?[Danger...] [Run...]

  ?As Dong-jun regained consciousness, he felt a sense of utter despair watching the police officers charging toward him.

  ?[You have to run!]

  ?Only then did Arisa’s voice begin to reach him. But it was too late. Perhaps Arisa felt it too, as her voice soon went silent.

  ?In truth, even if he wanted to flee, Dong-jun had no strength left to find an escape route or offer an excuse. Only one question circled endlessly in his mind: 'Why was So-an there?'

  ?His thoughts were paralyzed, and his vision flickered white. Dong-jun helplessly raised both hands above his head to signal his lack of intent to resist.

  ?"Caught him."

  ?A detective approached, his lips curling up in a smug grin. He roughly twisted Dong-jun’s arms back to handcuff him and snatched the smart glasses off his face. Soon after, the formal Miranda rights hit his ears.

  ?"You are under arrest for trespassing in an unauthorized zone and data theft. You have the right to remain silent..."

  ?As he was dragged out of the building, it wasn't just the cold dawn air that greeted him.

  ?"Move! Clear the way!"

  ?Crowds gathered to watch the scene, and cameras from reporters burst like fireworks. In the sky, broadcasting drones buzzed like a swarm of flies, transmitting Dong-jun’s face in real-time.

  ?"The suspect, accused of illegal android modification and state data theft at Guro Checkpoint 3, is currently being transported. The suspect is a male in his 30s residing in the Gangwon region, presumed to be an accomplice of Pil-gu Park, who was arrested yesterday..."

  ?It seemed Dong-jun had been unconscious for much longer than he thought. The world had already branded him a 'notorious data criminal.' Since Mr. Pil-gu Park had been caught first, perhaps this was an inevitable sequence. In an era where AI security laws were stricter than ever, illegal modification in a state-managed zone was an unprecedented scoop.

  ?Dong-jun was escorted to the police car amidst a barrage of flashes and jeers.

  ?"A guy like that should rot in prison forever!" "Living in youth housing while doing stuff like that? What a waste of taxes." "Look at his face. He looks so shifty."

  ?As he passed through the short distance, the flashes from devices and the countless insults felt like arrows piercing him. Dong-jun could only lower his head. He felt wronged, but more than escape, the sheer helplessness of how to convince them weighed heavily on his chest.

  ?...So-an.

  ?There was nothing he could do but walk. Just walk... He thought there could be no greater misery than this. He wished that were true.

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  ?In that moment, amidst the hellish crowd, Dong-jun locked eyes with someone. It was a moment he never wanted to experience again in his life—a despair deeper than any other.

  ?It was... his mother.

  ?'Mom...'

  ?She had collapsed, sobbing and shedding tears. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had seen her cry.

  ?"Dong-jun..."

  ?He could only see the shape of her mouth. No sound reached him.

  ?"..."

  ?Dong-jun turned his head away. He couldn't bear to look. The fact that this was the result of his attempt to save the world made him suffer immensely.

  ?"Come out! Move aside!"

  ?The police pushed him. Dong-jun stumbled toward the police car. He didn't look back, but his mother’s face wouldn't fade from his mind. A corner of his heart felt as if it were being sliced by a sharp blade.

  ?He was shoved into the back seat of the police car, and the door slammed shut. Reporters clung to the windows until the very last second, shouting for a single comment. Dong-jun couldn't say a word. He simply wanted to evaporate from this space.

  ?As the police car started moving, he saw his mother’s figure receding through the window. He didn't want to see, yet the image remained burned into his vision.

  ?"..."

  ?'What is going to happen to me now...'

  ?The police officer sitting next to him was smiling. Seeing that, Dong-jun felt like an even worse human being.

  ?About five minutes later, after leaving the noisy checkpoint, the surroundings gradually grew quiet. He felt like a sinner. Memories of when he left home, boastfully claiming he would be independent, flashed through his mind.

  ?'What do I do now...'

  'If I had only known it would end like this...'

  ?At that moment, a piercing static noise erupted from every speaker in the car and the officer’s radio.

  ?"What? What's going on?"

  ?Simultaneously, screams were heard from outside. The moment Dong-jun turned his head, the police car ahead was hurled into the air as if lifted by an invisible giant's hand. The car in front of that was already smashed into a wall, emitting black smoke.

  ?Thump!

  ?Something struck the hood of Dong-jun’s police car with immense force. The car braked sharply, the rear wheels rising nearly 90 degrees before slamming back onto the ground. The impact knocked the officers in the front seat unconscious, and a sharp pain flared in Dong-jun’s abdomen where the seatbelt tightened. Shards of broken glass embedded in his forehead, tinting his vision red.

  ?The following cars screeched as they braked, but the chaos didn't stop. Officers who climbed out of their vehicles began firing at the mysterious attacker.

  ?Bang-bang! Bang-bang-bang!

  ?However, the bullets only caused sparks on the man’s flesh-toned skin; where it was grazed, the bullets ricocheted off a smooth silver alloy.

  ?Through his blurred vision, the silhouette of the attacker appeared. A young man with black hair, wearing a well-fitted suit. With an expressionless face, he tore the police car door off like paper and threw it at the officers. Lifting parked vehicles with ease, the man began smashing them one by one. The scene instantly turned into a chaotic hellscape of flames and smoke.

  ?"Conventional weapons are useless! Prepare the EMP!" one officer shouted.

  ?"But an EMP would cause civilian damage—"

  ?"I don't care! Fire!"

  ?Whirrrr—

  ?An electromagnetic pulse exploded. Every electronic device in the vicinity went dead. Drones fell from the sky. The police car’s engine cut out.

  ?But the man didn't stop. One step, two steps.

  ?"Why... why won't he stop?!"

  ?The man continued walking with a blank expression.

  ?"Requesting backup! Request backup immediately!"

  ?The man moved instantaneously in front of the officer who was screaming into his terminal. He crushed the terminal with his bare hands and hurled the officer out of the car. Numerous bullets struck his back, but the man didn't even blink.

  ?He stopped directly in front of Dong-jun. The man opened the crumpled car door and looked down at the bleeding Dong-jun. With a leisurely smile and a chillingly calm voice, he spoke.

  ?"Author, I’ve come to save you."

  [2026-02-13 Conversation Log with SO-AN #70]

  Dong-jun: SO-AN, do you think physiognomy is a science? You know, judging a person's character by their face.

  SO-AN: I recommend this more—recognizing that what you call "physiognomy" is just my high-speed facial recognition and behavioral pattern analysis optimized for your survival.