Chapter 3
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3. Awakening
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"Huff, huff……."
Jae-hak leaned against the alley wall, gasping for air. What was that bastard from earlier? And what happened to Seong-min?
With hands trembling from adrenaline, Jae-hak pulled his phone from his pocket. He desperately dialed a familiar number.
"Hello?"
"Captain, Captain…… I……."
"Officer Seong? Is that you, Officer Seong?"
But before Jae-hak could even get a word out, the captain roared.
"Officer Seong, where are you right now? Have you lost your mind? Damaging a patrol car and abandoning your post! What do you think you’re doing, you……."
"Captain, it’s not like that, please listen to me……."
Jae-hak pleaded, feeling like he was going insane. But the captain wouldn't listen.
"Listen to what! I heard everything from Officer Kim! Stop messing around and get to the station right now!"
*Beep.* The captain hung up unilaterally. Jae-hak stared blankly at his phone screen for a moment.
What is this? What am I supposed to do?
Should I report it?
To whom……?
*Ding.*
That was when a KakaoTalk notification arrived. The sudden sound nearly made Jae-hak drop his phone.
‘……What is this?’
The message was from Seong-min’s account. It contained a single photo. A scene all too familiar to Jae-hak.
It was a photo of his mother lying in the hospital.
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Please, please…….
*Bang!* Jae-hak practically kicked open the door to his mother’s hospital room. The other patients occupying the beds in the six-person room glanced over in surprise.
But his mother’s bed was empty.
"You’ve come back?"
He turned around to see a nurse with a familiar face.
"……Yes?"
"Did you leave something behind?"
"What are you talking……."
His stomach turned cold, as if he had swallowed ice. Only then did Jae-hak realize what had happened.
"Did I…… come here earlier?"
"Yes? You came just a moment ago and took your mother with you? You said you’d take care of her comfortably at home from now on……."
Seeing Jae-hak’s blood-stained uniform, the nurse stuttered, seemingly realizing that something was wrong. Jae-hak left the nurse behind and started running.
Home.
He couldn't remember how he got from the hospital to his house. His mind was a blank slate, and he hadn't even thought to change out of his blood-spattered uniform. He only came to his senses when he was standing in front of his door.
Jae-hak quietly drew his service pistol and pressed his back against the wall next to the entrance. No sound came from inside.
It was a small studio apartment he’d moved into because of the hospital bills. There was no way in or out except for the front door…….
Jae-hak slowly counted to three in his head and nudged the door open.
*Creeeak…….*
The rusted hinges let out an eerie sound. Then, silence followed.
Jae-hak walked into the entryway with his pistol aimed forward. And then he found them.
"……Mom."
His mother was in the middle of the studio, still hooked up to an IV, lying on a portable cot.
And lying unconscious under that bed was Seong-min.
"Seong-min……!"
But Jae-hak couldn't finish his cry.
*Crack.*
Something warm flowed down the back of his head. Before he could even realize it was blood, his vision blurred.
Jae-hak lost consciousness before his body even hit the floor.
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"How many minutes do you think it’ll take for the police to show up if a report is filed?"
"It’s not that far, wouldn't they be here in 10 minutes?"
"I don't think so. I checked a delivery app, and it says about 15 minutes. The police here won't be faster than a delivery driver."
"What about the client?"
"In Incheon."
"Planning to leave the country as soon as you get the item? Wow, they must be in a real hurry."
"Did you take care of the informant?"
"Yes, I delivered the promised money. He’ll retire and head to the countryside within the next month."
"Hey, he’s waking up."
*Cough, cough.* Jae-hak vomited a few wet coughs while lying on the floor. Then, he struggled to open his eyes.
"Hello."
A man wearing Jae-hak’s face greeted him. Behind him, two men who appeared to be his subordinates stood with their arms crossed.
"!!"
Jae-hak stared at them blankly for a moment before his memory returned, and he began to struggle. But his hands were already cuffed behind his back, and his mouth was taped shut with duct tape, leaving him unable to move.
