[Dr. Jin's location is in Gyeonggi Province…….]

About halfway up Cheonggyesan Mountain.

According to the device’s information, Dr. Jin resided there.

It’s about 20 kilometers away from here.

He was living in a place that’s more frequented by people than I expected.

Is it even possible to live there in the first place?

I opened the GPS app and checked the route to the location.

For now, it seemed like I would have to take public transportation to get nearer, then follow the GPS from there.

“…….”

I stared blankly at the money in my hand, then quickly stuffed it into my pocket.

It was money Kiril had given me.

She told me it was ‘offered voluntarily by the people whose lives you saved’.

But thinking back on the smile she had on her face, I just couldn’t believe it.

I wondered if she had stolen from the wallets of the people who died.

That thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I quickly brushed it aside.

Even if that were true, it’s not like I could return it to the deceased anyway.

After briefly finishing the test with Black Aether, I headed toward the subway.

After walking for about 10 minutes.

An unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Hey! I told you, you can’t pass without a permit!”

Up ahead, I saw a man and a woman arguing.

‘What’s going on?’

Judging by the walkie-talkie on his waist and his outfit, the man seemed to be an employee of a security service company.

Behind him, a long red tape was stretched out, and as a young woman in a two-piece outfit tried to cross the line, he immediately blocked her path.

“I’m already late! Didn't I tell you I’m in a hurry?”

“Come on now. I said no. Miss, do you want to be arrested for obstructing official duties?”

“You’re not even a public official, what ‘official duties’ are you talking about? You want me to report you to the police?”

“We’re just doing our job at the request of the Glory Guild. If you’ve got a problem, take it up with them.”

Glory Guild.

The moment I heard those words, my eyes lit up.

Sure enough, the man’s uniform bore a radial patch, the symbol of the Glory Guild.

I walked over to the woman who was stamping her feet in frustration and asked the man.

“Is the passage restricted?”

The security contractor turned his head toward me with an annoyed look.

Then suddenly, he flinched in surprise.

It was a familiar reaction.

The same expression I always saw from people who saw me up close.

Because of the brilliant spots that covered half my face.

“Hmph. That’s right. Until the health inspection for residents inside the Gaebong Neighborhood is complete, no one’s allowed in or out.”

The security contractor spoke with an air of self-importance.

His already big nose practically pointed to the sky making it seem even bigger.

It was a ridiculous sight.

He wasn’t even a member of the Glory Guild, nor was he a Hunter.

He seemed pretty satisfied with the mere act of controlling people.

The type that gets arrogant the moment they wear an armband.

He looked like that kind of person.

“How long is the health inspection scheduled to last?”

“Eh, they say it’ll take about two weeks or something.”

At that, the woman beside me flared up, eyes blazing.

“Two weeks? You’re saying I can’t leave this neighborhood for two whole weeks?”

“Damn it. Like I said earlier. Why don't you go to a health care centre or a hospital and get a certificate that says you’re clear? Unless you want to mess with me and regret it!”

His patience must have run out, as the security contractor's tone suddenly turned harsh.

The woman shrank back a step, intimidated, and I asked again.

“Why wasn’t this announced in advance? There weren’t any reports about it last night or early this morning.”

“You little punk with blotches all over,” he turned to look at me, “How the hell would I know? Orders from above are orders.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t know, he just didn’t want to say.

They couldn’t risk people finding out that they were now locking down a neighborhood that they had ignored while protecting the rich neighborhood.

For the Glory Guild, which held its ‘honor’ in such high regard, this was a story that especially needed to stay hidden.

“Alright, alright! Enough talk, get lost! I don’t want to waste my breath on potential threats who haven’t even been tested!”

There was no point in talking to this guy any further.

Gaebong Neighborhood might have been a small neighborhood, but managing an entire area was no easy task.

In fact, aside from the security contractor in front of me, I didn’t see anyone else around.

They must have divided the area into sections and assigned staff to each.

In other words, if I got past this one guy, there wouldn’t be any other obstacles.

“You said your company’s connected to the Glory Guild, right?”

“Yeah. So what? Got a problem with that?”

A little provocation was necessary.

I decided to just let my thoughts spill out, completely unfiltered.

“A problem, yeah, I’ve got a problem… You guys are disgusting.”

“What?”

