INHO 10

End and Beginning (10)

The first symptoms were mild pain and numbness.

Within minutes, black mist-like blotches spread from the area of contact throughout the body.

Then came the agony of one’s flesh melting away, followed by the horror of not knowing when their last breath would come—until death finally arrived.

The survivors called this poison “Black Mist.”
The rate of spread and time until death varied per person, but ordinary people rarely lasted a full day.

Contact with an already infected person meant a 100% chance of transmission.

In the end, no antidote was ever developed.
The only way to counter it was through skills related to “Purification.”
Even then, those only served as temporary relief—they didn’t grant immunity.

And since such skills were rare to begin with, even that temporary measure collapsed quickly.

— Yooha, Yooha. Save me.
— Me first! You know I’m the strongest here, right?
— Healer! Save the healer first!

Voices echoed in my head, like hallucinations.

— If only you’d been a little more competent…
— It’s your fault!

They sounded like whispers right beside my ear.

“Hey, hey! What’s wrong with you? If one more corpse piles up here, I’m leaving you behind, got it?”

My body was shaken violently.

As my blurred vision refocused, I saw a familiar cat mask in front of me.

— It’s fine, I’m okay, help the others first…

“Are you okay?!”

I shouted desperately and grabbed Lee Yul’s hand.
He quickly shook me off, but even the brief touch terrified me—what if contact had been enough?

The first outbreak wasn’t supposed to happen until years later.
No matter how much the past had changed, natural events like this shouldn’t…

Was Lee Yul’s theory right all along?

“What’s wrong?”

Before I could think further, Lee Yul flinched from the sudden contact and stumbled back.

I didn’t chase after him. My overheated brain was spinning, trying to make sense of it.

The people lying everywhere—they were all probably infected.
Who should I save first? Who’s in the most danger?

Since when… and why… did the monsters—

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, Lee Yul’s knees buckled.
He tilted his head as if he couldn’t comprehend what was happening, tried to stand, but his upper body collapsed to the ground.

It all looked like a slowed-down film reel.
The mask he never took off in front of others slipped off and rolled across the floor.

A sharp nose, thin lips, tightly closed eyes.

I felt the blood drain from my body, and only then managed to move.

If I just use “Purification”…

But right before I could rush to him, something grabbed my ankle.

“Please… save me.”

A person lying on the floor had regained consciousness and was staring at me.

Their wet, black eyes were filled with desperate pleading—
the kind of gaze of someone clutching a rope over a cliff.

Don’t look at me like that.

I can’t save everyone.

Lee Yul still wasn’t moving, and all around me, it felt like every fallen person was screaming for my help.

My heart felt like it would burst.

My vision flickered. My whole body trembled.
I clutched my head in both hands and crouched down.

Magic anomaly detected.
Activating skill based on wielder’s will…

A voice rang through my head, pain boiling inside me—
pure despair filled every corner of my being.

At least Lee Yul…

Then came the sensation of my body being crushed under immense gravity.

I bit down on my lip and gathered the last of my strength.
Control didn’t matter anymore—if I could just reach him.

“Purification.”

A long leg stepped out from the air, as if space itself had opened.
Polished black shoes, tailored dress pants—
and then, the rest of the man emerged.
He walked leisurely toward Yooha, his steps carrying the calm confidence of a predator.

“…Interesting.”

His red eyes swept over the surroundings, their reflection dry and gritty like desert sand.
He looked on like an indifferent spectator watching a play unfold.

When he snapped his fingers, the world began to peel away—
like scales falling from reality itself.
Green leaves melted, flowing like red blood.
Shattered pieces of sky drifted down slowly.
And when all had collapsed, what remained resembled the insides of a vast creature.

“Well done.”

At his words, the “walls” of the world parted slowly,
a curtain lifting to reveal a fresh breeze heavy with the scent of grass.

The monster that had “spat out” the people shrank its body,
then rubbed itself affectionately against the man’s leg.
The gesture was full of childlike affection.

The man patted its head and murmured,

“Pipi, what do you think this one saw?”

The monster—Pipi—stretched lazily, as if unconcerned, basking in his touch.

Pipi was an S-class monster that hunted by emitting hallucinogenic toxins—
it lured prey into illusions before devouring them.
Anyone who even breathed in the slightest trace of its poison
fell into hallucinations that reflected their deepest fears.

At first, it merely weakened them,
but once the victim entered its “mouth,”
even the strongest hunter could not escape.

