-...The police have announced they will form an investigative team focusing on the likelihood that the incident was a so-called war between organizations, and as for the identities of the missing persons...

"Hey, President Kwak. You received the gift, right? Come on, why would you send something so expensive? Makes me feel embarrassed. Haha. Anyway, I'll enjoy it. Ah, President Kwak, hold on a second."

Hwang Tae-su paused the call and shot a sharp look at Go Hyung-geon.

By now, he should pick up on signals quickly, yet why was he always so slow?

"Hoo... Noisy. Let's turn off the TV."

"......"

"Hyung-geon, you bastard!"

"Yes? Did you call me?"

"Look at this guy, spacing out again. Did I give you too big a bonus yesterday? Are you fully set for retirement or what?"

"I apologize!"

"If you're sorry, turn off the damn TV."

"...I think you should see this, sir."

Hwang Tae-su sighed and spoke into the phone.

"President Kwak. Yeah, no, the kids these days have gotten sloppy. Eh, kids these days aren't like back in our time... Anyway, I'll call you back later. Yeah, yeah."

After ending the call, Hwang Tae-su turned to Go Hyung-geon.

"You little punk, why do you always break the flow when I'm talking to President Kwak? What do you think he’s gonna think of Hwang Tae-su?"

"......"

"Why don't you just go ahead and smear shit all over your boss's face?"

"No, it's not that... Sir, please calm down and look at that first."

Hwang Tae-su turned his head casually.

Then he took a deep breath.

"What the fuck! Why am I showing up there again?"

"That's exactly what I want to ask, sir. Why are you on there again?"

The subtitle at the bottom of the TV screen was striking.

[Mass Disappearance of Gang Members in District 13...]

But something even more striking caught the eye.

It was the photo displayed at the top.

Although it was pixelated and the details were blurry, it wasn’t unrecognizable.

Because it was me, damn it!

Shockingly, he was listed as one of the prime suspects in the District 13 gang member disappearance case!

"Ah!"

A voice of astonishment rang out from somewhere.

It was obvious even without looking.

It was the dream-interpreter himself, Kim Si-hyun.

"As expected of you, boss!"

"What now? What did the boss do again?"

"Hyung-geon, don't you know the phrase 'using barbarians to defeat barbarians'?"

"I know Digestive cookies."

"You ignorant bastard, that's a snack."

"Don't show off your education. So what about it!?"

"You use barbarians to defeat barbarians! You still don't get it?"

"Explain properly, you punk."

"Haa... The Bear Faction guys all disappeared. Who would they suspect?"

"Well, just like the TV says, either the Dokjeon Faction or us... Ah?"

"Now do you get it?"

"Hoo! As expected of you, boss! When did you come up with such a plan?"

"Framing the Dokjeon Faction and swallowing up District 13 without spilling a drop of blood... Incredible, truly brilliant!"

"But how did you wipe them out? To quietly get rid of them, you'd need Awakened ones. Recruiting Awakened people isn't exactly easy, though."

Hwang Tae-su pressed his hand against his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

At that moment, unable to bear the frustration, he neither affirmed nor denied anything.

Go Hyung-geon’s phone vibrated.

"What? Fuck! Why the hell are you telling me this now? You should've blocked them or something! Damn it... Fine, hanging up."

"Hyung-geon, why are you cursing so much?"

"Apologies. Sir, I think you need to leave urgently."

"Why?"

"The cops are here."

Hwang Tae-su rose from the sofa and moved toward the window. Sure enough, there were dozens of flashing lights from police cars across the street.

His heart began to race. Of course, he had no connection to the District 13 disappearances. But as the saying goes, a guilty conscience needs no accuser.

"Let's get out of here."

"We'll escort you."

In a rush, Hwang Tae-su tried to pull a bulletproof vest from the office cabinet. Or he tried to, anyway.

"Fuck, where's the bulletproof vest?"

"Ah..."

"Where the hell is it, you punk!"

"Sir, you sent it to the manufacturer for reinforcement..."

"R-right."

It wasn’t even Go Hyung-geon’s fault, so there was no point yelling. Hwang Tae-su decided to leave the office at once.

The elevator was too risky.

The emergency stairs were also risky.

‘The rooftop.’

Hwang Tae-su had chosen this building for his office precisely because of the rooftop.

The building wasn't too tall, and its height was similar to the neighboring buildings, making it easy to cross over the roofs if needed.

Which meant he could evacuate quickly in emergencies like this.

‘Even though I don’t really know why I have to run…’

The three of them raced madly toward the rooftop. Loud footsteps echoed from below.

Probably the police.

Finally reaching the rooftop, Hwang Tae-su was left speechless.

Tu-ta-ta-ta-ta-!

"Hwang Tae-su, you are surrounded. Drop your weapon and surrender immediately. Any movement will be met with gunfire. I repeat, Hwang Tae-su, you are now surrounded..."

As if they had known everything, even police helicopters had been mobilized.

"What do we do?"

"...Hyung-geon."

"Yes, boss."

"Dae."

"Why... what about this time..."

"You didn't bribe the cops, did you?"

Unless it was a major incident, the local police usually tipped them off before a raid.

But this time, no such warning had come. Meaning Go Hyung-geon’s usual bribes hadn’t worked.

"......"

"You admit it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then let's surrender cleanly."

