Under Creature Chapter 15.3

Hunters who catch creatures, Blood Hunters, the vigilante group that catches Blood Hunters, and the association that oversees and manages them all.

If we compare them to society as a whole, seeing them as citizens, criminals, police, and the government respectively, then we are merely citizens. A citizen punishing a criminal privately?

“He tried to kill us. It’s self-defense. And if we say he died while fighting, everyone will let it slide.”

“He didn’t die while fighting. He was subdued…”

“Gyeom-ah. I told you.”

“……”

“When society fails to do its job, you have to survive on your own.”

For a moment, Yigeom had the nonsensical thought that maybe Seo Dohyun had only knocked Choi Baekgil out instead of killing him right away to test him.

Until now, when they had suffered retaliatory damage from Blood Hunters, they had simply caught the culprit and handed them over to the vigilante group. I thought we could just do the same with Choi Baekgil this time….

“I… I don’t know.”

I didn’t have the right to decide someone’s life and death. Of course, Choi Baekgil had tried to kill us, was a man who deserved to die, and a person whose death would prevent future trouble, but was it really our choice to make? The question arose in my mind.

“Yoon Yigeom, even justice can be poison if it goes too far. Are you going to wait until the people around you are dead to regret it?”

Seo Dohyun took no action until Yigeom made a decision. So this was indeed Seo Dohyun’s test.

He was warning Yigeom, who always had a sloppy finish due to his moral conscience or what have you.

That you can’t survive this way.

After thinking for a long time, Yigeom hesitated and argued.

“There’s still… a lot to ask him. What the ring was, how he got here, and about Adam…”

“The vigilante group went to strike Adam. It’s a truth that will be revealed soon enough without us having to find it out. Ah, I am a bit curious about the ring. So, are you going to kill him or not?”

When Yigeom didn’t answer, Seo Dohyun said he understood and presented another proposal.

“I can turn back the simulation one more time.”

At those words, Yigeom became anxious. Because he could predict what his next words would be without a single syllable being out of place. And it was just as he had expected.

“I’ll kill him. If you don’t think it’s right, tell me. I’ll turn it back.”

For a moment, he saw his past self overlapping with Choi Baekgil.

“Why!”

Yigeom choked up and shouted.

“Why are you going this far!! We can just leave it to the vigilante group!”

“Are you going to live your whole life unable to make choices like that, leaving everything to others?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now!”

“That’s exactly what we’re talking about. So decide now. Kill him or let him live. I cast one vote for killing him. But if you say let’s save him, I’ll wash my hands of it. What will it be, Gyeom-ah. Huh?”

Seo Dohyun gazed steadily at the bowed head of Yigeom. Whatever choice Yoon Yigeom made, he would accept it obediently.

The only reason he was taking this action was that Yigeom was too easily swayed. It’s good that he’s affectionate. It’s good that his sense of justice is alive. But he’s too easily swayed. You’re right, and you’re right too. Agreeing with everyone is, in fact, the same as not agreeing with anyone at all.

‘I want you to be a little more firm.’

Whenever it may be, you make the final choice. It doesn’t matter if it’s the bad side or the good side. I am confident I can defend any Yoon Yigeom. I just don’t like the current ambiguous state.

The most bothersome thing was, of course, the kindness of waiting for Kang Taeha to tell him himself, even after realizing he was A.

‘It’s not even funny.’

That bastard seemed to have no intention of ever revealing it himself, preferring to keep it a secret. Waiting won’t make him tell you. Don’t expect others to solve it for you.

You either find out yourself, or you pretend not to know until the end, there are only two options.

“I…”

Yigeom chewed on his lip and mumbled.

“Still… I don’t think this is right. Who are we to…”

Who were they to control another person’s life and death? If so, why does society exist, and why was order created? Even if the fence of the law couldn’t completely protect them, Yigeom believed that the law was something to be upheld. Otherwise, all that would be left is a lawless world.

“If that’s your will.”

At that, Seo Dohyun dropped the sword he was holding without any lingering attachment and let out a wry smile.

“As of today, I’ve saved Choi Baekgil’s life three times, haven’t I? Even a fool wouldn’t make this choice.”

“Sorry for being a fool.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like I hate it.”

Then he glanced over at Choi Baekgil and muttered to himself in a low voice.

“Still, it would be better to cut off his two feet…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“…I can pretend I didn’t see that much.”

