episode_0042

A sword is gripped in my hand.

And the opponent’s hands are bound, unable to escape.

What action should I take here?

It’s simple.

I suppose it would be to cut his throat with the longsword.

But I didn’t do that.

Instead, I want to offer him a more impressive and narrative death.

How should I best kill this man before me?

Perhaps it would be fitting for the killer himself to experience his own methods firsthand.

To die feeling the pain of those he has killed.

Perfect.

“—!”

I dropped the sword.

A loud clang strikes the ground.

A glimmer of hope appears on Chang-yoon’s face as he witnesses this.

The Ranker asks me, “Are you trying to fight fair and square? Good. If that’s your mindset, I’ll give you a good evaluation even at the facility.”

The Ranker says something absurd.

Doesn’t he realize his current situation?

“What are you talking about?”

Chang-yoon’s face contorts.

Soon his gaze shifts towards his own body.

My hand has completely pierced through his abdomen.

“Do you think… your grip strength is good?”

He cannot utter a word in the face of the pain he’s experiencing for the first time in his life.

He just gasps slightly with his mouth slightly agape.

A sticky sensation piercing flesh.

Upon feeling it, a shiver runs down the spine, reminiscent of insects crawling in the mind.

Expressing joy throughout the body as if having consumed a delicious meal.

I thrilled at the acrid smell of blood.

Twisting and turning the penetrated hand, I experienced the sensation, even relishing the touch.

A fresh feeling as if the blurry pupils were filled with focus.

“Anna…”

However, such an exhilarating sensation soon shattered completely.

Because a familiar voice reached my ears.

My dazed eyes turn towards the source of the voice.

It’s Sun-ye.

She approaches me, blood trickling down to right in front of my nose.

Behind her difficult journey lies a trail of crimson blood.

With lips pale, she gazes at me with a pitiful expression.

Her half-closed eyes seem to plead for mercy from me.

As if responding to her plea, I look at Chang-yoon.

But when I come to my senses, he is already dead.

His expression freezes coldly, overwhelmed by fear, without even closing his eyes.

“Run away… surely another Ranker will be sent.”

Honestly, it doesn’t matter if I listen to her words or not.

I wanted to face the man known as the ‘invited Ranker’ whom I met in the lab again.

But…

Seeing this girl dying before my eyes, that desire evaporates.

An immediate desire to save this girl surges within me.

At first, I couldn’t understand that emotion.

Do I truly love this girl?

No.

It’s because if she dies without hearing the truth, I won’t know if our shared memories were real or false.

If I don’t know that, the meaning of my existence will vanish completely.

My mind is torn between the personality craving slaughter and the one valuing the worth of life.

So for now, I want to save her.

To save her and ask sincerely.

If she regrets the time spent with me.

I approach her immediately.

Taking off my coat, I bandage Sun-ye’s wounds.

“Endure. It will hurt.”

When I apply pressure, Sun-ye exhales a labored breath.

For a moment, I feared that her breath signaled her impending death.

But fortunately, Sun-ye looked up at me with half-closed eyes.

She seems strong enough to endure.

I reassure myself and place my hands on her legs and waist.

Then I lift her slowly.

“Where should we go?”

I look at the broken windows and the main entrance.

Over there, bright lights flicker once again, just like I saw earlier.

Reinforcements.

Breaking through them and escaping is not a difficult task.

But it’s impossible to leave with Sun-ye in my arms.

If by any chance she gets shot while escaping…

I don’t even want to imagine it.

“—.”

As I pondered over such thoughts, my hair stood on end.

That strange sensation prompted me to slowly survey the surroundings.

The ceiling?

No.

Not even the wall, like when Chang-yoon ambushed Seon-ye.

It was the very floor of the shop.

Gradually, a faint vibration could be felt through the floorboards.

Could it be that someone has breached this far?

“—!”

I almost stomped my foot on the wooden floor in that moment.

But before I could do so, someone else emerged by breaking through the floor.

More precisely, by opening a hidden secret door.

And from there, the one person I could trust wholeheartedly stuck their face out.

“Dae-hyuk…”

“How many times do I have to tell you to add ‘sir’ at the end?”

He grumbled as he ascended the passage.

His thick belly almost got stuck between the doors.

“What about Han So-wi?”

“Here…”

I didn’t even know if she was So-wi.

But instinctively, given the circumstances, I could tell that So-wi was Seon-ye.

