The Seowon Guild was far busier than it had been during Uijae’s last visit—
and not in a good way.

“Patient coming through! Move aside!”

Uijae quickly stepped out of the way. Clatter—a hospital bed rolled past carrying a patient. A brief glance showed that the patient’s entire face had turned ghostly white. Was it a mutation symptom? Uijae stared after the group moving away, then started walking again.

Past a row of tightly packed bookshelves, he reached the center hall where a boy in a white coat was issuing brisk commands. As soon as the boy spotted Uijae, he waved everyone around him away and hurried over.

“You’ve arrived. The master is waiting. This way, please.”

Uijae followed him through the library. They climbed a set of stairs and ascended to an upper level. Unlike the bustling chaos below, this floor was quiet. The hallway was lined with doors and nameplates—it seemed to be the ward area. The boy passed several doors before stopping in front of one.

[Ajujak]

‘…What’s even the point of censoring that?’

Uijae stared at the nameplate with a sour look. Anyone could tell who that was just from the starting letters and the length of the name.

“If you wait inside, the master will be with you shortly.”

The boy opened the hospital room door without a sound.

“We have a visitor, patient.”

“Oho.”

It was a private room. A black-haired man sitting up in bed waved lazily with one hand.

“Feels like it’s been a while. Have you been well?”

Ajujak-eun-gijeok Minggijeok was calmly chewing on a banana. Even in a patient gown, he refused to take off his sunglasses, which was kind of funny. Still, seeing him looking relatively fine was a relief. His face was still a little pale, though. Uijae walked over and asked,

“You doing okay now?”

“Yes, the wounds have all healed. Just a few more days and I’ll be discharged. They say there’ll be scars, but nothing that’ll show under clothes.”

Minggijeok tugged down the collar of his patient gown to reveal his torso, still wrapped in bandages. Uijae let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“If I’d known it was a hospital visit, I’d have brought a gift or something.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. The Pado Guild folks already brought plenty of fruit and drinks. If you’re thirsty, there’s juice in the fridge.”

“I’m good.”

As Minggijeok tossed away the banana peel, he asked,

“By the way, I’ve heard you’ve been quite busy while I was stuck in bed.”

“Didn’t really do that much…”

“Don’t lie to me. I heard you were dragged to an interrogation room all tied up in chains. That you dealt with a mutant in the Gakgwan District. And that Mr. Gyugyu {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} wasn’t all that helpful.”

Goddamn it—why does a guy in a hospital bed have access to all this info? Minggijeok clearly knew everything about Uijae’s recent movements. Uijae narrowed his eyes.

“Were you tailing me?”

“Of course not. Though one of my shadow friends may have been following you around.”

A tiny figure popped out of Uijae’s shadow, no bigger than a finger. The little man mimed taking off a hat, then moonwalked smoothly under the bed. Shit—when had that been attached?

“You planted a spy on me without permission?”

“Orders from the guildmaster. He said never to leave you alone under any circumstances.”

“…….”

That idiot. Uijae clenched his fist. His nails dug into his palm, a sharp sting. Minggijeok placed the banana peel on a plate and began peeling a small tangerine. He shaped the peel into a little bird and asked casually,

“Picked up a lot of information while stuck in here. Want to hear it?”

The black eyes behind the sunglasses gleamed. If Uijae said no, the guy would probably collapse from disappointment. So he nodded slowly. Sure—if it helps the guy recover, why not.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s begin. The number of mutants is steadily increasing. If you graphed it, it’d be a clear upward curve. As a result, Seowon Guild’s workload has exploded. No one knows the exact cause of the mutations, but most people think it’s due to that ash falling from the sky. Or the monsters that keep appearing.”

That made sense. The white hole in the sky was connected to the destroyed world. Uijae nodded and asked,

“What about the Whiteout symptoms?”

“According to the vice guildmaster, some zones around the Erosion Dungeon have started whitening. The affected areas are expanding, and the surrounding regions have all been designated as no-entry zones.”

“…….”

“The fish market was lucky. If it weren’t for you, it would’ve turned white a long time ago.”

“Mackerel—did he find a new spot?”

“No idea. Since we haven’t heard anything, I assume he’s still looking. Finding a safe, spacious place that’s immune to Whiteout isn’t easy.”

Minggijeok continued giving a detailed breakdown of the situation. The Whiteout phenomenon was global. In one country, half the territory had already turned into wasteland because of it. Nam Woo-jin was still developing a vaccine based on the notebook, but a perfect solution hadn’t been found yet.

“Meanwhile, Prometheus is ahead of the curve. They’re advertising that their vaccine is nearly complete. They’re even running ads on TV and Wootube. They’ve got their own channel, too. Thanks to that, more people are visiting their facilities—or joining to pray.”

Minggijeok held up his phone. A Wootube video played on a white background, splashed with bold red text.

Check for mutation symptoms! Self-diagnosis guide!
Someone near you is mutating? You must watch this video!
Cured from mutation? Interview with a recovered patient!

“…The videos have over a million views each?”

“They probably hired click farms. Or maybe that many people actually watched.”

“Why isn’t the government shutting down the channel? Isn’t this misinformation?”

“This is a world where money can buy anything. And Mackerel used to handle these kinds of things—but his shop’s closed now.”

Creak—the door opened, and a sharp voice cut in.

“Mutation symptoms have changed. There used to be an incubation period, like with a cold. But now, there’s no delay—people mutate instantly, or parts of their bodies start turning white from the start. It’s progressing faster than before.”

It was Nam Woo-jin, in a crumpled white lab coat. He shuffled in wearing squeaky Crocs. Letting out a long yawn, he shoved his hands into his coat pockets.

“Thanks for coming even though you're busy. There's a bit of a situation.”

“I heard it was about the notebook. What's the problem?”

“Ha, how do I even… no, just see for yourself.”

With an uneasy look, Woo-jin ruffled his white hair, pulled the notebook from an inner pocket, and handed it over.

“Easier to show than to explain… Whatever you did, I’d appreciate it if you could undo it.”

“…Huh?”

What did I do? Uijae flipped open the notebook, puzzled. Everything up until Jeong Bin’s death he already knew, so he started reading from there. A few pages were filled with equations and terms he didn’t recognize—he skimmed through those.

[Honeybee is acting strange. She’s gotten irritable lately. Used to be more lethargic…]
[Yoon Gaeul suddenly became calm. Did something happen?]
[Need to assess the mental health of Hunters.]
[Check if mutation pre-symptoms include personality or behavioral changes…]

Was this right after Honeybee and student Gaeul escaped? Uijae scanned the notebook carefully. After that came research notes and experiments. The writing started to lose its strength, becoming lighter, more fragile.

“…….”

The image of Woo-jin reduced to skin and bones flashed through his mind. Is that moment approaching too? Uijae bit the inside of his lip and turned the page.

Then—

[It’s you, isn’t it?]

Large, pitch-black letters exploded across both pages. The scrawled message hit like a blow to the senses. Uijae’s stiff neck creaked as he looked up at Nam Woo-jin. Woo-jin rubbed his brow with a pained expression, as if he expected this reaction.

“…….”

“So. Now you understand why I called you?”

Lee Sa-young, that bastard…

“You just had to write that nonsense on one of the most important pages. Thanks to him, I can’t read the experimental notes that were there… And you were the last person to see him, so I called you.”

“…….”

“What the hell is this? Did he lose his mind? Did you punch him in the face? Or… did I torment him in your world? Is that what this is? Some kind of protest?”

“The guildmaster was never exactly sane.”

“I know that already! This is a different level, damn it!”

Fucking lunatic!