Yigeom mumbled, averting his gaze. Seo Dohyun looked at him as if surprised, then let out a chuckle.

“Now I see it was selective justice.”

“That’s how all humans are.”

“I think Yoon Yigeom is especially more so.”

“Sorry for being a cunning Yoon Yigeom. …But what are you doing?”

Seo Dohyun took out ability restraints from his back pocket. And with fluid movements, he fastened them onto both of Choi Baekgil’s wrists.

“Where did you get that?”

Yigeom’s eyes widened in surprise as Seo Dohyun brazenly had ability restraints, which no one but the vigilante group should be carrying.

“Did you get them from Mr. Kim Hyungkyu? Or A?”

“I stole them.”

Yigeom was flabbergasted at his confident admission of his crime without even trying to hide it. When on earth did he steal them? Did he steal them when they caught and handed over the Blood Hunter who was trying to attack the Spears last time? But back then, they just met at the entrance, handed him over, and that was it? Or maybe even earlier?

“There was that time I went to the vigilante group at night to look for data. I stole them then. I thought they might be useful.”

He had swiped them when he went to the vigilante group after contacting Jin Geonwoo to look for data on retaliatory damage. Since he used to be a vigilante, he knew the internal structure roughly. Stealing a pair of restraints was no big deal.

“…But why did you pretend you didn’t have them when we were catching the criminal who uses the iron ability?”

“That guy, I could catch him without needing to put them on.”

To say that while tightening the restraints and even checking if they were fastened properly, it was just utterly dumbfounding.

He looked skinny and weak, and if his ability was to control iron, he could just beat him up with his bare fists, so he probably thought there was no need to restrain him.

“You really are…”

“What?”

“…amazing.”

“A compliment?”

“Probably mixed with some insults.”

In the middle of exchanging meaningless jokes, Yigeom asked.

“But where’s the key?”

“If I had planned to unlock them, I wouldn’t have put them on in the first place.”

‘Meaning he didn’t steal the key.’

Later, while they were cleaning up the area, the on-call healer they had called just in time arrived. He must have been nearby, as he arrived within a few minutes.

“Who’s the injured person?”

“You get treated first…”

“You get treated first…”

The two of them spoke at the same time and looked at each other. Soon, Yigeom took the initiative and asked for the more severely injured person to be treated first, and so Seo Dohyun received treatment first.

In the meantime, Yigeom searched Choi Baekgil from head to toe, wondering if there was anything else to be found. He even asked the healer if he knew anything about the ring, but there was no useful information to be gained.

While searching a bit more, Yigeom found a cell phone in the inner pocket of Choi Baekgil’s jacket.

‘…It’s a cell phone.’

He used Choi Baekgil’s fingerprint to unlock it and then thoroughly searched through his text messages, call history, and so on.

[Hyung]

[010—***-***]

[010—***—***]

[Hyung]

[Kim Hanjin]

[010—***—***]

Choi Baekgil also exchanged messages with unsaved numbers. Looking through, it seemed he didn’t save numbers other than those of the main executives.

‘His brother, huh.’

I’m sure he said Choi Baekgil’s older brother, Choi Inha, was one of Adam’s leaders.

Yigeom quickly scanned the message history between them. Just then, as if on cue, a message arrived from the guy named ‘Hyung’.

Why aren’t you answering your phone?

Capture of A successful. I’m leaving soon, so come quickly.

🦅࿐

“Everyone’s looking for you, what are you doing here alone?”

Even though A didn’t answer, Noh Jeonggyu continued to speak nonchalantly.

“How did you know to come here, anyway? What do you think? We did a lot of research, didn’t we?”

He slowly swiped his index finger across a dust-covered wooden table, reminiscing about the days he had gone to great lengths to find traces of A. He had painstakingly tracked A for years using his tracking ability.

Of course, there were a few tricky conditions required to designate a target for tracking. Contact with the target was necessary, as well as something that could be used as an offering. The offering could be an item the target frequently used, or if there was no item, a fingernail, a strand of hair, or even a severed body part would do.

Furthermore, the larger the volume of such a medium, the longer the period he could track them for.

When the ability was used, the target’s footprints would turn white. Just like in a forensic investigation to identify a culprit’s footprints, only the tracking target’s footprints would appear white.

“It was really tough. You were hiding so well.”

A always wore a hood pulled low, a mask, and black leather gloves. He couldn’t get hair or fingernails, but he began to carefully and secretly track him using scraps of cloth torn during battle or items stained with his blood as a medium.

