“Ryu Soh-an, what the hell is going on with you lately? You keep vanishing without a word, blowing off all our joint dispatch missions. You used to walk around grinning like a fool, and now you look like someone just died.”
Tae Yishin joined Han Jigang with a grim look, clearly just as suspicious of Ryu Soh-an’s recent behavior.
Under their piercing gazes, Ryu Soh-an bit down hard on his lip. The emotions he’d felt just moments ago still clung to him, refusing to fade.
His mind kept trying to superimpose another version of these people over the ones standing before him now—a version only he had seen. Just as his breathing had begun to calm, the rising flood of emotion threatened to unravel it all again.
Controlling himself was becoming nearly impossible.
“…What happened?”
To make things worse, Gong Min showed up.
The pain Gong Min had inflicted on Nabin while in his Beastified state remained the most horrifying experience in all of Nabin’s memories. The terror and despair that had consumed Nabin in that moment had left a scar on his soul—one that would never heal.
And now, those scars had seeped into Ryu Soh-an as well. The memory of Nabin’s body shattering like brittle straw came rushing back—and with it, the last thread of Ryu Soh-an’s rationality snapped.
He had been trying to maintain a composed front, but maybe his limit had already been reached before he even stepped into the mansion.
The darkness he’d seen in Nabin’s memories had quietly wrapped itself around Ryu Soh-an, casting shadows he hadn’t even noticed. Those shadows were just waiting for a chance to devour what little reason he had left.
The side effects of suppressing all that pain and fury were now more than enough to send him over the edge.
“Ryu Soh-an, have you lost your damn mind?!”
Just because he was a Healing Esper didn’t mean he couldn’t fight. While not quite on par with an offensive Esper of the same rank, his ability to shape his mana into offensive forms was exceptional. If he used an Artifact, he could go toe-to-toe with one in actual combat.
His mana surged out of him, shattering the dining table that Han Jigang had spent hours preparing and tearing the kitchen apart in a wave of destruction.
The sharp crash of shattering dishes rang out all at once. But it didn’t stop there.
Ryu Soh-an had always laughed things off, even when others messed with him. But now, he was hurling attacks at the very people he had once treasured most—revealing a depth of killing intent none of them had ever seen before.
“…Soh-an hyung?”
Ryu Somin had just come downstairs after putting away his birthday gift and quickly washing up. The scene that met his eyes was nothing like the moment he’d been looking forward to.
Today was his birthday.
Ever since the doctors had said he might not live to adulthood, Ryu Soh-an—and all the brothers—had treated his birthday as the most important day of the year.
Even Han Jigang, who was usually curt with him, had personally prepared an elaborate meal. Now, all that food was strewn across the floor like garbage.
The dining table, filled with memories of shared meals and laughter, was now so thoroughly shattered it was unrecognizable.
The space once filled with laughter was now thick with mana and killing intent—so intense it was hard to breathe. Even from a distance, the sheer pressure of it made Ryu Somin’s skin prickle.
His face turned pale.
Spotting him, Gong Min immediately stepped in front of him, releasing his own aura in defense. Cuts had already appeared on Gong Min’s face, fresh blood trickling down—a sign of just how serious things had gotten.
He could’ve dodged the blow, but the fact that Ryu Soh-an had actually attacked him had left him frozen in disbelief. That hesitation had cost him.
“Gong Min, take Somin to his room. Now.”
Han Jigang was the first to regain his composure. He immediately worked to contain the wave of mana and killing intent, limiting its reach to the area around himself, Tae Yishin, and Ryu Soh-an. Then he turned to Gong Min, ordering him to get Ryu Somin out of there.
The rest of them could handle it. But Somin was a civilian. Even if one of Ryu Soh-an’s attacks merely grazed him, it could cause serious harm—especially since his body was already so frail.
His face, already pale, was now completely drained of color—as if he’d been scrubbed clean with bleach.
“Come on, Somin. Let’s get out of here.”
Gong Min reached for Ryu Somin’s hand, but the younger boy couldn’t even take a single step. His legs buckled, his body collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut. His pupils were unfocused, and he was trembling all over. Gritting his teeth, Gong Min scooped him into his arms.
