**Stephen woke up because of the sunlight shining through the window.**
He found that the small bed he shared with Mark was empty.
It seemed that Mark had woken up before him.
Mark noticed that Stephen had woken up, smiled, and said to him,
"Good morning, brother."
Stephen didn't know how to respond, since it was the first time someone greeted him after waking up or spoke to him first. Stephen could usually tell how people looked at him, so he was surprised by Mark's gaze—it carried no disgust, hatred, or even aversion. Mark looked at him with bright, grateful, and happy eyes.
He only said quietly, "Yes."
Mark had gotten used to Stephen's cold behavior.
Mark asked Stephen excitedly, "Where will we go to become stronger?"
Stephen got out of bed and said quietly, "To hunt monsters."
Mark was surprised and said, "Hunt monsters? Real ones?"
Stephen replied, "Yes, but before that, I have to teach you the mana technique."
Mark nodded seriously and tilted his head as he said, "Yes, but… what is the mana technique?"
Stephen explained the mana technique, and since Mark's talent was ranked **A**,
he began performing the technique.
Suddenly, Mark felt pain and his body trembled. Stephen said to him in a calm voice,
"Endure the pain to become stronger."
Mark said, "This pain is nothing compared to those injections with that strange liquid when they entered our bodies."
Stephen went silent, and after five hours, Mark broke through to the **lower rank**.
Mark said excitedly,
"Look, brother, I broke through to the lower rank!"
Stephen raised his hand and gently rubbed Mark's hair, saying,
"Well done."
Mark felt happy.
Stephen said, "Get ready, we're going out."
Mark said, "Yes, brother."
Stephen thought,
'I have 148 rubles. I need to buy a bag to carry mana stones from the monsters we kill, and a weapon for Mark, cooking ingredients, and a tent.
A dimensional bag with 5 meters of space costs 80 rubles, a weapon for Mark 30 rubles, leaving me with 38 rubles.
20 rubles for food ingredients—enough for a month—and for cooking tools and the tent. That leaves 18 rubles. 4 rubles for train fare for me and Mark, leaving only 14 rubles.'
The transmission device that looked like a watch was very useful for Stephen to know the prices of goods.
Even though he knew how the currency worked here from the novel he had written, he didn't know the exact details.
Stephen calculated all their needs.
Mark finished getting ready.
Stephen activated his **disguise skill**, which had leveled up; now he could maintain it for half an hour. They left the inn—it was 12 noon.
Stephen went to the shops and bought the essentials, then went with Mark to a weapon shop.
Stephen looked at the weapons on display and at Mark's small body.
He thought, *'Since Mark has the stealth skill, he should carry a light weapon.'*
*'His skills fit an assassin-type character from games or novels.'*
*'Yes, a pair of daggers suits Mark.'*
He looked at the weapon shop owner and said,
"I want a pair of light daggers."
The shopkeeper looked at Stephen, who appeared very gentle but a little pale.
*'They don't have any adults with them… hmm, fine. Even if they're thieves, they're just kids—they can't get far.'*
The shopkeeper said, "Wait…"
He brought out a rectangular box covered in dust, opened it, and said to Stephen,
"Look at these daggers. I'll give them to you for a cheap price—only 30 rubles."
Stephen looked at them, picked one up, and tested its weight. Finding it suitable, he accepted the deal and bought them.
He looked at Mark and handed him the pair of daggers, saying,
"This is for you."
Mark looked at the daggers, his eyes shining, and said, "Awesome!"
Mark and Stephen left the store.
They had to go to the station, since the train would depart at 3:30, and it was now 2:30.
While walking, they passed by a store with a black cloak displayed behind the glass—
as dark as the night sky, capable of covering half the face.
On its back was an engraving of a flying crow.
Stephen's gaze was drawn to it. He looked at the price: 10 rubles.
*'If I buy it, I'll only have 4 rubles left… huh, fine, it doesn't matter, I'll buy it.'*
As he walked toward the store, his eyes darkened and his face remained cold.
*'The black crow symbolizes bad luck—whether in my past life or in this world… This cloak suits me, since misfortune always follows me.'*
Mark noticed the darkness in Stephen's eyes, so he said nothing.
Stephen told Mark to wait outside, then entered the store alone, bought the cloak, came out, and put it in the dimensional bag.
They went to the station and bought tickets to **Fog Forest**.
The two boys boarded the train.
They sat for 30 minutes until they reached their destination.
They got off at the station and walked toward the Fog Forest.
When they arrived at the outer area of the forest,
it was full of tall, dense trees.