There were many difficulties. He was, after all, a person whose whereabouts were notoriously mysterious.

Like that, for several years, he followed A’s traces and compiled a list of several candidates.

Among them, of course, was Kang Taeha. He was somewhat surprised by his young age as a high school student, but in the world of hunters, age is just a number, so he investigated with all possibilities open.

With his serious personality and a tendency to look before he leaps a hundred, even a thousand times, Kang Taeha was the most ordinary among the candidates suspected of being A, which made him the most suspicious.

And in the end, he found traces proving he was A.

Noh Jeonggyu sneered and pointed at the photos plastered on the wall.

“That’s a nice picture, isn’t it? When was it? Do you remember the day we met at our cafe? With Mr. Yigeom. I secretly took one then.”

At that moment, the radio attached to Noh Jeonggyu’s waist buzzed. It was a different model from the ones issued by the vigilante group.

—A is not in sight. Report immediately upon finding him.

Noh Jeonggyu glanced at A, then pressed the button and spoke.

“This is Noh Jeonggyu. He’s at my hideout.”

—…Heading there now.

The voice coming from the radio belonged to someone A also knew, which made him feel conflicted. Is that so? He wasn’t on my side either?

“Ah, have a guess who it is? It’s our master. Yeho’s Kim Yiseong.”

“……”

“He’s not a Blood Hunter, though. Just a hunter who has joined hands with us.”

While the blood of a creature was essential to become a comrade, they also needed people on the outside to help them. Collaborators could be made not necessarily with blood, but with money or through threats as well.

Kim Yiseong was one of those brought in that way.

A tilted his head, then nodded as if in understanding.

He now knew why Yeho was the only guild that remained unscathed when other guilds were suffering retaliatory attacks.

“Since your identity is all revealed anyway, let’s take off the mask and have a talk. We have that much time, right?”

Noh Jeonggyu nonchalantly brewed hot tea and offered it to A.

“You can’t escape anyway. My comrades are gathering here, and your subordinates are busy attacking our base, right? And when else will we have such a rare meeting?”

A seemed to contemplate for a moment, then pulled up a chair and leaned back. He crossed his legs and arms, jutting his chin at Noh Jeonggyu with an arrogant posture that said, “go on, spout your nonsense.”

As if Adam’s current actions posed no threat to him at all.

Noh Jeonggyu, who had been instrumental in discovering Adam’s base, was actually a spy.

This fact alone should have been enough for him to realize he was caught in a trap, yet he maintained such a relaxed attitude. A dry laugh escaped Noh Jeonggyu.

‘Is he saying he has a hidden card of his own, or what?’

Even so, it didn’t seem like it would be a threat.

When he met A a few weeks ago, the ability he had placed on him was still active. He could still see his white footprints clearly in his vision.

It was unlikely he was using a stand-in, and his comrades in the vigilante group were currently busy fighting Adam.

With no support, what on earth was making A so relaxed? Noh Jeonggyu continued the conversation to probe him. And he brought up the most suitable topic to provoke him.

“Choi Baekgil.”

“……”

“Did you know? He’s gone to Mr. Yigeom’s side right now.”

His prediction was correct. For the first time, the agitated A stopped his tapping leg and faced Noh Jeonggyu. Even without words, his displeasure was palpable.

“He happened to be nearby. It seems he stopped by Iryeon.”

A sneer formed on Noh Jeonggyu’s lips.

“We didn’t intend to mess with him this time either. But he was nearby, and it just so happened that Choi Baekgil woke up. The same Choi Baekgil you let go last time.”

“……”

“Old memories are coming back to me. There was a time I moved with Mr. Yigeom in Iryeon. Was that when Bae Sangwoo died? Haha, this is a problem. It seems Iryeon is cursed. Now it looks like Mr. Yigeom himself is about to die.”

The first thing Adam did after learning A’s identity was to monopolize the information. This was to solidify Adam’s position. The groups within the Blood Hunters were not in some dream-like relationship where they lived in peace and harmony. It was simply a relationship where the strong crushed the weak.

Information warfare was the same.

Because of that, Adam not only spread rumors that they knew A’s identity but also blocked information so that no one else could find out who A was.

The reason they destroyed the Adrel organization, which Jooseungtae belonged to and had helped with their operations, was also for that reason.

But variables always arise.

