The Golden Commandment, is it.

Its meaning wasnt complicated and the phrase wasnt trying to imply anything deep, either. So, he only needed to interpret it as he heard it. However, he just couldnt link the original meaning of the phrase to his ability, Nine Eyes. It didnt feel quite right.

Just like the right and left directions, there must be some kind of deeper meaning behind the way it was named like that. He thought about it dozens of times, but could only draw blank. The deeper he thought about it, the more complicated his head became.

In the end, he spent the whole night without a wink of sleep.

I cant figure it out.

Sleep didnt want to visit him. Eventually, Seol got exhausted stirring around the bed wide awake, and decided to postpone deciphering the Golden Commandment to another time. He knew better than to force himself to a wrong conclusion here. In any case, he needed to find the proverbial loose string to yank out first if he wanted to unravel this mystery.

There were two ways he could think of that might resolve this quandary:

One, to open up the right direction.

Just like how the left direction was connected to lower direction, the odds of upper direction having a link with the right was high. If he could find what the remaining three colours were, he might be able to narrow down the meaning of the golden colour.

But, there are no more Ambrosias left.

Two, the sole remaining method, was to find the truth by experimentation.

Having stared at the ceiling for the entirety of the night, Seol made up his mind and pushed himself off the bed.

The longer one stayed in the Neutral Zone, the harder it became to sense the hours passing by. Not only there were no watches in this place, most of the facilities stayed open 24 hours a day, which kind of made finding a spot without light shining on it a rarity within the Zone. Only the smartphone he received at the beginning of the Tutorial kept him up with the current date and time.

[05:17 AM]

Around this early morning hour, the always-crowded first floor plaza would be much more quieter.

Wondering if Yun Seo-Rah was there, Seol came down to the first floor only to find someone elses familiar back, instead.

Yi Surl-Ah?

He was about to call out to greet her but stopped. His half-opened mouth slowly closed shut.

Yi Surl-Ah was in the midst of taking a halting glance at the noticeboard.

It didnt seem as if she was here for that running mission again. A Basic difficulty mission could be repeated infinitely, so there were no need to worry about the mission parchments running out. So, if she was hesitating like that in front of the board, that could only mean that she was thinking of challenging a mission with a difficulty higher than Very easy.

Her petite shoulders drooped in disappointment. Her head faltered, hinting that she was deeply devastated over something. Seol quickly walked over to her side.

What should I do now.? (Yi Surl-Ah)

Miss Surl-Ah? (Seol)

Heukyahck?!?! (Yi Surl-Ah)

When he called out to her out of the blue, a rather peculiar scream jumped out of her mouth. She quickly turned around to face Seol. Her shocked expression calmed down quickly after seemingly losing ten years of her life through fright.

Orabeo-nim! (Yi Surl-Ah)

Good morning. You here to try the running mission again? Its been a while since we ran side by side, so how about it? (Seol)

Oh. Well, shall we? (Yi Surl-Ah)

She sounded really unwilling. Seol didnt miss the fact that she hesitated ever so slightly before answering him.

Whats wrong? Are you feeling unwell? (Seol)

Oh, no! Not at all. Uhm, its like, Im lacking in confidence, something like that? I havent practiced a lot lately and stuff. (Yi Surl-Ah)

She blurred the ends of her sentence and smiled awkwardly. Her smile was the usual one that seemed pure and innocent, but today, he picked up the hint of unnaturalness that she couldnt completely conceal. Her always-sunny complexion seemed very haggard as well.

Mm?

Seol carefully studied her appearance for a little while and tilted his head.

Now that he had taken a closer look at her, there were a few odd things about her. It had been slightly over a month since the Jobs were awakened, yet her attire remained the same as what she wore during the Tutorial. And having met up with Shin Sahng-Ah and Hyun Sahng-Min earlier on, this oddness came across as quite bizarre to him now.

Yi Surl-Ahs aptitude wasnt bad when he took a peek at her Status Windows. Although it couldnt be called as desirable as Brilliant, he did remember seeing the description of jack of all trades or something similar to that in her Aptitude column.

Have you eaten breakfast yet? (Seol)

When he asked her while thinking, it cant be, right?, she hurriedly nodded her head.

O, of course!! I filled up before getti. (Yi Surl-Ah)

*SFX for a loud stomach rumble*

With the exquisite timing, the loud cry of an empty stomach roared out for everyone to hear. And sure enough, it was not coming from Seols belly.

..If I want to eat, I need to complete missions, you see. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Quite unlike how she sounded just a minute ago, there was no energy in her voice now. Her pinkish neck slowly reddened up in the shade of sunset. Seol dazedly shifted his gaze over to the noticeboard.

