The sensation of the knife digging deep into my skin was unbearable. As it tore into my shoulder, ripping the flesh apart, my tears fell—soon followed by the blood from my brutalized lips. Lips I had bitten into, over and over, just to hide my weakness... to bury the screams deep inside.
But as the knife slid deeper, clean and smooth, taking a part of me with it, loud cries burst from me—declaring defeat.
He didn't stop. No matter how loud I screamed, no matter how much I begged or pleaded, he kept moving. Like my suffering didn't matter.
I was crumbling, but he forced my back straight again as his knife cut even deeper, grumbling about how my endless bleeding disgusted him.
And after what felt like an eternity of pain—pain no human should endure—I found myself questioning if I was even human anymore. Was I still breathing? According to him, I was less than a human being.
Exhaustion dragged at me as I heard the thud of my flesh hit the floor. The sound made me nauseous, but my body was powerless. I collapsed, falling lifelessly onto the cold floor, landing with a heavier thud than before.
He didn't even glance at me. Just tossed the knife aside with a scoff of disgust and walked out of the room.
I was alone. Bloodied. Broken. My tears kept falling, silent at first, then louder—though still barely audible. I'd lost my voice from screaming.
And in that ruined state, my body surrendered to exhaustion. Darkness embraced me. The last thing that lingered was the heavy smell of blood, thick in the air, clinging to me even in unconsciousness.
From that darkness, a sliver of light pierced through. My eyes opened slowly, heavy with sleep. The pain in my shoulder remained. It hadn't faded—though I was now lying in bed, far from Earth, far from Korea, far from that house… and far from him. I was in Dilmun.
I sat up, pressing my hand to my shoulder, hoping the pain would be gone. It wasn't. I sighed and got out of bed, shaking off that horrible memory that still haunted me even in my dreams.
Today was my first day as a hunter. I washed my face, trying to push the memory away and focus—force some peace into my mind.
But anxiety kept creeping in.
It dulled the pain in my shoulder, at least. A faint silver lining. I sighed again, got dressed, and headed out toward the building Mei had told me about.
It wasn't far—just a five-minute walk from my cottage. But by the time I got there, my palms were sweating, my mind completely blank. I didn't even know what I was panicking about.
Get it together, I told myself. You survived Theadus. You can survive anything.
But was I really afraid of the job… or was it people I feared facing again? I didn't know. All I knew was the fear was real.
As I sighed for what felt like the millionth time this morning, a hand landed gently on my shoulder—and the pain vanished.
Then a voice, soft and oddly comforting, reached my ears:
"Why so stiff? Just go in. You've got nothing to fear."
His presence was calm, too close, like he had whispered it straight into my soul.
I froze. Composed myself. Ignored the strange feeling crawling up my spine. Then I followed him inside.
The place was full—people I hadn't met in the three months I'd been here. I weaved through the crowd, following the only guy wearing a helmet. Theadus.
I wondered what he was hiding under it. The question lingered in my mind as I finally reached his side. We stopped in front of a wooden board nailed to the wall.
I looked up. Names were scribbled in messy handwriting. It showed groupings, mission assignments. My eyes scanned the list until they landed at the very end.
A patrol mission. My group had six members.
Three I knew—Theadus, Yohan, and Mei. The other two were strangers: Jackson and Akira. And of course, me.
I glanced at Theadus, silently questioning if he had arranged the teams. He must have felt my stare, because he muttered lazily:
"As if I'd waste my day babysitting you. I didn't plan it."
Silence. Then he added,
"Humble yourself, will you."
And walked off.A jerk is always a jerk, I thought. I sighed and followed him anyway.
We walked for half an hour before reaching the edge of the forest. Soon, Yohan and Mei arrived, along with the two boys I didn't know—Jackson and Akira, presumably.
Yohan came up first, ruffling my already-messy hair."Long time no see, girl."
I smiled at the warm greeting."Yeah, long time. How are you?"
He pulled away, grinning.
"I'm fine, Yona. Just had to deal with her."
He pointed to Mei.
Who glared but said nothing. She turned to Theadus.
"Let's start the mission."
He nodded, and she followed closely behind him.
Yohan sighed next to me and dragged me along. The two new boys trailed behind us silently.
We patrolled the area, scanning for any dangerous animals or threats to Zarethia. Nothing was there—but we kept walking, splitting into smaller groups sometimes.
It was long. Tedious. Boring. I wondered why I was so anxious earlier.
Yohan kept cracking silly jokes to lighten the mood. I laughed, more than I expected.
Eventually, we stopped at a random spot. The border of Zarethia was visible, though the entrance we came from was out of sight.
He sat down with his back against a tree, and I joined him. We both fell into silence, staring into nothing.
My thoughts drifted. Back to that dream—or memory. I could feel the suffocating weight of it pressing on me again.
Sadness. Frustration. Pain.
It settled in my left shoulder like a curse. I clutched it, hoping the pain would pass, but it stayed.
Then a voice pulled me back.
"Old scars."
I turned my head slowly. Theadus was above me, perched on the very tree I was leaning against.
He always teased. But somehow, he always knew what I couldn't say.
With him, there was no need to explain. He just knew.
I sighed, not answering. My eyes flicked upward—and noticed his leg shifting slightly. Barely visible.
Does he have his own scars too?
Before I could think twice, I spoke softly,"You seem like you've got your own scars too."
I doubted he heard me. But he chuckled.
And weirdly… I felt his gaze on me.
