Chi-i-i-iik!

From a burst pipe under a flickering incandescent bulb—blinking like a broken neon sign in a seizure—whitish steam gushes out.

Below it, motionless corpses lie face-down on the floor, adding to the count with every step I take.

I don’t want to check their signs, but years of training and experience let me guess what killed them just from their posture and injuries at a glance.

It was homicide.

That might sound strange in this situation, but it happened inside the corridor.

In other words, they didn’t die at the hands of Pyo Won-sang’s army—it was something unknown from within.

Their bodies bore no wounds. Every one of them lay there with their eyes closed, as if peacefully asleep.

Did they ingest some kind of lethal drug, maybe sleeping pills?

There's no way to know right now. And I don't have time to spare.

There—the doorway where the door’s been blown off comes into view.

Judging from the size of the fallen doorframe, it looks like a large room.

Since this place was planned as a command bunker, this must’ve been the command room.

More than anything, from beyond that threshold, even someone like me—someone not chosen by the gods—can sense the gloom oozing out.

“......”

A monster.

Something similar to a Nemesis-type, a twisted consistency that seems to reject the rules of this land beneath our feet. I can feel it forcefully filling in my sense of self, disturbingly so.

I felt the impulse to grip my axe but held myself back.

Forcing my reluctant steps forward, I revealed myself through the open doorway.

“Oh. You’ve arrived.”

The moment I saw the space beyond, I was reminded—once again—that I am a fragile creature, my heart easily shaken like a candle in the wind.

That place was a realm of another world.

Ash-gray soil. A background dyed in the colors of an unwanted dawn. And beneath that, corpses with only parts of their bodies stiffened and submerged in it, exposed.

This is a landscape from beyond the Rift.

“Park Gyu.”

A stranger I barely knew, never cared about, stands there.

It’s a strange thing.

That someone who did the same job in the same place could feel so distant.

Small miracles like this happen more often than expected, in more places than you’d think.

People are brutally ignorant toward what they don’t care about.

That man—Lee Haeng-taek—was also left behind in such a realm of unintended indifference.

He sees me and smiles.

“I believed you’d come.”

He’s not wearing military uniform, but an old hunter’s battle gear.

Yeah.

The uniform he used to wear when he was stationed at the Paju Rift—a hybrid outfit with a hint of pride, modified slightly just enough to set himself apart, known by the awkward name of "Hunter suit."

I know it well because I wore the same thing.

“Lee Haeng-taek, is that you?”

I asked him.

Didn’t feel the need to be polite.

Lee Haeng-taek didn’t seem to care.

Seeing him smile with his teeth bared said as much.

“I used that name once, yeah.”

He held a weapon I didn’t recognize well.

A spear.

With a Chinese-style red tassel hanging under the blade.

A story flashed through my mind—how old-school hunter Lee Haeng-taek trained in flashy spear techniques at an aikido dojo just to stand out from his rivals.

At the same time, I recalled another man who charged at me with a Chinese broadsword, his face flashing before my eyes.

“......”

Reputation, no doubt, can be a good thing—but the rules of this land give every object both light and shadow.

Haeng-taek sneered, exposing his all-too-familiar inferiority complex.

“I’ll admit it now—back then, I thought of you as just some lucky bastard born in the right era.”

A fresh take.

But also tied to a tired theme.

In the end, the world is always measured by each person's perspective.

Still, to hear someone say that our Old School era—the one we thought had failed, the lost generation—was ‘lucky’... in this surreal situation, it does coax a dry chuckle out of me.

“Lucky, huh.”

I let out a faint laugh.

“I suppose, from your perspective.”

“Right?”

Haeng-taek grinned.

“Back in our day, it was all head-first into the dirt, man. No known lineages, no fucking data, and not a single senior or instructor to teach us anything. The bastards who studied in the States just clung together, flaunting the little scraps of info they had. For punks like me with nothing but youth, headbutting through was the only way.”

“I get that’s your story, but... things aren’t looking good for you.”

I rolled my eyes and stared at the ceiling.

BOOM! BOOM!

The bunker shook.

The bombardment had peaked, and another death-dealing weapon would follow.

“Pyo Won-sang will probably bury this place soon.”

“That dumbfuck with his leash cut?”

Jeong Dae-kyung sneered.

