Whether that horrific head was Jeon Si-hoon or some new type we don’t know yet, the outcome is clear.

The Tower acts like a broadcast mast that forces the Rift to distort humanity’s population numbers and causes monsters to explode in number from nearby rifts.

That alone is threatening enough, but I’m laying in one more possibility on top of it.

What I witnessed before we attacked the Tower.

Namely, the phenomenon of a monster horde arbitrarily correcting its trajectory.

For monsters that move by a given mechanism without any intelligence or instinct, to reverse one hundred and eighty degrees and retrace their steps without any natural barrier in the way—anyone who’s observed hordes for a long time knows how exceedingly rare that is.

I believe there was artificial interference in this horde’s reversal.

In fact, there was a facility that performed a similar role.

The Lighthouse.

I believe there’s a second Lighthouse.

Unfortunately, the light of that lighthouse can only be seen by monsters, and it doesn’t strip away the darkness of the world.

*

“Kang Han-min is a first-class bastard. He’s not human. He’s a beast wearing a human mask. Ever been inside Kang Han-min’s dorm back in school? Gave me the creeps.”

Measuring Gong Gyeong-min’s ill will toward Kang Han-min is meaningless.

He has already defined Kang Han-min as a being incompatible with himself, and he’s indicating he’ll do anything to kill Kang Han-min.

I know that resentment didn’t pile up overnight.

In truth, Kang Han-min stands on a logic different from us ordinary people, and he’s committed multiple acts that are morally unforgivable.

“Kang Han-min is probably the one who made Jeon Si-hoon like that.”

His fury has grounds.

Yeom Dda-wan, who joined later, was nearly as ferocious in his anger toward Kang Han-min as Gong Gyeong-min.

“He was gaslit. What’s even nastier is, Kang Han-min didn’t step up to gaslight him himself—he made others do it, herded the circumstances so Si-hoon had no choice but to end up isolated.”

Like Gong Gyeong-min, Yeom Dda-wan also sees Kang Han-min as the hand behind all of this.

“He turned Si-hoon’s hatred of him to his own advantage. He went around saying Over Level 10 Awakened can become monsters, and at the same time, implied that someone of his caliber has a mind firm enough not to be shaken by the Rift’s influence—subtly prodding Si-hoon’s competitive drive.”

“And that’s not all. He made very good use of Yu Yang-seo. After Si-hoon took Seoul, that woman suddenly showed up and started sweet-talking him. She drove a wedge between us who were around him and Si-hoon.”

“The old folks were right. A cunning old man knows how to turn a young punk who hates him to his own use. Fell into his own trap.”

There’s reason in Yeom Dda-wan’s words, too.

At this point, it’s an undeniable fact that Kang Han-min is trying to use Jeon Si-hoon.

All the situations and indicators point to Jeon Si-hoon being Kang Han-min’s tool.

That said, I personally feel a bit of resistance to their view.

It’s true Kang Han-min is an irredeemable psychopath and mentally ill.

He’s even less a savior.

But I can’t agree with the claim that he’s absolute evil.

He and I share the same flame of hatred.

He hates the monsters, and to erase for good the Rift that drove humanity to this state, he devoted his entire life.

I think the problem lies in his methods.

From boyhood he was extreme, without a sense of measure, and even with age he held to it, producing horrors that hurt just to recall.

Personally, I believe Kang Han-min has now virtually been defeated by the Rift.

In other words, he was eaten.

However, I don’t think that fact invalidates his pure intent—his holy resolve to hate the Rift and close it even if it means sacrificing himself.

But that’s just an opinion.

I don’t like to create needless entanglements by talking about personal creed or ideology.

Understanding of creed or belief is like parallel lines that never meet.

So I neither refuted them nor revealed my thoughts.

Now that Gong Gyeong-min’s hypothesis has been proven, Jeon Si-hoon must be removed.

Beating him for a moment may have stopped the creation of monsters, but soon enough he’ll vomit up the echo of the dead and produce an infinite host.

That won’t just raise the density of monsters on the peninsula; it will also increase the burden of large-scale ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) offensives against Sejong, and decisively, it will block exploratory operations inside the Rift.

