Lee Eunha and Go Young-hee flinched. Their bodies were covered in goosebumps. It wasn’t just the two of them—everyone except Taeseong was feeling the same thing. For any normal human being, not being terrified by this scene would’ve been stranger.
“What the hell is this…”
“So many corpses…”
“……”
Jameson stepped forward into the pile of corpses, his face twisted with rage.
“Nick, Kane, David.”
They were the administrators who had been deployed with him for this operation. Their bodies were torn to shreds, as if savaged by beasts—utterly gruesome.
“Those fucking bastards…”
A tremendous force surged from Jameson’s body. The pressure was so intense that Eunha and Young-hee, standing in the same room, involuntarily flinched.
Taeseong also inspected the corpses.
There were some who appeared to be Korean administrators.
He spoke.
“Eunha.”
“Yes?”
“You said Team Leader Song Jaejoong told you to come here, right?”
“Yes… He said he’d search for any surviving administrators and told us to meet here.”
“Then he might have said something similar to the other administrators as well.”
“Yes.”
How should they interpret this situation?
Despite being the one who instructed them to gather here, Song Jaejoong himself was nowhere to be seen. The engine room was filled not with survivors, but with corpses stacked like a mountain and an ominous message.
Young-hee, having finished surveying the situation, gave a nervous laugh. Her face was smiling, but her voice was clearly trembling with fear.
“Chief Deputy…if we hadn’t run into that crazy pervert and had come straight here…”
“Then we probably would’ve ended up among these corpses. He intended this from the beginning. All of this… must’ve been planned.”
The thought made her skin crawl.
“It was a trap.”
“Even the first broadcast seemed strange, didn’t it?”
“Yeah, it did.”
Eunha turned to Jameson Carter and asked,
“Team Leader Jameson.”
“Go ahead.”
“Just to confirm—you’re not the one who made the initial broadcast, right?”
Jameson replied with an irritated tone.
“Of course not. I never once touched a mic after arriving here. I don’t know who the fuck it was, but someone was impersonating me.”
“Thought so.”
Upon hearing that, two possibilities emerged in Eunha’s mind.
- The person she had communicated with wasn’t Song Jaejoong, but a being impersonating him.
- Song Jaejoong had betrayed Tree, and called them to the engine room to eliminate them.
There was plenty of circumstantial evidence, but circumstantial evidence was still just that—circumstantial. Nothing was certain yet.
Still, her gut was telling her—
“Team Leader. Did you read that message?”
Taeseong nodded.
Eunha organized the words in her head and recited them slowly.
“‘All of this is a ritual for the Great One. I am the sole and devoted follower, and the priest for Him.’”
“……”
“‘This entire place is an altar, and you are all sacrifices.’”
“……”
“What do you think that means?”
“No idea.”
“Do you remember when we were dispatched to Japan and ran into those lunatics worshiping Orochi?”
“Yeah.”
He remembered it very well.
After all, the Orochi tail they took back then was still proving quite useful.
“Those fanatics used the entire forest as their altar.”
“They did.”
“Maybe it’s the same here.”
Everyone fell silent and turned to Eunha.
“……”
“……”
“……”
Breaking the silence, Taeseong asked,
“What do you mean?”
Eunha replied,
“It’s just a theory, but… what if this entire ship is one big altar?”
“An altar?”
“Yes. If the ship itself is an altar, then everything on it would be considered a sacrifice.”
Altar. Sacrifice.
Unpleasant words.
Young-hee asked,
“Th-then… what do we do now?”
Taeseong answered immediately.
“We head to the 4th floor.”
“T-the 4th floor? Do we really have to? Wouldn’t it be better to wait here for reinforcements…”
Taeseong simply stared at her.
“……”
“W-why are you looking at me like that?”
“Reinforcements aren’t coming. I’m the reinforcement.”
“Oh… right.”
“Any complaints?”
“…No, not at all. I’m honestly relieved and grateful that you came. I just thought… maybe there’s another way that doesn’t involve going up to the 4th floor…”
Jameson Carter cut in.
“Why are you administrators so damn timid? Are all East Asians like this?”
Mark immediately replied.
“Ugh, there you go again. Why do you keep saying things you don’t mean, Team Leader?”
“Tch. Just look at the way they act. There’s not a single thing I like about them. From the very beginning, this operation was doomed. Why the hell did we bring in Koreans and cause this whole mess?”
Listening quietly, Lee Eunha carefully spoke up.
“That sounds a bit strange. Are you saying this operation turned out like this because of us?”
“This operation. Wasn’t your team leader Song Jaejoong? You just said it yourself a moment ago — that maybe it was Team Leader Song who released the entities.”
“…Y-Yes, but that’s an uncontrollable event. And even then, that’s just my speculation.”
“That’s exactly my point. If you people hadn’t participated in this operation in the first place — if we’d done this on our own — none of this bullshit would’ve happened.”
