* * *

“Is someone else coming?”

Myeongja answered Sinu’s question with a radiant smile.

“Of course.”

After looking at Sinu and Hyeonyul, Myeongja pointed to Nayun and Jihwan.

“Days like this aren’t uncommon. Still, today seems to be especially blessed.”

She welcomed them as well. Any day that brought Morning Stars together like this was a welcome one.

They did not accept just anyone as a Morning Star.

Someone desperate.

Someone who would show a clear difference before and after the Saint’s treatment.

Someone who, upon becoming a fellow believer, could venture into the wider world and bring back many Morning Stars for him.

And finally, someone powerless.

Myeongja approached and asked with her eyes which categories they fell into.

Three. Four.

Fingers folded and extended twice.

‘Someone powerless has come!’

Myeongja could barely contain her excitement. Such an excellent Morning Star had arrived for him.

In an age when everyone had some power, great or small, the powerless were precious.

Her gaze shifted toward Nayun and Jihwan.

‘Which one? Which one is powerless?’

The brothers she had brought both had powers: one could emit black smoke, and the other could levitate swords.

Both were useless.

Their uselessness made them all the better. His power would change those abilities, too.

Myeongja’s eyes curved into crescents. She approached Nayun and Jihwan and extended a hand.

“Welcome, Morning Stars. My name is Kim Myeongja.”

She did not reveal what she did or what position she held. She had done the same with Hyeonyul and Sinu.

‘She outranks the person who brought us by a mile.’

Nayun sensed it instinctively as she watched Myeongja. She figured Sinu and Hyeonyul probably thought the same.

She did not know whether the others had noticed, but the man who had brought them had changed his gaze, his behavior, even the look in his eyes the moment Myeongja approached.

Because Nayun could see better than other people, she noticed things they could not.

Nayun gave Myeongja a wary look.

At present, she and Jihwan were people who had lost their entire fortunes in failed investments. Would they welcome words and gestures like those?

Both the circumstances that had brought them here and their reasons for coming were entirely impulsive. They needed somewhere to hide from creditors first and foremost, and would take anyone’s hand if that person could help them out of their predicament.

Keeping that background firmly in mind, Nayun deliberately turned her gaze elsewhere.

At that instant, a chill ran through her.

‘... They’re watching us?’

Ordinary eyes could not have seen them from here, but people were watching the group from the buildings. Every last one clung to a window, looking like puppets carrying out orders.

‘And there are villains mixed in among them?’

Nayun firmly suppressed the smile threatening to lift the corners of her mouth.

She alone had been assigned the role of someone powerless. The nature of her ability left her no other choice.

“... Yes. Nice to meet you.”

Jihwan spoke up. The cover story had brought Jihwan here for the same reason as Nayun.

But while Nayun’s character retained some common sense, the person Jihwan had to play was considerably less rational—someone driven to the very end of the road, wavering between life and death.

CLICK

Jihwan bit a fingernail.

“Don’t be nervous, Morning Star. We’re here to help you.”

“You’re not going to milk us for money here, are you?” Jihwan asked belligerently.

“Of course not. We actually give you an allowance.”

“... A-an allowance?”

Jihwan looked at Nayun in surprise. Nayun returned the look with a show of quiet self-satisfaction.

See?

That was exactly what her eyes said.

What the two wanted was so transparent that Myeongja kept smiling.

“We use a different currency here than they do outside. You can use that money to buy whatever you want to eat. Oh, and naturally, we provide rooms and meals as standard.”

GULP

Jihwan swallowed hard.

For someone driven to the end of the road, there could hardly be a better offer.

“Shall we get going? There’ll be time to introduce yourselves later, so take your time.”

Still treating Nayun and Jihwan kindly, Myeongja looked at the man.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Not at all.”

“I’ll head in first. See you later.”

“Yes. Please go ahead.”

The man also bowed to the White Sparrow standing beside Myeongja.

“Follow me.”

The White Sparrow led the way with a seemingly familiar stride.

‘Is it really true they can resist brainwashing?’

