"Hyung, is there anything you want to eat?"

Seo-jun had stopped by the market with Yeon-jun.
They were there to do some grocery shopping.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"Do I? Actually, I managed to clear up some debt I had."

"Really?"

"Yeah, so if there's anything you want to eat, pick whatever you like. It's on me today."

Seo-woo tugged at Yeon-jun's pants.

"Dad, what about me?"

"Alright, why not! Seo-woo, you can pick anything you want too!"

"Hehehe."

The three of them finished shopping and headed back to the store.

On the way, Seo-woo suddenly turned her head.

"Firefighters!"

A fire truck was rushing by with its sirens blaring, headed somewhere urgent.

The fireproof suit, enchanted with magic, sizzled and burned.

It was a suit they barely used, reserved for large-scale fires like this one, while they wore regular fireproof suits for everyday situations.

This particular suit had only been used about four times.

And now it was burning.

Those bastards at the Disaster Management Agency...!

They'd splurged on ads and promotions, but in the end, they must’ve cut corners.

Otherwise, there was no way a magic-enhanced fireproof suit would burn out after just four uses.

Sweat poured down like rain. He desperately wanted to break through the door and run outside.

But it was just a fleeting thought.

There are still people trapped inside.

He’d heard it clearly—the voice crying out for help.

Crackle!

"-Joon-sik! Get out of there now! It’s about to collapse!"

"Captain! The person needing rescue is just ahead!"

"To hell with the rescue! Get out now! That’s an order!"

"Pant… pant… I just need a moment! Three minutes—no, one minute!"

When Joon-sik was out on a call, citizens in other districts would sometimes ask him:

Is it really worth saving people from a slum like District 12?

Every time, Joon-sik would answer:

It’s not my place to judge.
Save them first. Judgment comes after.

It didn’t matter if they were rich or poor, young or old.

Those things didn’t matter.

He would save them. Whoever they were, he would save them.

"...help...!"

He heard it again. This time, it was clear.

Raising his axe, he struck the door.

Clang! Crash!

After several strikes, the doorknob shattered, and the door opened.

Inside was a little girl clutching a doll, sobbing her eyes out.

Joon-sik picked her up and sprinted out of the building.

Just as he made it out—

BOOM!

A deafening roar signaled the collapse of the building.

"J-Joon-sik!"

"Ugh, I’m alive, Captain."

"Whew!"

Covered in debris, Joon-sik stood up and handed over the child.

Though he had some bruises from the fall, the child was unharmed.

"I thought you were dead, you idiot!"

"Why would I die? Don’t you know my nickname?"

"Ten thousand?"

"Yup. I won’t die until I save ten thousand people."

"Ugh, only you would say something like that."

Seo-jun was minding the store alone.

Yeon-jun had stepped out, saying he had to meet the landlord.

It had only been two days since he returned to Earth, but running the store alone wasn’t too challenging.

"Is it always this quiet?"

Seo-woo, lying on his stomach while drawing Yeok-sam on his sketchbook, nodded.

"Yep!"

Just then—

Ding!

"Wow, it’s the firefighters!"

"Excuse me, are you open right now?"

"Yes, we are."

"But… is it okay if we come in looking like this?"

The firefighter, scratching his upper lip awkwardly, was drenched in sweat.

"Of course."

The firefighters sat down and ordered soju and squid legs.

It looks like firefighters are still underpaid.

Squid legs were one of the cheapest items on the menu.
Apparently, after some incident during the upheaval, squid became the most abundant catch in the East Sea.

Seo-jun grilled dried squid and served it with mayonnaise.

"Joon-sik, if you give me another heart attack like today, I’ll kill you myself. Got it?"

"Hehe, come on, Captain. At least I saved the kid."

"What if something had happened to you? How could I face your wife then?"

"Nothing’s going to happen to me. You know why?"

"Because of your nickname, Ten Thousand?"

"Exactly! Haha."

"Ugh, you really know how to run your mouth."

As the firefighters chatted boisterously about the day’s events, Seo-woo abandoned her sketchbook and kept stealing glances at them.

Firefighters were still admired, both now and in the past.

And still underappreciated.

Before Seo-jun had entered the demon realm, things had been improving. All firefighters had become national employees, and their benefits and work environments were being enhanced.

But now the world’s like this...

A world where eggs cost 30,000 won per carton.

The government must have started slashing budgets for the easiest departments first.

"Uncle, can I give this to the firefighters?"

Seo-woo was holding a plate of fried Arutus eggs he had made as a snack for him.

his pure and innocent gesture warmed his heart. He fried a few more Arutus eggs and handed them to Seo-woo.

Seo-woo nervously carried the plate to the firefighters.

"We didn’t order this, little boss."

"This is on the house!"

"On the house? Fried eggs?"

"Yep!"

The firefighters looked at Seo-jun for confirmation.

He nodded, and they finally picked up the fried eggs, eating them cautiously.

"Wow, this is amazing! How can fried eggs taste this good?"

"I know, right? These are the best fried eggs I’ve ever had!"

"They’re kind of big for fried eggs, though."

"Aren’t they? My uncle made them. Delicious, right?"

Maybe because he was a child, Seo-woo quickly warmed up to the firefighters.

It didn’t seem like he was interrupting their gathering; they found him adorable.

"When I grow up, I’m definitely becoming a firefighter, just like you guys!"

"Really?"

"Yes! For real!"

His lively determination delighted the firefighters.

"Kids these days usually want to become hunters. That’s surprising."

"Right? My eldest at home keeps nagging about becoming a hunter."

