Chapter 156. Lee Jong-hyun.
I'd been watching from the moment the vehicles came into view from the village, not missing a single detail. But something was off. The cars following behind were firing at the one in the lead.
"Commander, those vehicles are definitely from Suwon."
"I know. But what is this? Did a schism break out...?"
Even if a split had occurred, I couldn't wrap my head around why they were coming here. The villagers were on edge, rifles trained on the approaching cars, ready for anything. A tense silence settled in as fingers rested lightly on triggers.
Suddenly, smoke billowed from the lead vehicle, and two women leaped out and began sprinting toward us. I scrutinized them carefully, scanning for explosives or hidden weapons. As I watched, one of them was shot and collapsed.
And then, as if realizing they couldn't move anymore, the trailing car let out an aggressive roar, surging forward to run them over.
"Old man, I think we need to hear their side of this in detail, don't you?"
"Yes. I'll handle it."
Cassius, who could now read my intent from a single glance, immediately leaped between them. He stood with his back to the women, staring down the car charging straight at him.
They didn't slow down in the slightest, intent on crushing the old man blocking their path along with them. But from the start, Cassius was not a being so weak as to be frightened by a mere hunk of scrap metal.
"Stop. Approach any closer and you will be treated as hostile."
Cassius was giving them one last act of mercy. The engine roared even louder, mocking his words.
"Hmm..."
One arm remained clasped behind his back, while his other hand clenched into a fist. Then, at the very moment of impact, he brought his fist down on the hood of the car like a hammer.
— Crash!!!
A sound that defied belief came from the collision of a human fist and a vehicle. The hood crumpled instantly, and the violent impact sent the rear of the car flying upward.
Cassius dusted off his hands with a few pats, then turned and stared impassively at the car now embedded in the ground.
"Did I not tell you to stop?"
At this impossible sight, the trailing vehicles slowed and came to a halt. The drivers sat frozen in their seats, their pupils trembling wildly.
"Is he... the same kind of human as us...?"
Amidst that tension, the people sent under Lee Jong-hyun's orders could be seen killing their engines and stepping out of their vehicles. Their faces were stained with a complicated mix of resolve and fear.
"Doesn't look like today's a day for welcoming visitors..."
I could see the man's Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.
"These bitches betrayed us! So we're taking them back!"
One man stepped forward as he spoke. A flicker of fear crossed his face, but he summoned his courage to carry out his orders.
I smiled calmly at their assertion and lazily raised one hand.
"Get lost. Once we hear their side of the story, we'll decide whether to hand them over or not."
"Hey! Dealing with those bitches is obviously our—!"
"Did you not understand what I said?"
As I spoke, I ripped a door off the wrecked car and tore it in half right there. My voice was laced with ice. The weight of those words crushed the air around us, and I could hear their heartbeats spike.
"We were..."
The man who had spoken up stammered in confusion, trailing off.
"I said, get lost."
The men exchanged glances and hesitated.
"What do we do? How are we supposed to..."
The momentum radiating from that overwhelming presence was enough to numb their minds.
"Get lost."
I released a wave of killing intent along with my words. They fled in a panic, scrambling back into their vehicles and peeling out of the village. I watched them retreat with cold eyes.
"What about the women?"
"One has a gunshot wound, but it's not life-threatening. The other seems to have collapsed from exhaustion and fainted."
"Treat them first, and call me when they're awake. I'll have to go and hear this from them myself. And recall the others."
Hanna drifted back to reality from her flickering consciousness. As her blurry vision gradually sharpened, she realized she was lying down.
"Where am I..."
As her sight cleared, she saw the ceiling, and a low murmur of noise drifted around her. She could hear the hum of an air purifier, the voices of people talking, and the irregular beeping of a monitor.
In an instant, she remembered fleeing with Jimin. The car breaking down, throwing themselves out and sprinting toward the entrance. And the guns firing without hesitation to catch them.
"Gun...!? What about Jimin...!"
She turned her head with dread in her heart, but Jimin was nowhere to be seen. Hanna tried to sit up, but an immense wave of fatigue washed over her, making it hard to muster any strength. Just then, the door to the hospital room opened, and her eyes met those of a nurse carrying an IV pack.
