Somewhere underground, in a hidden research facility.
A man sat before a massive monitor, observing Lee Taeseong.
His name was Park Ilhwan, the second son of Ilseong Group, the most powerful corporation in South Korea.
As he watched the screen, he burst into laughter, clutching his stomach as if he had just heard the funniest joke of his life.
“Puhahahaha! Look at that idiot’s face. Acting all high and mighty, and now he’s completely out of it. Just blanked out!”
Park Ilhwan nudged a nearby researcher’s shoulder as he laughed hysterically. The researcher forced a smile and replied,
“Haha! Indeed, sir. Fools like that always overstep their bounds.”
“Right?”
“Absolutely.”
“But… who the hell are you?”
The researcher, caught off guard, stammered.
“…Excuse me? You called for me, sir—”
Slap!
Ilhwan’s palm cracked across the researcher’s face, whipping his head to the side. A few teeth went flying.
Yet, despite the pain, the researcher forced another smile and turned back toward him.
Still smiling, Park Ilhwan spoke.
“Listen up, you little shit. Who told you to nitpick my words?”
“I… I apologize.”
“Hah… Lately, these worms keep thinking they can crawl up the ladder. Stay out of my sight before I decide to kill you. Got it?”
“…Yes, sir.”
The researcher bowed politely before hurrying away. He knew better than to linger—Park Ilhwan was the kind of lunatic who would actually kill him.
With an amused smirk, Ilhwan turned back to the monitor.
His grin widened as he continued watching Lee Taeseong.
It had been a long time since anything had piqued his interest. Life had grown boring. Dull.
But Taeseong… Taeseong was a delightful little anomaly.
‘A manager of Tree, huh…’
Ilhwan was one of the few outsiders who knew about the existence of “Tree.”
Of course, he had only learned of it through his father, who had given him a brief explanation. The details—how large the organization was, the extent of its influence—had only become clear to him later.
A memory surfaced.
— You reckless fool. It’s not time yet. Don’t touch Tree.
— Why not?
— Are you really that incapable of figuring it out on your own? What a dimwit… If only you were half as competent as your siblings… Tch.
— Ilseong Group is South Korea’s number one conglomerate. A top-ten global giant. Are you really afraid of some nobodies?
— Nobodies? Hah! You brain-dead idiot. No wonder you lost the succession race. What do you even plan to do with that dull gaze of yours? If you don’t want to lose your last remaining foothold, stop running your mouth and stay put. Even my patience has its limits. Understood?
Ilhwan never understood.
His father, the most arrogant, powerful man in the world, had taken a defensive stance.
Ilhwan never felt any familial affection toward the man, but he had respected him as a person.
That greed, that ruthlessness, that unwavering decisiveness—Ilhwan wanted to inherit all of it.
Yet, as far as he was concerned, “Tree” was nothing more than a group of superhumans leeching off their money.
‘No matter how strong they are, what can they do without financial backing?’
Another reason for Ilhwan’s arrogance? He himself was an Awakened.
Not just a rich brat—he was a chosen rich brat.
Born with a diamond spoon in his mouth.
Blessed with supernatural abilities.
It was only natural for his pride to soar.
Unlike most Awakened, who suffered traumatic events during their awakening, Ilhwan had it easy.
From the very moment he awakened, Ilseong Group had provided full support.
While others endured hardship, Ilhwan walked a golden path.
His ability? Puppeteer.
He could create and control dolls.
The stronger he became, the more dolls he could command, and the stronger they grew.
The “Ilhwan” that had gone to the villa?
That had just been one of his dolls.
He had never been in any real danger.
That was why he had been so fearless.
Ilhwan smirked as he switched on the mic, addressing Taeseong directly.
“Keukeke… What’re you gonna do, huh? What can you even do, you little bitch?”
Ah.
This was exhilarating.
He couldn’t understand why those idiots feared Tree so much.
‘My old man’s just a toothless tiger now. Just wait. I’ll take your throne soon enough.’
To be fair, Ilhwan acknowledged that Taeseong was stronger than expected.
Surviving that level of bombardment.
Slaughtering all those mercenaries like they were nothing.
That had caught him off guard.
But so what?
No matter how strong an individual was, what could they do against overwhelming financial power?
Ilhwan understood better than anyone: an individual could never defeat an organization.
As he watched Taeseong’s expression darken, his own grin widened.
