The man did not know who he was. However, that didn't matter much. What mattered was the simple fact that he had to reach the designated location.

  Yet, the man was seething with rage at the thought that someone kept interfering with him. He had to go, and anyone standing in his way was absolutely unforgivable.

  But the interrupters kept appearing. They hindered him as if it were the natural order of things, inciting irritation and fury within him.

  Even now.

  Before him stood bastards who had appeared out of nowhere. They said something to him, but the man couldn't understand what their words meant. One thing was certain, however: the raw hostility they radiated.

  The interrupters kept shouting something at him and pulled out strange objects. He couldn't recognize what they were. But since they had made their intent to attack clear, the man saw no reason to show mercy. If they lunged, he would strike them down.

  It was a simple principle, a law of nature.

  "Grrrrrrrr."

  The man let out a beastly growl. It was a threat and a warning. If the interrupters before him fled now, perhaps no blood would be spilled. If these weaklings knew their place and acted cautiously, that would be enough. The man was well aware that his hands were already stained with blood.

  To him, that was merely a proud record of achievement. He felt proud of the fact that he had made those weaklings pay the appropriate price for not knowing their place.

  "Grrrrrrrr."

  The man growled again as a final warning. But instead of being cowed by his threat, the interrupters intensified their hostility, as if moving into a higher state of alert.

  Fine, if they chose to ignore the warning. Then it was simply time for punishment.

  The man quietly awakened the power within his inner self—the object someone had shoved into him. It had turned him into an aberrant being. He held no emotion toward that fact; he simply remembered that it had happened. However, he didn't know what value that memory held. He viewed the occurrence as if it were someone else's business. It didn't really matter.

  He simply enjoyed the ecstasy that came the moment he activated the new power inside his body.

  Accompanied by agonizing pain, his body was flooded with an incredible vitality. Even the gruesome, eerie sensation of his fingernails growing long brought him joy.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The loud noises hurt his ears. He found it unpleasant that the sounds grew louder as his power activated. The clamor felt as though it would tear his eardrums. Had it been his former self, he might not have been able to endure it.

  That wasn't all.

  Amidst the pain of the aberrant transformation, he felt a sharp, stinging sensation—it didn't pierce his body, but it hurt like hell. His body staggered as many times as the ear-splitting sounds rang out. However, the pain that failed to kill him only made his rage burn hotter.

  Meanwhile, the aberrant transformation was complete.

  "@#@###@#!"

  They shouted in shock. But it didn't matter what they said. Only one thing was important. The interrupters would now pay the price for their foolishness. He didn't care what state they ended up in. What mattered was that they had made him angry.

  "Awooooooo!"

  A beastly roar erupted from the man's mouth. And with that, the slaughter began.

  Not long after starting the pursuit, Jihyeon discovered an anomaly. One of the CCTVs connected to his consciousness had captured a bizarre scene.

  Seok-young and Jihyeon headed to the location. After stopping the car, they ran hurriedly amidst an inexplicable sense of dread. They ran as if arriving late would be their own fault.

  Soon, however, the pungent smell of blood replaced the need for any explanation.

  "Oh no..." Seok-young muttered, his face pale with shock at the realization they were too late. The scene before him was something an ordinary person could not handle.

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  "I'm pursuing! Please handle the aftermath!"

  Jihyeon shouted. He activated his abilities and leaped instantly onto the top of a building. Seok-young watched him for a brief moment, seemingly impressed, but quickly began his own work. He called his colleagues and contacted the higher-ups. Simultaneously, he informed them that Jihyeon had begun the pursuit and requested support.

  Regardless of his duties, Seok-young couldn't withstand the shock of the carnage before his eyes. The moment he finished the calls and caught his breath, he couldn't hold it back anymore and retched, vomiting everything in his stomach.

  Jihyeon began his pursuit based on the last bloodstains he had seen. Operating his brain at full capacity, he tracked the traces to the end. Fortunately, the target hadn't gone as far as he thought.

  The one who had caused the carnage was near the scene. Passersby were already calling the police in a panic. Jihyeon stood before the suspect, clad as always in a hat, hoodie, mask, and sunglasses.

  "It’s a tool..."

  Jihyeon knew the moment he saw the suspect. The proof was the way information, which normally should have flooded his brain, was being fiercely blocked.

