DL Episode 149

#149

When Ha-gyeom opened his eyes slowly, even his vision was no longer red.

“…….”

A heavy silence struck him immediately. He couldn’t tell if the absolute stillness—no sound of breath, no noise—was real or merely an illusion. A strange sensation washed over him, as if he were floating in space, and goosebumps rippled across his entire body.

His blurry vision gradually sharpened. Before he realized it, Ah-rang’s body had shriveled like a mummy. Nothing remained of the vitality she once had; she looked like an ancient corpse. He could no longer claim she had been breathing only moments ago, could no longer insist her heart had been beating. Ha-gyeom found himself doubting whether she had ever truly been alive after returning here.

“Haah… haah…”

He wiped the blood from his mouth, gasping for air. Even as his chest felt as if it were about to burst, he widened his eyes and checked the area around Ah-rang. The red energy that had engulfed them both hadn’t changed shape or returned to a previous form.

It had simply…

disappeared.

The energy Chae had compared to a star fortress had vanished without a trace. The dark shadow of the unknown being, which had nearly swallowed both him and Ah-rang, was nowhere to be seen.

At long last, Ah-rang’s suffering had ended.

“Aaaaargh!”

Then he heard Assemblyman Tak’s roar, like an enraged beast. Ha-gyeom stiffly turned his head toward the table. Tak was pounding the table with a pistol in his hand, his eyes blazing like wildfire as he glared at him.

“How dare you…!”

Bang, bang!

Two shots rang out with his violent motion. The first bullet missed, but the second skimmed Ha-gyeom’s shoulder by a hair. Gripped by a sharp pain, Ha-gyeom grabbed his left shoulder, unable to exhale the breath he had sucked in.

The pain was unbelievable. Hot blood spread across the wound. But this kind of pain was nothing. He could not dare call something like this suffering.

“Ah-rang!”

Tak shouted. He rushed forward like a madman, but stopped at the edge of the table—hesitating, fearful of the possibility of lingering radiation. Even through the intense pain, Ha-gyeom let out a faint, mirthless laugh.

“What did you do?!”

Tak screamed, aiming his gun at Ha-gyeom once more. Yet strangely, Ha-gyeom did not fear him. Even though Ah-rang’s energy was gone, the energy circulating inside his own body had grown stronger.

Right now, his wavelength was clearer and more brilliant than ever before. It radiated pure, blue calm. Even though a guide’s purification wavelength had no offensive power, the strength of it was enough to steady him.

At Tak’s gesture, the mercenary checking radiation levels paled. The man backed away, shaking his head. Even if the eye could no longer detect anything, this meant the contamination had not disappeared from the area entirely.

“You dare!”

Tak barked, but Ha-gyeom could read the fear hidden in his eyes. Now that Ah-rang was gone, only that child remains…, perhaps he was thinking something like that.

Ha-gyeom stared calmly at the gun aimed at him. Then he pushed strength into his trembling legs and stood. Even if Tak fired again, nothing could stop him.

He still had something left to do.

Ha-gyeom looked down at Ah-rang’s corpse with trembling eyes, then reached for the knife lodged in her heart. When he grabbed the handle and pulled, the flesh encasing the blade crumbled away helplessly. He could feel no skin, no bone, no muscle, no nerves, no blood—making the sensation all the more horrifying.

The blood soaking his jaw, throat, chest, and thighs was still warm. The pain radiating from his wounded shoulder was severe. Yet Ha-gyeom tightened his grip on the knife without hesitation.

Then he took a step toward Assemblyman Tak. He deliberately expanded the reach of his wavelength. He wanted Tak to fully understand what would happen if that power vanished—what disaster awaited.

The mercenary measuring radiation levels looked shocked. Ha-gyeom couldn’t see the screen, but he could easily guess the numbers. It must have been significantly lower than the previous readings.

“How much?!”

Tak snatched the device from the mercenary and checked the display. Seeing the numbers, his expression twisted in displeasure.

“You think I’ll forgive you for this?!”

But radiation, by its nature, would continue to seep through the air. Unless the area was sealed immediately—like Dr. Kim’s lab where Ah-rang had awakened—the contamination would spread endlessly. Even now, the space was being polluted without restraint. Meaning everyone here would be at risk of exposure without Ha-gyeom’s purification wavelength.

