Wait, What?

Implanting the Organ Neural Network of the Abyssal Electrophorus—a foreign biological structure taken from an entirely different life-form—offered Saebyeok an experience fundamentally unlike anything he had undergone before.

Discharging electricity just by flexing it like a muscle… fascinating. Ah, figures… controlling it isn't easy. It might be similar to the R'lyeh-style Mana Cultivation Method…

It had only been after unlocking the third stage of the R'lyeh-style Mana Cultivation Method that Saebyeok had begun to vaguely grasp its underlying principles. It was much like how he could only fathom the theories, named techniques, and intricate mechanics of Cephalopod Spearmanship once it reached A-rank.

I have to melt all of this into the motions of my spearmanship—the current of mana, the pathways of the neural network. Gather power with each breath, release it, ride the momentum of the preceding strike into the next, and transmute the very nature of my mana into electricity…

Saebyeok let the storm of electricity and mana raging through his body run wild. He allowed them to collide, intermingle, and clash, treating his physical vessel as an arena while remaining a detached spectator in the stands.

Mana is energy, and electricity is energy. Whatever that Particulate Mana Symbiote Culture Core is, it’s alive in some way, and life requires energy. In the end, life and nature are nothing more than the perpetual flow of energy. Don’t fight this vast, miraculous current. Flow with it… accept it naturally. I am merely a part of nature. First, I must hold it steadily like a vessel, let it settle, and then guide it smoothly along its course.

Never in his life had Saebyeok contemplated his own body and the currents coursing through it with such clarity. It was awe-inspiring. Clusters of proteins gathered and differentiated into tissues serving distinct purposes, accepting newly granted functions and reshaping themselves in the process.

Focus. Breathe, release tension, and look inward. Naturally. Never deny what comes naturally.

Saebyeok chanted the phrases echoing in his mind like sacred verses from a scripture.

After what felt to him like an eternity, the trance finally drew to a close.

"Whew…"

As he released a long, slow breath, the system dropped its metaphorical gold star of approval right before his eyes.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Oppa, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. And… I think I understand something now. I don't quite know how to put it into words, but…"

"Um… Oppa, a glowing sphere formed right above your head just now, and then it disappeared!"

Unlike Jian, who was quietly relieved, Heejin made no attempt to conceal her sheer excitement at the bizarre spectacle she had just witnessed.

"Huh? What was it?"

"You know that thing at science museums when you're a kid? That clear glass ball with electricity dancing inside, where if you put your fingers on it, the lightning jumps right to your hand! I can't remember what it's called, but something almost identical was hovering right over your head, I swear!"

Saebyeok chuckled. "Really?"

Watching Heejin excitedly explain what she had seen felt like watching a young niece breathlessly describing some unbelievable magic trick. It was rather endearing.

Poke.

Before he realized it, Jian had stepped close and poked his ribs with her index finger.

Poke, poke.

Seeing that electric sparks were no longer leaping from his skin, she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Oppa, I almost regretted lending you those points earlier."

"Why?"

"I was terrified I wouldn't be able to hug you like this anymore."

"Ah… sorry. Did I make you worry that much?" Saebyeok stroked Jian's hair as she nestled against his chest.

Glomp!

Refusing to be left out, Heejin threw her arms around both of them with all her might.

"Me too! Don't leave me out! Seriously, you two! That hurts my feelings!"

"Pfft, hahaha! Sorry, sorry!"

The three of them stayed wrapped in a warm tangle of arms for a long moment.

"Whew… Let's head up for now. You said it was morning, right?"

"No. It's afternoon."

"What???"

Saebyeok looked back and forth between Jian and Heejin in shock. Heejin shook her head with an exaggerated sigh.

"Unni and I even took turns going out to eat lunch!"

Saebyeok turned an incredulous gaze toward Jian.

"It's true. It's already past one in the afternoon."

"How on earth did I lose that much time…?"

Thump!

