Hawa was a little anxious. Chi-Woo had always been a man of habit who followed a very strict routine, but today, he had failed to show up even though it was way past his usual time to return; usually, he would have entered the spring pool and fallen asleep by now. The fact that he hadn’t come back yet indicated that something unexpected had happened. 

After spending some time waiting nervously, Hawa got up to look for Chi-Woo, just in time to see Chi-Woo walk into the sanctuary with blood streaming down his body. Her eyes widened. He looked terrible. His face and arms were covered in wounds, and his clothes were tattered like rags with blood seeping from the rips. 

Chi-Woo leaned on Hawa and let out the breath he had been holding. With an exhale, he said, “I saw the monster.” 

While dragging him to the spring pool, Hawa came to an abrupt stop. Chi-Woo continued to explain, “The monster is about your height, Ms. Hawa. Its body was covered in a substance that looked like mud.”

Hawa turned to meet his eyes, and Chi-Woo went on, “I think it’s capable of mimicking the forms of other things. I believe it can transform parts of its body into weapons.”

“…Did you go check on the monster? On purpose?” Hawa asked, her lips twitching and her pupils contracting. Although she had been speaking informally to Chi-Woo after beating him in a fight, she reverted back to addressing him politely now, which made it clear how much Chi-Woo’s words had shocked her. 

There was a hint of disapproval in her tone, and she looked at Chi-Woo like he had gone mad like Mimi had. Truthfully, Chi-Woo also knew that what he had done was mad, and he had only done it in the heat of his anger. However, it was something he had to do sooner or later.

“It’s not enough,” Chi-Woo said in a low voice. “We don’t have enough information...