Once again, there was no work. Kim could not hide his irritation at that fact. He had no idea what kind of wind had been blowing lately, but he simply couldn't find a job.

  He was originally a construction laborer. The work was physically demanding, but earning a living through honest labor wasn't so bad. Of course, it was annoying when people looked down on him, but then again, none of those who did were decent people themselves. What was wrong with earning money proudly without being ashamed? Supporting his family without begging from others was Kim’s pride.

  However, since strange people had started causing trouble recently, construction was frequently halted. As his income dwindled to nothing, the story changed. The atmosphere at home began to sour. Kim was the one who brought in the bulk of the income. Naturally, the mood would darken when he wasn't earning. Still, for now, they had some savings, so it wasn't the absolute worst yet.

  What actually made him feel worse was something else: territorial behavior. Since construction wasn't progressing properly, there weren't many places hiring. The problem was that when these places did hire, strange thugs were acting territorial. Kim was dying to work, but everything was a mess because these bastards only picked people they were close to.

  They were guys who used to be in gangs. They had shown up out of nowhere, wielding violence and ruining the atmosphere. And since public safety had worsened and the police rarely came around, the situation had turned to absolute shit.

  He had no intention of paying them extra to get a job. But he had no idea how long this would last. Having failed to find work again today, Kim ended up doing something he normally didn't do.

  Drinking in the middle of the day.

  But he felt like he couldn't stand it unless he was drunk. He hadn't lived such a dirty life that he deserved this kind of treatment, and he couldn't understand why this was happening to him.

  "Ugh... Dammit! Those sons of bitches..."

  Curses spilled out of his mouth naturally. Even as he drank, his heart did not calm. If anything, his anger only grew stronger. Even now, he desperately wanted to go to their office and flip the whole place over. But he couldn't do it alone. True to their gang origins, those guys were impossible to face by himself. They couldn't do anything else right, but they were experts at beating people up. He might handle one, but Kim didn't dare face a group of them.

  So he kept drinking, and soon his head began to spin.

  It was then.

  —Do you want to get revenge?—

  Someone whispered into Kim’s ear. Kim was startled and turned his head left and right. He was drinking alone—who was talking to him and from where? But the voice was heard again.

  —You want to get revenge on those bastards, don't you? The ones stopping you from working.—

  It was obvious. Kim listened to the voice whispering in his ear, nodded, and spoke.

  "Those motherfuckers... if I only had the strength, I'd kill them all..."

  Kim spoke, mixing in curses. Though his listener was invisible, Kim didn't stop talking as someone finally listened to his grievances.

  —Then would you like to try getting revenge?—

  The whispering voice offered softly. Kim never imagined the word "revenge" could sound so sweet.

  "I'd do it if I could," Kim nodded. At that, the whispering voice said:

  —Then I shall let you do it.—

  That was the last voice Kim remembered.

  He was bored.

  Seok could not stand the boredom. He couldn't bear the fact that he had nothing to do today. But there was no helping it. He wanted to play, but lately, all the entertainment districts had closed down. It was unavoidable since all sorts of strange things were happening. Of course, that didn't mean he accepted it.

  To Seok, this was no different from tyranny. But what could he do? Between drugs and strange people running wild, you had to stay home if you didn't want to die. The man in the hood seemed to be working hard to resolve these things, but it appeared he couldn't cover the entire city alone.

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  Seok felt resentful toward him. Although he was thankful in his own way, he was annoyed by the fact that he couldn't go out and play.

  "Retard. If you're going to do it, do it right."

  Seok pointlessly blamed the man in the hood. He seemed to be doing something, but in the end, Seok's life was a mess. Wasn't it because he failed to fix things properly that Seok was suffering like this? Therefore, Seok thought his criticism was justified. Of course, if he posted this online, all sorts of people would jump at him with foam at their mouths, but those were just idiots who didn't understand how annoying it was to not be able to play.

  "Aw, shit."

  Unable to hide his irritation, Seok kicked a stone he saw nearby without hesitation. It was an action done without any thought of the trouble it might cause.

  "Dammit!"

  Seok shouted a curse and ran. He had seen where the stone he kicked flew and what result it caused. He never imagined—never even considered—that the stone would fly toward a car. And he especially didn't think it would scratch the car.

