Global Descent: I Alone Can See Hidden Evolution Paths

Jun-ho pushed the side exit open. The alley outside was dark and thin. rain was falling, The air smelled like old vegetables from the market street nearby.

Eun-bi left her supply cart behind some blue plastic bins near the wall. She took the papers off her clipboard, rolled them up, and put them in her bag.

"My car is parked down the street," she said, pulling her arms close to her chest. She was shivering because her scrub top was thin. "But we can’t go out on the main road like this. Your shirt is completely torn up on the side."

Jun-ho looked at his right arm. The sleeve was gone. His skin looked normal, but his clothes were covered in gray dirt from the cave floor.

"I have a clean jacket at my warehouse job," Jun-ho said. He felt very tired. "But the boss probably locked the doors by now."

"Forget the job," she said, walking down the path between two brick walls. "Come with me. Keep your hand in your pocket. If that thing shines through your jacket, someone will call the police."

Jun-ho put his right hand into his pocket. His fingers held the black stone. It wasn’t hot anymore. It felt cold and smooth, like a pebble from a river. Inside the glass, the little white line of fire didn’t move.

They walked for five minutes. They avoided the bright blue lights of the main subway station. The city looked normal out here. Delivery bikes drove past the alley. A person walked by under an umbrella. Nobody knew what had just happened to Sang-woo or Min-ah under the ground.

Eun-bi stopped in front of a small restaurant with a dirty orange sign. The windows were blurry from the steam inside.

"Get in," she said, opening the door.

A little bell made a noise. The shop was mostly empty. An old man was asleep at a table with a green bottle of liquor. The place smelled good, like boiling beef and green onions. An old woman behind the counter looked at Jun-ho’s torn clothes, but she just gave them a nod.

"Two bowls of beef soup," Eun-bi told her, sitting down at a small table in the dark corner. "And some pork."

Jun-ho sat across from her. His knees hit the bottom of the table. He pulled his hand out of his pocket but kept it hidden under the wood.

[Black Core detected.]

[You can absorb this.]

[Time needed: 10 minutes.]

[Warning: Your Vanguard class will change.]

’It wants me to take the energy,’ Jun-ho said, moving his thumb over the stone under the table frame. ’It says it will change my class. A Vanguard is just supposed to block hits. We don’t use fire or magic.’

The old woman brought two big bowls of soup and a plate of meat. The steam smelled like garlic.

"Eat," Eun-bi said, picking up her metal chopsticks. "You can’t do anything on an empty stomach."

Jun-ho took a spoonful of the soup. It was hot and spicy. It made his throat feel better after all that cave dust. For years, his whole life was about money. How much for a shield repair, how much for Min-ah’s books, how many hours he had to work. Now, sitting here with a massive stone and a hot meal, those worries felt small.

’If I start this, Jun-ho thought , looking at her, ’the system says it takes ten minutes. My body will be stuck.’

Eun-bi finished her food and put her scissors on the table next to her napkin.

"I have ten minutes before I have to check in at the garage," she said, her voice flat and serious.

"Eat your soup, If anyone comes in, I’ll tell them you’re sick and lock the door."

Jun-ho looked at her tired face. The tightness in his chest went away a little bit more.

"Ten minutes," he said.

He squeezed the black stone under the table and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, his veins felt like they were filling with hot water. It didn’t stay inside his chest. The heat went down his legs and straight into his shoes. Under the table, the black rubber soles of his sneakers began to soften. The smell of melting plastic filled the small corner, and the cheap gray linoleum on the floor started to bend and turn brown where his feet were planted.

Eun-bi didn’t panic. She just pulled her legs back, grabbed her bowl of soup, and started eating faster to block the old woman’s view.

"Hurry up," she whispered through her teeth, her forehead sweating from the sudden heat coming off his clothes. "This floor is going to look like a pancake if you don’t finish."

Jun-ho kept his eyes closed. The heat in his boots was getting worse. It felt like he was standing on top of a hot kitchen stove, and the smoke from his rubber soles was rising up under the table.

"The lady is looking," Eun-bi whispered. She didn’t look up from her soup, but her hand gripped her metal chopsticks very hard. "She’s getting the radish plates ready."

"How long?" Jun-ho asked. His teeth were locked together because his legs were shaking from the pain.

"Four minutes left," she said. "Stop moving your toes. You’re making a hole."

The old woman behind the counter clinked a small glass dish. Her plastic sandals made a slapping sound on the floor as she started walking toward their corner.

Eun-bi quickly dropped her spoon. It made a loud noise against the wood. She stood up fast, blocking the old woman right in the middle of the narrow aisle.

"Ma’am, do you have any cold water?" Eun-bi asked. She wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve, trying to hide how hot the air around the table had become. "My friend ate the soup too fast. His stomach is bad."

The old woman stopped, looking past Eun-bi’s shoulder at Jun-ho, who was sitting perfectly still with his arms crossed over his lap. "Is he going to throw up? I just cleaned the floor."

"No, he just needs ice," Eun-bi said quickly. "A lot of it. In a cup."

The old woman let out a small grunt and turned back toward the kitchen fridge.

Eun-bi sat down again, her face pale. She looked under the table. Jun-ho’s sneakers were almost gone. The black rubber had turned into a sticky liquid that was spreading across the gray linoleum, turning the plastic floor black and bubbly.

Suddenly, the text in his eye changed. The gray lines stopped blinking and turned into solid words.

[Absorption complete.]

[Class changed: Ash Vanguard.]

[Strength: 115]

[Mana: 760]

[New Passive: Your armor cannot be broken by heat or fire.]

The heat inside his veins stopped instantly. It went away so fast that his skin felt cold, like ice water had been poured down his shirt. Jun-ho opened his eyes and let out a long breath. The black stone in his hand was gone. It had turned into dry gray dust that slipped through his fingers onto the table.

The old woman walked back over, dropping a heavy plastic pitcher of cold water and two cups on the table. She sniffed the air, her nose wrinkling. "What is that smell? Did something burn?"

"His jacket," Eun-bi said smoothly, pointing at the torn sleeve of Jun-ho’s coat. "It touched the hot pot earlier at his work."

The old woman looked at the torn fabric, shook her head, and walked away to sit by her television.

Jun-ho lifted his feet. His shoes were ruined, stuck to the linoleum like old gum, but his skin didn’t have a single burn mark. He looked at Eun-bi, who was pouring the cold water into a cup.

"Ash Vanguard," he said quietly.

Eun-bi drank the whole cup of water in one go. She set the plastic cup down. "Sounds like a mess. Can you still walk, or do I have to carry you to the car in your socks?"

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