“It’s not good. You’ve shed too much blood…”

“Where should we go? I’m clueless.”

When I asked, he pointed towards the passage he came from.

As if he had known beforehand that this situation would arise.

“If you follow the passage, you’ll reach a collapsed subway. Run along the rails.”

“And what about you, sir?”

I inquired to him as he retrieved a shotgun from under the counter.

Dae-hyuk casually loaded red shells while chuckling.

“Now I can worry about others too?”

“This is no time for jokes. Aren’t you coming with us?”

I knew.

Surely, he wouldn’t want to die in this situation.

He had a daughter.

Who would willingly die leaving behind a cherished daughter, one he wanted to send to an expensive academy?

But despite my thoughts, Dae-hyuk just laughed it off.

“I’m a bartender. I have to protect my own place.”

Skillfully, he loaded the shotgun with one hand.

Having been a mercenary of the facility, he knew the reality better than anyone.

If we all fled together, we’d be tracked down, caught without a chance to escape.

Someone had to stay back and buy time.

Knowing this fact, he said, “Go. Don’t get caught again.”

“Live freely for the rest of your life, Anna.”

Freedom…

I mulled over that unfamiliar word in my mind.

Eventually, I nodded my head.

Given the circumstances, I had no choice but to make the most of him.

I threw myself into the dark passage.

Soon, the light pouring in from the shop completely disappeared.

Gunshots echoed loudly above the ceiling.

Shotgun shells clattered to the ground.

“—.”

I ran.

Since becoming an S-rank Hunter, I rarely found myself panting while running.

But I ran like a madman, my heart pounding so loud that Seon-ye could probably hear it.

After how long I ran, I spotted a sign attached to a wall.

“Gasan Digital Complex Station”

It was a station name I had never seen before.

Upon arriving in Korea, I had immediately faced the Gate incident, so I hadn’t had the leisure to look at subway lines.

“Seon-ye, where should we go?”

Seon-ye’s body twitched upon hearing my voice.

She soon opened her eyes again and gazed at the sign hesitantly.

“We need to… escape Seoul.”

“Escape Seoul?”

“All of Seoul is within the facility’s radar. We need to break out to the outskirts…”

She said with a cough.

Crimson blood trickled from her pale lips.

Her warm blood stained my white shirt.

That warmth urged my steps forward even more.

Somewhere other than Seoul…

I turned a corner and ran towards Line 7.

I crossed over debris scattered on the rails.

Unlike the previous station, I quickly glanced at a very simple sign.

“Cheolsan”

Climbing over the rubble, the night sky spread out through the hole.

A melancholic crescent moon shone upon us.

My legs felt weak.

Somehow, I dragged my feet and entered the sparse mountain.

Reaching the mountaintop, I leaned Seon-ye against a tree.

“Wait here. I’ll call for support from the Association. Please.”

I hurriedly took out my cell phone.

In the underground passage, since there was no signal, I had no choice but to climb up so high.

“—.”

Damn it.

Perhaps because it was late at night, no one was answering their phones.

Please, someone pick up.

Only the lawmakers have the direct authority to dispatch a helicopter.

I scan through all the names of the lawmakers I know.

Those who promised to help me anytime are of no help when I actually need it.

No one is picking up.

No one…

I was on the verge of dropping my phone in resignation.

“Hello?”

Upon hearing a woman’s voice through the screen, I immediately gripped the phone again.

And without hesitation, I shouted.

“Helicopter.”

“Oh, Anna? I didn’t expect you to call first.”

“Helicopter.”

Seeming taken aback by the abrupt two words, there was a brief silence from the other end.

But soon, on the phone that grasped the situation, a meaningful voice returned.

“Where are you?”

“Cheolsan. Where the abandoned apartment complex is. It’s a mountain at night.”

“I’ll be there soon. Wait where the signal is strong.”

The call ended abruptly.

I tucked my phone into my back pocket.

Then I approached Anna leaning against a tree.

“Wait. The helicopter will be here soon.”

Sunye smiles softly.

I can’t understand why she’s smiling despite having such deep wounds.

“Why… did you take me and run away?”

In a situation where she might die, she asks a strange question.

“I have things I want to ask.”

“The truth about me?”

As if expecting it, Sunye interjects.

But I just dumbly shook my head at her words.

“No, about our relationship.”

“Poor Anna… You still believe in me?”

Half-closed eyes, Sunye smiles.

