How in the world did he manage to break through the security wall and enter the Special Residential Zone? What was the true nature of that massive explosion, powerful enough to carve and obliterate the terrain? How had Kwon Jae-jin survived such an immense blast, only to vanish like a ghost?
And the Guiding… That overwhelming, almost unbelievable S-rank Guiding—what was its origin?
Kwon Jae-jin had always been a living enigma, a walking mass of unanswered questions. But as of this moment, it was all over. Today, right here, all the answers would be revealed.
“Did you know about this, Lieutenant Colonel Jang?”
At the frontlines of the encirclement, Major Mateo spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san, who stood like an unmoving tree, arms crossed.
“I just received clearance to access the detailed terrain data. This estate—it’s Captain Seo’s residence.”
“……”
“Is Captain Seo Eui-woo involved in this incident? If you approved his long-term leave knowing this, that would make you complicit.”
“No. If I had known, I wouldn’t have approved it. Captain Seo acted on his own.”
There had been no certainty—only suspicion.
If, by any chance, Captain Seo Eui-woo had indeed smuggled away an S-rank mutant Guide, then he would be considered a criminal. Should the mutant be captured alive, Seo Eui-woo would also face punishment.
That was why the order had been given to retrieve the body. Memories couldn’t be extracted from the dead.
If anything, it could have worked in Seo’s favor. He would have been recognized for his service and promoted, while the S-rank mutant Guide’s corpse would have been dissected and used for research.
Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san wouldn’t have lost his direct subordinate, and Captain Seo’s crime would have remained buried in darkness, a secret never to be uncovered.
Unfortunately, as it stood, everything had ended in insubordination and exposure.
It was the moment Jang Tae-san’s ominous premonition proved to be correct. He had hoped it was just needless worry—but it wasn’t.
“Major Mateo.”
“Yes, Colonel.”
“Back then. What were you trying to say?”
“When you say ‘back then’…”
“That time.”
<...Lieutenant Colonel Jang. Do you have a moment right now?>
“You’re bringing this up now of all times?”
“Yes. I have a feeling that if I don’t ask now, I’ll never get an answer.”
“……”
Major Mateo swallowed a heavy breath. His dark eyes flickered with acknowledgment. They were already at the doorstep of the truth.
If they managed to capture the S-rank mutant Guide alive, everything would be exposed soon enough.
Mateo finally voiced the doubt and temptation that had been weighing on his chest all this time—the experience only he had gone through, as the only one who had ever made contact with Kwon Jae-jin.
“The truth is… after receiving Guiding from him, my abilities improved drastically.”
“Your abilities improved?”
“…I know how absurd it sounds. But I suspect that an S-rank Guide doesn’t just stabilize an Esper’s imbalance—they might directly enhance abilities as well.”
“I see… If what you’re saying is true, then this changes everything. But even so, verifying the facts is not our responsibility.”
“……”
“Major, are you still trying to satisfy your own greed? Do you crave Guiding that badly?”
“……”
“Heh, so it’s that bad, huh… Captain Seo, Major Mateo—you both can’t seem to get a grip on yourselves.”
“……”
Mateo’s lips pressed shut like a locked vault. Just as he was about to respond, the comms buzzed. He adjusted his goggles to receive the transmission.
“Lieutenant Kim, have you found him?”
—”Found him. There’s a bio-signature inside the building. This is definitely the place.”
“Good. Where exactly?”
—”Second-floor bedroom. The target is right th—Kuaaagh! Uaaaagh!”
“Lieutenant Kim, respond! Lieutenant Kim?”
—”Aahhh! H-Hurk—!”
Click. Connection lost.
A scream, like a death throe, and then—silence. The transmission was cut off.
Tension spiked as rear guards, who had lost contact with the forward assault teams, lifted their heads in alarm. The same thing was happening everywhere. Not a single transmission had survived. Every single connection had been severed. No one had any way of knowing what was happening inside.
“What the hell is going on in there…? Order the second wave to move in immediately.”
Major Mateo’s face hardened as he swiftly manipulated his goggles, scanning the unfolding disaster.
“Yes, sir! Second unit, moving in now! Formation advance—forward!”
The special operations unit tightened their formation and pushed forward with precise, disciplined movements. Their approach toward the mansion was swift and calculated.
And then—it happened.
“Ugh, hngh—!”
“Kuugh—!”
“Mmgh…!”
An overwhelming force erupted from within the mansion. The sheer magnitude of the power that poured out crushed everything in its wake. It was as if even time itself had halted.
The once-clear sky darkened into a pitch-black void, and the ocean waves, as though wary of provoking something beyond comprehension, fell eerily still.
The world was being smothered.
It was like a beast crouching, ready to pounce. If this absolute force were to be unleashed in full, the very ground would be torn apart by quakes, the ocean would rise into a cataclysmic tidal wave, and all things on land would be swept away without a trace.
Every single operative on the field froze like petrified logs. They could not move. They could not breathe without permission.
They all saw it.
Their own deaths.
