Outside the Nameless Cult's underground bunker.
The deserted and empty Jisan Village was already half-destroyed.
As soon as Ryu Jaegwan burst out of the equally shattered underground bunker door, the scene that greeted him made him bite his tongue.
And then…
"Oh, you're out!"
A human voice sounded right beside him.
"…!"
Lee Seonghae, an Assistant Manager from Daydream Inc.'s elite team, was leaning against the door, turning to wave at him.
Ryu Jaegwan, who was about to open his mouth, paused for a moment.
'How….'
Can she be so composed?
Two people had just escaped a bizarre Supernatural Disaster that had trapped and consumed people for decades.
It was a confirmed death sentence.
He had heard it emphasized multiple times that once a box closed, it never opened again. Even Ryu Jaegwan, who had escaped, was confused about what was happening…
"Why…"
"I'm not surprised?"
…!
"Well… you went in with our employee."
She looked at 'Agent Grapes' that Ryu Jaegwan was holding.
Light reflected in Lee Seonghae's pupils.
"The Mascot is stronger than that box!"
"..."
Mascot?
The unfamiliar title conveyed a strange feeling…
And Ryu Jaegwan, looking down at Kim Soleum, who was called by that title, asked himself.
How did I get out?
'…The sound I heard earlier.'
Something had twisted the Seeker in the Box, who had been spouting bizarre noises, with extreme mechanical force. That was…
....
'…Agent Grapes?'
"Anyway, are you looking for your fellow agent?"
"…!"
He snapped out of his strange thoughts.
"Yes."
Agent Bronze took a breath and refocused on the situation.
So, where was Agent Choi?
"Everyone is over there."
Boom.
Just then, a roar echoed again.
Ryu Jaegwan quickly turned his head.
Two massive, azure Executioner's Sword blades were being wielded with ecstatic fervor by a person's arms in mid-air.
It was Agent Choi.
The Executioner's Sword plunged towards the ground again without hesitation.
Towards the target.
'…That!'
"Hmm. I think he's angry."
Lee Seonghae's voice reached Ryu Jaegwan's ears again as he started to run.
"At first, it seemed like that agent was trying to open the box again somehow. Like they were trying to analyze any possible loophole."
Ryu Jaegwan could easily imagine it.
A person staring blankly at the box in disbelief, then racking their brain and acting to dismantle the closed box somehow to find a way to escape this situation and save people.
He had seen it many times before. An agent who would regain their composure and try to find a way to overcome this situation, even through reckless actions, to save people.
"His hands were trembling, and he looked so distressed that I tried to help him. But then Director Ho said something really annoying."
"…!"
—"How unfortunate. That Mr. Noru went in."
—"But what can be done? Two people went in, so this box will be safe for decades. Congratulations!"
—"This is the kind of situation the Disaster Management Bureau likes."
"He was so mean? He pushed him in himself."
Ryu Jaegwan felt his mouth twist.
Anger and worry.
"Hearing that, the agent pulled his hand away from the box and took something out of his pocket."
And then…
"The door broke."
Boom.
Another roar echoed from the side.
Dust flew all the way to them.
"…!!"
Finally, through the settling dust, it became faintly visible.
The figure of someone impaled by an Executioner's Sword, stuck in the ground.
"Oh, he caught him."
It was Director Ho.
Two massive Ritual Executioner's Swords were embedded in man's chest.
"I stayed back so as not to disturb him while he was angry, but I should probably go help with the cleanup… Huh?"
Ryu Jaegwan ran.
'No.'
He had seen it.
Ink rising from the ground where the dust had settled, drawing letters.
The letters bled red and blue, forming a circular pattern.
The sounds of gongs, drums, and bells began to be heard.
'A ritual site…!'
And there was only one way to perform a ritual like this.
'A Sacrificial Ritual…!'
It was a procedure passed down in the Disaster Management Bureau to offer a powerful supernatural entity.
He intended to offer up the entire person, this Director Ho from Daydream Inc., to summon a divine being to break the box…!
Anger and purpose had aligned.
'But.'
"Agent!"
That's not something Agent Choi should be doing!
Agent Choi was sitting on the ground, eyes closed, doing something.
His lips moved as if praying.
He was clearly reciting an incantation.
But even with his eyes closed, the sound could be heard, and the voice was very familiar.
"Agent!"
Agent Choi stopped what he was doing and turned his head.
Agent Choi's pupils widened as their eyes met.
Surprise.
Doubt.
Joy.
Relief.
And… overwhelming emotion.
"Bron…"
"Agent!!"
Ryu Jaegwan ran and grabbed him by the collar.
"You know you shouldn't perform a Sacrificial Ritual, Agent!"
"..."
"If you do something like that without even having a name to use…"
"Bronze."
The scarred hands gripped Ryu Jaegwan's shoulders tightly.
"Thank you…"
"..."
The grip on his collar loosened, and Agent Choi slowly sank to the ground.
Seeing him panting, Ryu Jaegwan understood how tense and mentally pressured he had been, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
The senior agent's feelings when he must have realized that every member on the field team, except himself, had been caught in a Supernatural Disaster in the blink of an eye. Tortured for decades. And doomed to die.
At the same time, he felt a surge of emotion.
'Darling…!'[1]
The one who always took the most dangerous risks alone!
Still, the surge of emotions quickly subsided.
After all, both Agent Grapes and he had come out safely.
