Free Web NovelThe day I decided to kill Pyo Won-sang, he came to see me.
“You must understand this. Jeong Dae-kyung is an extremely dangerous person.”
He always had good instincts—this guy.
He instinctively understood that there could no longer be coexistence between us.
If this ashen wasteland were to hold only the two of us, this clever man would throw everything he had into killing me.
But we both know the world isn’t constructed in such a flat, simple way.
Countless desires, goals, and diverging directions—some move forward, some vanish, and others stagnate.
That’s still true, even now.
Pyo Won-sang’s desire isn’t aimed at me, but at that verdant land.
News came in: Jeong Dae-kyung had been eliminated.
That report reached not only us, but also the armed factions fighting over Shangri-La alongside us.
It’s obvious they’ll band together against us.
Sure, the Exploration Corps’ firepower is overwhelming, but if they occupy the strategic points of Shangri-La first and establish a defensive line, the fight might not be so easy after all.
Besides, Pyo Won-sang’s trump card—nerve gas—is already a known factor. And with everyone prepared against it, its surprise value is gone.
He must be getting anxious.
That’s the backdrop of this little chat we’re having now.
“Jeong Dae-kyung is extremely cunning. He split his people into loyalists and dissenters, then shoved all the opposition beyond the Yangsan Rift. That’s the real Jeong Dae-kyung. He might seem like a good guy on the surface, but there’s a demon breathing inside him.”
Pyo Won-sang rattled off warnings like he was conducting some indoctrination session.
The fact he had even brought in the Kang Han-min kids to sit in on this meeting made his intentions laughably transparent.
“I see. I wasn’t aware.”
I already knew Jeong Dae-kyung wasn’t some virtuous figure.
Hell, can we even call him a person?
All I ever felt during the short time I spent with him was a boundless sense of unease.
Those eyes.
Just thinking of those eyes makes my chest freeze up.
“...”
Beads of cold sweat formed on Pyo Won-sang’s forehead.
He’d made his pitch, but my lukewarm reaction clearly bothered him.
His eyes darted nervously.
Then they landed on Woo Min-hee, who had been silently watching our exchange with her arms crossed behind me.
Sensing danger, Pyo Won-sang quickly opened his mouth again.
“...The unfortunate incident at Outpost 18—technically, Director Jeong Dae-kyung was involved in that as well.”
I didn’t know exactly what location he was referring to, but I had a good guess about which incident he meant.
Woo Min-hee uncrossed her arms and began walking toward us.
It was likely the accident that had taken one of her hands and feet, and swallowed up all her comrades.
“What did you just say?”
Suddenly, an invisible pressure crushed the space around us.
It was a suffocating sensation—like the air had thinned, making it hard to breathe—combined with a squeezing pain that clutched at the heart and gut. Even the seasoned Hunter Ha Tae-hoon, let alone the relatively green Moon Yang-gyeong and their team, visibly flinched with unease in their eyes.
“I said, what did you just say?”
Woo Min-hee’s voice wavered with emotion.
As expected of an over-level-10 Awakened, even a ripple of emotional agitation from her released a crushing wave that weighed down the entire train.
Scree—
Her clawed feet scraped sharply across the floor as she appeared between us.
For the briefest moment, I felt like my beloved junior wasn’t human, but something akin to a monster. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
“...”
It might just be the curse of being an Awakened.
But she’s still not at Jeong Dae-kyung’s level.
My junior is still more human than monster.
I believed that, without doubt, and gave Pyo Won-sang a subtle cue.
“Uh... uh...”
Even with the hint, he couldn’t form the words.
Despite all the time he’d spent in Jeju, it seemed this was the first time he’d truly seen the full scope of an over-level-10 Awakened.
Crack!
I kicked his shin under the table with my boot.
Only then did he snap out of it, gulping and finally speaking.
“S-So! There’s strong evidence suggesting Director Jeong Dae-kyung was deeply involved in that incident.”
“Can you submit that evidence?”
I cut in before Woo Min-hee could speak.
Perfect timing.
“Ah, well, I don’t have it right now. It’s stored in the headquarters archive in Seoul—”
Pyo Won-sang stammered, trying to pass off a limp excuse before Woo Min-hee could react.
I watched her expression.
“...”
Woo Min-hee might be quick to anger, but she’s far from stupid.
She’s actually frighteningly sharp.
