IH Ch 12

Chapter 12

Most awakened individuals could survive without eating as they did before. Still, it didn’t mean their basic appetite disappeared, and since most didn’t want to lose touch with the experience of being a regular human, they typically maintained regular meals. However, those with little to no appetite or who weren’t in the habit of eating often substituted meals with nutritional supplements in pill form. In fact, these nutrient-balanced pills were sometimes more beneficial in terms of nutrition. And they only worked on awakened individuals. But that boy was said to be unawakened.

“……”

The boy took another large spoonful of porridge into his mouth. As the quantity in the bowl visibly decreased, his jaw seemed to move more slowly for some reason.

“How old are you?”

The boy, who had been chewing, swallowed what was in his mouth before answering.

“Twenty-three.”

He was three years older than Hwang Jae-i, with that baby face? Hwang Jae-i didn’t find it funny in the least. He pulled another pack of porridge from the freezer and spoke curtly.

“Don’t lie. How can you be twenty-three with a face like that?”

“…It’s true. I made sure to remember every year since I was five.”

He seemed genuinely frustrated that he wasn’t believed. His meek rebuttal earned only a snort from Hwang Jae-i.

“If you and I stood side by side, who’d ever think you were older than me?”

He dropped the unopened porridge into the same pot used earlier and placed his hand beside it. As heat radiated from his palm, the contents began to boil from the bottom up. While watching it simmer, he asked another question.

“So, what’s your name?”

“……”

Unlike before, when he answered every question even if belatedly, this time there was nothing. Turning around, Hwang Jae-i saw the boy staring down with his lips tightly pressed together.

“You don’t have a name?”

The boy clenched his jaw, then slightly lifted his gaze to meet Hwang Jae-i’s. There was more emotion in his eyes than ever before. It was resentment.

After staring for a moment, the boy lowered his head again and continued eating.

“……”

He probably didn’t realize that he was no longer wearing the iron mask. That’s why even something so small made his emotions show so easily.

There was no benefit to being overly transparent in any situation. In the past, the iron mask had served as a veil for his expressions, hiding his eyes and emotions. But not anymore.

Was he getting too comfortable just because he’d been given a bit of porridge? Would tossing his food make him wary again? As Hwang Jae-i considered this, the boy’s lips pushed forward in a pout. Seeing the protruding, plump lips, he said:

“Blackie.”

“……”

The boy didn’t respond right away, only lifting his head a beat later with a puzzled expression, as if he didn’t understand. In response, Hwang Jae-i picked up the pot of boiling porridge with his heated palm.

“You don’t have a name, so I’m calling you Blackie. It’s easier to say.”

The tiny face slowly stiffened.

His furrowed brow clearly showed how much he disliked it, but Hwang Jae-i paid it no mind. Even for a short period, living with a nameless boy was too much hassle. Blackie. Like a little black cat. He insisted it wasn’t because the boy reminded him of the cat that recently appeared in his dreams. Then he set the pot on the table.

Even just looking at it, it was clearly hotter than the previous batch. Surely, he wouldn’t recklessly shove this into his mouth too, right? Just in case, Hwang Jae-i looked down—only to meet the boy’s eyes staring up at him. Caught off guard, the boy flinched, then hesitantly muttered.

“I have a name.”

“I thought you didn’t. That’s why you didn’t answer earlier.”

“…Dohwa.”

He muttered it quietly and then immediately clamped his lips shut, as if startled. His eyes darted around as though pretending not to have spoken, and Hwang Jae-i repeated the name he’d just heard.

“Dohwa? Dohwa what?”

“…Just Dohwa. That’s what I was called.”

His voice gradually faded until it was barely audible.

At that moment, Hwang Jae-i recalled where the boy had been found. Lee Myunghwan. The last stronghold of a cult group known to be one of the most dangerous and influential in history. If the boy had merely been an average follower, he wouldn’t have been locked away in a hidden space wearing an iron mask.

Hwang Jae-i remembered the boy crouched on the floor in front of the door he had torn off, looking up at him. He spoke briefly.

“Blackie, eat.”

The computer monitor was filled with data on Lee Myunghwan. Hwang Jae-i had no interest in cults and, in fact, detested them, so even when such data crossed his desk, he rarely reviewed it in detail.

