The bounty headquarters hummed with drunken laughter and clinking mugs.
For a while the night belonged to the hunters: tall men boasting of past kills, rogues trading whispers of contracts, and the registrars doing their best to keep order amid the chaos.
The door swung open. Conversation died mid-sentence as a man in a dark suit pushed through, breathless and desperate.
He crossed the hall in quick strides and collapsed at the registrar's desk, voice trembling.
"Please.... please, is there anyone here who can take an immediate job?" he begged. "It's… it's SS rank."
Heads turned. A hush fell like a curtain.
"What's the target?" the registrar asked, trying to hold the room together.
The messenger swallowed. "It's… it's urgent. The Princess of the Jung Hun family.... north of the border..... has been struck by an infectious curse. They say it spreads by contact. We need someone who can fetch the Flower of Life from the eastern grove and perform a purification. The family will pay anything. Anything."
His eyes searched the room, frantic. "Or..... marriage to the Princess. We'll grant anything to save her."
Murmurs erupted like a storm. The word SS rank sent color through the room, danger, prestige, reward. But another word threaded through the murmurs: infectious. Fear twisted faces.
"No way," someone said. "You're asking hunters to risk contamination? Our healers would be wasted."
"We can't afford to lose a healer to a plague," the registrar added. "We'd have to quarantine anyone who returns."
"Whoever takes this will be dead or worse," another muttered.
The messenger's desperation only sharpened. He clasped his hands. "Please. She's a child. The family swears any.... any compensation."
A heavy silence.
Then, as if cut from the same dark sky, a lone voice rose.
"Take me to her."
Every head whipped toward the sound. There, standing near the doorway, was Yamato.
He looked smaller than the fortysome hunters around him, but the blue in his eyes burned like a promise. Even through his scarf and the thin lamplight, he seemed to glow.
The murmurs turned into outright laughter. "You? The fifty-thousand psycho?" someone scoffed.
"Kid, you'd be dead before you reached the border."
A grizzled veteran spat on the floor. "Who sends a rookie on an SS? Are you stupid?"
Yamato's face didn't tighten.
He folded his arms and met the crowd's scorn with a quiet steady gaze. "I'm not doing this for pride," he said softly, voice carrying across the hall. "I'm doing this because I can. And because I won't let a child die if there's a way to help."
The messenger blinked, hope flickering. "You… you'll go? You understand the risk?"
"I do." Yamato's jaw set.
The hall erupted, half in mockery, half in disbelief. The registrar, still reeling, slammed a stamped form on the counter and peered at Yamato.
"If you succeed, the Jung Huns will make good on their promise. If you fail... " She didn't finish the sentence. The stakes were obvious.
From somewhere near the balcony, a low hum of approval threaded through the guests. The stronger hunters had been watching in silence; some nodded almost imperceptibly.
Yamato's name would travel tonight, not as a zero, not even as a fifty-thousand psycho, but as the fool who volunteered for an SS.
As he stepped forward to speak with the messenger, Yamato's thoughts were quiet and simple: If my eyes can heal... if I can bring back even one life, then I'll risk everything to try.
The messenger walked beside Yamato under the lantern-lit streets, lowering his voice as if to confess a sin.
"She's just fifteen years old… two years younger than you."
Yamato paused for a moment, his expression unreadable.
Then, quietly:
"Two years younger, huh… That makes her just a kid. Don't worry, sir—I'll handle this."
The man's trembling hands extended a map toward Yamato. "This will lead you to the Flower of Life. Without it, no one can.... "
But Yamato gently pushed the map back into his hands. "No need for that. I'll be fine." His tone was calm, absolute, the kind that left no room for doubt.
They reached the gates of the Jung Hun estate. Yamato slowed, lifting his gaze to the sprawling mansion, its towers glittering with imported glass.
He exhaled softly, almost in awe. So this is the house of power… yet even wealth couldn't protect them from death.
Inside, Pak Joo Hun awaited.
The once-mighty patriarch now looked frail, his skin pale and his eyes carrying the same shadow that had taken his wife. He forced a weary smile as he rose to greet Yamato.
"Welcome, young hunter," Pak Joo Hun said, voice hoarse but steady. "You step into my home at great risk.