She clearly understood that Pyo Won-sang’s excuse was nothing more than bait meant to provoke her. She recrossed her arms and turned her head away.
Though not without dragging her claws across the floor again as a warning.
Pyo Won-sang licked his lips nervously, cold sweat dripping.
That awkward expression was half fear and half shame—directed at Woo Min-hee.
He rose from his seat.
After such a harsh blow, he probably didn’t feel like talking any further.
Still, he had some pride left in him.
“But it’s true there’s evidence of Director Jeong’s involvement. There were monster wave reports from Outpost 8, 2, and 3—all under Director Jeong Dae-kyung’s influence.”
Trying to rile Woo Min-hee again.
But this time, it backfired.
She snorted, her tone silky and condescending—like a true Awakened looking down on a pitiful lesser being.
“So you’re saying monster waves killed my juniors?”
Pyo Won-sang shut his mouth.
Woo Min-hee, now composed, followed up coldly.
“Jeong Dae-kyung was operating right next to my command zone that day. Maybe your level’s too low to grasp it, but in there, people like us stand out. The only one whose location we didn’t know was Kang Han-min-sunbae—but even he had a solid alibi.”
Screeeee—
Woo Min-hee dragged her clawed toes across the floor again.
The look on her face was unmistakable contempt.
Like a true Awakened sneering at a pathetic lesser version of herself.
Pyo Won-sang’s face turned ashen.
I stepped in and led him out.
He was clearly rattled by Woo Min-hee’s reaction and excused himself briefly to steady his breath.
While he calmed himself, I pulled out my phone.
“I may have misunderstood your intentions, Commissioner, but I just want you to know—I hold no ill will toward you.”
I showed him my phone.
SKELTON: [Insect King Tournament] (Skelton) Skelton’s catch.jpg
“What’s this?”
Exactly what it looked like.
Legendary name SKELTON—recently went viral for entering the Insect King Tournament and proudly earned a top post.
I showed him that slice of truth and said calmly:
“I don’t enjoy deceiving people. I don’t know what’s making you uneasy, but all I want is to return to Seoul.”
Pyo Won-sang ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) stared at the image for a while, his eyes shifting.
Eventually, those eyes—now glinting with renewed self-assurance—locked onto me.
“...Understood. Once this operation ends, I’ll separate the rear vehicle and send you to Seoul immediately. We’re planning to settle in Shangri-La anyway.”
I stared him down.
“Really?”
He nodded.
“Yes. Immediately. As soon as it’s confirmed that Jeong Dae-kyung is dead.”
Not a bad deal.
Crude, perhaps—but the best possible conclusion where neither of us removes our masks.
Still, I don’t trust him.
Just like he doesn’t trust me.
As he turned to leave, he added one last thing.
“What I told Director Woo is true. Not a lie.”
He handed me a card.
It looked like an ID with an embedded chip.
“You can go to the committee’s auxiliary records room and ask the supervisor about Outpost 18. They’ll give you the data. In it, Jeong Dae-kyung himself admits to actively participating in the effort to eliminate Woo Min-hee’s faction. Said he did it to help his friend—the savior Kang Han-min.”
The way he trembled while speaking showed his pride had taken a real hit. freēwēbnovel.com
For a habitual liar like him, having a rare truth doubted must’ve been a shock.
Still, even I find his claims suspicious.
“According to Director Woo, monsters alone couldn’t have done it.”
There’s a reason the Awakened replaced people like us.
They can wipe out monsters easily—and in bulk.
I don’t think Woo Min-hee, with all her time inside the Rift, would miscalculate that.
Pyo Won-sang pouted slightly.
“Well, who knows? Maybe a Nemesis-type showed up?”
“A Nemesis-type...?”
He hesitated, then looked me in the eye and whispered in a voice only I could hear.
“Director Jeong tried to communicate with a Nemesis-type. You knew it had intelligence, even before you took it down—right?”
“...That’s true.”
I replied with some detachment.
But that boredom shattered with what he said next.
“He claimed he saw Bang Soo-byeon.”
“Bang Soo-byeon?”
“There was a general named Bang Soo-byeon, suspected to be an over-level-10 Awakened. Part of the Legion faction. Supposedly executed. But Jeong Dae-kyung said the Nemesis-type he contacted showed him that man.”
“...”
Just for a moment, it felt like the world around me spun.
