Last month had been the humid rainy season.

The rain had poured down so much that it had never felt this damp before.

But now, with the rainy season over, a refreshing northwesterly breeze swept through, brushing past his head.

Pop—!

Stopping mid-walk on his way back to the lodging, Seo-jun savored the wind as he cracked open a can of beer.

Beyond the white sandy beach, waves crashed upon the shore.

It was a peaceful sight. A view that warmed the heart and made it feel as if new buds were sprouting in emotions that had gone cold.

Closing his eyes, Seo-jun listened to the scent of the sea and the lively chatter of the people around him. Then, suddenly, he turned his head.

Doo-shik was gazing beyond the horizon.

“Thinking about home?”

“Huh?”

“Your eyes seemed to say so.”

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Here, have a drink.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-jun stood alongside Doo-shik, their gazes fixed on the distant horizon as he took a sip of beer.

“Demon God…”

“Call me hyung.”

“But…”

Seo-jun smirked.

“I am older than you, after all. So from now on, even when it’s just us, call me hyung.”

“…I wouldn’t dare.”

“It’s fine.”

“Then, I’ll try.”

Silence fell once more.

It was Doo-shik who spoke first.

“I think I now understand why the Demon God wanted to return.”

“…”

“The people who live here… they don’t realize just how beautiful this place is, do they?”

“Probably not.”

Crash!

A large wave shattered against the white sand.

Watching it, Doo-shik spoke.

“If I ever return to the Demon Realm, I might not be able to adjust.”

“Oh?”

“The food here… the smells… the nature… the people… and everything about this place… I would miss it all.”

“Especially ramen, right?”

Doo-shik burst into laughter.

“Yes. Ramen is like the food of Valhalla. How does it even taste like that…?”

“No matter how much you eat, you never get tired of it. That’s ramen.”

Slurp.

Even though he had just eaten, Seo-jun smacked his lips.

That settled it. Tomorrow morning, hangover ramen was on the menu.

“And dramas too.”

“You’re still watching them?”

“Yes. But there are so many other fascinating things too.”

“What amazed you the most?”

“…May I speak honestly?”

“Of course.”

“The Demon God surprised me the most. In the Demon Realm, I couldn’t even dare to look directly at you, yet here, you accept being spoken down to by mere humans so naturally.”

“This is Earth.”

“Ah… Forgive me, but may I ask one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why did you take in that hero?”

Doo-shik had expected Seo-jun to take a moment before answering. But unexpectedly, the response came instantly.

“He had nowhere to go.”

“That’s all?”

The pause came now.

After a short silence, Seo-jun spoke.

“There was once an orc named Kalax. And that orc, Kalax, took me in when I had nowhere to go.”

“Then… at the Battle of Atilcus, when you spared the Black Orc tribe…”

“Kalax was one of them.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“That’s also why I took in that hero. A favor repaid.”

“A favor…?”

“The kindness Kalax once showed me. That’s all.”

“If kindness continues, people start to take it for granted.”

The words were, of course, not Doo-shik’s.

They belonged to Park Yeon, who wore an expression of mild amusement.

“Anyone listening would think you were the one who took me in.”

“Wasn’t I?”

“The one who took me in was Yeon-jun! And Yeon-jun needs me! If I weren’t here, who would clean the bathroom and wash the dishes? That dumb orc?”

Doo-shik suddenly stood up and clapped.

“He has a point.”

“Since when do you acknowledge things?”

“When they’re true.”

Thud!

Doo-shik flicked Park Yeon’s forehead.

Park Yeon could have easily dodged, but he didn’t.

Instead, he lifted his chin high and smirked.

“That’s all you’ve got?”

“Barely? Want me to show you what real power looks like!?”

“Go ahead and show me. As I’ve said countless times, I’m a dragon slayer who even took down the evil dragon, Daekarantu…”

It was then.

Seo-jun, who had been watching them with a grin, suddenly stiffened. Then, his eyebrows twitched in reverse.

And in that moment, Seo-jun’s divine form disappeared.

Meruths, who had descended, folded her wings. Her back split open as the wings vanished.

With the only distinguishing feature between her and a human now gone, she appeared to be just a regular human from the outside.

“I’ve been waiting.”

When Eisuke greeted her, Meruths shot him a sideways glance.

“Because of that coward, Kadalan, I’m wasting my precious divine energy.”

“…”

“The preparations for the experiment are ready, right?”

“Yes. However, Kadalan-sama has ordered that the experiments stop for the time being.”

“Still incomplete?”

At this cryptic statement, Eisuke nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then we definitely can’t stop the experiment now.”

“…”

“What are you hesitating for, Eisuke? I said we can’t stop the experiment!”

Eisuke felt troubled, but even more than Kadalan, he feared Meruths.

“Understood.”

“This time, I’ll observe it personally.”

“Will Meruths-sama really be personally overseeing it?”

“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t?”

“Well, no, but…”

“Then let’s begin without further delay.”

According to international agreements, Awakened individuals were required to report to authorities whenever they visited another country, regardless of the purpose.

Of course, there were ways to enter secretly. In fact, there were many.

But most Awakened individuals followed the international agreements.

Even if they entered secretly, there was a high chance of being detected by ether radar.

If caught, the Awakened individual would face severe penalties under the international agreement.

The punishment? Immediate confiscation of ether.

For Awakened individuals, this was as good as a death sentence.

So, most Awakened individuals avoided smuggling themselves into countries despite the risks.

However, the term "most" didn't mean 100%. A very small number still attempted to enter clandestinely.

Just like Eisuke now.

“Is that the place?”

“Yes.”

“The temperature seems a bit too high for an experiment.”

