Life’s priorities differ from person to person, and the gap between them is as vast as the number of people in the world.

Some live sacrificing everything for family, while others disregard family entirely and walk only their own path.

I’m closer to the latter, but that doesn’t mean I fit it exactly.

I’ve never placed much value on myself.

I kill monsters.

In the bright, untainted, youthful goal I set in my childhood, my own existence doesn’t even appear in the words.

There, I was nothing more than a kind of tool to fulfill that act.

Of course, without me—the tool—monsters couldn’t be killed, so if you stretched it with some indirect or inferred interpretation, you could find a reason for self-preservation even in my short life’s goal.

But no matter how generous the interpretation or how far you stretch it, there seems little room in my life’s goal for the involvement of someone else.

Especially for someone like me, having “my people” or a “family” would run directly counter to my life’s goal.

And yet—this kind of person is trying to let someone in.

Not just keeping them nearby, but walking the same road of life together.

“Sunbae. Do you like Min-hee?”

It was a question Kim Daram once tossed at me.

As I recall, she’s asked me similar things more than once, though the object changed each time.

The last time she asked was after the war began, around the point when Woo Min-hee and I were actually starting to form a sort of relationship.

Kim Daram still doesn’t like Woo Min-hee.

She no longer reacts with open disgust just at the mention of the name, but feelings built over decades don’t fade overnight.

I don’t usually like answering questions with questions, but that time I asked her back.

“You still don’t like Min-hee?”

“It’s not that I dislike her. I’ve never once said I dislike her.”

“You’re always talking bad about her.”

“I’ve only ever listed the facts.”

“Anyway, why does she bother you so much? Forget all that personal stuff about her complicated relationships—what’s the real thing you’ve felt?”

At that, Kim Daram organized her thoughts and, unusually for her, spoke clearly.

“She’s a person who’s supposed to live alone.”

“Yeah?”

“If someone can’t even take care of a dog or a cat, how could they possibly let another person in?”

“But she didn’t start dating guy after guy back in school, did she?”

People like me—people used to being alone, who see it as natural, even as a self-imposed fate—tend to avoid forming ties altogether, or, if they do, keep them to a minimum.

At my question, Kim Daram frowned as if frustrated and shook her head.

“No, that’s not it.”

I watched her quietly, waiting for her answer.

She was still putting her thoughts together.

Soon she looked at me.

Her eyes carried a look I knew well—one that was both unsettling and reassuring.

The eyes of a sniper.

Kim Daram spoke, her gaze the same as my most trusted comrade’s.

“She doesn’t have confidence in herself.”

For a brief instant, I felt her words weren’t coming from her usual dislike or jealousy, but from genuine observation and the insight it had given her.

“I don’t know why, but there was always this sense of something off about her. A girl from a rich, happy family, with skill and talent—why would she live like that? I couldn’t understand it when I was young. I couldn’t understand it even after I married and had kids. But then at some point, I started to see. Yeah. Back when she was acting like a boss in Incheon.”

“...”

“To her, everything probably looks faint and far away. She can’t escape from that herself. That’s why she kept causing trouble. I don’t know the details, but they say back when she was in Jeju, she was pretty driven. Maybe that was the first and last real self-confidence she ever had. When that broke, she went right back to the beginning.”

Kim Daram nodded, repeating in a tone of certainty.

“Everything became meaningless again. That’s why, even when she saw parents and children being separated at the Incheon lab, saw kids’ corpses used for experiments, saw researchers playing with their organs—she didn’t do anything. The world had already become something that had nothing to do with her.”

I didn’t accept Kim Daram’s words one hundred percent.

I trust her as a combat partner, but as a person, I neither believe in nor think highly of Kim Daram. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Still, her jealousy toward Woo Min-hee, her bitterness, and her long, sharp-eyed observation of her rival are undeniable.

In some ways, her life could be called a one-sided struggle to overcome that rival.

Her blunt truth-telling is, in its own way, pure Kim Daram.

Once, Woo Min-hee seemed to have everything. But as time passed, she remained the same and grew emptier, while Kim Daram gained a family to be with for life.

In her mind, that put her on top, and it let her watch Woo Min-hee with different eyes, drawing a different conclusion than before.