Stephen raised his guard and held his sword in an attacking stance, because despite its calm appearance,
at any time, monsters could attack and kill you if you weren't careful.
Stephen said to Mark,
"Mark, when we find a monster, use your stealth skill, sneak behind it, and stab it in the neck."
The two walked cautiously through the forest.
Stephen spotted a small white rabbit in the distance.
It looked very cute. Stephen knew this rabbit—it was one of the weak monsters he had described in his novel. But it was dangerous for beginners, since its adorable appearance made people lower their guard and approach it. Then the rabbit's claws and teeth would grow large and sharp.
The rabbit was extremely fast, even though its rank was **G**.
Stephen whispered to Mark, "Now."
Mark looked at the cute rabbit and used his stealth skill.
When he reached behind it, he raised his daggers—but because of the rabbit's appearance, he let his guard down.
That allowed the rabbit to detect him—it dodged Mark's daggers swiftly.
Its claws and teeth grew, and it lunged at Mark. But before the claws reached him,
a sword struck and blocked the claws from hitting Mark.
Stephen stood in front of Mark, pushing the claws away with his sword.
Then he lifted his sword and sliced the rabbit vertically in half.
Mark fell to the ground and said to Stephen with a sad expression,
"I'm sorry."
Stephen said quietly, "Don't lower your guard again."
Mark said, "Okay."
Then they found another rabbit, but this time Mark didn't hesitate or lower his guard—he killed it and collected the mana stone from its body.
A mana stone from a **G-ranked** monster was worth **100 rubles**.
So far, they had collected two stones.
Ten days passed as they hunted rabbits.
Stephen looked around for a **F-ranked** monster to fight,
since the rabbits hadn't improved his skills much—only his swordsmanship had leveled up once.
*"Grrrr, grrrr."*
Stephen looked behind him and saw a group of three wolf-like monsters.
He quickly raised his sword toward one of the wolves.
The wolf tried to run, but Stephen was faster and sliced its neck.
He stepped back.
The other two wolves attacked together, charging at him.
Stephen blocked their claws with his sword and pushed them away—
since their rank was lower than his. The only advantage these wolves had was their teamwork.
He dashed toward one wolf and cut its neck,
then raised his sword to block the claws of the last wolf aimed at him.
He deflected the claws and sliced the wolf's neck as well.
He then picked up the mana stones from their bodies.
During this time, Stephen had advanced two lower ranks and was about to break through to the upper rank **E**.
Mark was also close to reaching the upper **F-** rank.
After a while, Stephen finally encountered an **F-ranked** monster.
It resembled the wolves but was much larger—about two meters tall.
The monster lunged at Stephen, raising its claws to slash him.
Stephen blocked them, but the monster's strength was great.
The impact pushed him backward until he crashed into a tree.
He felt pain through his body but stood up again, grabbed his sword, and rushed at the monster.
He slashed it, but the strike didn't kill it.
The monster swung its claws—Stephen barely dodged, but they grazed and cut his left arm.
Stephen held his sword and pierced the monster's chest.
*"Grrrrr!"*
The monster roared before collapsing to the ground.
Stephen sat down, breathing heavily.
*'Yes… this is battle… I feel excited… fighting makes me forget everything.'*
Mark ran to Stephen, worried, and said, "Are you okay?"
He looked at Stephen's face and was shocked to see a faint smile on it.
On his cold, small face, with white hair and green eyes, he looked like a little angel.
But soon the smile faded, and his cold expression returned.
Mark remained stunned but quickly recovered and asked again,
"Are you okay?"
Stephen looked at the wound on his arm and said,
"It'll heal after I meditate for two hours."
Mark said, "Then meditate—I'll keep the monsters away from you."
Stephen said calmly, "Yes."
And so the days passed as they kept fighting. A month went by since they entered the forest.
Stephen said to Mark, "It's time to leave."
Mark said excitedly, "Great! Is it time already?"
Stephen said, "Yes."
Mark ran toward the forest exit but tripped and fell in a funny way.
Stephen looked at him and let out a short laugh before it disappeared quickly.
Mark looked at him with a pout and said, "Don't make fun of me, brother."
During that month of life-and-death battles together,
and because of Mark's childish behavior,
their relationship had grown a little.
Stephen had opened his heart slightly,
and from time to time began to show some expressions.
Their ranks had risen—Stephen had reached **E**, and Mark **F-**.
Stephen's swordsmanship skill had reached **level 5**,
since he spent his spare time training with his sword.
Stephen followed Mark and said, "I didn't laugh."
"Yeah, yeah, you didn't laugh," Mark replied.
And they continued walking together.
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