The savior was born somewhere between inferiority and hatred.

A bit of admiration held the fragile balance between the two together.

That illusion was intentional.

Kang Han-min was exposing everything about himself, even his most intimate flaws, as he asked for my help.

“······.”

I could feel my blood slowly heating up.

It wasn’t a sensation I was particularly familiar with.

I had felt it often enough online, but hearing someone speak in reality and having my body heat up this much—this was the first time.

I wanted to nod.

But a cautiousness I couldn’t explain made me hold back my answer.

Why was that?

A vague aversion to Kang Han-min?

Or a visceral rejection of the actions he’s taken?

Maybe it was a Skeleton-like obsession, the desire to be the protagonist, that made me hesitate.

But no. It was none of those.

My hesitation came from a box of riddles inside me that I myself couldn’t understand.

It was a knowledge I couldn’t comprehend that held back my answer.

Instead, I asked for an explanation.

“How can I help?”

I’ll try to make a guess.

Is Kang Han-min asking me to become a monster like him?

Maybe he sent me to Jeong Dae-kyung in order to turn me into one.

At the very least, he might be offering me the gift I’ve long desired—becoming Awakened.

I waited for Kang Han-min’s reply amidst a sea of speculation, but he simply smiled and stared at me in silence.

It seemed he wanted me to speak first.

I spoke immediately.

“Do you want me to become like you?”

Becoming a monster isn’t something I want.

To become the target of my own hatred—that’s the kind of tired paradox you’d only find in a fictional myth.

It would be unbearable.

It must not happen.

But if there’s no other way—

Then I won’t hesitate any longer.

Monster, demon, whatever—I’ll become anything.

I’ll end the catastrophe called the Crack.

That is the only reason I, who lost my family and lit the flame of hatred in my heart, continue to live in this world.

Well, maybe there are a few more reasons now, but the fact that hatred lies at the core of my life hasn’t changed.

I looked at Kang Han-min, my face set with resolve.

Still smiling, Kang Han-min slowly shook his head.

“No, there’s no need for you to become that.”

“······?”

“Even if you do, you’d be the last.”

An answer contrary to my expectations.

What I thought was a glimpse into the savior’s true intentions slipped away again.

I shut my mouth and waited for what came next.

“I want you to help me.”

“If your heart is like mine, there’s no reason I wouldn’t.”

Kang Han-min closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

That sigh seemed to carry the weight of an entire life.

The scenery around us changed.

It felt both brighter and darker.

In this contradictory world, nothing is mutually exclusive.

Our savior is no different.

“I’ll show you my true plan.”

His plan wasn’t conveyed in words.

In a way only something from another world could manage, he communicated his thoughts to me directly—something no human could imitate.

It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar.

It felt similar to what I experienced the first time I defeated the Nemesis-type: something forcibly poured into me.

But unlike back then, it wasn’t violent or suffocating.

Kang Han-min’s thoughts entered my consciousness more gently, more fluidly.

But just because the method was gentle didn’t mean the content was warm or hopeful.

What Kang Han-min conveyed confirmed the chilling suspicions I had long harbored about him.

Among countless undefinable thoughts, one brushed through my mind.

“The Crack tends to choose the dominant species on a planet and apply policies accordingly. There may be many variables in how the Crack evaluates a species’ threat level, but the most significant factor is numbers.”

Exactly.

The intensity of a Crack is directly proportional to the population surrounding it.

That’s why vast, densely populated countries like India and those in Africa were the first to fall.

China had a large population too, but thanks to its accumulated wealth and the rare upside of single-party dictatorship—strong social control—it managed to resist long after India’s collapse.

Of course, even China couldn’t stop its outer regions from being eroded, and once high-intensity Cracks started pouring out waves of monsters, the great empire began its fall.

“Just by reducing that number, humanity can survive a little longer.”

An island appeared.

Its landscape was very familiar to us.

It was Jeju, once called a paradise.

“I tried reducing Jeju’s population to fifty thousand.”

Kang Han-min smiled brightly.

“It was so peaceful.”

Behind that smile stood endless lines of expressionless dead.

“······.”

It must be a hallucination I created.

Everyone knows it, vaguely.

What happened to the locals before Jeju became the island of outsiders.