The mad dog, running around for revenge, was now lost in despair.
Yes.
He had to feel hopeless.
He had to be overwhelmed.
But what could he do?
This was reality.
A shiver of excitement ran through Ilhwan’s body.
This thrill—this joy—was precisely why he couldn’t stop toying with these worms.
“Oh, this is fucking hilarious. Look at that rotten expression. Hey, don’t kid yourself. You awakened your abilities one day and thought you were the protagonist of some comic book? You think you’re the main character of a novel or something? Wake up, Taeseong! Huh? You’re not the protagonist. You’re just a supporting character, existing only to prop up the real leads in this world.”
After letting it all out, he felt refreshed.
‘Can’t you at least shed a tear?’
He wanted to see that arrogant bastard break down and cry.
How could he make it happen?
‘Ah! Should I kill his only remaining younger sister? Just killing her wouldn’t be fun… Yeah! I should tear her apart limb from limb, wrap her dismembered corpse in her own entrails, and send it to him as a gift!’
A truly demonic thought.
At that moment—
Taeseong, on the monitor, was smiling.
What the hell? That’s not the reaction I expected.
His mood soured instantly. He wanted to see the bastard despair…
Why was he suddenly grinning like that?
Had he lost his mind?
Well… yeah, that made sense. Humans often broke down in the face of overwhelming fear.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before.
Thinking of it that way, it was understandable.
“Did he go insane? What’s so funny—”
In that instant—
He felt as if Taeseong, through the monitor, was looking directly at him.
His glowing red eyes burned like the sun, and a chilling unease surged through him.
“Found you, you rat.”
The moment those words left his lips, the monitor went gray.
Bzzzt—
Only the sound of static echoed.
Taeseong had destroyed the drone.
Park Ilhwan’s expression twisted.
“‘I found you’? You fucking bastard. What a bluff.”
…Like he even knows where this place is.
A strange discomfort crept over him, but he forced himself to brush it off.
Only a handful of people within Ilseong Group even knew this location existed.
How could some mere Administrator possibly find it?
Taeseong soared through the air, black wings spread wide, the sound of wind roaring in his ears.
At such high speeds, it felt as if a storm was raging inside his head.
“That must be the place.”
After destroying the drone, Taeseong had set off without hesitation.
What Park Ilhwan failed to consider—
Taeseong had already suspected that Ilhwan was an Awakened, thanks to his earlier conversation with Kim Minji.
He hadn’t responded to Ilhwan’s taunts because he had been focusing all his efforts on tracking his location.
Though he didn’t know the exact nature of Ilhwan’s ability, the moment he saw green blood spurting from what appeared to be Ilhwan’s body—
Taeseong honed his senses to the extreme, tracing the faint energy thread leading back to him.
Even for Taeseong, this was no easy feat—it required immense concentration.
But he had succeeded.
Roughly 400 kilometers away, he could feel the presence.
“…So that’s why he was so confident?”
To his surprise, Ilhwan’s energy signature was coming from beneath the ocean.
The research facility had been built underwater, ensuring that no one would ever find it.
Suppressing the rage boiling inside him, he steadied his breathing.
Then, without hesitation, he dove into the sea.
Following the faint energy signature like a guiding beacon, he swam deep into an underwater cave.
Breaking the surface, he slicked back his wet hair and muttered,
“Phew. It’s been a while since I went diving.”
His body was more than capable of surviving over an hour underwater, but something about being submerged brought back memories of his military days.
As he moved deeper into the cave, an enormous gate—easily over five meters tall—came into view.
[NO ENTRY]
Various warning signs were plastered across it.
Like the security facilities of Tree, it was designed to open only through multiple layers of authentication.
“Iris scan, fingerprints, voice recognition… and who knows what else? What a pain.”
Taeseong had no intention of wasting time on authentication.
Drawing Sisan Hyulhae from his waist, he clenched his grip.
His muscles bulged explosively, and in the next instant, his blade cut through the gate in a single diagonal slash.
Kwoom!
At the same time—
Ear-splitting sirens blared, and an automated warning resounded throughout the facility.
[INTRUDER DETECTED! INTRUDER DETECTED! UNKNOWN ENTITY DESIGNATED AS CODE NAME ‘DELTA.’ INITIATING PLAN C! INITIATING PLAN C!]
Taeseong walked through the destroyed gate, a grin twisted with madness spreading across his face.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
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