Mu Yichen and Park Taegun walked through the West Zone’s overgrown streets like it was their hometown.

  They dodged potholes with muscle memory, sidestepped monster carcass stains like they were crossing a familiar alley, and didn’t blink when a squirrel mutated by residual mana charged at them, only to get scared off by Pudding’s disapproving bark.

  He Ziqin, Kang Juwon, and Yoo Areum, on the other hand, looked like tourists who had taken a wrong turn on a jungle safari.

  “This place is cursed,” Yoo Areum announced, swatting a bug with her perfectly manicured hand like it had personally offended her wealth. “I’m losing cell reception. And my patience.”

  He Ziqin, sweating slightly, pulled out a bug-repellent talisman and stuck it to the back of his neck. “You’ll get used to it. After a while, the monsters ignore you unless you make eye contact. Or bleed.”

  Yoo Areum made a strangled sound. “Why would you say that so casually?!”

  “Because it happened to me,” He Ziqin replied solemnly, then added, “Twice.”

  Kang Juwon didn’t speak much. He didn’t swat bugs or make sarcastic quips. His sharp eyes scanned the zone like he was reading a tragic novel hidden in the wreckage.

  The buildings, half-eaten by time and monster claws, the rusted signs of a once-functional city now devoured by weeds. The broken roads that no one bothered to fix.

  But more than anything, it was the five-story building in the distance, still upright, still quietly existing, that caught his attention.

  “That’s… where he lived?” Kang Juwon asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “Yes,” Park Taegun said, hands in pockets. “ More than a year. Alone.”

  Kang Juwon’s jaw tensed. “Alone, here?”

  Mu Yichen nodded.

  Kang Juwon didn’t like Lee Aseok. He didn’t understand him.

  But seeing this place, the way nature had tried and failed to erase the man’s existence, something inside him twisted with a mix of rage and guilt.

  He prided himself on cruelty. But this? This was a different kind of violence. The silent kind.

  Meanwhile, Pudding ran ahead and wagged its tail proudly in front of the building, like a butler welcoming royalty.

  Lee Aseok reached the front step and paused.

  Then, slowly, he turned around.

  That alone was enough to send shivers down everyone’s spine.

  His gaze scanned the group. Cold. Flat. Empty of emotion. Not even boredom, just that deadpan stare that made you question every decision in your life.

  Mu Yichen tilted his head in amusement. Park Taegun adjusted his stance. Both had already seen this look countless times.

  Kang Juwon stiffened.

  Yoo Areum took an instinctive step back and bumped into He Ziqin.

  “Why’s he looking at us like that?” she whispered, trying to hide behind Ziqin’s taller frame.

  “He does that when he doesn’t want anyone following him inside,” He Ziqin replied grimly. “That’s his ‘you’re not invited’ face.”

  “What happens if we go in anyway?”

  He Ziqin didn’t answer. He just held up his arm.

  Goosebumps. Everywhere.

  Yoo Areum shivered so hard she nearly dropped her designer bag.

  Then, without so much as a flicker of emotion, Lee Aseok turned his back and vanished through the front door.

  The door didn’t slam.

  It simply shut with quiet finality.

  Like a tomb sealing shut.

  No one dared to follow.

  He Ziqin broke the silence with a long sigh, rubbing both arms like he was trying to scrub the goosebumps off. “Every time. I don’t know why I even try.”

  “He really doesn’t want company,” Kang Juwon muttered.

  “No,” He Ziqin agreed. “He doesn’t want witnesses.”

  Yoo Areum opened her mouth to say something dramatic, possibly a complaint about the lack of hospitality, but stopped.

  She turned toward the group, only to realize Mu Yichen and Park Taegun were already walking away, completely unfazed.

  Toward the opposite direction.

  With practiced ease, like they were heading to their favorite café.

  “Hey!” He Ziqin jogged after them. “Where are you two going? And where are we supposed to stay?”

  Mu Yichen didn’t even turn around as he calmly replied, “To our place.”

  He Ziqin blinked. “Your… place? You have a place? Here?”

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Park Taegun gave him a sideways glance. “We’ve lived in the West Zone for a few months. Of course we have a place.”

