"I'm exhausted! I might as well just die! What's the point of living like this anyway! Dying would probably be easier!"
A completely naked boy sprinted through the mountain forest, screaming at the top of his lungs.
He ran until he reached a cave, stopped, drew a deep breath, and shouted into the darkness.
"Come out! Get out here! Monsters, demons, whatever you are — come out!"
Silence.
"Isn't there supposed to be a monster living here! Just kill me already!"
Still nothing.
But then there was a sound.
Wood creaking, from somewhere deep inside the cave. The bravado on the boy's face cracked instantly. His eyes started drifting.
"...Is there actually something in there?"
A large man walked out from the shadows, chewing on a dango skewer, brow furrowed. "Who are you calling a monster? What is this." He looked the naked boy up and down. "Do you actually want me to kill you?"
---
"What is this? Dango?"
The boy grabbed a skewer and bit into it.
"It's sweet." He reached for a second one. "You think this'll catch on? Fruit is already sweet, and you're coating it in sugar on top of that? Who would ever like this?"
He said it while reaching for another.
The man making dango beside him didn't look up. "That's your ninth one. Finish it and get out."
"I'll leave when I'm done." The boy leaned sideways and noticed four teenagers staring at him. He jutted his chin toward them. "What are you all doing up here on this mountain anyway? And what are these little runts doing here?"
All four of them straightened up with dark looks on their faces.
Jewoo stepped forward. "I'll ask you one question first, then we can talk properly. What do you think about the Child God?"
The boy chewed his dango and scoffed. "Complete nonsense. There's no such thing as a Child God. Everyone's being played by that con-artist shaman."
Jewoo let out a breath. "Good. Then I can explain. This place is where we come to learn the truth."
"Learn the truth?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Jewoo said. "Here, we don't get brainwashed by the shaman. We learn to see the world with clear eyes." He pointed at the man beside them. "And this is our teacher. Yuk Seongji."
Seongji smiled and reached over to ruffle Jewoo's hair. "All I did was tell you the truth about this village."
"We all respect you deeply, Teacher!" the four of them said in unison.
The boy stared at the whole scene. Then he shot to his feet.
"I came here to die! I came because I heard a monster lived up here! But there's no monster at all!" He pointed straight at Seongji. "And you're telling me this dango-making beggar is your teacher?! What exactly can he do against that evil shaman?!"
The vein on Jewoo's neck stood out immediately. He threw a punch straight into the boy's face. "Don't you dare talk about our teacher like that!"
The boy took the hit and punched straight back without hesitating. "Your teacher? More like your lapdog!"
He grabbed Jewoo and shoved him hard into a tree trunk. "Starting today, I'm your teacher!"
Taebong suddenly froze. "Wait. I know this bastard!"
"Who is he?!"
"The one who never shows up to school and causes trouble every time he does! It's Vin Jin!"
Vin Jin sat on top of the downed Jewoo and kept swinging. "That's right! You're looking at Vin Jin, motherfucker!"
Seongji sat to the side, chewing on his bamboo skewer, watching quietly. He made no move to step in.
The others charged at Vin Jin. "Today's your last day, Vin Jin!"
Then the ground gave a faint tremor.
Heavy footsteps coming from somewhere nearby.
"Who's making all this noise?"
Vin Jin looked up at the massive figure approaching and his expression shifted slightly.
'...So there really is a monster living here. A giant elephant monster.'
Cold sweat broke out down the backs of all the others. Even Jewoo, still pinned underneath Vin Jin, went stiff at the sound of that voice.
The figure spoke slowly. "Elephant?"
Vin Jin laughed. "Yeah, that's right. Elephant. Kekeke—"
The next moment he was on the ground.
Mary Kim released her grip and looked down at him. "Say it again and I'll break your legs."
Vin Jin lay flat on his back, most of the air knocked out of his chest, blinking at the sky.
Then another voice came from nearby, light and unhurried. "Interesting kid. You've got guts."
Baki stepped into view.
Vin Jin looked up at the face above him and muttered, "...Another monster."
Baki's face twitched.
Beside them, Seongji had been threading dango onto a skewer. He held it in for one second, then couldn't anymore, and burst out laughing.
---
Cheonliang School.
"Whoa!"
"No way!"
The whole class sucked in a breath at once.
"Taejin won!" someone shouted.
Vin Jin lay on the ground, barely managing to get the words out. "Son of a... con-artist shaman's kid..."
The people around him stared. Vin Jin caught their looks and raised his head. "Every single one of you has been brainwashed by a fraud shaman."
Taejin walked over slowly and lifted his foot, holding the sole just above Vin Jin's face. "Let's wrap this up. Better to get finished off by me than by those guys."
At that moment, four figures quietly moved into position behind Vin Jin and stood in a row.
Taejin looked them over. "Who are you?"
Jewoo said, "Cheonliang fam. This is over. Step back."
"And if I don't?"
"Then we've got no choice."
"Elephant incoming, heads up!"
Taejin was standing one moment. The next he was on the ground, the back of his head ringing.
Mary Kim looked down at him. "Fighting on school grounds. Do you not know the rules? It ends here."
Then she turned to the others. "Whoever said elephant. Step forward."
---
Cheonliang Mountain.
Jewoo crouched in front of Vin Jin. "Anyway, Vin Jin, you're one of us now. What you did to Taejin — we respect that. From here on, we've got you covered. You don't have to worry about the shaman's side."
Vin Jin looked up at him. Then he started swinging.
"Who asked you to cover for me, you idiots!"
But this time it went differently.
The Cheonliang fam came at him one by one, and Vin Jin got thoroughly beaten.
He sat on the ground catching his breath.
Jewoo straightened his clothes. "We were going easy on you. Our teacher says ssireum techniques are dangerous, so we have to be careful with them."
The others gathered around and spoke together. "Teacher Yuk Seongji taught us everything. If you join the Cheonliang fam, you can learn too. We'll help you get stronger."
Vin Jin hadn't even opened his mouth to answer when a voice drifted down from the mountain path.
"...So you were all here. I just went all the way around town for nothing."