At the outskirts of District 1, there was a village where those abandoned by the world gathered. From Omegas exiled by the district leader’s orders to wanderers with nowhere to go, the village housed a variety of people. And now, he had arrived here, searching for traces of “Night.”
According to his informant, they had discovered signs of either the cult leader of “Night” or one of their close associates in this place. It made sense— the farther one moved from the center of the district, the weaker the surveillance became. It was the perfect location to orchestrate something significant.
However, after several days of searching every corner of the village since leaving his estate, he had yet to find a single trace of “Night.” He knew it wouldn’t be easy to track down someone as ghost-like as them, with no known name, gender, or age, but as time passed, all he felt was a growing sense of futility.
“This is the last place.”
The car that had been moving at a slow pace came to a complete stop. Before he got out, the investigator gave him a brief rundown of the final village they were going to check. This place, known for having an especially high number of Omegas, was one of the most remote and underdeveloped areas.
“One peculiar thing— recently, there have been reports of Omegas disappearing.”
“Omegas disappearing?”
“We suspect human trafficking, but nothing has been confirmed yet.”
Since the moment the world collapsed and half of humanity vanished, morality had ceased to exist in this world. Human life had lost its value, and as a result, human trafficking had become rampant.
After all, he himself had nearly become a victim once. If those bastards had been bold enough to break into an estate in District 5 to snatch a child, there was no way they would leave the unprotected Omegas in the outskirts alone.
Smaller in stature than most, physically weaker, and with heat cycles that could be exploited to cater to the sick desires of perverts— it was obvious why they were being targeted. The mere thought of it was revolting.
“Investigate it.”
“The human traffickers?”
“For now, this is still part of District 1.”
Even he knew that was a ridiculous excuse. He spent every waking moment scheming to bring down District 1, yet here he was, pretending to care about it. Honestly, it would make more sense if he just admitted that he was concerned about the Omegas.
After finishing his sentence, he stepped out of the car. The wind carried a stench that made his stomach churn. Following the nauseating odor with his eyes, he spotted a cluster of Omegas huddled together.
‘Is that the scent of pheromones?’
With so many Omegas living in one place, the air was thick with their pheromones. But was it supposed to be this overwhelming? Covering his nose and mouth with one hand, he followed closely behind his attendant.
The deeper they went into the village, the more eyes fixated on him. Even though he was suppressing his pheromones as much as possible, it was clear that he was an Alpha. Slowly but surely, more and more Omegas began to gather around him.
‘His eyes aren’t normal.’
For now, he was barely holding on to his reason, but there was no telling when he might lose control. If he was reacting this strongly to just a trace of pheromones, things would have been much worse had he entered without suppressing them.
‘Disgusting.’
Unable to endure the intensifying stench any longer, he turned away from his aide and left the village. The aide, realizing the situation too late, called after him, but he ignored it and quickened his pace.
The New Humans reacted to each other’s pheromones. Omegas found the scent of an Alpha’s pheromones pleasant, and Alphas should have perceived an Omega’s pheromones the same way. But to him, their pheromones reeked like the nauseating stench of a garbage dump.
‘Seo-yul was never like this.’
There was no time to dwell on why Seo-yul was different. Right now, leaving this place took priority. His brisk walk quickly turned into a sprint—he needed to get out of here as fast as possible.
Just as he was about to reach the car parked in front of the village, a child suddenly dashed out in front of him, forcing him to stop abruptly. He barely avoided colliding with the kid, but the startled child plopped down onto the ground.
“Move.”
He glared down at the child, his crimson eyes radiating clear irritation. Frightened by his menacing gaze, the child finally burst into tears. First the unbearable stench, and now this deafening noise—everything about this place was utterly miserable.
“It hurts. It hurts so much.”
Even though the kid had merely fallen on their own without any impact, they whined dramatically, stretching out a hand as if expecting him to help them up.
He let out a scoffing laugh and stepped past the child. But before he could take more than a few steps, he was caught.
For such a tiny thing, the child’s grip was surprisingly strong. He tried shaking off the small hands gripping his clothes, but the kid refused to let go.
“Help me up.”
The child tugged at his sleeve persistently. Their crying had stopped long ago, and despite having no visible injuries, they still demanded his help. He stared down coldly.
A moment ago, the kid had been trembling in fear, but now they stared straight at him, repeatedly asking to be lifted up. Truly, this place was the worst in every way.
“Help me u—”
“I-I’m so sorry!”
An Omega, likely the child’s guardian, rushed over. The Omega scooped up the child and bowed repeatedly in apology. The child had been tolerable, but the moment the Omega appeared, nausea surged within him again.
Covering his mouth with his hand, he brushed past them without a word.
“Hah…”
Finally, he slid into the car and locked the doors securely. Releasing a wave of his own pheromones to rid himself of the disgusting scent clinging to him, the enclosed space quickly filled with the overpowering fragrance of strong flowers.
Maybe it was because his stomach was already unsettled, but even his own scent felt suffocating. He wanted to roll down the windows, but the fear of letting in more of that stench held him back. His nerves were stretched thin.
“Young master, why did you leave without saying—”
His aide hurriedly climbed into the passenger seat, breathless from chasing after him. Without a word, he signaled the waiting driver to depart. The aide protested that they hadn’t finished inspecting the village, but he was promptly ignored.
“Send someone else.”
“You’re not going to check it yourself, young master?”
“I can’t stand the stench.”
The aide tilted his head, unable to understand. Given how run-down the village was, it was only natural for there to be unpleasant odors. But why was this place the only one affecting him like this when he had handled other locations just fine?
Only after the car had driven far enough from the village did he finally roll down the window, taking a deep breath of fresh air. At last, the wind carried no trace of that foul stench.
‘Has this ever happened before?’
Because of the District 1 leader’s personal disgust, all Omegas had been forced to the outskirts. Ever since his Alpha manifestation had been completed, the only Omega he had interacted with was Seo-yul.
That was why he had assumed all Omega pheromones were like Seo-yul’s. It was common knowledge that the New Humans were naturally drawn to each other’s pheromones, so he had mentally braced himself before entering the village.
And yet, instead of losing control, he had found their scent revolting. Even recalling it now, it felt as though that sickening odor still clung to him. Had something gone wrong with him in the past few days since leaving the estate?
Was that why Omega pheromones now smelled repulsive to him?
‘It’s just a theory. Don’t overthink it.’
He forcibly pushed down his unease. Even if Seo-yul’s cocoa scent one day became more repugnant than the stench of rotting garbage, it would still be Seo-yul’s scent. If it came to that, he would simply give up his sense of smell.
Feeling suffocated, he shrugged off his jacket and unfastened the top buttons of his shirt. Just then, something fell to the floor with a soft thud.
Had something gotten on him when he bumped into that child earlier?
Frowning, he picked up the object from the floor.
‘A note?’
The dirty, dust-covered scrap of paper was stained with grime, making even touching it feel unpleasant. As he slowly unfolded the creased paper, his crimson eyes widened in shock.
<“Night is here.”>
There was no way a child had written this. That meant someone had deliberately slipped him this message in secret.
And if this note’s “Night” referred to the figure he had been desperately searching for—
He had almost let something far more important slip past him because of that wretched stench.
“…Turn the car around.”
“Sorry?”
The aide, not catching his muttered words, asked again. Without responding, he slammed his fist against the front seat.
Bang!
Startled by the loud impact, the aide flinched.
“I said, TURN THE DAMN CAR AROUND!”
