Chapter 124
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Killing Incarnations one by one would never end.
There simply wasn’t enough time.
Their vacancies would always be filled.
How could one possibly eradicate pests that continuously appear?
‘I have to make them useful.’
It was better to leave them alone.
But not entirely unattended.
At the very least, ‘Park Sang-min’ had to ‘recognize them as Incarnations’.
Who was an ally, who was the enemy.
Who to use, and who to help!
Park Chan-woo knew Park Sang-min well enough to believe he had the ability to figure that out.
The problem, however, was ‘how to make him believe it’.
He couldn’t just appear before Park Sang-min and say, “Anyone I’ve marked with paint is an Incarnation, be cautious.”
—
“Did you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Lee Hyuk-soo applied to our ‘Safety Bureau’!”
“That’s out of nowhere. What are you talking about?”
“Dayeon said she saw him come through the entrance this morning.”
At that moment—
Hiding his presence while sneaking over the wall, ‘Park Chan-woo’, who had infiltrated the ‘Abyss Safety Bureau’, focused on the conversation.
‘[Nonexistence] doesn’t work on people from Earth.’
So he couldn’t just stroll around.
He had to carefully move through CCTV blind spots and stay out of sight.
With the [Glasses of Resplendent Dantalion] on and his hat pulled low, Park Chan-woo quietly observed.
From a quick glance, the two women chatting weren’t Incarnations.
“Is he handsome?”
“They say he looks like a sculpture.”
“Wow. …But maybe he just dropped by? Even though the Minister sent him several invitations, he’s never come before. This might just be a polite visit.”
“This time seems serious. Maybe it’s something he can’t handle alone?”
“So he’s here for collaboration?”
“Exactly.”
“Where do you even hear these things?”
“My guy told me.”
“Oh, the Planning Team Manager?”
Their conversation flowed naturally.
‘Lee Hyuk-soo is here right now?’
Park Chan-woo stroked his chin.
Then nodded slowly.
‘…Things might go better than expected.’
—
“I’m sorry, but I cannot cooperate.”
‘Inside the Minister’s office.’
‘Park Sang-min’ stood up and bowed his head politely.
‘Lee Hyuk-soo’ frowned.
“Why not?”
“We lack sufficient data to assess the danger of Incarnations.”
“I was told you’ve already compiled a list of them. And didn’t you say that list was leaked to the Incarnations?”
“They are a type of special Awakened. And we categorize all Awakened—First Awakened, Semi-Awakened, special ability users, etc. I’m not sure how it was leaked, but we’ll handle it.”
Park Sang-min responded calmly.
His expression was unwavering.
Lee Hyuk-soo felt frustrated.
He had seen Incarnations gathering in Bukhansan.
They were forming groups.
If not stopped soon, it would become a disaster.
“…Incarnations are monsters who’ve sold their souls to demons.”
“And what have they done?”
“They massacre people inside the Abyss—surely you’ve heard…”
“Are they the only ones who kill? Do non-Incarnations never commit murder?”
Park Sang-min wasn’t entirely wrong.
So far, the Incarnations had only caused trouble ‘inside’ the Abyss.
At least on Earth, there hadn’t been a single case where being an Incarnation had caused a problem.
How could they justify imposing sanctions on people who hadn’t done anything wrong?
Even non-Incarnations committed terrible crimes.
So this wasn’t about Incarnations—it was about human moral decline.
“Minister. If they start forming groups, the damage will be uncontainable. If the list was leaked, it means there are Incarnations inside this very building. We must act before they grow stronger and reveal themselves.”
Lee Hyuk-soo held his ground.
He had been repeating the same argument for ‘over five hours’.
Like a squirrel in a wheel.
But ‘Park Sang-min’ was just as unyielding.
“…Mr. Lee. The ‘Incarnation list’ is not definitive. We only have speculation. Unless someone admits they’re an Incarnation, we can’t be sure.”
“So you won’t include the ones I saw at Bukhansan on the list?”
“I’m saying we need evidence. Solid proof. That there are Incarnations here in the Bureau. And besides—”
Park Sang-min sighed.
“I just got a call. The people you said you saw at Bukhansan—all their whereabouts are now unknown.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Some of them matched people we were already monitoring. But they’ve all vanished from Bukhansan. A mysterious ‘Abyss’ opened mid-mountain.”
Something was off.
All those Incarnations had ‘disappeared’?
“There should have been corpses.”
“It was clean. Only signs of a brief fight remained.”
“……”
Lee Hyuk-soo’s brow furrowed naturally.
He had killed thirty Incarnations. Their bodies should have remained.
Because they died ‘on Earth’, not in the Abyss.
And yet, they were all gone.
Even that monster known as ‘Balzac.’
Did they somehow enter the Abyss and self-destruct?
Or were they trapped inside?
“Mr. Lee. We also want to work with the savior of humanity—you. But this is a sensitive time. Neither I nor the Safety Bureau can act rashly.”
Park Sang-min sighed again.
Truthfully, he already understood the danger Incarnations posed.
Internationally, it had become a shared concern.
In countries with weak security, Incarnations were already becoming major social threats.
Their lawlessness made gangs and mafias look tame by comparison.
But…
There was still a lack of proof.
In Korea, no Incarnation had caused serious trouble yet.
And no one could definitively say who was or wasn’t one.
‘If someone high-ranking is an Incarnation, things will get worse.’
Making a move now could easily backfire.
The list was managed in utmost secrecy.
Only a handful had access.
