episode_0351

Is there anything as futile as clinging to past glories?

The Head Alchemist of the Potion Refinery.

He believed that if only the Milky Way fell into his grasp, the radiant glory of the past would unfold before his eyes once more.

The ingredient for the [Galaxy Potion].

If only he could capture her.

Bring back the discontinued [Galaxy Potion].

“Calm down, Head Alchemist. By now, the facility staff should be collecting the ‘Essence’s’ blood.”

“Do you think I’d let them lay a finger on something so precious without my permission?!”

He remembered the endless love calls that poured into the Potion Refinery.

Pre-orders booked solid for years to come.

Foreigners who would pay any price for it.

Reporters who trailed him the moment he stepped outside.

All of it was a spectacle created by the [Galaxy Potion].

Perhaps he could even obtain a clue to the ‘Hanbit Orphanage’s’ immortality project.

‘If only the Essence returns… If only the Essence comes back…’

Vrrrroom—!

On the road to the [Facility].

The Head Alchemist rubbed his soft, smooth hand nervously, shaking his leg with a restless expression.

“…….”

The face reflected in the car’s rearview mirror could no longer be called anything but that of a boy.

Once a wrinkled old man, the Head Alchemist.

He used to bite his nails as he watched himself grow younger, bit by bit.

‘Why…’

He dreamed of the dazzling past.

By now, it was no longer just a dream—it had become an obsession.

Because he had come too far.

The past where he smiled as his wrinkles faded.

The past when just breathing filled him with happiness in the Potion Refinery.

It could still come back.

‘Why… won’t this rejuvenation stop?’

But perhaps it was because he chased the past too blindly.

Blinded by the starlight that drew near, he felt as though he had wandered too far.

‘I must capture the Essence. Seize her… and remake the [Galaxy Potion]…’

An old man turned boy.

Unable to bear his excessive fixation on the ‘Essence,’ he bit his nails.

A harsh metallic taste seeped between his teeth.

‘If I drink the Essence just once more… I can fix this endless “recovery”…’

He chewed over the brilliant past.

Between his teeth clung terror.

Creeeak—!

Perhaps that was why.

Upon arriving at the [Facility]’s entrance—before someone’s collapsed villa—the Head Alchemist muttered,

“I must see for myself. I can’t wait any longer… Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Did something just move under the rubble?”

As he dashed toward the [Facility] with his subordinates…

He encountered an unidentified ‘boy’ crawling out from the villa’s wreckage.

“Are you friends with Daddy?”

Something Kim Hayang had buried in the past.

A boy with a bright smile, rising unharmed, stepping closer to the Potion Refinery’s people.

Innocent eyes, like those of a newborn, locked onto the Head Alchemist’s gaze.

“What’s with that kid… Why is there someone at the [Facility]—”

“I’ll handle it.”

And then, moments later.

A subordinate, gripping a weapon, approached the grinning ‘thing,’ when—

“Ah… Daddy’s friends.”

Crunch!

His throat was torn out by the ‘thing,’ which lunged with eerie motion.

Clatter—!

It happened in an instant.

The scent matched the ‘meat’ eaten daily at the orphanage.

The ‘thing’ chewed, savoring its first meal in a long time.

“Wh-what the hell is that?!”

“It’s a monster! Kill it!”

Five subordinates, all who had followed the Head Alchemist.

People who knew of the [Facility]’s existence.

Wrinkled middle-aged men drew weapons and ‘Skills,’ attempting to eliminate the ‘thing.’

Grind. Crunch!

Yet, one by one, they were torn apart by the monster posing as a boy.

Their bodies collapsed onto the cold floor.

Just as Kim Hayang had once muttered—

That thing was no human.

A monster that would recover instantly, no matter how many times its head was smashed or limbs severed.

What chance did middle-aged men, withered from years in a lab, have against it?

The young bodyguard brought along as security was already rolling on the ground, throat torn out.

It was only natural to shrink back from such an unforeseen horror.

“Hello. Hello.”

For some reason…

The Head Alchemist, now a boy himself, saw his own future in the monster before him.

Where would this body—slowly, yet inexorably growing younger—finally stop?

“Guh… Move!”

“H-H-H-Head Alchemist!!”

“Hello? Hello? You’re Daddy’s friends, right?”

Squelch!

Shoving a subordinate into the ‘thing’s’ path, the Head Alchemist seized the moment the monster was distracted and dashed toward the villa’s storage shed.

If he could just enter the [Facility] and lock the iron gate, he’d be safe for a while.

Click—

Then came the sound of a camera shutter.

Was it a hallucination?

“I left the entrance open!”

Inside the shed, one subordinate—already arrived—was pacing near the underground stairs leading to the [Facility].

Since when? Before him?

But such thoughts crumbled like dust under the pounding of the ‘monster’ hammering at the shed door.

“……Tch.”

The subordinate stepped aside, urging him to go first.

……Fine. Having someone follow meant buying time even if the monster pursued underground.

The Head Alchemist descended ahead.

“Phew… Took forever to get the door open. So you’re the Head Alchemist?”

