In the eastern frontier beyond the river, swarms of mutations were running rampant.
There hadn’t been any direct casualties yet, but the re fact that dog-sized creatures as large as tigers were loitering around the human periter was enough to make people flee the area.
A hunter team had been dispatched, but there were no results.
A stocky hunter, not from the Academy but with just as much experience, reported to with a bitter expression.
"The leader... seems to be really smart."
Even back when the Republic of Korea was still standing, the fact that they couldn’t finish off the Gold Pack shows how tricky it is to deal with a pack of mutated dogs led by a capable alpha.
Since they hadn’t shown any active aggression toward humans, we hadn’t dispatched additional teams.
We simply didn’t have the resources to respond to every single mutation.
The Paju Observation Post reported an eruption.
It wasn’t large in scale, but it was the third one this week.
There are reports that so of them have headed toward Seoul.
Just looking at that, it might not seem like a big deal.
But we have a human sensor.
"Still no word from Director Woo?"
Woo Min-hee had disappeared.
Leaving only a single note behind.
– Take care of it.
There was no recipient listed, but the aning behind it left no doubt about who it was addressed to.
It was .
*
"The current artillery firepower doesn’t seem sufficient. We need to activate more Dumb Tanks. Look for more engineers among the new refugees."
To the left, Kim Byeong-cheol and soldiers from the Legion faction were smoking and exchanging tactical ideas among themselves.
"I contacted Savior Kang Han-min, but he said he’s not aware of this issue and only replied that appropriate action will be taken ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) soon."
On the right, soldiers from the traditional military faction—wearing clearly lower rank insignias than the Legion faction—sat with stern faces, sipping coffee and attempting constant radio communications.
"So what should we do now? Are we relocating the civilians again?"
Opposite them, civil administrators in neat attire were reviewing docunts and laptops.
Few people actually knew who the leader of New Seoul was.
Just now, I found out that the legal representative of New Seoul was "The Revival Committee for the Successful Settlent of New Seoul"—and surprisingly, my na, Park Gyu, was on that list.
I had beco one of the highest-ranking officials in the city.
The chairperson seat was listed as vacant, but no one would argue that Woo Min-hee had, in fact, been the de facto chairperson.
Now that Woo Min-hee had vanished, no one was left to control the chaos of the city’s many factions.
After a grueling three-hour eting, no conclusions were reached.
As I stepped out of the conference hall, a group of civil administrators approached .
"We need to find Director Woo."
I agreed with them completely.
But where, and how, would I even begin looking for Woo Min-hee?
Am I really the right person to look for her?
Woo Min-hee was prickly and impossible to predict.
She had an assistant like most powerful people do, but she didn’t use her much, nor did she delegate anything significant.
The only person who had been close to her for a long ti was my forr student, Song Yoo-jin.
"Director Woo...?"
Maybe it was the hardship she endured in Paju, but the youthful freshness she once had when I taught her was completely gone from her face.
In place of innocence was a sharp wariness, and her needless optimism had been replaced by doubt.
"Well..."
She studied my expression as she managed her own.
It was a look I hadn’t seen when we reunited in my bunker.
"Director Woo did have a habit of disappearing when big things were about to happen."
"Really?"
As I waited for her reply, I realized my heart was cooling faster than my already-cold coffee.
"I hate to say it, but... Director Woo wanted to live a long ti."
"Everyone wants to live a long ti."
"...She used to say she had to die quickly."
Song Yoo-jin muttered with a bitter smile.
When I gave her a surprised look, she t my gaze and continued.
"She always used to say that. Like a mantra."
"Min-hee did?"
"Yes. But, you know how it is. People who say they want to die every day are never really trying to die. The ones who actually go through with it never say a word to anyone."
I’d heard that too.
That talking about wanting to die is really just a cry for attention, because deep down, they don’t want to.
"When we were in Paju, Director Woo gathered everyone and said sothing. She usually hated formalities, so it stuck with ."
Song Yoo-jin shared an intriguing detail.
