoon.

Thinking that similar types had found each other, Sa-yoon recalled the quest he had buried in his memory amidst the silence.

Eliminate a high-ranking Awakened.

The deadline for the quest, which had a penalty of rank reduction if not completed in time, was approaching.

The original plan was to spend a maximum of one month here before returning to the Gate, but with things turning out this way, the plan had to change. He had to give up on the quest to eliminate a high-ranking Awakened, even if it meant accepting the penalty.

Suddenly, he remembered the message on the system window that appeared along with the quest.

“It said to think about what the evil of humanity should do, huh…”

Now that he thought about it, it was quite a meaningful message. Wondering if the system had predicted all of this, Sa-yoon called up the quest window and let out a long sigh as he looked at the ominously blue window.

Dropping one rank was bearable. If he gritted his teeth and endured the Waves, then returned and frantically ran through a few unconquered Gates, his rank would rise again. Self-deprecatingly, he consoled himself that with a body that couldn’t die even if he wanted to, he didn’t have to worry about dying while conquering dungeons.

Sa-yoon turned his head.

His gaze fell on Noah and Geon-joo before dropping away.

Are they really worth that much?

The worry that briefly lingered in his mind disappeared when he saw Noah mumbling in his sleep and burying his face in Geon-joo’s embrace.

If value meant being able to become some kind of hope simply by existing, then they were already individuals overflowing with that value.