After the chaos that had shaken the world of Hunters, Asher returned to his life as a high school student, carrying himself as if nothing had happened. For him, attending school had become another form of entertainment. Watching ordinary people go about their daily lives, oblivious to gates and hunters, was like watching a stage play unfold before his eyes.
In class, Asher leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting out the window with faint boredom. The lessons the teacher was droning on about were things he himself had created eons ago.
Riiiing!
The lunch bell rang. Asher rose and strolled to the cafeteria at a leisurely pace. He could feel the wary stares of his classmates following him. Rumors had spread throughout the school—that Park Daeyeon, once the punching bag of everyone, had risen up with fierce determination and crushed his tormentors.
Asher smirked. He enjoyed this. Being the center of attention. Breathing new life into what had once been a monotonous existence.
On his way to grab food, his eyes landed on a lone girl sitting at a cafeteria table, quietly sobbing. It was Kim Ji-eun—the girl who had once been his closest friend, yet turned her back on him when he was bullied.
"What's wrong?" Asher asked as he approached.
Ji-eun lifted her tear-stained face, startled. "Daeyeon…"
Asher didn't say anything more. He simply placed a meal in front of her. Ji-eun's eyes brimmed with guilt; she wanted to apologize for the past, but the words refused to leave her lips.
Asher sat down across from her, unfazed. "If you don't eat it… I will."
Ji-eun shook her head quickly and began eating, each spoonful slow and heavy. Asher watched her in silence. Within him, he could still sense the lingering emotions of Park Daeyeon—the yearning to forgive, and to begin anew.
"You… you've changed," Ji-eun murmured softly.
"People have to change, don't they?" Asher replied with a faint smile. "Especially… when they've seen the truth."
Ji-eun fell silent. She didn't understand his words, but she felt it—this boy before her was no longer the Park Daeyeon she once knew.
When lunch ended, Asher walked back to class with a mix of emotions. He had realized something: the human world was brimming with stories worth discovering. To experience those feelings firsthand… was a kind of happiness he had never known before, not as the Creator God.