Their expressions were identical—eyes stretched wide, veins bulging as if ready to burst, their faces drained of color, their jaws locked in sheer terror. Their limbs trembled uncontrollably before giving out beneath them.
One by one, they crumpled to the ground.
And above the heads of these kneeling, powerless humans, dark figures shot through the air like birds.
The ones who had stormed the mansion first. The elite special ops soldiers, armed to the teeth—were now being flung outside the mansion like discarded dolls.
It was absurd. It was pitiful.
These highly trained, awakened combatants had been effortlessly, almost laughably, ejected from the mansion.
And finally, from within the shattered walls—where the explosives had torn through the building—a monster emerged.
There was no mistaking it.
That presence… was not human.
It was an existence beyond omnipotence.
Like the immutable laws of life and death, of night and day—it was an undeniable force of nature.
Breaking through the suffocating silence, the figure slowly began to rise into the sky.
Hovering above, as if standing upon an unseen throne, it cast its gaze downward, surveying the powerless, paralyzed awakened soldiers below. Each time one of them met its eyes, they let out strangled, trembling groans—crippled by terror, drowning in shock and confusion.
These were elite special forces—highly trained from birth—yet not a single one could hold their composure.
Worse still, even as they stared straight at it, they couldn’t fully perceive what they were looking at.
Their minds refused to comprehend it.
The sheer weight of its power dulled their senses, blurred their thoughts, and robbed them of the ability to distinguish its features.
Yet, beneath the suffocating pressure, faint and chilling in its detachment—
A young, pale face, cold and emotionless, remained.
A strikingly beautiful face with pale pigmentation.
It was a familiar face.
Seo Eui-woo.
Captain Seo Eui-woo.
A member of the 1st Special Operations Unit. The one who had vanished after filing for extended leave. The first-ever S-rank Esper.
It was impossible. Unbelievable. That person was Seo Eui-woo?
No matter how powerful an S-rank Esper was, the idea that Captain Seo possessed such overwhelming strength was absurd. It was impossible. It had to be impossible.
Everyone was in shock—members of the 1st Special Operations Unit who had fought alongside Seo Eui-woo, as well as the search unit members who had briefly worked with him.
Seo Eui-woo was known as an S-rank Esper, a multi-ability user whose power exceeded that of A-rank Awakeners—but only slightly. He was never a being with such monstrous, absolute strength.
<“After receiving Guiding from him, my abilities improved dramatically.”>
<“An improvement in your abilities?”>
…Could it be?
At that moment, they noticed someone else standing beside him.
Suspended in the air by Seo Eui-woo’s abilities, wrapped in a sturdy protective barrier—
It was him.
The S-rank mutant Guide they had desperately been hunting down—Kwon Jae-jin.
The reason a mutant had been able to break through the security wall and enter the Special Residential Zone.
The reason for the massive explosion that had leveled the terrain.
The reason why Kwon Jae-jin had survived that apocalyptic blast and then disappeared without a trace.
All the scattered pieces fell into place, forming a single, undeniable truth.
Now that Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin had revealed themselves together, their existences overlapped, merging into one undeniable realization—like a blade piercing through the core of the mystery.
An S-rank Esper.
An S-rank mutant Guide.
From the very beginning, they had always been this.
Major Mateo stared up at Kwon Jae-jin in stunned disbelief. The situation was dire—Special Operations soldiers were crushed to their knees, barely able to breathe—but he couldn’t look away.
Seo Eui-woo, noticing Mateo’s gaze fixed on Kwon Jae-jin, curled his lips into a twisted smile.
Hatred—seething, burning, violent beyond mere hostility—flared in his eyes.
As if in response to that scorching wrath, Seo Eui-woo’s power sharpened into a spear and shot downward like a plunging dagger.
It was as if a storm of fire had descended upon the frontline.
“Ugh!”
“Kugh—!”
The Special Operations soldiers at the front were sent flying like autumn leaves in a hurricane.
Major Mateo hastily summoned his barrier ability, layering a new protective shield within the existing one. At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san reinforced his body with his enhancement ability, bracing for impact.
The agonized cries of the Awakeners rang out, reaching toward the heavens.
Hearing their screams, Kwon Jae-jin furrowed his brows.
It was the Awakeners who were being crushed, yet he felt it, too.
No, not just that—
He felt uneasy.
Kwon Jae-jin swallowed thickly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His trembling eyes fixated on Seo Eui-woo, who was unleashing his ferocious power without hesitation right beside him.
His face looked pitch-black, as if shrouded in darkness. It was suffocating.
Jae-jin’s jaw tensed. His lips were dry and parched.
Without a word, he reached out. His hand extended and barely brushed against Seo Eui-woo’s elbow.
A sharp jolt shot through his fingertips.
It was like touching—not a person—but the searing, molten surface of an exploding sun.
“…Are you really going to kill them all?”
He wasn’t even sure if Seo Eui-woo could hear him right now.
“Seo Eui-woo, we agreed not to kill them. I told you—I told you that we can’t do that.”