That practiced ease stirred Hyeonyul’s suspicions. Even someone with a mind-related power—could they stay sane in a place like this indefinitely?

Since he did not possess such a power himself, he found it difficult to trust that completely.

Throughout the walk, Myeongja chattered about what this place was and what that place was, but Hyeonyul watched only the White Sparrow.

Once aboard the bus, he pretended to look outside and drew in a breath.

The reek of hallucinogens was everywhere.

With it this concentrated, was there any point in saving the people here?

Hyeonyul thought there was much about this mission, too, that he could not understand.

“What are you staring at?”

At Sinu’s question, Hyeonyul moved his thumbs over the phone in his hands.

[Nothing.]

[It smells bad.]

[Like the countryside.]

Seemingly startled by the messages, Sinu quietly chided him.

“I told you not to say things like that, didn’t I?”

Despite those words, Sinu looked outside as well.

‘Does he mean he can smell hallucinogens?’

Sinu could not really identify that sort of smell. Just how sensitive were his senses? Was there something else strange here?

There was much Sinu wanted to know. They were looking at the same things, yet it felt as though they saw something different.

[I want to go home.]

Hyeonyul wanted to clock out as soon as possible.

Reading that message, Sinu firmly held back a rising laugh.

‘That could be a little difficult.’

No matter how Sinu looked at it, this was a mission that required a long-term approach. How could they identify all the villains mixed in among so many people at once?

To investigate, they would need to deploy as many personnel as there were people here. They simply did not have those resources.

“I know how you feel, but that’s going to be a little difficult.”

At Sinu’s answer, Hyeonyul turned away.

Nothing was impossible when it came to clocking out.

Five days.

The mission could take as many as five days. If he shortened it to less than a day, he could clock out that much sooner.

What couldn’t he do for that?

There was a knitting project he had yet to finish. That peculiar feeling that he had to complete what he had stopped midway seemed to linger in his hands.

This time, he was not simply knitting whatever came to mind, so it weighed on him more.

Jeongmin had been spending most of his earnings on medicine for Hyeonyul. It was not covered by insurance, either, making it very expensive.

Hyeonyul had started making something for him after realizing that Jeongmin had worn the same coat for years.

‘Buying one would be easier. I don’t know why the Doctor won’t accept it.’

It was something he still could not understand. Knitting was one thing, but he could not make anything else.

He rubbed his eyebrow.

‘... Should I learn something?’

* * *

The bus seemed to take a deliberate circuit through various locations to showcase the settlement’s stature.

Spaces as broad as any park, clean buildings, immaculate streets.

Everything in sight was so spotless that it was suspicious instead. It felt like a display put on for them.

The bus stopped in front of a building. Like the others, it was marked with a number.

This one was 24.

“First of all, you must be exhausted after coming all this way, right?”

They had expected to be taken somewhere else, but Myeongja said something unexpected.

“I’ll show you to your rooms first. Take your time and rest, and I’ll come back around dinnertime. We’ve arranged a welcome for our Morning Stars, so let’s enjoy a good meal together.”

Every member of Team Three recognized that she was trying to lower their guard.

Their expressions did not change, however. They simply looked at the building.

It was clearly four stories tall, yet there was no sign of anyone inside. Some people might not find that suspicious; others might wonder about it.

“It’s a new building, and everyone staying here happens to be out for a little while.”

Myeongja spoke with a smile, as if to quell the suspicions that would naturally arise.

The others nodded as though they understood, but no one in Team Three was fooled. The curtains drawn on the first three floors did not prove that anyone lived there.

It was strangely quiet and still.

“The rooms are all the same size; only their locations differ. Feel free to discuss where you’d like to stay for now, and let this person know.”

Myeongja pointed to the White Sparrow.

“I’ll show you the details.”

The White Sparrow smiled gently, then waved to Myeongja.

“See you later.”

“See you later. You too, Morning Stars.”

Saying goodbye to the White Sparrow and Team Three, Myeongja turned away.

* * *

They took the elevator straight to the fourth floor.

“Is this really a new building, though?”