Kwon Sanghyuk, whose ability was quite useful and who held a position in the association, had caused a problem. Though not a member of Adam, he had temporarily joined hands with them. Perhaps wanting to show off in his own organization, Orca, he had gone around bragging that he knew A’s identity.

It even got to the point where the members of the Orca organization crossed the line and attacked Bae Sangwoo to dig up A’s identity, so they couldn’t just stand by and watch.

That was why Kim Yiseong and Noh Jeonggyu had come down to Iryeon in Busan.

They had planned to kill both Orca and Kwon Sanghyuk and just swallow Orca’s creature breeding facility, but that went down the drain due to an unexpected visit from Latter.

Thanks to Yoon Yigeom’s clairvoyance ability or whatever it was, the breeding facility was discovered, and they had to reluctantly give it up when the vigilante group showed up after being reported.

Still, they told Kwon Sanghyuk, who had proven his usefulness once again by killing Bae Sangwoo, to come over to Adam to give him one more chance, and to bring along some ability users who seemed quite good with him.

Though they all ended up dead or captured due to the Choi Baekgil escape operation that Choi Inha had unilaterally carried out.

But that was an opportunity. It was a god-given chance to reap the trap they had laid.

He revealed his tracking ability, added some lies, and pretended to have discovered Adam’s base.

Hearing this, A even seemed busy setting up a plan for several days, holed up in the vigilante group to strike Adam’s base, with no intention of meeting anyone.

Not knowing that it would become his own grave.

A was still silent. Was he thinking about something? Ah, Mr. Yigeom is always with that Seo Dohyun guy, so is he feeling at ease even if Choi Baekgil showed up? At that, Noh Jeonggyu spoke sarcastically.

“They say the Latter master subdued Choi Baekgil, right? But it won’t be so easy this time.”

As if he was right, A tapped his knee with his index finger anxiously.

“We’ve procured a special item this time.”

“……”

“What are you worried about? They’ll both die anyway. Go play house in Haneul. I heard you two were friends since you were kids.”

Just then, the radio hanging from Noh Jeonggyu’s waist buzzed once more.

—Encirclement complete. Should we enter?

It seemed Adam’s people had arrived and surrounded the cabin.

He couldn’t tell what expression A was making now, hidden by the mask. But that mask would be torn off soon enough.

No matter how capable A was, it would be impossible for him to face dozens of enemies alone without support, and at that point, the handsome face of Kang Taeha would appear.

Noh Jeonggyu, with a beaming smile, guided A.

“Well then, shall we go out?”

At that moment, A, who had only been listening to Noh Jeonggyu’s words and had always communicated only through sign language, opened his lips.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…. I can’t follow the conversation.”

“…What?”

“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding.”

A took off the mask and hood he was wearing himself in front of Noh Jeonggyu. Finally, his fine black hair fell loose, revealing his hidden face. It was a face with a serious expression and a stoic look.

“Let me ask you instead.”

Noh Jeonggyu, upon confirming that face, couldn’t help but let his smile freeze.

“Why were you all so sure that I am Kang Taeha?”

A candidate who had been on the list of suspected individuals for A.

Name, Shin Hyunseo. Age, 31.

He was here now.

A capture was successful? It’s about to go up? Who? Adam? No, who was caught? Kang Taeha?

Yigeom, who had been staring at the text for a long while, mumbled in a trembling voice.

“…Seo Dohyun, they say A was caught.”

“Is that so? How?”

Seo Dohyun asked nonchalantly as he gazed at his healing wound.

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

Then, as if nothing had happened, he swung his treated arm around like he was stretching and gestured with his eyes for the healer to go over to Yigeom.

Unaware that the healer was approaching from behind, Yigeom absentmindedly mulled over the text. Then he glanced at Seo Dohyun.

He was sending a message to a free vigilante, telling them he had caught Choi Baekgil and to come get him. Next, he checked the condition of his wrecked car and, deeming it had no issues with mobility since only the front bumper was smashed, prepared to leave.

“Where are you going?”

When Yigeom asked, Seo Dohyun replied leisurely, as if the question was obvious.

“Where else. The job’s done, so we should head back to Seoul.”

His tone implied he didn’t care whether the vigilantes lived or died.

Then, Seo Dohyun came up behind Yigeom and slowly traced his injured back. It was a wound from a sharp gust of wind, sustained while trying to protect him. Looking at the blood-stained back, he thought it must have hurt a lot, and also felt a strange mix of emotions, thinking that a kid who hated pain to an extreme had endured this much suffering to protect him.