The last resort is to go into the Rift and face Kang Han-min, but in our current state we can’t so much as loiter outside it, let alone inside.

First, we have to defend Sejong.

Partly because Sejong is Korea’s last human stronghold, but more because Kang Han-min has his sights on Sejong.

Purely my thought, but I believe that if we hold Sejong, Kang Han-min will, in some way, intervene directly. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Back in school, the guy had rock-bottom physical ability, intelligence, and sense, but in sheer doggedness he lost to no one.

Just looking at the difficulty settings of school life for him versus me tells you that.

I graduated already being rated a prospect under Jang Ki-young’s favoritism, while Kang Han-min, under Jang Ki-young’s scolding, led an anxious life where he might be tossed out of school at any time. The difference in difficulty between us would be more than summer and winter.

If we hold Sejong, Kang Han-min might show himself.

He may use another henchman.

If so, then we just hold Sejong again.

Kang Han-min is dogged, but he wasn’t a man of boundless patience.

Contrary to appearances, he got excited easily and staked his life easily.

From school days there were all kinds of slanders and heaps of criticism about him, but among them you won’t find anyone calling him cowardly or a craven.

I think I’ll be seeing him soon.

Of course, to meet Kang Han-min again, we’ll have to hold Sejong.

“To Sejong?”

“Yeah. Kang Han-min is aiming for Sejong.”

To Gong Gyeong-min I laid out my hypothesis, newly built on top of his.

A second Lighthouse.

Gong Gyeong-min has no intention of lending an ear to my view.

His mind is as weakened as his body.

What has him clasping hands again with me, whom he’d cut ties with, and what moves him now, is surely hatred for Kang Han-min.

Maybe it’s fear.

With limited time and resources, and mounting crises, you need flexibility in choosing allies.

“Is this the place?”

I brought Yeom Dda-wan and his friends to Gong Gyeong-min’s hideout.

Gong Gyeong-min didn’t look thrilled, but he too recognized the value of Yeom Dda-wan’s crew.

Just yesterday he’d reaped full benefit from Jade.

“Ah. It’s you lot?”

Naturally, Gong Gyeong-min and Yeom Dda-wan’s crew know each other.

Gong Gyeong-min’s reputation isn’t bad.

Knowing that, he would have agreed to bring in Yeom Dda-wan’s crew.

“Been a while, Chairman Gong.”

Along with Jade, Yeom Dda-wan brought three more colleagues whose names I didn’t know yet.

They were all carrying firearms, and among them, counting Yeom Dda-wan, there were three Regular Awakened.

They, too, seemed to need allies, so the negotiations ended quickly.

“...So, Hunter Park, if we go by what you’re saying, Si-hoon has already turned into a monster—is that it?”

“That’s how we have to see it.”

It would’ve been best if Jade had witnessed it, but even so, she said that at the moment Jeon Si-hoon appeared she felt a chilling pressure as if her very soul was being suppressed.

“It felt different from the General-type. If the General-type steals a person’s wits, this one felt like your feet are being sucked into a bog. You don’t realize it at the time, but as time passes it hits you like a trauma you can hardly endure.”

No one would understand that better than Yeom Dda-wan, an Awakened.

He muttered without hiding his anger.

“Kang Han-min. That son of a—!”

People who share the same anger become fast friends.

Discovering that Yeom Dda-wan held the same hatred as he did, Gong Gyeong-min took him aside for a talk.

A moment later the two returned to me wearing similar expressions.

“We should capture Yu Yang-seo alive.”

“I agree. That woman is the root of all evil.”

I nodded.

We know it’s an impossible mission, but having a shared objective can serve as decent lubricant for a rickety organization like ours.

After we forged a tighter alliance with Yeom Dda-wan’s crew, my next move was, of course, to head for Sejong.

The reason I called in Yeom Dda-wan’s crew was to have them guard the area around the bunker.

We’ve got Gong Gyeong-min, sure, but we’ve also got Mark Two inside.

“What the— You. Are you Director Woo’s daughter?”

Jade acted familiar the moment she saw Mark Two.

Mark Two only blinked and gave no reply.

I went over and spoke to her quietly.

