* * *

"... You know me?"

Hyeonyul asked cautiously.

He had tried not to let it shake him, but the shock washing over him seemed greater than he had expected. It felt as though something were squeezing his chest. He didn't know what this sensation was, but his throat suddenly stung.

It was intriguing, yet strange.

"... You're a test subject."

The right answer came straight out of the bastard's mouth. All Hyeonyul could think was that he really did know.

But his mind was growing colder. He had to be more careful.

"... You were a monster back then. How did you become human?"

The man's expression changed first. How could Hyeonyul describe it? He looked as though he had seen an actual god. There was no other way to put it.

"Where did you see me?"

"Where else? At the experiment site. ... Yes, I remember. Your name."

How could he forget that name? He had thought he would remember it until the day he died.

It had been the most beautiful darkness in the world.

"... REX―3333."

At those words, Hyeonyul quietly took off his helmet.

The man's eyes widened. There was a face attached. Two eyes and two ears, one nose and one mouth. Not merely a human shape, but a real human being.

Hyeonyul even dispelled the magic on his smartwatch.

The man's already widened eyes looked ready to pop out. Though he was breaking out in a cold sweat, he no longer groaned.

"... Th-this can't be. Is that your real appearance?"

His voice trembled. He was so overcome with emotion that he was almost in tears.

Beautiful.

There was no other way to describe that test subject. Their experiment had succeeded. He felt ready to burst into sobs at any moment.

"Yes. Do you remember me?"

"... You've grown."

The man couldn't believe it. The child had become an adult.

"You've... grown."

He wanted to shout louder, but he couldn't. His breathing grew faint. Cold swept through his entire body.

"... Yes. If it's like this, it isn't so bad."

To die by that hand.

It was an even greater honor. Didn't that mean he, too, would be part of the hand that would engulf the Empire?

"I'll ask again. Where did you see me?"

"... Wait. That person will come... looking for you."

The man smiled.

"No, they must already know."

That person.

The words were unfamiliar, yet not unfamiliar.

"Who is that?"

Hyeonyul clenched his fist. The fact that he hadn't merely been caught up in it—that someone had orchestrated it—kept shaking him.

"You must become... against the Empire. You must."

Become what?

The man slumped limply without finishing. When his chest showed no movement at all, Hyeonyul's fingertips trembled.

Should he not have killed him? Should he have been more careful?

A rush of thoughts came, then abruptly broke off. That wasn't what mattered now.

'... This fucker was one of them?'

Hyeonyul looked down. Reality washed over him.

The bastard had died smiling. Even in death, he was mocking him. To think such insignificant trash had been watching him.

Every day.

Every day.

To think he had watched him with that disgusting gaze, sneering at him.

"... Ha."

A sound escaped Hyeonyul's lips. He felt as though he might laugh. Why was that?

His heart beat fast. He heard wind in his ears. The sound seemed to grow fiercer.

'... Ah. I'm horrified right now.'

He had finally found one of them, only to lose him for nothing. He didn't even know his name. He knew no further connections, either.

Where should he pursue them? Where would he have to start again?

Beyond the shattered wall, he could see the sky where night had settled.

Darkness.

Utterly still darkness.

Hyeonyul's gaze shifted toward the door.

BANG!

It was loud.

BANG!

At the second resounding noise, Hyeonyul's eyes darkened.

He wasn't in a good mood. He wished they would stop provoking him. His self-control was slipping.

Realizing that brought his medication to mind.

'... Let's take my medicine.'

This wasn't good.

His damaged mind couldn't remember how he had escaped that place that day, or even where it had been. All he remembered was the blood covering his whole body and its sickening smell.

He had thought he had killed them all.

'... I hadn't. The blood covering me wasn't theirs. They're still alive.'

The corners of Hyeonyul's mouth rose.

HEH HEH.

He laughed.

'They're still alive.'

A dagger appeared in Hyeonyul's hand as he took out his medication.

TAP.

The medication fell and rolled away.

'I can.'

His gaze turned beyond the door. How many were there?

'... I can kill those fuckers.'

Black power flowed toward the dagger. It looked as though a black beast had opened its jaws savagely.

Kill them.

Let's kill them.

They made us like that.

Countless voices rang out. He felt someone gripping his throat, drugs seeping into his veins, pain as though his skin were being peeled away.

Hyeonyul looked down. His hand was melting away. It meant he wasn't in control.

The sound in his ears grew louder, and the pain intensified with it.

'... No.'

Shuddering all over, Hyeonyul let out a long breath and closed his eyes. He had promised Jeongmin he wouldn't become a monster.

He had to keep that promise.

"Hyeonyul!"

At the voice and the grip on his shoulder, Hyeonyul opened his eyes in surprise.

"... A-are you all right?"

'... I didn't hear him. When did he get here?'

The realization startled him.

