Time is a raging current. It flows inevitably, vanishing in the blink of an eye into holes of the past.Jin Muhae once half-heard on Goryeo City Public Broadcast that time felt shorter as years passed—and he thought it only half true. Looking back, a year did seem to fly. But Muhae’s present days always dragged on, especially those spent doing nothing, where every minute and second felt countable.“You really did eat slowly.”“……”“You ate faster than me.”“Who said that?”In that sense, days with Joo-o were unusual. Time didn’t stretch like melting marshmallows. Twenty-four hours didn’t fragment into 1,440 minutes or over 86,400 seconds. Just sitting together, a stagnant day thawed and slipped away.Perhaps it was because Joo-o was such a strange person.Flash. The terrace lights came on. Sakdal’s true hour had arrived. Though the sky was still light, the sun would drop soon. Comfort Zone’s day and night followed the outside, after all; it wouldn’t be long.“Wow.”Joo-o, fingering an empty plate, let out a long sigh. At that moment, a “papak” snapped behind them and neon signs of the bar across the way flared to life.Even on a shopping street with relatively few entertainment venues, Sakdal was Sakdal. Pawnshops and vintage shops that had seemed grim at noon lit up one by one in splendid color.“It feels like a different neighborhood.”Joo-o murmured, his eyes reflecting the neon. His mask was still on, but the hood ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ had slipped just enough to reveal his face. Muhae said nothing—he reached out and pressed Joo-o’s cap lower. Joo-o, eyes bright with expectation, clicked his tongue softly.“Let’s go.”With Sakdal awakened, they had to move too. They slipped quietly into the now-busy street.Sakdal’s night streets were dark yet radiant. Glittering neon filled the void left by the sun, while filthy alleys hid quietly in shadow.Secret conversations were drowned by the cacophony. Joo-o’s odd appearance, so conspicuous by day, became relatively unremarkable under the neon glow. Some cast glances as they passed, but that was it; visitors were too busy with their own affairs to pay any real attention.“Was it here?”Joo-o, who had finally regained his voice, spoke cheerfully. Muhae had never given him precise directions—he wondered when Joo-o had stolen another look at the map.“Do you feel anything?”At the vague question, Joo-o shrugged. Muhae knew exactly what he meant: everything shimmered too brightly, there were too many smells. Yet when Joo-o flicked his eyes in one direction, Muhae guessed he’d spotted something.Muhae nodded, took Joo-o’s hand, and pulled him close.“Don’t turn your head from now on.”In a hushed voice, he strode toward a small building. Between structures still dark, they passed along a dim path lined with trash bins, arriving at an eerily silent alley—barely fifty meters from the gaudy main street.“Stick to the wall.”Joo-o pressed flat against the building. Muhae followed, cornering himself in the gloom and holding his breath until not a sound escaped.“……”How long they waited, Muhae couldn’t say. A long shadow stretched from the street into the alley. Someone was following them. The shadow drew closer, step by step, until the figure crept along the wall. Gravel crunched right beside them.Suddenly—“Kwaaak!”“Ugh!”Muhae’s arm shot out like lightning, seizing the intruder’s entire head. Without waiting for a scream, he slammed the man’s skull into the wall. The man slumped unconscious, eyes rolled back, a red vein pulsing beside the blank whites.Muhae wiped his saliva-streaked hand on the wall and returned to his spot like an antlion at its pit.“Disgusting.”“Shut up.”As he tuned into the distant street noise, another shadow slid into the alley. This one was more cautious, pausing a moment before shuffling forward.“Damn it.”He spotted the body Muhae had left displayed, spat the curse under his breath, and lifted his face into Muhae’s looming shadow.Flash!A huge hand the size of a lid snatched the newcomer’s head before she could flee. The half-shaved woman’s body writhed in the crushing grip.“Mercenary?”Muhae asked in a low voice. The woman’s eyes blinked a denial.