An ear-splitting roar rang out from the dark red bell.
At the tremendous noise, the aberration began writhing in agony.
"Nngh...uuuuugh...!!"
As the aberration struggled desperately to plug its ear holes, Jae-hwan raised his blade and charged at it again.
"Not happening...!"
Jae-hwan cut off both of the thing's hands as they plugged its ear holes.
"Now you'll just have to sit there and listen, huh?"
A nasty smirk tugged at the corners of Jae-hwan's lips.
He beat the bell mercilessly.
A filthy, deafening noise that even an ordinary person couldn't stand.
The aberration thrashed as if in agony, twisting its body grotesquely.
And at last.
The aberration's body began crumbling to dust, bit by bit, starting from its extremities.
'...It's over.'
Arms and legs, torso, and finally the head.
At that moment, the aberration regained its human appearance, if only briefly.
To the very end, the aberration glared at Jae-hwan with resentful eyes, and–
Crunch.
Jae-hwan mercilessly stomped on the aberration's eyes, obliterating them completely.
Without a shred of hesitation or pity.
'...It's over, Sis.'
Remembering his sister, Jae-hwan closed his eyes for a moment.
He felt a refreshing satisfaction in his heart.
'Revenge is empty, my ass.'
Without realizing it, he let out a snicker.
"What's so funny? Is it all over?"
Ji-yeon called out to Jae-hwan from the darkness.
"Ah, Senior. It's all over... Hhk?"
Ji-yeon emerged from the darkness.
Her neck was grotesquely bent.
"S... Senior? Your neck... your neck..."
"Ah, this."
Like a scene from a horror movie, Ji-yeon took hold of her own neck.
Crrrack –
Then, as if it were nothing, she twisted her neck and set it back into place.
"Hhhk..."
"Well, look at that. And this is the guy who didn't even flinch in front of an aberration?"
"Honestly, aren't you way creepier, Senior?"
"Enough, just hold still. It'll only take a second."
"Sorry? Uh, um... why?"
Was it because of the grotesque sight he'd just seen? Jae-hwan instinctively backed away from her.
"Why do you think? Take a look at yourself before you talk."
Only then did Jae-hwan realize he was covered head to toe in blood.
But only for a moment.
The blood and wounds left on Jae-hwan's body were all washed away in an instant.
'Is this part of my ability too?'
Ji-yeon's eyes went round as she looked on in wonder.
"Huh, impressive?"
"Uh... why?"
"You. Earlier, you made something like a bell out of blood too. Don't tell me your ability is controlling blood?"
"Um, I think so."
"Ah... well, nice."
The moment Jae-hwan was wondering how to react to Ji-yeon's lukewarm admiration.
Suddenly, something began vibrating inside Ji-yeon's jacket.
"Yes, Team Leader."
"Hey! What happened?!"
"We exterminated it."
"No, not that! Some bell rang out all the way over here!"
"Ask the rookie about that."
"You... hey! Kim Jae-hwan! Because of you, I have to erase the memories of everyone who heard that bell!! Put the rookie on! I'm going to..."
Ji-yeon hung up on the spot.
"Let's head back."
"Okay."
Before they knew it, the darkness outside had lifted and dawn was beginning to break.
And the sun gradually revealed itself.
It shone brightly, as if celebrating Jae-hwan's revenge.
***
"I want to go home."
"Me too."
The team, back after finishing the job.
What greeted them was not sweet rest.
The higher-ups had firmly nailed it down: write the work reports before going home.
Chang-ho and Ji-yeon traded banter as they pounded at their keyboards, looking like they were about to die.
"No matter how I think about it, our organization is weird."
"The Aberration Security Department? Even the name's a bit weird."
"That too, and the way they handle things too. We went all the way to the scene and back. Couldn't this kind of thing wait until tomorrow?"
"The moniker too. What's 'Angel's Wings' supposed to mean? What the hell kind of angels are we supposed to be? We're just salarymen in suits."
"And don't leave out the part where we risk our lives at work."
