Mu Yichen’s eyes widened in shock.
Park Taegun swore under his breath.
Seo MinHyun visibly paled and whispered, “He said it. He actually said it. Oh no.”
He Ziqin stared at Kang Juwon with a look usually reserved for patients in critical condition. “You’re doomed,” he whispered sympathetically.
Only Pudding, now sitting beside He Ziqin with its tongue out, looked completely unbothered.
Because in this group, everyone knew the pattern.
Lee Aseok didn’t talk much. He didn’t care for company. He didn’t care for plans.
But whenever he did speak… and whenever he called someone “useful”, especially with that smirk, life, as they knew it, was about to go horribly, horrifically wrong.
Kang Juwon, ever the charming devil, tried to play it off.
He smiled again, gently pulling his hand back. “You think so? I’m flattered.”
He Ziqin edged closer to Mu Yichen and whispered, “What do we do now? Should we warn him?”
Kang Juwon had been called many things in his life, genius, monster, devil in disguise, but “useful” had never sounded so ominous.
Especially when it came from Lee Aseok.
The moment Aseok grabbed his wrist and uttered those cursed words, “Your illusion skill... useful. Very useful.” Something in the air shifted.
Subtle, like the sudden drop in temperature before a storm. But everyone present felt it.
Seo MinHyun’s mouth had dropped open like a fish.
He Ziqin made a strangled sound, clutching Pudding like a lifeline.
Even Park Taegun, usually stone-faced, winced as though he’d just seen someone willingly walk into a meat grinder.
Mu Yichen had sighed, slow and long, like a man watching someone step on a mine with full awareness.
And Lee Aseok? He just smirked, as if doom was a funny inside joke.
Then, as if to seal the poor man’s fate, Aseok turned to Kang and said, in that lazy, indifferent tone:
“If you’re so worried about me… join us.”
Silence.
Then chaos.
“What?!” Seo MinHyun nearly tripped over a rock. “Him?! On our team?!”
Even Pudding barked. The tiny dog clearly understood the danger levels had just spiked.
Kang Juwon, however, remained calm. Too calm.
He simply nodded, his expression unreadable. “Alright.”
Mu Yichen’s eyes narrowed. Deep in his gut, something coiled.
Trouble.
Big, polished-shoes-wearing trouble.
But no one dared oppose Lee Aseok, not directly.
Because whether he looked bored, cold, or mildly inconvenienced, he always followed through.
And so, Kang Juwon officially became the sixth unwanted member of the team.
The following days were... educational.
For everyone.
Kang Juwon, master illusionist, found himself running after a man who refused to sleep, rest, or even blink longer than necessary. Aseok’s dungeon strategy consisted of two steps:
-
Enter the gate.
-
Walk calmly toward the boss and destroy everything in between using a blunt metal rod.
No grand tactics. No safety measures. Just unbothered destruction.
“Why do we even have strategy meetings if he’s going to ignore all of them?” Seo MinHyun grumbled as they trailed behind Aseok once again, surrounded by the bloody remains of B-rank beasts.
“Therapy,” He Ziqin answered, sipping mana potion straight from the bottle. “It helps us feel like we have control.”
Park Taegun didn’t even bother commenting anymore.
He just followed in silence, shield drawn and eyes sharp, forever waiting for the moment they'd need to clean up whatever mess Aseok didn’t bother dealing with.
And Kang Juwon?
He actually kept up. His illusion skill was, admittedly, excellent. Whether it was creating false terrain to mislead monsters or cloaking teammates from surprise attacks, he adapted fast.
Which, tragically, only made it worse.
Because Aseok noticed.
And once he deemed someone efficient, things got brutal.
“Trap up ahead,” Aseok said one morning, walking past a shimmering array of runes in the dirt.
Kang blinked. “How can you tell?”
“I didn’t. You’re here to test it.”
Before Kang could react, Aseok poked the trap with the edge of his iron rod.
A massive explosion went off. The earth trembled. Everyone dove for cover.
When the dust cleared, Kang stood at the center, hair singed, coat torn, and expression… dazed.
Aseok looked back at him calmly. “Still alive. Good.”
Seo MinHyun gasped. “He really tested it on him!”
“I think I saw his soul leave for a second,” He Ziqin whispered, wide-eyed.
Kang coughed, smoke rising from his sleeves. “So this is what it feels like…”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Mu Yichen crossed his arms, gaze unreadable. “I warned you.”
But the illusionist didn’t back down.
Maybe it was pride. Maybe it was an obsession.
Or maybe, deep down, Kang Juwon was chasing something he couldn’t name.
Because every time he looked at Aseok’s expressionless face, something twisted in his chest.
He couldn’t remember the past, but he felt it. The guilt. The loss. The ache that refused to leave, even in his dreams.
So he followed.
And Aseok tolerated him, for now.
