In summer, the sun rose earlier than usual. As the sun climbed high into the sky, its rays gently knocked on the quiet bedroom of Unit 301, Changshin Villa, from behind the clouds.
The sparrows’ chirping felt like a pleasant alarm clock. Karsiel was curled up like a ball in her baby dragon form by Yoon-Hee’s feet on the king-sized bed. She began to stir and looked like a cat as she yawned and stretched by pushing her hips back.
“Polymorph,” she muttered, morphing into her human form of an eight-year-old girl.
She looked around and noticed that Do-Jun wasn’t in bed. While the rest of the family was enjoying a sweet Saturday morning sleep, Do-Jun always woke up at the same time, whether it was a weekday or the weekend. When Karsiel opened the door and stepped outside, Do-Jun was already sitting at the dining table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.
Seeing Karsiel, he greeted her with a warm smile. “Morning, Karsiel. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, good morning to you too, Master.”
It was an ordinary, peaceful morning, as always. Do-Jun stood up, quietly prepared a cup of cocoa, and handed it to Karsiel before sitting back down at the table to continue sipping his coffee while reading the newspaper.
“Thank you, Master.”
“Sure. Are you going to see Anne today as well?”
“H-how did you know that?”
Do-Jun only responded with a smile.
To Karsiel, Do-Jun’s keen grasp of everyone’s lives in the apartment never ceased to amaze. Sometimes, Byeol would say things like, “Daddy is a god,” and at times like this, Karsiel wondered if it might be true.
***
“Good morning, Karsiel!” Hakase greeted her warmly as he prepared his stall early in the morning.
Since losing a fight to Do-Jun, Hakase had been selling taiyaki and slushies every day. He had even started talking about expanding his menu and was in the process of setting up a food stall.
“Do you even know how to cook...?” Karsiel asked, looking at the menu attached to the stall. Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
It offered a variety of items, including fish cake soup, udon, skewers, and even soju and beer. The same guy who once complained endlessly about selling taiyaki was now happily working from early morning until late at night.
“Of course! I’ve even finished my data analysis,” Hakase said proudly.
“Huh? Data analysis?”
“I’ve studied the taste preferences of humans. I plan to start tomorrow, so stop by!”
“Sure...”
Deciding not to get involved any further, Karsiel quickly turned to leave. However, just as she was about to go, Hakase handed her a taiyaki, picked her up, and spun her around.
Startled, Karsiel smacked Hakase on the back of his hand.
“S-stop it!” she said, embarrassed.
“Haha! You are so adorable, Karsiel. See you later!”
***
In an apartment complex in Huam-dong, not far from downtown, stood a five-meter-tall F-rank Fissure known as the Horned Squirrel’s Cave, which connected to Anne’s nest. Karsiel slipped inside, evading the gaze of the Hunter’s Bureau staff guarding the Fissure entrance.
The F-rank Fissure was bustling with newly minted Hunters, attracted by the Horned Squirrel’s passive nature. Karsiel could hear the Hunters chatting with each other as she walked by.
“Let’s take a quick break before starting our next round.”
“Sounds good. We can go through the mana stones and byproducts, too.”
“Good idea. Dong-Young and I will...”
She headed deeper into the cave, and after walking for about twenty minutes, she stopped at a section of the wall that was slightly different in color and texture, protruding unevenly.
As she placed her hand on it, an inexplicable force enveloped her. Moments later, the scenery before her shifted to a place entirely different from the damp cave. Under a pastel-toned sky was a tranquil forest with a small cabin where a girl dressed in a maid outfit was watering the garden.
“Oh, hey, Karsiel!” Anne greeted her with a smile.
“Hey, Anne. Want some?” Karsiel held out the taiyaki Hakase had given her.
She thought it would be better to fill her stomach before heading to the Core. Smiling, Anne went into the cabin to make some tea to enjoy together.
***
The Prophet’s Telescope was a relic artifact capable of showing the entirety of the Core, one Anne had painstakingly acquired from the Deep Realm. Every day without fail, Anne used the telescope to observe the Deep Realm, meticulously recording her findings in a journal. By now, she had amassed thousands of volumes.
Seven-colored electrical currents—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy, and violet—danced around the still lake, creating ripples. Soon, the lake’s surface reflected the distant Deep Realm.
As always, the Deep Realm seemed too harsh for any life to survive. Yet, when Karsiel saw the calm expressions of its inhabitants, she felt her body tense up involuntarily, accompanied by a sigh.
“Karsiel, you probably don’t know this, but we haven’t changed since the Great War, while the kings of the Deep Realm have grown endlessly stronger over thousands of years,” Anne murmured as she gazed into the Deep Realm.
Her eyes reflected two creatures locked in combat, their fists raised. They were Argos, giants with eyes covering their entire bodies. Their clash sent shockwaves through the air. Then, a man appeared, wielding a blood-red spear that seemed to drip crimson. With a flash of light, the spear struck the Argos, obliterating them in an instant.
Karsiel’s eyes widened.
The two Argos couldn’t withstand the man’s single strike and vanished completely. The man, displaying no emotion as if he had merely swatted flies, turned his unfocused gaze in their direction.
Startled, Karsiel stepped back in shock. She knew he wasn’t actually looking at her, but when their eyes met, she couldn’t help but flinch.
