“Nuna!”

Thump, thump!

Minjoo desperately pounded on the collapsed inner gate.

He pounded hard enough for his fists to throb, but not even a centimeter of the mountainlike debris moved, let alone any echo of Eunha’s voice returning.

The darkness that blanketed everything was so dense that he couldn’t even look down at his own feet.

Blowing up this space itself with a bazooka was not a difficult task. But if he used a bazooka in this sealed space, his limbs would also be blown away. Naturally, he couldn’t use bean bullets either.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

“Nuna, are you there?”

Thump thump!

Thump!

Thump…….

Slump.

“Uh…….”

The small fist that had been pounding the wall fell helplessly down. It was hard to breathe, but not because of a lack of air.

“He, ugh…….”

His mind was fading, and he began to breathe faster. Symptoms of hyperventilation. But still, Minjoo reached out to the inner wall with all his might.

Scratch, scratch.

No longer able to make a fist, Minjoo scraped the inner wall with his fingernails.

Blood blisters formed on each finger, and his nails split, but he didn’t care as he scratched and scratched the solid inner wall.

Then Minjoo, who had collapsed in place, trembled his shoulders.

It was dark.

Whether his eyes were open or closed, the black scenery did not change.

That cruel and thick darkness brought back memories that had been forgotten like a wave. And that wave swallowed the young boy whole, gulp, all at once.

‘Minjoo.’

One.

‘You close your eyes here and count to a hundred. You mustn’t open them, okay?’

Two.

‘Mom and Dad will be hiding over there. It’s hideandseek, Minjoo’s favorite game.’

Three.

‘Then, our son….’

Four.

‘Mom and Dad, we’ll hide.’

Five, six, seven, eight…….

In his fading consciousness, Minjoo felt relieved.

‘Thank goodness.’

That no one else was here.

He couldn’t show this side of himself to anyone, not even to the guild members of his legion.

The fact that the Sclass Hunter Trickster, the owner of the legion, had this frail trauma, was something he didn’t want anyone to know.

It shouldn’t be known.

(This is a time separator.)

Eight years old.

In a tenpyeong semibasement house lived Mom, Dad, Minjoo, and a cockroach the size of a thumb.

The house had no windows. So it was less cold in the winter, and less hot in the summer.

The lack of hot water in the house was a slight drawback, but it was okay. Mom always boiled hot water in a pot the size of Minjoo.

They were hardly ever hungry. The country provided a fixed amount of rice and ramen every month.

Minjoo’s favorite dish at the time was ketchup rice. It was simply mixing ketchup with plain rice. One bowl of ketchup rice kept him full until dinner.

That day, for some reason, there was a halfcooked fried egg on top of the ketchup rice.

“Mom, can I really eat this?”

“Sure. Want me to make another one?”

“Yes!”

He was happy.

Two fried eggs in one meal. Was it okay to have such luxury? It was the first time in his eightyear life that he had experienced such a treat.

That day, Dad didn’t go to work either. Although he left home every day at the crack of dawn, even on Sundays, that day, past noon, he sat across and watched Minjoo’s meal intently.

“Minjoo, do you want anything else?”

“Um…….”

Minjoo rolled his eyes, his mouth smeared with rice. His round eyes resembled his mother’s, and the small mole below them was like his father’s.

“No, this is the tastiest.”

“Is that so?”

Both Dad and Mom smiled at the same time. Now he would have noticed what that smile meant at once, but the young Minjoo didn’t know such things, so he simply giggled “Ehehe” along with them.

“Then, shall we play hideandseek after you eat this?”

“Hideandseek?”

“Yeah. It’s Sunday, so the family should play together. How about it?”

“……!”

Minjoo’s eyes opened wide, still holding his spoon. However, that only lasted for a moment. Without even swallowing his rice, Minjoo grinned with joy.

“Yes……!”

He didn’t know then.

Why, on that day, his mom had made him two fried eggs.
Why that day, Dad did not go to work and suggested playing hideandseek.

“Minjoo, you have to close your eyes and count to a hundred here. You must never open your eyes, got it?”

After finishing her meal, Minjoo stood facing the kitchen wall, firmly covering her eyes with her hands.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Then Mom and Dad will hide.”

One, two, three, four, five…….

Minjoo counted with excitement. The sound of a click from behind was strange, but she promised not to open her eyes. Minjoo kept her eyes tightly closed as she counted.

Seventytwo, seventythree, seventyfour…….

This time, there was a thump! sound from somewhere. Minjoo was momentarily startled and hiccupped, stopping her count.

She almost opened her eyes but it was okay. Minjoo was a good child who kept promises well.

‘Where did I leave off?’