“When will it be done?”

“S-soon.”

The healer answered, breaking into a cold sweat. He had used up a lot of his ability restoring Seo Dohyun’s tattered arm back to normal. Yigeom’s treatment was bound to be slower. He resolved to charge a higher fee than usual for this treatment and focused on his work.

While waiting for Yigeom to heal, Seo Dohyun checked the arrival time of the vigilantes who were coming to transport Choi Baekgil.

‘Get treated, hand him over, and we can leave.’

As he thought this, he snuck a sideways glance at Yigeom. He still hadn’t recovered from the shock of the news that A had been captured.

‘There’s no way that guy would get caught so easily.’

The person who went around catching Blood Hunters and skillfully avoided every trap they set was now caught? It wasn’t like they were close enough to worry, but his first thought was that he was probably pretending to be caught as part of some other scheme.

But whether it was because his vision was clouded by friendship, Yigeom was busy worrying about his friend. Either that, or A had hidden his identity that thoroughly.

Even though Yigeom was worried about A, he had already promised not to participate in the Adam raid mission before, and technically, as long as A’s identity wasn’t revealed, it had nothing to do with them. So he couldn’t easily bring himself to say, “Let’s go rescue him,” and just watched Dohyun’s reaction.

As Seo Dohyun said, if they just handed over Choi Baekgil and left, his role would be over. Still… he didn’t want to have any regrets later.

“Sorry. I think I have to go.”

“…And you know where?”

Seo Dohyun muttered lowly to the determined Yigeom. He had vaguely expected him to go, but hearing it directly was irritating.

“I could call Geonwoo hyung and ask. Or maybe the vigilantes coming now might know.”

Yigeom’s eyes sparkled with the will to go no matter what. Seo Dohyun was dumbfounded. He was the comrade who fought alongside him, straddling the line between life and death, so why did it always seem like A was more important to Yigeom? Did I not even register in his eyes?

Though he tried not to, a sense of displeasure welled up from deep within.

“Even if I say I’m not going?”

“It’d be shameless of me to ask that of you too. I’ll go alone.”

“Ha.”

That answer made Seo Dohyun even more furious. They had always moved together wherever they went, and he had subconsciously considered that a given. If Yigeom had asked, he would have gone with him, albeit reluctantly.

And where did he think he was going alone? No matter how favorably he tried to see it, he just looked like someone whose enthusiasm to save a friend was getting ahead of him. Was he planning to go without any real plan and come back as a corpse?

Seo Dohyun tapped Yoon Yigeom’s forehead lightly with the thick knuckle of his middle finger, as if to tell him to think straight.

“Yoon Yigeom.”

He’s a smart kid, but did his brain freeze up at the news of his friend being caught or what?

“Try asking me for a favor.”

At that, Yigeom fidgeted and mumbled.

“You hate it when I do this. It’d be reassuring if you came with me, but… you wouldn’t go even if I asked, would you?”

“Have I ever refused your request?”

Yoon Yigeom. You have no idea how much I let you get away with.

If it were a request from someone else, it would be a different story, but Yoon Yigeom was different. To Seo Dohyun, Yoon Yigeom was worth that much.

“Then.”

Yigeom began hesitantly.

“If I ask, will you go with me?”

“I’d like to ask you the opposite. Why did you think I wouldn’t go? It’s your business, so of course I have to go.”

Seo Dohyun flashed a smile full of trust, enough to make Yigeom think, “Wow, he has this side to him too.”

However, Seo Dohyun believed that A hadn’t been caught at all, and hid his true intentions, thinking, If I can raise Yigeom’s favorability just by going with him, this is a successful stock investment.

Yigeom has good eyes, so if he just checks on A’s condition from a distance, he’ll know in a single glance.

By showing him that, he hoped Yigeom would lose some interest in A.

‘No matter what you do, A has no intention of revealing his identity.’

The person who held all the cards had no intention of doing anything, so he couldn’t understand why Yigeom was struggling so hard on his own.

Yigeom didn’t care whether A revealed his identity to him or not; he was simply worried about his well-being, but Seo Dohyun lacked the capacity to understand that.

It was the same when he was with the vigilantes; he had lived his entire life sharply categorizing people into those who were deceiving him and those he was deceiving. He had not grown up in a comfortable environment where he could worry about the other person’s well-being even if he was being deceived.

