Even as his body stiffened, his gun barrel unconsciously tracked the next target. Seo Eui-woo was right. He wasn’t aiming with his eyes but hitting the mark by instinct.
With every shot fired, the bullets found their targets one after another, and the creatures collapsed like a line of dominoes.
Kwon Jae-jin’s lips pressed into a firm line.
There were no more living creatures on top of the outer perimeter wall.
Now, he had to shoot the creatures impaled among the dense piles of corpses below the wall.
Jae-jin took a deep breath. Then, he pressed the goggles resting on his forehead down onto the bridge of his nose.
He powered them on and switched to automatic mode.
Strangely enough, it didn’t feel unfamiliar. Just like in his dreams, blue holograms flickered frantically before his eyes.
The ground was dark like a deep swamp, and creatures, corpses, and awakened ones were all jumbled together, making it difficult to distinguish them. But with the goggles, the holograms marked the ground’s boundaries and identified allies and enemies. Registered awakened ones had friendly markers, while unregistered creatures were labeled as hostiles.
It felt like he could shoot just fine like this. No, in fact, the goggles were a tremendous help to his accuracy.
He knew exactly what he had to do, and more importantly, he felt like he could do it.
Jae-jin aimed his gun downward.
Seo Eui-woo’s eyes widened as he watched Jae-jin use the goggles without any prior instruction.
“Jae-jin, that…”
Even Eui-woo was this shocked. The other awakened ones, who had assumed Kwon Jae-jin was nothing more than a mutant who had slipped into a special residential district, were utterly stunned.
They had been drilled over and over with the belief that mutants were not proper awakened ones like them—they were just creatures to be culled. Now, their pupils wavered as they saw the truth.
For those whose lives had just been saved by Kwon Jae-jin, their minds went completely blank for a few seconds.
Mutants were supposed to be uncontrollable, and that was why their extermination had been an unshakable principle.
But seeing was believing.
Now that they had witnessed it firsthand, Kwon Jae-jin looked no different from an elite member of the special operations force.
No, considering this was his first deployment, he was even more exceptional.
They saw no hesitation in Kwon Jae-jin’s face. Even if he was afraid, he didn’t stop. He carried out his task with unwavering focus and always made optimal decisions.
He was a warrior with the grit to keep fighting even when pushed to the extreme.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The gunfire never ceased.
Kwon Jae-jin focused solely on shooting.
Not a single shot missed. Every bullet cut through the darkness and rain, striking only the creatures.
As they fell helplessly one after another, a raw, electrifying thrill surged through his bloodstream. Heat flared in his bones, burning intensely.
He felt exhilaration.
The recoil was intoxicating.
He was even… excited.
A flood of primal emotions overwhelmed him, leaving him feeling utterly exposed.
Instinctive fear toward the monsters.
The crushing weight of facing the creature wave.
The confusion of being swept into this sudden catastrophe.
And yet, an unyielding determination to do what he could.
Each time a creature collapsed under his bullets, it felt like a knot of resentment deep in his chest unraveled. The humiliation, despair, and helplessness he had endured as a mutant shattered into pieces. He had spent his days locked inside his home, unable to do anything, accepting that as his reality. But now, it felt as if he had kicked down that door and leapt far beyond it.
Leaving the past behind, pushing forward—Kwon Jae-jin was growing at an astonishing rate.
Growth meant an expansion of one’s world.
For a newborn, the crib was the entire world. For a child, it was their neighborhood. As one matured, that radius expanded further and further. Growth was the process of widening the boundaries surrounding oneself.
To Jae-jin, the Frontier Zone had always been an abstract, unknown land.
As a civilian who had lived his entire life in Residential Zone 6, even the Special Residential District had been unfamiliar territory. The thrill he had felt upon entering the Center for the first time was still fresh in his memory. But now, he was standing face to face with the vast, open world beyond the outer perimeter wall.
The sheer sense of space overwhelmed him more than when he had first climbed onto the Center’s rooftop.
It felt like standing in the middle of a boundless ocean.
When he had entered the Center, there had been a reassuring sense of stability, as if he were stepping into a carefully constructed system. But this place—this was different. This was raw, untamed land.
This was nature itself.
Seeing the immense Frontier Zone with his own eyes, he finally understood.
The war against the creatures wasn’t just about life and death. It wasn’t merely about taking or losing lives.
It was a battle over land.
With every step forward into the monster-infested wasteland, overcoming adversity, humanity’s world expanded and grew.
Kwon Jae-jin had come here of his own free will, and he was resisting with all his might.
<I think… I’m free right now. That’s exactly how it feels.>
<Yeah, I guess that means I feel the same way too.>
He was free.
Not once had he ever imagined this could be possible.
He had never even considered that he might want this kind of battle.