At Nayun’s question, the White Sparrow walked ahead and tapped the wall a couple of times.

“It’s solidly built.”

CCTV present.

An advance signal. Then the White Sparrow touched an ear.

Listening devices present.

All of Team Three reacted to the second signal as though they had expected it.

“... We really can take any room?” Jihwan asked.

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll go ahead.”

Jihwan strode off, and Nayun followed with a startled look.

“Mr. Kim Donghun! We should look them over together before deciding.”

“Who knows if those people will leave first?”

Leaving it at that, Jihwan hurried away.

From time to time, Jihwan placed a hand on the wall. Hyeonyul saw formulas being inscribed.

Jihwan appeared to be using magic, presumably to block the listening devices.

“... As a coworker, I’m sorry. He isn’t usually like that.”

Nayun offered an apologetic bow.

“Hmm, it’s a little bewildering, but it’s all right,” Sinu replied with an awkward air.

Sinu glanced at Hyeonyul, whose expression had not changed.

“My little brother wasn’t startled either, so it’s fine.”

“Morning Stars, there’s no need to rush like that. All the rooms look the same.”

The White Sparrow laughed, reacting as though accustomed to this sort of thing, then walked ahead and gave a brief explanation.

One room per person.

However, the rooms could only be reached through an enormous living room. That meant anyone leaving a room would inevitably end up gathering there.

The layout was deliberate.

“The television works, and you each have a computer... Oh, the computers won’t work just yet.”

In the middle of explaining the amenities, the White Sparrow spoke as if remembering something forgotten.

“The internet hasn’t been connected yet, so only the television works right now. I’ll ask them to get it installed quickly. Now, please choose your rooms.”

At the White Sparrow’s words, Sinu looked at Hyeonyul.

“Shall we choose together?”

[I said I’ll choose for myself.]

[I’m not a kid.]

Despite Sinu’s gaze, Hyeonyul barged into a room.

It was larger than his old room. A bed, a bathroom, a small refrigerator—it had everything.

He tried opening the window, but it would not budge. It was designed so that it could not be opened from inside.

Looking down from here, he found there were areas hidden from view.

Suspicious, Hyeonyul listened closely. He heard machinery running.

‘There’s CCTV in here, too?’

This was a private room. That meant they had no respect for privacy whatsoever.

With his back to the camera’s location, Hyeonyul covered his eyes. His eyes merged into the shadows and swiftly roamed outside.

He did not know when they had gathered, but a large crowd had assembled in an area invisible from the window. They murmured while waving objects that resembled feather dusters.

It was a deeply bizarre sight.

Quickly concluding that they were brainwashed people, Hyeonyul moved his eyes toward the building opposite.

People were gathered atop the building facing this one. They were looking directly this way.

Myeongja was among them.

Several people bowed to three individuals.

‘So it’s you.’

Three bastards to start with.

Memorizing the villains’ faces, Hyeonyul lowered his hand.

When he came outside, his eyes met Nayun’s.

Did you see them too?

That was what her look asked, but he did not answer. Mindful of the CCTV still watching them, he simply turned on the television.

At the sound, Sinu and Jihwan came out as well. Everyone looked at Hyeonyul, wondering what was going on.

“What is it? Do you want to watch television?”

Sinu asked about his abrupt behavior.

Hyeonyul pointed at the television and glanced at Jihwan. In an instant, Jihwan activated magic, preventing the sounds within this space from reaching outside.

Noticing the change in Jihwan, Nayun moved toward the CCTV camera and turned her back to it.

‘So the camera over there is watching us from this angle?’

Sinu caught on immediately and pretended to approach the television, subtly blocking Jihwan from view.

As sound came from the television, Jihwan spoke, mindful of Nayun.

“You can talk for a moment.”

“All right. What’s going on?” Sinu prompted.

Hyeonyul’s actions had been quite impulsive. Looking at the others, he took out his phone.

[I wanted to see if the television worked.]

He drew their attention toward the phone, while the voice came from Nayun.

“There are three villains in the building opposite.”