Omen - "Remember My Name, Last. We'll Meet Again."

After the airship terror that had plunged Minos into a crucible of chaos finally ended, Jinhyun kept turning over the murmur First had left him with. It had been so faint that even his enhanced hearing had barely caught it. He suspected he was the only one who had heard those words on the spot.

"First..."

The more he mulled it over, the stronger the sense of familiar nostalgia grew. It felt like the same perfume from the day he first met Chae Yuha. Yet back then, Chae Yuha had been standing behind him. He remembered how quickly he'd grown close to the Royal Roader lady he'd only just met, how the two of them had stuck together until the situation was resolved.

A strange sensation brushed past him. It felt like his hazy childhood memories were resurfacing.

'Samwol... Ah.'

'You at least... must live...'

The images flashed by like a panorama. Cold sweat poured down Jinhyun's face as he kicked away from his seat and headed for the refrigerator. A cold drink might help him sort his thoughts.

"Senior!!"

But Yujin's frantic voice stopped him cold as she burst out of the bathroom.

"Look at this!! Hurry, look!!!"

"...What is it now?"

In Yujin's hands was the 6:4 ratio pad she always used. Jinhyun let out a heavy sigh, wondering what fresh chaos had her so worked up this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time.

The screen was filled with a string of internet headlines.

"...Ah, my head."

Jinhyun felt a dull throb bloom at the base of his skull.

A.G.O felt deeply wronged. She had definitely heard the order. Revive her Rec Channel and start uploading videos centered on the terror attacks Maker would carry out from now on. The creative direction didn't matter. As long as it generated buzz, anything was fine. She was told to show off her skills without restraint.

So the first thing A.G.O did was inform Park Seongtae of her survival. He was someone who had shown her countless kindnesses while she uploaded to Ark. Truthfully, she had wanted to greet him properly ever since her last visit to the broadcasting station but had held back. Of course she had asked Chae Yuha for permission first. She had even been told it would be excellent if this opportunity could turn Park Seongtae into a full sponsor of Maker.

"A.G.O! You're really alive!"

"What!!! That bitch who was supposed to be gone is still breathing!!!"

Jin Taehyeon's voice, Park Seongtae's right-hand man, crackled over the line as well. A.G.O explained the situation as concisely as possible — from being hunted by hitmen and struck by a sniper round to being picked up by Maker and brought back to life.

Park Seongtae listened in silence, nodding slowly as he began piecing the puzzle together. The more he heard, the more A.G.O's movements and Maker's terror seemed to share a common thread: exposing the ugly truths of high-ranking figures that normal society dared not touch. Was that why Maker had killed no one in the latest attack? A performance, a kind of propaganda declaring, We are not ordinary terrorists! We will prove it with this incident!

'Please, stop this insane murder show! Anyone, please!'

"..."

All previous thoughts were retracted. For Park Seongtae, this was clearly an opportunity, not a crisis.

"So you want to revive your A.G.O channel?"

"Ah... No, sir. If you could just let me create one new channel... I'll handle the rest... Hehe."

The approval came instantly. Channel creation complete. Rec Channel A.G.O — revived!

Yet the very first video uploaded to that channel was titled Unhwa Airship Terror Live Cam Footage.

"Where on earth did you get something like this?!"

Chae Yuha rarely raised her voice, but she did now. A.G.O shrank back. Seolhwa, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who had been calmly eating ice cream beside her, spoke up in her stead.

"Huh? Is this not allowed? Most of the videos on A.G.O's channel before it was deleted were shot in this exact style."

Chae Yuha had never actually watched any of those old videos. Realizing her mistake, she cleared her throat awkwardly.

"What I meant was, how exactly were you able to obtain footage like that every single time?"

"Now that you mention it, I was curious too. A.G.O, how did you manage it?"

"Ueh... It's a corporate secret..."

"We've already seen everything there is to see. What secrets could possibly be left?"

Seokho, growing frustrated with A.G.O's hesitant mumbling, grabbed her by the shoulder. But A.G.O's face suddenly turned ice-cold, as if she truly could not speak.

"..."

Seokho flinched, startled. This was the first time he had seen A.G.O's eyes so frigid. A moment later she reverted to her usual "Ueh..." with that vacant, silly expression.

Only Nadja seemed to understand what was happening. She stood up.

"Move. This has a safety lock on it."

"Safety lock?"

"Simply put, it's a genuine corporate secret. The algorithm is written at the production stage to prevent the unit from speaking certain keywords."

"Ueh...? I had something like that...?"

This was news to A.G.O herself.

"I know how to unlock it. Back when I was in Cheongang, I once dissected the brain of a Vitaloid that had been doing industrial espionage."

"Hii... Hiek...!!"

Terrified by Nadja's brutal wording, A.G.O fled at a speed comparable to the central-nervous-system booster from some cartoon. But most of Nadja's work was carried out by invisible nanomachines. They had already infiltrated A.G.O's head and were rewriting the algorithmic values inside her learning device.

"Hey. Now speak."

"Ueh...? S-speak about what...?"

"What we were just talking about."

"Just now...? The part about how every Vitaloid is equipped with a miniature camera from the production stage and constantly records everything they see, hear, and experience? Or the part about how I can ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠freely delete or download the recorded footage from other Vitaloids...?"

"...What?"

"...Yes?"

"...Huh?"

A beat late, everyone present doubted their own ears. The room fell deathly silent. A flustered A.G.O replayed her own words in her mind.

"Hueh...!! If what I just said is true, that means Wunhwa Group has essentially released living surveillance cameras across all of Minos...!! Why didn't I ever suspect this before...!!"

No one quite knew how to respond to the person who had dropped the revelation now panicking at her own words.

"Huu... What a life."

Cheon Taewoo, CEO of Cheongang Group, clutched his throbbing head. They said stress caused hair loss. At this rate he would soon look just like branch director Park Seongtae. He had recently picked up smoking again after quitting.

"You said the kill was confirmed."

"..."

"Then why the hell is this bastard still alive?"

"...My apologies."

Slouched on the sofa, Cheon Taewoo glared at the contractor who had previously been hired to assassinate A.G.O. He no longer even had the energy to rage.

Earlier, after watching the newly uploaded A.G.O video, he had tried calling Park Seongtae only to hear:

The number you have dialed is currently switched off. After the tone, you will be connected to voicemail...

Yes. He had been blocked.

When he thought about it, this quarter had been nothing but one dramatic catastrophe after another. Constantly cursed as a parachute company, cursed for poor nanomachine management, failed to secure first-generation technology, approval ratings tanked after the court video-manipulation scandal, the brand-new elevator nearly destroyed by terrorists, the founding researcher suddenly submitting a resignation, the riotous pest everyone thought was dead now perfectly alive... And now even a mere broadcasting director was ignoring calls from city leadership?

"Sip... Hah..."

Cigarette smoke filled the wide room. Cheon Taewoo seriously considered handing the entire company over to his daughter.

Late that night, on the outskirts of the city inside Maker's hideout, Nadja woke to a belated muttering. Her ears were sharp even in sleep.

Poke. Poke poke.

The sound was coming from the living room. Nadja rubbed her sleepy eyes and shuffled out.

There she found Chae Yuha leaning her forehead against the refrigerator, endlessly jabbing her finger at empty air.

"...Yuha. What are you doing?"

Nadja's voice had grown deadly serious. The thing wearing Chae Yuha's face in the living room turned its head with a mechanical creak.

Poke poke poke poke poke poke.

Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke.

"Annoying... annoying... annoying..."

Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke.

Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke.

"Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying."

"...Yuha!!"

Chae Yuha collapsed, consciousness gone.