“Idiots who think they’re geniuses. Living in their own smug little worlds. Fucking worms. They don’t even realize they’re dancing on Kang Han-min’s palm. Well, maybe that Won-sang guy might’ve gotten a whiff of it. He was at least sharp. Guess that’s why he packed all that shit and came here?”

He jabbered on with a grin plastered across his face, while I simply stared back coldly, unmoved.

His story was no doubt interesting—but not what we needed to talk about now.

He probably knew that too.

Haeng-taek sighed heavily and scratched his head.

That cheap, twitchy scratch was definitely more Haeng-taek than Jeong Dae-kyung.

“Know why I let you go so easily before? Even though I knew you were in bed with Pyo Won-sang and would stab me in the back?”

“I wasn’t exactly ‘in bed’ with him, but I admit the stab.”

“I knew you’d come back.”

His smile deepened.

A strong wave of disgust crept down my spine, but I didn’t speak.

“That’s right.”

He bared his teeth.

“You want to become an Awakened.”

“......”

“Kang Han-min said so. That you sincerely, desperately wanted to become Awakened. And that feeling wouldn’t fade with time.”

“What makes you say that?”

Haeng-taek let out a loud laugh.

A maniacal laugh that filled the gloomy space as he said:

“You said you want to kill monsters, didn’t you?”

“Kang Han-min said that?”

“Yeah. He said you carry the same hatred in your head that he does, Professor.”

Like he was reenacting the moment Kang Han-min said it, Haeng-taek placed his palm on the side of his head and rolled his eyes my way.

“...Is it not true, Professor?”

I shook my head.

“It’s close enough.”

“Right?!”

He grinned.

The smile looked friendly, but it was disgusting.

“I’ll say it again—I know how to become Awakened. It’s not hard. Something light. Yeah, like a connection. It’s simpler than LASIK.”

He spun his spear with flair, then—boom!—stabbed the butt into the floor and reached his hand out to me.

“Won’t you join me?”

I stared silently at that outstretched hand.

Even from a distance, the calluses and scars were clearly visible.

“What’s the hesitation? Don’t you want to be Awakened?”

He was right.

I did.

I had desperately wanted it all this time.

I had faced death more times than I could count, walked through tunnels darker than death itself, and forced myself to swallow that bitter pill called “accepting reality.”

The idea that all those long, dark days could be erased just by grabbing that shabby, stubby hand... it didn’t feel foreign just because of some passing mood.

“Why the hesitation, Professor? Wasn’t your dream to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kang Han-min? No—wasn’t it to stand above the bastard you thought was beneath you?”

“......”

That’s when the radio crackled.

Chijijik—

A voice came through.

“Sunbae. Are you okay? Are you safe?”

Woo Min-hee’s voice.

Haeng-taek instantly recognized it.

“That girl—Woo Min-hee, huh?”

He scoffed.

Ignoring him, I replied to Woo Min-hee.

“Just wait a bit longer. I’ll be over soon.”

The moment I cut the comms, Haeng-taek spoke up.

“Pathetic woman.”

Blatant mockery.

Hearing those words, something stirred past the hesitation in my heart.

“Pathetic? A woman with the same power as you?”

I asked.

Haeng-taek nodded without hesitation.

“She’s just hopeless. If she’d just turn her head a little, she could reach what she dreams of—but for some reason, she clings to that broken body of hers and refuses to step into this world.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll understand once you become Awakened.”

Again, he extended his hand.

This time, not gently—but forcefully, as if demanding.

Suddenly, I remembered something Kim Daram once said:

“Sunbae, you’re getting old. Maybe it’s time you took that test—you know, the one for toxic boomers?”

I knew immediately it was said with pure, 100% malice, but the test’s questionnaire had plenty of relatable points.

One stood out:

“Ajeossi doesn’t make a deal if he doesn’t like the other guy—even if it’s profitable.”

In short, if it’s fucked up, he doesn’t do it.

I could list at least 300 more reasons—but once the heart’s decided, the details stop mattering.

“Let me just check one thing.”

I stepped forward slowly.

Roughly five meters.

Close enough to kill a man.

Also close enough for a monster. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

A strange smile crept onto Haeng-taek’s lips.

He must’ve caught on to my intent.