Jae-hwan wasn't in any better shape either.
"Did you finish writing yours?"
"Would I have?"
"No matter how I look at it, there's nothing to write."
"Then write that. How you rang a bell and put the Team Leader through hell."
"Lee Ji-yeon, you punk, you want to die?"
"I'd rather die than keep writing this."
Just as Jae-hwan ignored the other two's chatter and tried to focus on the report in front of him again.
Suddenly, Jae-hwan's phone began to ring.
"Yes, hello."
"Is this Mr. Kim Jae-hwan?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Good. This is the Director. Come to my office."
The caller said only what he had to say and hung up.
"What's with this guy?"
"Why, who is it?"
"He says he's the Director?"
"What?"
At that moment, all the typing that had filled the office stopped at once.
"Uh... what's wrong with everyone?"
"What do you think? The top of this organization wants to see the rookie."
Hearing that, Jae-hwan immediately stood up.
"But why...?"
"How would we know? Did you scratch the Director's car or something?"
"What are you talking about? I don't even have a car."
"Anyway, hurry up and go. He'll be on the top floor."
"Okay."
With that, Jae-hwan quickly headed for the elevator.
Watching Jae-hwan's back, Ji-yeon asked Chang-ho a question.
"Why do you think the Director called the rookie?"
"Who knows. How would I know the heaven-high mind of someone so far above me?"
"Don't you have any guess at all?"
"A guess..."
Chang-ho frowned for a moment, thinking.
"Hey, don't tell me. The rookie from earlier, you said his ability was making things out of blood?"
"Yes, that's right. Daggers, bells, even laundry. He did all kinds of stuff, you know?"
"Ugh, this is bad."
"Sorry?"
Ji-yeon looked wide-eyed at Chang-ho, who let out a heavy sigh.
"You'll find out soon enough."
At the same time, a deep shadow fell over Chang-ho's face.
***
"Welcome, Mr. Kim Jae-hwan."
A man with a deep, dignified voice greeted Jae-hwan.
"Ah, yes. I heard you were looking for me."
The Director gestured for Jae-hwan to take a seat.
"Research Director of the Aberration Security Department, Heo Tae-jun. Have a seat."
"Ah, yes... thank you."
Seeing Jae-hwan fidgeting awkwardly, Tae-jun went on.
"I hear you can manipulate blood."
"Yes."
"Then let me ask you one question. Have you never thought about why you came to have such an ability?"
Jae-hwan frowned at the Director's out-of-the-blue words.
"No, I haven't."
"Then I'll tell you the answer. You wanted revenge."
"......."
Tae-jun looked at Jae-hwan with hollow eyes, an emotionless smile on his face.
When Jae-hwan gave no answer, he spoke again.
"You don't deny it. I'll put it simply. A case like yours is certainly a rare one."
"What do you mean, rare?"
"The ability that manifests always reflects the compatible subject's strong wish. If you simply want power, you get monstrous strength beyond others. If you want to run faster, speed. If you couldn't save someone dying before your eyes, healing."
At the word "healing," Jae-hwan thought of Ji-yeon.
'Did Senior have someone die before her eyes too?'
Tae-jun paused for a moment to let Jae-hwan think.
He then resumed his explanation.
"So in your case, wanting revenge... ordinarily, you'd have gained only an ability specialized for exterminating that aberration."
"I see."
"Yes. Something like an ability to amplify noise. But you gained an ability that has nothing to do with that."
"I guess so. Well, good is good, isn't it? At least it seems a lot more useful than what you described, doesn't it, Director?"
"Perhaps."
Once again, a hollow smile rose on Tae-jun's expressionless face.
An inexplicable, ominous premonition began to creep into Jae-hwan's heart.
"Let me ask you frankly."
The smile gone from his lips, Tae-jun turned his empty eyes on Jae-hwan.
"How did you feel when your sister died? Sunk in self-loathing, did you want to see your own blood? Is that why you got that ability?"
"What...!"
