Not a Real Break (1)
The moment I read Min Hajun’s text, I hailed a taxi and headed straight for the Choweol building.
“Please stop over there.”
“Oh, miss—you going to see that hero guy too?”
“…Sorry?”
“These days all the young folks are hanging out in front of that building! You haven’t seen the news?”
Just as the driver said, a crowd had gathered outside the Choweol building. It looked like they were waiting for Min Hajun to come out.
A celebrity now?
I was momentarily dumbfounded—but then again, considering his recent popularity, it wasn’t too surprising. He was practically the nation’s hero right now.
Good thing I remembered to wear a cap.
I pulled the black cap lower over my face as I got out of the taxi. Entering through the main gate clearly wasn’t an option.
I’ll come through the back door again.
Before I even had time to lock my screen, his reply came.
Min Hajun: I’ll be waiting.
He’d been ready for me. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and moved through the alleyways, keeping to the shadows to avoid the crowd.
Thankfully, no one was stationed by the back door. I hesitated, wondering if I should call, when the heavy metal door creaked open.
“It’s been a while.”
Min Hajun greeted me, hand still on the doorknob. Unlike me—who’d clearly had time to rest and recover—he looked even more worn down than before. His blue eyes were dimmer, and there was a faint line of worry carved into his face.
Can’t blame him.
He already had plenty on his plate, and now whatever had prompted his message… it must’ve made things even more complicated.
“How are the kids?”
I stepped inside and got straight to the point.
Min Hajun: The twins have awakened.
The sudden news made me stop in my tracks. Sua and Seoa—awakened?
Following his lead, I walked through the Choweol building. I’d only ever been to the underground storage and infirmary before—this was my first time properly exploring the place.
“It’s rare for children this young to awaken,” he said, glancing back at me.
I nodded. I knew that much.
“Weren’t you the youngest Awakener on record, Hajun?”
“Yes. According to the current records.”
The world had gone wild when a ten-year-old S-rank hunter appeared. It looked like that record was about to be broken.
“What’s their rank?”
They were still little kids—no training, no education. Awakening itself was important, but their rank would determine how dangerous their skills and mana could be.
“…S-rank.”
“Wait, what?”
A short silence hung in the air. I must’ve misheard.
“Both of them?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, his face deadly serious. And Hajun wasn’t someone who joked about things like this.
I already had two S-ranks in my life, but even then, S-ranks were unbelievably rare—fewer than ten per country, sometimes fewer worldwide. The difference between A and S wasn’t a step—it was a canyon.
And both twins are S-rank?
I quickened my pace.
More than the shock, I was worried. If even one of them lost control, they could easily hurt themselves.
“They’re not combat type, right?”
Thankfully, Hajun shook his head.
“No, I don’t think so. But there’s something… unusual.”
“What now?”
I really didn’t need any more surprises.
“We’re still figuring it out, but their skills seem to have activation conditions.”
“Conditions? For their own skills?”
It wasn’t like my case, where I needed to absorb a specific item.
“I’ve never seen a skill with built-in restrictions before. Some people can’t control their skill, sure—but this is different.”
He half-raised a hand as if to explain more, then lowered it again.
“It’ll be easier to show you.”
We soon reached a large room enclosed by thick, transparent glass. Inside, the twins were playing with toys.
“They can’t see out,” Hajun explained when I approached. That made sense—the kids didn’t seem to notice the crowd of people outside at all.
Nearby, their parents stood close together, watching with anxious faces.
“Do they really need this much isolation?” I asked.
“They were having a harder time than we were,” Hajun said softly.
I looked at Seoa, who was running around with a colorful toy plane, frowning a little.
“The glass is made with a special skill. It could be broken if someone really tried, but it disrupts mana flow. Helps block interference.”
He tapped the glass lightly.
“The twins react strongly to surrounding mana. I think it’s similar to the high-level gate detection skills used by scout teams.”
I knew what that meant. Gate detection teams could sense where mana pooled densely enough to form a gate—before it actually opened. It wasn’t perfect, but it had saved countless civilian lives.
“So, you’re saying the kids have gate detection skills?”
“That’s our best guess. But they can’t read yet—they don’t know how to interpret their own status windows.”
“Then how did you confirm their rank?”
Given their age, it wasn’t surprising they couldn’t read. But if they couldn’t read their status, how could Hajun be sure?
“Oh, we used a matching game of sorts. One of the guild members has a small child—we got help identifying the symbols.”
He nodded toward the corner. On the floor, a stack of sketchbook pages was laid out, each with big block letters and simple drawings.
So it’s confirmed.
Whether it was their hunter rank or skill rank, either way, S meant S-rank. There were no exceptions—well, except me.
“They can’t control it yet, right?”
“No.”
My concern deepened.
Even adults took time to adapt to mana and skill flow after awakening. Control required training—and patience. For kids who’d just awakened, it must’ve been painful.
They’d be overwhelmed by every flicker of mana around them, drowning in sensations they couldn’t understand.
So that’s why they built this shielded room.
It kept them insulated from the outside mana currents.
“Don’t worry,” Hajun said gently. “They’ve been calm since they went in there.”
I must’ve looked worried enough for him to try reassuring me—even though I wasn’t the one who needed comforting.
“Can I go in and talk to them?”
“Of course.”
He led me to the door—it wasn’t locked.
“Ah! It’s big sis!”
Seoa dropped her toy and ran toward me. I crouched and caught her in my arms.
“You’re late! Sua’s been waiting forever!”
At that, Sua set down her doll and hurried over too. I sat on the floor with them, smiling.
“Have you two been doing okay?”
“Yes!”
“Yes…!”
Their bright voices filled the room, followed by a flood of questions.
“Is this the snack you talked about?”
“Why didn’t that big brother come?”
“You said you’d bring snacks before! Why now?”
“Did he forget about us?”
They were as lively as the day I first met them inside that monster’s stomach. I patted their heads.
“Yup, these are the sweet snacks I promised. I’ll bring other kinds next time too.”
“Okay!”
“And that big brother’s just busy, that’s all. He hasn’t forgotten you. I’ll bring him next time.”
“He did lie, though.”
“Huh?”
“Nobody wears masks! We saw!”
Ah, right. Iyul had pulled that mask prank back then.
They’d taken it seriously, poor things.
“Next time you see him, you can give him a little smack.”
“Okay! Oh, come see this—we built it ourselves!”
The twins tugged me toward the block castle in the center of the room. Watching them excitedly explain their creation, I felt a pang of mixed emotions.
Everyone said awakening was a blessing—status, wealth, fame—but these kids… they’d never even known a normal day in their lives. To escape a gate only to be dragged into this dangerous world again—it didn’t sit right with me.
Especially not as S-ranks.
But…
This must be another change in the timeline.
If Iyul, Hajun, and I hadn’t entered that gate, the core would’ve fallen through and the dungeon would’ve ended as a D-rank. The twins and the villagers would’ve stayed hidden, undiscovered by the world.
Thinking that way eased my heart a little. It was better for them to live under the sun, to taste sweet snacks, than to never know what those things were.
We’ll protect them.
It wasn’t just me who’d grown attached to these two. I could already picture the people who’d stand by them until they learned to control their powers.
