There’s a saying: ten people, ten different colors.

Likewise, if you add a hundred people, you end up with a hundred people’s worth of problems.

Sejong is a city that developed very quickly.

On ruins abandoned by the government, King — who had once been nothing more than a common raider — rose up with his bare fists, built a city, and absorbed nearby small groups, creating a boom of high-speed growth.

What’s remarkable about Sejong is that it achieved this success despite having Daejeon right beside it, a metropolitan base guaranteed by the government.

Even with countless refugees, the administrative organizations and military units that supported them, and all the resources and infrastructure, Daejeon lost its competitiveness to Sejong and eventually ended up being absorbed.

But we all know: behind the phrase “rapid growth,” there are always disputes and conflicts.

Modern Korean history itself was a hot, salty, and at times sweet epic of rapid growth and the growing pains that came with it.

In the days when King ruled, no one in Sejong doubted his legitimacy.

It was obvious — without King, Sejong would have collapsed.

But now that Seoul has fallen and Sejong stands as the only great city, things are different.

Sejong’s announced population is around 300,000, but if you add nearby settlements and refugees from Seoul, its living sphere amounts to nearly one million.

It is nothing like the raider’s city King once ruled — now it has taken on a thoroughly “Republic of Korea” character.

And within it, there are movements that question the legitimacy of a king — an anachronistic ruler.

“Unlike King, the Second stayed away from women, didn’t drink, and wasn’t into sports. But he did have a hobby. He enjoyed going into his grave-city and spending time there.”

At some point, it became natural that Captain Nam represented Sejong’s side, and he explained the situation.

IAmJesus is said to spend about one day a week in a zombie city not far from Sejong.

There, he is surrounded by tens of thousands of zombies he trusts — zombies that had once saved New Seoul as part of his undead army.

And it was in the very heart of this zombie city that IAmJesus was attacked.

Something similar had happened in the past — I had once staked my life to fight them — but this time, the scale was entirely different.

“Fighter jets appeared. Yes, government aircraft. Jeon Si-hoon went into the Tower saying everything had collapsed, but out of nowhere, air force jets appeared and bombed Sejong.”

The assassin wasn’t just one.

The bombers were only one among many assassins dispatched to kill IAmJesus.

Before the echoes of the bombardment had even faded, organized riots broke out inside the city.

Groups who had long demanded constitutional democracy blocked roads, built barricades, and called for a government formed through elections under the Constitution.

They weren’t direct assassins, but since they hindered the government’s moves to aid IAmJesus, Captain Nam and the city administration regarded them as a force backed by the same sponsors as the assassins.

While the city was paralyzed, a third assassin entered the grave-city.

Rumor has it they were most similar to the fanatics I had fought before — only this time, they were an Awakened kill-team.

By Sejong’s estimates, there were about five Awakened among them, and not just them but also a large number of combatants.

After hearing all that, I said to Captain Nam:

“At minimum, this would be state-level intervention, wouldn’t you say?”

He nodded.

“Maybe Jeon Si-hoon. Or perhaps behind him...”

He trailed off. He had no choice.

The name he couldn’t say aloud was Kang Han-min.

By now, Jeon Si-hoon had fallen from Seoul’s hero to a world-class bastard, but Kang Han-min was still revered everywhere as a savior.

In remote areas, people enshrined his photograph in household shrines, worshiping him the way shamans once venerated great figures.

And the truth is, Kang Han-min had never harmed us directly the way Jeon Si-hoon had.

His last known act was entering the Rift to close it once and for all.

No one knows what happened inside.

Unlike other powerful tyrants, he never demanded power or riches. He never tried to build a faction out of ambition.

People simply formed groups on their own and offered them up to him.

But even that smoke screen had reached its limit.

After Jeon Si-hoon, no one remained to represent the Republic of Korea.

Whoever controls the Air Force is the rightful successor of the nation.

Jeon Si-hoon, holed up in the Tower, can no longer be that man.

The only remaining candidate is Kang Han-min’s faction.

“You believe Kang Han-min is behind this?”

I asked instead.

Captain Nam’s unease was clear.

Even for someone from Sejong, Kang Han-min was a special case.

