The Abyss Stares Back
In the basement of a shopping center building lay a specially prepared secret base.
Nathan Cross, the on-site commander for this “Latchkey” operation, watched the monitor screens with a heavy heart.
He manually rewound the footage. A single frame barely captured Han Yujin’s figure before the image shook violently and the transmission cut out entirely. Whatever happened after that remained a mystery.
The operation had only just begun. How did he track us down so quickly and wipe out every agent?
With that thought, he rewound the bodycam footage a little further.
There was Park Heewon, the target. Despite clearly being dosed with the drug, he had woken almost immediately and put up fierce resistance. The scene played across multiple monitors from different angles.
This drug has been thoroughly tested. It makes no sense for someone who isn’t even A-rank, let alone S-rank, to wake up that fast.
The man clearly possessed a very special secret.
And that secret was almost certainly connected to Han Yujin’s overwhelming strength.
Both had awakened later in life. Both had shown exceptional potential from the start. Then, at some point, Han Yujin had become so powerful he could no longer be measured.
Given more time, Park Heewon might follow the same path.
Before more uncontrollable absolute beings appeared, before great chaos descended upon the world, they had to stop it.
Even Han Yujin alone had already pushed the global order to the edge of a cliff.
With that in mind, Nathan turned to the bodycam records from Beta Team.
Every screen had suddenly gone black. When the image returned, it showed the horrific interior of a van turned slaughterhouse, frozen in place.
It might have been Han Yujin’s doing, yet the method and result looked entirely different. Perhaps this revealed the existence of another dangerous element they had failed to identify.
The thought was both chilling and deeply unsettling.
At least the location of this base remains unknown even to the agents.
They had prepared countermeasures in case an operation was compromised. The United States had naturally caught wind of the incident in China, and the fact that Han Yujin could read memories had already become accepted truth.
Yet no matter how threatening the ability, it was not impossible to counter.
This base was unknown even to the agents. Moreover, it sat on the outermost edge of Gyeonggi Province, far from Seoul. The communication network had been routed through multiple relays, completely eliminating any possibility of tracking.
Though they probably could not hide the fact that this kidnapping attempt was a joint operation involving the United States and several other nations…
What could he do without solid evidence? Would someone with such power really storm the White House on a whim?
If he tried anything so reckless, he would simply be branded a global public enemy and dig his own grave.
Of course, calming an enraged lion whose whiskers had just been yanked would require a considerable price, but that was someone else’s problem.
Nathan had his own concerns.
There may not be a next chance…
If Park Heewon grew as rapidly as Han Yujin, there truly would be no next opportunity. Still, the operation had already failed. Forcing another attempt now would only increase the body count.
“…Prepare to withdraw.”
Nathan Cross finally gave the order. The five agents around him moved silently to obey.
Even as they worked, he continued rewinding the Beta Team bodycam footage, searching for any further clues. In truth, the action was half habit.
Then, suddenly.
While examining the section where the footage had been swallowed by total darkness, he inexplicably felt that the blackness resembled a pair of “eyes.”
The moment the impression struck him, a chill raced down his spine and goosebumps erupted across his body.
…That’s ridiculous.
There were multiple bodycams. How could every single one have captured an eye? And from such an intimate distance?
He shook his head with a small sigh.
Tiding…!
The distinct sound of a fluorescent light failing echoed as every light in the secret base flickered at once, as though a brief blackout had occurred.
It was the sort of thing that could happen to anyone, so Nathan thought nothing of it at first. Then he realized how impossible the event actually was.
This secret base had been built to support numerous sensitive and critical devices. It naturally included high-capacity batteries and auxiliary generators. A power outage like this should have been impossible.
“……”
An inexplicable tension gripped him as he scanned the room. Two agents were still quietly organizing equipment. The other three had already left to handle their respective sectors.
“I’ll take a quick look around.”
After speaking to the two remaining agents, he left the room, forcing himself to stay calm. Having reached the level of an A-rank hunter, he circulated mana and sharpened his senses to their limit.
The secret base was far from small. It was spacious enough to house thirty people without feeling crowded.
The other three agents had gone to retrieve the wiretapping and surveillance equipment scattered throughout the facility.
He moved for about ten tense seconds before noticing something else strange.
The lights feeling dimmer than usual could be dismissed as imagination. But the complete absence of any sounds from agents who should have been busily preparing for withdrawal was genuinely abnormal.
He opened his mouth to call their names, yet no voice emerged. After trying several times, he suddenly realized cold sweat was pouring down his skin.
…Why?
Why did he feel this way?
Why did this place suddenly feel so sinister and terrifying?
At that moment.
His heart, which had briefly stopped, now hammered as if trying to escape his chest. Fortunately, no immediate attack followed.
He could not remain frozen forever. He was no child afraid of the dark.
Had he not survived countless battles? To be seized by such irrational terror was truly embarrassing.
I’ll need counseling and medication once I return.
It seemed the failure of the Latchkey operation had affected him more deeply than he realized.
He wiped the cold sweat with his sleeve, regulated his breathing, and began moving again. He continued circulating mana, strengthening his body and sharpening his senses.
Ten more seconds passed.
He rounded a corner and finally spotted the familiar back of one of his agents. The tension drained from him so abruptly that the wave of relief nearly startled him.
“Lo…”
Just before he could fully call out the name Logan.
Whoosh…!
A sound like a faint gust of wind passed by. The agent, Logan Pierce, standing motionless, was suddenly seized by something and dragged into the adjacent room in an instant.
Immediately afterward came a small, sickening sound, followed by a spray of blood that soaked the corridor floor and walls.
Nathan Cross reacted on pure instinct.
Not to save his comrade.
To kill his presence and flee in the opposite direction.
