By Zephyria Sa-young, who had been standing still and watching, began to move with moderate strides and stood right behind J as the opposing Hunter began to talk in earnest about the upcoming schedule. The Hunter, who was overheated and droning on about the importance of medicine, was startled and took a step back.
“L, Lee Sa-young-nim.”
“Oh, Sa-young-ah. You’re here early. How was the Dongdaemun Gate?”
J also turned around and pretended to know him, but Sa-young coldly replied only to the Hunter standing in front of him.
“Send another crazy brat.”
“Yes? But…”
“I said send another crazy brat.”
The Hunter, who was about to say something more, couldn’t break through Sa-young’s fierce momentum and stepped back with his head bowed. Sa-young lowered his head slightly and whispered in J’s ear.
“Just listening to that bullshit…”
“Don’t be like that. Considering efficiency, it’s right for me to go.”
“Hyung, don’t talk bullshit either.”
“Watch your mouth.”
Sa-young answered in an angry, sulky voice, but Eui-jae didn’t hear him. His soft, black hair was buried between J’s shoulders and neck. J patted Sa-young’s head with his other hand while looking at the documents. The sight looked quite familiar.
Eui-jae, who was watching the unfamiliar scene, crossed his arms with a sullen face.
‘…Isn’t this a pipe dream?’
As Yoon Ga-eul said, the Fragment of the Destroyed world was dizzying and confusing. J and Lee Sa-young, who appeared in this Fragment, were the same as and different from the figures Eui-jae knew. Like a distorted image reflected in a warped mirror.
These were absurd stories that made him wonder if he should keep watching, but there was a reason why he couldn’t dismiss them as mere nonsense. The Shield that appeared in Ga-eul’s Fragment… was so familiar.
White ash falling like snow and covering it. A space where everything had collapsed. Never-before-seen Monsters constantly pouring out of the Gates that opened everywhere.
Wasn’t it too similar to the inside of the Incheon Rift that he had been rummaging through for eight years?
‘…….’
Eui-jae lowered his gaze and calmed his breath. With the sound of glass colliding, numerous Fragments passed by Eui-jae at a rapid pace, as if a film was being rewound.
In one scene, Ga-eul was saving Hunters and people from Channel 1. The Hunters who appeared in the later Fragments were in terrible shape. They fought Monsters with all sorts of wounds, scars, bandages, and lost limbs.
The surviving Hunters did their best to save people, kill Monsters, and close the Rifts, but the situation showed no signs of improving. An endless war of attrition continued. Even the Hunters who had been holding out firmly collapsed one by one. Despair began to settle on people’s faces.
And suddenly, time and space changed. At this time, Ga-eul was crouching in the gap of a collapsed building. Pure white Monsters filled the streets, and not only that, but they continued to pour out of the Gates that appeared in the air.
J, who was sitting next to her, wrapped a bandage around his arm and grabbed a spear.
“I’ll block them here, so run away first.”
“Wait! Even if it’s J, this much…”
“If I run away, all these guys will rush to the base camp. Can you handle it?”
Yoon Ga-eul lost her words and shut her mouth tightly. A hand full of scars patted Ga-eul’s head.
“It’s okay.”
“J!”
“Ah, I’m really okay.”
“…….”
“I’ll finish it quickly and go. Trust me.”
His eyes curved roundly beyond the half-broken mask. The roar and footsteps of the Monster heard from beyond the building gradually grew louder. The young man erased his smile. He picked up the blood-stained spear and stood up.
“When I give the signal, run without looking back.”
“…….”
“Ah, that’s right. One more thing.”
J put his index finger to his lips, just like in the very first Fragment he saw.
“Secret from Sa-young. Got it?”
The dream ended there. But even without seeing the back of the dream, he could tell. J would never have returned.
Eui-jae was already in an unfamiliar room. Ga-eul, who was lying in the middle of the bed, cried for a long time from the moment she opened her eyes. With that, all the Fragments ended. Ga-eul’s crying figure gradually disappeared, and silence came.
Is it over? Eui-jae raised his head. At that time, a slightly different sound than before rang out. A chilling sound, like broken glass being trampled on.
Crack, crack. The ominous sound continued, and a piece of glass similar to the one Ga-eul had floating on her palm appeared before his eyes. The fragment, which had been sparkling with numerous colors, soon… was dyed black. At the same time, Eui-jae was also submerged in darkness.
In the darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead, only rough breathing like that of a beast was heard irregularly. At first glance, it sounded like a low sob.
Then, thump, something broke. A small ray of light leaked in from the darkness. Once again, thump. Crack, the sound of a tree breaking.
“You crazy brat, how long are you going to be holed up!”
Honeybee, with scars all over her face and body, broke down the door roughly. Her golden hair, which was her pride, was messily cut off at the nape of her neck. She pointed into the darkness with her bandaged hand and shouted.
“Do you know how much of a loss of power it is if you’re missing? Are the guys who risk their lives fighting fools? Get a grip! The living have to live!”
“…….”
