The cold water of the Hangang River engulfed my entire body. From the moment I jumped off Hangang Bridge, I had only one goal: to save Park Seong-min.

  When I opened my eyes underwater, I could see Park Seong-min. He was desperately flailing his arms and legs, but he was gradually sinking under the weight of the water and terror. The bubbles coming from his mouth spoke of his despair.

  'He's trying to teleport.'

  Subtle spatial distortions were occurring around Park Seong-min's body. However, the aquatic environment and his extreme panic were interfering with his ability. Teleportation required precise coordinate recognition, which was impossible for him right now.

  His ability was activating erratically, causing the surrounding water to ripple strangely, but he himself remained trapped underwater.

  I tried to approach him, but Park Seong-min resisted even more violently when he saw me.

  "Aaaah! Get away! Get away from me!"

  His screams, audible even underwater, were filled with a mixture of rage and despair. He couldn't accept the fact that the enemy who had been chasing him had come to rescue him. He pushed my hands away and tried to sink even deeper.

  'This won't work. I need to wait until he calms down on his own.'

  I kept sufficient distance and watched Park Seong-min. Until he exhausted his strength, and until his survival instinct became stronger than his anger. This was a cold but realistic judgment.

  The more I tried to force a rescue, the more he would resist, and eventually both of us could be in danger.

  After a few minutes, Park Seong-min's movements began to slow down. His limbs moved more sluggishly, and I could see him swallowing water as his consciousness grew dim.

  The anger disappeared from his face, leaving only primal fear for survival.

  That was the moment.

  Silver light began to leak from Park Seong-min's body. It was a mysterious radiance clearly visible even underwater. Like a living creature, it slowly separated from near his chest.

  Space Fragment.

  As Park Seong-min's malice and obsession weakened while he lost consciousness, the fragment could no longer maintain resonance with him. As his destructive will wavered, the fragment became unstable as well. Rising like a silver orb underwater, it slowly approached me.

  I reached out my hand.

  The moment the fragment touched my palm, a shock like electricity coursing through my entire body surged over me.

  'This is... a completely different dimension.'

  My spatial awareness expanded explosively. The entire Hangang River, and all of Hangook City, was drawn in my mind as one enormous three-dimensional map. The precise coordinates of every point were recognized numerically.

  The exact length of Hangang Bridge, the depth of the riverbed, even the positions of minute floating particles in the water—everything was comprehended.

  What was even more amazing was that the concept of 'distance' had disappeared. Now there was no distinction between 'here' and 'there' for me. All space felt like one enormous network connected together.

  I could go anywhere I wanted. Space was submitting to me.

  "Kang Chul, this is the third one now."

  GNOM's voice reached me, immersed in wonder.

  "Strength, intelligence, and now space too. You're becoming more complete. The scope of what you can do has completely changed now."

  Holding onto the unconscious Park Seong-min, I recalled the precise coordinates of the riverbank. Rescue teams and citizens would already be gathered there.

  With a sensation like space folding, I transported Park Seong-min to the riverbank.

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  "Huh? A person suddenly appeared!"

  "Over there! Someone who fell in the water!"

  "How did they suddenly...?"

  The rescue workers rushed to Park Seong-min in surprise. Citizens also murmured, trying to understand the situation.

  I moved from the Hangang River to a secluded park far away. Shaking off my wet clothes, I exhaled deeply. It was amazing. I could move perfectly without any dizziness or side effects.

  "Amazing... I can move through space so naturally."

  ##########

  "Kang Chul, I can see the Space Fragment's memories."

  GNOM said.

  "Everything Park Seong-min stole... none of it exists in any real location. It's hidden in a separate space he created, in the gaps between dimensions. He made his own secret warehouse."

  Faint coordinates surfaced in my mind. That place wasn't any point on a map, but a gap between spaces. A hidden realm existing between reality and reality.

  I closed my eyes and concentrated. I activated teleportation toward those coordinates.

  Instantly, the world disappeared and I was standing in a completely different place.

  It was a mysterious space. An infinite space with neither sky nor ground, thick with silver mist. A place where gravity and time were ambiguous. In the center floated one enormous island, and on it were piled all the things Park Seong-min had stolen until now.

  Luxury bags, jewels, and even tens of billions of won worth of cash and gold bars taken from the central bank. It was a scene reminiscent of a dragon's treasure vault.

  "I need to return all of this to where it belongs."

  This wasn't simply about returning objects. It was about restoring hope to the people who had suffered from Park Seong-min's crimes. It was about repairing their daily lives and healing their despair over what they had lost.

  I recalled the coordinates of the first theft scene, the luxury goods store. That glamorous shopping district in Gangnam, even the precise location of the display cases—I remembered it all vividly. Using teleportation, I returned the bags one by one to their original places.

  Each bag appeared in the exact position where it had originally been.

  The second and third crime scenes were the same. Jewels returned to their original display cases, stolen watches returned to their respective places.

  Finally, the central bank vault. Restoring all the cash and gold bars weighing dozens of tons to their original places required considerable concentration. Sweat beaded on my forehead.

