The forest was alive with hunger.
Jin Mu-Won's stomach growled like a beast as he stumbled through the undergrowth. His wounds burned, each step leaving a trail of blood on the fallen leaves.
By noon, thirst tormented him more than pain. He dropped to his knees at a muddy puddle and drank greedily, ignoring the grit between his teeth.
Pathetic, he thought, wiping his mouth. The clan throws away scraps better fed than me.
His body screamed for rest, but a low growl froze him. Across the clearing, a lone boar pawed the ground, its tusks gleaming.
A stronger man would have run. Jin Mu-Won's lips curved into a thin smile.
"At least you don't pretend to be righteous," he muttered.
The boar charged.
The world narrowed to blood and mud.
Jin threw himself sideways, branch in hand. The tusks tore his shoulder, spinning him to the ground. His vision blurred, but instinct screamed: move or die.
He jammed the branch into the beast's eye as it lunged again. The boar squealed, thrashing violently. Jin's body ached, bones threatening to snap, but he clung on like a starving wolf. With his free hand, he grabbed a jagged rock and smashed it down again and again until silence fell.
His chest heaved. His arms shook. But he was alive.
And for the first time in days, he had food.
The smell of roasting meat filled the clearing that night. Jin sat by a crude fire, tearing charred flesh with bloody fingers. Grease ran down his chin, but his eyes glowed with cold determination.
So this is what it means to live as a beast, he thought. No… beasts are honest. Humans hide their fangs behind smiles. That's worse.
He laughed bitterly, staring at the flames.
"They call me crippled, but who's weaker now? The ones who hide in walls… or me, sitting here, feasting in the wilderness?"
The stone tablet's words replayed in his mind: Heaven and Earth are but a furnace. To survive, refine yourself.
Jin clenched his fists.
"I will refine myself until nothing can break me. Not beasts. Not hunger. Not even heaven."
The night deepened. Somewhere far in the forest, wolves howled, and the trees whispered with unseen dangers. But Jin Mu-Won did not fear them.
For the first time since his exile, he felt something other than pain.
He felt alive.