Chapter 92

In the dead of night, a deafening roar—one that would send the entire village into a panic—erupted from a luxurious mansion on the outskirts, slightly removed from the town.

The crash of something shattering. The rattle of rifles. The boom of grenades.

And cutting through it all, someone’s screams.

After exactly 10 minutes and 32 seconds, the ceaseless din of battle died down, leaving the pre-dawn silence behind.

Corpses—and pieces that used to be corpses—were strewn from the yard onward.

Stepping inside through the shattered plate glass, the floor was littered with high-end decorations riddled with bullets and blasted apart by grenades, and beneath them, blood from far more bodies than ornaments seeped into the ground.

“Haa… haa…”

The bomb blasts and gunfire were gone.

In the quiet stillness, only several people’s harsh, ragged breathing remained.

Gulp.

In the spacious room where everyone was focused, one person’s breathing was especially rough and loud.

So loud that even the sound of someone swallowing dryly rang clear.

A final gunshot echoed through the room.

Bang!

With that, Bright—the man in charge of the entire operation—shouted in a loud voice.

“Situation clear!”

Rumble.

Armed US soldiers swarmed into the large room to handle the cleanup.

After that, Bang! Bang! rang out as they began a different kind of cleanup.

“Hoo.”

As Jang Bokdong, covered in blood, stepped out of the room reeking of gunpowder, Bright—waiting as if on cue—wrapped him in a brief embrace.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It was nothing.”

“Still, since you’re the one who killed Makdu Habah, you’ll be getting a hefty bonus.”

Pat, pat!

Bright patted Jang Bokdong’s back as he headed into the room.

Outside, Jang Bokdong’s team members smiled at him.

= = =

In front of the waiting US military vehicle, the team members were finishing their equipment checks before heading back.

Jang Bokdong, wiping blood off with a towel from the vehicle, scanned his team and asked,

“Did you check for injuries?”

“Besides one idiot with a hole in his thigh, they say it’s just scratches.”

At Mike’s snickering remark, the team member with a bandage wrapped around his thigh shouted,

“What!? Hey! It’s because that crazy bastard was firing wildly and a bullet ricocheted! It was a graze, not a hole!”

“Oh, is that so? If it wasn’t a through-and-through, you can still move, right?”

“Of course!”

“Then try jumping.”

“Watch this!”

Thud.

“Kughhh….”

“See? You can’t. You idiot, heh heh.”

“Hey, hey, knock it off. You’ll really cripple his leg. Pfft!”

“Hahahahahahaha.”

Everyone burst into laughter at the banter between Mike and the injured team member.

Watching them, Jang Bokdong let out a snort as well.

“Alright. Doesn’t look like anyone died. If the equipment check is done, let’s get back quickly.”

“Yes, sir!”

And so, the team members—having just finished their checks—boarded the vehicle one by one.

Just as Jang Bokdong was about to get in last—

“Huh? There’s one body being taken away separately?”

At a team member’s words, they saw a single corpse, covered by a white sheet, being carried out of the mansion’s entrance on a stretcher by two US soldiers and taken toward the back.

“It must be Makdu Habah’s body. They might not care about the other bodies, but a commander’s body has plenty of uses.”

“Ah~”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s out of our hands now. Let’s go.”

He settled into the vehicle and tapped the closed door twice.

When he looked at the US soldier who still hadn’t started the vehicle despite the signal, the soldier pointed to the side mirror.

“Captain Bright is coming.”

Only then did he hear someone shouting from the distance.

“Wait! Wait!! Team Leader Jang!! Me too!”

“I thought I’d have a peaceful ride back. What a pain.”

No sooner had he muttered the complaint in Korean than Bright appeared.

Panting, catching his breath, Bright flashed a good-natured smile.

“Team Leader Jang~ I can ride with you, right?”

“What about your vehicle, sir?”

“Ah~ I was told it was needed for something, so I lent it out. After crossing such a big mountain, I can’t be expected to work overtime, can I? I should be getting a commendation, not a punishment.”

“You say that like you’re proud of pawning off your work.”

“Well then, excuse me~”

As if he didn’t dare touch the passenger seat Jang Bokdong was in, Bright opened the packed rear door and squeezed his way in.

“Aah! Sir! That hurts!”

“Hey now, what’s with the ‘good-natured’ act? Just shove in a little.”

“Aah! I said it hurts! Don’t push!”

“Ugh! My leg! My leg!! I told you my leg hurts! You son of a b*tch! My leg!!”

Bang, bang!

Having finally managed to close the door, Bright pounded on it and shouted,

“Let’s go!”

And so, the vehicle—now over capacity—departed for the barracks, carrying Bright along with all of Jang Bokdong’s team.