Forced relocation. Maybe organized slaughter.

If not, where did all the native Jeju residents go?

No one talks about it.

And behind it all was Kang Han-min.

I’d suspected it.

He, like me, holds hatred in his heart—but unlike me, he has no restraints.

He’s capable of anything.

Morality, ethics—they mean nothing to him.

That dangerous spark was already visible in school, but I fully realized it back in China.

He used clueless children solely to prove his hypothesis.

And in that moment, I didn’t see even a flicker of guilt or remorse in him.

He’s clearly lacking something human.

Na Hye-in doesn’t hate him just because of his sordid past.

Kang Han-min is different from us.

That’s why he can say things ordinary people wouldn’t even dare to think.

“The problem is that too many humans are still alive. Based on various reports, nearly a billion people have survived. Seriously tough creatures. Survived all that war and chaos—makes your skin crawl. That tenacity may be humanity’s greatest strength, but I think it’s time to add them to the endangered species list.”

Kang Han-min—no, something that looked like a monster—smiled radiantly.

“We have to reduce humanity’s numbers to the point where the Crack no longer sees them as a threat. Personally, I think under 100 million is ideal. Maybe even less. We can adjust as we go.”

At the very least, this isn’t something a savior should say.

Especially considering Kang Han-min’s official title is “Savior of Humanity.”

That so-called savior is now speaking of extinction.

And Kang Han-min always exceeds my expectations.

“Right now, I’m helping the Crack destroy humanity.”

A flood of monster images flashed before my eyes.

Most were unfamiliar, but some were recognizable.

Like the giant humanoid types, or the “Rapier,” a minor monster incapable of generating shockwaves.

“The Crack creates what I imagine. Well, since it considers me part of itself, it makes sense. Oh, and those were all made before I completely crossed the line. Us Awakened—especially over level 10—are honestly part of the Crack.”

There was no hesitation or guilt on the face of humanity’s savior.

On the contrary, he even seemed excited, like a feverish thrill was leaking out as he spoke his horrifying thoughts.

“Japan won’t last a month. Europe, maybe three. Even the great U.S.—I give it six months, max. And those damn Chinese huddled on Hainan? Yeah, gotta wipe them out too. Creepy bastards, over a hundred million of them on that tiny island.”

“······.”

“You saw it on your way here, right? All those Krakens being produced. That’s all thanks to a little tip I gave the Crack. The Crack’s like a program—it doesn’t think independently. When its current methods stop working, it just clumsily increases the difficulty.”

I couldn’t speak.

No, I had nothing to say.

I knew what kind of person Kang Han-min was. I thought I was prepared.

But hearing his thoughts firsthand—I, Park Gyu, simply couldn’t accept them.

Even so, I had to ask.

“That’s your plan?”

Kang Han-min nodded.

“Yeah. That’s my plan.”

“To kill off all humanity? Except Korea?”

Kang Han-min nodded cheerfully with a grin.

“Of course, Korea needs to be culled too. They’ve tried hard, but damn, Koreans are tough. Real hard to kill. If I’d known, I’d have stopped the Jeju Committee from forming the Pioneer Corps. Ah, but don’t worry. That’s already taken care of.”

For a brief moment, one man’s face flashed vividly through my mind.

“······Jeon Si-hoon?”

Kang Han-min beamed.

“Knew you’d know. I could never beat you. Yeah, I left it to Jeon Si-hoon. That rebellious kid will wipe out Seoul.”

“······Jeon Si-hoon doesn’t like you, though.”

“I know. Of course I know. But hey, Park Gyu.”

A sinister light glinted in Kang Han-min’s eyes.

“I don’t even need to ask. Just leave him be—he’ll destroy Seoul on his own.”

“What does that mean?”

“Jeon Si-hoon hates South Korea and its people more than anyone. More than I do. It’s not his fault. It was South Korea that turned a perfectly normal young man into that. So the country should take responsibility, don’t you think?”

The chaos in my mind intensified.

To the point I could barely continue speaking.

“I know it’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) a cruel plan. But there’s no other way. We can’t beat the Crack. The best we can do is deceive it.”

“Deceive it?”

“Yeah. Make the Crack believe that humanity is no longer a threat. Then, as I said, plant the seeds of revenge. It'll work. I know more about the Crack than anyone. And besides, Park Gyu—I already have many allies.”

