The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: The Beginning of a New Party

After collecting the remaining magic stones, Ji-won continued walking beside Ares, although his expression still showed that he was having trouble processing what he had just witnessed.

"Tae-ho, that move you used earlier..."

He hesitated for a moment before finally looking at Ares.

"How exactly did you do that?"

Ares glanced at him and gave a small smile.

"Ah, you must still be shocked. I may have been registered as a healer, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only thing I can do. I’m also a martial artist."

Of course, that was a complete lie.

Still, it’s probably better than telling him that a man standing before him was actually a god haha.

Ji-won looked somewhat impressed.

"Really? No wonder you’ve been so calm ever since we entered the dungeon. I thought you were strangely relaxed for someone who had just awakened, but to think an E-rank like you could fight like that..."

He looked down at his dagger.

"Maybe if I keep training and focus more on strengthening my body, I could eventually defeat a goblin without struggling so much."

Ares nodded.

"That’s probably the right approach. Your body isn’t strong enough yet, but if you keep training consistently and improve your physical abilities, dealing with a goblin should eventually become much easier."

Ji-won smiled awkwardly.

"At first, I honestly thought you were a foreigner."

Ares raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"The way you look, mostly."

Ji-won scratched the back of his head.

"But after hearing you speak for a while, there’s no doubt that you’re Korean. It’s just that you look surprisingly similar to a famous artist, so when I bumped into you earlier, I honestly thought I had somehow caused trouble for someone important."

Ares stared at him for a moment.

I see. So there are still people who look similar enough to famous people that others get nervous around them.

He glanced down at his clothes.

"Don’t worry about it. I may look like someone who’s doing well financially, but I’m actually broke at the moment, so you don’t need to be nervous around me."

Ji-won’s eyes widened.

"W-what? Really? That’s impossible."

"Why?"

"Because of your clothes."

Ji-won pointed at him.

"Those look expensive, and your hair is even dyed. Someone who dresses like that shouldn’t be saying they’re broke."

Ares looked at him with a slightly confused expression.

"Dyed?"

"Yes. Your hair."

"Oh."

Ares touched a strand of his hair.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but this is my natural hair color."

Ji-won’s expression froze.

"...Natural?"

"Yes."

He stared at Ares’ hair for several seconds as though he were trying to determine whether Ares was joking.

Ares simply continued walking.

"Let’s talk about that later. We still have a dungeon to explore."

After walking for a little while longer, Ares finally glanced toward the deeper passage.

"Actually, I’ve changed my mind."

Ji-won looked at him.

"About what?"

"We’re not going to clear this dungeon."

"If we defeat the dungeon boss and clear the entire dungeon, the Gate will eventually disappear, won’t it?"

"Yes, that’s generally what happens."

"Then there’s no reason for us to do that."

Ares looked ahead.

"We’ll attract unnecessary attention if an E-rank Gate suddenly disappears because of two people, especially when one of them has only just received his Awakener card. I’d rather hunt the smaller monsters and leave the dungeon itself alone."

Ji-won thought about it before nodding.

"That makes sense. I’m fine with that. The smaller monsters are already enough for us to earn some money."

He hesitated before looking at Ares again.

"But..."

"Hmm?"

"Are you sure you still want to form a party with me?"

Ares looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you’re clearly much stronger than I am, and you’re also good at fighting. After seeing what you did earlier, I’m sure there are plenty of better parties you could join."

Ji-won lowered his gaze.

"With your strength, you could probably find a much stronger group and earn far more money than you would by hunting with me."

Ares thought about it briefly.

"No."

Ji-won looked up.

"I already told you that I’m not particularly interested in working with other people unless it’s necessary. Besides, we’re already a party now, so there’s no reason for me to change that simply because I happen to be stronger than you."

Ji-wion smiled.

"I understand."

The two continued deeper into the dungeon.

They didn’t bother searching for the boss or exploring the deeper sections. Instead, they remained in the safer areas closer to the entrance, where the goblins and kobolds were most common, clearing groups whenever they encountered them and collecting the magic stones afterward.

For Ji-won, even the weaker monsters required concentration.

For Ares, it was barely worth calling a hunt.

Whenever a goblin approached, Ji-won would immediately raise his dagger and engage it, while Ares would remain nearby, watching closely in case something went wrong. Occasionally, Ares would finish a monster that Ji-won couldn’t handle, but after the earlier battle, Ji-won had become more confident and slowly began improving his movements.

An hour passed before they finally decided to stop.

Ji-won sat down briefly and looked at the pouch in his hand.

"Thirty-one."

He opened it slightly and stared at the collection of small magic stones inside.

"Thirty-one magic stones... I can’t believe it. I’ve never had this many at once before."

Ares glanced at the pouch.

"That’s quite a lot for an hour."

Ji-won nodded, although his expression quickly became somewhat uncomfortable.

"Still, I’ll only take twenty percent of the earnings, Tae-ho, if that’s alright with you."

Ares looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Ji-won hesitated.

"You did most of the fighting. Honestly, I barely contributed anything compared to you, so it wouldn’t feel right for me to take half."

Ares shook his head.

"We agreed to split the money equally, didn’t we? Then we’ll split it equally."

"But—"

"It’s fine."

Ares looked at him calmly.

"We’re a party. There’s no reason to change the arrangement just because I contributed the most."

Ji-won lowered his head slightly.

"You’re really different from what I expected."

Ares ignored the comment.

"Actually, how about this?"

Ji-won looked up.

"Since we’re officially a party now, you’re going to have to answer my questions whenever we’re hunting together."

"Questions?"

"Yes."

Ares smiled faintly.

