The communication speed of Viva! Fox! is 400 Kbps.

Considering that, before the war, the minimum recommended speed for Korea’s major portal sites was 3 Mbps, that’s been reduced to less than a tenth.

At 400 Kbps, you can barely load a low-resolution image after some waiting—streaming video as we knew it is basically out of the question.

Viva! Fox! does offer a video player, but it’s no longer for real-time streaming like in the old days. Now, you download the entire video over time, and only once the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ download is complete can you play it.

That’s probably where the difference lies between Foxgame and Jonnaenon’s capabilities, but the core point is that video calls are impossible at that speed.

Still, King insisted on a video call, and Foxgame made a rare exception for us.

Foxgames: For just your two accounts, I’ll lift the speed cap up to 1 Mbps. Just... don’t mention this anywhere. More than a bad service, users get angrier about not being treated as well as others.

And so, my meeting with King began.

In the low-res feed, King appeared as always: seated beside two women wearing animal masks, while he himself wore a wolf mask and stared through the screen like he wanted to pierce it.

“Skelton.”

The moment I heard his voice, I had to manage my expression.

“···”

It was so withered.

It barely sounded human anymore—his voice had lost all traces of the living.

How much time does he have left?

I wanted to ask, but didn’t say it aloud.

If it’s King—if it’s the king of Sejong—then he’ll handle it himself.

He’s as incredible and great a person as I am.

“You said you had a question about Jeon Si-hoon?”

I nodded.

“Yeah.”

King lightly tapped the surface of his desk.

The woman beside him, the one posing in an animal mask, removed it.

The moment I saw her face, the first thing that flashed across my mind was a question mark.

I didn’t recognize her.

But soon, behind the makeup and lighting, a familiar outline began to surface from my hazy memory, and I remembered who she was.

“You’re...?”

“They call me Foxy now.”

King answered, and the woman now called Foxy—Jeon Si-hoon’s ex-girlfriend—nodded with a sly smile.

“...He had such a hard head. It took a lot to change his mind, but it was worth it.”

She had been a fanatic.

And not just any fanatic, but one with a chronic, incurable faith.

But I guess even faith couldn’t win against the power of time.

The woman called Foxy put her mask back on.

“I was young then, too.”

Her tone and way of speaking weren’t Northern—they were Seoul-style.

“I didn’t have a choice. Everyone around me was a believer, and I was young. When all the adults say the same thing, you end up believing it too. Besides, my hometown... well, it was a hellish place, far worse than you could imagine.”

King continued her thought.

“I’d been trying to rehabilitate her for a while, but the moment Foxy truly changed her mind was after watching your video.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Seeing you take down a General-type made her stop hesitating. She gave up the monster world and came back to the human side.”

Foxy nodded in agreement.

“It was thanks to you, sir.”

“Thanks to me?”

“Yes. Absolutely. I’m sure it wasn’t just me. Anyone who saw that video—any of the believers—must’ve been deeply moved. I was even a candidate for Hobeop, you know. I can vouch for it.”

Foxy pulled down her top to reveal her bare shoulder.

There, in black ink from a needle, the Chinese character for “faith” (信) was tattooed into her skin.

“...”

I’d known I had influence.

But I never expected to reach even a fanatic.

A quiet kind of emotion rose from deep within, the kind that comes from an unexpected realization, as I waited for what came next.

“Jeon Si-hoon is pure. He’s like a blank sheet of paper.”

I agreed with that description.

When King and I first rescued him from Sejong, he’d been like a typical naive boy, someone just setting foot on the stairs to adulthood.

The way he looked at me back then—with such pure, grateful eyes—is still vividly alive in a corner of my heart.

“But he’s not the kind of canvas you can paint on. The surface is too tough, the texture too rough. Paint doesn’t stick, and you can’t erase anything.”

King chimed in from the side.

“He’s a stubborn bastard. Not quite as bad as that schizo from next door, but still. At least with that schizo, you can tell what he’s thinking. Jeon Si-hoon? Not so much. Honestly, he’s not the kind I’d want under me.”

King looked back at Foxy.

Foxy’s lips were tightly sealed.

A short silence.

Then, in a heavier tone than before, she spoke.

“Once something is painted on that canvas, it won’t be erased. I don’t know who’ll do the painting, but Jeon Si-hoon is that kind of person. He wants to communicate more than anyone—but he won’t communicate.”

Foxy and the other woman left.

Now it was just King and me.

Looking at my weary old message board friend, I cautiously asked:

“You holding up okay?”

“...Doesn’t feel like I have much time left.”

“What about Jesus?”

“That bastard? Dunno. I’ve half given up. Seems like he’s starting to open up a bit. Who knows. It’ll work out somehow.”

“Want me to go talk to him again?”

“No, he won’t listen. He’s just as stubborn as Jeon Si-hoon. But maybe a little more reasonable.”