  Kang Juwon’s mouth twitched.

  He had spent years refining his expressions, always keeping a cool, calculating demeanor. But this… this conversation was testing his limits.

  “You’re saying…” he began, pointing vaguely at the empty ruins surrounding them, “you also have… housing in the West Zone?”

  Mu Yichen, as if asked if the sky was blue, calmly nodded. “Mm.”

  So casual. So natural. As though real estate in the most abandoned zone in the country was just a regular weekend hobby.

  Meanwhile, Kang Juwon looked around again, more carefully this time.

  There was nothing here.

  No functioning roads. No gates leading to civilization. No convenience stores. No food trucks. No people. No signs of restoration.

  Just ruins.

  Rotting concrete. Hollow echoes. And yet…

  The strongest people in the country were apparently living here like it was a summer vacation home.

  “…Why?” Kang Juwon finally asked. “Why are all of you Lee Aseok, you two, staying here?”

  Mu Yichen simply said, “Because he’s here.”

  It took a moment for the words to settle.

  Because he was here.

  That was enough.

  Kang Juwon frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. You’re all S-rank hunters. You don’t owe him anything.”

  Park Taegun didn’t respond. He simply kept walking.

  Mu Yichen’s reply was quiet. “Some people don’t need to owe anything to be worth following.”

  The words were too simple for the weight they carried.

  He Ziqin blinked at the shattered buildings. Yoo Areum frowned, her luxury boots kicking at dust that hadn’t moved in years.

  All three of them looked around in mild panic, as if someone had flipped the script on reality.

  This was the West Zone.

  There were no people here. No shops. No safety. No coffee.

  Just crumbling concrete, weeds taller than children, and gates that spawned monsters the way vending machines spat out drinks.

  And yet..

  Not only the so-called chosen hero lived here…

  But also two of the country’s most respected S-rank hunters?

  “Are we sure we’re still in the West Zone?” He Ziqin asked aloud, half-joking, half-hoping.

  No one answered.

  They were too busy scanning their surroundings, almost expecting signs to change from “Danger Zone: Do Not Enter” to “Welcome Home: Gated Community of S-Rank Weirdos.”

  Mu Yichen, who was somehow still pristine despite the dirt and ruin, remained silent.

  Park Taegun, as always, refused to elaborate.

  The two gave each other a glance. Not a word was exchanged, but the message was clear.

  Don’t say we made the hideout just to spy on Lee Aseok.

  Even if it was true.

  Their pride, forged through years of battle and public reputation, would rather implode than admit they had been secretly tailing Lee Aseok like a pair of stealthy, S-rank stalkers.

  So they let the misunderstanding grow legs, sprout wings, and fly freely.

  And what a misunderstanding it was.

  He Ziqin rubbed his chin, seriously considering the possibility. “You think there are more high-rank people hiding out here?”

  Yoo Areum’s face darkened. “If I find out half the country’s elites live in abandoned buildings, I’m going to scream.”

  Kang Juwon was still frowning at the ground, as if the cracked pavement might explain the mystery. “This doesn’t make sense… Unless…”

  He looked up.

  “What if… Lee Aseok is secretly running an underground kingdom here?”

  Everyone paused.

  He Ziqin’s eyes widened. “Like… an anti-hero lair?”

  Yoo Areum raised a brow. “You’ve been reading too many webnovels.”

  Still, the thought clearly planted itself in their minds. The idea of the cold, terrifying Lee Aseok ruling over a silent empire of shadows and monster carcasses somehow made more sense than him… being a recluse.

  Meanwhile…

  Across a few ruined blocks, the sounds of digging, grumbling, and potion-bottle clinks filled the air.

  Yoo Eunsae, who had very much not signed up for this, was on her eighth mana potion and tenth muttered insult.

  She had been gently planting seeds from a mysterious pouch Lee Aseok gave her, trying not to panic, when she realized half the zone had been marked on the map. He expected her to make all this bloom.

  In three days.

  With B-rank mana.

  Ha.

  She wanted to cry, but her body had already switched from tears to pure survival instinct.

  She’d been digging and channeling mana so fast, her fingers were starting to blur.