"She said if things got worse, we might have to go into the rift."
"Into the rift?"
I asked, stunned, and Song Yoo-jin nodded casually.
"Yeah. The rift is safer than we think, she said. So if sothing went wrong, we should be ready to head inside."
That the rift was safer.
It wasn’t wrong.
Outside the rift, monsters guarded its borders. But beyond the rift? There was shockingly nothing.
Sure, an uncountable number of monsters were being "manufactured" on the horizon—but that was all.
Where they were going or why, we had no idea.
That world moved on a logic we couldn’t comprehend.
It was essentially a world of absolute nothingness.
And in that world, we weren’t so different from the monsters invading our own.
There’s nothing to gain there. So when our stored life force—water, heat—ran out, we would vanish just like them.
When an eruption nears, you can see monsters moving en masse toward the exit of the rift, but that horde itself is harmless.
A broken-limbed human is no more significant to them than a rock by the roadside.
Of course, attacking the rift directly would provoke a response, but Woo Min-hee’s belief that the rift itself was safe wasn’t wrong.
If we just clung to life silently beyond the rift, we might survive until our life force burned out.
The only catch was that the very nature of the rift might drive us mad or change us.
But that was unknowable, unasurable.
"You’ve seen the path Director Woo made in front of the Paju Rift, right?"
Song Yoo-jin’s voice snapped out of my thoughts.
"You an the one made of dragon bones?"
I asked, looking into her eyes, which held a tiredness that would never fade.
"Yes. It’s used for patrols, sure—but its real purpose is what I just told you."
"You an it’s an evacuation route into the rift?"
"Exactly."
The one who provided the most plausible theory about why Woo Min-hee had vanished was, unsurprisingly, a Regular Awakened.
Their leader, Ahn Seung-hwan, ca to see .
He always looked pale, but today he looked even worse than usual. Avoiding my gaze, he cautiously spoke.
"Everyone’s in unusually bad shape today. Commander... could you let them rest just for today?"
"Is there a reason? Why is everyone so anxious?"
Instead of answering, Ahn Seung-hwan swept his gaze aninglessly across the office and continued in a small voice, still not looking in the eye.
"...Sothing’s coming."
An irresponsible statent, one might say.
But for those who can sense things we can’t see or feel, this is truth.
I heightened all my senses and asked him, hoping I could feel even a fraction of what he could.
"What does it feel like?"
Still nothing.
Aside from the frustration of not being able to go online today, I felt nothing.
"...It’s like a voice."
"A voice?"
"Yeah. But not a voice like ours, made with a tongue and vocal cords. More like... a thought. Sothing we could never hope to understand."
"Can you describe it in more detail?"
Ahn Seung-hwan’s eyes darted nervously. He licked his lips and gave a crude but aningful explanation of a world I couldn’t perceive.
"A needle and thread? Math equations? It keeps happening. I don’t know what the equations an, but... they just snap into place perfectly, like a thread going through a needle, or a mahjong tile finding its pair. Then a new equation appears, and the process repeats endlessly. Endlessly... problem after problem appears and is solved. It never stops. It’s insane."
Fear began to bloom on Ahn Seung-hwan’s face.
"That endless resolution drives people insane..."
Endless.
Even in their ntal landscape, endlessness continues.
"I’m sorry, Ahn Seung-hwan. That was an unreasonable request."
"N-No, Commander."
He drank so cold water and wiped the sweat soaking his face.
"...Anyway, this was a danger signal even inside the Big Hole."
"A danger signal?"
"Yeah. Whenever we felt this, we stopped all activity."
"Even with Kang Han-min around?"
"I’m not sure. I know Savior Kang Han-min is inside the Big Hole, but only his elite guard knows his whereabouts."
Though he was a commander among the Regular Awakened here, Ahn Seung-hwan had been declared nonessential even within Jeju and sent to the mainland.
So he wouldn’t have had many chances to learn classified information like that.
Still, one thing was clear now.
"..."
