9. I Won't Give Up.
Whenever someone receives a terminal diagnosis with no set timeline for death, how do they react?
The American psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross neatly divided it into the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.
"What bullshit."
Kang Moo-hyuk chose a completely different path.
Resistance. And overcoming.
Born at the tail end of the Great War era, he'd been surrounded by death even as a fetus.
He survived the Gate outbreak too. He lost his mother, but he clung to life with grim determination. Instead of grief, he vowed revenge.
Even after joining a guild, death never strayed far. No matter how solid the plan or how foolproof the operation seemed, things went sideways the moment monster hunting began. Casualties were inevitable, win or lose.
In those moments of crisis, Kang Moo-hyuk always urged the hunters not to give up.
He'd find a way somehow. He'd save them for sure. Just hold on and fight back.
And now he was the one crumbling? Giving up?
"Embarrassing as it is, I still have to hand over the strategic team leader position."
There was no such thing as "absolute" inside a Gate.
No absolute impossibilities. No absolutes you could pull off.
Mana addiction was a product of the Gates too.
He just didn't know the method yet. It wasn't an "absolute" incurable disease.
Less than an hour after the terminal verdict, Kang Moo-hyuk steeled his resolve and got moving.
First, he gathered everything on mana addiction.
News articles, papers, info on related organizations—everything.
Know your enemy, and you'll find a way to fight it.
Unfortunately, as a rare disease striking one in a million, public info was scarce.
To dig deeper, he'd need experts and unpublished research.
Kang Moo-hyuk had no choice but to tap his network as Titan Guild's strategic team leader.
"Word's probably reached the guild by now, huh?"
Health was a serious disqualifier for a strategic team leader. For hunters, it wouldn't matter unless they were hopelessly crippled. But for a civilian like Kang Moo-hyuk, it was different.
Poor health could lead to bad judgment, and that meant dead hunters.
So he decided to cleanly sever ties with the guild first. He'd become strategic team leader to hunt monsters, not to get hunters killed.
He notified them of his resignation with a single, no-fuss phone call. No lingering attachments, even to himself.
—Alright. You've done good work all these years.
"Thank you for appointing an inadequate man like me as strategic team leader, Guild Master."
—Inadequate? Where am I gonna find another strategic team leader like you, Kang?
"Oh, and please don't publicize my diagnosis for now. Appoint a new strategic team leader. For the long vacancy, just say my health couldn't handle the workload and I need extended recovery. As for the C Project..."
—Don't worry. I'll handle it with my discretion. Just focus on getting better.
"Yes, sir. I'll visit soon after discharge. Goodbye."
Ten years with the guild behind him, now unemployed, but Kang Moo-hyuk stayed busy.
Laptop and smartphone in tow, he reached out everywhere, digging into mana addiction.
Time passed, and discharge day approached.
"Mr. Kang Chang-su, I'm heading to Ilsan Memorial Park now."
—Am I your dad or your uncle? The way you talk... Tsk! Why bother with an empty grave?
"Come if you want. Don't if you don't."
—Buy a bottle of soju.
Ilsan Memorial Park was built for the victims of the Great War and the outbreaks.
Most monster victims left no bodies to recover. It was a vast site, meant to console their families.
The tombstones were humble by comparison. Just a name carved in stone. Kang Moo-hyuk, who visited once a year, was here for the second time this year.
No special reason for the annual single visit. As his father said, it was an empty grave. Coming more often just stirred up pain. One visit on the anniversary sufficed as a son's duty. True remembrance meant killing one more monster.
"Mother..."
Gazing at the modest patch of ground, a shadow suddenly appeared beside him.
"Huh? From the start? I said dewdrop first. Figures you'd be the unfilial type—no idea of your dad's drinking tastes?"
"When have we ever drunk together?"
"Snacks?"
"Is this a bar?"
"No sense of occasion. You holding up okay at work?"
"As well as you, kicked out of the lab?"
—I left on my own!
Kang Chang-su poured soju into a paper cup and handed it to his son.
"Booze for a dying man?"
"Mana's more dangerous for you than booze. Your mom handled her liquor fine."
"Haven't touched it in ages. Interferes with work."
"Obsessed with killing monsters, missing out on life's fun. Don't live like that. Your mom's crying up there. Thinks it's her fault."
"...Deaf as a post. When she knew she was dying bit by bit, what was in Mother's heart?"
Despite his words, Kang Moo-hyuk downed the cup in one go.
Kang Chang-su refilled it from the returned cup and spoke.
"What do you think? She put your life first. Knew it was genetic, cried in secret over it. All I could do was comfort her."
"Comfort? You holed up in the lab more than you came home."
"That's my way of comforting. Sometimes pretending not to know is the solace."
"So that day too, you prioritized research over Mother? Pretended she didn't exist?"
"That's..."
Kang Chang-su trailed off.
His son's eyes held no emotion. No love, no anger, no blame. A face blank as stone choked the words in his throat.
Kang Moo-hyuk didn't wait for an answer. He said his piece.