Everyone was shaken, but no one more than Ryu Somin.
Ryu Soh-an had always protected him—always made sure he was safe, even if it meant getting hurt himself. He had cherished Somin above all else.
But now, he had launched a brutal attack, as if Somin’s well-being didn’t matter at all. As if Somin himself no longer existed to him.
The betrayal was unimaginable.
“…You’re going to be okay.”
Gong Min took Ryu Somin upstairs, sat him gently on the bed, and began rubbing his freezing hands and feet. He even brought over a heated Artifact and placed it in Somin’s hands, but the boy sat motionless, like a broken doll, glassy tears sliding down his cheeks.
When Somin’s breathing started to hitch, Gong Min pulled him into a careful hug, gently patting his back. Thankfully, the warmth seemed to help, and little by little, his breathing started to settle.
Gong Min looked down at the floor, his expression heavy.
The killing intent downstairs still hadn’t faded. It was hard to believe that all this was coming from Ryu Soh-an.
He couldn’t understand it.
Ryu Soh-an had always been the gentlest of them all. Even when Tae Yishin said or did something extreme, he always just smiled and let it go.
Gong Min had started noticing something strange about a month ago. They’d gone on a mission to a dungeon near the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. Partway through, Ryu Soh-an had received an urgent call from Kim Su-hyun and left early to return to the Center.
Since his powers were so unique, sudden summons weren’t unusual. But something had clearly happened at the Center that day—he came back to the mansion with a vacant expression.
His cheeks were flushed, and he’d mumbled strange things to himself, like someone completely detached from reality.
Even someone as mild as Gong Min had thought for a second that Ryu Soh-an might’ve gone insane.
But back then, it had still felt manageable. His behavior was odd, sure—but he hadn’t felt like a different person.
Then one day, he began acting uncomfortable around everyone—including Gong Min. It didn’t make sense; they weren’t the kind of people to make each other uncomfortable.
Ryu Soh-an was gentle, but he wasn’t the type to silently endure like Gong Min did. And it took a lot to make him angry. He was like a calm lake—you could toss in rocks all day, and the surface would barely ripple.
Even when he tried to hide it, even Gong Min could feel it. There was something strange behind Ryu Soh-an’s eyes whenever he looked at them—something they couldn’t quite name.
His gaze, though fleeting, carried a mix of fear and anger so raw it was impossible to miss.
Everyone had started to notice it in subtle ways, even if they didn’t say anything aloud.
If it had been Han Jigang or Tae Yishin acting this way, it might have made sense. Han Jigang was hot-headed and moody, his emotions swinging wildly from morning to night. Tae Yishin was twisted and tangled up inside, like a mass of thorny vines.
But Ryu Soh-an? He was the last person anyone expected to snap.
That was why the entire household had been tiptoeing around him, quietly on edge. No one said it out loud, but their daily life had become a powder keg.
Like a lit fuse hovering dangerously close to a bomb.
And now, on Ryu Somin’s birthday—the day his brother valued more than his own life—he had lost control.
He had let his rage consume him to the point where he no longer even noticed that he was hurting the one person he treasured most.
None of it made any sense.
Gong Min thought back on all of Ryu Soh-an’s behavior recently, trying to piece it together. But no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t find the cause of this sudden explosion.
Watching Ryu Somin continue to tremble uncontrollably, his heart sank.
The chaos downstairs had only grown louder—now thunderous. Watching the situation unfold from the second floor, Gong Min wrapped a Mana Barrier around himself and Ryu Somin.
Just in case.
He also began circulating his own brutal mana through his body, ready to shift into Beastification at a moment’s notice.
All he could do now was pray that Han Jigang and Tae Yishin wouldn’t lose control along with Ryu Soh-an. If they all went berserk, the mansion wouldn’t just be damaged—it would be annihilated.
Even now, the building groaned under the pressure, trembling like it was screaming. If not for the protective Artifacts installed during its construction to reinforce it beyond typical homes, the place would’ve already collapsed. The situation downstairs was only getting worse.