“The experiment we prepared will take place underwater, so it should be fine. The current water temperature is 27°C, as I’ve checked.”

“That should be sufficient.”

In the meantime, they arrived at their destination.

The place they stepped onto was a location known as Hansando in Tongyeong.

Meruths, after scanning the island briefly, spoke.

“No need to delay. Let’s start right away.”

“Yes.”

The Management Bureau had a branch in every city.

In Tongyeong, the branch was located on the site of the former Chungmu Elementary School.

The usually quiet branch was now bustling with activity. Even staff off-duty had rushed in, still in their pajamas, to the control center of the branch.

“What’s going on?”

This was true even for the branch head, Kim Man-gil.

He had been sound asleep at home on the weekend, but was forced to rush in at the emergency call.

“…The readings at the Je Seung Dang gate are abnormal!”

“Show the CCTV footage.”

There were multiple CCTV cameras installed around the usually sealed gate, as per protocol.

Soon, the footage of the waters in front of Je Seung Dang appeared on the monitor.

At first glance, the scene seemed perfectly peaceful.

Except for the fact that the waters in front of Je Seung Dang were bubbling up fiercely.

“What’s the ether level?”

“It’s slowly rising.”

Kim Man-gil clenched his lips tightly.

The Je Seung Dang gate had never caused any trouble since it was sealed.

Yet, something like this was happening now…

This wasn’t something he could solve on his own. Keeping his eyes fixed on the monitor, he immediately sent an alert to the central Management Bureau.

It wasn’t long before he received a response from the central office.

“This is Kim Man-gil, the branch head of Tongyeong. I’ve just sent the data over; have you confirmed it?”

-I just confirmed it. But what’s the exact situation on the ground?

“It seems to be at a level 6 emergency response.”

Noises of murmurs could be heard through the receiver. Kim Man-gil spoke into it.

“Are Awakened individuals being dispatched?”

-Is it not manageable with the Tongyeong branch personnel?

“The Je Seung Dang gate is the same gate where the sea serpent appeared in the past. The branch personnel… it’s difficult.”

The murmuring from the receiver grew louder. Various voices could be heard.

Where is everyone right now?

No, let me contact them first.

Alright, send me the data first.

Are you saving on scrolls right now?

…and so on.

Kim Man-gil waited quietly.

After a short while.

-We’ll send Scout Team 18 for the safety reconnaissance immediately.

A smile appeared on Kim Man-gil’s face.

Team 18 was the team led by Choi Sungkyun, who had been recently promoted to S-rank.

“Prepare the helicopter!”

Kim Man-gil shouted.

Although the central center said they would send Team 18 via scroll, the location specified for the scroll was the Tongyeong branch.

This meant that a means of transportation was needed to reach the Je Seung Dang gate, and a helicopter was the most suitable option for that.

Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-!

“Ha… What’s going on here?”

O Seong-sik, who tended to speak a lot due to the tension when being deployed, looked down at the sea and spoke.

Normally, the sound of the helicopter’s propellers should have drowned out everything, but all of them, being Awakened individuals with extremely developed senses, had no trouble talking through this noise.

“Team Leader, doesn’t it seem like gate explosions have been happening more frequently recently?”

Choi Sungkyun nodded lightly.

Last time, it was at Bamseom. And before that, the 12-K98 gate.

As O Seong-sik said, the frequency of explosions was indeed increasing.

‘Originally, it was once or twice every two or three months…’

Even then, it was usually only a few occurrences nationwide. Furthermore, most of those were low-grade channels or gates.

‘But recently, it’s different.’

It had definitely become strange.

After the 12-K98 gate, the Bamseom channel exploded, and now, the Je Seung Dang gate…

‘Terrorism?’

For a brief moment, Choi Sungkyun thought of the word “terrorism.”

If it were terrorism, then all of this made sense.

Gate terrorism, especially sealed gates, had become a global headache. Just last year in the U.S., there were two incidents of gate terrorism.

This year, in France, individuals suspected to be from IJ had caused a terrorist incident by exploding the sealed Eiffel Tower gate.

However, statistically, 84% of these terrorism incidents occurred in the Western world. The remaining 16% had a significant number of incidents in China.

But just because it hadn’t happened so far didn’t mean it wasn’t terrorism.

‘North Korea has attempted operations too…’

They had been caught and stopped before, but there were several cases of North Korea attempting gate terrorism.

Moreover, two years ago in Japan, an extreme-right Awakener had attempted illegal entry and caused a terrorist incident.

This, too, had been resolved with the individual facing ether confiscation, and the issue had been settled, but it couldn’t be excluded from consideration.

‘China is the same.’

After the upheavals, China had been very open about its intentions to rival the U.S. with its enormous population and massive capital.

So, China couldn’t be ruled out either.

‘…This is troublesome.’

If it were terrorism, and one of these three countries was involved, it would be troublesome no matter which one it was.

Meanwhile, the helicopter arrived at Je Seung Dang.

“Wow… if that explodes, it’ll be catastrophic.”

“At least there are no nearby houses, so that’s a relief.”

“True. If that explosion had happened in the city…”

“It would have been a disaster worse than the 12-K98.”

Channels and gates located underwater generally had weaker explosion power. While it couldn’t be ignored, the statistics showed this was the case.

“You guys wait here. I’ll go down and check.”

“Team Leader, alone?”

“If I stay here while the gate blows up, do you think I’ll survive?”

“…”

Even though underwater channels and gates had weaker explosion power, it was true that if someone lingered near them and got caught in the blast, they wouldn’t be able to guarantee their life.

“I’ll be quick. Wait here.”

“Then we’ll wait above.”

It was then.