“When someone speaks to you, you should answer.”

“Director told me not to talk to strangers.”

As expected of Woo Min-hee’s blood.

She doesn’t listen.

“Director’s advice is fine, but there are basic courtesies people should keep.”

“Director is...”

“That Director is a decent person, but you can’t say her human courtesies are good.”

“That could be true.”

With a bit of gentle persuasion, I got her to say hello.

Yeom Dda-wan’s crew neither found Mark Two strange nor showed any displeasure.

If anything, they seemed to pity her.

One young man whose name I didn’t know came up and whispered to me.

“She’s that clone of Director Woo from Eden, right?”

I wondered how to respond, but decided there was no need to hide it.

“How do you know that?”

“All the Big Hole Regulars know. They say there’s a Savior’s harem in Eden, hundreds of the Savior’s children being raised there—but there’s exactly one, the only child who doesn’t resemble the Savior. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it?”

Despite Mark Two’s stiff manner, Yeom Dda-wan and his friends didn’t feel any discord or hostility toward her; instead, they pitied her.

“I heard she won’t live long. Are you okay, physically?”

“She’s prickly—takes after Director Woo. She’s not going to throw hysterics like Director Woo, right?”

“She’s a kid. What hysterics.”

Surprisingly, among Yeom Dda-wan’s crew, Woo Min-hee’s reputation wasn’t bad.

She’s got a my-pace, hysterical temper, but she doesn’t care much about others and doesn’t force things on them, so aside from the people right next to her, maybe there aren’t many chances to make enemies.

At any rate, with support from Yeom Dda-wan’s crew, we set off for Sejong again.

We were going to use a buggy for transport, but the situation changed at Yeom Dda-wan’s suggestion.

“I’m thinking of going to Sejong too.”

“To Sejong?”

“Yeah. That person, DP. I want to see him up close. You said he’s your friend?”

Looks like he wants to meet IAmJesus.

Not a bad proposal.

Since Jeon Si-hoon is our immediate objective anyway, we inevitably need Yeom Dda-wan’s support.

Per our prior agreement, if he acts together with IAmJesus, they’ll meet.

Their ages being similar gives me pause, but IAmJesus isn’t the timid shut-in boy of the past.

They might not be good friends, but they can at least be equal partners.

We decided to ride in Yeom Dda-wan’s vehicle.

Until just a few months ago, befitting a close aide to the “king” Jeon Si-hoon, Yeom Dda-wan owned a handsome military jeep.

The engine note is full-throated, and the suspension is sturdy like new.

A young guy who declared himself their ace took the wheel, and damn, he drives horribly.

Clatter!

He barreled along so wildly it was hard to tell if we were in a car or on a theme-park ride.

In the end I spoke up and took over driving.

On Seoul’s outskirts, those who’d fled the Tower had split into small groups and settled in their own spots.

There’s the risk of catching a stray bullet, but we decided to thread our way through them, and we had a sort of insurance.

Jade would sit in the passenger seat and watch the front.

Wearing a sleep mask, Yeom Dda-wan sprawled with his legs spread, hanging limp in a defenseless pose, and even then he still said everything he wanted to say.

“DP’s lucky. The only reason he didn’t end up in Kang Han-min’s hands—if he’d met Kang Han-min, he would’ve turned out weird.”

I agree with that.

It’s definitely luck that IAmJesus never met Kang Han-min.

But—

“Kang Han-min. That guy. From the start he planned to team up with the Rift and play savior, didn’t he?”

I can’t tolerate negating Kang Han-min wholesale.

Earlier I held my tongue, but now I’ll handle it.

The trip to Sejong is a long one.

I don’t want to spend it listening to a kid who knows nothing about Kang Han-min bad-mouth him nonstop.

So I said one thing.

“Whatever else, Kang Han-min is my classmate.”

I’m not trying to defend him.

“Let’s set talk about that guy aside for now.”

I just want to protect my own headspace.

Though I’ve resolved to kill him, there’s still a belief in one corner of my chest about my classmate, Kang Han-min.

Amid familiar scenery, far off, the sight of a city still left in full color comes into view.

A question flickers through my mind.

Did my friend Kang Han-min see this city too?