Without realizing it, Jae-hwan shot up from his seat.
At the same time, Jae-hwan was certain.
'This son of a bitch is crazy.'
Even with Jae-hwan looking at him with contempt, Tae-jun paid it no heed at all.
If anything, the corners of Tae-jun's mouth twitched as if he were holding back a smile.
"Oh my, how rude of me. Did I cross a line?"
At the man's soulless apology, Jae-hwan barely managed to calm himself.
"No, it's fine..."
But the thought began to creep into Jae-hwan's mind that maybe the man was right.
When his sister died, Jae-hwan had been away because he'd gone on an errand.
But the reason he had gone on that errand...
'Sis, get a grip! What college, for the likes of us?! We could work forever and we still couldn't save up the admission fee! And if we take out student loans, could we even pay it all back?'
'Jae-hwan... still, it's my dream. I want to proudly learn what there is to learn too! What's wrong with wanting what everyone else does?!'
'What's wrong with it? Please, just look at reality!'
Recalling the past, Jae-hwan bit his lower lip.
After hurling abuse at his sister, he'd left on the pretext of an errand.
'The last image of me that Sis remembers... is probably...'
The moment the memory he had forced himself to forget resurfaced.
The guilt that had been hiding in his heart raised its head.
"Urk...!"
Jae-hwan barely swallowed the dry heaves that came over him.
"You look like you're in pain. Would you like a cup of tea?"
"No... no, I'm fine..."
"Then it can't be helped. The preamble ran long. Then let's get to the main point."
'That son of a bitch... if he had a main point all along, why'd he waste all that time on such useless talk?'
Ignoring Jae-hwan's hostile glare, the Director went on.
"Yes. The higher-ups have taken note of your ability. Destructive power, creativity, versatility; it's an excellent ability in every respect. So from now on, we intend to assign you as the organization's most important agent."
"And what about it?"
"It's simple. You'll get more benefits and authority. Though you'll have that much more work to handle as well."
"Work, meaning..."
"What you want. Seeing aberrations' blood."
'Seeing blood' was the expression that made Jae-hwan's face contort again.
Then the Director smiled slyly, as if it had been intentional, and apologized.
"Oh my, rude of me again. Let's call it exterminating aberrations."
Tae-jun rose from his seat and began to speak as he circled around Jae-hwan.
"Your sister didn't die because you weren't there at the time. She died because an aberration appeared."
"......."
"So it's not you who should bleed. It's the aberrations."
"That's..."
"So here's my proposal. You'll be able to make far more aberrations bleed. Will you accept?"
As he finished, Tae-jun held out his hand to Jae-hwan as if offering a handshake.
Jae-hwan stared at that hand for a long time.
After much deliberation and anguish.
Jae-hwan heavily raised his hand and accepted Tae-jun's handshake.
"I'll do it."
Galling as it was, Jae-hwan had no choice but to admit the Director was right.
Jae-hwan accepted the Director's proposal to escape his guilt.
Only after finishing his revenge and hearing the Director's words did Jae-hwan realize where his rage was directed.
The rage and loathing he felt toward himself couldn't be erased.
Then he had no choice but to turn that rage and loathing on the aberrations.
Above all, there was the satisfaction Jae-hwan had felt the moment he exterminated the aberration.
With that, he could forget his rage, if only for a while.
"Good. Then from now on, you're a Grade 1 agent. You, Team Leader Lee Chang-ho, and Assistant Manager Lee Ji-yeon will now belong to the Alpha Strike Team. It'll be dangerous work, but I trust you'll do well."
Having finished, the Director nodded at Jae-hwan as if to say he could go now.
"I'll take my leave."
With those last words, Jae-hwan left the room as if fleeing.
"Ah, and as it happens, a case suspected to be an aberration's work just came in."
The Director called out to Jae-hwan's retreating back.
"Will you take it?"
With the same emotionless smile as before, the Director gave an order disguised as a request.
"Of course."
At those words, Jae-hwan's eyes began to gleam with killing intent.