After Kyeong-su’s relentless pleading,Hyeon-pil finally spoke, his voice small and unsteady.

  “Sir… there has to be another way to clear the first mission together.It doesn’t have to be that way, right?Hitting someone in the face… I—I really can’t do that.But…”

  His words slowed, fading into a weak mumble.Kyeong-su felt himself drifting, barely keeping his eyes open.

  “Okay, Hyeon-pil… then what’s the other option?I’m seriously about to pass out here.Just say it already…”

  That was when—

  Hyeon-pil’s eyes filled with tears.He swallowed, then whispered.

  “…I read it somewhere.They say pinching the thigh hurts the most.”

  The moment the words left his mouth—

  A scream, sharp enough to rip through the skies of Seoul,detonated inside the philosophy studio.

  “AAAAAAARGH—!!!”

  On the verge of tears himself,Hyeon-pil reached out with his other hand and, in a single ruthless motion,pinched Kyeong-su’s thigh with inhuman force—hard enough to feel like flesh was tearing away.

  “AAAAARGH—!!!”

  Clutching his leg,Kyeong-su tumbled across the studio floor.

  At last, he sprawled flat on his back, staring at the ceiling,letting out a sound that hovered somewhere between laughter and sobbing.

  “Why… why did I ever buy that stupid thing back then…just to end up suffering like this… seriously?!”

  As the two of them screamed,rolled across the floor,and filled the room with chaotic noise mixed with laughter—

  Outside the window, in the deep darkness,a thin streak of red light watched in silence.

  Red eyes blinked.

  Slowly—

  On the fogged glass,a faint mark appeared, like the afterimage of a human hand.

  There was no body.No breath.No sound.

  Beyond the window,only two bloodshot eyes remained,staring into the room without the slightest movement.

  And inside the philosophy studio,the two of them remained unaware—having sensed not even the smallest fragmentof that horrific gaze.

  -------

  Meanwhile,Retrieval Division Team Two—having completed soul retrieval missions across the country—arrived at a redevelopment district in Seoulto carry out their final operation of the day.

  Low-rise row houses and aging multi-family buildingswere packed together without order.Faded exterior walls, rooftop water tanks,and signboards stripped of color and strengthall told the same quiet story—life had already begun to drain from this place.

  Across a single wide road,a clean, orderly new city stretched onward.But here, time remained shackled to the past,a space waiting in silence for demolition.

  A place where the warmth of livingand lingering regrets were tangled together.For Retrieval Division Team Two,it was a fitting site for the day’s final operation.

  A dark alley.

  Yoon Ji-chung glanced around, his face tight with tension.

  “Team leader…why does this place feel so damn creepy?I’ve got a really bad feeling.”

  As Kim Beom-woo stepped deeper into the zone,he felt it too—something unmistakably wrong.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  This wasn’t the air of the Living Realm.It carried the chill of the Underworld,a cold that slipped beneath the skin.

  “I’ve been assigned to this district for months,”he muttered,“but this is my first time actually coming here.We got reports of wandering souls,so the op was approved…but I can’t pinpoint their location.”

  A nameless sense of dread pressed down on him.

  Then—

  From the darkness behind them,a black shadow flashed past.

  Kim Beom-woo stopped on instinct.

  “Wait. Stop.”His eyes sharpened.“Something just moved back there.”

  “W-what was it?!”Yoon Ji-chung’s eyes went wide.“I didn’t see a thing—don’t tell me it was a ghost?!”

  Instead of answering,Kim Beom-woo raised a finger for silence.

  Cold air swept through the alley.

  In that instant—something’s gaze locked onto them from beyond the darkness.

  Kim Beom-woo steadied his breathingand drew in the surrounding Qi.

  A vortex erupted around him.The air twisted.Dust spiraled violently upward.

  Then, far away—

  A black object shot straight into the sky.In a blink, it climbed nearly two kilometers,then dropped away, leaving a trail of light behind.