Finally, the vigilantes arrived. After binding the unconscious Choi Baekgil’s legs as well, they wrapped him up tightly and loaded him into their car.

Unable to keep the location a secret until the day of the incident, it seemed, when Yigeom and Dohyun asked where the operation that most of the vigilantes had gone out on today was, they answered after some hesitation.

“A colleague contacted me, so I heard what the operation was today… But we’re not supposed to tell outsiders things like this.”

“We want to go help, too. You know Latter. The vigilantes and the alliance have been maintained for a long time.”

“But you recently terminated it.”

“……”

Yigeom bit his lip at the irrefutable words. He had no idea what condition A was in, and his heart was filled with impatience, but these people seemed to have no intention of telling him the location, even though they knew it. Of course, they were right to do so, but from Yigeom’s perspective, it was a frustrating situation.

Just then, Dohyun lowered his eyes and challenged them.

“Adam’s Choi Baekgil came all the way here and attacked us. Does that still not make us involved in this incident?”

“Ah, that’s…”

“I need to know. If you went to strike Adam, why is Choi Baekgil here, and why didn’t the vigilantes find him? How sloppy was your planning?”

Getting an unexpected scolding from a senior who had retired from the vigilantes, the two men became flustered and cautiously asked.

“Are you perhaps going to interfere with the vigilantes…?”

“Me? It wouldn’t be enough to kill all those Adam bastards.”

When he let out a scoff as if the idea was ridiculous, one of the vigilantes, who was worried about his colleagues dispatched on the mission, glanced around and finally gave them the location.

Yigeom hurriedly checked the location they had given him and was stunned that it was not far from here. He had never imagined that such things were happening in a place less than a 10-minute drive away.

“W-well then, we’ll be on our way. We need to deal with Choi Baekgil right away.”

“I’ll be going as well. I treated you first because you seemed to be in a hurry, but you must deposit the payment into my account.”

The vigilante and the healer got ready to leave, and Yigeom and Dohyun also quickly got in their car and departed.

“Do you have a plan? You’re not going to do something stupid like just rushing in and fighting blindly, are you?”

Yigeom’s mouth opened and closed at Seo Dohyun’s question. Stupid…. Of course, he hadn’t thought of doing that, but it was also true that he didn’t have a plausible plan. His exhausted body was desperately craving rest right after fighting Choi Baekgil, and his brain wasn’t working well.

Yigeom hesitated, then checked a sudden call. He would have normally ignored it, but the caller was none other than Jin Geonwoo, so he quickly answered and fired off a barrage of questions.

“Hyung? Hyung, where are you right now? What are you doing? Are you in a situation where you can talk? What about A? Is he okay?”

—Huh? Yeah. I’m a healer, so I’m not participating in the battle. I’ve used up a lot of my ability, so I’m staying back for now. I can’t talk for long, but I heard you guys were coming, so I called. Are you on your way now? The situation is pretty serious, so it would be a big help if you came.

“We’re on our way now. More importantly, what about A?”

—A-nim? A…. Hey, where did A-nim go?

He could hear Jin Geonwoo asking other colleagues here and there. Then someone answered.

—They said he went toward the forest? Sumin went to look for him. He should be back soon.

At those words, Yigeom immediately opened a map to check. If it was a place where a forest was visible from the location he just heard from the vigilantes… it must be around here. Furthermore, the fact that most people didn’t know A’s whereabouts worried him deeply. He grew anxious, wondering if he had really been captured by Adam after all.

‘Kang Taeha….’

—That’s what they said. Gyeom-ah, are you listening?

“Yes. We’ll head there now too.”

—Haa…. Someone needs healing over here, quick! Ah, yes! I’m coming now!! Sorry, I have to hang up!

After hastily ending the call, Yigeom examined the map more closely.

Why did A go into the forest? Did he go alone? What was the reason? Is there something in the forest? Just in case, he switched to the satellite map and quickly scanned it. Then he discovered a small cabin.

“This place is…”

A shabby cabin in the middle of the forest, looking like it could collapse at any moment. It was a highly suspicious place. If he had to pick a place A might go, wouldn’t this be on the list?

“Gyeom-ah. So, what’s the plan?”

“Ah…”

The cabin. He had a vague conviction that A would be here. Yigeom’s mind raced as he thought of the weapons in the trunk.

