Chi-Woo and Philip went outside to find dawn approaching its tail end. Chi-Woo let out a deep sigh once he returned home. So many things had happened in the past couple of days, and his head was still in a complete mess. Still, Chi-Woo had no regrets, and he felt like he had safely overcome another difficulty. Now it was time for him to rest.

—So, how was it?”

As Chi-Woo lay on his bed, Philip flew over to him.

—It was your first real expedition.

Truthfully, Chi-Woo wouldn’t call that an expedition.

—It’s not over just because you came back. You know that, right?

‘…The experience has gotten me thinking though.’

—Oh, thinking about what?

‘A method for me to become stronger.’

—That’s what you have been thinking about for a long time now. Why are you acting like you’re doing something new?

It was true. Chi-Woo had felt the necessity to become stronger a long time ago. The issue was how he was going to become stronger now. For that, Chi-Woo had organized the information in his head. He’d gained a couple of things from the expedition: the discovery of a survivor and an unexpected reward. It was also clear that he would have accumulated a significant number of merits from this incident too.

—Why? Are you planning to save them again until you need to make big payments?

‘No,’ Chi-Woo firmly said. ‘I’m going to use merits for myself from now on.’

He had done enough for the greater good; it was time he did things for himself. That was one...