He looked toward the door. It had suddenly gone quiet. Had he heard wrong? Or had Sinu used his power?

"Your hand... What's wrong with your hand?"

Sinu looked at the vanished hand. Something was melting. He didn't know what power had done this to Hyeonyul.

"Let's get out of here first. Hurry!"

"I'm all right. ... More importantly, didn't you hear something outside the door?"

Even as Hyeonyul spoke, he felt his own voice being drowned out by the voices in his ears. His breathing was speeding up.

"You're still thinking about the mission at a time like this? I took care of it. I restrained the ones out there. So let's go."

"... I'm all right."

"How is this all right...? Your hand melted."

"I just need to take my medication."

Hyeonyul clenched his good hand into a fist, and it quivered.

Sinu's face twisted before he looked around. The medication was rolling about. He immediately ran over and brought back the bottle.

"You mean this, right?"

"Thank you."

When had he dropped it? That could have gone terribly wrong.

With practiced ease, Hyeonyul took out the pills, simply chewed them, and swallowed.

"You're taking them without water? They must be incredibly bitter."

"It's all right."

After speaking, Hyeonyul exhaled at length. The whispering voices quieted. The sensations surging at him from all sides subsided, too.

Sinu examined his condition.

'What happened to make him miss even our messages?'

Only Nayun knew. Though Sinu didn't know the details, seeing that it had been serious enough to melt Hyeonyul's hand filled him with dread.

As he stared at the hand, unable to look away, it returned to normal, like footage of pouring sand played backward.

Sinu schooled his expression, but inside he was deeply shaken.

'... Damn it.'

He knew Hyeonyul had been a test subject, but kept forgetting because he looked fine on the outside.

'Without his medication... he can't even control his body?'

"It's true that things are a mess, but this doesn't normally happen," Hyeonyul told Sinu.

Hadn't he just shown himself to be useless? This was a problem.

He activated the magic on his smartwatch again and retrieved his helmet through the darkness.

"That man said he knew me."

"... What?"

Watching Sinu's surprise, Hyeonyul pointed at the dead bastard.

He didn't even know his name. He hadn't managed to ask what the man had done back then. He hadn't managed to ask where he himself had been.

But he would find out soon enough. Wasn't that why they had rescued the White Sparrows?

Hyeonyul looked slightly upward. Messages had piled up.

<Hyeonyul? Hyeonyul?>

<What's wrong? What's wrong with Hyeonyul?>

Sinu had sent messages after Nayun.

<I don't know. Hyeonyul, what's wrong? Are you okay? You can't do that. Don't manipulate the magic! Jihwan! The door, block the door!>

<I already blocked it! What's wrong with Bro Hyeonyul? What's happening?>

<I don't know. Something's different. He seems to have lost his mind.>

He could see how desperate the situation had been. Hyeonyul rubbed both hands upward over his face.

He had made a mistake. He didn't know how they would see him now.

'... No. It'll be a disaster if they kick me out.'

The hospital bills alone would be hard to cover. And what about his debts?

He had died of overwork and come to another world, but reality was cold wherever he went.

Money.

That damned money held him back.

'The Doctor will worry.'

Jeongmin had been so happy just to move from that cramped house into a spacious one. How sad would he be if they lost it again?

As the thoughts flooded in, Hyeonyul took out another pill and swallowed it.

"Hyeonyul?"

At Sinu's voice, Hyeonyul lowered his hands. His expression was as impassive as ever.

But Sinu wondered whether Hyeonyul really was his usual self.

"The White Sparrow I was trying to rescue is already dead. That person is a fake."

Returning to the mission, Hyeonyul pointed at the dead White Sparrow.

"Did you rescue them, big brother Baek Sinu?"

"I did."

Sinu didn't know why that mattered right now, but answered first.

Hyeonyul reached toward the door.

"We can leave now."

"... Wait a moment, Hyeonyul."

Sinu glanced at the door where the villains were and began to speak.

"I'm all right."

Speaking almost coldly, Hyeonyul moved through the door.

["That man said he knew me."]

Sinu slowly realized that those casually spoken words were anything but casual.

'... No. How is any of that all right?'

Hyeonyul had said he had no memories of his past. Hadn't he finally found a clue, only to lose it before his eyes?

Surely he was engulfed in despair, on the verge of losing his mind.

Was he holding it in?

Sinu looked at the dead man, then searched his body. He thought he had to salvage something, anything. He rummaged until his hands were stained bright red.

"Why aren't you coming?"

Hyeonyul's voice rang out. Sinu heard no approaching footsteps, but when Hyeonyul spoke again, his voice was closer.

"What are you doing with the corpse?"

"Searching it."

"Searching for what?"

"Evidence."

"There isn't any."

"No, there must be more."

"There isn't."

"I still have to look."

"Those people aren't that careless. You'll only dirty your hands."

Hyeonyul's eyes grew cold. How could he not know that? He knew better than anyone.