“That is Murmu of Three Moons. He is the second-ranked Transcendent,” Anne explained.
The man wore only shorts, and his bare upper body was covered in skin that resembled lizard scales, a result of adapting his body to survive in the harsh environment of the Deep Realm. Unlike the Core, where each layer had its restrictions, there were none in the Deep Realm.
After killing the Argos, Murmu departed as if he had no further business.
Karsiel’s hands trembled slightly as she stared blankly into the lake.
Anne had been silently observing her. She said, “Both you and I, regardless of what we were in the past, cannot defeat Murmu as we are now.”
“We can’t be sure without trying,” Karsiel replied, though hesitantly.
“Do you really believe that?”
Karsiel, who was about to argue, pressed her lips shut once more. That single strike was powerful enough to annihilate two Argos in one blow. Though she had only witnessed it from afar, Karsiel knew she had no way to stop such an attack.
“Right now, we’re merely relying on Earth as a temporary refuge, but eventually, we must return to where we belong. Our true home—the Deep Realm. We can’t live here forever. You understand this, too, don’t you, Siel?”
The lake’s surface rippled gently. Then Anne gestured toward another location where a large altar stood, with a massive hourglass placed upon it, the sand within shimmering faintly with a soft glow.
“What is that...?” Karsiel asked.
“That is the Usurper’s Hourglass.”
Above the hourglass spun a small, blue planet. It was unmistakably Earth, linked to the hourglass. When all the grains of sand fell, Earth would fall under the control of the Core. However, for some unknown reason, the grains of sand had stopped falling.
“The one saving grace is that the hourglass has stopped. I don’t know why, but it’s fortunate for us. Without the relic artifact known as the Book of Transfer, they can’t reach Earth. We’re quite lucky if you think about it,” Anne remarked.
She opened her observation journal for the Core and showed Karsiel the entry from March 8th. Karsiel slowly read through the notes.
“What’s certain is that this was the date that the hourglass started to slow down, eventually coming to a complete stop. I’m still investigating the cause,” Anne explained.
“I see.” Karsiel nodded as she prepared to close the journal. Then her eyes widened, and she checked the date once more.
“Wait... That’s the day I had ramen.”
“Huh?”
They were on their way to the Core’s entrance at Sotaesan Mountain in Gangwon-do. Along the way, she had her first taste of ramen at a rest stop called Saemgol. It was also the day she visited the Core for the first time with Do-Jun.
“Master bought me ramen that day! After eating it, I followed him into the Core!” Karsiel exclaimed excitedly, thrusting her face toward Anne.
Startled, Anne leaned back slightly, distancing herself from Karsiel.
***
Time had flown by, and it was already dinner time.
“I should go home now, Anne,” Karsiel said, getting ready to depart.
“Okay. Thanks for coming by so often.” Anne smiled genuinely as she held up a paper bag labeled Golden Taiyaki. “This was delicious.”
“Oh... was it? I’ll bring more next time.”
Karsiel didn’t mention that Hakase was the one who made them. Anne and Hakase didn’t get along—they would bicker whenever they saw each other.
Emerging from the F-rank Fissure, Horned Squirrel’s Cave, Karsiel found the sky tinged with twilight. She recalled Anne’s earlier words as they weighed heavily on her mind.
“Neither of us can beat Murmu as we are now.”
“We haven’t changed, while the kings of the Deep Realm grow endlessly stronger.”
The image of Murmur annihilating two Argos in one blow lingered in her mind, and unease bubbled in her chest. As Anne said, what would happen if they returned to the Deep Realm one day?
***
In the frying pan, two thick cuts of samgyeopsal were sizzling to perfection. Juices and fat dripped tantalizingly. Yoon-Hee hummed a tune as she sliced the samgyeopsal into bite-sized pieces.
“No way...” Byeol muttered, her tone conveying a mix of shock and amazement.
Standing on a dining chair, she peered down at the sizzling meat. It was a dish entirely beyond her understanding.
“This meat only exists outside! How can this be?”
Byeol had eaten samgyeopsal once at a restaurant, but Yong-Yong had said, “This isn’t something you can cook at home—it makes too much grease.”
“Byeol, you like samgyeopsal, right?” Yoon-Hee asked her.
“Yup. I love meat. It’s so delicious.”
“But why is Siel so late?” Yoon-Hee glanced toward the dining table.
Yong-Yong was holding his food bowl in his mouth, looking at her expectantly.
“D-do you need something...?” he asked when his gaze met Yoon-Hee’s.
***
Karsiel was almost home after wandering about aimlessly for a few hours.
“Sigh, there she is,” Yong-Yong said, trailing closely behind Do-Jun.
He was dressed in shorts and a hoodie, along with a pair of slippers that had three white stripes on them.
“Master...?” she called out, slightly confused.
Do-Jun smiled and greeted her, “Did you have fun?”
Still slightly dazed, Karsiel nodded and replied, “Y-yes.”
She placed a hand over her chest, marveling at the sudden calm she now felt. The suffocating anxiety that had weighed her down earlier melted away like snow, replaced by warmth and a sense of peace.
“Maybe...” she whispered.
Just seeing him made her feel this way. Maybe Do-Jun was actually a god.