Before coming this far with Seo Eui-woo, he had never even dared to dream of seizing his own freedom with his own hands. All he had thought about was prolonging a life that was already doomed, spending money however he pleased, and that would be enough. Giving up as he dated, resigning himself as he loved—that was all.
But now…
Now, he wanted it so badly…
So desperately… that he knew he could never give up this freedom again.
Kwon Jae-jin lost himself in the moment, possessed by something beyond himself, unloading his rifle in a relentless barrage.
His breaths grew increasingly ragged, and sweat from his forehead seeped into the inside of his goggles. His fingertips trembled uncontrollably. His eyes burned, and the tip of his nose turned red. His heart pounded so violently it felt like it might burst. His tense muscles were so rigid they ached as if turning to stone. His whole body felt like it was on the verge of exploding. Sparks danced beneath his skin.
Endlessly. Endlessly…
He kept firing until every last magazine strapped to his harness and waist was spent. Only when the chamber clicked empty and the trigger pulled against nothing did his mind finally snap back to reality.
When he looked up, he saw that the horde of creatures had been driven all the way beyond the outer edges of Residential Zone 2.
They were now outside the effective range of his rifle.
But for Seo Eui-woo’s abilities, the distance was still more than reachable.
Krrrgh, krrrrghh!
Kiiieeeeek!
The creatures let out sickening death wails.
Under the ruthless grip of Seo Eui-woo’s power, the monsters were caught and crushed flat. Like folding paper, the creatures were bent in half. Then in half again, crumpling smaller and smaller until they could no longer withstand the pressure—
Puhk! They burst apart.
An overwhelming force continued to rage on, pulverizing every monster that dared to approach.
Zzzkrrkk! A deafening roar split the sky, and a blinding white bolt of lightning struck down vertically. The dazzling brilliance flared for an instant before vanishing, leaving behind a flickering black-and-white afterimage in his vision.
In the wake of this omnipotent slaughter, the relentless black tide finally calmed.
The creatures’ cries fell silent.
Nothing remained but lifeless corpses.
‘…Is it over?’
Swallowing his burning breaths, Kwon Jae-jin slowly surveyed his surroundings.
His goggles no longer detected any enemy movement. It seemed the creatures were truly dead.
Only now did Jae-jin lower his rifle, letting his arms fall to his sides. The tension drained from his shoulders, and his head naturally tilted downward.
As his gaze fell to the ground, he belatedly noticed the fallen awakened ones lying at his feet.
‘…!’
Multiple friendly markers appeared on his goggles. But what lay before him were nothing more than mangled lumps of flesh.
Ripped, crimson-mashed meat.
Dozens of scattered intestines, shattered bones, tattered combat uniforms, severed limbs, and broken weapons were strewn across the battlefield.
Not a single corpse was intact.
Half-eaten by creatures, torn apart, or ripped open…
Jae-jin’s gaze settled on a head that had remained relatively preserved. Just moments ago, this had been a living, breathing human being. Now, all that was left was barely enough to make out the facial features. The blood-soaked clump of hair barely looked human anymore.
As the rain washed away the thick, dark-red blood, a single bulging eyeball was revealed—staring straight at him.
The raindrops clinging to the exposed eye looked eerily like tears.
Kwon Jae-jin’s expression wavered. His fingers went slack, and he nearly dropped his rifle, but before it could fall, it stopped mid-air. Suspended.
Seo Eui-woo had caught it with his ability.
“Don’t look.”
Eui-woo pulled Jae-jin into his arms. His body was enveloped in warmth, a gentle hand rubbing his back.
“Just keep your eyes closed. Don’t open them. Just close them.”
“…Ah… okay.”
“You’re safe now. You did well. Jae-jin, you were incredible.”
Seo Eui-woo whispered softly, his voice gentle yet tinged with exhaustion. He had pushed himself hard, using his abilities relentlessly to wipe out the creatures as quickly as possible. Beads of sweat clung to his sharp features.
“It’s over now… It’s all over.”
“…”
“It’s all finished.”
Over…
Was it really?
Was it all truly over…?
Kwon Jae-jin slowly raised his hands. His palms ached as if they had been struck, and his fingertips were still trembling. He reached out and wrapped his arms around Seo Eui-woo’s waist.
Pressing himself against Eui-woo’s chest, standing so close their bodies touched, Jae-jin felt the other man’s lips press against his cheek.
The rain-soaked combat suits were slick against each other. The kiss, too, was damp.
Because of the rain, there was no guiding effect. Their goggles bumped awkwardly against each other, getting in the way, but Seo Eui-woo didn’t seem to care. He simply brushed his lips over Jae-jin’s cheek, then the corner of his mouth.
“Let’s go. It’s raining. You’re completely soaked.”
“…Ah…”
“And you’re shaking too much. Your body’s stiff… You’re going to catch a cold like this.”
His voice sounded muffled, as if submerged underwater.
The sounds around him faded, growing distant. And then—
A sharp ringing filled his ears from somewhere far away.