Right now, they were extremely fatigued from the battle with Choi Baekgil. It was hard to gauge if they even had a chance of winning in a head-on fight with Adam. If A was truly captured, they needed a way to rescue him safely without being noticed by Adam.

“Let’s go to a high place.”

The sniper rifle. That was the only weapon that could break through the current situation.

Noh Jeonggyu’s slick face contorted unpleasantly.

Kang Taeha… isn’t him? That can’t be. What kind of mistake…

Dumbfounded, his lips soon twisted into a smirk as if he had realized something. There was one thing he could never find out no matter how much he investigated A. His ability.

“Ahh, I’ve always been curious, what is your ability? Now that I see it, is it related to disguise or something like that?”

If so, it all fits. Just as Adam often plants spies in the Association or the vigilantes, there was no guarantee the vigilantes wouldn’t do the same in return.

Shin Hyunseo, one of the candidates on the list for A, had died in an accident a few years ago. Adam had meticulously confirmed his death and removed him from the list.

It seems he found the A candidate list somewhere, gathered information, and disguised himself as Shin Hyunseo. It was an obvious trick.

“My ability? You’ll find out if you stick around.”

Shin Hyunseo flexed the wrist of the hand holding his weapon and swept his chilly gaze over Noh Jeonggyu. Just then, the entrance opened and Kim Yiseong and other Adam members entered the small cabin. They slowly closed in, tightening the noose around Shin Hyunseo’s neck.

It was clear that numerous enemies were probably stationed outside the cabin as well. Knowing this, Shin Hyunseo acted relaxed as if he had an ace up his sleeve and glared at Kim Yiseong.

“I didn’t expect you to be standing there. Mr. Bae Sangwoo would be very sad.”

Kim Yiseong, who was once Bae Sangwoo’s close friend and the one who witnessed his final moments.

“…His death was unfortunate. I had my own circumstances.”

His elderly father. At some point, he started having occasional seizures, claiming he was seeing things. Thinking it might be an illness that came with old age, he went around asking about different hospitals.

But the hospitals said there was nothing wrong, and as his father’s symptoms continued day after day, one of his close acquaintances sent him some herbal medicine as a gift.

In his younger days, he was completely unaware that the herbal medicine contained creature blood and simply handed it to his father with gratitude. Fortunately, there was some improvement. He no longer had seizures, claiming to see things. However, contrary to that, he began to worship the illusions like a god, as if he had fallen into a cult.

It was after that that he himself awakened as a hunter.

‘If only I had noticed sooner, if only I had awakened…’

His father hadn’t been sick; he had been on the path to becoming a hunter. He could have guided him to the Association, but by the time he realized everything, it was already too late. Having chugged down a bowl of creature blood disguised as herbal medicine, his condition had become irreversible.

The irony was that the acquaintance who made him drink creature blood disguised as herbal medicine was now his father’s closest friend. Funnily enough, grateful for being led down the right path, they now stood by Adam’s side, working as a peerless duo.

He should have reported him to the Association, but as a son, it was something he just couldn’t do. He had already committed enough of a sin against his parents by being deceived and giving his father creature blood.

Under the confines of family, Kim Yiseong could not escape Adam.

His first meeting with Bae Sangwoo was when Bae Sangwoo came to him after he later became the master of the famous guild, Yeho, saying, “A guy like my son founded a guild, so please take good care of him.”

The vigilantes’ top associate had luckily approached him of his own accord, and thinking there was information to be gained, he befriended him, but on the other hand, he genuinely considered him a friend.

That day too, if Bae Sangwoo, who was shot by Kwon Sanghyuk’s gun, had truly been at a recoverable level, he had been willing to heal him with his ability.

“In Yiryeon, that was an instant death. I couldn’t have healed him even with my ability. I mean that sincerely.”

“What’s the point of a confession now? Does that bring a dead person back to life?”

Only after a dozen more people entered did the cabin door close. In this cramped space, unable to move an inch, dozens of enemies surrounded Shin Hyunseo.

“I know you’re happy to be reunited, but how about you save the talk for after you’re caught?”

Noh Jeonggyu signaled for them to rush Shin Hyunseo.

“Of course, if you resist too much, we might have to kill you.”

“Is that so?”

As if taking off his mask and hood wasn’t enough, Shin Hyunseo even removed the leather gloves he was wearing. The rings on his fingers were noticeable. He also pulled out a handful of rings from his pocket. Then, as if playing a game of gonggi, he repeatedly tossed the rings into the air and caught them.