The man’s eyes went wide with shock.

He probably never imagined he would hear something like that from some punk who looked at least ten years (?) younger than him.

“Am I wrong? When people were dropping dead on the streets, you were nowhere to be seen. And now you’re blocking off the area like some big hero? It’s fucking pathetic.”

“You little bastard… You got a death wish?”

The security contractor glared at me and strode forward with heavy steps.

He was a full head taller than me and looked like he easily weighed over 100 kilos.

If it was before, I probably would have been scared.

Honestly, even at the moment, I was a little shaken.

Because I still couldn't quite believe that I’ve gotten stronger.

Grab.

The security contractor seized me by the collar and yanked me forward.

My body, light and skinny as it was, was pulled forward without resistance.

“Say that again. What the hell did you just say?”

I thought it would be hard to breathe, but it was only a little uncomfortable, not painful.

Even without using the Black Aether, compared to the fever spikes I usually dealt with, this was child’s play.

There was no point in playing nice when he had already grabbed me by the collar.

“Let go.”

I grabbed his arm, which grabbed my collar, with one hand, and squeezed hard.

Grip.

“Guh…!?”

Maybe it was the unexpected strength in my grip.

The security contractor’s face twisted in disbelief.

It must have been an unbelievable sight to behold.

Who would have thought a scrawny kid who looked at least half his size could overpower him?

If it weren’t for the curious eyes of the woman watching nearby, he probably would have let go of my collar a long time ago.

However, the strength in his hand gripping my clothes had already faded.

I pushed the man’s arm back.

The man stumbled two steps backward.

“You…!!”

When faced with something unbelievable, people usually react in one of two ways.

Face reality.

Or deny it completely.

And it looked like the man had chosen the latter.

“I heard the beggars in the Gaebang Neighborhood were weak as hell…!!”

The security contractor pulled a baton from his waist.

The woman beside me stepped up before I even reacted.

“You’re seriously going to use a weapon on a student now? Are you insane?”

“Cut the crap and get lost this instant. Unless you want to get smashed too.”

At the man’s menacing tone, the color drained from her face.

It was absurd, utterly ridiculous.

No matter how much the world revolves around hunters.

I couldn’t believe he was actually thinking of openly using a weapon to beat a civilian.

Judging from the man’s blatant aggressive behavior, it seemed like he had some sort of backing.

I casually asked the security contractor.

“Are you sure that you, a security contractor, want to assault a civilian?”

He must have thought I was scared.

The man grinned, showing his teeth.

“Ha! Looks like you were relying on the police and think they're going to save you. You’ll learn the hard way this time. That Glory Guild is above all else, even the law.”

So it’s like that, huh.

They say you know ten when you see one, and it seems like the Glory Guild is a group that considers itself above the law.

Otherwise, how could a mere security contractor think it’s okay to assault a civilian?

I called upon the Black Aether inside me and kept my eyes fixed on the man.

The contractor widened his eyes as if trying to scare me and raised his arm.

Despite the stark difference in size, he swung the baton with all his strength.

Whoosh.

However, the baton didn’t strike my body.

Not even a hair’s breadth came close to touching me, let alone hit me.

“……??”

Unfortunately, in my tension, I ended up overcompensating and stepped forward, stopping more than five meters away from him.

I had tried to back up just enough to dodge, but.

It turned out to be a pretty ridiculous sight.

Still, it was my first real fight (?) so I guess this much can be considered just a harmless mistake.

“This punk……!!”

There were two outcomes.

First, the man’s movements were clearly visible to me.

I had turned the core of a large toad into Black Aether and spread it throughout my body yesterday.

It was certain that my senses, including vision, had been enhanced.

With this, I felt confident that I could dodge most attacks, unless they were from a hunter.

On the other hand…

What if I were to swing with full force?

Whack!

After dodging the security contractor’s attack once more, I struck his thigh with the edge of my hand.

The reason I aimed for his fleshy thigh was because I didn’t want to risk turning this idiot into an even bigger fool.

“Aaahh!!!!!”

The man let out an ugly scream and collapsed to the ground.

Looks like I ended up doing a bit of live testing (?), whether I meant to or not.

Kiril may be a powerhouse, but one thing’s clear; the giant toad’s core was the real deal.