No one had ever survived an encounter with it.
So it remained unknown to the world—
and yet, before this man, it looked almost cute.

The hallucination it showed before devouring prey was always their greatest fear.
Panic made prey easy to control.

From the moment the hunters entered the gate,
they had already been lured into a trap.
Inside the monster’s mouth, each was forced to confront their personal terror—
and if Pipi swallowed them, they would die without ever understanding why.

But the man wasn’t interested in “Wind”, nor in any of the other hunters.

He was after this woman—

The one Min Hajun had held so protectively when he barely escaped that gate.

Since then, Hajun hadn’t stopped his activities or shown signs of injury.
Even for an S-rank, that recovery had been too fast.
A normal healer wouldn’t have been able to do it.

But now, he understood why.

“So, you’re the anomaly.”

Coming here personally had been worth it.
He had witnessed something rare—something unbelievable.

Had he merely been told, he wouldn’t have believed it.

Watching her absorb all the poison in the area and then purify it,
he felt an indescribable surge of power emanate from her.

He didn’t know where she came from,
but judging from her unstable control, she was a newly awakened, fledgling hunter.

Hm… it’d be a waste to kill her now.

He rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

Killing her would be easier than breathing.
He wouldn’t even need to use magic—
just a slight squeeze around that slender neck.

But he didn’t.

“When you eventually fall into my hands… I hope you’ll have grown stronger.”

Now that he knew her ability, she was no longer an unpredictable variable—
just another useful piece on his chessboard.

He bent down and brushed her hair aside gently.
After all, one mustn’t withhold affection from what is theirs.

Just then, Wind, who had been lying motionless nearby, stirred.

“S-class, huh? Wakes up fast.”

The man watched him with cold, detached eyes—
then slung Pipi over his shoulder and vanished.

At that very moment, chaos was unfolding outside the gate.

“I told you—the Association already has a raid team inside!”

“I know. I’m not here to interfere, just let me through.”

The agents blocking Min Hajun exchanged uneasy looks.

“The difficulty’s already assessed, and to prevent another incident like last time,
we sent in hunters above the required rank.”

“Then I’ll just take a look.”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have authorization to allow that—”

They couldn’t stop him by force—he was strong enough to push through if he wanted.
Thankfully, he wasn’t the type to do that.

Honestly, they wanted to just step aside,
but orders were orders.

Then a voice of salvation arrived—the voice of an office worker.

“If you insist on entering, you’ll have to sign this document:
You’ll have no claim to any rewards from the gate,
and your participation will not be disclosed to the media or recorded publicly.”

A woman with her hair tied back adjusted her glasses as she approached.

“Pen?”

“Here.”

Without hesitation, Hajun signed the paper.
After checking it, the woman nodded, and the agents finally stepped aside.

“As you know, if you’re injured or die—”

“Yes, yes. I won’t hold you responsible.”

“Glad we understand each other.”

Hajun didn’t reply—he just stepped through the gate.

Was there something strange about this gate?

His unusually hurried demeanor made the woman recall the report.

B-rank Gate.
No particularly dangerous monsters detected.
Predictable wave pattern expected.

The Association always conducted pre-clearance inspections before a raid.
Unless it was a growth-type gate, those reports were almost always accurate.
They had even assigned a slightly overqualified team just in case.

Nothing about this gate should have stood out.

“Wind went in too, right?”

“There was no one at the entrance at the time…
But Minshik said he saw someone heading that way.”

A frustrated sigh came from beside her.

“How many times have I said to always keep watch at the gate entrance?”

“Do you know how many people it takes to evacuate civilians and secure the perimeter?
These days everyone’s livestreaming near gates for clout—”

“Enough. I’ll fix it.”

Choi Minshik quickly covered his teammate’s mouth and replied in his place.
His colleague shot him a betrayed look.

Seriously… this guy.

Did they even test people before letting them join the Association?
Sometimes he wondered.

“You do understand what happens if someone gets hurt again, right?”

Of course he knew—he’d been disciplined last time.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be careful.”

“If someone goes in, at least we’ll know who to hold a funeral for.”

That wasn’t why they were trying to stop Hajun, but still.

His superior added quietly,

Choi Minshik knew the reason for the tension.
After the last growth-type gate incident, the Association’s reputation had plummeted—
and now they were on high alert against Transcendence.

For society to stay stable, the public had to trust the system.

And that was exactly why Minshik was sweating bullets—
because he was the one who had called Transcendence in the first place.

Damn this conscience of mine…!