"I asked you here today in case there's more you're hiding. We only learned Mother's illness fifteen years after she passed. Know how pathetic that makes me feel?"
"Knowing changes nothing. No cure."
"At least I could've shared the pain. Comforted her. Taken her to the hospital. Plenty I could've done, looking back."
"Your mom wouldn't want that. Hated you seeing her suffer."
"So nothing else hidden?"
"Worse than mana addiction? If you hadn't gotten it, you'd never know. What's the point?"
"This is Mother's grave. No lies."
"Lies? You drag me here on a busy day for that? Tsk! Said my piece. Time to go. Mountains of research."
Kang Chang-su blew into the soju bottle and turned away.
Kang Moo-hyuk didn't stop him. He knew his father's temperament—mirrored in himself. Once decided against speaking, he wouldn't until necessary.
At the parking lot, Kang Chang-su opened the passenger door. Yoon Il-do, his brother-in-law, waited in the driver's seat.
"What'd Moo-hyuk say?"
"What else?"
"Didn't ask about that day?"
"How would he know?"
"True. With his temper, if he knew, you wouldn't be walking out fine. He'd have grabbed your collar."
"Better he doesn't. If he thinks it's his fault, how'd that crush him?"
Kang Chang-su recalled fifteen years ago. Still vivid.
'Dad! Mom's gone, I can't see Mom!'
His wife's words overlapped.
'You're the top expert. Save our Moo-hyuk somehow. Even if I can't now, save him no matter what. Don't stop the research to save him, whatever happens to me.'
So he chose the research. Left his wife. Returned to the monster rampage. After decades with death, would monsters scare her?
Yoon Il-do tapped the reddening-eyed Kang Chang-su's shoulder.
"Hyung, more booze?"
"Enough. Drank plenty. Not even buzzed."
"Then let's head back to work. Wrap it up. To save Moo-hyuk. ...Fulfill your sister's wish."
As Yoon Il-do's car left the park,
Kang Moo-hyuk faced his mother at the empty grave. Felt like she'd come from watching in the sky.
Seeing her worried, teary gaze, he vowed.
"Don't worry. I won't give up, Mother."
Kang Moo-hyuk visited guild HQ for the first time in ages.
Resignation not processed yet, his keycard still worked.
Staff recognized him at the entrance, greeting and asking after his health.
He responded politely, heading for the elevator, when someone welcomed him far more enthusiastically than the office workers.
"Huh? Team Leader Kang!"
"Party Leader Park Min-soo. Long time."
"Long time? Two weeks ain't much. You were gone a month on ops anyway. Feeling better?"
"Yes. Expensive treatment, no issues with daily life."
"Knew that psycho Ma bastard would cause trouble. Not content with emptying the ops room, he attacks our guild's strategic team leader? Oh, and thanks—I didn't say it before. Saved our party. Convinced Guild Master to open C Warehouse? We lived because of you. Little later, and we'd be goners."
"Just did what needed doing. Guild Master upstairs?"
"Probably late today. Conference at Association, then back."
"Vice Guild Master?"
"That guy's... quietly dying in his office. Barely shows. His faction's all laying low. Why Vice Guild Master? Gonna unload on him?"
"Curses for the guilty, not innocents. He failed to rein in his brother, so collecting compensation."
"Hahaha, right. He's loaded. Squeeze him good."
"Got things to handle, heading up."
"Work hard. Time to return. Strategy team's lost without you. Drink later... oh, you don't drink. Meal then."
"Sure."
As requested, Guild Master hadn't announced his resignation.
'Vice Guild Master probably got a heads-up.'
Couldn't know their exact deal, but he could guess.
Warning not to meddle in operations. Or demand support.
'Probably the latter.'
Hands off the guild, and the vegetable Vice Guild Master takes over. Better push Guild Master but stay involved for opportunities.
Guild Master knew that. Vice Guild Master's support shielded against shareholders.
Tired of arguing with non-hunters, he'd see using Vice Guild Master as profitable.
'Plus Ma Tae-sik attacked me. Guild Master didn't say, but thrilled at the gift.'
After nearly wiping an elite party, trying to kill the strategic team leader? Choosing brother left Vice Guild Master speechless.
Not heartless—basic leader calculus. Extra leash on Vice Guild Master was good.
At Vice Guild Master's office, the secretary's eyes widened.
"He's in?"
"Y-yes, yes."
"Tell him I'm here."
Entering after her guidance, Kang Moo-hyuk was startled.
Ma Tae-soo, Vice Guild Master, had his head bowed.
He never bowed, not even to Guild Master. Same in the rescue signal fiasco.
'No "absolutes" in Gates. Even Vice Guild Master's caught in one?'
Why bow to him?
Kang Moo-hyuk read the situation fast.
This damn disease pulled answers from Vice Guild Master's posture, face, vibe, circumstances. No words needed; he knew.
"Vice Guild Master, no matter how much you bow, I can't get Ma Tae-sik out of prison."