“Oppaw Sewuhi... awe you a Gnosis?”
A dry swallow scraped down her parched throat. Serhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed up, then down.
She thought this ridiculous play would soon be over.
That once they entered the Contaminated Zone, it would all dissolve like a mirage.
Because just like the beastkin’s foolish delusions, they weren’t a real family—they were just a group itching to kill one another.
But not now.
She wasn’t going to end it now.
After a long silence, the only thing Serhi managed to utter was a stupid question.
“Why... why?”
Because if he knew the reason? Because he was afraid it was just a misunderstanding? Afraid it couldn’t be undone?
“Why’d you ask something like that all of a sudden?”
The anxious voice that came out of her felt so unfamiliar. Serhi clamped his mouth shut so tightly his molars touched.
The boy was facing a truth he couldn’t handle.
Honestly, she just wanted to stay buried in that lazy, stupid time. With no worries, no anger.
“I saw it... in yoow eyes.”
Guru clenched her fingers tighter around the blanket.
Once she started noticing it, the faint pattern became sharper in her vision.
“Dewe’s a symbow in yoow eyes... Da one Mastuh Uncwe showed me befo.”
After entering the [RP-Rank Dungeon], things only Guru could see had started to appear.
Like status windows for the oak tree or the acorn—things invisible to others.
And Serhi’s eyes.
She saw a pattern in Serhi’s eyes.
It wasn’t visible outside the dungeon, but inside—it had begun to appear.
She first noticed it when Serhi woke up.
“Yoow eyes...”
“Huh?”
It wasn’t visible unless you looked very closely—a triquetra, three overlapping ovals wrapped around by a snake.
The gold-glowing mark dyed Serhi’s irises in a brilliant golden hue.
“It’s pwetty.”
Clack, clack. The train began to pass through an underground tunnel.
The car shook, casting long shadows over Serhi’s face.
It was hard to read his expression.
She wanted him to say no.
That it was just Guru imagining things.
“You see a mark... in my eyes?”
Serhi murmured faintly, cupping his golden eyes with both hands.
“...That can’t be.”
His voice was cool and low, as if he were hearing it for the first time himself.
Guru couldn’t make sense of what Serhi meant.
Was he saying there shouldn’t be a mark because he wasn’t a Gnosis? Or that she was mistaken?
I hope I was wrong.
We held hands and went to the market together.
We beat up that scammer raccoon.
We raised the acorn baby together.
“Was Gwuu wong...?”
Serhi’s pale hand came down and gently covered Guru’s eyes. Darkness fell.
“No. Yoouuu saw it wight.”
His whisper came out as if he’d given up.
“I’m a Gnosis.”
Pwooooo—
The train’s whistle echoed long and loud.
Siwon, dozing in his seat, opened his eyes.
The morning sun was already rising beyond the window.
The train had clearly slowed down. The final stop was just ahead.
He was alone in the compartment.
I guess Guru and Serhi are still asleep in the sleeper car...
Since it had been an overnight train, he’d reserved two sleeper cabins so the growing pair could get plenty of rest.
Siwon stood to find Guru first. It was nearly time to get off.
His plan was to head into the Contaminated Zone and check on the Brom Guild’s situation.
Gyuri was with Brom, and the Gnosis shouldn’t be able to control someone of S-Rank. Their objectives would likely align.
If things went well, he planned to leave Guru at ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Brom’s base. He had to track the Gnosis’s trail.
Serhi was supposedly with Freefall, so he’d return to his guild...
Everyone would part ways in the Contaminated Zone.
So the family game’s over now.
It had been a short field trip.
Smiling faintly at the thought of Guru and Serhi, Siwon opened the door to the sleeper car.
But oddly enough, the room was empty.
With no other option, he returned to his seat—and there, he saw Serhi loading their bags.
“Serhi, I don’t see Guru—do you know where she went?”
“She’s sleeping in my room. I’ll bring her. You get the bags.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”
Siwon replied gently, and Serhi nodded and headed back toward his room. As he turned, a crumpled note disappeared into his hand.
While Siwon packed his lightly-packed bag, the train came to a stop.
Serhi returned carrying Guru in his arms and followed behind Siwon, who now held their luggage.
Being the final station, the place bustled with beastkin coming and going. They stepped off the train and slipped into the crowd.
Serhi’s eyes stayed fixed on Siwon’s back.
Broad-shouldered, tall, but still lean. His movements were slow, sometimes even clumsy, tripping over his own feet.
Like someone who could easily be subdued and strangled with one hand.
Serhi raised a hand toward Siwon’s neck.
There was only one goal carved into his mind.
Gnosis hunter.
If the chance comes, he must kill him.
Just then, Siwon turned around.
Serhi quickly dropped his hand, but Siwon had already stepped right up in front of him.
Something cold pressed against the center of Serhi’s forehead.
A gun barrel.
“The fuck are you pulling?”
But Siwon, holding the Glock, asked without any emotion in his expression.
“Where’s Guru?”
“What are you talking about? She’s right here in my arms.”
“Where. Is. Guru.”
“You can’t see? Are you blind?”
But Siwon didn’t seem to hear Serhi’s answer.
In a disturbingly flat voice, he asked again.
“Tell me. Where is Guru.”
“Cut the bullshit alread—”
Bang!
Before he could even finish, the gun went off.
Blood splattered across Siwon’s face as Serhi’s body collapsed with a thud.
A pool of blood spread in a widening circle at his feet.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Aaaahhh!”
Screams rang out through the terminal. Beastkin scattered like a receding tide.
Siwon stood alone amid the fleeing crowd, an island of stillness.
Guru was still nestled in the fallen Serhi’s arms.
Siwon approached her with a vacant expression—and shot her in the head.
Bang!
The child’s body went limp.
A mannequin...
Jin Siwon blinked slowly.
Serhi and Guru were gone.
Replaced by mannequins.
Gnosis...
Siwon pressed hard against his chest.
A void opened inside, like a hole had been punched through him.
It was a familiar pain.
Then, his green eyes—now dulled—scanned side to side. Whoosh—an enormous amount of mana drained away.
[Skill ‘Phantom Time’ has been activated.]
–Peer 10 seconds into the future. Activates spontaneously, regardless of caster’s will.
For an instant, he glimpsed the next ten seconds.
When the skill activates, events from ten seconds into the future play out.
His slow movements, that dazed demeanor—it was all because of these sudden glimpses of what was to come.
He saw the beastkin around him throwing themselves to the ground.
They’re all mannequins...
Gray mana surged around Siwon.
He aimed at their heads.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mana bullets shot into their skulls and exploded. The blasts engulfed nearby beastkin in flames as well.
“Gyaaaahhh!”
Siwon charged through the mannequins, who were now shrieking in agony.
Guru.
He frantically searched, but the baby flying squirrel was nowhere to be seen.
Back in the present, Siwon furrowed his brows and instinctively looked down at his feet.
There was no one there—yet it felt like someone was clinging to his shoes.
Guru...
He still felt her warmth in his hands.
What he wanted to protect always slipped away like this.
If mannequins were mixed in with the others, and his reading skill was blocked—then Siwon had no way to distinguish them.
In that case—
I have to kill them all.
Now he had only one purpose.
He had to find Guru.

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