"We have a lot in common, don't we?" he said.
The air changed. Something unspoken hung there. I smiled at his words."Maybe we do."
A peaceful conversation with Theadus was rare. No need to ruin it. Just enjoy the moment.
This time, it was Yohan who broke the silence."Where's Mei? Wasn't she with you?"
"She had something to do," Theadus replied, voice lazy as ever.
Yohan's face changed. For once, unreadable. His voice turned quiet, almost absent.
"Ah. Okay."
And then silence again. I didn't know how the others felt, but for me, it was peaceful.
Eventually, Mei returned with the other two boys. The shorter one sat where I had been. He sighed, clearly tired, then looked at me.
"Hi. I'm Akira. Nice to meet you."
He seemed bright. Kind. I smiled.
"Yona. Nice to meet you, Akira."
Still smiling, he said gently,
"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. We were kind of in a rush."
"No need to apologize," I replied. "I didn't introduce myself either. We're even."
But before he could respond, a deeper, huskier voice cut in:"No, we're not. I haven't introduced myself yet."
The taller boy. Jackson.
He was about to continue, but I beat him to it."Jackson, right?"
He looked surprised, then smiled.
"Right."
I could see it on his face—he was wondering how I knew. I was about to explain when Theadus landed on the ground between me and Jackson
As he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual—flat, cold:
"She read it off the board this morning, you idiot."
I was just behind Theadus as he brushed past Jackson, heading toward Zarethia like he hadn't just thrown a verbal slap across the guy's face. I caught Jackson sighing, muttering something under his breath—probably cursing Theadus in every creative way he knew.
Trying to play the nice card and ease the tension, I looked at Jackson and shrugged."Ignore him. He's always like that."
Jackson blinked in surprise, then broke into a grin so wide it felt like it should've been illegal. He slung his arm over my shoulder in that cocky, friendly way and said,
"From now on, we're okay, Yona."
I didn't really have a response for that. So I just smiled at the comment.
Before the moment could settle, Mei stormed up from behind us, glaring murder. At both of us. Or maybe just Jackson—I couldn't really tell.
"Move!"
she barked like a drill sergeant.
Only I seemed to notice that Yohan was already ahead with Theadus, and Akira was standing nearby, waiting for the rest of us like the patient angel he was. Jackson quickly pulled his arm away and fell into step behind them. Mei turned her sharp eyes on me and said in her usual strike-tone, the one I was already getting used to:"Yohan said you did well for your first day. So, well done."
A compliment. From Mei.
I giggled—yeah, an actual giggle—and thanked her, warmth blooming in my chest. Mei smirked and shoved me forward gently.
We stopped at the back edge of Zarethia. And even though I'd studied every path in and out of this place, this spot? It felt completely unfamiliar. Not just new—wrong. But I didn't let myself dig too deep into that thought. I focused on what the others were doing instead.
Theadus stood off to the side, arms folded. The air around him was suffocating—like he could smother someone just by being in their space. The guy didn't need facial expressions to tell people how he felt. His silence screamed.
Meanwhile, the others were speaking in low voices, expressions tight, their usual energy dulled by something heavier. And Yohan… that unreadable look hadn't left his face once since we arrived. My eyes locked onto him, my mind scrambling to solve a puzzle it didn't have the pieces for. Our gazes met. He half-smiled at me—but his face struggled to hold it. It faded too fast. I returned the smile out of habit, then looked away, trying to convince myself that maybe he was just tired. Just tired. That's all.
Yeah, right.
I walked over to Theadus, my ever-so-charming supervisor, and stood beside him without saying a word. We stayed like that for a bit. Silence. Tension.
Then he spoke, low and sharp:"If you want to ask something, just fucking ask."
Someone woke up on the wrong side of the apocalypse.
"Okay," I snapped, "what the fuck is wrong with you? You were fine two minutes ago."
He didn't respond. He didn't even flinch. Just stood there, radiating negativity like it was his job. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. We were all sweet and civil earlier—what changed? Was there a secret jerk switch he flipped every hour?
After ten minutes of awkward nothingness, some strange-looking figures emerged from a passage I had never seen before. They had fabric covering their mouths and hair, gloves on their hands—like mad scientists in a post-pandemic horror movie. They carried metal boxes, which they handed off to Yohan and Mei. Yohan's expression darkened the moment his fingers wrapped around that box. He held it like it was something alive. Something wrong.
Me and Theadus stayed back. Still. Watching. Unmoving.
Jackson and Akira were given a wheeled carriage—it looked heavy. Whatever was inside it was covered in white cloth. Just for a moment, I caught a glimpse beneath the fabric—a lifeless hand, dangling. Just one second before Akira quickly adjusted the sheet and covered it again.
Each pair—Mei and Yohan, Jackson and Akira—took different paths, moving silently, like parts of a well-rehearsed machine. The scientist-types vanished back through the passage they'd come from. When the last one was gone, Theadus finally straightened up and started walking.
I followed.
"Mind telling me what that was about? Or where they went?"
He didn't look back.
"Don't pry too much."
No anger in his voice—just finality. I could've argued. Should've, maybe. But something in me knew that today wasn't the day. Not for him. Not for me. I let it go. Blamed it on rank. I wasn't high enough to know things. That's how it worked, right?
Still, as I walked behind him, that question clawed at the back of my mind: If I wasn't allowed to know… why let me see it? Why didn't anyone tell me to leave?
Another riddle.
And I was going to solve it. Whether i liked it or not.