That thing was getting close.
*
Inside the governnt asset warehouse, there was a self-contained manufacturing plant.
Even now, nurous workers were making things, the majority being construction materials and cold-weather gear.
Ammunition and weapons might be more urgent, but we knew the truth.
A 10-degree drop in temperature kills more people—fairly and efficiently—than tens of thousands of bullets.
Of course, that wasn’t all the factory produced.
In one corner, there was a small workshop for frontline soldiers and hunters.
We called it the Forge.
BZZZZZZZZ—
As sparks flew from the various machines, I searched for a specific technician.
"Oh, Commander."
A cheerful man in his early thirties with a notably hairy face greeted .
His na was Kim Da-woon, but people called him Seven.
It was partly because he only had seven fingers—his right hand was missing the ring and pinky, and his left was missing the pinky—but there was another reason.
Originally, the doctor had wanted to amputate his thumb too, but Kim Da-woon refused.
The doctor warned him that the thumb, frozen and untreated, could rot and cause fatal infections—but Da-woon endured and saved it.
He narrowly avoided becoming Six and proudly claid the na Seven instead.
So instead of being ashad of the nickna, he wore it like a badge of honor.
Seven’s stubby fingers were hard at work finishing a device I had requested.
"Here you go."
He pressed a button.
From a nozzle that looked like a rocket thruster, both orange and blue flas burst out and ignited.
SSSSSS—
The combustion ended quickly. It looked more like a fire show than anything aningful.
"...As requested, I built a propulsion unit using separated charges."
"Thank you."
I inspected the still-incomplete device, whose purpose no one could guess.
"When will it be ready?"
"If we rush, within a week."
"Any way to make it sooner?"
"It’s possible... But now I’m really curious."
Seven looked at his creation with narrowed eyes.
"What is this even for?"
"For?"
"Yeah. I an, I’ve seen so crazy hunter weapons—Bladers, Marionettes, those Chinese chu-ko-nu things? I kind of get why those exist. But this one? I just can’t figure it out."
"Hmm... That much?"
"I just don’t get what kind of target would need such a large, high-output propulsion unit. It’s too much for mid-size types, but too weak for Krakens or Behemoths."
It wasn’t unreasonable for Seven to say that.
I had a hand in designing it, sure—but the original concept ca from my ntor, Jang Ki-young.
So it was best not to reveal its true purpose.
Soone like Seven, who genuinely cared about fighters like us, wouldn’t have built it if he knew.
I smiled faintly and answered.
"It’s a tool to kill a single monster."
"What? A tool to kill just one monster...?"
Seven looked at , baffled.
Smiling, I gave him a nod and turned to leave.
"I’ll leave it in your hands."
BRRRRR—
My phone vibrated.
The caller ID showed an administrative official.
I assud it was about another cursed eting.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
At the conference room, I was greeted by a chilling scene—sharp-eyed, young n and won in sleek, ash-toned combat gear with a functional design.
Elite Awakened from Jeju.
Why had they co here?
The governnt had ntioned they might call them in...
So they really did co.
An official I recognized gestured for to enter.
As I walked slowly, surveying the atmosphere, soone approached with light steps.
"Hunter Park!"
The voice was familiar.
When I turned my head, a smiling face I rembered warmly was looking at .
"You’re...?"
It was Jeon Si-hoon.
The boy who almost beca King’s successor when King and I rescued him.
Now wearing the sa combat gear as the elite Awakened from Ganghwa, he looked stronger, more grown-up... more manly.
"I never thought I’d see you here again! Seriously!"
"Oh, yeah. Been doing well?"
I felt both joy and surprise at how mature he had beco.
Then I felt a cold gaze from the side.
Excusing myself from Jeon Si-hoon, I turned to et it.
"..."
My heart froze.
The man who called my na with a voice as cold as my own heart was my comrade, my classmate.
He now stood on the other side of a severed bond.
"Park Gyu."
"Gong Gyeong-min."
The one who reached for until the very end—
My only ally.
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