  If it were a domestic car, he might have been able to settle it reasonably. But the stone Seok kicked had unfortunately hit an import. He didn't know how much he'd have to pay. If he talked his way out, they might let him go. If he ran, the crime would only get worse.

  But Seok didn't think that far. He only focused on the fact that he had caused an accident right in front of him and didn't think about what came next.

  Thanks to that, after running mindlessly, he panted in a dead-end alley and thought:

  "I'm screwed... Shit, really nothing is going my way!"

  Seok screamed, unable to hide his annoyance. Objectively, it was his own fault, but acknowledging that was something he simply couldn't do.

  "Why the hell did he park his car there? That prick..."

  As always, Seok blamed others. He believed that everything wrong was someone else's fault.

  It was then.

  —Right, right. You did nothing wrong.—

  Someone whispered in his ear. No one was visible anywhere, and not knowing what was happening, Seok cursed once more.

  "What the fuck is this!"

  The voice whispered again to the terrified boy.

  —But as it stands, your face was caught on the blackbox, so it's going to be a problem. Don't you want to solve it?—

  The soft voice once again reminded him of the infuriating reality. But the word "solve" was tempting, as it always is.

  "W-What? How do I do it?" Seok asked, stammering. He felt he'd do anything if he could just solve this mess.

  —This is how you do it.—

  The soft voice replied. And Seok screamed.

  Supervisor Choi was currently in a difficult situation. No, it was a dangerous situation. She had no idea how it had come to this, but it was clear that the situation was not good at all.

  She was on her way home after work. The only problem was that she was a bit late. Because people who had turned strange for unknown reasons were causing accidents all over the city, work at the company was a mess. No matter how much you wanted to work, there was nothing you could do when the power went out.

  As a result, tasks were pushed back further and further. To meet the deadlines, she had to work unwanted overtime. That much was still acceptable. Either way, the company paid extra and gave good vacation compensation.

  But the worsening public safety was another matter. She had felt strangely uneasy today, but she never imagined she would run into thugs.

  "P-Please..."

  Supervisor Choi had done nothing wrong. But the men in front of her now were people who would do anything to satisfy their desires. It might be different if there were only one; she could try to run away somehow. But against many, there was no answer. She didn't know why she had to go through this, but she was just terrified. She didn't know what kind of horrible things would happen to her, and she was just consumed by fear.

  "What are you so scared of? We're not gonna eat you, sis."

  The men spoke that way while harassing Supervisor Choi. She felt so helpless, unable to even resist. They had already robbed her of everything valuable. What came next was obvious. Supervisor Choi could only tremble in fear at the fact that she didn't know what kind of state she would be left in.

  If the police were sufficiently deployed as they used to be, this wouldn't have happened. Originally, this area was frequently patrolled by police, so criminals didn't even dare to come here. But the situation had changed. Now, she was destined to become their prey with no way out.

  —Shall I help you?—

  It was then. Supervisor Choi screamed because someone had whispered in her ear.

  "What? You crazy?"

  The man, annoyed, slapped Supervisor Choi across the cheek for her sudden scream. The pain turned into a new terror, silencing her.

  —Shall I help you? If you do just one thing, you can get out of here.—

  She didn't know where it came from. But the voice whispering in her ear was like a devil's temptation. If she could escape the current situation, she could do anything. Only a desperate survival instinct ruled her.

  "Yes," Supervisor Choi answered in a tiny voice, fearing another blow from the men. A voice that likely no one could hear.

  But that was enough.

  —Contract established! Then I shall help you!—

  Someone answered in a cheerful voice. At the same time, Supervisor Choi felt something entering her body. It was something sharp, like a needle or an awl. The pain piercing through her body was enough to wipe out her consciousness in an instant.

  "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

  A scream.

  Supervisor Choi screamed. It was a scream of pure agony.

  "W-What? Is this bitch crazy?"

  The men murmured among themselves, seeing that her condition was strange. But they didn't know yet. They didn't know they were already too late. They should have run the moment they confirmed the abnormality. But for some reason, they just stood there blankly.

  "Ah... ah..."

  Strange sounds leaked from Supervisor Choi's mouth. They were sounds devoid of any meaning. Yet, on the other hand, they contained one thing: pure hatred for those in front of her. Supervisor Choi did not hide her rage toward those who tried to violate her.

  A moment later, the screams of the men rang out. But those screams did not last long.

  And the police still did not come.