King let out a cynical chuckle.

“Foxy didn’t say this earlier, but... Jesus and Jeon Si-hoon are both impossible to reason with. Thing is, Jesus is a total weirdo, but he’s not a bad guy at heart. Jeon Si-hoon, though... I don’t know. Before we even talk good or evil, the guy’s got one hell of a bad habit. Deep down, he believes he’s better than everyone else.”

King must’ve seen through him long ago.

Jeon Si-hoon’s true nature.

No wonder King ended up ruling a city.

“That bastard giving you trouble?”

I sighed and nodded.

A dark light flickered in the eyes behind his mask.

“You thinking of killing him?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh?”

“It’s not a must. It just might happen depending on how things go. I’ve already let go of this city.”

King nodded.

“It won’t be easy. No matter how emo that bastard is, he’s still an over-level-10 Awakened.”

“...Yeah, I know.”

“He’s got a girl he likes.”

“A girl? Not Foxy?”

“That’s just a fuck buddy. Put a young man and woman in the same place, what do you expect? Even devout believers like Foxy aim for that. But the one he really likes—Foxy told me about her.”

“Then it’s reliable intel.”

“Might not still be relevant, but Foxy said it was more than a first love. Could be useful.”

Our conversation wrapped up with King passing me her info.

[ Yoo Ha-yul – Refuge Shelter #42 or #43, approx. 22 years old. ]

Not particularly useful information.

At best, a card to hold in case of emergency.

Assuming she’s even still alive.

After the call with King, I returned to the office.

Waiting for me there was someone unexpected—but someone who’d completely taken over my thoughts.

“Hunter Park!”

It was Jeon Si-hoon.

*

Back when we first rescued him from Sejong, he’d been a pale-faced kid with greasy, unkempt hair, hunched posture, and loose, threadbare clothes. But now, his short hair was slicked back with oil, his face shone with confidence, and his upright posture was wrapped in a form-fitting combat suit made of Gore-Tex.

The faint shadow of a recently shaved beard around his jaw quietly announced that he had just crossed the threshold from boyhood to adulthood.

“I came to greet you properly.”

He had definitely changed.

Whether it was growth or transformation, there was no trace left of the old Jeon Si-hoon.

The purpose blazing in his eyes—bright enough to shine—was what had brought him here.

“I know you don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the point.”

I looked at him expressionlessly.

“I intend to protect this city.”

“···Is that so.”

“You know, don’t you? That everyone’s planning to abandon this city.”

There was a temptation to deny it, but I had the feeling that wouldn’t be right.

Right now, Jeon Si-hoon was looking at me with those pure, innocent eyes—eyes of a boy who wanted to see the path of a grown-up, even if it was dirty.

I nodded.

“I know.”

A strange smile appeared on Jeon Si-hoon’s lips.

It seemed like, in his world, he hadn’t expected me to admit it so easily.

“Were you planning to abandon the city too, Hunter Park? Ah, that’s just personal curiosity. It’s not really relevant to the topic at hand.”

“I have a place to return to.”

“Your home.”

“I’m planning to go back after meeting Kang Han-min.”

“You mean Savior Kang Han-min?”

The name Kang Han-min certainly carried weight.

Even a young man like this, who probably only saw the world as a stepping stone to his goal, was visibly affected by hearing it.

“Why are you meeting Savior Kang Han-min...?”

“I want to hear what he thinks.”

“About what?”

“I don’t think I need to answer that.”

Jeon Si-hoon nodded.

“Fair enough. I understand. You two are probably the most important people in Korea. I don’t really have the right to butt in. Anyway, back to the point.”

Just then, Jeon Si-hoon’s eyes moved.

Seems he’d only just noticed it.

The Jonnaenon nestled quietly in my pocket.

“A rat?”

“My new friend.”

“Pretty heavy for a rat. Is it a mutation?”

“Smart little guy.”

“Well, if people are raising mutations as livestock, I guess there’s no reason they can’t keep them as pets. Seems to like you.”

“It does.”

Strictly speaking, not quite.

It only listens when I call it by the name “Hayang.” If I use “Jonnaenon,” it completely ignores me.

The tense atmosphere had softened slightly, but that didn’t mean anything had actually changed.

We were still standing on thin ice.

I checked the position of the axe by feel.

I could kill him here.

If he fought back, I might die instead—but at this range, I’d have the first strike.

I’m no longer someone who’s swept away by shockwaves.

I can maintain full awareness within the blast, and plunge a cold blade into my enemy’s body.

But truthfully—I’m still hesitating.

If I’m being honest, I haven’t reached a conclusion yet.

Should I kill this guy or not?

Everything is fluid in this world. There’s no such thing as absolute good or evil.

I know from experience that pure malice can sometimes bring unexpectedly positive changes to a person’s life.

Jeon Si-hoon is dangerous, yes.