A faint breath escapes her lips.

“Anna, I mean… I’m not like you, a detainee of the facility.”

She clasps my approaching hand.

Her warm hand, always warm, is as cold as ice today.

“And you’re not… a survivor kidnapped by the facility either.”

“What…?”

I knew.

That Sunye wasn’t an ordinary detainee.

But me not being kidnapped by the facility either.

What on earth is this?

“You were born there. Your childhood memories were artificially created. Following AI algorithms, the most ordinary girl’s memories, the 32nd sample.”

My eyes tremble at her detailed explanation.

My eyes have turned pale, like emotionless machines.

“You were born from the combination of a famous swimmer’s genes. That swimmer was the greatest talent in history and a psychopath who killed 50 women.”

Was my instinctive swimming when I fell from the facility for that reason?

With truths that fit together, my whole body becomes unbearably itchy.

“You were born with the talents of the greatest athlete and a murderer. To become Tolkien’s secret weapon.”

I look at my hands.

Rough and rugged hands.

Were this skin and these cells originally meant for a killer?

I ask Sunye through the gaps in my fingers.

“So, does that mean all the happy times I’ve experienced so far were fake?”

Sunye did not answer that question.

She barely nods her head, looking puzzled.

“I see.”

The wind blows.

Perhaps due to the high altitude, a cold wind passes through me.

“Then. What about you?”

“Me…?”

Sunye’s face contorts.

She seems to not immediately grasp my question.

“Were all the time we spent together also fake?”

“…”

Once again, Sunye did not respond.

Or rather, she couldn’t.

“Shaking my hand first, making cocktails with beer and champagne for me…”

“And all those times you kissed me…?”

It was the first time.

My nose tingled.

The eyelids, once pale throughout a lifetime, turn crimson.

Perhaps due to the flushed face, the eyes grew warm.

“Yes.”

Seonye smiles slyly with narrowed eyes.

In that moment, I feel it.

Who is the psychopath, and who is the villain?

Is it the Tolkien I’ve been until now, or the countless people-killing Changyoon?

No.

The greatest murderer was right in front of my eyes.

She killed something inside me.

Tore it apart like a vicious psychopathic killer.

Soon, the killer starts coughing.

Surely, if she didn’t speak, the coughing would stop, and she could have lived longer.

But as if determined, she intentionally coughs louder.

“Stop.”

She pays no heed to my words.

I press my finger into her mouth forcefully.

I feel the saliva-drenched finger and teeth.

Through those teeth, Seonye speaks.

“Do you regret it now? The time we spent together…”

Regret.

If it were in the past, I surely would have.

I was deceived by everyone, still an outcast, and will forever be one.

After experiencing this, how could I ever trust someone again?

But…

I decided not to regret anymore.

Even if everything was fake, in that moment, I was truly happy.

That… was an undeniable reality.

“No, I don’t regret it.”

I confess with trembling lips.

Having confessed, it’s now my turn to ask.

“How about you?”

I hope she had been as happy as I was during our time together.

Thinking so, I tightly close my eyes.

Soon, faint breathing reaches my ears.

The breathing whispers to me.

“I regret it.”

As I hear those words, my wavering smile freezes.

Slowly opening my closed eyes, I gaze at Seonye.

“I started this because I heard you promise to take care of my family for life.”

“But, when faced with completing the mission, I hesitated because of you.”

She murmurs with half-closed eyes.

But soon, her eyes begin to close slowly.

“If I die like this… what will happen to my younger brother, Siho?”

“He’s a poor child with no abilities…”

The boundary between Seonye’s pupils and whites blurs.

Already losing focus, she moves as she pleases.

“Sorry, Anna. I shouldn’t have involved you to this extent…”

“I’m sorry for making things this terrible…”

With those words, Seonye ceases to move.

Her blood-soaked hand falls powerless to the ground.

I stare blankly at that hand.

The palm bears numerous scars from working at the bar.

From burns while pouring hot water.

To cuts from hurried dishwashing.

That hand gave me Aquamarine.

Gave me Black Velvet.

Caressed my face.

Now, that hand has completely turned cold.

A sister, huh.

Thinking only of that damn brother even after leaving me…?

Empty.

The lifelong companion mutters to another girl and closes her eyes.

“Is this the end.”

The night sky remains silent.

The crescent moon shines steadfastly.

Seoul, viewed from the mountains, sparkles.

The city will have no idea what I’ve been through.