My sickness took my wife, and before her, my father. Now… it crawls into me and my daughter. That's why we fled North Korea. That's why I sent for help."
Yamato listened, bowing respectfully.
"Then take me to her room."
Pak Joo Hun hesitated, fear flickering in his tired eyes. "Are you certain? You may catch the sickness just by breathing in her presence..... "
"It's fine," Yamato interrupted gently. "I'll be alright."
The father exchanged a glance with his maid, who reluctantly led Yamato through winding halls.
When they reached the girl's chamber, the maid unlocked the door, motioned him inside, and quickly bolted it behind him.
The room was dim, curtains drawn, the air heavy with illness. On the bed lay a frail figure, her chest rising weakly. Yamato stepped closer, his expression softening.
"Are you awake?" he asked quietly. "I'd like to ask you a few things."
A faint voice answered, her tone fragile but curious. "Who are you, sir…? I can't see anymore… because of the sickness."
Yamato knelt beside her, lowering his voice. "I'm your healer. And… I'm sorry about your mother."
A weak smile touched her lips. "It's alright. I may be joining her soon… who knows?"
"Don't say that," Yamato said firmly, though still calm. "You'll be fine."
For a moment, silence fell between them.... until the girl whispered:
"I have a secret. Not even my father knows."
She turned her face slightly toward him. "My name is En Boon Hun. And… if I ever feel better.... whether now, or one day in the future.... I've promised myself something. I'll marry the most handsome man I see that same day… and live happily forever."
Yamato's lips curved into a small, almost boyish smile. He rose to his feet, placing one hand gently on her fevered forehead, the other over her closed eyes.
His voice was steady, commanding but kind.
"Then let's test your promise. Count from one to ten. And when you open your eyes... tell me what you see."
En Boon Hun obeyed, her frail voice whispering the numbers. As she reached ten, Yamato's blue eyes ignited with a blinding glow. Light rippled through her body like a cleansing tide.
The darkness that bound her chest unraveled, the sickness fleeing in streaks of shimmering energy.
Her breath steadied. Color returned to her cheeks. Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open.
And there, bathed in the glow of the blue eyes, was Yamato's smile.
Her heart pounded. She pushed herself upright, staring into the brilliance of his gaze as if seeing the world for the first time.
Yamato asked softly, "So… who do you see now?"
She didn't hesitate. Sitting upright, eyes wide and shimmering, she whispered with trembling lips:
"The most handsome guy I've ever seen in my life."
They stared at each other for a few seconds before one of the maids entered the room. The moment she saw En Boon Hun sitting up, her eyes widened, and she screamed for the master.
Pak Joo Hun rushed in, and when he saw his daughter alive and smiling, his knees grew weak with joy.
Tears welled in his eyes as he embraced her, while she kept her gaze fixed on Yamato, almost unable to look away.
Yamato didn't stop there.... he placed his glowing hands on Pak Joo Hun and healed him as well.
The entire household was filled with cries of joy. Servants wept, nobles bowed, and that evening, Pak ordered a grand feast in Yamato's honor.
The night was filled with music, dancing, and laughter, but Yamato remained calm, eating little and drinking less. When the feast ended, Pak Joo Hun called him aside.
"Boy," he said, "you've saved my family. Name anything.... money, fame, women, power… whatever your heart desires, and it shall be yours."
All eyes turned to Yamato, expecting him to claim mountains of wealth or perhaps the Princess's hand. But instead, his answer silenced the hall:
"My only wish… is to go to North Korea."
The entire room erupted in shock.
Some nobles laughed nervously, others called him insane.
Even En Boon Hun's eyes widened... this was not what she expected from the boy who had just saved her life.
Pak Joo Hun narrowed his eyes, studying Yamato carefully. After a long pause, he gave a low chuckle.
"So that is your wish. You truly are reckless… or perhaps braver than the rest of us. Very well. Consider it done. My daughter has the ability to shrink people, so you'll be fine."
The words made Yamato's request sound even more foolish in the ears of the crowd. To risk one's life in the most forbidden land, when he could have had anything, made him look like a dimwit—even in front of the girl who admired him.
But Yamato simply bowed his head and said calmly:
"I'll need the trip in two days."