On the fourth day inside a particularly nasty A - rank dungeon, Aseok did what he always did.
He handed Pudding to He Ziqin like a fragile sacred object, ignored all group chatter, and marched off with his iron rod.
“Should we stop him?” Seo MinHyun asked, watching Aseok vanish into the misty corridor like a ghost.
“Do you want to?” Taegun replied without looking up.
“…Fair.”
They didn’t follow. They’d learned their lesson.
Ten minutes later, muffled screaming echoed through the dungeon.
“Is that—?” He Ziqin paused, holding Pudding protectively.
“Boss monster,” Mu Yichen replied casually.
More screaming. Something exploded.
Then silence.
Then footsteps.
Lee Aseok emerged, calm and dust-covered, dragging the severed head of a creature three times his size. His iron rod still gleamed faintly from mana discharge.
The holy sword followed him around as usual but it was obvious the sword is still sulking and consider the Iron rod as its rival.
Behind him, Kang Juwon stumbled out, hair soaked, shirt torn, face half-covered in black blood.
“He used me,” Kang said, coughing. “As bait. Again.”
Aseok blinked at him. “You’re useful.”
Seo MinHyun turned to Ziqin. “Should we send flowers or…?”
“Maybe a fruit basket,” He Ziqin muttered. “Something soft. Digestible. For when he’s recovering in a full-body cast.”
Park Taegun sighed and handed Kang a healing potion.
Mu Yichen, meanwhile, stared at Aseok with narrowed eyes.
Because no matter how indifferent Aseok appeared… he had chosen Kang to stay.
And that was worrying.
Aseok didn’t keep people close.
Unless he had a reason.
Mu Yichen didn’t know what it was, but he could feel it. On the way, Aseok looked at Kang Juwon. Not with hate, but something worse.
Recognition without acknowledgment.
Like a ghost from a life no one else remembered.
And Kang?
He still didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into.
But deep down, he was beginning to suspect..
Being called “useful” might be the worst mistake of his life.
At another gate, things went crazy as usual.
For someone who'd just watched a forty-foot serpent get pulverized with a rusted iron rod, Kang Juwon seemed unusually calm.
The dungeon floor was quiet now, only the sound of burning monster corpses in the distance and the occasional click-clack of Lee Aseok’s rod hitting the ground as he walked.
The others, Mu Yichen, Seo MinHyun, Park Taegun, and He Ziqin, were back at the entrance, licking their wounds and whispering about how they might accidentally “forget” Kang Juwon next time he volunteered to tail Aseok into the inner zone.
Because that was the thing about Kang Juwon. He didn’t just follow.
He clung.
Now, as Aseok strode deeper into the dungeon in his usual solo fashion, Kang Juwon caught up to him again, silent and smooth, like a shadow without a source.
“You’re strong,” Kang said.
Lee Aseok didn’t slow. “I know.”
“And reckless,” Kang added, his tone dipping into something more personal. “You’re strong enough to take the boss alone. But that doesn’t mean you should. You haven’t rested in days. You’re pushing yourself too hard.”
Lee Aseok stopped.
A silence bloomed.
The torchlight flickered against the cracked walls, casting long shadows. Aseok turned his head slowly, eyes unreadable.
“You’re really good at acting,” he said flatly.
Kang blinked. “What?”
Aseok leaned in. Just slightly. His voice dropped low, barely audible over the hum of mana in the air.
“If you’re tired,” he murmured, “I have a lot of dungeon items. Good ones. Illegal ones too. You seem like the type who'd appreciate a shortcut.”
Kang Juwon’s smile froze.
“I even have mana boosters that don’t show up on scans. Stuff that’ll make your nerves hum for hours. You want one?” Aseok added, voice still low, almost conversational.
Kang didn’t speak. Not at first. His jaw clenched. The warm glint in his eyes vanished. A chill took its place.
The dungeon felt colder.
He stared at Aseok. “You know.”
Aseok tilted his head.
“You know about the distribution,” Kang said slowly. “The trade network. The illegal channeling of corrupted dungeon stones, the potion rackets, the black-market skill enhancements…”
Aseok blinked once.
“You’re the Chosen Hero,” Kang added, voice flat now. “One word from you and the world would tear me apart. So why haven’t you said anything?”
Aseok turned his back to him and began walking again.
Kang’s voice sharpened. “Answer me.”
“I don’t care,” Aseok said, as if commenting on the weather.
That stopped Kang in his tracks.
“What?”
“I said,” Aseok continued, tapping his iron rod against a cracked tile, “I don’t care. Whether you’re a criminal mastermind, a saint, or someone selling mana-soaked candy to children in alleys. It’s your problem.”
“Then why did you bring it up?” Kang asked quietly, walking to catch up again, voice tight.
“Because,” Aseok said, his tone lighter now, almost amused, “it’s funny.”
