By Zephyria 
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The temporary stop in front of Goryeo City is a breeding ground for ambiguous lawbreaking and a space of balance within disorder.
Since it is not located inside the Dome City, the security force has no reason to come poking around, but because it is strictly included within the grounds of Goryeo City, one cannot commit any eye-catching crimes.
As a gathering place for the dregs of society, the atmosphere is close to a degraded version of the slums; mutual assaults or thefts occur frequently, but whenever things seem to be escalating, they are somehow settled quietly on their own.
Thanks to this, it is a curious place in many ways, often visited by people leaving the city even if they aren’t mercenaries or vagrants.
The people working in places like this are all either from the slums or mercenaries who have drifted in from other cities.
Those who cannot find a proper job but lack the courage to dive into crime or dangerous work. For example, the Greenhorn working at the underground pub is just such a case.
The ‘Greenhorn,’ who had just entered his mid-twenties, found a job at the temporary stop and, after acting clueless a few times, ended up with that shitty nickname.
He didn’t like the title, but he didn’t have the courage to rebel. The mercenaries who stopped by the pub all had menacing expressions, and in truth, he had rolled into this position because he had acted like a greenhorn in the past.
Damn it. He shouldn’t have had the stupid idea to get drunk and rob an empty house. After a criminal record remained, he was fired even from construction sites.
Since he couldn’t let spiderwebs grow in his throat, he searched and searched for a place that would hire him until he was pushed all the way here. Despite the abysmal weekly pay and the unstable working environment, the Greenhorn was satisfied in his own way.
Wasn’t this better than mining or becoming a mercenary and dying in Adme?
Naturally, the Greenhorn became well-versed in the local celebrities. Stories always flow to a pub clerk, whether they want them to or not.
The hottest issue lately was the gossip about a mercenary who had gone crazy. A man who, unusually for someone from the slums, had appeared in the media.
Jin Mu-hae. Even before entering the official residential area, he was already famous for his skill and his lack of manners, but now he stood out even more for his eccentric behavior.
“I heard some idiot from Jackal’s side acted up and got half-killed?”
“He’s just clueless. You’re supposed to avoid a crazy person.”
A month ago, there was an accident caused by an Aberrant attack. Some said the dead were people of some renown, but it was hard to verify the truth; since that incident, only one mercenary had been diligently heading outside.
The Greenhorn had encountered Jin Mu-hae several times. He had never come into the pub to drink anything, but he occasionally bought hot dogs from the floor above.
Since the Greenhorn had his meals there, he had seen him from quite a close distance, and for someone rumored to have gone crazy, his eyes looked perfectly normal.
Hmm… or not? Actually, his gaze might have been a bit too piercing. Regardless, among the mercenaries who looked haphazard in every possible way, he was quite striking.
How should he put it? Not only was he a head or two taller than others, but his sharp features and incredibly well-defined jawline were a face rarely seen anywhere.
So much so that after seeing his face, the Greenhorn felt that the crazy things he did were somehow understandable. Wandering around searching for a colleague who disappeared in an Aberrant attack…
He was a young man, as young as the Greenhorn himself. That was likely why he couldn’t believe the reality that, even if a body hadn’t been found, he had most likely been eaten bone-dry.
If he were lucky enough to find remaining remains or belongings, the madness of leaving the city every day would eventually stop.
Well, it wasn’t that he particularly pitied him or wished him luck. What did the Greenhorn care whether a complete stranger wandered the forests or crossed the sea?
It was simply an interesting rumor in a bleak life. Stories about him were now so widespread that there was hardly anyone in the city who didn’t know.
“They say his eyes flip the moment he hears an Aberrant appeared somewhere.”
“He’s trying to get revenge. Plenty of people who did that never came back. This is why you can’t be a mercenary if you’re too sentimental.”
“He doesn’t seem like the type to be sentimental.”
“Hahaha, khak! True, fuck.”
He was a quite interesting topic of conversation. The Greenhorn thought so as well.
* * *
Wuuuuung—.
Beep.
Jin Mu-hae’s day is regular and simple. There are no complex thoughts or flashy clothes.
He simply wakes up when it’s time, washes his face, grooms himself, and packs his bag.
The place he goes after leaving the house is the temporary stop outside the city. As many mercenaries pass through, a vast amount of newly updated information piles up.
By picking out traces related to Aberrants or Beasts, or news near Jangjugol, and questioning people one by one, his destination for the day is roughly decided before noon.
Before picking up his parked bike and riding off, he checks his appearance again. Because he was a guy who liked a neat face.
He wanders around, searching suspected locations over and over. Then, when the sun sets, he returns. He leaves some equipment for inspection with Director Gil, who seems to have lost the energy to stop him, and rests at his home on Starlight Road.
He lived like that for almost a month. He was so immersed that he only noticed last week that the strange rumors had evolved into him becoming a local attraction.
‘I’m telling you, I saw a corpse wearing a hat! If you give me 2,000 Deal, I’ll find the pelvis for you. It’s got a hole, so you can shove it whenever you’re lonely. Like this, like th— Gack!’