  Beside her, Seo MinHyun crouched like an overly supportive coach who didn’t realize he was making things worse.

  “You’re doing great, Eunsae. That seed went in at a beautiful 45-degree angle.”

  “Shut up,” she muttered.

  He blinked. “Encouragement helps productivity—”

  “Shut. Up.”

  “I even brought more water—”

  “If you say one more word, I will throw this mana bottle at your head and say it was a rogue elemental.”

  He wisely took a step back.

  “Okay, okay, emotional support mode: off.”

  She glared at him before returning to the dirt. Another seed. Another wave of mana. Another cough.

  “Stupid overpowered sword hero and his weird planting requests…”

  Seo MinHyun quietly watched her work, chewing on his lip.

  He’d brought her here to support her sister, not realizing she'd be conscripted by the most terrifying man in the world to create a mystical flower bed.

  The West Zone, which had once been a desolate land of silence and rot, was now filled with a truly bizarre orchestra:

  Grumbles, groans, and mutters from Yoo Eunsae.

  Mana bottles clinking and hissing.

  Pudding barking occasionally at butterflies.

  Wind.

  Laughter.

  Noise.

  Life.

  Far, far away, on the top floor of a half-collapsed building, Lee Aseok sat on a chair with three legs and a very large husky head on his lap.

  He stared out the window.

  The ruined streets that were once silent now echoed with the chaos of people who refused to listen when he said “stay away.”

  Noise.

  Tension.

  Color.

  It was annoying.

  Truly.

  Aseok scratched Pudding’s ears.

  The dog yawned dramatically, tail thumping, perfectly unbothered by the chaos his human master seemed to attract.

  Aseok sighed.

  The quiet was gone.

  “Annoying”

  On the other side of the zone, Yoo Eunsae was slowly but surely losing her mind.

  Two days.

  Two entire days had passed since Lee Aseok had handed her the mysterious map, a bag full of seeds, and uttered his soul-shattering words:

  “Don’t slack off.”

  Then he walked away.

  Just like that.

  No explanation, no encouragement, not even a manual.

  Just a bag of seeds, a crumpled map, and the weight of the Chosen Hero’s unreasonable expectations.

  And now, three days later, she is still here. In the dust. Covered in dirt. Digging holes. Channeling mana. Watering soil.

  Drinking mana potions like they were soda.

  Next to her, Seo MinHyun was doing his best to help.

  As a mage, he wasn’t exactly an expert in agriculture, but he had read three tutorials on "How to Channel Life-Element Mana for Dummies" and was doing his best to apply them.

  “Eunsae, you missed a spot,” he said gently, pointing at a patch of stubborn dirt.

  Yoo Eunsae didn't even look up.

  “I swear, if you say one more word, I will bury you and call it fertilizer.”

  Seo MinHyun cleared his throat and wisely walked three steps away.

  From morning till night, she worked like a possessed gardener.

  The map was ridiculous, twenty-five marked planting spots, all spread across dangerous terrain.

  And the seeds were annoying too: some only responded to fire mana, some to water, and one of them sneezed when she poured mana in too quickly. It literally sneezed.

  “Why is this my life…” she muttered, dropping into a squat as she uncorked another mana potion and chugged it like a professional athlete on a sugar high.

  And of course, Lee Aseok?

  Lee Aseok was doing absolutely nothing.

  At first, she thought he was merely biding his time. A true tactician waiting for the right moment to strike.

  But on the second day, when she peeked toward his half-destroyed building and saw him lying on a sunlit sofa, Pudding sprawled across his chest like royalty, she nearly threw her shovel at the sky.

  He was sleeping.

  Again.

  On the second day, she passed by and saw him with Pudding on his back, pointing at a bug with a stick.

  She didn’t even have the energy to rage anymore.

  Author Note:

  Thank you for reading and for screaming in the comments—your suffering is my fuel.

  Every “OH MY GOD ASEOK STOP” gives me the strength to write the next disaster.

  Mon ? Wed ? Fri

  (Yes, I too question my life choices.)

  https://www.patreon.com/c/LithutheBloom

  please leave a review or rating—it helps summon new victims readers. ??