= = =

Fwoosh!

As he passed the first trial of Taebudong, the surrounding scenery shifted.

Bubble. Bubble bubble.

Magma of unfathomable depth and breadth—along with heat so intense it stole his breath—greeted No Death.

Sizzle.

It was so hot that when a nearby rock rolled in, it was swallowed without a trace, leaving only a puff of white smoke.

A high ceiling. A vast cavern.

And heat filling the cavern, along with stalactites densely packed across the ceiling.

In this god-awful environment—irritating just to look at—the most irritating thing was something else entirely.

“My, you’re lucky.”

It was the dark No Death, strolling across the magma as if it were his living room.

“Since you can’t die. Well, it’s not like this is going to be difficult. Did you save the country in a past life? If not, there’s no way that out of all the Hidden Classes, the undying Revenant would fall to you.”

No Death let out a snort at the chattering dark No Death.

“Is that so?”

But he didn’t particularly refute it.

In a way, nothing the dark No Death said was wrong.

“You’ll clear this easily by dying over and over again. I’m so jealous~ Some people desperately want to overcome this trial, but they die for good because they only have one life.”

“Shut up. I just have to get over there and it’s over, right?”

The dark No Death nodded.

“Correct. Whether you die, fly, or whatever, you just have to get there. But isn’t it a shame?”

“Hm?”

No Death tilted his head.

The dark No Death asked with a pitiful expression.

“I mean, come on. If you had just awakened as a Revenant a little sooner, you could have protected that woman. If it were me, I think I’d be filled with regret.”

No Death, warming up to enter the magma, replied as if it were nothing.

“Rather than regret, I just feel sorry and heartbroken. It couldn’t have happened that way. Come to think of it, I think I am a lucky person. Because I became a Revenant like this, I was able to get my revenge on them, wasn’t I?”

“What I’m saying is, if you had just awakened a little sooner…”

As the dark No Death was speaking—

No Death cut him off.

“Like I said, it couldn’t have happened that way. One of the conditions to become a Revenant was ‘Elina’s death’.”

“…What?”

For the first time, the dark No Death looked genuinely shocked.

“So I can’t feel regret. Ah! But seeing as I still get angry just thinking about Elina’s final moments, does that make me an unlucky person?”

No Death shrugged and grinned.

“You’re smiling? Are you a psycho?”

“I’m forcing it. I cried all my tears out that day, so now I can’t even cry anymore.”

“You crazy bastard.”

“Well, does it matter?”

With a wide smile, No Death dove straight into the magma without hesitation.

Then, from where he entered, a puff of white smoke hissed up—along with chunks of charred black flesh and bone.

“He’s definitely a psycho. Even if he doesn’t die, there’s still pain… He really bet everything on that guy, Bang Hyuk-min, just to truly die, huh?”

As if he’d succeeded in resurrecting, chunks of charred black flesh and bone shot up from the magma again, accompanied by another puff of white smoke.

And each time, the blackened flesh and bone shifted forward little by little, showing that No Death was truly making progress.

“Then again, it’s probably the first time he’s met someone who could prove he can actually be killed. If that Bang Hyuk-min guy can really give him the gift of death… can he finally be free? From her?”

Shrugging like No Death, the dark No Death lay down on the magma as if annoyed and decided to watch No Death’s long battle.

= = =

On the way back to the barracks, Jang Bokdong—sitting in the passenger seat—watched Bright through the rearview mirror.

‘Is it really over just like this?’

Before they set out, he had warned his team members to be extremely cautious, fearing a trap.

Because of that, they’d been ridiculed by other mercenaries for their excessive Armament even before the operation began, but his team members kept his words in mind and didn’t let down their guard even once.

But…

‘Was I just on edge because of the war?’

The strange event he’d anticipated never came.

There was no trap.

The operation proceeded exactly as Bright had laid out, without the slightest anomaly, and as a result, they had truly managed to kill Commander Makdu Habah.

It wasn’t a look-alike or anything of the sort.

They had meticulously confirmed his death—checking his tattoos, the unique marks only Makdu Habah had, and even using a pre-prepared DNA kit.

‘Can I just dismiss it as needless suspicion?’

A sigh escaped him.

The mission was truly over.

And yet, he couldn’t easily shake this unsettling feeling.

They had gone to hell and back trying to find Makdu Habah’s location, and the US military had poured effort after effort into it even before Jang Bokdong’s team arrived—yet they hadn’t found even a trace of him.

So how could they have eliminated him so easily?

“Team Leader Jang.”

At some point, Bright had leaned in and asked,

“It’s all over. What are you thinking so hard about?”

“It’s nothing, sir.”