If it was leaked, it meant an Incarnation was inside the Bureau—with a ‘high-level position’.
One or many, they had no way of knowing.
Their hands were tied.
They couldn’t move.
They couldn’t rely on Lee Hyuk-soo’s word alone.
Though Park Sang-min wanted to work with the savior, the risks were too great.
In the end, he offered one last remark.
“Bring me irrefutable proof. Then I’ll act.”
—
‘Damn it…!’
Lee Hyuk-soo’s face darkened as he stepped out of the office.
He never imagined something so obvious would become so complicated.
But reality was cold.
As Park Sang-min said—resolve alone couldn’t change anything.
Still, he was frustrated.
He had seen countless atrocities committed by Incarnations.
Even if it was in lawless Abyss territory, the horrors were unforgivable.
‘The Incarnations at Bukhansan. The Abyss that opened mid-mountain.’
It was all a mystery.
Nothing was going his way.
‘If they won’t help, I’ll do it alone.’
Incarnations were humanity’s scourge.
The [Prophet] had been right.
If Park Sang-min and the Safety Bureau wouldn’t act, ‘Lee Hyuk-soo would solve it himself’.
Just as he was storming out of the building—
“Lee Hyuk-soo.”
“…?”
Did he mishear?
It was a familiar voice.
Yet, he couldn’t find the source.
“…Prophet?”
“Quietly step through the warp.”
‘Ziiing!’
Suddenly, a golden ring of light appeared before his eyes.
A warp.
Through the circle, he saw a familiar landscape.
‘Gulp.’
Lee Hyuk-soo swallowed hard and stepped through.
And then—
“…Huh!”
The land of the ‘Second Night’ was revealed.
But what came next shocked him even more.
“Long time no see.”
“P-Prophet!”
Beside him stood the fully armed ‘Park Chan-woo’.
Lee Hyuk-soo stammered in disbelief.
“Isn’t this where the ‘Second Night’ took place?”
“It is now mine.”
“…Kuhk!”
He said such a crazy thing so naturally.
Even if he was like a god, stealing another Creator’s land?!
“That’s not the issue, Lee Hyuk-soo.”
“…Then why did you call me?”
“You saw the Incarnations grouping in Bukhansan, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
Lee Hyuk-soo was shocked again.
He didn’t think the Prophet knew.
But Park Chan-woo had been eavesdropping on their conversation inside the Safety Bureau.
“I dealt with them.”
“…!!!”
“But the bigger problem is the Abyss Safety Bureau itself.”
It was shocking, but this was the Prophet.
Even if a hundred Incarnations, including Balzac, had attacked, they wouldn’t have scratched him.
Lee Hyuk-soo quickly calmed himself.
“There’s a problem inside the Safety Bureau?”
“Today alone, I identified 98 Incarnations in the Bureau. There are likely more.”
“…That many?”
Insane.
Lee Hyuk-soo nearly cursed aloud.
He never imagined there would be so many Incarnations inside the government building.
“Prophet. Is there any way to identify them?”
“Only I can distinguish them directly.”
“…Then we must eliminate them.”
“No—we must ‘use’ them.”
Park Chan-woo’s stance was firm.
Killing them was not the best plan.
Instead, he had to make them fear each other.
Kill one, and another takes their place.
Then Park Chan-woo pulled out a pair of glasses.
“What is this…?”
“I marked them with special paint below the neck. You’ll see it with these glasses. It can’t be washed off.”
Special paint and glasses acquired by the demon merchant Dagon.
Ordinary methods couldn’t remove or even detect it.
Lee Hyuk-soo accepted them carefully.
Glasses that revealed Incarnations.
He trusted the Prophet—but would Minister Park Sang-min believe it?
“Thank you.”
As Lee Hyuk-soo accepted the glasses, Park Chan-woo offered a final piece of advice.
“Using them is easy. Just group them together. They’ll tear each other apart on their own.”
“…Put them all in one department, then.”
Simple enough.
If he could just convince Park Sang-min.
Still, one doubt remained.
“But Prophet. The Incarnations at Bukhansan were organized. Would grouping them really be effective?”
“Balzac was not human. He was forcibly turned into a demon by a Creator. A [half-demon] can brainwash Incarnations to form groups. But there is no half-demon here.”
A half-demon.
A term he hadn’t heard before—but Balzac had certainly not been human.
So unless it was a special case like that, Incarnations would ‘never trust each other’.
Lee Hyuk-soo nodded heavily.
“…Understood. Leave it to me.”
He would do it.
Especially since the Prophet asked him directly.
For the Prophet to show up on Earth—and in Korea’s Abyss Safety Bureau no less—meant he was truly serious about saving humanity.
Watching him, Park Chan-woo thought:
‘Lee Hyuk-soo can be trusted.’
Together with Minister Park Sang-min, he would keep Korea safe.
Though he had never seen their synergy before, he believed they were the most reliable in the nation.
Two heroes united—he no longer needed to worry about the Bureau.
Park Chan-woo nodded.
“I leave it to you.”
—
One urgent issue was resolved.
The rest was up to ‘Lee Hyuk-soo’ and ‘Minister Park Sang-min’.
Park Chan-woo had done all he could.
Now, one thing remained.
…The young man in the distance.
‘Han Min-oh.’
That was Han Min-oh.
‘Han Shin’s younger brother’, and ‘second son of the Han Yeon Group’!
All Park Chan-woo had to do now—
Was wait.
Right beside Han Min-oh.
For the [Large-Scale Sniper Abyss] to open.
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