I stared at him, my chest rising and falling as if I had just run a marathon.
"What do you mean... You can't tell me?"
Jin's eyes stayed on mine. Cold. Unwavering. He tapped his fingers on the armrest slowly, the seconds dragging like hours.
"Because what I learn from a reptile it's best you don't find out until you're stronger."
That sentence slammed into me like a boulder.
"What?" I asked, voice barely a whisper.
"You heard me. You gotta get stronger, because this isn't just a name, it's a being of unimaginable destruction and rebirth. And right now…" he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "…he's inside you."
I clenched my fists instinctively.
"That doesn't make sense. I'm just a kid from a village… I don't—"
"You're not just anything," Jin interrupted. "You're a vessel. A reincarnation. A curse. Maybe all three. But Mydeimos... The Crimson Calamity fallen son… the one who destroyed entire realms in the First Collapse—he's waking up. And the moment you fully awaken, Earth won't be the same."
I stood up.
Pacing.
Shaking.
This was insane.
First I lost everything—my father, my village. Then I was reborn into this new world with a strange system. Now they're telling me I'm housing some kind of ancient apocalyptic being?
I turned sharply.
"Then why save me?! Why not kill me while I was unconscious if I'm that dangerous?"
Jin's smirk faded.
"Because I've seen what you really are." He stood up, stepping toward me, his aura suddenly heavy. "You may carry the name Mydeimos, but you're not him. Not yet. You're still Jae Hoon… the boy who hesitated to fight… the boy who begged for strength so he wouldn't lose anyone else."
He pointed to my chest.
"And that heart of yours? That's what gives me hope. But the moment you lose that… the moment you stop being Jae Hoon…"
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
The weight of what he was saying was clear.
I sat down on the edge of the bed, head in my hands.
"…So what happens now?" I asked.
Jin looked toward the window. The evening sun cast golden light across the floor.
"Now?" he said. "Now I train you."
He walked toward the door but paused.
"what are you waiting for, kid?"
I looked at him confusedly.
"Really, kiddo... it's go time!"
"Our training arc starts now!"