“Funny.”
“You worked so hard to hide it. And you act so well. All these perfect smiles. All this gentle concern. But your eyes are always looking through people. Like you’re measuring what they’re worth.”
He turned his head slightly.
“You keep asking if I’m tired, if I’m overdoing it. Maybe it’s not because you care. Maybe it’s because you’re …..” Aseok didn’t say the rest of his words.
Kang’s expression tightened.
“You think I’m scared of you?” he said.
“No,” Aseok replied. “You’re too confident for that. You’re just cautious. The kind of cautiousness that’s learned from blood. But that’s what makes you predictable.”
The silence that followed was razor-thin.
Then, slowly, Kang exhaled.
“I don’t want to be your enemy.”
“You already are,” Aseok said plainly. “You just don’t realize it yet.”
Kang’s brows furrowed. “Why?”
“Because you think you can manipulate me,” Aseok said. “You think you’re above the rules, that as long as you stay useful and subtle, I’ll let you get away with everything.”
“And you won’t?”
“I haven’t decided.”
Kang’s lips twitched.
“That’s a dangerous way to speak to someone who could flood your entire team with illusions until they tear each other apart.”
“That’s a dangerous way to speak to someone who can kill an S-rank dungeon boss with an iron stick,” Aseok replied without blinking.
The tension twisted between them like a drawn bowstring.
Then Aseok looked away, already bored. “Don’t follow me anymore.”
“I will,” Kang said. “Because I don’t trust you.”
Aseok paused, then turned his head just enough for Kang to see the ghost of a smile.
“Good,” he said. “Then we understand each other.”
The wind inside the dungeon passage was dry and bitter, scraping against the stone like a warning whisper.
Lee Aseok walked ahead as usual, iron rod casually dragging behind him, the sound echoing like a dull heartbeat.
Kang Juwon kept up, as always, his steps were too quiet for a normal person. It would’ve been annoying, if Aseok had any interest in acknowledging him at all.
“So you really don’t care,” Kang said at last, watching the back of Aseok’s head. “About humanity. About the monsters. About the world burning.”
Lee Aseok didn’t even turn. His voice came out flat, dry as ash.
“I don’t care,” he said. “And I’m not interested.”
Kang Juwon blinked, waiting for more. There wasn’t any.
Lee Aseok finally turned his head slightly, enough for Kang to catch the full weight of those dead, bored eyes.
“I dislike humans and monsters equally,” he continued, voice low. “If humans get destroyed by monsters, or by other humans, it makes no difference to me.”
Kang stopped walking for a beat.
That wasn’t indifference. That was apathy weaponized.
His mouth parted slightly as realization sank in.
All this time… he thought Aseok was posturing.
That he was avoiding the holy sword and the hero’s burden because of emotional scars, a grudge, or some old betrayal.
But now?
Now he could see it clearly.
Lee Aseok meant it. He wasn’t just reluctant to be a hero.
He genuinely didn’t want to be one.
And that did something strange to Kang Juwon.
It made him feel… angry.
He stepped closer, frowning. “So that’s it? You’re just going to watch everything fall apart and eat snacks with your dog?”
“I feed him premium raw beef,” Aseok said blankly. “Don’t insult the arrangement.”
Kang Juwon stared at him, baffled. “You’re a walking contradiction.”
“And yet I walk so well.”
That did it. Kang reached out, uncharacteristically emotional, and put both hands on Aseok’s shoulders.
The younger man blinked, mildly displeased at the physical contact.
“Who hurt you?” Kang asked, eyes narrowing.
Aseok stared.
Kang leaned in closer, as if trying to peer into his soul. “Seriously. Who did it? Was it a guild? A person? Was it Mu Yichen?” His tone lowered dangerously. “Because I’ll kill them.”
“You sound like you care about me,” Aseok muttered.
“I might as well be at this point,” Kang replied without hesitation. “Now tell me.”
Lee Aseok exhaled slowly, then looked down at the hands on his shoulders. “If you don’t remove those in three seconds, I will feed you to a mimic disguised as a treasure chest.”
Kang didn’t flinch. “One name. Just give me one name.”
“You’re very dramatic for someone who murders with illusions,” Aseok replied.
“I’m efficient,” Kang corrected.
“Efficient drama,” Aseok deadpanned.
Kang’s mouth twitched. He looked ready to keep pushing, but before he could launch into another emotional interrogation…
A loud, cold voice sliced through the tension like a blade.
“Am I interrupting?”
Both men turned.
Mu Yichen stood at the mouth of the tunnel, arms crossed, eyes glinting like frost.
Behind him, Seo MinHyun looked like someone had just told him his favorite idol got married, while He Ziqin took one look at the situation and calmly reached for the mana potion in his coat like this was going to be a long day.
Author Note:
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