SFAD 10

Episode 10

Three-Year Mourning

Though the meal Seongjun prepared looked modest in terms of variety, it was arranged with quiet care and sincerity.

Wild greens his master had always enjoyed.
Freshly cooked rice, warm and fragrant, prepared for every meal.
Seaweed soup infused with seasoning to mimic the rich aroma of beef, even in the absence of actual meat.

Every dish was something she would have smiled at and eaten with delight—if she were still alive.

Of course… she had never shown it openly, but his master had always preferred the food he brought back from his delivery job far more than anything he cooked himself.

Jokbal with makguksu. Fried chicken and pizza. Burgers and braised chicken.
Greasy, rich, unapologetically unhealthy food—those had been her favorites.

But now, tragically, those “favorite foods” were impossible to find.

“No jokbal again today. I even teleported around all of Seoul just in case, but not a single place was open. So… please make do with this.”

Forcing brightness into his voice, Seongjun sat quietly before the lone photograph of his master, as if waiting for something.

Then, as though he could hear her reply, he spoke cheerfully.

“Hm? What am I waiting for? Of course I’m waiting for you to pick up your spoon first, Master. You know me—I’m all about manners, right? Haha! …Alright, I’ll start eating. Please enjoy your meal too.”

Speaking into empty air, he lifted his spoon and took a sip of soup.

Then a bite of rice—soft and warm, freshly cooked…
yet it felt dry, coarse, like grains of sand scraping against his mouth.

Drip. Drip.

Tears fell.

Every meal used to be filled with her stories—her adventures, her voice.
Every time he placed a piece of food into her bowl, she would smile brighter than anyone in the world.

Now, that absence tore through him mercilessly.

“Strange, isn’t it? I thought I’d get over it in a week.”

At last, he set his spoon down and lay back, staring up at the sky.

Even as the world humanity once knew crumbled in real time, the sky remained the same—endlessly blue.

Well… not entirely.

Perhaps due to the massive collapse in China, factories had stopped running.
The fine dust had cleared, leaving the valley air cleaner than ever.

“Alright… let’s get started.”

After only a few bites, Seongjun waved his hand lightly toward the table.

A massive droplet of water materialized above it, swallowing the dishes and leftover food whole.
Then, like a transparent dishwasher, it spun rapidly, washing everything clean.

“Huh… out of all the spells I’ve made, I think I like that one the most.”

Soon, the clean dishes dropped neatly back onto the table, and the water sphere vanished—carrying the food waste away.

Of course, it hadn’t been erased from existence.

It had simply been thrown into another dimension—a coordinate he had designated as a dumping ground.

‘No reason to worry about it anyway.’

But today was different.

This time, the dimension he had chosen wasn’t for trash.

It was a place where he could train freely.
A place connected to this valley—his home, and his master’s grave.
A place filled with enemies—corrupted beings—he could fight endlessly.
A place where he could breathe, survive, and maintain his condition.
And most importantly…

A place saturated with mana.

After searching countless universes recorded in his master’s grimoire, he had finally found a suitable world.

“Let’s go.”

With a flick of his finger, the teleport spell activated.

The familiar nausea washed over him—and then—

He stood within a strange forest of towering, colossal trees.

“If it weren’t for the smell, it’d be perfect…”

The air composition was nearly identical to Earth’s—ideal for human survival.
But the scent…

Like forest phytoncides multiplied two hundred times, it stabbed at his senses.

‘It’s coming.’

The moment he entered, he felt it.

Hostility.

As if the entire forest had recognized him as a foreign invader.

Then, the trees moved.

Gigantic trunks—each as tall as twenty-story buildings—ripped their roots from the ground and began advancing.

“You got beaten up yesterday and you’re still not giving up? At this point, you’d think you’d run.”

Seongjun raised both hands.

The air above his palms twisted violently, spinning like blades of wind dancing in a storm.

The colossal trees attacked, swinging branches the size of houses.

“Today’s experiment—5th circle wind magic ‘Cutting Edge’ combined with 6th circle dimensional magic ‘Dimension Slash.’ I’d say it’s at least 8th circle level. Let’s see how strong it is.”

He smiled faintly.

“Spell name… hmm…”

Then, with a grin, he extended his palm.

“Spiral Wind Fire Wheel.”

In that instant, a wound carved itself into the alien forest—
a scar that would take centuries to heal.

***

That evening.

After losing track of time in relentless training, Seongjun returned to Earth in a half-exhausted state.

His eyelids drooped, but he forced himself to cast another teleport spell.

He had used up his last rice.
If he wanted to prepare another meal for his master tomorrow, he needed more.

He arrived near an abandoned grain warehouse—

—and immediately, a corrupted creature snarled at him, fresh from devouring something.

“Thought I cleared this area… Guess some are still lurking.”

The place was a restricted zone, outside government-controlled territory.
Seongjun had turned this warehouse into his personal rice storage, preserving it with magic.