"Nothing personal, of course. There are simply a few things about this world that I’m curious about, and you’re the only person I know here who can actually explain them to me."

Ji-won’s expression softened.

"Is that really all?"

"Yeah."

"Then I don’t have any reason to refuse."

He smiled.

"Thank you, Tae-ho. If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to collect even half of these, and I certainly wouldn’t have survived the dungeon today. I’ll remember this, and I promise I’ll repay you someday."

Ares sighed.

"There’s no need to go that far."

He stood up and looked toward the dungeon entrance.

"Let’s sell these now. I’m getting hungry."

Ji-won laughed.

"Yes."

The two of them began walking back toward the entrance.

After leaving the blue Gate, they made their way toward the Awakener Equipment Shop, where adventurers commonly sold monster materials, purchased equipment, and exchanged the magic stones they had collected inside dungeons.

The transaction didn’t take very long.

The employee counted the magic stones, checked their quality, and finally handed them the payment.

The total came to 31,000 won.

Ares looked at the money for a moment.

But considering how easily they had collected it, there was clearly money to be made from dungeon hunting.

After dividing the earnings equally, the two each received 15,500 won.

Ji-won carefully put his share away.

"That’s more than I expected."

Ares nodded.

"Let’s get something to eat."

"Yes."

They left the shop together and headed toward a small restaurant nearby, where the smell of freshly prepared food immediately reminded Ares that he had been walking through a dungeon for several hours.

For the first time since entering the Gate, the two could finally relax.

The two of them continued eating for a while, and for the first time since entering this world, Ares found himself enjoying something that had nothing to do with fighting, investigating, or figuring out how this unfamiliar society worked.

He slowly lifted another spoonful of ramen.

Is this... ramen?

The familiar taste spread across his tongue.

After all this time, I finally get to eat it again.

He hadn’t expected something so ordinary to make him feel nostalgic.

In his previous life, ramen had been nothing special. It had been cheap, convenient, and easy to prepare whenever he was too tired to cook after a mission. Yet now that he had been separated from his original world and had no idea when, or even if, he would ever see it again, something as simple as a bowl of ramen suddenly felt surprisingly valuable.

I wonder if I could sell this in the other world.

His eyes briefly narrowed.

No. That’s ridiculous.

Ares continued eating.

...Although there might actually be a market for it.

Ji Won noticed him staring at his bowl for longer than necessary.

"What’s wrong, Tae Ho?"

"Nothing."

Ares calmly took another spoonful.

"The food is good."

Ji Won smiled.

"Right? It’s not particularly expensive, but this place makes a decent bowl."

Ares nodded.

"It’s been a while since I’ve had something like this."

Ji Won looked at him curiously but decided not to ask.

After they finished eating, the two left the restaurant and continued walking through the evening streets.

The sky had already begun darkening, and the bright lights of the city were gradually becoming more noticeable as businesses switched on their signs and pedestrians made their way home.

Ares walked beside Ji Won, quietly observing everything around him.

Even after spending some time in Korea, there were still countless things he hadn’t learned about this world.

"By the way, Ji Won."

"Hm?"

"You said your father was sick, right?"

Ji Won’s expression changed slightly.

"Yeah."

"What kind of disease does he have?"

Ji Won remained quiet for several seconds before answering.

"It’s called Mana Paralysis."

Ares looked toward him.

"Mana Paralysis?"

"It’s a relatively rare disease."

Ji Won lowered his gaze.

"From what the doctors told us, it happens when the body can’t properly withstand the fluctuations in ambient mana."

He paused.

"Awakeners generally have stronger resistance to mana because their bodies have adapted to it after awakening, but ordinary people don’t have that kind of resistance. When the mana density around them changes too quickly or becomes unstable, their bodies sometimes react badly."

"What happens to them?"

"The nervous system gradually becomes affected."

Ji Won’s expression became more serious.

"At first, they might experience numbness in their hands and legs, followed by weakness and difficulty moving. Eventually, the condition can become severe enough that the person loses control of most of their body."

Ares listened carefully.

"So they’re still conscious?"

"Usually."

Ji Won nodded.

"That’s the worst part."

He tightened his grip around the strap of his bag.

"They can still think. They can still hear and understand everything around them, but their bodies slowly stop responding."

Ares was silent.

"How long has this disease existed?"

"About ten years."

Ji Won sighed.

"It started appearing more frequently after the mana fluctuations became stronger. At first, only a few cases were reported, and people thought it was some unusual neurological condition. But as the years passed, the number of ordinary people developing it increased."

"There still isn’t a treatment?"

Ji Won shook his head.

"Not a proper one."

He looked ahead.

"There are treatments that can slow the progression, and there are medicines that help stabilize the patient’s mana circulation, but none of them can actually cure the disease."

Ares frowned slightly.

"Why?"

"The human body wasn’t designed to handle the changes in mana that have been occurring over the past decade."

Ji Won gave a bitter smile.

"Awakeners adapted because their bodies changed when they awakened. Ordinary people weren’t given that advantage."

"So your father..."

"He’s already reached the later stages."

Ji Won’s voice became quieter.

"He can barely move now."

Ares looked at him.

"How long has he been like that?"

"About two years."

Ji Won took a breath.

"He’s been in the hospital for most of that time."

Ares remained silent for a moment.

Interesting.

If the disease really was caused by fluctuations in mana rather than an ordinary biological illness, then it wasn’t necessarily impossible to treat.

At least, not from his perspective.

There should be a way.

But Ares didn’t say anything.

He still knew far too little about this world’s medicine, mana, and the exact mechanism behind the disease to make any assumptions.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!