* * *
Confused by this incomprehensible phenomenon, he found himself instinctively moving his hand toward the shimmering prompt, as though urged to write what he wanted.
That’s when Beom Sinje realized that a keyboard had materialized on his lap.
“What a strange dream.”
As that thought crossed his mind, a memory resurfaced—he had experienced something similar before.
Back then, he was seated in front of a computer.
In the game he was playing, the characters he controlled were himself and Doyoung.
No matter how hard he tried to steer things in the right direction, the endings always unfolded the same way.
Doyoung would betray him, he would succumb to despair, and the world would inch closer to destruction.
Then, the system window would appear, asking if he wanted to restart.
Back then, too, he failed countless times.
Through endless repetition, he realized that the situation would never improve if he continued like this.
“I need a different approach. Someone who will truly help me… someone who will follow me and believe in me alone…”
As frustration consumed him, a whispering voice reached his ears from somewhere.
“Why did he betray you?”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have done that. Instead of resenting the world, I would’ve tried to change it.”
“It’s not right to treat the protagonist like that, of all people! This is driving me crazy. Why is he acting like that?”
The voice was familiar.
It belonged to someone Beom Sinje knew.
Unconsciously, he turned his head, but there was nothing there.
Yet, the voice continued to resonate in his ears.
“Get a grip, Beom Sinje! Don’t you realize there are people rooting for you?”
“Damn it, if I were Na Doyoung!”
“If I had been there for you…”
That’s right. If that person had been there, he wouldn’t have shut his eyes and ears in betrayal.
He wouldn’t have lived a lonely life, consumed by slaughter and despair.
“If you were here.”
His hand moved once more.
This time, it felt lighter than ever.
When he finished typing what he wanted, a notification appeared.
[Your mission has been entered.
Would you like to restart? ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
Yes / No]
Without hesitation, he pressed “Yes.”
The screen grew dazzlingly bright before gradually dimming again.
Amid the transition, Beom Sinje spotted a faint silhouette.
A man seated on a swaying train, staring at his smartphone.
Though expressionless, his slightly fatigued face, intently focused, wasn’t unfamiliar.
“Hyung, Doyoung Hyung.”
At his call, the man looked up, his eyes widening slightly as if recognizing him.
At that moment, Beom Sinje couldn’t help but relax, a faint smile curling on his lips.
As he smiled, a memory resurfaced—one he had forgotten amid his struggles and solitude.
The voice he’d heard when he longed for someone by his side.
It had been his own voice that called out to him.
“Hyung, Doyoung Hyung.”
Doyoung’s figure grew hazy.
A pang of regret hit him, and Beom Sinje called his name repeatedly.
In turn, Doyoung appeared unsure of what to do, wearing an expression Beom Sinje had only ever seen when the man was with him.
The always composed Doyoung only looked like that when he was by his side.
That realization filled Beom Sinje with a mix of pride and guilt.
A rumble.
A thunderous crash.
It was the sound of thunder, shaking the world, as if destroying everything to make way for a new beginning.
Unable to comprehend where the sound originated, he looked around frantically.
Then, he noticed a brilliant light emanating from one side.
It came from the TV where he had been watching the video.
The brightness was blinding, forcing him to shield his eyes with his arm as he rose from his seat.
Just as he turned to leave the room—
“Beom Sinje!”
A familiar, long-missed voice called out.
Instinctively, Beom Sinje turned to see someone waiting for him in the distance.
Without hesitation, he ran toward them.
There was so much he needed to say.
And so much he needed to hear.
As a dull steel plate rose into the air, silence fell over the area.
Everyone present realized that extreme shock could leave one speechless.
“Ugh…”
Then, as if the groan was a signal flare, gasps, applause, and cheers erupted simultaneously.
“Ohhh…”
“Wow! What is this? What did I just see?”
“He lifted that thickness? Who is this guy?”
Doyoung barely managed to steady his trembling knees.
The cacophony from all sides felt distant, unlike the video’s surreal atmosphere.
Shaking his head to clear his spinning thoughts, he assessed his condition.
Though dizzy, he could still move without trouble.
“Secretary Na!”
Kim Jinsoo, who belatedly noticed Doyoung staggering into the collapsed building, panicked and hurried after him.
Namsoo glanced back before Sarah nodded, prompting him to follow without hesitation.
“Ugh, first…”
Chasing after Doyoung, Kim Jinsoo gagged and covered his mouth.
Inside, the collapsed building was filled with gray dust from both the debris and the rising steel plate.
Thankfully, the air wasn’t as bad as it looked, and light streamed in sufficiently to make out their surroundings.
“Namsoo, can you use your ability to scout?”
“I’ll try.”
When Doyoung asked, Namsoo immediately activated his ability.
Soon, parts of the structure invisible to others appeared in his vision.
“There’s a presence that seems human one level below us.”
Before long, Namsoo shared positive findings.
“Can you tell who it is?”
“It’s unclear to that extent.”
Namsoo Lee’s clairvoyance wasn’t the type to sharply capture objects like a camera.
Instead, it merely detected shapes made up of numerous lines and planes.
Thus, he could only discern that there was something vaguely human-like ahead.
However, the trade-off for its vagueness was its ability to last more than a day.
“Let’s go for now. Cover me.”
“Understood.”
As Namsoo Lee nodded nonchalantly to Doyoung’s command and prepared to move—
“Wait a moment. Something’s blocking the way ahead.”
Kim Jinsoo, who had been surveying the surroundings with a robot ahead of them, furrowed his brows in frustration.
“A wall?”
“No, it seems like debris has piled up from a collapsed wall.”
“If it’s not too much of a threat, let’s proceed for now.”
If that was the case, Doyoung’s abilities alone should be enough to clear it.
However, upon arrival, the obstacle blocking their way was sturdier than expected.
“If we touch it wrong, it could collapse.”
If it were just a haphazard pile, they could move it bit by bit starting from the top.
But the obstacle blocking them was neatly and tightly stacked.
“Is there no gap at all?”
“There is, at the very top. But it doesn’t look like we’d be able to pass through it…”
Kim Jinsoo scratched the back of his head as he explained. His robot had already scanned every nook and cranny of the obstacle, revealing this information.
The problem was that Lee Namsoo, standing nearly two meters tall with his broad build, Kim Jinsoo with his stocky frame, and even Doyoung, who was slender but reasonably tall, wouldn’t be able to pass through the narrow gap.
‘More than anything, I feel bad about pushing Secretary Na to overexert himself…’
Even in the dimly lit area, Doyoung’s pale face exuded a faintly precarious aura.
After displaying such extraordinary abilities earlier, it was no surprise.
Kim Jinsoo suddenly recalled the miraculous sight he had witnessed just moments ago.
Yes, it was an unbelievable moment.
When else would one see a steel plate nearly two meters wide and thirty centimeters thick lift into the air?
‘Secretary Na Doyoung is secretly a powerhouse…’
Even when considering the roster of hunters both domestically and abroad, there weren’t many capable of such a display of power.
As Jinsoo felt a wave of pride, he suddenly tilted his head in confusion.
‘But I feel like there was someone else…’
* * *
