In the distance, another building was collapsing.

Structures touched by the pulsation of the Iron Tower snapped like matchsticks and scattered like sand.

The Iron Tower’s domain, expanding and contracting like a heartbeat, was something I’d never seen before.

As someone who had first awakened as an Object in Seoul Forest, I considered myself somewhat of an expert on the Iron Tower, yet this phenomenon was unfamiliar.

It seemed that the power to overthrow civilization had increased as well.

Where before it felt like civilization was being pounded in a mortar, now it was as if it was being shredded in a blender.

What on earth is happening to the Iron Tower?

I placed my hand on my chest and felt the fire.

The steady warmth rising beneath the soft skin.

The frog had been unexpectedly weak, so the amount of fuel was still sufficient.

With this much fuel, I figured I could wander around Seoul Forest for a few days without any problems.

The Iron Tower was in Pyongyang, so I had to move quickly.

The sooner I finished, the sooner I could rest.

With each step I took, the surroundings changed rapidly.

Almost like a kind of teleportation.

In the ghostly state, it felt like the laws of physics were a bit looser.

Each step felt like walking ten steps.

At first, it was hard to control, so I had to crawl on all fours in my ghostly state.

Now, I could glide smoothly, like riding on a high-speed moving walkway.

As a rare, dense forest appeared, I released the ghostly state and set foot on the ground.

No matter how many times I came here, this forest always felt unpleasant.

When I first fell into Seoul Forest, I disliked it for no apparent reason, but lately, I think I’ve begun to understand why.

It’s because there’s no one else around, which makes me uncomfortable.

After all, it feels better when there are some people around and when I get a little attention.

Seoul Forest is considered one of the most dangerous areas on Earth, but it’s somewhat overestimated due to its reputation for destroying civilization.

In fact, deep within Seoul Forest, there are very few Objects that actively try to kill humans.

Those monsters that desperately want to kill humans have no reason to stay in Seoul Forest, where it’s hard to find people.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful to humans.

And it’s not like there are no murderous monsters at all.

While I was thinking about that and walking toward the Iron Tower, a strange roar echoed through Seoul Forest.

With a stifled, suffocating bellow, a massive hunk of flesh was crashing through trees.

The ground shook violently under its heavy steps, and white chunks of flesh were scattered all around.

Those flesh chunks wriggled with small worm-like parasites.

It was the "Ghost Catcher," often seen near the Iron Tower.

Of course, I gave it that name myself.

Back when I was human, I’d never heard of such a white mass of flesh.

The Ghost Catcher had the terrifying appearance and bulk of a murderous monster, but it probably wasn’t one.

That’s because the Ghost Catcher could only see ghosts.

It was because of these things that I’d release my ghostly state when entering Seoul Forest.

Not that I avoided them because they were as strong or hard to kill as Agu.

I avoided them because of their repulsive appearance.

Their looks were so bad for mental health that I tried not to look at them at all.

Ghost Catchers fed on ethereal Objects and hunted by throwing their own flesh.

I definitely didn’t want to get hit by that gooey, worm-ridden flesh.

After passing through the forest where those white mass monsters roamed, I reached a wide clearing.

In the center of that clearing was my target.

The first Object to be struck by a nuclear bomb, the ultimate counter to human civilization.

The Iron Tower.

On a downtown street in Gangbuk-gu, it was deserted despite the evening hour.

The large electronics store along the street had its windows shattered by strong winds.

Amid the disarray of products strewn about by the wind, a TV on display remained powered on.

The TV was broadcasting breaking news about the current Seoul Forest crisis.

The content was summarized into a few key points.

It reported the pulsation cycle of the Iron Tower and predicted the range of the next pulsation, urging people in the affected areas to evacuate.

The Iron Tower’s domain had already extended beyond the boundaries of Seoul, and it was now speculated that the next pulsation would likely affect Gangbuk-gu, Dobong-gu, and Nowon-gu.

This electronics store in Gangbuk-gu had already been placed under an emergency evacuation order.

In a city like Seoul, where concrete buildings were plentiful, it was difficult to survive if caught in the pulsation, so most people had evacuated.