Instead, he focused on the small glass bead hanging from Agent Choi's waist.
Someone was already inside that Makeshift glass prison.
The person who had introduced herself as a reporter in Jisan Village.
An employee called Falcon.
"…Did you put her in there on purpose?"
"Yeah. I put her there for now, to keep any civilians who got caught up in this from getting hurt."
Agent Choi smiled faintly, saying that she had been cooperative even if not explicitly stated, and then stood up.
And Ryu Jaegwan managed to say just one thing.
"From now on, please, please stop doing reckless things."
"Haha…"
But the laugh didn't come from agent Choi.
"My, how touching."
The Supernatural Disaster, subdued by two Ritual Executioner's Swords.
Director Ho of Daydream Inc.
He was laughing.
He didn't even flinch at being impaled by the Executioner's Swords, nor did he let out a single groan of pain.
Instead, he calmly raised his hands and placed them on the surface of the massive blades that had nearly split his chest in two.
Sizzle,
the sound of burning flesh filled the air, but his smiling eyes did not waver.
'…Is he really.'
It was hard to believe he had been subdued.
"However, will you return our company's employees now? You've been holding onto them."
"…!"
Ryu Jaegwan immediately stepped back.
Beside him, Agent Choi's eyes turned cold.
The habitual smile completely vanished as he covered his mouth with one hand, then bent down towards the fallen 'Kim Soleum' and nodding as if listening to something.
"What? Grapes-ie. Uh-huh, that's a good idea."
Then he turned to the Fox Plague, still impaled by the Executioner's Sword, and laughed.
"Grapes says he's quitting?"
"Is that so? Well, if he says so himself, then there's nothing we can do. Shall we try waking him up?"
"If I don't want to?"
A blue flame flickered in Agent Choi's eyes.
"Why wake someone who's sleeping? We'll take good care of him. So you should rest in your prison too."
Then he turned to his colleagues around him.
"Don't you agree, Bronze…?"
"..."
But Ryu Jaegwan did not agree.
Agent Choi noticed the subtle shift.
And, perhaps too relieved by how things turned out, a question he'd pushed aside finally surfaced — a question meant to assses the situation.
Exactly.
How did he get out of the box?
"Bronze."
Why was Kim Soleum still unconscious in the middle of all this chaos, even though the two escaped the same way?
"Oh dear… he doesn't seem to be waking up."
"..."
"Shall I give it a try?"
"Shut up."
"Employee 130666, it is time to wake up and be on duty."
At that moment.
130666 sat up.
Black Smoke.
It billowed thick from the black uniform, yellow lanterns flickered, and a bizarre presence heavily pressed onto the dust-covered ground.
The horned figure stood motionless, coat trailing behind, casting a dark shadow.
'....'
Something was wrong.
'This is...'
Different from before.
Before, even though the silhouette had been bizarre and clearly not human, you could still feel there was something within.
The atmosphere coming from his presence, attitude and reactions.
Things that made the agents not hesitate to call him 'Grapes' upon seeing him.
But now…
It was something forced into human shape.
A deductive instinct — the kind only an experienced agent possesses —sent a chill down his spine.
'It's a supernatural phenomenon.'
Still, his mouth opened.
"…Grapes?"
The smoke moved first.
A gaslight flickered above the dark, dimness spreading slowly at his feet.
A gaze beneath the horns.
>Inappropriate title
>Reason: Unofficial
"..."
Agent Choi was speechless.
After opening and closing his mouth a few times, he completed his sentence.
"Then, what should I call you?"
>No official designation
>Recommendation: Registration number 130666
"…Call you by a number? Are you—"
"Wait."
Ryu Jaegwan urgently intervened.
"Agent Grapes, what is your current condition? Are you still experiencing pain, or are you hearing any strange whispers?"
The smoke did not move.
The black-clad employee of the special department, standing completely still, displayed letters after a few seconds.
>Unknown
"...."
"Oh dear."
Huwon let out a laugh.
"Looks like it's not the state you expected him to be in?"
"You…!"
"Employee 130666, since a company executive is detained, could you please pull these out?"
The black smoke surged at the Executioner's Sword.
"…!"
Clang.
The blade of the Ritual Executioner's Sword, which had just been pulled out, struck the ground with a clear, hard sound.
As Huwon, now free, rose to his feet, Agent Choi drew another means of restraint and lunged— but…
The smoke blocked him.
"…!"
>Warning: Security risk behavior
>Re-attempt will result in escalation of restraint measures
"..."
Dangerous.
The feeling of the hairs on his neck standing on end, as if facing something truly dangerous.
"…You,"
His trembling eyes saw something sinister beyond the smoke.
"What did you do…?"
"Nothing."
Huwon spoke with feigned pity.
"It seems the box had a bad influence, doesn't it?"
"The box? Seems more like what you and your cult company did."
"Who knows."
Laughter.
"But what can you do? Since I have no intention of answering… you can just keep wondering."
"..."
Agent Choi lowered his Executioner's Sword.
Looking at the being he had once worked alongside— squared against him…
"One thing is for sure."
The Executioner's Sword pointed at the sinister presence beyond the smoke.
The agent of Team Hyumoo 1 declared.
"Director Ho Yuwon of Daydream Inc. is a Supernatural Disaster."
A pronouncement of judgment.
[1] other translation says “Self” but idk.