I had only created and absorbed Black Aether once, and yet I was able to handle an opponent far bigger than me like a child.

“I’ll kill you……!!”

Shock, anger, pain.

And then came the overwhelming embarrassment.

Completely disoriented and furious, the man reached for something else at his waist.

When I saw what it was, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“Are you seriously going to use a taser on a minor right now?”

“Fuck off, you little shit!!”

Even while limping, the man charged at me again.

I casually sidestepped and gave a light kick to his other thigh.

Thud!!

“Gaaahhh!!”

This time, he didn’t just fall, he went tumbling across the ground.

While the man was foaming at the mouth, I looked past the red line toward the buildings beyond.

There weren’t many CCTVs around this area, including the surroundings.

Since the Gate had only recently broken open, it made sense, repairs wouldn’t have been done yet.

The woman, who had been arguing with the man earlier, apparently had enough and left, so she was nowhere to be seen now.

Having roughly assessed the situation, I started walking toward the man.

“You… son of a bitch!!”

The guy, now sitting on the ground in fear, scrambled backward, but his mouth was still running.

“You said beggars from the Gaebang Neighborhood are weak?”

“.....!!”

“I’ll let it slide this time. But next time, watch yourself. People with nothing to lose don’t know how to hold back.”

The man’s face turned an angry, splotchy red.

Getting his ass handed to him, while he had a taser in hand, by some scrawny kid way younger than him. Yeah, that had to be humiliating as hell.

Which meant, this incident wasn’t something he could easily talk about.

Because it's too embarrassing.

If I crossed that red line, he would have no choice but to report it. But if I disappeared now, there would be no reason for anyone to know I was ever here.

I stepped up in front of him and clenched my fist.

At that, the man cried out, wearing the most pitiful, miserable expression he could.

“Y-You said you'd let me go!!”

“Clench your teeth.”

The moment I flexed my shoulder, he instinctively threw both arms up to shield his face.

Perfect.

Now’s the chance.

I focused all my strength into my legs and activated Poison Steps.

Fwoosh!

My target was the rooftop of the nearest building beyond the red line.

Thanks to the Black Aether coursing through my body, keeping my balance mid-air felt natural now.

No more ugly landings from here on out.

“?????”

The man, expecting another hit, cautiously lowered his arms.

Then, with a dumbfounded expression, he looked around in all directions.

It was understandable, someone who was right in front of him one second ago, but the next, he had vanished without a trace.

He didn't even attempt to get up and hurriedly checked behind him.

However, there was no way I could have entered his field of vision.

It would be impossible for him to fathom that I jumped to the rooftop of the building in a split second.

“Let's see...”

Beyond the building, vehicles and people moving quickly through the streets could be seen.

It was a completely different scene from the ruined Gaebong Neighborhood.

As much as I wanted to keep leaping across rooftops, I couldn’t afford to be noticed by anyone.

So I took the stairs down and boarded the subway heading toward Cheonggye Mountain.

* * *

“Is this really the right place?”

[Affirmative.]

The direction indicated by the GPS was definitely this way.

However, I couldn’t help but check the device again.

In the past, the thing in front of me was found almost everywhere, to the point you would stumble over them at every turn. Now, they were so rare that finding one was a challenge.

And right in front of me was that thing, a public phone booth.

"Why is this happening? Is it a bug?"

[According to the device’s logical structure, there should be no bugs.]

Hmm.

I better be careful with my words.

Standing in front of the sky-blue, square booth, I couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment.

“This is… his ‘home’.”

I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to have found this place.

It was quite far from the hiking trails where people usually went.

When I happened to encounter some hikers, they were quick to warn me not to go in that direction.

And now, after all that, the place I arrived at turned out to be a phone booth.

“Well, I guess I’ll give it a try, even if it’s just for the sake of curiosity.”

I stepped into the phone booth and examined the machine.

I had seen it in pictures a few times when I was a child, but this was the first time I was seeing it in person.

The red button was for emergency calls, or so I had been told, but the black button...

Hmm?

I hadn’t heard anything about a black button.

I felt an inexplicable pull and pressed the black button.

Clunk.

"Woooa!!!"

Immediately after, I couldn’t help but let out a scream.

As soon as I pressed the black button, the floor of the booth opened up beneath me.

In an instant, my body was sucked into the dark tunnel below.