  But the suspect was in no condition to be doing such things. Even to the naked eye, his body was in a state of ruin.

  Just how much torture did he endure to look like that? Jihyeon thought, horrified by the man's appearance. With a body that damaged, even walking properly should have been impossible.

  Yet, the man kept trying to move forward. Had Jihyeon not appeared before him, he would have continued without stopping. The man, now nearly naked, looked somewhat pitiable. But his arms were drenched in blood, and his eyes overflowed with pure madness.

  The man was like a pure fanatic. One could feel a stubbornness in him to overcome any obstacle to achieve what he wanted. But that drive was filled with a dangerous edge. His willingness to kill without hesitation was enough to make even Jihyeon tremble with fear. Nevertheless, Jihyeon shook off the terror and stared at the man.

  Words were unnecessary. Jihyeon knew instinctively what he had to do.

  The man roared.

  He transformed into an aberrant form. Passersby screamed in terror. But Jihyeon swung his electric whip without hesitation.

  The overwhelming power, incomparable to a handgun, coiled around the aberrant being and slammed him into the ground. The force was enough to shatter the pavement and kill a person in a single strike.

  But that wasn't enough to stop the creature. Despite being slammed down repeatedly, it kept trying to stand up.

  "Disgusting," Jihyeon muttered, continuing his assault. But the creature seemed far from collapsing, as hostility continued to pour from its mouth.

  The loan shark thought to himself that CCTV technology had become quite excellent lately. Being able to watch events unfold without actually being at the scene via publicly accessible cameras was both safe and entertaining.

  Now transitioned into a tool dealer, the loan shark figured this was exactly what he should show Se-hee in response to her suggestion to produce results. She had told him to keep attracting public attention in addition to producing commercial results.

  This chaos was his answer.

  Watching the man fight the guy using lightning like a whip, the loan shark thought the "advertisement" was certainly effective. Every passerby was watching the scene, drawn into the spectacle despite the danger.

  Of course, those people wouldn't know who the aberrant creature or the whip-wielder were. The loan shark didn't know who the whip guy was either. But he knew the creature very well.

  After all, he was the one who made him like that.

  That man was the one who had been tracking them—specifically, tracking the tools. He wasn't police, but it seemed there were others looking for them. The man was unlucky. He had the misfortune of being caught by the loan shark. His identity was unknown, but he couldn't escape the loan shark's eyes and was eventually subdued. Coming after them, who were armed with tools, without any tools of his own was a suicidal act in the first place.

  After being subdued, the man underwent a brief interrogation. His body was completely ruined as a result, but that was a minor detail compared to the information the loan shark had extracted.

  While interrogating him, the loan shark realized once again what kind of "tiger's back" he was riding. He knew that if he were ever caught, he would never see the blue sky alive again. That was only natural, considering what those with implanted tools had done.

  However, that fact only excited the loan shark. A tension incomparable to his days in the private loan business made his blood boil every moment. Now that he had tasted this, how could he ever go back to the past?

  After the interrogation, the loan shark thought he could have quite a bit of fun with this man. The government was wary of the danger of tools. Given recent events, that was only natural. But they wouldn't know the true potential of the tools. The loan shark knew things even government agencies didn't. By showing a glimpse of the tools' true potential through this man, the loan shark could also send a warning to the government.

  As a gesture of "apology," the loan shark drugged the man heavily and used the power of the equipment that controls tool users to teach him what he needed to do. Now, the man would run wild exactly as the loan shark desired. It would be a very pleasant and entertaining event. He didn't know how many people would die, but that wasn't the loan shark's concern. So-young and Se-hee would likely find it amusing.

  On the other hand, the government would be furious at their own helplessness. They would feel humiliated by the fact that they were bested by someone like a loan shark. Just imagining it was fun. Those high-and-mighty bastards would never have imagined being taken down by "trash" like him.

  However, the scene on the CCTV now disappointed the loan shark slightly. The hooded hero who had recently appeared was beating the transformed man far too easily. He didn't know what kind of tool that guy possessed to act like that. It was problematic if he only showed such a poor performance after being implanted with an expensive tool.

  But the loan shark was a man who always made double and triple plans. Another card had been prepared long ago.

  "Let's have some fun," the loan shark said, watching the CCTV footage with delight.