He was literally the savior — a man who fought for Korea, for humanity, without partisan ties.

“You can be honest. They say Kang Han-min was my classmate, but I don’t think he’s walking the right path.”

Since I opened the door, Captain Nam cautiously spoke:

“...Strictly speaking, it would be the faction supporting Savior Kang Han-min. I don’t know the details, but ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) I heard they’re similar to the old Jeju Committee. Whatever their intent, in reality, they’re the only ones who can currently move the Air Force in Nampo.”

“The Air Force is in Nampo?”

That was new information. Probably classified intel, the kind only a government-level group would have.

“Yes. The remaining aircraft are deployed at the old North Korean Nampo Air Base.”

“But North Korea must have been completely eroded.”

“Well, satellite images show it turned into a Shangri-La zone. An un-eroded pocket, like the ones we’ve seen elsewhere.”

“You’re saying a Shangri-La appeared there?”

“Yes. Originally it was a fully eroded area, but according to satellite shots from three months ago, erosion had been cleared. They found multiple South Korean bombers and equipment at the base.”

“And that’s why you suspect Kang Han-min...”

“Yes. That’s what it comes down to.”

Many Over Level 10 Awakened have been born, but Kang Han-min became unique because his authority was optimized solely to confront the Rift itself.

When he used his authority, monsters within an enormous radius vanished like dust.

If monsters vanish, everything Rift-related disappears.

Erosion included.

When Kang Han-min unleashed his authority, erosion within range was purged.

Of course, if the source remained nearby, the land would slowly turn gray again — but as long as he was there, the area remained safe.

That was why so many Awakened gathered around him like disciples.

Knowing this, Captain Nam — no, the Sejong government — suspected Kang Han-min was behind it.

And honestly, I thought the same.

It must be Kang Han-min.

Or rather, those who serve his will.

This wasn’t his style. But the overall flow matched his intent.

He would want Sejong to fall.

If the last bastion of humanity in Korea disappeared, it would bring him closer to the “zero humanity” peninsula he sought.

“Hunter Park, I heard that back when you rescued the Second, you fought many Awakened fanatics inside the grave-city.”

That must be why they called me here.

The people I’ll be facing now include a kill-team composed of multiple Awakened and elite combatants.

Even now, they might be scouring the ruins to find and kill IAmJesus, who could still be alive somewhere in there.

Of course, there was good news as well.

“The zombies are still under control. Which means the Second is still alive.”

Without that, Sejong would already have fallen into internal division, scrambling to find a new ruler instead of calling me.

It’s always the same wherever you go.

This world is full of people with no skill or qualifications, yet with an endless desire to stand above others. That’s the root of society’s problems.

But I did have one question.

I asked Captain Nam directly:

“Is the Second unable to return right now, or is he refusing to return?”

As expected, Captain Nam couldn’t give me a straight answer.

No, he couldn’t.

“...It’s... it’s both, you could say.”

That wasn’t something he could answer.

I believed that in IAmJesus’s disappearance, Kang Han-min’s loyalists were involved, but equally, so was Sejong’s old, festering problem — the power struggle.

Well, who wouldn’t covet the throne of Sejong?

In any case, it’s true that IAmJesus is alive. And it’s true that he must be rescued.

We’ll need manpower.

Unlike Jeon Si-hoon, IAmJesus is a man whose name alone could rally my strongest teammates once again.

“Going after DP?”

DP is what outsiders call IAmJesus.

Just as former presidents and presidential candidates were called YS, DJ, and JP, they call him by the alphabet abbreviation of his real name, Dong-pil.

IAmJesus has the kind of name value that could move even someone as cautious as Kim Daram — and Cheon Young-jae, who has long since fallen under her influence.

If it succeeds, Sejong would guarantee us a good life.

I don’t need to dig deep to know their lives have been growing harder.

Foxgames’s bunker is decent, sure, but compared to mine it’s just expensive and lacking in principle — in terms of practicality, it’s actually inferior.

And more importantly, the frequent appearance of extinction-class monsters and the threat of Dies_Irae are things even Kim Daram and Cheon Young-jae can’t ignore anymore.

In fact, Dies_Irae has reportedly been “culling” their own numbers — cutting their group size in half.

