Chapter 81

“Are you planning to go in alone?” Seo Hae-gun asked, furrowing his brow. “Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll return the instant I destroy the sigil. I don’t know if the same method will work this time, but… there is nothing else we can do.”

There was no way to save someone who had already become a host. Even the world’s strongest hunters had been helplessly eroded and killed once transformed. No matter how agonizing it felt, turning away from her was the only option. He had to destroy the sigil exposed amidst the pool of blood, severing the connection swiftly so she could find rest.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Eui-rim watched the familiar yellow light envelop his surroundings as time ground to a halt. Tightening his grip on the knife, he bolted toward the prone figure and shoved her aside with all his strength.

“You’re cruel, Eui-rim-ah.”

Just before he could drive the blade into the exposed single-eyed sigil, a weeping voice pierced his mind. Freezing stiff, Eui-rim cut his eyes toward her. Drenched in tears of blood, the host whispered through a warped smile.

“Back then, too, you were the only one who survived… and now you’re callously abandoning your noona just to save your own skin?”

“…”

“This time, too, you choose to be the only one who lives. Just like back then—exactly the same. In the end, even Mom died… yet you, only you, are alive and well, clinging tooth and nail to life.”

The hand gripping the knife shook so violently he nearly lost his hold on the hilt. Swallowing the bitter curses rising in his throat, Eui-rim forcibly tore his gaze away.

I knew it would be like this.

It was precisely because he had anticipated this outcome that he had tried to keep everyone else away. Before the hallucinations fully materialized, the shadow always spoke this way to lure in its next host. It dug deep into the most hidden recesses of human memory and dredged up whatever words would most effectively shatter the listener’s resolve. Primal desires, guilt, and countless vulnerabilities became bait to ensnare a host. Entranced by voices whispering like specters, victims stepped forward of their own accord and helped the Fragment expand its domain.

“Eui-rim-ssi!”

“I’m fine, so stay back!” Eui-rim shouted, catching sight of Seo Hae-gun attempting to approach. He locked both hands firmly around the knife’s hilt.

Right. There’s no time to hesitate. Right now, I have to destroy the sigil as fast as possible to reduce the Fragment’s territory even a fraction.

“Eui-rim-ah, why aren’t you answering? I said save me. Your noona is asking you for help. If you were the only one who survived back then, if you just listened comfortably from outside while the rest of us were dying, then this time you should save me… You have to help me.”

Fortunately, his mental resistance was high in rank. Had his willpower remained at its past level, he would never have endured—even knowing full well the entity was merely mimicking his sister.

Crunch.

As he drove the blade straight into the sigil, the voice imitating the dead snapped shut. Leaving behind the host glaring viciously at him, Eui-rim leaped backward. His intention was to cancel his skill the moment the sigil crumbled and flee to the upper floor with the others.

Yet contrary to his expectations, nothing happened. No blood spurted; nothing crumbled to dust. Both the sigil and the host remained entirely intact.

“You will die a wretched death, too, just like the rest of us. Swallowed up like cosmic dust, plunging into eternal agony.”

His older sister’s voice morphed into his mother’s, then from his father’s to Eui-jun’s. Eui-rim shook his head violently to dispel the phantom voices clinging to his ears.

Get a grip. It’s all a hallucination—nothing more than whispers spun to snare the next prey. If I collapse, everything is ruined. I’m the only one here who can destroy these marks. There’s no time to hesitate. I have to find a way and act now.

Bang!

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, Eui-rim drove the blade down a second time, and the relentless voices ceased. A violent surge of black blood vomited from the host’s mouth. At last, the sigil on the floor rippled, condensing into a dense, writhing mass.

Suddenly, a hand yanked his arm upward. Seo Hae-gun, having rushed in despite Eui-rim’s warnings, dragged him toward the doorway.

“I told you not to come in!” Eui-rim snapped.

“Another sigil appeared—how was I supposed to just stand by?” Hae-gun countered.

“What?”

Looking up at the ceiling in shock, Eui-rim saw a new sigil carved directly opposite the one on the floor.

