The unmanned small craft, having no cockpit, made good use of its interior space.When I folded down the seat facing me, there was just enough room for three people to lie down snugly.“Lie over there.”A blanket tossed toward Joo-o, who’d just wiped his face and hands. He nodded and promptly curled up in the corner. Unlike at home, where he’d hesitated at the invitation to go inside, he now simply lay flat as told—still wearing that pleasant expression, neither causing trouble nor fuss.“This place has a late sunrise. We’ll be here a while, so bear the confinement.”“Okay.”“If you need to go, tell me.”“I’m fine.”He answered so confidently he sounded like someone who never had to use a restroom. That thought struck me—when had I ever seen Joo-o go?‘…’Of course he did go sometimes. Every evening he washed thoroughly, and he’d mug at his reflection, making faces that earned me exasperated looks. Just last night, I heard gurgling—turned to see him splashing water in his mouth for fun. But that was it. Remarkably, he never broke a sweat despite eating so much, and I never sensed him relieving himself. Even now, after a day’s running and walking, no unpleasant odor—just his peculiar, sweet body scent filling the cramped space.I shot Joo-o a suspicious glance, then sighed at my own delusion. Ridiculous—fanciful thoughts had no place here. I’d learned from mercenaries who’d been hurt or vanished that ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) idle musings were forbidden on the job. Even if Joo-o fell asleep first, I’d check the gear and radar again, passing half the night on watch.“Aren’t you sleeping?”“You do it.”“…Okay.”After a pause, Joo-o stole a glance my way and wrapped himself in the large blanket like a giant cocoon. The way he shuffled his legs into position struck me as almost endearing, and I caught myself smiling before I could stop it.“Good night, Jin Muhae.”“…”He said good night, but I didn’t reply—I merely checked our schedule.When I’d done contracts alone, the downtime bored me terribly. Even the sounds of anomalies nearby couldn’t dispel my tedium. Yet the evenings with Joo-o tossing beside me flew by strangely quickly. While checking gear or waking from a doze propped against the hull, I couldn’t resist glancing at him—blanket half undone, sprawled out. I had to admit it: someone’s presence alone was stimulating, even if all he did was sleep. In any case, I found it easier to endure the long night.Then, in the final four hours, I lay down and dozed off—waking with a start.‘…?’A comforting warmth enveloped me. Surely Joo-o had slept in the corner without a blanket. A soft, sweet scent brushed my nose, and I heard a quiet breath at my chin. Glancing down, I found someone curled up against me. No need to wonder—it was Joo-o, who’d rolled over and hugged me asleep, burying his face in my chest, his body rising and falling in time with his breath.‘…Huh.’No wonder he’d been shuffling around earlier. I blinked dry eyes and tried to push away the arm draped over me. He didn’t budge—felt like shoving a boulder. Really, do people press into sleep this hard? I raised an eyebrow and inspected his shoulder and back: astonishingly relaxed, every muscle slack. Despite his superhuman strength, Joo-o was sound asleep.‘This is ridiculous.’I had no desire to toss him off—but I couldn’t leave well enough alone. What dreams could someone who’d lost all memory have? Was he reliving his past, whatever that was?“Whew…”His face looked paler as he slept on, so I decided this wasn’t a pleasant dream. With a resigned sigh, I shook his head gently to wake him. He gasped in a big breath and his red eyes snapped open, pupils dilated.“Hey.”At my voice, tension drained from his glare.“Move if you’re awake.”“Whew, huh…”“No weird sounds.”He reacted normally—apparently not in pain or delirious. His half-lidded eyes looked tired, and I realized he did get exhausted after all. Clearly he’d had a bad dream; he kept a dazed expression as he roused. I freed my waist from the lingering arm and sat up enough to speak.“It’s time to go. If you’re not up to it, stay. I’ll do it solo.”“I want to come…”“Then drop this and gear up.”At last he stirred, crawling over to fetch his bag from the corner. Only then did I stop watching him.When we exited the small craft at dawn, the fatigue in Joo-o’s face had vanished as if by magic. He swallowed a few pills in place of breakfast without complaint—though I thought I heard a swallow, he didn’t seem woozy. Yet there was something subtly unhinged about him, like on that TV day. I sent him to the rear and walked ahead, lost in thought.‘This feels off.’In all my years as a mercenary, I’d never been superstitious—yet ever since meeting Joo-o, his every reaction gnawed at me. Everything he’d said or done had its own reason, and on reflection had always matched the situation. What if he had some predictive sense—nothing supernatural, just uncanny intuition? If he acted odd, maybe trouble lay ahead. It was a ludicrous notion, but I couldn’t shake it.“What did you dream?”Without turning, Joo-o asked. His head, which had been looking around, froze.“Dream?”“I thought you dreamt?”“I didn’t.”“Sure you did.”“…Maybe?”He frowned in thought, then shook his head.“I don’t know.”I tore my eyes from the radar and looked at him—he genuinely didn’t remember. ‘Can’t recall,’ I thought, but I kept it to myself. I checked our remaining distance instead.We rode the bike in silence for a while. Honestly, I’d felt uneasy since yesterday: more beasts than expected had strayed beyond the usual zones. Deer were just the beginning. I’d never heard of miners dying en masse around here before. A sense of dread kept skittering through my mind.“What can you hear?”“Nothing yet.”“And smell?”“Also nothing, yet.”His voice, still holding onto my waist, carried a spark of excitement. Delighted that I’d finally asked, I steered through cracked roads, chasing away anxious thoughts. Then, just as I turned sharply at a fork…“Now me.”Beep- Beep- Beep-!As Joo-o pressed close and whispered, the radar detected something.‘…!’An anomaly.Anomalies weren’t known to have fixed habitats, but this wasn’t a zone where they’d often appeared. I hurriedly slowed the bike. Joo-o’s earlier answer echoed in my mind: ‘Nothing yet.’ In hindsight, he said “yet,” not “no.” The kid, who usually replied simply, had spoken as if he’d known something was coming…Beep- Beep- Beep-!On the road so still even the wind seemed to have stopped, the radar’s alarm sounded ominously in my chest.

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