Chapter 5: Price of Power
The Eighth Sin was hunger.
Not the mundane hunger of flesh, but the all-consuming desire that had driven the first dragons to devour stars. As Yeong's memories washed over me, I saw it: a being of pure appetite, chained beneath Earth's crust by Gaia's sacrifice.
"Your world was never meant to be habitable," Yeong said, her words echoing in the darkness. "Earth was meant to be a prison. The seven elements are bars in its cage, and humanity..." She looked at me with ancient sadness. "Humanity was meant to be its jailers, though you never knew it."
[Historical Context Updated]
[Understanding: True Purpose of Awakeners]
[Warning: Core Temperature Rising]
Sweat beaded on my forehead. The dragon essence within me burned like a fever, responding to Yeong's presence and the weight of revelation.
"The Seven Generals," I gasped, "they want to—"
"Free it. Feed it. Become it." Yeong's hand touched my shoulder, cooling the internal fire. "But first, we need to keep you from burning up from the inside out."
The training began immediately. Not with grand displays of power, but with something far more fundamental: breathing. Yeong taught me to inhale shadow and exhale light, to let the elements flow through me rather than trying to control them.
"Your human instinct is to grasp, to own, to master," she explained. "But elements aren't tools, Eun-sang. They're alive. You must become a conductor, not a conqueror."
[New Skill Unlocked: Elemental Harmony]
[Physical Integrity: 97.5%]
[Note: Slight Improvement in System Stability]
Hours passed like minutes. When I finally emerged from the tunnel, dawn was breaking over Seoul. My phone had exploded with worried messages from Yeong-suk and Joon-woo.
[Yeong-suk: Where are you??? Missed dinner and movie night!]
[Joon-woo: Dude, she's freaking out. Call us.]
[Yeong-suk: If you're hiding in that tunnel again I swear...]
Guilt twisted in my stomach. In my focus on saving them, I'd forgotten to actually be their friend.
[Social Bond Warning]
[Recommendation: Maintain Crucial Timeline Relationships]
[Note: Original Timeline Success Required Strong Allied Network]
"Go to them," Yeong said, once again wearing her Halmeoni disguise. "Training can wait until tonight. Remember, Eun-sang: the future you're trying to prevent won't matter if you lose yourself in the process."
I nodded, but as I turned to leave, a thought struck me. "The Seven Generals... in my timeline, they appeared through the portals. But if they were once human..."
"Good." Halmeoni's eyes gleamed with dragon-light. "You're asking the right questions. Find your friends. Rest. Tonight, we'll discuss how seven awakeners became the harbingers of apocalypse."
The morning air felt sharp against my skin as I hurried toward Yeong-suk's apartment. The city was waking up, unaware of the horror sleeping beneath their feet, unknowing of the war being waged across time itself.
My phone buzzed again.
[Yeong-suk: I see you walking! Get up here now!]
[Joon-woo: Bring breakfast or she'll kill you]
[Yeong-suk: Don't listen to him but yes bring breakfast]
I stopped at their favorite bakery, buying the red bean buns Yeong-suk loved and the cream-filled ones Joon-woo pretended not to want but always stole half of. Normal things. Human things.
[Quest Alert: Maintain Humanity]
[Warning: Dragon Essence Integration at 2.7%]
[Note: Balance Required Between Power and Identity]
The apartment building loomed before me, and I could see Yeong-suk waiting on her small balcony. She'd stayed up all night worried about me. Again. Just like she had in the original timeline, so many times, never knowing she'd die trying to save me from Pride's flames.
My hands trembled as I clutched the bakery bag. The weight of foreknowledge pressed down like a physical thing.
[Emotional Status: Unstable]
[Warning: Shadow Manifestation Imminent]
[Recommendation: Implement Breathing Protocol]
Inhale shadow. Exhale light.
"Yah! Lee Eun-sang!" Yeong-suk's voice cut through my darkness. "Are those red bean buns or not?"
Looking up at her angry, worried face, I made a decision. The future could wait a few hours. Right now, my best friends needed me to be nothing more than their idiot companion who sometimes disappeared into tunnels and always brought breakfast to apologize.
"Extra red bean!" I called back. "And tell Joon-woo to stop pretending he doesn't want the cream ones!"
Her laugh echoed down the street, and for a moment, all the darkness in me receded. There would be time for dragons and sins and apocalypses later.
Right now, there were buns to share and friends to hold onto while I still could.
[Quest Status: Proceeding As Intended]
[Note: Some Victories Are Measured in Moments]