But how many dangerous people are out there in this world?

“···I don’t like the Jeju Committee people.”

Agreed.

I don’t like those bastards either.

I’ve thought about killing them more times than I can count—but reality always stopped me.

Just because I don’t like them, or because of their past, killing them doesn’t mean the next in line won’t be just as vicious, selfish, or cruel.

Someone like DSI-RA—a man frozen to the bone—could easily take over the city instead.

“Shouldn’t they disappear from this world?”

I looked at Jeon Si-hoon.

He’s young. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

No—he’s a child.

And that’s exactly why he might do the things I only thought about—out of ignorance, or youthful fervor.

“What happens next?”

I stared coldly at him and threw a heavy question.

Jeon Si-hoon smirked.

“I plan to run this city.”

“So that’s your way of protecting it?”

My tone was sharper than usual.

Sharp enough to make the air in the room vibrate with its weight.

Jeon Si-hoon sensed my emotion.

“If that’s what it takes.”

“Becoming a dictator isn’t easy.”

“If even some North Korean flunky can do it, why can’t I?”

“People won’t accept it. Koreans aren’t like North Koreans. They’ve experienced democracy. They know it. Maybe you could pull that off in a tiny shelter, but trying it here, with nearly a million people? That’s a stretch.”

“You never know.”

Jeon Si-hoon’s smile disappeared.

With the grin gone, his slicked-back hair and spotless white skin made him look less like a human being and more like a statue carved from stone.

“I acknowledge the development of science and technology throughout human history. Of course I do. But if you ask me whether humanity itself has advanced—I’d say no.”

A dangerous echo.

At last, the boy named Jeon Si-hoon was ready to show me the picture his ex-lover said he’d drawn for himself.

“People only look different depending on their environment. The same people who criticize dictators praise King Sejong, don’t they?”

“···”

“Who do you think had a higher average—humans in the 21st century or the 18th century? No, let me rephrase. Who was more advanced—Koreans right after the Korean War or Koreans after the millennium? Just because time passes doesn’t mean people evolve.”

I let out a sigh that was more of a groan.

“Not even worth answering.”

Jeon Si-hoon scoffed.

“I’ll establish an order fit for the times.”

“So you want to be king? Like King?”

Jeon Si-hoon shook his head.

“I’m not trying to be a king. I just want...”

“Just?”

A smug smile played across Jeon Si-hoon’s lips.

And for just a moment, I felt the air around us tremble.

The stillness before a shockwave.

But he didn’t release it.

“I plan to create order.”

“What kind of order?”

“We need hierarchy. That’s my conclusion—there should be a place for people based on their class. To put it simply, we Awakened should stand above normal people.”

“You want to create an Awakened nobility?”

“What separates people more clearly than power?”

I thought of the axe.

Of course, there’s no guarantee how this will end.

Jeon Si-hoon could die. I could die.

Even if I kill him, one of his followers might kill me.

“···”

But this guy is dangerous.

I slowly became aware of the axe again and fixed my gaze on Jeon Si-hoon’s neck.

He was within range.

I could kill him.

I was about to speak with that thought in mind—

I was going to say the name of that girl. Yoo Ha-yul, was it?

Jeon Si-hoon’s so-called first love.

But he beat me to it.

“Savior Kang Han-min—no, Han-min hyung—left me with some final words.”

As expected, those three syllables—Kang Han-min—still held power.

Even the killing intent I couldn’t retract was halted by them.

“···Kang Han-min?”

Jeon Si-hoon smiled faintly and nodded.

“He said he was heading for the deepest part of the rift—and that I should handle what’s left.”

“The deepest part of the rift? Where’s that?”

“Beyond the crevasse. The Nerve of the Rift.”

I didn’t know the place.

I’d never even heard of it.

“Savior Na Hye-in is desperately searching for Kang Han-min right now, but no one’s telling her. Because I’m the only one who knows.”

Jeon Si-hoon smiled brightly.

“Ah. I guess that makes two of us now.”

I withdraw the urge to kill.

I erase even the thought of the axe.

Yes.

Jeon Si-hoon is not my target.

He’s just another annoying guy, like the Jeju Committee.

BEEP— BEEP— BEEP—

Jeon Si-hoon’s radio crackled to life.

“Oh dear.”

He chuckled softly.

“Looks like another monster wave’s appeared. I’d better get to work!”

With a light step, Jeon Si-hoon left the room.

Just before he walked out the door, he turned and said:

“I hold you in high regard, Hunter Park. You’re my benefactor. That’s why I came to greet you in person. I’ll send someone soon.”

With steps as bold as his refined new look, Jeon Si-hoon walked out of the room.

The hero’s departure.

The city will no doubt erupt in cheers once again at his exploits.

Just like always.

And maybe—I’m one of those who’ll benefit from them.

If I’m being honest.