Bang Soo-byeon had claimed to be over-level-10. He was with the Legion faction, and reportedly died a meaningless death within it.
A man who had no attachment to the world.
A father who bet everything on his son—and was discarded by him.
One thing’s certain:
Lee Haeng-taek couldn’t have known this.
And Jeong Dae-kyung, that elite from the Military Academy, wasn’t far off.
A group of soldiers approached our train.
Suppressing sound, moving with stealth, they climbed the ladder attached to the linked cars and got onto the roof.
Their purpose was obvious.
Pyo Won-sang’s secret weapon—nerve gas. He intended to wipe us out.
The timing was perfect.
Earlier that afternoon, Pyo Won-sang’s troops had entered Jeong Dae-kyung’s domain without a fight, seizing his palace and people.
Jeong’s close aides had evacuated before the invasion, so they took the key area of Shangri-La without a single gunshot.
And now, they’d confirmed Jeong Dae-kyung was killed in the previous attack, poisoned by nerve gas.
With Shangri-La secured and Jeong presumed dead, Pyo Won-sang had achieved his goals.
To launch a surprise attack now—when his main force was deployed and he thought the job was done—was clever.
That’s why he chose this moment.
But we were prepared.
Not just me—Woo Min-hee and Emgu too. All wearing chemical suits, waiting silently in the dark.
And right now, the real MVP was Cheon Young-jae.
“They’re right above us.”
Thanks to him, we knew exactly where the enemy was and what they were planning.
Clink—
Noise from the vent.
They were fitting in gas canisters, getting ready to release the poison.
Cheon Young-jae asked me,
“What should we do?”
Our weapons were loaded, trained upward.
Just a signal, and we could sweep the enemy off the train roof.
We’d even prepared a secondary plan to deal with Pyo Won-sang directly.
He’d already taken off his mask.
We had justification, and little risk of failure.
If Woo Min-hee were to unleash her strength, it’d all be over in moments.
But—
“...”
Something held me back.
It was that same unknown: Jeong Dae-kyung.
My issue with Pyo Won-sang was nearly resolved, but the incomprehensible mystery that was Jeong remained untouched.
Especially the last bit of information Pyo had revealed—too heavy to ignore.
The air felt cold and sharp.
Time was ticking.
To unmask or not—
A decision in an instant.
“...”
I raised my hand.
Halt command.
I pulled out my phone.
Dialed.
Rrrrrr...
Three rings.
“Yes, Pyo Won-sang speaking.”
He answered.
“This is Park Gyu. First time I’ve called you directly, isn’t it?”
“Ah, Commander...”
Eyes from all around shot toward me in confusion.
Above us, enemies waited to drop gas and kill us.
Even with gear, our lives were still in danger.
“Let me ask you honestly.”
Ignoring the looks, I focused on the voice behind the phone.
He’d removed his mask.
Grinning slyly—revealing the selfish, brutal nature behind the smile.
I stared down the Pyo Won-sang my mind had crafted.
“That day... You attacked knowing I might die, didn’t you?”
“...”
He didn’t answer.
I asked again.
“Well, honestly, it pisses me off. But tactically speaking, it makes sense.”
“...”
“Jeong Dae-kyung... That man. He seems dangerously unstable. I heard he’s dead, and if so, great. But if he’s alive, this isn’t something we resolve through petty emotion.”
“...”
“Until we know whether Jeong Dae-kyung is really dead—I want to support you. That’s my honest intention.”
“...Commander Park Gyu.”
Finally, he spoke.
And then—
Step. Step.
A small miracle unfolded above our heads.
The silent killers, ready to release gas on us, began withdrawing from the roof.
“If you help me, Commander—it’d be like gaining a thousand troops. Truly, I’m sorry I couldn’t say this before. My heart’s not that strong. But please—accept my apology now. I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, Commander!”
I relayed this to the others.
Their eyes still held questions.
But it wasn’t time to remove our masks just yet.
If we can never put them back on once they’re off, then we must think carefully.
“Why’d you do it?”
Woo Min-hee came up and asked.
I could’ve answered, but it would’ve taken too long to explain.
I stayed silent.
She grinned mischievously, twisting her question.
“Was that a decision made by Emgu (M9)? Or by Skelton? Or maybe...”
I looked at her and smiled softly.
A very Professor-like decision indeed.
