When my brother awakened, I was 16 years old. I was in my third year of middle school, not too young but not too old either.

After school, I would go straight home and spend my time there. Now that my brother had awakened, instead of my family, there was a housekeeper aunt waiting for me when I returned home.

“Bomi, are you back now? Do you want me to prepare dinner?”

“No, I’m going to eat patbingsu with Nayoung unnie.”

“Patbingsu should come after a proper meal.”

“Auntie!”

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted our conversation. Nayoung unnie appeared, tapping the housekeeper aunt’s shoulder.

“I bought some for you too, auntie. Let’s eat together.”

“Well, alright then.”

Seeing the patbingsu, which looked refreshing, seemed to stimulate her appetite. The housekeeper aunt, unable to resist, nodded.

Nayoung unnie is the daughter of my father’s friend, the chairman of the Great Awakening Association. Our families had often gathered together since we were young.

She and my brother were the same age and even attended the same school. They were close enough that she used to give him private lessons on weekends.

However, all that changed after my brother awakened.

Despite that, Nayoung unnie frequently visited our house when she was alone. It was the same as any other day.

We watched a movie we had downloaded in advance and enjoyed patbingsu together.

“Make sure Nayoung goes home not too late. And you both must eat properly.”

As the movie neared its end, the housekeeper aunt checked the time and got up from her seat.

“Alright, goodbye.”

She always finished work promptly at 9 o’clock. She had weekends off.

In contrast, my dad and my brother never seemed to take a break, even on holidays.

We used to promise to spend weekends together as a family, even if it was just going on a short trip, but those promises had long disappeared.

We watched the movie for a while longer, and before we knew it, the end credits were rolling.

“Let’s watch the next episode.”

“Unnie, aren’t you leaving?”

Nayoung unnie had planned this from the beginning and started the next episode without hesitation.

“It’s okay. Tomorrow is a holiday. I just want to sleep in.”

“Did you tell your dad?”

“I can tell him tomorrow. He won’t even notice if I don’t come home tonight.”

Nayoung unnie’s father was always busy with his position, and he had no time to take care of his family.

We used to just brush it off as how things were, but that day, for some reason, his words felt somewhat lonely, probably because they resonated with my own situation.

Now, would my family even notice if I left home late at night? I wondered where I would sleep, what I would eat…

Despite knowing the reasons for their busyness, the reality still felt heavy.

Nayoung unnie must have sensed the change in my mood as she tilted her head and looked at me closely.

“I’m fine. It’s nice to be free.”

“I don’t know. It’s just so quiet at home…”

Would I feel the same way in the future? I was still finding the current situation difficult to bear.

“You’ll be fine too. I’ll visit you often.”

Come to think of it, after my brother awakened, Nayoung unnie started visiting us even more frequently. Now, we didn’t even hold group tutoring sessions at our house anymore.

“Nayoung, do you come here often because of me?”

“To be precise, it’s because of you. I don’t like being alone either.”

“…”

“Being with people in a similar situation makes you feel less lonely. That’s why I like being with you, Bomi.”

At that time, it was inevitable that I opened up to Nayoung unnie. Conversations with someone who had experienced similar circumstances provided great comfort.

She became the only person I could confide in, and I relied on her a lot.

Somehow, my brother had become even more absentminded after he awakened. But even then, I didn’t feel lonely anymore because I had Nayoung unnie.

Nayoung unnie wasn’t interested in dungeons, and she had no reason to visit them. This fact provided me with a deep sense of stability.

But then, one day, my brother went missing.

“Dad and I never really got along. I tried to stop him, but it ended up like this.”
I went to see my sister with a face swollen from crying after arguing with my dad.

“What’s this…?”

An unknown energy surrounded my sister’s house. I couldn’t quite understand what it was, but it felt suffocating, as if an immense gravity were pressing down.

Unable to approach, I took a step back. The residents of the neighborhood also seemed to sense this intangible pressure and hesitated, murmuring to themselves.

“What’s going on here?”

“It seems like the chairman’s daughter went on a rampage. Our son is a hunter, and with this level of magical power, she must have quite a high rank, they say.”

Rampage?

Sometimes, hunters release mana uncontrollably when their emotions intensify. They called it a rampage.

But my sister… had she awakened?

Bang!

A loud explosion came from my sister’s front door. In an instant, the inside was exposed for all to see.

“If you don’t send Recon Team 7, I’ll die right here!”