Kang Han-min spread his arms wide.

It was the same pose he had struck before in that gray-white space he created inside the Crack in Seoul.

Behind the savior with outstretched arms, multiple Nemesis-types flickered into view and vanished.

If my hunch is right, each one is a different Nemesis-type.

Probably former over level 10 Awakened that Kang Han-min has recruited.

“······.”

It’s internally consistent.

Render humanity extinct so that the Crack no longer sees it as a threat, then strike back using the free will of himself and his allies, who have become part of the Crack.

But does that really lead to a sound conclusion?

I don’t think so.

At the very least, my heart—the part of me still locked shut—did not resonate with Kang Han-min’s words. It didn’t stir. It didn’t open.

I felt my chest tighten as I asked him,

“That plan. Can it be changed?”

Kang Han-min shook his head.

“I can’t undo it. I can’t compromise either.”

“······I see.”

I’ve heard everything.

The sincerity I doubted is now clear.

He hates the Crack as much as I do—maybe even more.

The problem is the method.

It’s too cruel.

Too extreme.

I will not agree to that plan.

I quietly traced the location of my axe and asked Kang Han-min,

“Your plan could wipe out humanity entirely.”

I don’t think the myth of Adam and Eve will repeat itself.

Like other species, if humans fall below a certain number, extinction is inevitable.

Especially Awakened humans—they cannot preserve the species.

They might bear children, but they’ll all be girls, and those girls will be born cursed—riddled with congenital disorders, unable to live long.

And the more the erosion spreads, the more frequently Awakened appear.

If every human nation falls, Shangri-La will be humanity’s last haven—but it, too, cannot escape the curse of Awakening.

Within a hundred years, we may no longer hear a baby’s cry.

It seems my thoughts reached Kang Han-min directly.

He nodded and opened his mouth.

“Yeah. That might happen. But it doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t matter?”

Kang Han-min replied with a bright smile.

“We’ll become the new humanity.”

“New humanity?”

He nodded—and his form changed.

Kang Han-min looked down at me in the shape of a Nemesis-type.

Behind him, at least ten Nemesis-types flickered into silhouettes and vanished.

“We’ll just live here forever. With infinite power, in this miraculous world where anything we imagine becomes real.”

“······.”

“Jeong Dae-kyung taught me how to turn people into Awakened. I went one step further—learned how to awaken people like me. I’ll use that to select the residents. Yeah.”

The thing—monster or Kang Han-min, I don’t know—nodded.

“We’ll choose the new humans!”

I slowly reached for the jump button on my exoskeleton.

“Just like Viva! Apocalypse!—the one you love so much! Just like the early days of Viva! Apocalypse!”

I have no other weapons.

Just two axes.

I will kill him.

Or at least try.

Not because I think his claims are completely ridiculous.

There’s a kind of logic to them.

Maybe he’ll really land a blow on the Crack his way. Maybe he’ll build a second Viva! Apocalypse! in this gray-white world and live happily forever.

But I don’t agree.

Though he shares the flame of hatred with me, he’s already lost.

He couldn’t endure the fire—he was consumed by it.

“Kang Han-min.”

I called his name.

The monster stared at me in silence.

I pressed the button.

My body launched into the air.

At the same time, I drew both axes and flew at him.

In that fleeting moment, I felt Kang Han-min inside the monster.

I don’t want to kill him.

But I have to.

His way will destroy humanity.

I know I don’t have enough strength—but all I can do is kill monsters.

Thunk!

A shockwave rang out.

My hazy memory cuts off there, but a few things remain vivid amidst the confusion.

One: my axe struck something with certainty.

Two: the sorrowful voice of a man.

“Not yet. Not yet.”

And then he spoke again.

“You are my savior······.”

In a world of contradiction where light and darkness coexist, that faint phrase is all that lingers in memory.

As that world faded, the familiar colors of reality unfolded.

Somewhere on Earth.

Clutching a throbbing headache, I stared ahead.

At the wavering Crack in the distance.

Outside the Crack.

Probably just outside the Paju Crack.

The air is cold.

But colder still—my heart.

“······.”

The savior of humanity has abandoned humanity.

The twilight of mankind is coming.