"Exactly! Reflect on what you've done!" Jian playfully jabbed him in the side.

Saebyeok could only manage a sheepish, apologetic grin.

After that, he rushed to take a quick shower, wolfed down a meal, and scrambled into bed to sleep. He had to force himself to rest, even if he wasn't tired. In an apocalypse where no one knew what grotesque abominations might be summoned into the streets, claiming he wasn't in top shape was an inexcusable luxury. Small as their community was, it was still a community, and a single blunder on his part would inevitably ripple out to endanger everyone.

And damnably enough, they had only just survived their twelfth night.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

A small digital clock running on coin-cell batteries, somewhat spared from the worst of the electromagnetic discharge, let out a feeble chime.

As Saebyeok pushed himself up from the mattress, the sun was already slipping behind the mountains.

"Ah… dammit. Night's back again."

"Huh? Oppa, isn't that a line from the Mafia game?"

Heejin, who had been sprawled out fast asleep until he stirred, was already awake and blinking brightly at him.

"Huh? What is?"

"Saying 'Night has fallen.' Isn't that what the moderator says in Mafia? Did you play Mafia a lot back in school? I used to play all the time! Hehe."

"Ah… no. I just meant it's literally night again. Don't read into it."

"I love Mafia, though… I'm such an incredible actress that I've never been caught once!"

Saebyeok ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠watched her chatter away with boundless energy the second she opened her eyes, marveling in disbelief. How can one person be so consistently cheerful?

Jian, who had stepped into the room, was looking at Heejin with the exact expression one might reserve for an alien.

Crack, pop, creak.

Saebyeok quietly stretched his limbs, working out the stiffness, and swiftly pulled on his combat clothes. Heejin scrambled around just as quickly, slipping into her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gear.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in—!"

"Saebyeok!"

"Oh, Doyoung-hyung! You're here?"

Doyoung stepped inside, greeting them with a boisterous grin.

"What's this? Still getting dressed? Jian was already geared up and warming up outside, you rascal!"

"Haha…"

Doyoung glanced at Jian's quiet smile, then turned back to Saebyeok.

"Haha… Just because you're sitting out tonight doesn't mean you can slack off, got it?"

"Hey, I'm just making the most of the time I have."

Saebyeok had only learned about it later, but after they shattered the tenth summoning stone and while he was busy upgrading his stats, the group had held a meeting. They worried that Saebyeok was carrying far too heavy a burden alone, and their conclusion was that they needed to rotate the vanguard so he could rest. Saebyeok had insisted that he would stay awake and keep watch from the rooftop just in case, and everyone had agreed to that compromise.

"Heh heh heh. Well, I'm taking point tonight, so kick back and take it easy!"

"Oh! Look at that confidence! Love to see it!"

Doyoung was significantly stronger now after all his upgrades, making him genuinely dependable.

"Anyway, I'm heading out! Keep your eyes peeled up there!"

"Yes, sir! We're counting on you!"

"You got it!"

Once Doyoung left, Jian walked over to Saebyeok's side.

"Is it Doyoung-oppa's turn tonight?"

"Yeah… hope nothing goes wrong. Well, we'll keep a sharp eye out from the roof!"

"Right!"

While Lee Jaehoon took a quick restroom break, Saebyeok stood on the rooftop, scanning the surrounding perimeter through a pair of binoculars.

Tingle?

"You're back?"

"Huh? Hyung, how did you know? I have the Silence trait active!"

"……Hmm, how should I put it? Let's just say I stepped into a whole new realm."

"Whoa, what's that? Like the Transcendent Realm in wuxia novels? The system doesn't have anything like that, does it?"

"I don't have one in my system either."

"Seriously? Then how do you know what realm you're in?"

"I just know, you punk! Focus! Here, take this and look!"

Brushing off the physical evolution taking place inside his body, Saebyeok tossed the binoculars back to Jaehoon.

Jaehoon chuckled and raised the lenses to scan the dark horizon. "Hyung, it's starting."