In pre-modern times, people used infanticide to control population, especially killing baby girls. But Dies_Irae does it without discrimination — they simply reduce the population.

Of course, their own faction is excluded from that “equality.”

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

If Kim Daram had no intention of coming, she wouldn’t even bother asking that question.

“Ha. This is a real dilemma, you know? Honestly, I’m not scared of dying. Not at all. But dying without even showing my face to the baby that’s about to be born... that’s kind of rough, isn’t it?”

Cheon Young-jae was the same.

I told them:

“I won’t let a single one of you get hurt.”

I wasn’t confident in that.

But I had become brazen enough to say such empty words.

Of course, I would never recklessly sacrifice my team.

I would bear the risk myself.

As I expected, Kim Daram and Cheon Young-jae agreed to join my plan.

“Then send a car.”

I notified Captain Nam and adjusted the schedule.

Mark Two looked eager to join this time, but I asked him to sit this one out.

He looked sullen, but just then, a message arrived from an unexpected source.

Personal Identification Code: RED_MASK

It was Woo Min-hee.

“Long time no see. How’s our Mini-me doing? Heard you found me.”

Her voice was no different from usual.

The fact that she could still sound so calm — or at least pretend to — was enough to make me exhale in relief.

I could have asked when she’d be coming. I could have pressed her like an impatient old bachelor.

But the racing in my chest quickly cooled.

“I serve under Director Woo. She’s so busy right now she asked me to at least pass along a recorded message.”

What Woo Min-hee sent was just a simple message.

And yes, she really must be busy.

But I knew there was more behind that gesture.

Perhaps Min-hee herself wasn’t ready yet.

Perhaps she was afraid of living in a narrow bunker with me and a child that resembled us both.

There’s a saying: once you leave the household, you’re no longer of it.

Leaving home means abandoning your old way of life.

Sometimes a single decision changes the entire course of one’s life.

Of course, I would face a big change as well, but between us, the greater sense of loss would fall on Woo Min-hee.

Still, she gave me the answer to why she mattered to me.

“The movements inside the Rift are unusual. Na sunbae says production like nothing he’s ever seen before is happening. And not out in some faraway plain — it’s happening near our Paju Rift.”

She hadn’t forgotten her duty.

She hadn’t forgotten that she was a Hunter, still determined to confront the Rift.

Her true hatred was aimed at Kang Han-min, but in the bigger picture, our gazes were still aligned.

“I think a massive eruption will happen soon. Please be ready. A lot has already happened, but what’s coming next? No one knows.”

And then she added more. What exactly she was doing.

“I’m fighting daily with a good friend who follows me, taking down the monsters forming each day. Even for you, sunbae, Kraken-types are too much, right?”

Her honesty... well, to me it sounded almost like a love confession.

Especially since until now, she had tried her best not to tell me anything personal.

“Just wait a little longer. I’ll be able to return soon. Take care of our Mini-me. She’ll probably follow you well — after all, she takes after me. That’s all. Bye.”

When the message ended, I spoke briefly with her subordinate.

“Do you expect a large-scale eruption?”

“Yes. Bigger than the old Kill Zone events. Over a hundred mega-types are already forming. I don’t even know if that number makes sense.”

“Why would so many monsters be generated? There aren’t even that many humans left near the Rift to threaten.”

“I don’t know. Maybe the old theories were wrong. The more we fight the Rift, the more we realize its hostility. From the start, it never tolerated the survival of any life on Earth — not even a single being.”

I had a different perspective, but didn’t bother to argue.

It had simply been good to hear from Woo Min-hee again.

“That’s what she said.”

Mark Two, who had silently approached, was listening to the voice of the woman who had given him life. I told him gently.

“I see. She’s still fighting.”

He showed a slightly deeper longing for Woo Min-hee than before.

They say neither of them had spoken a word to each other, but clearly their bond had been strong.

It’s proof that human relationships can’t be measured just by how much people talk.

It was disappointing not to speak directly with Woo Min-hee, but hearing from someone you miss before a great battle — that gives strength.

“...”

I’ll have to send her good news, too.

Yes, she’s fighting on her battlefield.

Mine may be less fiery and more modest than hers, but I’ll fight the battles I can.