His heart pounded so violently he could hear nothing else. His terror-stricken mind replayed only the image of his subordinate being dragged away.
Hair… it looked like hair…?!
It was absurd, yet that was the impression he received.
One thing was now certain: something unspeakably terrifying and dangerous had invaded the base.
While fleeing, he passed the command room where he had been reviewing the bodycam footage. The sight visible through the open door was enough to make him want to faint.
The two agents who had been calmly organizing equipment when he left were now hanging from the ceiling by their necks, tongues protruding, bodies mutilated beyond description. Bundles of jet-black hair served as the nooses. Blood from their corpses had already formed a large pool on the floor. It looked as though they had been killed the moment he stepped out.
Then he noticed something even more horrifying.
The bodycam screens that had been paused on total darkness had changed.
The camera seemed to have pulled back slightly, or the subject had stepped closer.
A face was now visible.
A pale woman’s face. Two pitch-black eyes, dark as the abyss itself, seemed to suck the soul downward into the deepest, coldest pit of hell.
Nathan Cross felt himself scream.
Consumed by overwhelming terror, he was already sprinting down the corridor at full speed, heading for the rear exit rather than the way he had come.
Right then.
Tiding…!
The lights flickered again. In the brief moment of darkness, he glimpsed the woman standing motionless in the corridor ahead and slammed to a halt, body jerking in panic.
“Huk…! Haaah…!”
Only then did he realize he was gasping for breath with all his strength. His entire body was drenched in cold sweat as though he had just emerged from water.
Tiding…!
Another brief blackout.
The woman’s silhouette appeared in the darkness, now much closer, before vanishing again.
When he instinctively spun around to flee once more.
Tiding—!
With a sharper sound, every light in the secret base flickered again.
This time, even with the lights on, he found himself face to face with the ghost’s pitch-black eyes right before him.
A wave of cold washed over him. At the same time, he smelled blood.
The terrible chill froze every sense, locking his body in place. The thick stench of blood felt as though it were pouring into his nose, flooding his lungs and suffocating him.
Instinct and reason screamed at him to run, yet he could not move a single finger.
Countless strands of hair whose origin he could not fathom crawled up his legs, wrapping them tightly. They continued upward, binding his waist, torso, neck, and finally his head, sealing him completely.
Nathan Cross screamed inwardly, begging for his life.
His eyes, wide with ultimate terror, were swallowed by a wave of hair and vanished into eternal darkness.
* * *
Han Yujin had sent the young Lee Won-hee into the Mountain Sea Pearl.
At the same time, he located her grandmother, Park Heewon’s parents, and one of his siblings, sealed them all with the Indestructible Ice, and placed them inside the Mountain Sea Pearl as well.
It was entirely for their safety.
Since the seal was formed from Great Blue Profound Water, it would not harm their health in the slightest. On the contrary, it would benefit them. With no time to explain the situation and ask for understanding one by one, he had taken this measure.
After informing Park Heewon, who had recovered from his injuries and regained consciousness, he left them together inside the Mountain Sea Pearl.
That was when Ghost Wonhee returned.
She had not come back alone. She handed him several objects resembling curse dolls made of hair.
They were both grotesque and repulsive. The dolls retained the warmth of living people, as if blood still flowed within them. They squirmed faintly, continuously screaming in terror.
They were hair dolls with souls sealed inside.
Using the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art to read their memories, Han Yujin learned not only critical information but also exactly how Wonhee had captured them.
Whoa…
Even as a Nascent Soul investigator, he could not help but find it frightening.
“How did you find them so quickly?”
Wonhee explained briefly.
It was an ability she had gained by killing and absorbing another ghost. If anyone possessing a soul fixed their gaze upon her, she could track the target and reach them instantly. It was a terrifying power.
The conditions for “being watched” were extremely broad.
Video and photographs worked, and even crude drawings were sufficient if they had been created with the intent of depicting her.
“So… they were caught the moment they started rewinding the bodycam footage.”
Wonhee nodded several times, then slipped back into his shadow and disappeared as if she had nothing more to say.
Jjik…! Jjik!
This time, even though her spot in his arms had not been taken, Mu-yong let out a cry and covered her small eyes with her front paws.
It was her way of saying she did not want to see the hair dolls floating before them, created by Han Yujin’s telekinesis. Their appearance was simply too horrifying and the aura they emitted too terrifying.
Since he had already used the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art, Han Yujin observed the dolls struggling a little longer, then activated Red Lotus Evolution to “liberate” them.
There was no reason to blame Wonhee for dealing with enemies in such a gruesome and frightening manner.
Ghosts originally needed to absorb the emotions of their prey to maintain their sense of self. It was no exaggeration to call it a survival instinct.
Of course, in Wonhee’s case, he could supply her with various emotions through the Six Paths of Reincarnation. However, that did not mean he had any reason to demand she show clean mercy when facing enemies.
After organizing his thoughts for a moment.
He immediately deployed the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art and shot off in one direction. Fusion Intelligence Elb used the smartphone’s GPS map function to provide directional guidance through an augmented-reality interface.
Less than ten minutes later.
He had crossed the Pacific and arrived in the United States of America, precisely Langley, Virginia. He had no difficulty locating the CIA headquarters building.
It was not the sort of building easily found on satellite maps, but photographs of it had been released multiple times. Fusion Intelligence Elb quickly searched those images on the smartphone and supplied Han Yujin with the necessary information.
He spread his divine sense widely once and immediately pinpointed the location of the person who seemed most important here.
Immediately afterward, he transformed into a streak of light again and slammed down onto a section of the building like a bolt of lightning.
CRAAAASH—!!
With a massive explosion, the CIA headquarters building, which had never experienced an attack of this nature in its history, shuddered violently.