  Kim Beom-woo tapped his in-ear.

  “Headquarters. Target sighted.Changing position.Moving to aerial pursuit.”

  Flash—

  The city spread out beneath his feet.

  Everything was unnaturally still,as if time itself had stopped.

  Suspended above the frozen lights,he hovered in the sky.

  Then—

  The black object moved again,racing through ground-level alleys like a bolt of lightning.

  “There you are.”

  Kim Beom-woo’s eyes flashed.

  As his palms met—the air warped,vibrating as if boiling at his fingertips.

  A single strand of lightning-bright Qi burst forth.

  The energy became a blinding flashand slammed into the ground.

  BOOM!

  The explosion ripped outward.Shockwaves tore through the alley.Walls cracked.Dust roared like a storm.

  But—

  The black object was already gone,without a trace.

  The radio crackled.

  “Haeshi (亥時) approaching.The Gate of the Sky will close shortly.Withdraw immediately. Over.”

  “Copy. Over.”Kim Beom-woo answered without hesitation.“Yoon Ji-chung, respond. Over.”

  A moment later,Yoon Ji-chung came scrambling down from above.

  “I nearly died trying to keep up, sir!That was insane!”

  Kim Beom-woo frowned.

  “Command’s issued a withdrawal order.We’re pulling out.”

  Their silhouettes flashedand shot back into the sky.

  One by one,the frozen city lights flickered back to life.

  Time resumed.

  And at that moment—

  From within the alley’s darkness,the black shadow slowly lifted its head.

  Red eyes blinked.

  Shuffle.Shuffle—

  It wandered calmly down the shattered alley,stepping over broken walls and debris.

  “Operations Control, Team Leader Marco.May I have a moment?”

  Having returned to the Earth Branch Headquarters on Planet Titan,Kim Beom-woo contacted his superior through the lobby communicator.

  “Yes? Where are you?”Marco’s voice came through.

  “In the lobby.”

  Moments later—

  Marco hurried into the wide lobby,marble floors gleaming under the lights.

  “Good work.But why are you here?Recovery teams are supposed to return directlyto the Pluto Intermediary Zone.”

  He spoke while catching his breath, visibly puzzled.

  Kim Beom-woo replied in a low, steady voice.

  “During the redevelopment search earlier,we detected something unusual.It wasn’t… a human soul.”

  Marco’s expression stiffened.

  A brief silence followed.

  Forcing a smile, he continued.

  “That’s unlikely.When wandering souls gather beyond a certain threshold,they form what we call a Thought-Form (思念體).In the Living Realm,those can develop solid shapes and cause disturbances.This is probably a similar case.”

  He glanced around and lowered his voice.

  “Truth is, our soul recovery rate has been dropping.If the Audit Division at Headquarters notices,it’ll be trouble—so I ordered the search in a hurry.”

  Cautious tension lingered in his tone.

  “How about this—tomorrow, we focus solely on that district?”

  At that moment, Yoon Ji-chung cut in.

  “Hold on—does that even make sense?We recover a thousand souls a day!You want us to ignore all thatand dig around that creepy place instead?Is this work, or a horror attraction?”

  Marco said nothing.

  Kim Beom-woo exhaled quietly and continued.

  “Today’s zone needs time before reentry.We should return with a support unitand conduct a proper reinspection.Please report it that way to the Director.We’ll return to the Intermediary Zone.”

  Marco nodded.

  “Understood. I’ll handle the report.”

  Then—

  From beyond the second-floor railing,three pairs of gleaming eyes watched them.

  Sharp.Cold.Calculating.

  “Find out why a Retrieval Division agentis meeting privately with an Operations Control team leader.”

  The voice was low and firm.

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Long hair flowing behind them,Audit Division Captain Agnes,along with agents Helena and Agatha,quietly withdrew from the second floor.

  Their footsteps made no sound.