As expected, she wasnt here to do Basic difficulty missions. She was checking out the sections where Very easy and Easy missions were originally located. Unfortunately, there were no parchments left there. Because, Seol ended up completely exhausting what little remained a few days ago, that was why.

.Yi siblings are constantly helping out Yun Seo-Rah.

Suddenly, Seol recalled Hyun Sahng-Mins words. And right away, it felt like a hammer struck him in the head.

Ahh..

Now he understood the truth.

It wasnt as if the Yi siblings failed to earn enough SPs for themselves. No, it was more like they couldnt, as they were trying to look after Yun Seo-Rah, as well.

In order to complete a mission that paid out enough Survival Points for one to carry on living in the Zone, one would need to get the matching equipment and suitable abilities for ones Job. Attempting a mission without those would be akin to throwing your life away.

If one had to lower the difficulty through a sheer lack of choice, then the rewards on offer was too low. Even then, if one continued to persevere and complete them, itd be possible to amass a few handful of points. But for the Yi siblings, those points would have been spent in looking after Yun Seo-Rah, instead.

Itd only leave them towards a continuous downward spiral. On top of this, Yi Surl-Ah entered the Neutral Zone with only 46 points to her name. Her brother, Yi Sung-Jin, only 114 points. Since they had to support another person with their already struggling finances, their situation mustve been in a downward slide for a long time by now.

Godd*mn it. (Seol)

Seols hand clutched his spear tightly.

.And I had no reason to even do those missions, either. (Seol)

He resolved himself not to repeat the mistake he made during the treasure hunt, yet he had done it again. He told himself to control his desires, yet, in the end, he thoughtlessly used himself as an example when making decisions.

Only if he paid little more attention. How could he fail so spectacularly to consider the possibility that the situation would be different for other survivors?

From Yi Surl-Ahs perspective, it mustve been like him robbing her of the last lifeline she had been depending on until now.

.Im sorry. (Seol)

Hearing his sudden apology, Yi Surl-Ahs eyes grew wider and wider.

Of course, she was aware of it, too. There was no way she didnt know, since the stories about Seol were wide spread around the Neutral Zone nowadays.

N, no! Dont say that! (Yi Surl-Ah)

Im at fault. Im the one who finished off all the easier missions. (Seol)

Orabeo-nim, dont say that. Those mission papers arent mine to begin with. (Yi Surl-Ah)

..

More importantly, for the last two months, you didnt touch any of those missions, anyways. Its my fault for being lazy and not completing the missions more often, you know. Its my fault instead. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Seeing her trying to console him, his hard-to-describe guilty conscience got heavier by another layer. She said that she had been lazy, but there was no way that could be true. No, it was far more likely that she was struggling desperately to survive.

I heard that you are looking after Miss Yun Seo-Rah. (Seol)

Oh, uhm. T, that is. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Yi Surl-Ah could only open and shut her mouth repeatedly as if she didnt know what to say. Her expression was asking him, How did you find out?

How long has it been? (Seol)

Maybe. After entering the Neutral Zone. Around ten days after that. (Yi Surl-Ah)

So, well over a month, huh.

Seol chuckled out bitterly.

She couldve asked him for help during that time, at least once. But she didnt say anything, even when they met a few times to lap the track together. She didnt even show any signs of struggling, either. If no one told him of the Yun Seo-Rah situation, he mightve never found out what was going on.

Seeing her helplessly lower her gaze, Seols thoughts became very complicated.

What should I do now? (Seol)

Although he didnt give a definite answer to Kim Hahn-Nah, he was planning to help Yun Seo-Rah out, anyways. He thought that it wouldnt be such a bad idea to repay Kim Hahn-Nahs kindness, since he had received lots of benefits from her Gold Mark up until this point in time.

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However, helping out the Yi siblings was out of his calculations. Of course, if he began supporting Yun Seo-Rah, the burden on the siblings would decrease considerably, but

But, it was already too late. Others had leapfrogged far ahead of them by now. Never mind catching up to them, could she and her brother even manage to gather 1000 points each before the end of the deadline?

While stewing inside the swirling mess of jumbled up thoughts, Seol got to confirm his disposition being Chaotic one more time. Even though he thought he should aid them somehow, no small part of him didnt want to get involved here and just wanted to concentrate on completing missions, instead.

Should he help them, or not?

Encountering yet another crossroads in his path, Seol closed his eyes to contemplate.

It was then, he suddenly recalled a scene from almost two months ago.

Lets run together!!

He remembered a scene of a girl who came to console him after seeing how shaken he was back then. It was of a girl whod never forget her saviour and tried to repay the favour no matter what.

And then, that Bible verse Kim Hahn-Nah left behind entered his thoughts as well.

.Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them.

He then decided to look at things from the siblings perspective.

What if he ran into a situation similar to what the siblings, or even, Yun Seo-Rah was facing? Without a doubt, hed be wishing for someone to come and help him out right about now.

.I never really thought of those words as altruistic babble, though. No, its much more closer to give-and-take

Although it was only by a little bit, Seol thought he could understand where Kim Hahn-Nahs sentiment was coming from.

Maybe.

Just maybe, there could be a future that might unfold in the way Kim Hahn-Nah had been implying a future, where Seol needed to receive help from someone else. Could this girl in front of him be one of the potential someone else?

No, that didnt matter. What did matter was his feelings on the subject, regardless of what might happen in the future. He didnt know why, but he wanted to help her.

He wasnt dealing with a b*stard like Kahng Seok here, either. Knowing the struggles this kind-hearted and warm girl was going through, he couldnt turn a blind eye anymore.

Its not like I dont have a wiggle room, is it? (Seol)

The moment he decided, Seol opened his eyes and spoke to her.

Come. Lets run for a while. (Seol)

*

Seol and Yi Surl-Ah began jogging on the track.

He completed his portion of the allocated laps first and waited for her to finish. Seeing her slowly inch closer to the finish line, he waved his hands in encouragement. She managed to get to the line, but before crossing it, she collapsed on the floor and began panting heavily. Seeing this, Seol grinned softly.

Its only 30 laps, you know. I didnt know you were this unfit. (Seol)

Doping is not allowed! (Yi Surl-Ah)

Yi Surl-Ah protested to the injustice of this situation.

Im telling you, its not doping. (Seol)

While defending himself, Seols lips formed a bitter smile. He remembered giving an advice that she should buy Competence, while being completely oblivious to her living conditions.

How do you feel after you ran around for a while? (Seol)

It feels nice. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Yi Surl-Ah smiled brightly on the ground as she regulated her breathing. Even though he forcibly dragged her in here, she wasnt dissatisfied at all.

Well, then. Should I make you feel even better? (Seol)

.Pardon me? (Yi Surl-Ah)

In the Neutral Zone, one could lend out or transfer Survival Points to another. Seol transferred 200 Survival Points from his account to Yi Surl-Ah.

Uh? Uh, uh?! 200 points? (Yi Surl-Ah)

Youve successfully cleared a mission, right? You should receive compensation for that. (Seol)

Seol jokingly said that, but her expression showed how apologetic and at a loss she was.

Even still. If you give me so much points, then I. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Her words only managed to make Seol surprised and flustered, instead. Just how difficult her stay in the Neutral Zone had been for her to act like that, over measly 200 points?

What is your brother doing right now? (Seol)

Oh, Sung-Jin? He should be waking up soon, I think. (Yi Surl-Ah)

In that case, go have a good breakfast with him. With 200 points, you should be able to enjoy a hearty meal once. (Seol)

J, just once?! If I save up, I think we can stretch it out to ten days. (Yi Surl-Ah)

No can do. You will spend it all in one go. All 200 points. (Seol)

Seol resolutely cut her off.

For a short while, she didnt say anything. She simply stared at him with a dazed facial expression as if she hadnt finished processing this event quite yet.

Once youre done eating, come up to my quarters with your brother. Oh, and by the way, do you know where I can find Miss Yun Seo-Rah? (Seol)

O, orabeo-nim? (Yi Surl-Ah)

Yi Surl-Ah unsteadily got up from the ground. She still looked like she hadnt been able to tell whether she was in a dream or not.

But, but, why? (Yi Surl-Ah)

Mm. Well, because Im grateful to you? (Seol)

A, about what, exactly? I, I havent done anything. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Seol sheepishly scratched his cheek as she stammered out.

What do you mean, you havent? You ran with me back then, didnt you? (Seol)

When looking back, one could say that was indeed the case. Only by running together with her, Seol finally got to realise how weak he was. From that day on, he focused on improving himself like a madman. In a way, it was because of Yi Surl-Ahs intervention that he had begun his intense training regime to get to where he was now.

Yi Surl-Ah couldnt say anything for a little while longer. Only her lips parted and closed several times.

Orabeo-nim. (Yi Surl-Ah)

She somehow managed to squeeze out a word.

Yes? (Seol)

Can you turn around for a second? (Yi Surl-Ah)

Sure, why not. But, why? (Seol)

I want to cry, but its embarrassing. (Yi Surl-Ah)

Seol smiled gently. She was probably trying to express how grateful she was in her own way.

Do what you want. (Seol)

However, as soon as he turned around, he heard her crying out loudly. His heart nearly jumped out of his mouth in fright, and he quickly looked back, only to find Yi Surl-Ah squatting on the ground again while shedding thick tears of appreciation.