Ignoring absurd provocations is the right response, but for some reason, he had flared up and crushed the man’s face.
He only let go of the blood-soaked man after Jackal appeared and stopped him. The moment their eyes met, Jackal flinched, which was rare.
The old man, who could have easily ranted about medical bills or revenge, unexpectedly just took care of the unconscious man and disappeared quietly.
After that day, no one openly annoyed him. Mu-hae quietly returned to his routine.
A life of chasing rumors, wandering like a man possessed by wanderlust, returning only to sleep, and leaving the house again.
“What brings you here in the morning for once?”
“The thing I left yesterday. I was wondering if I could get it a bit earlier.”
“There was nothing seriously wrong. Some of the internal parts had loosened. I fixed them, but… I guess you’re heading out again today?”
“…”
Since he packed his gear without answering, Director Gil didn’t pry further. Jin Mu-hae paid the repair fee with a calm expression.
Previously, he would always bicker and argue over the price, but lately, he didn’t feel like doing that. Perhaps it was because his food expenses had decreased.
That wasn’t the only thing that decreased. The noise in the house, and for some reason, the sense of comfort had also diminished.
Mu-hae always entered alone and first turned on the lights in the silent living room. Even though the dark house became bright, the shitty feeling wouldn’t go away.
It was ridiculous. He had lived alone all this time, so how could a desolate landscape feel so unfamiliar?
Throughout the mechanical process of washing, eating, and sleeping, he felt an oddly hollow and unpleasant sensation.
It had been quite a while since the sweet scent vanished from the bedding. He hadn’t washed the clothes the guy had left behind and had draped them over a chair, but the body scent gradually faded until no trace could be felt.
He pathetically pressed the tip of his nose against the fabric, then put it back, wondering what on earth he was doing.
‘Do you really think he’s alive?’
‘…Yes.’
‘So you think you can bring him back? How? What are you going to do?’
At least Teacher Jung had half-accepted the vague claim that he would find Joo-oh.
However, he couldn’t give a single answer to the subsequent question.
Indeed. Mu-hae didn’t know what he was supposed to do either. How could he find someone who left no trace? Even if he found him, could he be sure it was Joo-oh?
The huge, black shape that had crushed his windpipe was still vivid before his eyes, yet he simply searched for news. Perhaps, as others said, all this madness was just an escape from reality.
Still, the reason he rushed out of the city every time was that someone’s voice kept echoing in his ears.
‘Jin Mu-hae.’
It was strange. Why did a presence that had been so annoying now manifest as an auditory hallucination?
The ignorant eating habits of scooping up entire bowls of cereal and the weight of him constantly clinging without tact created a surprisingly noticeable void.
When he thought of the red-eyed Aberrant, he would gasp and shiver even in his sleep… yet when he thought of Joo-oh, the image of him rolling around on the bed flashed before his eyes first.
As he ruminated on the sensation of the cheek that had filled his hand, the truth he had been ignoring pierced his chest chillingly.
How did he produce that much strength with that build?
Why did he never get sick despite eating that much?
How had he remained safe when he lost consciousness during a dangerous moment?
Why did the Aberrant, which even armed men couldn’t withstand, always leave this side alone and disappear quietly?
He had guessed from the start that Joo-oh wouldn’t be an ordinary human. But had he really not even imagined that he might not be human at all?
The inner voice that had persistently nitpicked when he first brought him in posed the question once more.
The way he suddenly appeared unscathed at the accident scene, the way he exhibited bizarre behavior—hadn’t everything related to him been strange?
And then he remembered the image of the Aberrant rubbing its face against him at the end.
The drenched appearance with rainwater dripping.
“Uh, I heard you get paid if you give good information.”
A vagrant spoke to Mu-hae, who was leaning against a wall. Seeing the familiar bald head, he was a laborer who did odd jobs near the parking lot.
Jin Mu-hae clenched his fist slightly to shake off the unpleasant mood and asked in detail about the information the man had.
“There are a few mercenaries in Seogyeong City called scavengers; those guys are ghosts at picking up dead people’s things and selling them dearly to the bereaved families. I heard they picked up and sold a few pieces of equipment recently, so if you search well, there might be some belongings.”
…Another dead end. Jin Mu-hae struggled to hide his disappointment and raised his wrist with an expressionless face.
Beep—.
The laborer, who looked ambivalent at the 30 Deal, nodded and hurried away, thinking he had gained some easy money.
“Fuck.”
Bang! The sign he kicked trembled and bent. As time passed, the new routine became familiar, but plausible clues seemed to have evaporated, leaving nothing to be found.
People who looked back at the loud noise met a menacing gaze and quickly averted their eyes. Mu-hae clenched his jaw tight and walked toward the parking lot.
Thinking rationally, he could just live his life pretending that a monster who ran away never existed in the first place.
The matter of the Return flight, the information on the West Wind—each was so incredibly weighty that focusing on them alone would make half a year fly by.
And yet, amidst the confusion, he kept muttering to himself.
Joo-oh must be alone. That guy who hated being left alone more than anything.
183 – Became a Monster in a Dead Game