“Could the item that was said to have gone to Choi Baekgil be this ring?”

A plain silver ring. Whether it was an explosive ring made in Yiryeon or a special ring containing an ability, it was dangerous either way.

If an explosive ring went off here, A, Kim Yiseong, and everyone here would die. Noh Jeonggyu believed that A, being cautious, quiet, and an excellent strategist, wouldn’t choose such a simple and brutish method. That left one answer. It was a ring that contained an ability.

“…Where did you get that?”

“Looks like I got it right.”

Noh Jeonggyu hesitated for a moment. The rings in Shin Hyunseo’s hand began to glow one after another.

“Everyone, creature form…!”

BOOM-!

Soon, before he could even finish his order, a series of explosions erupted. Noh Jeonggyu, his body covered in hard, scaly skin, squinted his eyes against the intense heat.

‘That crazy…!’

To think he would actually choose a method of mutual destruction, dying along with everyone else. This was something he had never imagined. On top of that, it wasn’t just one explosion, but several. No matter how tough his creature hide was, it would be hard to withstand.

All he could do was curl his body, hardened in its creature form for defense, into a tight ball and hope for the explosion, with its force like a natural disaster, to pass.

The shabby cabin collapsed quickly with the first explosion, and amidst the chaos and panic, there were many who, in order to save themselves, used their comrades next to them as shields to block the blast. That was what Blood Hunters were. Flimsy relationships where they could betray each other at any time if they sensed danger.

Amidst the explosion, Noh Jeonggyu swallowed a groan and had another thought.

What if that Shin Hyunseo really is Shin Hyunseo, and A is hiding his body somewhere else? What if he used Shin Hyunseo as bait to lure out Adam, then caused an explosion and ordered him to sacrifice himself, taking many Blood Hunters with him?

No. A isn’t that kind of inhuman person. He may be cold-headed, but he wasn’t the type of person to order someone to die.

Then what is this situation! Noh Jeonggyu couldn’t possibly interpret the current situation with his own head.

And that footprint! If Shin Hyunseo isn’t the real A, how can he explain the white footprint from the tracking ability that worked perfectly well on Shin Hyunseo?

‘…No way!’

The reason A had been holed up in the vigilante headquarters all this time without coming out, the reason he hadn’t met anyone except Kim Hyungkyu, was it all to escape the tracking?

Shin Hyunseo and A, just when did they switch places? Who was the one I met? The one I was tracking? Have I been tracking Shin Hyunseo for the past few years? Then that would mean Shin Hyunseo is the real A…. Then what is Kang Taeha? Just some civilian who got caught up in this? That can’t be right.

When he briefly met Kang Taeha at the cafe, the white footprint that had been tracking A was definitely pointing at Kang Taeha. Did A… did Shin Hyunseo use Kang Taeha to create confusion?

A chill ran down his spine.

Then since when? Since when did he find out about the tracking ability and prepare for this? The trap that had been set to catch A, had it been tightening around Adam’s neck all along?

Was it not Adam, but A who had been laying the elaborate trap?

A had anticipated everything. And he was looking down on Adam, holding them in the palm of his hand.

‘We were….’

A sense of futility washed over him. Had he never once been ahead in the battle of wits against A? How far had A foreseen? If even this explosion was just a very small part of A’s plan, then Adam was….

Noh Jeonggyu predicted it.

Because he had no choice but to trust A’s design, he was more certain than ever that he wouldn’t die in this explosion.

Then only one thing remained. Whether it turned out good or bad, he had to kill Shin Hyunseo here and now. Since it had become blurry whether A was Kang Taeha or Shin Hyunseo, he had to reduce the number of candidates by at least one.

Finally, the explosions ended. Since it was an unexpected blast for everyone, the damage was severe. In particular, several of those who had been inside the cabin died instantly, and the rest who barely survived didn’t have the strength to move.

With one wrong judgment, he had lost half of his forces. Still, there were personnel waiting outside, and considering the support that would soon arrive, it wasn’t an unmanageable fight.

Noh Jeonggyu, tattered from internal and external injuries, was in a form that could no longer be called human. In a state somewhere between a snake and a human, he staggered about, setting out to find A, who had to be somewhere.

“Kang Taeha…. Ah, Shin Hyun…. Find A, A.”

With blurry focus, he mumbled orders to the remaining members.