He won’t kill me lightly—not if he wants to survive.

Using that fact as a shield, Ha-gyeom stepped forward. The mercenaries raised their guns, and even Tak looked ready to pull the trigger again, but Ha-gyeom didn’t waver.

The pain in his shoulder grew sharper. With every step, drops of blood hit the floor.

But his mind was no longer clouded. Once the red energy vanished, every thought and desire became sharper, clearer than ever. Clenching his fist, Ha-gyeom stood before Assemblyman Tak and broke the silence.

“Forgiveness?”

It was a direct rebuttal to Tak’s earlier words—You think I’ll forgive you. Words that should never have been spoken, and words unfit for someone drenched in countless sins.

“Who is forgiving who?”

Tak’s face turned red, then pale. Even if he didn’t yet understand why Ah-rang had died, he now clearly realized Ha-gyeom was no longer on his side.

“Why… why are you doing this?! This brilliant accomplishment I achieved—what right do you have to ruin it?!”

“It wasn’t your accomplishment. It was Ah-rang’s sacrifice.”

“You ungrateful brat!”

“So kneel and apologize to Ah-rang, at least to the dead.”

Tak knew very well that he had no personal connection to either Ha-gyeom or Ah-rang. It didn’t matter how it looked that Ha-gyeom was speaking on her behalf. He only repeated himself.

“Tell her you’re sorry for putting her through that suffering. Apologize to Ah-rang!”

He couldn’t know the physical pain Ah-rang had endured, but because he had lived connected to her consciousness for so long, his chest burned with rage. His reddened eyes blinked several times as he shouted again.

“Apologize!”

Even if he could never be forgiven, not even in hell. When Ha-gyeom bared his teeth and revealed his fury, Assemblyman Tak stood his ground as if unwilling to lose.

“Why should I? I willingly selected Ah-rang for my great cause. Thanks to her, I achieved results no one else ever could. She should have been grateful for being chosen by me, yet you’re yelling at me to apologize?! For what?!”

Ha-gyeom had expected Tak to feel no guilt at all, but the brazen words filled him with a rage so painful it was hard to breathe. His throat tightened, his heart pounded violently. Blood coursed so quickly that even his fingertips tingled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had hated someone this intensely; his entire body felt feverishly hot.

Tak’s hand trembled, and the pistol pressed against Ha-gyeom’s forehead shook with it. But Ha-gyeom continued staring straight at him.

“…If it weren’t for you, Ah-rang would never have died like that.”

“I didn’t kill her—you did! Everyone here saw it. We all watched you stab a knife straight into Ah-rang’s heart!”

As Tak turned to the others as if asking for their agreement, Ha-gyeom drew in a deep breath. He knew. Whether Ah-rang had become the host of an unknown being or not, he had been the one to deliver the killing blow.

The moment he remembered the sensation of piercing her heart, Ha-gyeom dropped the knife he had been holding. But now was not the time to collapse under guilt.

“Ugh!”

While Tak’s attention was diverted, Ha-gyeom twisted his wrist, snatching the loosely held pistol in one swift motion.

With a sharp mechanical click, Tak froze and slowly turned his head. Everyone who had been watching gasped in shock. Ha-gyeom stepped forward and pressed the gun barrel against Tak’s forehead for all to see.

“Apologize.”

Tak’s eyes narrowed. As the mercenaries rushed in to protect him, he raised his hand to stop them. Then he gave Ha-gyeom a piercing glare.

“You think I can’t handle a pathetic whelp like you?”

The excitement inside him wasn’t fading—only climbing higher—and with more blood loss, Ha-gyeom’s breathing grew rough. Still, he steadied himself and glared back at Tak.

“If you give up resisting even now, I might be generous enough to reconsider.”

Tak stepped closer instead, eyes shining dangerously.

“Just like with Ah-rang… I can make your abilities shine as well.”

It sounded like an offer of goodwill, but it meant only one thing—he planned to turn Ha-gyeom into the same kind of monstrosity as Ah-rang.

In that instant, Ha-gyeom could no longer endure his arrogance.