That’s my take, and maybe she’s grown up a bit, too.

Either way, her words gave me a bit of courage.

Because I’m a lot like Woo Min-hee.

Ever since the day I lost my family to monsters, my identity vanished, leaving only a purpose—though even I can’t clearly define it—chasing something like an endless nightmare.

I’m still obsessed with killing monsters.

The flames of hatred in my chest prove it’s still burning.

Can someone like me live with another person?

There’s no “must” about it.

It just happened that, as time passed, the thought took root.

The only person I’ve ever liked romantically was Na Hye-in. I’ve never thought of Woo Min-hee that way.

I saw her as an annoying woman, like Kim Daram did, and made a point to avoid personal involvement.

But time, and the events it brought, twisted our parallel lines into crossing paths.

The turning point could be summed up in one keyword: Eom Chang-yi.

A fake persona I created purely for innocent pranks—but through Eom Chang-yi, I ended up seeing Woo Min-hee differently.

To be precise, I came to see the side of her buried in the shadows behind the stage lights, and recognize her as a distinct, vivid person.

That connection didn’t end as a one-off—it filled the long blanks with countless events and stories.

No need for elaborate reasons.

I’m lonely.

Is there any greater reason for a person to need another person?

SKELTON: Remember the promise we made?

I once read an online article about the worst ways to confess feelings, based on a survey of women.

Number one was confessing over messenger. Number two was over the phone.

In other words, they disliked anything indirect.

I agree—it does look pathetic.

A guy like me could probably succeed where someone like Cheon Young-jae failed, but I know my limits.

Anyway, what I’m doing now isn’t quite a confession.

Step one is just to bring her here.

“...”

Tap, tap, tap.

SKELTON: (serious) Come here.

That’s how I feel.

Soon, a reply came.

From gijayangban: ?

“?”

What’s with that reaction?

From gijayangban: All of a sudden?

SKELTON: Didn’t we talk about this before?

From gijayangban: Yeah, but...

From gijayangban: I thought it was just talk.

From gijayangban: Honestly, how am I supposed to get from here to there right now?

From gijayangban: I’ve got some influence, but that’s impossible.

From gijayangban: Even Kim So-uk’s daily messages begging for rescue stopped coming.

From gijayangban: He’s probably dead.

Right—our wavelengths were off.

I was thinking seriously about our future, but Woo Min-hee was focused only on the difficulty of escape.

No matter.

First, I’ll get her here.

The rest can wait.

Paradise will turn into hell.

SKELTON: Dongtanmom will bring you here.

From gijayangban: Dongtanmom?

SKELTON: Technically, it’s my senior, Baek Seung-hyun.

From gijayangban: Ah.

SKELTON: But they can’t come inland. We’ll meet at sea. I need you to call them.

SKELTON: Jeju’s got a side facing the South Sea and a side facing the Pacific, right?

Communication is the starting point «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» and the conclusion of any community’s benefits.

In the end, human strength reaches its peak when multiple people gather and each brings out their wisdom and skills to the fullest.

I gave Woo Min-hee’s location to Dongtanmom.

From dongtanmom: Nom, nom...

From dongtanmom: That’s a bit tricky. I’ll probably have to make a big detour.

From dongtanmom: The nearest coastline to you is in the territory of the guys towing the Kuma.

SKELTON: Abukuma?

From dongtanmom: Yeah, the Abukuma—an old Maritime Self-Defense Force warship. I think they’re out of shells, but they’re so fast that once you’re spotted, it’s hard to shake them off.

From dongtanmom: If we give you coordinates, you’ll have to come to us. It won’t be easy. But we’ll be risking our necks to help you. We’re friendly with the Japanese, but not that friendly.

Exchange of information, identification of problems.

From gijayangban: That place? I can go. But will the route be safe? I’ll be fine, but I’ve got Mini with me. Plus, when Kim So-uk got pushed back by the Japanese, he poisoned a bunch of spots on his way out—like a “let’s die together” kind of thing. If I get exposed to radiation, I’m dead. I don’t even have a portable Geiger counter.

SKELTON: Hold on a sec.

Seeking a solution.