"Are you awake?"
The man wearing Jae-hak’s face giggled and tapped Jae-hak’s cheek mockingly.
And then, a grotesque thing happened.
The man’s body twitched, and his frame began to ripple in a bizarre way.
"-!!"
The man’s stature shrank, and his bone structure twisted. Excess flesh, mixed with fat and blood, sloughed off his skin as he gradually transformed into the appearance of a woman.
"Ah, sorry. It’s a bit uncomfortable to stay in a man’s form for too long."
The woman who had been wearing Jae-hak’s face tied her hair up and spat something white at his feet. Jae-hak recognized it as a tooth.
The woman cracked her neck and crouched in front of Jae-hak. She then picked up a pistol with her gloved hand. It was Jae-hak’s service pistol.
"If you scream, you die. You. Your mother. Your friend."
Jae-hak nodded desperately. The woman grabbed him by the collar and forced him to his knees in front of her. Then, she ripped the tape off his mouth.
"……Please, save us……."
Jae-hak said in a hoarse voice. A tear rolled down his cheek.
"Then answer me."
The woman asked with a smile.
"The thing you got from Jeong Doyeong. The green gemstone. Where is it?"
"In…… inside the shoe cabinet."
The woman gestured with her head. One of the two subordinates, a man with a scruffy beard, rummaged through the shoe cabinet for a moment before finding the ebony box.
*Click.*
As the lid opened, the alluringly glowing green gemstone was revealed.
"It’s correct. It’s the 'Crown'."
The bearded man said. The woman seemed satisfied and stroked Jae-hak’s hair with a gentle touch. Jae-hak trembled in fear. He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes.
"……Please. Please…… we don't know anything. Nothing at all……."
"Right. You don't, do you?"
The woman said sweetly. *Yes,* Jae-hak forced a pathetic smile.
"I understand."
The woman patted Jae-hak’s back a few times and then raised the pistol. She shot Jae-hak’s mother.
*Bang.*
The gunshot. The shell casing bouncing away. The body the bullet pierced jerked limply, and red blood scattered into the air.
The moment he understood what had happened, Jae-hak screamed and lunged at the woman with all his might. But before he could take even a single step, something heavy struck him in the solar plexus.
*Crack.*
There was a sound of something breaking in his chest. Jae-hak collapsed forward. *Gasp, gasp……* He couldn't breathe.
*Bang,* another gunshot rang out. Seong-min’s head slumped limply. And red blood began to pool beneath him…….
"Let’s go."
The woman said briefly. The bearded man, having tucked the ebony box into his coat, pulled his hat down and hurried out of the house.
"Call the police and pretend to be a neighbor soon. Don't leave any traces."
The woman instructed the remaining subordinate. The man picked up a white plastic container and began spraying a transparent liquid everywhere.
The pungent smell of gasoline stung his nose.
*Thwack!*
The woman kicked Jae-hak, who was trying to break his restraints despite the pain, knocking him over again. She climbed onto his back and pressed her knee firmly against his head.
"You said you would! You said you would, so why……!!"
Jae-hak wailed while completely pinned down.
"Shh…… good boy."
The woman whispered softly and grabbed Jae-hak’s right arm with both hands. Then, as if snapping a wooden chopstick, she bent his elbow the wrong way.
*Snap.*
"……!"
In pain that turned his vision white, Jae-hak couldn't even scream and convulsed like a fish.
The woman pressed the muzzle of the gun against the temple of the half-delirious Jae-hak. She seemed to be adjusting the angle.
"It has to look like a suicide."
A statement he hadn't even asked for. Jae-hak realized it. A tragic incident where a son, exhausted by long-term care, murdered his mother and took his own life…… they had intended to finish the job with this scenario from the very beginning.
"Shh……."
The woman said soothingly. Jae-hak struggled with all his might, but the woman didn't budge. The cold muzzle touched his temple. *Click,* the sound of the hammer being pulled back…….
Is this how I die?