As Lee Eunha fell silent, Lee Taeseong stepped forward in front of Jameson Carter.
“What? You got something to say?”
Mark cautiously grabbed Jameson’s arm.
“Team Leader…”
It was a plea not to cause unnecessary conflict when what they needed was unity. But Jameson didn’t care and unleashed his fury.
After witnessing his subordinates mangled corpses, he was already on edge.
Jameson leaned in, bringing his face inches from Lee Taeseong’s.
“I asked if you had something to say . Team leader. Lee. Tae. Seong.”
Taeseong responded with a calm expression.
“Say that bullshit one more time and I’ll rip your tongue out and hang it around your neck.”
Crack.
A vein bulged on Jameson’s forehead. Mark, standing beside him, shook his head as if it was already too late.
“Please… Team Leader.”
He knew Jameson Carter — once he snapped, there was no stopping him.
“You feeling confident?”
“…”
“You think just ‘cause you did well in Japan you’re hot shit now? Walking around like you own the place, huh? Team Leader. Lee Taeseong.”
“One.”
Jameson’s lips twisted into a sneer. Each breath he exhaled seemed to shake the air around him.
“Beta rank? Sure. You earned that in under a year, I hear. I guess I’d be cocky too. It must feel pretty damn good right now. But let me ask you something. You think all Beta ranks are created equal?”
According to the American branch’s evaluation, Jameson held a staggering ‘Beta++++’ rank.
“Two.”
Jameson’s face became red, about to explode.
“You filthy little bastard!”
Unable to hold back any longer, Jameson threw a punch.
A powerful right hook.
Boom!
He simply swung his fist, yet it sounded like a bomb going off.
Whoooom!
“Three.”
But Taeseong blocked the punch without even blinking.
‘So this is my limit with the current restraints in place.’
From that single strike, Taeseong gauged the extent of the constraints he’d placed on himself.
“Caught him?”
Fuming, Jameson tried to pull his fist back, but strangely, it wouldn’t budge.
“…?”
Taeseong tightened his grip, and Jameson tried with all his might to resist.
But it didn’t last long before pain twisted his face.
Crack. Crack.
The sound of breaking bones echoed, and Jameson let out a groan of pain.
“…Kghhh. You son of a b—!”
He swung his other fist, but Taeseong casually tilted his head to dodge. Then, he kicked off the ground and wrapped both legs around Jameson’s neck. The move was so fluid, Jameson didn’t even realize what had happened for a full second.
Gck, gck.
Taeseong crossed his legs, choking Jameson’s throat, and reached toward his mouth.
To rip out his tongue.
“Team Leader!”
“Team Leader, Lee Taeseong!”
Taeseong’s hand paused.
Mark and Lee Eunha were looking at him with desperate expressions.
Mark spoke.
“Team Leader Lee Taeseong. Please, for the sake of this operation, show mercy just this once. He’s the nephew of the U.S. Branch Director.”
“Team Leader. I think this is too much. Please calm down a bit. We don’t know what’s going to happen next, and we need to conserve our strength.”
After a brief pause, Taeseong released his legs and landed on the ground. Gasping for air, Jameson glared at Taeseong.
Taeseong said,
“If the U.S. branch hadn’t insisted on sending those entities to us, none of this would’ve happened. Got that?”
“…”
Jameson just panted angrily without responding.
“From this moment on, I take full command of this operation. Anyone with a problem, raise your hand.”
When Jameson twitched, Mark quickly grabbed his arm and whispered.
“Please! Just stay still!”
“…”
Taeseong said,
“Good. I’m heading down to B4 to investigate the cause of this incident. If you don’t want to come, stay here. I won’t force anyone. Anyone who wants to join me, raise your hand.”
Everyone raised their hand.
“Good.”
Taeseong and his group headed to Basement Level 4.
Just like the third floor, the fourth was eerily quiet.
So silent that the only sounds in the hallway were the party’s breathing and footsteps.
Then, the speakers crackled to life.
[This is Beta-rank Administrator Jameson Carter, the chief officer of this operation. All surviving administrators, please gather at the staff lounge on Basement Level 4.]
[This is Beta-rank Administrator Song Jaejoong, responsible for the Korean team in this operation. All surviving administrators, please come to the staff lounge on Basement Level 4.]
[Ah, can you hear me? I’m Jessie, administrator of the U.S. branch. All surviving admins, please come to the staff lounge on Basement Level 4.]
[Ahh. This is Korean branch administrator Lee Eunha. If you’re alive, please come to the B4 loungeeeeee.]
[C-Can you hear me? I’m Mark, administrator from the U.S. branch. Survivors, don’t worry about anything. Please come to the staff lounge on B4.]
Bzzzzt.
[You filthy beasts. Come to the B4 lounge. It’s time for the feast.]