Today, as always, Jihyeon visited the hospital dressed in his hood, mask, and sunglasses. By now, even the hospital staff no longer found it strange to see him arriving this way.

  Of course, when Jihyeon appeared, it was as if a ghost had suddenly materialized out of thin air, but that was already a well-known story. He had become an urban legend in his own right. For the ordinary people living in this city, seeing Jihyeon meant one of two things.

  First: That they had seen a celebrity they could talk about forever. Second: That something had gone wrong nearby.

  However, appearing at the hospital was different. Here, Jihyeon was not just the man in the hood, but a hero with a human side, worrying about those he had rescued.

  Naturally, this was a side of him that could never be seen elsewhere. The mere fact that he visited periodically was surprising in itself. It went without saying that when he first showed up, a duty nurse had even fainted—though there was no need to dwell on that now.

  In a sense, it had become part of the daily routine. The nurses here would sneak photos and post about him in online communities. They thought they were being subtle, but Jihyeon was well aware of everything. Yet, he said nothing. There was no need to. He simply accepted it as it was.

  Perhaps it was because Jihyeon himself was secretly enjoying the feeling of being a bit of a celebrity. Regardless, a life of solely taking down Tool users in the shadows was no longer possible. If that was the case, enjoying a bit of the "sweetness" wasn't so bad. He knew well that without at least that much mental compensation, he might crumble.

  He couldn't truly explain his situation to anyone. While Seok-young understood him to an extent, Jihyeon knew Seok-young couldn't be his counselor. So, half-enjoying and half-ignoring the nurses' reactions, Jihyeon made his way to his usual hospital room.

  The place Jihyeon headed to was a restricted area where no one but authorized personnel was allowed to enter. It was the room of the girl who had been the sniper.

  She had not regained consciousness since the Tool was removed. This was a painful reality for Jihyeon. Her state of unconsciousness was a symbol of his failure. By now, Jihyeon could perfectly remove ordinary Tools and restore the subjects to consciousness. However, in the girl's case, even though the Tool had been removed without a single scratch, she remained unable to wake up due to something else.

  It was likely because of the control equipment used by those who manipulated Tool users. It forced those with implanted Tools down a path from which there was no return. Thinking back to the very first case of a rampage Jihyeon remembered, the answer was clear: those were cursed items that turned humans into something that was no longer human.

  Expecting humanity from those who distributed these Tools was impossible. Jihyeon considered it a near-miracle that he had even managed to save the girl's life.

  Still, his heart remained heavy.

  Perhaps it was because he knew the girl's circumstances. Since removing the Tool, Jihyeon had gained access to almost all of her information. In this world, there are times when it is better not to know. The girl was a prime example.

  Before becoming a victim of the Tool, she had been a victim of school violence. Her classmates, driven by jealousy, had forced her into absurd amounts of debt, which ultimately led her into the clutches of the loan sharks.

  Of course, the primary culprits who had made her that way were no longer of this world. Those who had tormented her and other students had all been torn to shreds by a rampaging victim who used a Tool to settle the grudge. One could call it poetic justice. But they shouldn't have been punished that way; they should have been punished by law and principle.

  Yet, sometimes the world keeps law and principle at a distance while violence remains close. Jihyeon believed they had simply paid the price for crossing the line while intoxicated by petty power. He felt no pity for their fate. Had it not been for them, neither the girl nor the other children in the class would have become criminals.

  What Jihyeon truly pitied was the girl's twisted destiny itself. Her parents, while wandering about to find their daughter after she had been kidnapped by the loan sharks, had become victims caught in the rampage of other Tool users. They were truly unlucky. Because Jihyeon had been elsewhere dealing with another incident, they had been swept away by violence without any help.

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  Jihyeon sighed upon learning this. He knew he couldn't do everything, but it still felt like his own sin. Perhaps it was because of the girl. Because it concerned someone he had personally clashed with, he reacted this way.

  Having encountered the deaths of so many people, Jihyeon had reached a point where he naturally accepted victims as mere statistics. So, perhaps this was just a slight whim.