Why?
What did we ever do?
Half-mad, Jae-hak thought. No, it was an explosion of emotion closer to instinct than reason. There was sorrow, there was injustice, a craving for survival, and…….
And there was a rage that bordered on infinite hatred.
In the split second the trigger was pulled, something inside Jae-hak finally opened its eyes.
*Bang.*
The curtains covering the window swayed slightly, like tree branches. A fleeting ray of sunlight that had leaked through drifted in the air for a moment before melting away.
"Let’s go."
The masked man said, striking a match with an air of annoyance.
"We’re going to burn everything anyway, so you don't have to worry so much about……."
But the man couldn't finish his sentence. Suddenly, the woman who had been pinning Jae-hak down was sent flying across the studio.
*Crash!* The table the woman fell onto shattered, sending wood splinters flying everywhere. The dull sound of a ceramic flowerpot falling and smashing followed.
"What the……."
And on the other side, Jae-hak slowly stood up on both legs. The handcuffs on his wrists had already been snapped.
A terrible pain suddenly surged through him. It was the natural result of breaking handcuffs with an arm whose elbow had been bent the wrong way. It was an injury that would never fully heal in his lifetime.
"……."
But Jae-hak’s instinct was telling him otherwise. Following an intuition he didn't even know he possessed, Jae-hak lifted his broken, dangling right arm and exerted force.
*Cr-cr-crack…….*
Then, the arm twitched a few times and began to snap back into its original shape with a bone-chilling sound.
"What the……."
"……This bastard is an Awakened."
The woman stood up, rubbing her aching wrist.
"He twisted the gun away at the last second."
"……Damn it, of all the things to go wrong……."
"Regeneration. The rank is…… at least Grade 7. His physical strength is stronger than mine for now."
"That’s tricky."
"Go around to the left. I’ll go to the right."
The woman said cautiously, drawing a military knife from her thigh. The man followed her judgment without a word and took his stance.
A variable had emerged, but it wouldn't be a problem. Although her abilities were better suited for espionage than all-out warfare, she was still a trained Level 5 Awakened. A civilian who had just awakened was absolutely no match for her.
Jae-hak glared at them.
*Thump, thump, thump, thump.* The sound of his racing heart. *Stay calm. Stay calm…* He repeated it endlessly, but it wasn't easy. Especially with his mother… his mother’s corpse lying right beside him.
Jae-hak raised the stolen pistol and took aim. Or rather, he tried to.
“……!!”
But before he could even pull the trigger, the man had already closed the distance to point-blank range.
*Snap.*
A concise strike. With a sharp burst of pain, the pistol flew into the air. At the same time, the woman’s knife flashed from the other side.
A perfect pincer attack.
However, there was one fact they had overlooked.
‘…….’
Jae-hak was a police officer, but he wasn't in the violent crimes unit, and… he had never learned any martial arts beyond basic training. His experience with gymnastics in his school days would be of little help against well-trained killers.
But Jae-hak had factored in one thing: the fact that they would be far more skilled at fighting than he was.
And that meant he was prepared to take as many hits as necessary.
*Thwack!*
“You crazy bas—”
Jae-hak blocked the knife the woman had thrust at him with his bare hand. The sharp blade pierced through the back of his hand, but instead of screaming, Jae-hak gritted his teeth and hunched his posture. Then, he slammed his shoulder into the man with all his might.
“!!”
*Crash!* The man was sent flying as if he’d been struck by a small car. Jae-hak threw his body on top of him, grabbed the knife embedded in his own hand, and pulled it out in one motion. His vision blurred from the sudden pain, but he had no time to suffer…
“Die…!”
But the moment he went to plunge the blade down, his instincts screamed a warning. An indescribable, chilling sensation. The direction was behind him. Without thinking, Jae-hak threw his body to the side.
*Whoosh.* The wind whistled past his ear. The woman’s sharp, sweeping kick grazed his face by a hair’s breadth. *Rip.* The scratched skin tore open, and fresh blood erupted.