“Is it this guy?”Blink. Her eyelids fluttered. Her pale face turned red as she bit her lip.“I’ve never crossed paths with you.”Muttering to himself, Muhae considered her. Joo-o tugged on his sleeve.“Kill her.”“I won’t.”“Your eyes are weird.”He looked; her pupils had rolled skyward. Finally, Muhae loosened his grip. The woman collapsed, coughing violently.“Hrrk, cough, fuck…”“Judging by how you’re spilling it, someone must’ve sent penniless nobodies to tail me.”“Fuck off, cough…”She was amateurish. Not the hireling of a mastermind, but a meddler sent to prick his nerves. None of Muhae’s adversaries had ever stooped to such tactics.“Move.”Muhae kicked her aside without further questioning. Whoever hired these leeches must know who he was—ominously so. Tails had followed them since noon; if they asked, it would only become a nuisance.“Let’s go.”“Okay.”Frowning, Muhae turned from the alley. He intended to gather his signaler information here and avoid the place for a while. With that resolve, he stepped back into the neon glare.And at that moment—Flash!The twilight sky blackened into full night. A chime announced 8:00 PM, and the shop that had remained dark lit up in a soft red glow.The building, otherwise unadorned, had a square of lights around its doorway. Inside the wide-open door, a round welcome mat glowed.▲WELCOMEThe everyday scene hit Muhae with a piercing sense of déjà vu. A simple, meaningless symbol flitted through his mind: a circle inside a square, a triangle inside that circle.Then the red fingerprint sliding across his fingertip—then the hologram that had blinked before his eyes—then his father’s very first record.“Follow me.”Despite his doubts, Muhae walked toward the door like a moth to a flame. Crossing the threshold, a dull chime rang out.“Huh.”He briefly studied the surly clerk, then turned to the back of the dim shop. A large, garish mural covered one wall: an anthropomorphic animal spread-legged in an obscene pose, its center packed with illegible black script, like a censorship sticker.“Ugh. The bear’s winking.”Muhae approached hesitantly, Joo-o grumbling behind him. He pressed his watch to the black script.Ting—tah!A distinct signal rang out and the screen lit up. Muhae covered the watch’s light with his hand. Of course—his guess was right. Blue light flickered between his fingers as another output loaded.“…That mural is impressive.”Muhae spoke quietly to the clerk. The clerk’s eyes flicked away. Clearly he wasn’t one of the conspirators. Muhae exhaled and glanced around as if shopping like any normal customer.“…?”His heart pounding, Muhae’s lips curved into a slow frown as he took in the items on sale:[GIANT DRAGONIAN][Sweet-and-Sour Thornwolf][Monster in Another Dream (SALE)][Secret Visitor in Bed]“Look at this. It’s oddly shaped.”“……”“Like a spiked sausage, right?”When had Joo-o picked that up? The red silicone tentacles dangled in his hand, and the fingers clutching the base seemed unnaturally white. The grotesque sight made Muhae’s vision flicker.Snap! He studied the clerk again. Perhaps they’d moved a display; the clerk finally glanced up. His stare assessed them in turn, and Muhae’s throat went dry.“…Put it back.”“I’ve never seen this before.”“I know—just put it back.”Muhae snatched the item, its resilient bounce nearly slipping from his grip. The silicone concealed a rigid core that nearly startled him into letting go.“It’s on sale.”“Right.”“Shall I fetch a new one?”“They’ve got new stock too.”Muhae’s terse reply sounded hollow in his own ears. He stepped forward, the clerk retrieving a black box from behind the counter.“That’s 121 dil.”Beep—.“Offline purchase special: free lubricant. Available in white, translucent, clear…”Beep—.“Warranty service also available online…”Ding.When he looked up, Muhae found himself holding a suspicious paper bag at the entrance of this den of perverts.“Shall we head back?”A gentle voice drifted behind him. Muhae slowly pressed his fingers to his brow. Why in the world would the code be here? The question nagged him, but he didn’t want the answer. He simply wanted to leave.

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