Things That Never Disappear

Jinsu stood in front of the headquarters of the Slaughterers’ faction.

The place was strangely familiar.

He stood before the large door without moving, his eyes wandering between the members of the faction standing before him and the walls that bore the traces of many years of fighting and training.

But something was different.

Something inside him had disappeared from the moment his feet stepped into this place.

He did not feel nostalgic.

He did not feel comfortable.

Ivo raised his eyes toward him and stared at him for several seconds.

There was something about Jinsu that he could not understand.

His features had changed slightly, but it was not only about his appearance.

The aura surrounding him was different.

Heavier.

Calmer.

And more dangerous.

Ivo stared at him as he thought:

(Is this really Jinsu...? But what is this powerful aura? He has changed so much... It's as if I'm looking at someone else.)

At that moment, Saki stepped forward.

He was one of the members of the faction, and moments ago, he had been sitting as if what was happening before him did not concern him at all.

He slowly stood up, then stepped forward.

He was carrying a huge sword that was almost larger than his own body, and the sword alone was enough to draw attention to him.

But what caught Jinsu's attention the most was not the sword.

It was the mark on Saki's forehead.

A strange mark, resembling the trace of a sword strike or an old wound, but it did not look like an ordinary wound.

Jinsu's eyes froze for a moment.

He had seen this mark before.

Somewhere else.

And at another time.

(This mark... It's the same mark I saw in the village.)

Saki continued forward until he stood before the members of the faction.

Silence fell.

Everyone was waiting for something.

Perhaps a question.

Perhaps a confrontation.

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Maybe even an order.

But Saki looked at everyone without interest, then simply said:

"Does anyone have any food?"

A brief silence followed.

Then everyone's expressions froze.

This was not what they had expected at all.

In this tense atmosphere, everyone had expected something completely different.

But Saki...

He was simply hungry.

Suddenly, one of the girls in the faction quickly stood up.

Her name was Melia.

She approached him with obvious enthusiasm, then pulled a food container from her clothes as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Saaakiiii! Here! I cooked it especially for you!"

Saki looked at the container, then his eyes widened slightly.

"Ooooh! Thank you, Melia... Is this meat?"

Melia smiled happily.

"Yes! I knew you liked it, so I cooked it for you."

Saki took the container without hesitation, then returned to his place, sat down, and began eating.

As for Melia, she remained standing there, looking at him with obvious happiness, as if simply seeing him eat what she had cooked was the greatest reward she could possibly receive.

Ivo sighed slightly.

Then he looked at Jinsu.

"Jinsu, close the door and come with me."

Jinsu said nothing.

He simply turned around, closed the door behind him, then followed Ivo, who began walking deeper into the headquarters.

The farther they went, the more Jinsu began to notice something strange.

The doors Ivo opened were directly in front of them.

He did not turn right or left.

There were no branching corridors as he had expected.

It was as if there was one long corridor leading to different places, as though every door concealed another space that had nothing to do with the size of the building from the outside.

Ivo took Jinsu on a tour around the headquarters.

Each member of the faction had their own room.

They were not merely sleeping quarters.

Each person had their own private space, different facilities, and areas specifically designated for training.

Finally, Ivo arrived at one of the doors.

He stopped.

Then he looked at Jinsu.

"Alright, Jinsu... this is your room."

Jinsu looked at the door.

"Oh... okay."

He stepped toward it and opened the door.

At first, he thought it was just an ordinary room.

And he was wrong.

Nothing was ordinary anymore.

His eyes widened.

The room was not as small as he had expected.

It was more like an entire house hidden behind a single door.

A wide space, multiple facilities, a designated training area, and other things he had never expected to exist inside one of the faction members' rooms.

Even the training facilities alone seemed better than those belonging to the Gaia themselves.

Jinsu remained standing for a few moments as he looked around.

(What is this...? Do the Slaughterers have more influence than the Gaia themselves?)

Jinsu slowly entered the room.

His eyes moved across the place, then he walked forward until he stood in front of the bed.

After that, he turned toward Ivo.

"What now?"

Ivo sighed.

"Nothing, man. Do whatever you want. I'll come back in ten minutes so we can go train."

Jinsu continued looking at him.

Ivo noticed it.

That look was not normal.

Jinsu's eyes were calm, but behind that calmness was something Ivo could not reach.

Ivo thought:

(Something has changed in him... What exactly happened?)

Then he closed the door and left.

Silence filled the room.

Jinsu was left alone.

He looked at the house around him, then turned toward the training room.

He took a few steps.

His long gray hair flowed across his face as he moved.

But before he entered the training room, his eyes stopped on something else.

A picture hanging on the wall.

He stopped.

He slowly approached it.

The picture showed a small child with gray hair.

Beside him was a woman.

Jinsu continued staring at it.

He did not know her.

He could not remember her.

He moved closer, as if something inside him was pushing him toward it.

He remained silent.

Then...

Something changed.

The woman's eyes inside the picture turned red.

Jinsu's eyes suddenly widened.

He took a step backward.

"W-What is this...?"

He received no answer.

Suddenly, strange roots began to emerge from inside the picture.

They came through its surface, then rapidly spread across the wall and climbed toward the ceiling.

Jinsu stepped back even farther.

"W-What is this?!"

But in the next moment, pain struck his head.

"Ahhh!"

He fell to the ground.

He clutched his head with both hands.

The pain began to intensify.

Jinsu screamed as his vision became blurred and the sounds around him gradually began to disappear.

Then...

He lost consciousness.

---

Ten minutes later.

"J-Jinsu..."

Jinsu opened his eyes.

But he did not find the room.

He did not find the Slaughterers' headquarters.

He did not find the wall, the picture, or the roots.

He was standing in the middle of tall grass that stretched all the way to the horizon.

The wind moved the grass around him as he looked at the place in astonishment.

He lowered his gaze to his body.

Then raised his head.

He did not understand anything.

He began walking through the grass.

Then he saw himself running.

He did not know why he was running.

Nor where he was going.

But his body was moving as if it already knew the way.

He suddenly stopped.

He looked around.

The place was strange, yet at the same time, it carried a feeling that was frighteningly familiar.

Then he heard a voice.

A distant voice.

"Jinsu..."

He froze in place.

He turned toward the source of the voice.

There was a little girl standing far away from him.

She shouted again:

"Jinsu!"

He stared at her.

"W-What exactly is this?"

The little girl began running toward him.

She approached him until she stood in front of him.

Jinsu looked at her.

Then he noticed something strange.

They were almost the same height.

Jinsu lowered his gaze to his body again.

Then he understood.

He had become smaller.

His body was no longer the same.

He was a child.

He looked at the girl in front of him, who smiled as if everything was completely normal.

Then she said:

"Why did you stop? Come on, Fami is waiting for us."

Jinsu froze.

"What...?"

The girl raised her hand as if she wanted him to follow her.

But Jinsu could only stare at her.

"Mom...?"

Silence filled the place.

Somewhere inside that memory, something had begun to awaken.

Something that had never disappeared.

Even if Jinsu thought he had forgotten it.