"Why do you want to be a firefighter, Seo-woo?"

"I want to save people as a firefighter. Firefighters saved me too!"

"They did?"

"Yep! I don’t remember it, but when I was little, firefighters saved me. My dad too!"

The firefighters looked at Seo-jun.

This was news to him.

So, Yeon-jun, you’ve been through a lot too.

Loan sharks and a mountain of debt.
A bar with a 3-million-won deposit.

He had suspected as much.
But he hadn’t imagined they’d come that close to death.

I almost never got to meet Yeon-jun and Seo-woo.

He owed the firefighters a debt of gratitude.
Even if it wasn’t the ones sitting in front of him, he might one day owe these very firefighters his thanks.

That thought prompted Seo-jun to mutter something.
Runes, invisible to ordinary eyes, appeared in the air and then settled onto the firefighters.

"Wasn’t that bar great yesterday?"

"Yeah, who knew a place like that existed in District 12? Next time, for sure?"

"Absolutely. Those fried eggs were amazing…"

"Tell me about it. I’m craving them again."

For firefighters, the meaning of "getting off work" held special weight.
They had survived another day.
They were going home alive again.

Park Joon-sik, walking alongside his captain, was thankful for another safe day as they headed home.

That’s when they heard the explosion.

BOOM!

They instinctively crouched down.

Ahead, flames were bursting out of a multi-family home.

Gas explosion?
Or maybe a gate?

They didn’t know, but their bodies moved before they could think.
Without a word, they rushed toward the scene.

The area was already in chaos.

"Cough, cough!"

"Ahhh!"

"Joon-sik, start with the injured over there!"

"Got it!"

The injured person the captain pointed to was a burn victim. Emergency treatment options were limited.

He ran to a nearby convenience store guarded by clerks, grabbed some bottled water, and ran back out.

"Hey, you can’t just take that without paying!"

"How much?"

"Five thousand won."

He handed over a crumpled bill and returned to the injured person, pouring the cold water gently.

"Ugh…"

"Hang in there. What happened?"

"I… I don’t know. There was a sudden explosion and then flames…"

It seemed to be a gas explosion.

The wealthy might use magic stones as fuel, avoiding such risks, but the poor had no choice but to rely on gas.

Joon-sik finished the first aid and approached his captain.

"There’s no one left inside, right?"

"The landlord said only six households live here, and as far as he knows, they’re all out."

"Thank goodness."

Just as they were about to sigh in relief—

"Help me!"

A voice came from above.

A child was sticking their head out the window.

The voice triggered an elderly woman nearby.

"Oh no, Jin-seok! Jin-seok!"

"Grandma!"

"Oh, my Jin-seok! Somebody call 119!"

As the grandmother stomped in distress, Joon-sik fell into thought.

It would take at least five minutes for the local station to respond.
The child’s life couldn’t be guaranteed in that time.

There was no need to deliberate further.

"Don’t do it, Park Joon-sik."

"Huh?"

"You’re going to go up there, aren’t you? Don’t."

"Captain, you might want to set up a fortune-telling booth instead of doing this job."

"Hey, Park Joon-sik! Park Joon-sik, you idiot!"

Dousing himself in the remaining water, Joon-sik ran into the burning building.

Inside, flames and smoke made visibility almost impossible. The toxic gases made breathing nearly impossible too—

"Wait, what?"

Something felt strange.

Upon seeing the black smoke, it was clear that toxic gas was spreading.
Since he wasn’t breathing through an oxygen tank, it should have been difficult to breathe, as expected.

Yet, it felt like he was inhaling clean air, with no difficulty at all.

The same went for his vision.

In such a situation, it should have been impossible to see even an inch ahead. But he could see.

Not in the sense of seeing through his optic nerves, but... how should one put it?

It felt like he was seeing with his heart.

He could clearly see the door right in front of him, and beyond that, the railing.

"This isn’t the time to dawdle."

It was a bizarre situation, but the child came first.

Jun-sik lightly dashed up to the fifth floor.

He opened the door and went in. He could hear soft sobbing.

The child was in the bathroom.

“Are you okay?”

“Wahhh!”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Jun-sik dampened a towel and held it to the child’s nose, then safely exited the building with the child.

“Oh? It’s that firefighter from yesterday!”

Seo-woo, sitting in front of the TV next to Yuksam-yi, shouted excitedly.

Seo-jun, who was in the kitchen neutralizing the toxins of an Arutus egg, turned his head.

The news, with a headline featuring the firefighter, was being broadcast.

“Hannam-dong, huh.”

The glory of its past as a wealthy neighborhood was long gone. It seemed like a gas explosion had occurred in District 13.

The perspective shifted, showing someone collapsing to the ground.

“While off duty, Firefighter Park Jun-sik witnessed the explosion site and ran into the building unarmed to rescue a victim. Let’s hear a few words from Firefighter Park Jun-sik. Firefighter Park Jun-sik, what made you run in without any equipment?”

“I didn’t think about it. I just ran in. Please, for the love of God, issue proper firefighting gear!”

“Uh… oh… yes. That was our interview with Firefighter Park Jun-sik. Meanwhile, the fire station estimates the damage costs to be...”

“Those magic firefighting suits burned out after just four uses! Is that even acceptable?”

“Uh, sir, this isn’t the right place for that...”

Was this a live broadcast slip-up?

Seo-jun smirked.

It felt worthwhile to have helped him out.

He silently wished that Jun-sik would live up to his nickname and save not just ten thousand lives but even more.