It was only because Lee Myunghwan was a special case that several S-ranks coordinated the raid. Otherwise, it was a matter the Hunter Association could have handled alone. Maybe if they’d been content to just rob their lowly followers, it wouldn’t have escalated. But they gradually recruited not only the followers’ families and acquaintances but even tried to extend their influence into politics and the financial elite. Before long, conglomerates and politicians were dancing in Lee Myunghwan’s palm.

Because Kim Wi had such a constantly smiling face, people often mistook him for someone good-natured—but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He had worked his way up to the position of Association President, and when problems stemming from Lee Myunghwan began during his tenure, it must’ve infuriated him.

If there was one thing Kim Wi absolutely despised, it was interference in anything related to the Association or Hunters. He drew a hard line and immediately made all data on Lee Myunghwan public.

Brainwashing, coercion, and extortion—those were standard pillars of any cult. But then it was discovered that they were using Hunters to seize control of gates or deliberately delaying explorations to trigger incidents. On top of that, individuals who attempted to raise issues related to Lee Myunghwan were vanishing without a trace—only to later be confirmed as murdered. That alone constituted a massive crime. Yet the cult took it a step further and dabbled in human modification.

As complex as it sounded, the concept was simple. Pair high-ranking Hunters or use the bloodlines of families that had produced S-rank awakeneds to create children.

It had long been established that awakenings occurred randomly, and ranks couldn’t be artificially manipulated. That was, until the emergence of the Hwang Jae-i family. While his grandfather and father’s cases were seen as coincidences, everything changed after Hwang Jae-i was born. Three consecutive generations of S-ranks. It spurred a wave of research asking: “Is hereditary S-rank awakening possible?”

Only one case like this existed in South Korea—and globally. In other words, his existence was the anomaly. Still, in a world where a country’s power was judged by how many high-ranking Hunters it had, related studies exploded in popularity. But after some time, the enthusiasm cooled. More precisely, research stalled because they couldn’t definitively establish a link between bloodlines and S-rank awakenings.

Had unethical experimentation been permitted, things might have been different. But crossing that line would have only worsened an already unstable world. So the research remained within ethical limits—until Lee Myunghwan utterly shattered that boundary.

On the screen, a group of individuals sat in a row of chairs with heavily pregnant bellies. Clad in lab coats, the men and women looked to be in their twenties or thirties. Just one photo like this shocked the entire world. Everyone had contemplated such possibilities in theory, but had tried to avoid crossing that final line of humanity. Yet a South Korean cult leader had done exactly that. The Association had no choice but to act.

If South Korea failed to deal with Lee Myunghwan, the country would face global condemnation and suspicion. Even though it had been the actions of one deranged man, it could easily be twisted. People might say the South Korean Hunter Association had colluded with the cult to artificially produce awakened individuals.

Even in a world like this, many people still tried to live ethical, human lives. Once the line of decency was broken, society would plunge into darkness. That’s why the Association, together with domestic S-rank Hunters, carried out a raid to eliminate Lee Myunghwan.

Having built up his power for years, Lee Myunghwan wasn’t easily caught. Along the way, multiple incidents occurred that shook South Korea, with some ripple effects abroad as well. Taking down Lee Myunghwan alone wasn’t enough to solve everything. That’s why it took three years.

People grumbled, wondering why it was taking so long when they had so many S-ranks. But the reality was, they needed thorough investigations to minimize casualties and exonerate innocent people caught in the crossfire. In the end, Lee Myunghwan was dead, and only a handful of his remnants remained.

As Hwang Jae-i flipped through the screen, he paused at one image.

Children were huddled together in a cramped room. Dirty and unkempt from lack of care, they stared blankly at the camera. Even in the narrow frame, there were clearly more than ten kids curled up together.

Half of them had been kidnapped; the other half were abandoned by their parents who had joined the cult. Yes—this group had committed the heinous crime of human trafficking from the start.

The capitals of each city had managed to reduce gate emergence rates to under 0.1% through layered effect barriers, and even provincial areas had kept it to around 3%. But that 0.1 and 3% made a huge difference. Occasionally, gates would still open in residential zones. Given the high number of injuries and deaths at such sites, a few missing persons could easily go unnoticed.

“……”

It was a world where even living an ordinary life was a struggle for the powerless. Con artists and criminals had always exploited that. Even if someone looked completely innocent on the outside, you never knew what they might be hiding. Just like that boy inside his house now…

Hwang Jae-i glanced toward the closed door. His façade of indifference quickly melted as he stood up abruptly. With long strides, he walked toward the storage room.