“I heard you’re retiring. Well, what comes after retirement is important even for a capable mercenary. If you want, come here. For you, Team Leader Jang, I won’t just write a letter of recommendation—I’ll create a whole position for you.”

“Do you have the authority for that?”

“Don’t look down on me just because I’m a captain. My father is a two-star general.”

“Is that so?”

He felt nothing.

He was retiring because he never wanted to be in a warzone like this again, so why would he walk back into one?

Unless he was crazy, he had no intention of doing so.

Shaking his head, he glanced into the rearview mirror—and the moment his eyes met Bright’s—

He asked the question he’d been holding back, like it was his last chance.

“There’s something I’m curious about. May I ask?”

“Of course. Go ahead. You’re our number one contributor, after all.”

“This intelligence… how did you obtain it?”

Bright, who had been laughing and chatting cheerfully, didn’t answer right away.

“Ahem. This is top secret…”

“Is that so. Still, since it’s all over, can’t you tell me?”

“Well, if Team Leader Jang wants to know that badly, I’ll tell you.”

He’d thought he wouldn’t get an answer, but surprisingly, Bright gave one quickly.

“We planted a spy on their side.”

His eyebrow twitched.

“Was that possible with just a spy? By my estimation, Makdu Habah is extremely cautious. He wouldn’t divulge information like this to just anyone.”

“We have a very capable spy.”

“A capable spy?”

“Anything more than that is classified, so it’s difficult for me to say.”

“Hm, I see.”

Screeeech.

It was unbelievable.

There was no way a newly planted spy could know something as important as a commander’s movements.

Not unless they were family who’d lived with Commander Makdu Habah for half their life—or a direct subordinate.

As they were having this conversation, the vehicle arrived in front of the barracks.

“We’ve arrived.”

At the driver’s words, Bright asked with his good-natured smile,

“By any chance, could I sit there? I didn’t say anything, but my posture right now is terrible and my back is killing me.”

He hadn’t gotten the answer he wanted, but he couldn’t press further.

“Go ahead. Everyone! Disembark and prepare to return!”

“Yes, Team Leader!”

Perhaps because it was all over, the team members’ steps as they got out looked incredibly light.

Squeezing out amid the stream of departing mercenaries, Bright climbed down as well.

Clutching his back and grimacing, Bright limped over and settled into the passenger seat Jang Bokdong had vacated.

“Thank you~ I can finally breathe.”

“Well then.”

Just as Jang Bokdong turned to head back into the barracks—

Tap tap!

He heard someone tapping on the car door.

“Team Leader Jang!”

When he looked back, Bright was smiling at him.

“It’s over now, right?”

“That’s right. Our mission was, from the start…”

Jang Bokdong’s brow furrowed mid-sentence.

“The elimination of Makdu Habah.”

“Then you’ll be heading back right away, right? Without any problems.”

For some reason, Bright’s smile felt different from usual.

It was still good-natured, yet something about it carried a strange warning.

Jang Bokdong tilted his head, wondering what there was left to warn him about now.

“I suppose so.”

“No. You must. Without any problems.”

No—he was certain.

That man was warning him right now.

‘Why on earth…?’

Everything was over.

So why was Bright acting like this?

In that instant—

He caught Bright’s eyes flick, for a split second, toward the barracks.

‘Elina!’

A single, horrific thought sent a chill racing down Jang Bokdong’s spine.

“I’m busy, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Forcing his expression to remain neutral, he sprinted into the barracks.

And the scene that greeted him—

“Team Leader…?”

It was shocking enough that the team members who’d gone in ahead of him could only stare blankly.

Because…

The barracks floor—where no one should have entered—was smeared with dirt and dust, as if someone had broken in.

“Elina… Elina!!!”

He ran straight to her room and threw the door open.

“Dammit.”

She was gone.

The bed where Elina should have been was empty.

Instead, there were footprints on the bed—he was about to check whose they were, but in that fleeting moment—

[Without any problems.]

“…?!”

Bright’s words flashed back through his mind.

“Don’t tell me…”

Thump!

“Team Leader!”

He bolted out of the barracks and scanned the area.

And just as he expected, the vehicle carrying Bright hadn’t driven off—it was watching Jang Bokdong from a distance in silence.

“Don’t tell me Bright…”

In the passenger seat, Bright wore a chilling smile.

The moment their eyes met, the stopped vehicle’s engine roared to life.

Then, as if delivering a final warning, Bright raised a pistol and conveyed his message with his lips.

[Leave. Then there will be no problems.]

The vanished Elina. The trashed barracks.

And finally, the perfect intelligence obtained from who-knows-where.

He didn’t know what was going on, but he understood one thing.

All those uneasy, wrong details—from the very beginning—

They were all connected.