The nurse looked at Hanna and flinched in surprise.
"Professor! The patient here is awake!"
A moment later, urgent footsteps approached from outside. The man who opened the door and stepped in was middle-aged, and from his clothes, clearly a doctor.
"Can you follow my finger?"
He shone a light into Hanna's eyes and moved a finger back and forth in front of her face. Then, after checking a computer monitor connected to a complex array of machines, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're all right."
It was only then that Hanna, realizing she had actually escaped, began to shed tears. The medical staff, having witnessed many times what survivors go through to reach this place, waited quietly for her tears to subside.
"What about Jimin...?"
"The bullet passed through her thigh, but by sheer luck, it missed the nerves and bone. Fortunately, a simple suture surgery was all that was needed."
"Then where is Jimin now?"
"She woke up a day earlier than you, and she should be having the bandages on her wound changed right now."
"Thank you..."
The medical staff bowed their heads to her in greeting and exited the room.
"I survived..."
The tears she had held back welled up once more. The reality of it echoed deep in her chest. She felt a surge of hope — she could get back up again. She made that promise to herself. The door opened again, and Jimin, leaning on crutches, hobbled inside.
"Hanna! You're awake!"
Jimin's happy voice rang out as she made her way to Hanna's side. Hanna looked at Jimin in a moment that felt like a dream. Despite the pain in her thigh, Jimin broke into a relieved smile the moment she saw Hanna's face.
Once Hanna was fully alert, she received the doctor's permission to go out and wheeled Jimin outside in a wheelchair.
The moment the fresh outside air grazed her face, a shiver ran through Hanna's entire body. The sunlight was warm, and a gentle breeze lightly ruffled their hair.
Hanna pushed Jimin's wheelchair and went wherever her feet took them. Unlike Suwon, this village was full of a peaceful, cozy atmosphere. People were working and joking with each other, laughing. The sight reminded Hanna and Jimin of the peaceful daily life they had forgotten.
"It's wonderful... Do you think we could live here with these people too?"
Hanna nodded.
"I think we'd fit in just fine."
While they were talking about a hopeful future, Cheon Sihu approached them. His figure exuded a powerful presence, and the two of them naturally turned their eyes at the sound of his footsteps. The same old man they'd seen before was always at his side.
"How are your bodies feeling?"
"Yes, we're okay. And thank you so much for helping us..."
"I'm sorry to spoil the good mood, but could you explain what happened?"
Hanna and Jimin nodded with somber faces and said,
"It may be hard to believe, but we'll tell you everything we went through."
I'd received a report that the woman who hadn't regained consciousness yet had finally woken up. As soon as I heard the news, I wrapped up what I was doing and went to find them. Their names were said to be Park Hanna and Kim Jimin. They had been friends since middle school.
I found the two of them out for a walk, looking peaceful. After asking if they were all right, they offered to explain everything that had happened, so I took them to the Assembly Hall.
"Slurp..."
As they each took a sip of the warm, sweet coffee Cassius had brewed for them, the two women recounted everything.
'So that's why it was so quiet... he was eliminating those who didn't fall in line with him just like that...'
I gestured behind me, and Cassius brought over a laptop. The intelligence our people had secretly gathered included some shocking photographs.
It was an enormous trove of data: audio recordings of him declaring he would eliminate the unnecessary, photos capturing the scenes of him calling people away one by one to kill them, and files with X marks drawn over the faces of those who'd been removed.
"...."
"..."
The two women staggered under the weight of despair and asked him,
"Why... didn't you save them, and only took pictures like this?"
I closed my eyes at their question, thought for a moment, and then answered calmly.
"Do you think if I'd just spoken up out of nowhere, people would have readily believed me?"
Not at all. If they were people who had experienced Lee Jong-hyun firsthand, they would understand exactly what I meant. And once they faced reality, they bowed their heads to me and apologized.
"We're sorry... We were only thinking about our own situation."
"It's fine. You went through that hell yourselves, so I think that's natural."
While we were in the middle of talking about Lee Jong-hyun, Park Hanna suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.
"When he killed people, he said something a little strange."
"Something strange?"
"When he was killing people, he kept muttering something about needing to get stronger... And I also saw a sinister, purple light in his eyes."