The world was built on adventure. Guilds filled every city, merchants chased wealth, mages searched for ancient knowledge, and adventurers explored dangerous labyrinths beneath the world. Hidden within those labyrinths were monsters, treasures, and sometimes even gods. A lucky adventurer might receive a blessing and gain divine power. Most people spent their entire lives dreaming of that chance. Marcus didn’t. The gods had raised him. Nobody knew that secret. Not the guilds, not the kingdoms, and not even Felix. Marcus sat across from Felix in a crowded guild hall, staring at him openly. Felix looked up. “Stop staring.” “No.” “Why?” “You’re pretty.” Felix immediately looked away while Marcus grinned behind his white fox mask. This was normal. Marcus confessed. Felix rejected him. Marcus confessed again. Felix rejected him again. Yet Marcus never stopped trying. What Marcus didn’t know was that Felix had recently started developing feelings of his own. Feelings he kept hidden. The guild doors opened and a group approached their table. “You’re looking for a party, right?” a young woman asked. After a short conversation, Marcus and Felix agreed to join them. Her name was Elara. The moment she got a good look at Marcus, she froze. He was tall, muscular, and annoyingly handsome. “You’re handsome,” she admitted. Marcus pointed at Felix. “He’s prettier.” Felix nearly choked. “Marcus.” “What?” “Stop.” “I’m being honest.” The party laughed. Elara blinked. “Wait. You like him?” Marcus threw an arm around Felix’s shoulders. “Desperately.” Felix covered his face. The next morning they entered a labyrinth. Ancient corridors stretched into darkness. A monster suddenly appeared. Everyone reached for their weapons. Marcus punched it. The creature slammed into a wall and stopped moving. Silence followed. “…Nice punch,” Elara said. “Thanks.” Felix narrowed his eyes. Marcus always seemed strange during combat. Too calm. Too skilled. As if he were pretending to be weaker than he really was. What Felix didn’t know was that Marcus had spent his childhood being trained by gods. Endless battles. Endless pain. One goddess had been especially merciless, pushing him beyond every limit. Yet she had also been the first to believe in him. By fifteen, Marcus had become the strongest human alive. A title he hated enough to hide forever. As the party continued deeper into the labyrinth, Elara watched Marcus follow Felix around and laughed quietly. She might have liked Marcus at first, but that battle was impossible to win. Marcus looked at Felix like he was the most important person in the world. The funny thing was that Felix secretly looked back the same way.