The sky was clothed in a deep navy blue color with grey clouds blanketing parts of it. It was at that second before the dawn when the sun would rise, ripping the darkness with its vast majestic glow. It was an amazing phenomenon.   Guk Jangmun was the lucky one to witness Mother Nature’s stunning creation. The tall guy whose height would make goblins cry tears of envy, simply stood there facing the Mirage Forest.   The view in front of him was that of monogamous trees standing as tall as a sycamore. They were so closely packed together no one could take a peek inside unless they entered the forest themselves. But there were numerous rumors regarding this forest that successfully kept people out. They say outlaws used to be tortured and murdered inside, or that ghosts still roamed around in broad daylight, or that the place was a different dimension.   “Always punctual, I see.”   Jangmun was not surprised to hear the female voice speak to him. He could immediately recognize it as Jinah who never failed to locate his whereabouts. She looked stunning with her long honey blond locks loose against her back. Against the sunrise, she shone even brighter.   He did not speak a word and only nodded. Jangmun was a man of few words and trusted Jinah’s awareness regarding his hatred towards tardiness. The king did say to meet in front of the Mirage Forest at 6.30 AM, so he was waiting since 5 AM. He was always early.   “Why are you early?” He then questioned the girl who pretty much walked in late to work every single time, but was granted permission simply because her boss was tired of fighting against her.   Jangmun was surprised to see her armed with her hand crossbow this time. But then again, he had his own multi-barrel pistol tucked behind his belt.   “Cause I knew you’d be here early, and I wanted to talk to you,” Jinah said, flashing him a gorgeous smile.   Jangmun flinched a little, not expecting to see her radiate such a beauty when the day just started. It was just like the time during that one spring day. All she had to do was smile like the dazzling girl she was, and he was convinced to start eating more vegetables. And by eating more greens, he would eat less human meat.   He simply stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.   “A lot of these participants hate the wendigos. To the public, your race is still seen as the enemy,” Jinah spoke, and she exhaled deeply as if the thought itself exhausted her. “But they don’t know that not all wendigo are evil. Like you.”   Jangmun slightly cocked his head sideways, as if questioning what point she was exactly trying to make.   “The good thing about being wendigo is that you appear human unless you transform. So, we can trick the others and tell them you’re human. This will put you off the radar of their target list.”   Jinah was intelligent, always thought of a plan, and always had faith in him. She showed so much concern for him when all he thought about was having to standby at 5 AM.   “It doesn’t change the fact that we’re both playing for different sides,” he then said, a bitter smile accompany.   “As far as I’m concerned, you’re more human than some human themselves. I will protect you.” Jinah grabbed him by the arms to show how serious she was. “Plus, if we’re the last ones standing, we can just escape and leave the game be.”   “That would be cheating,” Jangmun remarked.   “And therefore impossible.”   The third voice surprised the two who looked sideways to see more people had gathered. Chiyeon was staring at her firmly, though she looked hesitant, Hoseok was yawning so wide a whole boar would’ve fit in there, and Myungsoo was doing some weird kind of meditation pose. Everyone was carrying their weapons with them, except for Hoseok whose weapon must be hidden somewhere, Jangmun assumed.   “You won’t be able to cheat in this battle,” Chiyeon continued her previous remark.   “Why?” Hoseok questioned, scratching his ribcage lazily. He was too tired to realize he was doing this in public.   “From the countless research and studies I have done, I found out there is a system called The Eye. Apparently it has the ability to see everything that is going on in the battle field,” Chiyeon explained. The girl was exceptional with her knowledge, having prepared herself for the battle by reading tons and tons of books.   “I have heard about The Eye. The high priest at the monastery vaguely mentioned it. Supposedly, only a person who has attained the highest level of magic is able to perform this,” Myungsoo said.   “So a person would rather use up their entire magical powers instead of installing CCTV cameras? How efficient,” Hoseok remarked, and Jinah burst out in laughter in the most unlady-like manner. The others nearly jumped up from the beastly sound she was emitting.   “No, it’s because the cameras would still have some blind spots. But with The Eye, everything is seen.” Chiyeon nudged Hoseok by his arm to stop the joke. She was being serious, and she was ready with an explanation to counterattack whatever humor he would come up with. Knowledge was perhaps the only thing that could distract her from her affections towards her friend.   “The Eye or no eye, the elves will win this without foul methods,” Hoseok said confidently as Myungsoo cheered along. “No offense to you two human, of course.”   Jinah grinned. “None taken, elf.”   On the other side, more and more people had gathered. Some were rather closed off and purposely distanced themselves from others, and others were a little too close.   “Oh, Ho oppa,” Biah chimed dreamily as she leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder. They were sitting on the grass, facing the direction of the rising sun. “I’m so happy I can watch the sunrise together with you. It makes me jovial.”   Hoya couldn’t help but smile at his wife’s optimism. She always saw the beauty in little things and knew how to savor the sweetest moments in life. They had only been married for four months, and yet, they gave up that marriage because Yoongi commanded him to enter along. He had no choice against the crown prince, or towards his wife who insisted to join in order to protect him.   “I’m sorry,” he whispered softly. His hands gripped her smaller hands in his and gave her a light squeeze. “You shouldn’t have been involved in this.”   Biah made some whining noise and shook her head against his shoulder. “Nothing can separate me from you, not even the crown. I know we will survive until the end, because you will protect me, and I will protect you.”   She was always so stubborn. And Hoya knew that despite her cheerful and optimistic front she displayed, Biah was fully aware of the consequences that followed her participation. Yet, she couldn’t leave him alone.   Hoya leaned into her face, softly planting a chaste kiss against her forehead. “Let’s watch the sunrise here again next year, to remember we have won.”   “Yeah.”   “Unless one of you die, then watching the sunrise will only bring you bad memories.” Kim Jongdae appeared to ruin their romantic moment with sheer realism. He expected annoyance on their face when they turned to him, but it wasn’t there.   “So we’ll make sure we don’t die,” Biah said brightly.   “Hmmm, how amusing,” Jongdae said, staring at Biah with newfound interest. He was actually more interested in laying low and healing his wolf pack here and there, but provoking others came with a sudden thrill.   Hoya noticed the shift in Jongdae’s gaze and immediately got up on his feet, taking a protective stance in front of his wife. “If you harm her, I will kill you.”   “Hm, does that mean you will keep me alive if I don’t kill her?” Jongdae immediately noticed the flaw in the threat. “It seems I have obtained the crown prince’s personal knight’s favor to stay alive.”   As Hoya gritted his teeth in annoyance and felt Biah taking shield behind him, the next scene caught him completely offguard. Jihye and Sungjong had appeared, smacking Jongdae’s head lightly from behind.   “Please, we do not need you to make more enemies for our kind,” Jihye said, rolling her golden eyes.   “You’re the only one who can heal, so we need you alive. Even though we really wanna shut that mouth of yours,” Sungjong said, shrugging as if there was no other choice.   “No wonder Nari broke up with you,” Jihye blurted out carelessly as she and Sungjong laughed out loud, not noticing the frown hardening on Jongdae's gaze.   “What makes you think I will help my own pack out?” Jongdae remarked dryly. As the other two wolves gulped in realization, he smirked and left them be. A clear resemblance to what he would’ve done in the battlefield.   “Anyway,” Jihye turned to the newlywed couple who were staring in so much confusion. “You two can continue your yucky lovey dovey schemes and forget this ever happened.”   “Oh, thank you,” Biah said, quickly bowing her head politely. “It’s not yucky though. This is very sweet. You would know if you have someone you love.”   At this, Jihye flinched, and her brazen and confident attitude shattered in front of the two humans. Her eyes secretly gazed towards the one person who used to have her affections, before it all changed. Myungsoo was staring back at her, but there was this unspoken and silent barrier separating them from each other. As a wolf and an elf, they could not break down the wall.   “Hoya, we need to get ready,” Min Yoongi’s voice suddenly inte