After Honeybee and the family departed, [N O V E L I G H T] only Matthew, Cha Uijae, and the monsters dying in flames remained in that place. Uijae bit down gently on the inside of his cheek. It would be right to move now. And yet, his feet wouldn’t budge. He didn’t know if it was because of Honeybee’s request—or some unknown intuition.

Matthew stood with his back turned, burning the monsters. With each motion of his hand, flames surged and swept like waves. It was elegant, almost like the conductor of an orchestra, yet every movement was as sharp as a blade.

The rising flames swallowed the monsters’ screams. Though the fire surged as if it would devour the entire world, there was an eerie stillness. Only the crackling of burning remained.

And so it felt… unsettling.

Matthew spoke.

“You’re not leaving.”

“…No.”

“There are surely places where your help is needed. Like that family just now.”

“……”

“If it hadn’t been for you, they would’ve wandered the streets and died. Or…”

His cold voice proposed another theory.

“Perhaps it’s because you found them that they ended up in danger. These monsters are struggling just to get to you.”

He was right. Even with their limbs on fire, even with the chasm between them, the monsters were still crawling toward Uijae.

Did that family become endangered because they met me?

…Maybe so.

A hot gust of wind surged past. Sweat began to bead on his forehead. Matthew slowly turned half his body, eyes fixed on Uijae.

“Your breathing has changed. Did I hit the mark?”

It wasn’t wise to hide anything from someone who could read your entire state. He’d find out anyway. Uijae gave a short reply.

“I won’t deny it.”

“Thank you. For answering honestly.”

One of the monsters, wreathed in fire, lunged toward Uijae. But—

Snap.

At the sound of Matthew snapping his fingers, the monster burned to ash before a single claw could touch him. Uijae stared at the sparks as they scattered into the air.

“It doesn’t matter, really. It’s a good opportunity for me as well. I’ve always wanted to speak with you—at least once. Even like this.”

“……”

“If you’re uncomfortable, you’re welcome to leave.”

“I’m fine. For now.”

Besides, Honeybee had asked him to keep an eye on him. Matthew chuckled low.

“You’re quite responsible. That’ll be your undoing. Or perhaps… it already has been.”

His way of speaking stirred a strange discomfort. He pointed out truths Uijae had been ignoring. He revealed angles he hadn’t considered. He posed questions that made you look inward.

“Excessive responsibility tends to consume people.”

“You’re right.”

Uijae acknowledged it without resistance. Beyond the flickering flames, Matthew clenched his fist. The monsters scrambling up the cliff exploded in small bursts.

“I have a question. May I ask?”

“Yes.”

“If someone you loved died because of you…”

“……”

“Could you forgive yourself?”

At the question, what came to mind immediately was a black coffin. Cha Uijae collapsed over it, and inside, Lee Sa-young lay asleep. Cha Uijae shed dry tears. He regretted everything.

If I’d just been a little stronger, I wouldn’t have let him go like that.

Behind Sa-young’s coffin, pale ash scattered in the wind. His aunt was walking through the ash. Uijae hurried after her silhouette. Ash whipped around like a snowstorm, blurring his vision. Before he realized it, Uijae was standing in a white wasteland. The ground was slick with white blood. His comrades were ripping monsters apart and eating their flesh.

If only he’d stopped his aunt. If only he’d gone in first, before she did.

If only he’d gone in alone. If only he’d been able to stop his teammates. If only he’d been stronger…

Regret upon regret piled up. Uijae looked back at the regrets he stood atop.

Had Cha Uijae ever forgiven himself?

“No.”

All those failures and regrets had made Cha Uijae who he was. He was living atop them. Pretending he was okay.

“I can’t.”

Matthew was now fully turned toward Uijae. The burn scars on his arm were glowing red. As if they were alive. Or as if they’d just formed.

“But still…”

Even so, Uijae had managed to keep living. Managed to pretend he was okay.

The ash-scattered, fractured world vanished. Uijae was now seated in a hangover soup shop. A steaming bowl of ox bone broth bubbled on the green table. His grandmother was peeling garlic while watching an old brown CRT TV. At the next table, Haeun was frowning as she doodled on her textbook.

The sliding door of the soup shop opened. Familiar faces began to trickle in, filling the empty tables—Bae Wonwoo and Kang Jisu, Yang Hyejin and the new Hunter, the one who always hid his soju, Bulgom, Honeybee and Chief Han, Jeong Bin and Minggijeok, and countless others who used to come to this soup place…

Before he knew it, someone was sitting across from Uijae. Violet eyes, relaxed, propped on one arm, looked around at the room before meeting his gaze. Full lips curved into a smile, and the violet eyes, unlit by any light, curved gently.

Uijae blinked.

In an instant, the soup shop vanished. Before him were nothing but the flames devouring the area—and Matthew, waiting for his answer.

“But still… I can live.”

“Even if you can’t forgive yourself?”

“Yes.”

There were good people in the world. Uijae had been lucky to meet many of them. When he was near them, he could be a good person too. He could be kind. He could fill absence with new encounters. He could stack successes atop failures.

Matthew pushed his glasses up with his middle and index fingers.

“I see. Thank you for answering.”

“What about you, Mr. Matthew?”

“……”

Matthew adjusted his glasses again.

“The Bible teaches us to forgive sins. I was raised with those teachings. Raised to grant forgiveness.”

“……”

“But…”

For a moment, the flames surged high. Bright red fire coiled around Matthew like greed.

“No matter how much I forgive… how much I try to forgive…”

“……”

“I never learned how to forgive myself.”

A sharp blaze flared upward. It was clearly different from the earlier flickering flame. This fire wasn’t meant to subdue or dispose of enemies. It had no purpose. It burned everything indiscriminately.

Dangerous. Uijae grabbed the spear embedded in the ground.

Through the flickering flame, Matthew’s figure appeared and disappeared. The heat distorted the surroundings. If this kept going, it would end badly. Desperate, Uijae blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“That burn on your arm—it’s not a side effect from the drug, right? The Prometheus drug?”

“It’s not. The doctor treated those side effects perfectly.”

“Then…”

Beyond the flames, Matthew ran his hand over the scarred flesh.

“This is a scar I left on purpose. So I’ll always remember.”

“Remember what…?”

“That humans burn so easily.”

Matthew smiled through the flame. The heat made the shimmer warp his expression bizarrely.

“I killed my sister.”

“……”

“When I awakened, I was at her house. It was her birthday. She was there… her husband… and their child.”

“……”

“You know, don’t you? Right after awakening, abilities are especially unstable. Especially ones like mine… that always need to be controlled.”

Uijae bit his lip. In the second world, Lee Sa-young had locked himself in the hospital bathroom immediately after awakening. His power had been too dangerous. Matthew must have been the same.

But tragically, no one had been there to help him control it.

Uijae could easily picture the scene. Fire flaring no matter how hard he tried to suppress it. Matthew locking himself in the bathroom. His sister and her family pounding on the door, asking what was wrong.

And his flame… was far too strong to be put out by some trickle of water.

“……”

“So you can live without forgiving yourself, huh…”

Matthew murmured. The flames around him grew larger. Now he could barely be seen at all. Monsters burst into flame the moment they touched the fire. Cold sweat dripped down. The fire whispered:

“I wish I’d met you a little earlier.”

Fwoosh!

The flames soared to the sky.

“Matthew!”

At the same time, Uijae swung his spear, splitting the wall of fire.

And then, his hand dropped low, spear pointed down.

Beyond the wall...

There was no one.

Nothing at all.