The morning was quiet too quiet.
No birds. No distant screams. Just the faint hum of magic that filled the air like static.
Lee Haneul sat cross-legged inside his cave, his ten orbs floating before him in slow orbit.
Or rather nine bright ones and one faintly flickering at the edge.
He frowned.
The dim one pulsed weakly, its glow uneven, as though struggling to stay alive.
"What's wrong with you?" he muttered softly.
He reached out, brushing his hand close to it. The orb trembled a spark flickered and died.
He stared at it for a while, thinking. Then the memory surfaced: the fight.
The blinding flash. The arc of light. The surge of mana that had coursed through him.
He realized it then that was the first time he'd pushed them beyond control.
"…So you're drained," he murmured, his tone more thoughtful than surprised.
He closed his eyes and willed his own mana outward. The faint warmth in his chest responded energy flowed, soft and fluid, through his veins and into the orb.
Slowly, the dim one brightened, pulsing in rhythm with the others.
He opened his eyes, watching the synchronized dance of light in the cave.
A small smile tugged at his lips. "So you're just like a battery," he said. "A mana power bank."
The orbs hummed faintly, as if amused.
He spent the next few hours maintaining them absorbing mana, releasing it, controlling its flow. Each exercise made his body ache a little less. He was getting used to the sensation now, the constant thrum of energy inside him.
When the sunlight began to creep into the cave, he stood, stretched, and grabbed his crude spear.
"Food first," he said. "Then experiments."
The forest greeted him with the usual morning mist.
His traps were scattered across the clearing, and though most were empty, one had caught a strange bird-like creature feathers black, beak sharp like a blade. He killed it quickly, muttering an apology under his breath.
He was skinning it when something made him freeze.
A sound faint, wet, uneven. Like someone dragging their foot through the mud.
He turned sharply, his orbs flaring in instinct.
The forest was still again.
Then he saw it a silhouette between the trees, stumbling, collapsing into the ferns.
A person.
Haneul hesitated, lowering his weapon slightly.
He moved closer, every step measured, ready to strike if needed. When he reached her, he stopped dead.
It was the girl from yesterday.
Her face was pale, her school uniform torn, soaked in dried blood and rain. Her breathing was shallow but she was breathing.
"…You're still alive," he whispered.
For a long moment, he just stood there. Logic screamed at him to leave her. She was a stranger. An enemy, even. She'd tried to kill him.
But guilt that strange, heavy thing he thought he'd buried clawed its way up from somewhere deep.
He knelt beside her and checked her pulse. Weak, but steady.
She had bruises along her arm, a deep gash on her leg.
It didn't look like monsters. It looked like people.
He sighed quietly. "You're going to get me killed."
Still, he lifted her up awkwardly, carefully and carried her back toward the cave.
By the time he returned, his arms ached, and her skin was burning hot.
He laid her down near the fire pit and fetched some water from his stored supply, gently dabbing her forehead.
Her lips trembled faintly. A whisper escaped. "…Don't… leave me."
Haneul froze. For a second, the sound of her voice made the whole cave feel smaller.
He didn't answer. He just sat back and stared at the flames, lost in thought.
Hours passed. The girl slept, her breathing gradually steadying.
Haneul used the time to think not about her, but about survival.
He couldn't risk her waking up and panicking. Couldn't risk her leading others here. But he also couldn't bring himself to abandon someone half-dead in the mud.
"...You owe me, though," he muttered, stirring the fire.
His mana orbs floated behind him, glowing faintly silent witnesses to his contradiction.
When she finally woke, it was deep into the night.
Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused, then darted around the cave in panic.
"Where? Who?"
"Relax," Haneul said without looking at her. "You're safe... For now."
She blinked, breathing unevenly. "You… you're the one from before…"
He said nothing, continuing to poke the fire. The silence stretched until she whispered, voice breaking, "They left me."
He glanced at her then her expression hollow, eyes red-rimmed.
"Jin and the other guy," she said, voice trembling. "They ran when the monsters came. I tried to follow but"
Her voice cracked. "They just left me."
Haneul didn't respond. He didn't offer comfort.
But there was something in the way her words hung in the air the sound of betrayal so raw that it pulled at him despite himself.
He sighed, rubbing his temple. "Figures. People show their real faces when they're starving."
She looked down, tears welling. "Why did you save me then?"
He glanced up, eyes calm but sharp. "Maybe guilt. Maybe curiosity."
Then, after a pause: "Don't mistake it for kindness."
Her lips parted as if to argue, but the look in his eyes stopped her. It wasn't cold just detached, like someone who had seen enough to stop believing in simple good and evil.
He handed her a strip of roasted meat. "Eat. You'll need your strength."
She hesitated, then took it silently.
As she ate, Haneul leaned back, watching his mana satellites orbit lazily above them, their glow reflecting in the girl's eyes.
She followed them with faint awe. "You really are a mage…"
"Not really," he said. "Just stubborn."
Hours later, when she finally drifted back to sleep, he sat near the cave entrance, watching the forest. The moonlight filtered through the canopy, catching the faint shimmer of his orbs.
His mind replayed her words again They left me.
He understood that kind of loneliness too well.
He looked at her sleeping form, then at the dark forest beyond. "You'll slow me down," he murmured. "But… maybe that's fine."
He reached up, flicking his fingers. One of his orbs floated closer, hovering beside her, glowing faintly like a lantern.
It would keep her warm through the night.
[Survivor Detected: Human (Non-Hostile)]
[System Note: "Alliances may increase survival probability."]
[EXP: 60 / 700]
He stared at the faint blue text, then dismissed it. "Alliance, huh? We'll see."
The forest outside whispered again, alive with distant growls and rustling leaves.
He sat there until dawn, eyes never leaving the entrance.
The light from his orbs reflected on his face calm, watchful, unreadable.
The first spark of companionship had entered his world.
But whether it would save him or destroy him…
Even the gods watching above couldn't tell yet.