Amid the bleak news of the unstoppable expansion of the Iron Tower and the indefinite evacuations, there was suddenly some good news.

It was a story about the efforts of hidden heroes.

A story of a special mission team that had repeated grueling training for ten years for a single purpose.

The story of those who had been silently working to reclaim Dobong-gu.

Their efforts had been overshadowed by the Iron Tower crisis, but it was a story of warriors who had brought complete silence to the ice soldiers.

The temperature in Dobong-gu was dramatically rising, and it was confirmed that the remaining Ice Throne in Dobong-gu was partially destroyed and gradually melting.

However, unfortunately, the return of the special mission team dispatched to destroy the Ice Throne had not been confirmed.

If not for the pulsation of the Iron Tower, they would have sent out numerous drones to conduct a search, but now, no matter how many drones they sent, they would all be pulverized by a single pulsation, delaying the search.

And sending a human search party was also hindered by the fact that Dobong-gu was still filled with dangerous Objects.

The announcer spoke with a smile.

"We hope our heroes return safely."

That hopeful message was erased by the sound of the earth shaking.

Thud.

The ground trembled like a heartbeat, grinding the streets, buildings, electronics stores, and the TV, ending the broadcast.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of flesh being chewed echoed.

Despite retreating as quickly as possible, we were ultimately spotted by an Object.

A Yeti.

It was one of the Objects that could easily be dealt with using personal firearms.

But all the standard weapons the agents carried had long since been turned to dust.

The only weapon left was a multi-purpose knife.

With just a knife, it was impossible to face a group of Yetis, so all we could do was run as fast as we could.

The agent who had just become a Yeti’s meal was the last of my subordinates.

I had become the team leader, having lost all my team members.

And in the end, I too would be devoured by the Yetis.

I was so out of breath from running too hard, and the Yetis were much more agile and faster than me.

Thud.

After running for so long, I finally slipped and fell on the slippery snowfield, collapsing where I lay.

I had almost no strength left to get up and run again.

Was this really the end?

Gasping for breath, I looked up at the sky.

I saw clouds of meat drifting by in the dim sky.

It was a peaceful-looking sky.

"?"

The once noisy surroundings, filled with the sounds of Yetis, had suddenly become eerily quiet.

Something felt off.

I caught my breath and sat up, noticing that the Yetis who had been chasing me were nowhere to be seen.

"Did I survive?"

I staggered to my feet again.

I had to head as close as possible to the rendezvous point.

If the abnormal activity of the Iron Tower was detected, the standby team at the rendezvous point might come to meet me.

There was still hope.

"No…"

But that hope vanished in an instant.

As I staggered forward, I had to stop and look up at the sky again.

"Aaaaargh!"

I screamed in frustration.

How did it come to this?

I was so sure the mission had a high chance of success…

The clouds in the sky had disappeared, replaced by an ominous purple light.

The Moon of the Snowfield had risen.

My chances of survival were now close to 0%.

I was exhausted.

I couldn’t hold on any longer.

In a state of despair, I threw myself into the shadows.

Once inside the shadow, I found myself standing on a strange plain.

It was a field reeking of oil.

The smell of oil made me dizzy.

So dizzy that my vision occasionally warped.

The plain was covered in black, muddy sludge, with patches of mysterious black grass growing sparsely.

Six moons hung in the sky.

They were moons of various rainbow-like colors, except there was no purple moon.

The sky was pitch black, with no stars.

The strong smell of oil made me dizzy.

No, was I dizzy even without the smell of oil?

On the plain, piles of black sludge moved around as if they were living creatures.

Moving as if searching for something, or perhaps aimlessly wandering.

I had a premonition from that sight.

Ha… is this the end of the line for me?

I looked down at my hands with a sense of resignation.

What I saw was something like ugly, dripping mud.

I was getting more and more dizzy.

I had no idea what this world was about.

Even if I tried to figure it out, I probably didn’t have enough time left.

And it seemed I had already crossed a boundary I could not return from.

I thought I’d be buried in Korean soil when I died…

Ah, I’m so dizzy. So dizzy.