By Zephyria Zzzzz… The phone on the white table vibrated. A hand with a callus on the first joint of its middle finger placed a teacup next to the phone. Steam rose from it.
“You even serve tea. How kind.”
“It’s noisy outside. Can we ignore it?”
A man in a white coat slightly lowered the Blind covering the window with his finger and looked outside. Pure white ash was falling. A firm but wrinkled hand gripped the teacup.
“It’s probably a request for support. I don’t know why, but that snake isn’t moving from its coil.”
“Still, you should go to avoid suspicion.”
“If you know that, hurry up and finish the story, Ivan.”
“Y-yes.”
The man called Ivan turned around. He was wearing a white coat and hunching over, but he was quite large. Glasses glinted beneath his messy, tangled brown hair.
“We are always grateful for Song Jo-heon’s great help with our research.”
“I am also receiving a lot of help.”
“Yes, so… to commemorate today, we would like to tell you our purpose.”
“We, Prometheus and the Seers, have always… been waiting for the coming Doomsday. We saw it in our dreams. A scene of pure white ash covering the world.”
Ivan turned and stared at the screen covering one side of the wall. In the screen, a whale floated over the city center. Ivan followed the whale’s trajectory with fascinated eyes. A trembling voice murmured.
“Finally, finally, the time of Doomsday has come.”
‘Bullshit.’
What do you mean the time has come? Song Jo-heon swallowed a sneer and nodded with a friendly smile as if agreeing. Ivan continued to talk without a break.
“We couldn’t stop the last Doomsday with the power of pure Awakened alone. We didn’t have enough power.”
‘Delusions of grandeur.’
“There was a problem with the System’s unfair selection method. We must escape the System’s grasp and acquire abilities on our own….”
‘Inferiority complex.’
He could say anything in front of the Awakened chosen by the System. But Song Jo-heon pretended to be generous and agreed. Ivan’s white eyes flashed.
“…We will save humanity.”
‘A desire for self-validation.’
What a hero. The corners of his lips, raised as much as possible, were starting to hurt. Song Jo-heon rubbed the top of the teacup with his fingertip. A scholar’s hand with calluses slid a transparent envelope next to the teacup.
“And we are….”
The envelope contained white powder.
“…on the same side.”
A deep smile settled on his wrinkled lips. The firm hand took the envelope. Soon, the powder dissolved into the lukewarm black tea without a trace.
“Of course, Teacher.”
He wasn’t interested in the ideas of psychos. He was a first-generation Awakened chosen by the System. But he was interested in the drugs they provided.
The whale that had been floating leisurely in the air roared. Ivan turned to the screen with a flustered face and zoomed in on the screen with the remote control. A black figure had appeared on the pure white whale. In its hand….
A huge spear.
The black figure raised the spear high. Frowning, Song Jo-heon poured the black tea into his mouth. Veins bulged on his temples and neck, then subsided. He murmured quietly.
“That hero… how does he manage to take all the important moments?”
The teacup tumbled haphazardly onto the table. Soon, the screen turned bright blue. Song Jo-heon closed his eyes with a displeased expression.
Thud….
Thud, thud, thud, busy footsteps bustled around. Reports and requests for support poured in constantly from the in-ear device. He had been directing the scene since the Black Hole turned into a Whitehole and had barely managed to stabilize it, but after a huge whale suddenly appeared, everything was back to square one. No, it was only getting worse. Jung-bin pressed his brow and asked.
“Is there still no response from the Samra Guild?”
“Yes, we haven’t received a reply yet.”
“What’s the situation with the Seowon Guild?”
“Guild Master Nam Woo-jin is doing his best, but it seems that the capacity is reaching its limit.”
“Do you know how many buildings that bastard destroyed?”
A sharp voice cut in between the continuous reports. Golden hair tied high in a single bunch fluttered. It was Honeybee. Jung-bin gave her a nod, and she skillfully shook off the blood from her Rapier. Jung-bin shrugged.
“According to reports, about twenty buildings. And it’s increasing in real time.”
“Add one more to that. He just smashed the outdoor electronic display. With my face on it!”
“I’ll add it to the damage list.”
“…What is Lee Sa-young doing?”
“Well. I don’t know.”
“Seriously, if the Ranker 1 doesn’t show up, at least the Ranker 2 should be working hard. The discipline of the Rankers is all dead.”
“Are you having a hard time?”
Honeybee snapped her mouth shut. And looked up at the sky. Jung-bin also raised his head. The street they were on was shrouded in the whale’s shadow and was dark even in broad daylight. Honeybee murmured.
“…It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Ever since the Black Hole turned into that, I keep… getting strange thoughts. Ugh, it just makes me think too much.”
Honeybee bit her lip and glared at Jung-bin.
“Don’t die anywhere.”
“Yes? What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Anyway!”
Honeybee, who had snapped sharply, disappeared from sight in an instant. The disappeared her was already running far away, appearing as a yellow dot. Did she just come to say that? Jung-bin scratched his cheek and looked at the sky again. The whale filling the sky.
If J were here.