“Hah….”
Jae-hak barely managed to roll to his feet and put some distance between them. He glared straight at the woman.
A brief standoff.
Jae-hak glanced at his left hand. The palm, pierced by the knife, was trembling uncontrollably and slowly knitting itself back together.
*I can do it. I can do it…* Jae-hak muttered as if brainwashing himself.
The woman kept her eyes on Jae-hak while trying to help the fallen man up. But the masked man groaned and couldn't stand properly.
“……Status.”
The man reported something in a voice Jae-hak couldn't hear. The woman’s face slowly hardened.
“…….”
With a grim expression, the woman sat the man up and leaned his back against the wall. A display of camaraderie. That sight… felt infinitely disgusting to Jae-hak.
Without a word, the woman picked up a large piece of the shattered pottery scattered at her feet. The next moment, she was right in front of Jae-hak.
“!!”
Jae-hak reflexively thrust the knife forward. But it didn't reach her. The chilling sensation of the blade scraping against the pottery shard. The missed knife stabbed at empty air.
Jae-hak gritted his teeth and swung the knife again. He stabbed, slashed, and hacked wildly. But he couldn't land a hit. The woman parried every attack with the shard of the flowerpot.
Jae-hak had the advantage in raw strength, but the gap in technique and experience was far too obvious.
“You…!”
In his desperation, Jae-hak’s movements became too wide. A slight opening. That was all the woman needed.
*Crunch.*
The flowerpot shard shattered. Jae-hak heard something in his jaw crumble.
*Thud.* Jae-hak collapsed beside his mother’s hospital bed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Whether we shoot you to death… or poke holes in you after you’re dead….”
The woman said emotionlessly.
“If we burn you black with fire… it won’t make much of a difference. Right?”
Jae-hak squirmed, trying to get up somehow, but his head and limbs wouldn't obey him. Classic symptoms of a concussion….
“Ugh….”
The woman raised her foot. Then, she stomped down on Jae-hak’s knee with all her might.
“Aaaaaaaah…!”
*Snap.* Whether it was a tendon or cartilage that broke, the horrific pain made Jae-hak’s chest heave. The woman climbed on top of him.
And she began to beat Jae-hak’s face without mercy.
*Thud.* Every time the dull sound echoed, blood splattered everywhere. His nasal bone shattered, and his cheekbone began to cave in. His regeneration couldn't keep up with the damage.
“Ugh… c-cough….”
Jae-hak’s consciousness began to drift away. He couldn't breathe properly because of the blood filling his nose and mouth. Like slowly sinking into lukewarm water, everything was gradually blurring.
He was dying. He was really dying.
“Cough….”
Just then, his left hand, flailing in a seizure, touched something. It was his mother’s hand, which had slipped down to the side of the bed.
In an instant, his mind cleared as if doused in cold water. Jae-hak jerked his head hard to dodge the incoming fist. Then, he spat the mouthful of blood in his mouth onto the woman’s face.
“You… son of a b*tch….”
For a split second, the fist stopped.
A single chance that would never come again.
Jae-hak pulled the IV line from the back of his mother’s hand and wrapped it around the woman’s neck. Then, gathering every last bit of his remaining strength, he pulled.
“Cough….”
The woman, realizing the situation a beat too late, thrashed about. The sound of the IV stand toppling over echoed through the room.
“Ugh… cough….”
The sound of choking. The woman’s face, deprived of blood, turned deathly pale, and her desperate hands clawed at the air near Jae-hak’s face. She gouged at his eyes and crushed his fractured facial bones with her grip.
But Jae-hak didn't let go of the line.
He didn't feel the pain. He didn't feel the exhaustion. In his malfunctioning brain, he only knew one thing: if he let go of this line, he would die.
How many seconds, or perhaps minutes, had passed?
An eternity of a moment went by….
The woman’s eyes, which had been glistening with rage and terror, slowly dimmed. Her pale lips parted, and eventually, her pupils slowly lost their light.
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