Shes really crying?! (Seol)

This time, it was Seols turn to panic, instead.

*

After sending Yi Surl-Ah back to her place.

Seol headed off to the fifth floor.

Hed never stopped by this floor before. According to Yi Surl-Ahs explanation, a sizeable lounge could be found there, and Yun Seo-Rah spent most of her time in that place.

Seol initially believed that, since that space was called a lounge, the facilities there shouldnt be so bad, but.

(Seol)

.As soon as he arrived there, he had to revise his thoughts immediately.

The circular lounge was indeed rather spacious and open. But there were only a handful of chairs to be found here. He couldnt even begin to call this place a lounge at all.

When he pushed open the glass door and entered, he spotted a lone female figure lying quietly on the far corner of the room. She had a hood covering her head while her body was in a huddle.

Seol heard her cough. It sounded dry and scratchy. Seol placed his palm on the floor, and his body shivered slightly after sensing the coldness coming from the hard surface.

Its really cold in here. (Seol)

She must be in a deep sleep; Seol walked towards her in loud-enough footsteps, but she still showed no signs of movement.

*SFX for soft, steady breathing*

While listening to her soft, nearly imperceptible breathing, Seol looked at her face and became utterly speechless.

Yun Seo-Rahs appearance too had changed a fair deal since the end of the Tutorial. Unfortunately, it was for the worse.

Her previously pale smooth cheeks were now yellowing and sunken. Her exposed wrist was so thin, he mistakenly thought he was looking at bones. He thought he was looking at a broken doll.

.Miss Yun Seo-Rah? (Seol)

Seol called out her name and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her body flinched a little, then.

Miss Yun Seo-Rah. (Seol)

And when he gently shook her.

.Ah-ahck! (Yun Seo-Rah)

Suddenly, she sucked in a heavy breath; as if she was having a nightmare, a strained cry escaped from her lips, and she desperately hid her face with her left hand. She huddled even closer and began shaking like a leaf.

What the.? (Seol)

He thought he looking an abused child trying to not get hit anymore. Seol took a step back in astonishment.

Are you alright? (Seol)

Euh. Euhah!

Miss Yun Seo-Rah!! (Seol)

Uh, uhm?

Abruptly, she raised her head. A pair of blurry, unintelligent eyes gazed at Seol.

Heu-euh

She let off a pained whimper, and her eyes slowly closed again. Her entire body slumped, too. And when he called out to her again, she didnt respond.

Is she unconscious? (Seol)

Her current state seemed too precarious to simply say she fell unconscious.

Seol quickly lifted her up. He only used his arms, yet he could barely feel her weight.

Leaving the fifth floor lounge, Seol immediately went to his quarters on the tenth. He thought that, since his room restored ones stamina rapidly, simply by being there would help her regain her consciousness.

After carefully laying Yun Seo-Rah down on the bed, Seol was overcome with a feeling of helplessness.

Although he did bring her here, he hadnt realised how bad her conditions actually were. Perhaps, that superior officer asking Kim Hahn-Nah for a favour mustve realised that Yun Seo-Rah was on the brink, too.

Lets confirm her status first. (Seol)

Seol activated his Nine Eyes.

[Yun Seo-Rahs Status Windows]

[1. General Information]

Summoned date: March 16th, 2017

Marking Grade: Silver

Sex/Age: Female/20

Height/Weight: 166.2 cm/48.2 kg

Current condition: Heavily injured

Job: LV. 1 Warrior

Nationality: Republic of Korea (Area 1)

Affiliation: N/A

Alias: N/A

[2. Personality]

Temperament:

Indifferent. (Shes not easily interested in anything particular.)

Despairing. (Has fallen into despair and gave up on herself, and has not looked after her own body.)

Aptitude:

Brilliant. (Possesses a smart brain as well as good overall talents.)

Highly observant. (Will carefully analyse and study items and events all around her.)

[3. Physical Level]

Strength: Extreme Low 2

Endurance: Extreme Low 1

Agility: Extreme Low 3

Stamina: Extreme Low 2

Magic: Low High

Luck: Low High

Remaining Ability points: 1.

[4. Abilities]

1.Innate abilities (0)

Job related abilities (0)

Other abilities (0)

[5. Level of Cognition]

Depressed (Deeply worried and/or frustrated; lacking in energy)/Despair/Pessimistic (Has a gloomy outlook on her life; is in mourning; is in despair)

.What the hell? (Seol)

Seols brows furrowed in a deep frown.

Yun Seo-Rahs condition, confirmed through her Status Windows, was in a terrible state.

< 30. Looking Back (2) > Fin.