What? Why are there two marks in the exact same space? And why didn’t the third sigil shatter, only coalescing into a mass? Could that lump move on its own, just like the parasite in the healer?

His ominous foreboding proved true without fail. Feeling something scrape past him, Eui-rim whipped his head around to see the dark mass crawling up the wall like an insect. He tried to intercept it, but he was already too late. The mass rapidly scaled the concrete and fused straight into the fourth single eye.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!”

Without warning, the host convulsing in blood burst into wild, frenetic laughter. The shadow pouring from the ceiling sigil cascaded over her body like filthy wastewater.

“So my brother was here.”

A bizarre cadence seeped from the host’s torn, distended mouth. An eerie voice—its gender and age impossible to discern—drifted through the air like a cold wind, resounding across the chamber.

“So my brother was here?” The voice hitched in a halting cadence. “Brother? Was… here? All along?”

The snickering tone did not last. Doubt crept into every syllable the creature uttered, and the host’s neck snapped sideways at an unnatural angle.

“How? Split? In… two?”

Split in two?

Come to think of it, the Fragment I encountered in the hospital room also mistook me for Seo Hae-gun. Given that the Gatekeepers were hiding him, it must be difficult for the entity to distinguish which of us holds the Fragment until his status window is fully realized. Even if incomplete, a part of Seo Hae-gun resides within me.

“Eui-rim-ssi.”

Lifting his head at the whisper, Eui-rim met Seo Hae-gun’s gaze. With a curt nod, Eui-rim moved in lockstep with him toward the exit while the Fragment remained mired in confusion.

“The one… who took… brother’s soul… is mixed in.”

Yet the Fragment arrived at the truth before they could cross the threshold. As if thoroughly pleased by its deduction, the creature unleashed a tidal wave of pitch-black shadows from the host amidst screeching laughter.

Dammit!

The instant the chamber was swallowed by absolute darkness, Eui-rim knew what had to be done. Canceling his skill, he yelled toward the hunters on the stairs.

“Get up the stairs! Hurry!”

“What the hell?! Fuck, why did the room go black?!” Moonhyuk shouted from above.

“There’s no time to explain! Shut the blast door the moment you reach the landing! Seal the entrance!” Eui-rim bellowed back.

“Then what about you and the Guild Master, Eui-rim-ssi?!” Chaeyoon cried out.

“We’ll—” Eui-rim stumbled mid-sentence. “Seo Hae-gun-ssi?”

Seo Hae-gun had frozen in his tracks, nearly causing Eui-rim to trip over him. Hurriedly regaining his footing, Eui-rim looked up, only to find the Guild Master staring down at him with utter bewilderment.

“That’s strange,” Hae-gun murmured.

“Pardon?”

“I was certain I brought you out,” Hae-gun muttered, his voice distant. “Why are you still here? Was it a dream?”

…What?

“Are you all right to stand? You were crying that you couldn’t walk… Are you feeling better now?”

Eui-rim’s confusion lasted only a split second. The moment he saw those glazed, unfocused blue-gray eyes, realization struck him like a physical blow. Sweeping his gaze downward, sure enough, a tendril of shadow was latched tightly around Seo Hae-gun’s ankle. Having deduced that one of them was an impostor, the Fragment had begun bombarding Hae-gun with hallucinations first.

If he proved to be the fake, it would rip him to shreds on the spot. And if he was the true brother, it would corrupt him into a host and devour him whole—just as it had done in the previous timeline.

Was this what it felt like when the world went black before your eyes?

Swallowing down the terror clawing at his throat, Eui-rim urged the others upward once more. Yoo Tae-geun and Son Chaeyoon were hesitating on the stairs, but the crisis was far too dire to worry about them right now. While the shadow ensnared Hae-gun and probed them both, the rest of the team had to evacuate the danger zone.

“I said get moving, now!”

Only when Eui-rim barked that savage command did the hunters finally tear themselves away. Watching them scramble up the stairs, Eui-rim dropped to his knees at Seo Hae-gun’s feet.