"Yeah… Keep your eyes peeled."

"Got it. Hehe." Jaehoon grinned at Saebyeok's familiar dialect slip.

Beep, beep.

The alarm on the watch chimed.

At that precise moment, an unbelievable sight unfolded before Saebyeok's eyes.

From high in the sky… from deep within the clouds, a brilliant bolt of light plunged downward like a streak of lightning, striking the rooftop of a distant building.

"What the fuck?"

"Huh? Hyung, what's wrong?"

"Wait, did I just see that right…? Hold on, give me the binoculars."

Saebyeok snatched the binoculars from Jaehoon and trained them on the spot where the light had landed. Moments later, a beast emerged from that very building—a creature covered in coarse black fur with an elongated snout, shaped like some grotesque fusion of a bear and an anteater. It lingered briefly before lumbering off in another direction.

"Jaehoon, over there! That building! The villa! Fuck, look at that!"

Startled by his shout, Jaehoon grabbed the binoculars and looked. The moment he confirmed the monster's location, he clamped a whistle between his teeth. He nocked an arrow—one that left a glowing tracer trajectory through his skill—drew the bowstring taut, and loosed the shaft toward the building while blowing the whistle with all the breath in his lungs.

"Hyung, that's insane! How did you even spot that?!"

"I saw a bolt like lightning strike straight down right there…"

"Wait, what? Hyung, what are you talking about? I was staring right at that sector the whole time…"

"…"

"…"

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah!"

In that split second, an image flashed through Saebyeok's mind: the moderator in a game of Mafia, tapping a player on the shoulder to designate the target.

He turned his gaze back toward the origin point of that lightning-like beam high in the clouds.

Could there be… a spaceship or something up there? Just like a moderator in Mafia, pointing down from the sky to mark where the summoning stones ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drop…?

He let out a dry smirk. Even to himself, it sounded utterly preposterous.

Yet in that fleeting heartbeat, countless calculations collided in his mind. Perhaps it was the lingering aftereffect of the night he had spent with Heejin, but an unfamiliar, razor-sharp instinct was whispering sweet temptations into his ear, practically begging him to attack that empty patch of sky.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

He had nothing to lose anyway. The world was already ruined. Tossing something into the open sky wasn't going to make things any worse than they already were.

Man, I shouldn't be picking up Heejin's reckless habits…

Saebyeok grabbed a length of steel rebar that Gayeong had driven into a planter on the roof for her gardening. Then he barked at Lee Jaehoon:

"Jaehoon! Back off, and don't let anyone get near me for a second!"

"What? Hyung, what are you—"

"Just move! Quickly!"

His body moved on pure instinct.

Bzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzt! Crackle, crackle—!

Saebyeok poured every drop of his mana into the rebar. Violent arcs of electricity erupted from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his hands, snapping and flashing across the concrete floor.

Drawn by the deafening crackle, Jian and Heejin came sprinting over from their watch posts on the other side of the roof.

"Oppa! What's happening?!"

"STAY BACK!" Saebyeok roared.

The steel rebar began to glow scorching red under the sheer intensity of the current. Poising it like a Spartan warrior torn straight from a cinema screen, Saebyeok took a short, explosive stride and hurled the metal spear with every ounce of strength in his body.

Cephalopod Spearmanship—Javelin Throw!

CRACK-BOOOOOOM!

With an ear-splitting shriek and a sonic boom, the rebar tore through the air. Trailing a blazing plume of electric light like a shooting star ascending in reverse, it pierced the heavens—and an instant later, plunged straight through something completely invisible.

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A delayed thunderclap shook the atmosphere as the sky itself rippled and convulsed like water.

Down below, every survivor at the mart froze in place, looking back and forth between the churning sky and Saebyeok with slack-jawed, utter disbelief.

"Holy… shit!"

Stunned by what he had just done, Saebyeok stood frozen on the rooftop, his jaw hanging completely slack.