  Even with the Space Fragment's powerful abilities, such large-scale work greatly consumed mental energy.

  But I finally completed all the work. The mysterious space was empty and soon disappeared. This secret warehouse that Park Seong-min had created no longer had any reason to exist.

  ##########

  The next morning, the news continuously reported on 'miracles.'

  [Breaking News: All stolen items from the serial theft incidents returned to their places overnight...]

  The anchor's voice was excited.

  [Gangnam luxury store representative: "It's truly miraculous. The bags that weren't there yesterday were in the display cases this morning exactly as they were. It's as if they were never gone in the first place."]

  [Jewelry store owner: "The stolen necklace was exactly back in its original place... even the packaging was exactly the same. It's truly incomprehensible."]

  Online, hashtags like 'Mysterious Miracle' and 'Good Samaritan's Miracle' spread rapidly. People offered various speculations about this inexplicable phenomenon.

  But the reports about Park Seong-min were different.

  [Suspect Park Seong-min is currently showing symptoms of memory loss. He claims to remember nothing about the crimes he committed and is scheduled to receive diagnosis from a psychiatric specialist.]

  [Prosecutor official: "It appears the suspect is trying to evade investigation by using memory loss as an excuse. Since we have sufficient physical evidence, there will be no problem with prosecution. However, understanding his motives will be difficult."]

  Park Seong-min's appearance on the TV screen showed no signs of remorse or regret, just a blank expression as he conversed with his lawyer. He looked like someone who had lost all his memories.

  But the strangest thing was that there were no reports about the central bank at all.

  'There was definitely a major incident there... Why is the media silent about it?'

  GNOM said quietly.

  "Something's strange, Kang Chul. For such a big incident to be completely buried... Someone is intentionally controlling information."

  ##########

  As the days passed, the situation became even stranger.

  The 'floating in mid-air' videos from Hangang Bridge that had been posted online began disappearing one by one. At first I thought it was due to copyright issues or false reports. But it was too systematic and swift.

  And they were replaced by an official government announcement about "special effects using advanced drone technology."

  [Government official: "The so-called 'floating in mid-air' videos recently distributed on SNS have been confirmed to be composite videos using highly sophisticated CG technology and drones. We ask citizens not to be misled by such fake news."]

  I felt chills watching this situation.

  'Someone is intentionally erasing evidence. But... what they're erasing isn't just simple videos.'

  I used my Intelligence Fragment ability to scan the data records around Hangook City Bank Central Vault again. It was clean. Too perfectly clean.

  The abnormal data distortions from a few days ago, security system error records, even the minute energy traces around the vault that had collapsed and been restored—everything had disappeared.

  "This is beyond the capabilities of individuals or small organizations."

  GNOM muttered.

  "It's government-level intervention, or maybe even bigger organizations. They knew about the real incident, not the diamond commotion, and they're covering up that truth."

  The surveillance camera records were the same. All CCTV records around Hangook City Bank Central Vault were announced to have been deleted due to "technical errors." It was incredibly clever and perfect evidence destruction.

  What was even more surprising was that the memories of related staff seemed to have been manipulated too. The bank officials who appeared on the news all consistently testified that "nothing happened that night."

  GNOM's voice reached me heavily from within.

  "Kang Chul, did you feel it? There are eyes watching us. And they're... much more powerful than we think. It seems like they anticipated all these events."

  Meanwhile, a week later I discovered a strange letter in my mailbox.

  There was no sender's name, just my name written in neat handwriting. What was peculiar was that the postal code and address were accurate. Someone knew my personal information precisely.

  When I opened the letter, it contained the following:

  To Kang Chul,

  Hello. I cannot yet reveal who I am.

  I want to talk about what you've recently experienced. About the 'fragments' you've encountered, and about what will happen in the future.

  You've met three fragments so far. Strength, intelligence, and space. But this is only the beginning. In the bigger picture, it's just a small part.

  I hope to meet with you soon. I am someone who has had similar experiences to yours. Or more precisely... I'm someone who knows the starting point of all this.

  Don't worry. I'm not your enemy. Rather, I'm someone trying to help you. But there isn't much time. The eyes watching you are moving more and more openly.

  And Kang Chul, let me tell you one thing in advance.

  Behind everything that has happened so far is an enormous plan. The three fragments you've encountered... are just the beginning. There are more fragments you don't know about, and each one is incomparably more dangerous than what you've seen so far.

  The real story starts now.

  I will contact you again when the time comes.

  P.S. Please burn this letter after reading. They are monitoring everything.

  I read and reread the letter. My hands trembled slightly.

  GNOM said quietly.

  "Kang Chul, don't you feel it? The eyes watching us... and the enormous will trying to manipulate all these events. It seems like a really big game is starting now."

  I read the letter once more and made up my mind.

  Soon I would meet this person who knows everything. And I would uncover the truth behind all these mysteries.

  Following the letter's final warning, I burned it. Watching the ashes blow away in the wind, I realized I had truly entered a path of no return.

  It seemed like the real story was just beginning.