Jung-bin shook his head to shake off the thought. To expect help from the person who went to rescue Ga-eul at his request. It was terribly shameless. But….
“…….”
He couldn’t help but think of him every time this happened. Maybe he would think of him for the rest of his life whenever a crisis came. Jung-bin lived in the same era as him, and he knew his goodness and his strength well.
That’s why he might be trying to erase him more consciously. He was sick of living on the basis of someone’s sacrifice.
It was at that moment.
Boo-oooo―
A huge roar echoed. The shadow covering the street shook violently. The flow of air reversed. Instinctively, he looked up. The whale, which had been swimming leisurely in the sky, was writhing. As if in pain. Jung-bin muttered without realizing it.
“……No way.”
Kwaaang―
Blue light burst out from the whale. Soon after, Kaga gagak! A strong gust of wind centered on the whale. Jung-bin covered his face with his arms and barely managed to stand his ground. When the wind mixed with ash subsided, he carefully raised his head.
A sea-blue pillar of light pierced through the whale’s torso, connecting the sky and the earth.
“Ah…….”
Paaat…. The whale, pierced by the pillar of light and floating in the air, soon scattered into pure white ash, as if fireworks had exploded. It was like blue light powder was falling. It was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight that would captivate anyone. There was only one person in this world who could do this. Jung-bin swallowed a surging breath.
Someone murmured.
“J is back….”
His name was spreading like a wave.
A week had passed since the Black Hole turned into a Whitehole. The Whitehole still hadn’t turned black, and white ash fell occasionally on cloudy days, but the frequency had decreased noticeably. Nevertheless, people prepared brooms to sweep away the ash.
Some called it the second Day of the Rift, but the damage was not as great as on the Day of the Rift, so the name was quietly buried. Property damage was great, but casualties were extremely low. Moreover, people’s attention was focused elsewhere.
[Next news. The whereabouts of J, the Ranker 1 Hunter of Korea, who was known to have died but reappeared after 8 years, are once again unknown….]
The hero of the country, who everyone thought was dead. J, who appeared in the rankings but no one had actually seen, appeared at the moment of desperation, saved the country once again, and disappeared. It was a perfect story to quell people’s anxiety. The news was filled with photos of J wearing a mask and his Hunter name every day.
What the identity of the Whitehole was, why this situation suddenly occurred. None of those stories surfaced. News that the number of people visiting psychiatrists complaining of pain from memories that were not their own also disappeared without gaining much attention.
And since that day, the door of the Hanover Soup Restaurant had been tightly locked and not opened.
“It’s not open again today.”
A bleak wind brushed against her hair. Team Leader Han, who had his hands in his coat pockets, muttered. Honeybee, who was wearing a leather jacket and standing with her arms crossed next to him, frowned. Her hand gripped her arm tightly.
“…I hope he wasn’t caught up in the last incident?”
“If he was, he would be on the list of casualties. I’ve looked through the entire list, but he’s not there.”
“…….”
Team Leader Han took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He didn’t light it. Honeybee sniffled.
“How can a person disappear without a trace?”
“You can say that again.”
“When she took Grandmother to the hospital, she put up a sign saying she was closing due to those circumstances. But this time, she just locked the door without anything.”
“…….”
Team Leader Han, who was listening to what sounded like a complaint or a grumble, took out his phone and checked it.
“It’s a call. I have to go. Are you going to stay longer?”
Leather Walker kicked the floor for no reason.
“……I’ll stay a little longer.”
“…Don’t stay too long.”
Team Leader Han, who gave a pitiful smile, turned and disappeared. Honeybee traced the red Hangover Soup letters with her eyes and pouted.
The only thing illuminating the room, where not a single ray of light entered due to the blackout curtains, was the crimson bed lamp. A shadow of a man sitting on a chair was cast on the wall. The owner of the shadow was….
“…….”
It was Cha Eui-jae.
He was sitting cross-legged on a folding chair next to the bed, wearing the same clothes he had worn when he left the house. His gaze never left the person lying on the bed. Cha Eui-jae reached out and smoothed his messy black hair. Lee Sa-young was lying on the bed as if he was in a deep sleep.
Although he hadn’t woken up for a week.
When he found Lee Sa-young collapsed after killing the whale. He couldn’t remember properly what he had done with what mind. When he came to his senses, his whole body was tied up in shadows, and he only saw the messed up Min-gi Seo limply collapsing.
Eui-jae murmured.
“I guess this is how you felt… when I didn’t come back. You.”
“…….”
“Did you want to teach me empathy?”
“…….”
No answer came back. In fact, it was better than Lee Sa-young.
“You waited for me….”
Eui-jae carefully took Lee Sa-young’s hand. He wrapped his hands around his hand and put his hand on his forehead as if praying. The pupils hidden behind his eyelids were revealed. Two eyes as blue as the sea.
“Now it’s my turn to wait for you.”
Was this how you felt, too?
It feels like my heart is tearing apart and I want to destroy everything.
“Good night.”
The greeting was sad. After sweeping back his messy hair, he kissed his exposed forehead. To you who denied me.