Just as Hwang Tae-su raised both hands—

Bang! Tatatatang!

Gunshots rang out repeatedly.

It was the police opening fire, having deemed Hwang Tae-su's 'dae' as a threat.

There were four gunshots in total.

The police's shooting skills were excellent. All four shots aimed for Hwang Tae-su's vital points.

Two to the head and neck, the other two to the heart.

Turning his head toward where the gunshots came from, Hwang Tae-su experienced something strange. He could see the bullets flying in slow motion.

However, unfortunately, he couldn't dodge them.

“Guh-!”

“S-Sir!”

“Boss!”

Hwang Tae-su clutched his chest and collapsed.

“Guheuheuk!”

“Boss!”

“Guheheuheuk!”

While groaning, Hwang Tae-su suddenly felt a sense of doubt.

'It doesn't hurt?'

It really didn’t hurt. Two shots to the chest, one to the neck, one to the head.

Having been hit four times, he should be in pain. No, before that, being shot in the head, he should have died a hundred times over instantly.

Yet he was completely fine.

He felt nothing at all.

“You sons of bitches!”

“Damn it! You bastards!”

Go Hyung-geon and Kim Si-hyun’s eyes turned fierce. They tried to pull out their pistols without hesitation.

“W-Wait!”

“……?”

“I'm fine.”

“Boss?”

“Boss, you're not dead?”

Hwang Tae-su sprang to his feet.

“Do I have a hole in my head?”

“No, sir.”

“Then is there a bullet stuck in my chest?”

“Not that either, sir.”

Just as they stood there bewildered,

- You can't just take it without paying back.

Seo-jun’s words came to mind.

In front of the District 12 police station.

A rare scene unfolded where thugs, natural enemies of the police, stood in neat rows.

By current law, there was no regulation to prevent this. The police could only watch this scene while preparing for any possible situation.

“You all must be busy, why did you even come out?”

“Since Boss came out safely, it’s only right for us to be here!”

“It’s not like I served time or anything. Just got a bit of questioning done, no need to make a big deal…….”

Though Hwang Tae-su acted indifferent, inside, he was so happy he could barely keep from grinning ear to ear.

Hwang Tae-su, who had been listed as a suspect by the police, was found to have no connection to the incident and was released after a brief investigation.

He turned his head. The police were just blankly staring at them.

'This is the first time I've ever come out of a police station this quickly.'

That alone was enough to make him chuckle, but now he had even gained an unexpected bulletproof ability. The kind of bulletproof ability where he could be shot and not be hurt at all.

Hwang Tae-su thought of Monster 1.

'That guy.'

He should have known when the guy returned the borrowed car so clean last time.

That kid surprisingly seemed to have a good side to him.

“Uncle, are you making gimbap?”

Seo-woo, who had been playing with Yeoksam, suddenly entered the kitchen and asked with sparkling eyes.

To young Seo-woo’s eyes, the neatly arranged ingredients in the kitchen must have looked like gimbap fillings.

“No.”

“Then what is it?”

“Want to guess, Seo-woo?”

“Hmm……”

Seo-woo pondered seriously, then shook his head with a gloomy expression.

“I don't know. If it’s not gimbap, what could it be? Hye-jin!”

Hye-jin, who had been playing with Yeoksam in the hall, came running. Seo-woo pointed at the gimbap-like ingredients.

“Do you know what this is for?”

“Gimbap?”

“They said it's not gimbap.”

“Then…… hmm.”

After thinking, Hye-jin grinned bashfully.

“I don't know.”

“Uncle, what is it?”

Although he was tempted to tease them, seeing Seo-woo looking as if he'd die from curiosity, he decided to tell the truth.

“It’s skewered pancakes (sanjeok).”

“Skewered pancakes? That sounds weird.”

“Oh! I've heard of it. My grandma made it a long time ago.”

“What's that?”

“It's like chicken skewers, but delicious.”

Seo-woo still looked like he didn’t get it.

“Seo-woo, you’ve never eaten anything like this?”

Seo-jun searched ‘sanjeok’ on his phone and showed him the images.

“No!”

“Then what did you eat during Chuseok?”

“Songpyeon!”

“Only songpyeon? Nothing else?”

“Yes.”

Seo-woo’s expression seemed to ask, ‘Was I supposed to eat anything else?’

Seo-jun felt a pang of helplessness. How busy must Yeon-jun have been to not even properly celebrate Chuseok?

Even in the demon world, there were days like holidays. The demons called it Judgment Day.

Well…… of course, they didn't make songpyeon or traditional treats like mooncakes or ohagi, but at least they didn’t fight on that day.

And every time Judgment Day came around, Seo-jun thought of Korea’s holidays.

Especially Chuseok.

During Chuseok, his grandmother would always bring out the square pan to make sanjeok and pollack jeon.

Seo-jun would sit beside her, snatching up skewered pancakes as she made them.

One by one, as he ate them, Yeon-jun, who had been watching special Chuseok cartoons in the bedroom, would catch the scent and come running.

“Grandma! Me too, me too!”

Begging like a spoiled child.

As Seo-jun smiled faintly at the memory, he saw Seo-woo seriously examining the skewered pancake ingredients.

As people age, they live on memories. Seo-jun had endured the demon world with those memories.

But Seo-woo still had no memories of Chuseok.

It felt bitter. A bitterness for the dry times and for the children's lives within them.