Something about his subordinate’s tone felt off, but he had no time to dwell.

Beep. Beepbeepbeep… Beep.

Frantically descending, the Head Alchemist saw it—the tightly sealed iron gate.

Disabling the fingerprint scanner and other intricate security, he unlocked it.

“Head Alchemist! If you go in like that—”

“Hurry inside! That damn monster kid is out there! Why the hell was that thing wandering near the [Facility]?!”

Screeeech—!

The heavy gate swung open.

Now he was safe.

As a research facility that must never be exposed, the [Facility] was guarded by expensive security personnel hired from villain organizations.

Whether it was an immortal monster or an A-rank Hunter…

Even if the guild leader of [The Sword of Heaven] invaded, he was confident they could eliminate them.

‘Once I’m inside the [Facility], it’s over!’

Clank!

The gate opened.

The Head Alchemist and his single subordinate rushed inside like fugitives.

“…….”

“…….”

What awaited them was

Not the [Facility]’s security—

But two masked strangers, faces hidden like bank robbers.

…….

Click—

…….

“Hmm.”

Kim Hayang, clad in pristine white robes.

Adjusting her mask with satisfaction, she nodded.

A face-concealing tool… Surprisingly comfortable.

Warm.

“Oh dear, oh dear. We’ve truly become kidnappers now.”

“Guess so.”

Beside her, Kim Sarang—similarly masked—bound the Head Alchemist’s limbs with office rope.

Had she seen this somewhere before? It didn’t quite click.

Kim Sarang wrapped the rope tightly around the Head Alchemist, now a bloodied mess from their beating.

“Should we give Milky Way our esteemed companion a mask too?”

“……Even masked, Milky Way would be recognized instantly.”

“Ah. Right. We’d need three masks.”

“Three? …Why?”

“Can’t you tell?”

“I don’t see it.”

“Oh.”

Banter aside, their hands moved swiftly.

A boy who appeared to be in his late teens.

An androgynous face, almost genderless.

Was this really the Potion Refinery’s leader?

As Kim Sarang wrestled with knotting the rope—struggling to recall online tutorials—she clenched her fists in frustration.

“Ghk…! You damn Head Alchemist!”

“Kuh…! You… How did you get into the [Facility]…?!”

“We walked through the front door.”

Eventually giving up, Kim Sarang returned from the office with packing tape, wrapping the Head Alchemist like a mummy, leaving only breathing holes.

Peeling that off would be agony.

Or was it intentional?

Whose daughter was she again? Such a clever girl.

“Sarang.”

“What’s the verdict, Mommy? Can we leave?”

“We’re trapped.”

“What about Milky Way our esteemed companion?”

Ah, right.

They still had to find her.

Complicated.

Maybe a nap would help.

“Mommy. Mommy.”

“……Yeah. Fine.”

She blinked away drowsiness.

Kim Hayang decided to push her overworked brain a little further.

Outside was dangerous.

The opened gate was now shut again.

No sign of Milky Way.

“……You damn Head Alchemist!”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

Venting her frustration, Kim Hayang fell deep into thought.

How to find Milky Way?

She’d already circled the [Facility]—no sightings.

‘Then where… Could she be trapped somewhere?’

Was that why she couldn’t leave—held back by the rule?

The outside was dangerous.

Someone had to open the door for her.

Swoosh—

Kim Hayang’s canine-like instincts pointed somewhere.

The [Facility]’s floor.

Below.

“…….”

A good kid.

A kid who carried only painful memories.

Milky Way wouldn’t have escaped without them.

She must have clung to something alone, sinking deeper.

‘If she’s trapped somewhere… she’d need someone to open the door from outside.’

Kim Hayang decided, as always, to trust her instincts.

Scanning the area, she tapped Kim Sarang’s shoulder.

“Sarang.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“Cut it open.”

Her gaze landed on the [Facility]’s floor.

Kim Sarang nodded, rolling the words in her head.

She didn’t quite grasp it.

Cut what?

“‘Kay.”

She’d figure it out as she went.

Kim Sarang unsheathed her sword, channeling mana into the blade.

…….

…….

Meanwhile, the beasts that had successfully cornered the Head Alchemist.

But one had slipped away unnoticed.

“Whew… Nearly got caught too!”

The Head Alchemist and one subordinate.

Two people had entered through the gate.

“Guild Leader Kim Hayang… Milky Way… Kim Sarang… Where’d everyone gooo?”

“Moan…”

Tap. Tap.

The Head Alchemist’s subordinate—who had miraculously escaped the beastly duo—

Paced through the white halls, peering around as if searching for someone.

…….

…….

Crack! Crunch!

『Hurts! Hurts!』

“Get out! Get out!”

『Won’t go! Won’t go!』

“Out! Out!”

Splash! Splash!

Meanwhile, on the seventh basement floor of an orphanage.

Behind a tightly sealed iron door,

A woman, drenched in blood, clutched a severed arm.

Wading through calf-deep blood,

She chased a grotesque creature—missing half its skull—with her usual smile.