When you enjoy outdoor hobbies, you sometimes meet new people. Like Taeyang from the next class who became friends while playing soccer during lunch break, or the pigeon tamer I met yesterday while walking.

"We meet again."

"Ah, yes."

Just like yesterday, when I entered the inner path of the walking trail to sleep with my horns on, I ran into the man who was feeding pigeons again. Today, he was already settled in his spot.

"You're out early."

"With my body like this, time is all I have to spare."

The man laughed self-deprecatingly while patting his leg. I sat down on the bench next to him with an awkward expression, unsure how to respond to such a topic.

"Since this is fate, shall we introduce ourselves?"

The man introduced himself as Han Yeong-Seok, saying he was the CEO of a small, unremarkable company. I wondered when being a CEO became an unremarkable position, but something more important came to mind, so I looked at him and asked:

"Yesterday you called me by name. How did you find out what it was?"

The man tilted his head at my question, then sighed and said, "Rather than finding out, it would be more accurate to say I happened to learn it."

"Happened to learn it?"

It's not like I'm someone whose name shouldn't be spoken, and what does "happened to learn it" even mean? I felt a bit annoyed, but I listened to his explanation without pressing the issue.

"Yes, I was eating in the hospital cafeteria when I overheard a conversation about a girl with horns. Honestly, it's a difficult topic not to find interesting, so I eavesdropped."

"And you remembered that?"

"The part about demolishing a hospital wall with bare hands without any tools made quite an impression. Haha."

"Besides," he continued, "people with blonde hair, horns, and wings aren't exactly common in Korea, are they?" He said this while sprinkling bread crumbs on the ground. It seemed like a dubious story, but not entirely implausible, so I nodded.

The man gently stroked the head of a pigeon that had landed on his knee. I watched for a moment, then sighed lightly and leaned back against the bench.

Well, what's the point in pressing him further? It doesn't matter anyway.

While I was thinking this, the man suddenly started lamenting about life.

"Isn't life really hard these days?"

"Pardon?"

I blinked at his sudden complaint, reflexively asking him to repeat himself. Ignoring my confused response, he continued sprinkling bread crumbs while talking.

"Don't you ever wish you could go back to how things were before?"

Of course I do. Anyone would. No one would want to live with a body like mine.

But that's one thing, and this is another. I looked at the man who was sprinkling bread crumbs with half-closed eyes and said:

"Why are you suddenly saying this?"

"It's nothing really. Just... seeing Yu Sia having to strain her neck because she has nowhere to rest her horns. I find it quite sad."

The man shook his head as he spoke. I wondered how I should respond, but what I felt first was displeasure.

*Who is he to look at me and say he feels sad?*

But apart from feeling offended, I was curious about why he was bringing up such a sensitive topic. Still, I was annoyed enough not to respond to his comment.

"You weren't born with those horns, hands, and wings, were you? I wonder how you ended up like that..."

The man kept talking despite my silence. It was quite strange how he continued chattering away when most people would have stopped after getting no response.

"Unable to adapt to your changed body. Unable to adapt to changed people. Unable to adapt to changed environments."

After listing these things one by one, the man sighed deeply and leaned back on the bench. With a tired expression, he smiled faintly and patted his knee.

"That was me. After my legs became like this."

"..."

"I longed for my glorious past. For when my body was intact. For when everyone was looking for me... looking at me."

With a wistful expression, the man looked at the pigeons and sprinkled more bread crumbs.

"The reason I feed these pigeons here is because of that. Because these creatures need me."

I lowered my head to look at the pigeons. They were so well-fed that they had grown too fat to fly, which seemed to reflect the man's sincerity.

"Whether it rains or snows... they wait for me here, and I feel needed by them. I love that feeling so much that I come here every day to feed them."

"Being needed by someone..."

I blinked while looking down at my hands. Would someone need hands like these?

Would someone need someone like me who can't do anything? The thought suddenly filled my mind, and I closed my mouth.

"But after my body became like this, after the Gates closed, people stopped looking for me."

"Gates?"

"Yes. I was a Hunter. Oh, do they call them Heroes now? Haha... Hero, Hero..."

The man laughed self-deprecatingly and grabbed a handful of bread crumbs, sprinkling them over the pigeons as if to suppress his anger. He sighed deeply enough for me to hear from the next bench.

"I started a small company with the money I earned before retiring as a Hunter, but if my body were still intact, I might be called a Hero by now."

"...That's unfortunate."

"Yes. It really is unfortunate."

The man rummaged through the bread bag, then blinked and pulled his hand out empty. Seeing nothing in his hand, it seemed the last handful he'd thrown was the end of his supply.

"Oh, I've already given them everything."

"You did give them quite a lot."

He'd been sprinkling handfuls throughout our conversation, probably the equivalent of at least five loaves. Even with so many pigeons, that should be more than enough to fill their bellies.

"I'd like to give them more... but there's nothing left, so what can I do?"

The man shook his head and leaned forward from the backrest to look at me.

"Have you ever thought about returning to your original body, Yu Sia?"

"Many times."

I nodded without hesitation despite the sudden question.

With hands like these, I can't even properly hold a pen. I can't eat by myself. I'm practicing, but there's no sign of improvement. The horns on my head are uncomfortable. The wings on my back make it uncomfortable to sleep in any position. So I have to endure the discomfort and sleep either flat on my back or on my stomach.

I never wanted this body, nor did I wish for this life. Plus, my home, my family, everything...

"..."

In this situation, isn't it natural to want to go back to how things were? Anyone in my position would say they want to return to the past.

While I was thinking this and looking down at my hands, the man stood up and approached me. Leaning on his cane, he slowly came over and stood in front of me.

"If there was a way to go back to how things were, how would you feel about that?"

A way to go back?

I froze at his words and looked up at him blankly.

For a split second, suspicion flashed through my mind. Isn't this too coincidental? Isn't this too random?

"Is there really such a way?"

Despite my reason growing increasingly suspicious of this untrustworthy person, my mouth blurted out a response on its own. Hope was that sweet a temptation.

"Yes. There is."

"What is it? This method you're talking about."

I swallowed dryly as I asked, and the man smiled faintly as he began to explain.

"Are you familiar with the Gates that appeared during the Singularity Incident ten years ago?"

I nodded since I knew about the Gates well. I'd heard about them on the news and Hyun had explained them to me too.

"Those Gates caused tremendous damage, but conversely, they also brought many benefits. A prime example is... the great unification of humanity that no one and nothing else could have achieved. Do you know why that was possible?"

"...No, I don't."

Is he a con artist?

"It's because the Gates were a common enemy to all of humanity. That's why people were able to unite."

Is he really a con artist...?

As I looked at him with suspicious eyes, the man smiled and continued.

"Well, that's just to say how significant the Gates were, but it's not directly relevant to us. What's more important for us are the 'byproducts' that came from the Gates."

"By byproducts... do you mean things like the shells or bones that came from defeating monsters, or something like that?"

"Yes. The most famous one in Korea would be the Behemoth's carapace. You may not know this, but the Behemoth's carapace is used as material for the shield carried by S-Class Heroes, and also serves as walls for special facilities."

The Behemoth's carapace—isn't that what the walls and floor in the hospital basement were made of?

It was such a unique experience, and what happened that day was somewhat... unforgettable, so I remembered it.

"I know about it."

"If you know, then we can move faster. The method I mentioned lies in those byproducts."

I pressed my lips together and looked at him, signaling him to get to the point. The man saw my expression and smiled.

"Have you heard of the Elixir?"

As he said this, his slightly opened eyes were glowing amber.