“Are you the only one who’s sad? Are you the only one, you crazy…! Don’t act like you’re the only one who’s lost the world!”
“Honeybee, calm down. Your wound will open.”
Bae Won-woo, who followed, grabbed Honeybee’s shoulder. But she roughly brushed off his hand and sat down on the spot and wailed.
“You son of a bitch! Do you know Jung-bin is dead? Mok Taeo died today. You crazy, Mok Taeo…. That stupid crazy brat is dead!”
Honeybee, who had been panting, knelt down and began to cry like a child. Bae Won-woo watched Honeybee with a bitter face and looked into the darkness. He was wearing a brown coat, but his left sleeve was empty.
“…Sa-young-ah.”
“…….”
“I understand how you feel. But…”
Bae Won-woo’s face, full of scars, was full of exhaustion. He was about to say something, but eventually shut his mouth tightly.
“…No. Let’s go, Honeybee.”
Bae Won-woo almost carried Honeybee out of the room. The sound of crying fades away. The room was silent again.
“…J.”
A hollow voice leaked out from the darkness. It was a voice he had heard before. Eui-jae took a step into the darkness as if possessed. At that moment.
“Hyung.”
A purple flame flashed in the darkness.
Whoosh! Something flew fiercely from the darkness. At the same time, a huge hand sparkling like a kaleidoscope wrapped around Cha Eui-jae. Ga-eul’s urgent voice hit his ear.
“J! Get a grip!”
“Heok, eugh….”
Eui-jae gasped and blinked. It was inside the familiar Hanover Soup Restaurant. Ga-eul across from him was dripping with cold sweat. She took a deep breath of relief as she confirmed that Eui-jae had opened his eyes and tightly closed her eyes.
“Thank goodness….”
“What was that just now…”
Eui-jae asked, bewildered. Ga-eul clasped her trembling hands together. Her right hand, which had been sparkling with numerous colors… had turned black. Ga-eul, who covered her right hand with her left hand, muttered anxiously.
“I don’t know either. That last one, I’ve never seen that Fragment before either.”
“…….”
“What was it? What the hell… It definitely seems to be connected to that world, but…”
“Wait, calm down.”
Ga-eul was in such a state of losing her composure that Eui-jae had to soothe her instead. Ga-eul, who was biting her lip, bowed her head.
“I’m sorry! This is the first time I’ve shown this to someone else, so, uh, I didn’t know this would happen. I’m really sorry. I didn’t think I’d be dragged somewhere else…”
“First, take a breath. What do you mean by being led to another place?”
“That’s…”
Eui-jae gestured as if to tell her to take a deep breath. Only then did Yoon Ga-eul slowly calm her breath following his hand. She said in a locked voice, having regained some peace.
“The Fragments that J just saw were the ones I directly created and led. I made a way to return here if you saw all the memories, but suddenly that path was cut off… and took me to a place I didn’t know at all.”
“Did someone else intervene?”
“I don’t know. This is the first time this has happened…”
“What about your hand?”
“Yes? Ah…”
A black aura was constantly surging on Yoon Ga-eul’s right hand. Ga-eul hid her hand in the sleeve of her long padding and muttered.
“It’s okay, probably. They’ll treat me if I tell the Management Bureau.”
“It’s because of that last… Fragment, right?”
“I think so.”
“…….”
“J.”
Eui-jae raised his head. Yoon Ga-eul muttered.
“I, I didn’t tell anyone that Cha Eui-jae is J. There must be a reason to hide your identity. I will continue to keep the secret in the future.”
“…….”
“Ah! Of course, the Management Bureau did ask me if the J that appeared this time was the same J that entered the Incheon Rift… Ah, I did say yes? No, I wanted to hide it until the end, but I was so scared when I had a one-on-one with the Director…”
“…….”
“…I’m sorry.”
Ga-eul bowed her head again. Eui-jae waved his hand.
“No, it’s not. Should I say thank you for not saying more…”
Come to think of it, the gap between the J he saw in his dream and the Hanover Soup Restaurant part-timer would be quite large…. Ga-eul somehow believed that the two figures were the same person and came to find him. She said she was scared in front of the Director, but she might be a surprisingly brave person.
“I just… thought you should know. That Doomsday is coming to this world too.”
“Didn’t you tell the Awakened Management Bureau about this?”
“Of course, I told them.”
“Then wouldn’t they prepare for it?”
“…Yes. That’s the problem.”
At her answer, Eui-jae looked at her with puzzled eyes. What’s the problem with preparing? That would be what Ga-eul wants.
Ga-eul swallowed hard and said.
“The Awakened Management Bureau considered several ways to prevent Doomsday… and J happened to appear in the rankings. They are desperately looking for J to deal with Doomsday. A search team is already moving.”
“…….”
“Registering as a Hunter is a really good choice. The search team said that they are searching mainly for Unregistered Persons and ordinary people, considering the possibility that J lost his memory due to shock.”
I wish I had lost my memory instead. His mouth was bitter. Anyway, if he had been a little late, he might have been included in the search net. The contract with Lee Sa-young was quite useful.