He spun the Chinese spear theatrically, aiming its tip at me.

Staring at the flashing blade—and his reflection in it—I asked:

“What you said about Kang Han-min... that he asked you—was it true?”

Haeng-taek nodded.

“Yeah.”

I nodded back.

His eyes gleamed.

The next moment.

Chi-i-i-iik—

A bizarre sound, followed by a wave of radio interference that chilled my spine, swept through the ashen space.

Ignition.

A monster’s ability to detonate human bullets at will.

But that wave did nothing to me.

Yes, I was carrying a handgun—but not a single round was loaded.

Seizing the moment, I rushed forward and drew two axes.

End it.

Just as I thought that, a blade like lightning shot toward me.

A spear.

CHANG-KANG!

Spear clashed against both axes.

As the spearhead and axe blades snarled at each other, trying to tear flesh, Haeng-taek spoke.

“How’s that?”

He grinned.

“The skill of a first-gen hunter, huh?”

A spear isn’t a familiar weapon to me.

Haeng-taek’s strength and speed were sharp for his age.

I knew he had trained rigorously for a long time—he had kept pace with me during that mountain run.

But—

Srrrrng—

I swung the axes.

Tracing a slow arc.

Believing in distance, the greatest shield, Haeng-taek thrust his spear with dazzling speed, balancing offense and defense.

CHANG-KANG!

Another clash.

Haeng-taek’s self-satisfied grin entered my peripheral vision.

His spear curved, aiming for my neck.

CHANG-KANG!

My axes—once slow—gained speed and power.

CHANG-KANG! CHANG-KANG!

The clashes grew faster.

Amid constant sparks, Haeng-taek began losing tempo—and soon, an opening appeared.

Not enough for a kill.

But—

CRACK!

Enough to slam my elbow into his temple.

“GAAH!”

As Haeng-taek staggered back from the blow, I chased after him to deliver the finishing strike.

That’s when—

His gleaming eyes locked onto mine.

At the same time, I felt it.

A strange wave, or connection, between us.

“!”

I instantly retreated.

BOOM!

A close-range shockwave.

I had pulled back just before it hit, bracing my body and mind—but still, the wave wrapped around me with crushing force, making my vision reel.

“......”

Darkness for a moment.

Then—there he was.

Haeng-taek, bleeding from a torn temple, glaring at me with wide, wild eyes—and grinning.

“I acknowledge it.”

He spoke.

“You really are strong. As expected of the Professor. You’ve earned that name. Hell, even that exiled Chinese Hunter acknowledged your skill.”

I didn’t reply.

From the start, the only thing I cared about was distance.

Keeping it within ten meters.

The cardinal rule when /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ facing a regular or higher-level Awakened.

But it didn’t seem necessary now.

I sensed someone behind me.

No need to look.

It was Woo Min-hee.

My junior had come to watch my fight firsthand.

“Sunbae. You should’ve told me you had a show this good lined up. Didn’t you know? I’ve loved watching melee duels since school.”

“...Just watch. Don’t get in the way.”

“Got it, Commander M9.”

The situation flipped.

No—all of it changed.

But Haeng-taek remained unfazed.

He glanced at Woo Min-hee and scoffed, then raised his spear again.

“Come, Professor!”

A thunderous shout.

What I felt then was puzzlement.

Woo Min-hee, a true threat, had appeared.

But even so, he couldn’t overpower me in close combat.

There was a huge gap between us.

And he knew that.

Yet he still wanted to fight again.

As I moved slowly sideways, gauging the distance, I asked:

“Why are you doing this?”

Haeng-taek exhaled through his nose.

“Well, you see—”

He charged forward.

Shuuk—

A sharp spear aimed for my neck.

Too bad.

I was used to his movements now.

Didn’t even need to lift my axes—just a tilt of the neck, a shift in footwork, and I dodged it.

His flank was wide open.

I swung an axe lightly.

CHANG-KANG!

He barely blocked it—but had to stagger back several steps.

I walked forward again.

Bracing for another shockwave.

“What do you think a person is?”

So many riddles today.

Is that an over-level-10 Awakened trait?

Again, our weapons clashed.

One exchange—and again, Haeng-taek was the one who stepped back.

I moved toward him again.

And he continued:

“A person... is something made of their past.”

As if sighing.