Oh, The Misery //Solo Leveling// Sung Jin Woo x Antares

11: I am a Blue Mist

"...Do you mean the □□□□?" 

Jin-Woo took his eyes from the ground. "Ah ye—no… I don't know." He scratched the back of his head trying to think of another alternative instead. One that could at least tell him some sort of reliable information without revealing too much. 

His eyes shone with new interest in mind. "Are they our enemies?" 

The hunter smirked back. "That depends." 

What? He got closer to the S rank. "How so?" 

Kang-Dae hummed as he started the answer, his voice so unnaturally soothing, as if there was nothing in this world he could ever fear. "...Their creators are my enemies. When the time is due, they could see you as an enemy as well." 

Jin-Woo looked down towards the stretched hand of the hunter, slowly moving it towards the bottom of his chin before pulling him upward. This way, both of them met each other's eyes. Now, Jin-Woo couldn't look away. 

"However, one day, the answer to all your problems will be revealed. The source of everything in the universe will be knownst to you." The Hunter's face got closer as he smiled. "When the truth arrives, I wonder whose side you will choose." And yet his eyes seemed to be confident that Jin-Woo wouldn't go away. He seemed to be calm that he would win whatever will come next. 

In a way, Jin-Woo could also feel his heart say the same thing. Who else would he choose to fight alongside, if not the only one that has managed to become a ray of hope down his path of despair. The universe keeps its secrets of what he would have become without him. But he didn't show it yet. He didn't show the strong will to remain close to the hunter, he didn't show how cold his body got as soon as the S rank stepped away from him. He simply waited until the other started to walk away before joining him. 

"... Is there a reason why some humans are awakened and others aren't?" Jin-Woo was finally able to catch his breath and continue. 

"There are no other reasons apart from the biological basis of humanity." Kang-Dae slowed down his walk for him.

"Then people who aren't awake aren't strong?" 

He shook his head. "Not necessarily." He continued while pointing to a window where two kids sat down eating their ice cream. "Just like any other being with physical or mental defects, there are some whose physiology prevents them from reaching a full potential to control the mana around them." Jin-Woo's eyes went towards the girl first, and then towards the boy. In his eyes none of them looked differently then what they were supposed to be, and yet Kang-Dae thought otherwise. "She has no trouble breathing the mana around her, once her soul is fully formed, she will probably be awakened. However, the mana around the boy is accumulating on the outside more than the inside. Were he to stand close to a gate, his respiratory problems would become visible." 

That being said, there were still many people who had been awakened despite the presence of mana suddenly appearing. Sure in the first year there were only a few hundred, but in the second thousands more appeared, and then the numbers doubled and tripled until there were almost five million awakened people worldwide. But it still doesn't even account for 1% of the population. Jin-Woo grimaced. 

"...With time, the disadvantages will disappear." Kang-Dae talked as he saw Jin-Woo's face sour in his own thoughts. 

His eyes blocked again. "How long would that take?" 

Now it was time for Kang-Dae to grimace at his own thoughts. "Ten generations if they survive the war…"

"What?!" Despite the murmuring, Jin-Woo heard it all clearly.