  Even if she were to wake up, only a harsh reality awaited her. Jihyeon likely came to check on her because he pitied that fact. However, he didn't know how long she could stay here. He had filled the immediate need for funds by "donating" lottery winnings, but there were limits to that as well.

  Fortunately, the injuries from when he had knocked her down by swinging the werewolf's body like a flail would no longer be an issue. But regardless of that, if she didn't regain consciousness, she would simply remain here indefinitely.

  How much longer could he keep doing this? Jihyeon didn't know. He didn't know how much longer he would keep coming here.

  One thing was certain: if nothing changed, something inside him might break. Hoping that wouldn't happen, Jihyeon vanished as quietly as he had arrived.

  The members of the pseudo-cult always learn from their superiors: that obedience and fanaticism are the most precious virtues. And it was their duty to engrave those words into the deepest parts of a believer's soul. Of course, this was necessary for those with beliefs rejected by others to survive in a harsh world.

  Everyone in the cult knew that while faith could be firmer than anything else, it could also fly away easily for those who hadn't taken root. Those who had not embodied the doctrine were beings of potential, yet also threats of betrayal. Such individuals had to be constantly urged toward obedience and fanaticism, led to surrender their everything.

  It was a basic condition for survival.

  The world always persecutes new faiths. In particular, it never tolerates beliefs that seem even slightly at odds with the rules they have set. Especially for those who broke what the world calls the law, the oppression was relentless. To endure in such a reality, all that was needed was pure fanaticism.

  The leaders of the cult said that no matter what anyone said, ignoring it and living a life protecting their faith was what was truly valuable.

  Ha-eun fervently believed those words. An apostle who had purified his soul through intense torture and received the "God's gift" to possess great power, he was willing to endure anything to protect their faith. The power of the Tool Ha-eun possessed was terrifying strength and durability. He was tougher than anyone and had the power to destroy anything.

  It was similar to the power of the Tools trending lately. However, he was a being of a completely different caliber than those defective products.

  Today was no different. Recently, the cult had given Ha-eun a single command: recover those who were rampaging alongside the Tool sellers. If they commanded, it was Ha-eun's duty to follow without a word. He didn't know why the cult gave such an order. But he had no reason to know.

  Ha-eun was merely an agent of the cult's will. No matter how many contradictions the command held, following and executing it unconditionally was true faith and a worthy endeavor. Thus, forgetting fear, Ha-eun blocked the one who was rampaging before him.

  It was a cheap, pathetic, defective product. Yet, ordinary humans couldn't stand against it. One could confirm how easily their body could be torn to pieces if they dared to charge in recklessly.

  But it was not so for Ha-eun. To him, the madman's fist was like a ball of cotton, and the effort to tear his body was no different from a baby playing a prank. There was nothing to fear.

  Drawing out the full power of the Tool implanted in his body, Ha-eun ignored all resistance from the lunatic in front of him and grabbed him by the head. Then, he slammed him ruthlessly into the ground—doing so until the opponent was completely silent.

  Each time the rampaging person's body hit the ground, it made a thundering sound that didn't seem possible for a being made of flesh and bone. Even if the hardest steels collided and broke, they wouldn't make such a noise.

  But even this wasn't enough. Although the Tool itself was a defective product, the rampaging person was pointlessly sturdy. So, Ha-eun simply continued to exercise his martial force until the target was completely broken.

  He didn't release his hand from the head yet. Ignoring the opponent's lingering resistance, he quietly began to recite a prayer.

  "Our God in heaven, and the greatest servant of Him, our Leader who guides us."

  Slam!

  "We have sacrificed everything under your teachings."

  Slam!

  "So that we may not wander."

  Slam!

  "Guide us."

  Slam!

  "Watch over us so that we may walk the true path alone."

  Slam!

  When the final phrase ended, Ha-eun confirmed that the person he held was no longer moving. Of course, he wasn't dead. His body had simply reached its limit, and the Tool implanted in him would have broken from the shock.

  That was enough. Whether the opponent was ruined or not was unimportant. They only needed to be breathing.

  "Recovering now," Ha-eun said, contacting someone on his smartphone as he dragged the mangled body away. He tossed the wreck of a person into a car and departed with his comrades.

  All that remained where they had been were craters, their origin unknown.