They were the ones who set up all those useless places of business to prevent their real location from being pinpointed.

"You must have had a reason for thinking that. But Hyeonyul, there are ways to find them. His clothes, accessories, shoes—any number of things could identify him."

"You don't need to do that. Didn't the White Sparrows infiltrate this place to obtain that information? We can hear it from them."

"Normally, I'd think that too and stop. But right now, you're desperate."

Hyeonyul's hand briefly wavered as he held the helmet he had yet to put on. Lines formed around his eyes.

I don't understand.

That was what his expression said.

"I told you my younger sibling died, but the truth is, I'm still searching."

"You're searching?"

But they were dead? Why?

Hyeonyul didn't say the rest. He didn't quite know why, but thought those were things he shouldn't say.

"I never found... the body. I can't say it's the same as your situation, but I've never forgotten, not once. You haven't forgotten either, have you?"

"I can't forget. How could I? Those are the only memories I have."

"That's what I mean. If I'd found even a clue, this is what I'd have done."

Finishing, Sinu bit down hard on his lip. He couldn't do it because his sibling was dead, but if they were alive, he would have tracked down every piece of clothing, every shoe and accessory they had worn, and searched for where they had bought them.

He would have scoured every place even a single strand of their hair might have fallen.

Even after being told they were dead, he couldn't accept it because he hadn't seen it.

"Don't throw away the chance you finally found so easily."

"I'm not throwing it away. Do you think we can find them through something like their clothes? He doesn't even buy them himself. Even when they have someone running errands, they replace that person regularly. The errand runner's supposed employer changes countless times from one company to another. Even the cards they use change. They make it impossible to tell what's real and what's fake. ... You know it's all a waste of time."

Hyeonyul approached Sinu. He had already tried all of it. He had searched countless times. He had even learned hacking for that purpose.

"No villain leader uses their own bank account. They're all fake. I've tried everything, and hearing things directly from people and following those leads is fastest. No matter how powerful a villain leader is, people are the one thing they can never control completely."

People weren't systems. So they inevitably had the most vulnerabilities.

"You don't need to do this."

At those calmly spoken words, Sinu's face crumpled. Their calmness made his heart ache.

"... I'm sorry, Hyeonyul."

Sinu apologized. He had crossed a line. Hyeonyul knew better, yet he had pushed his own needless emotions onto him.

"I can't understand why you're saying that, or why you're doing this."

There was no shared interest between Sinu's situation and his own.

Was it false, or genuine?

Weighing that question, he offered Sinu his hand. Even if it was false, he had never seen anyone go this far before.

So he reached out.

"I don't understand, but you don't need to apologize."

"My hands are... a little dirty right now."

Sinu hesitated. They were covered in blood. He couldn't very well take Hyeonyul's hand like this.

Suddenly, the darkness at his feet stirred and wrapped around his hands. It was far colder than he had expected.

Before Sinu could recover from his surprise, his hands were clean.

"There."

"... That's convenient."

"I thought your ability was convenient too, big brother Baek Siu."

"It is."

Only then did Sinu smile, take Hyeonyul's hand, and stand.

"Anyway, you did well."

"Pardon...?"

"We completed the mission thanks to you."

"But that man is the president."

"Huh?"

"He's the leader of this faction."

"... Wh-what?"

Sinu was horrified. What was he talking about?

"I killed their leader. Are you sure that's all right?"

"Wait!"

Though he knew it was gruesome, Sinu immediately lifted the corpse. There was no choice. He ran straight for the door.

Hyeonyul watched silently, then picked up the arm Sinu had failed to collect and moved through the door.

"You forgot an arm—"

A scream immediately rang out, and Hyeonyul stepped back.

"A-are you insane?"

Nayun shouted in horror, then looked at Hyeonyul's hand and raised her voice even further.

He was holding an arm.

"He's copying you! What are you going to do about this?"

Hyeonyul was copying that idiot Sinu. This couldn't be allowed.

"I know it's crazy! But this bastard is their leader!"

"... What?"

Nayun blinked at Sinu's shout. What was all this supposed to mean?

"Hyeonyul told me. Right, Hyeon—"

Sinu's eyes widened. Hyeonyul's face was tilting sideways.

Someone rushed past Sinu and caught him.

"I-I caught him!"

Jihwan ended up pinned beneath Hyeonyul.

"Bro! Wake up—"

Jihwan froze at the sight of the arm dropping.

An arm.

An arm had fallen off.

"A-an arm! His arm fell off!"

"It's not Hyeonyul's arm."

Sinu set the corpse on the ground and hoisted Hyeonyul onto his back.

"Let's go first."

"... Th-the corpse?"

Nayun looked at it in confusion.

"We have to take it."

"You're insane, Baek Sinu..."

Nayun stared at Sinu as though she wanted to shoot him in the head on the spot.

But calling the Eagles came first.