SKELTON: (help me, Skelton style) Commander M9.

Contacting an expert.

From mmmmmmmmm: ?

SKELTON: [Attachment]

SKELTON: [Attachment]

SKELTON: I’m trying to send someone along the marked route in the map I attached. Can you tell me if it’s safe?

SKELTON: ㅇㅅㅇ

From mmmmmmmmm: Hm.

From mmmmmmmmm: (Commander M9) Transmit.

From mmmmmmmmm: (Commander M9) Transmit.

From mmmmmmmmm: [Attachment]

From mmmmmmmmm: This way’s better.

From mmmmmmmmm: Assuming Kim So-uk hasn’t been messing around there, anyway. :)

Listening to the expert’s opinion.

And of course, giving the expert their own opportunity.

SKELTON: General M9.

SKELTON: General M9.

From mmmmmmmmm: ?

From mmmmmmmmm: Why not just call me Supreme Space Commander while you’re at it? lol

SKELTON: Reporter Guy—no, Colonel Woo—why don’t you escape along with her?

From mmmmmmmmm: Escape? From Jeju?

SKELTON: Yeah. Nothing good is going to happen if you stay there.

From mmmmmmmmm: I just started getting close to the people here.

SKELTON: Come to us. We may not have “great” people, but we don’t have bad people either.

SKELTON: At least it’s people who speak the same language and share the same experiences.

From mmmmmmmmm: Hm. I’ll think about it.

Now everything was ready.

All that remained was Woo Min-hee’s decision—but before that, Dongtanmom brought less-than-pleasant news.

From dongtanmom: I got intel that a new wave’s coming from mainland Japan.

From dongtanmom: This is the real Maritime Self-Defense Force warlord faction—completely out of our league.

SKELTON: MSDF warlord faction? Now?

From dongtanmom: Why rush? lol Even if we do nothing, other meat shields will soften things up for us.

SKELTON: So what does that change?

From dongtanmom: Three days.

From dongtanmom: That’s the maximum we can wait.

From dongtanmom: Against enemies with full radar capability, the only option is to run as far as possible.

From dongtanmom: We’re heading to the Ogasawara Islands.

SKELTON: Ogasawara Islands?

From dongtanmom: Why?

SKELTON: Isn’t there still people living there?

From dongtanmom: What are you talking about? That island’s been Zombie Island for a long time.

From dongtanmom: Which works out for us, actually.

In my experience, time pressure is one of the most common ingredients for catastrophic mistakes.

Three days.

A long time, maybe, but not when you’re crossing an island the size of Jeju—no small thing—with a young girl, through a killing field packed with enemies.

I told Woo Min-hee about this.

From gijayangban: Yeah?

From gijayangban: Doesn’t sound that dangerous.

From gijayangban: The only thing I’m worried about is radiation. People don’t matter.

From gijayangban: M9’s guiding me? One day’s enough. I’m planning to ride a scooter.

Easy, she says.

That’s Woo Min-hee for you.

But the most important conversation between us still hadn’t happened.

By rights, I should bring it up first—but, as often happens between us, she brought it up before I could.

From gijayangban: So.

From gijayangban: When I get there, what happens to us?

“...”

Without thinking, I opened a memo pad.

— We’ll live together.

No.

Not yet.

That’s something best said in person.

SKELTON: I have something to tell you.

From gijayangban: Yeah~?

From gijayangban: But I’ve got one question first.

My heart started pounding before I knew it.

This next bit of conversation might be the decisive turning point for us.

I asked, keeping my voice calm.

SKELTON: What is it?

Not yet, I told myself.

We can talk about us when we meet.

And then her next message popped up.

From gijayangban: Sunbae, you’re Eom Chang-yi, right?

SKELTON: (dead serious) Nope.

The flutter in my chest vanished like it had never been there.

Honestly, it was for the best.

Smiling with a trace of leisure, I typed.

Tap, tap, tap.

SKELTON: Be careful on your way.

SKELTON: I’ll be waiting.

One keystroke, but with all the sincerity I could put in it.

From gijayangban: ;;

At the time, I had no way of knowing.

That our Reporter Guy’s final article was about to be published.