After standing still and watching, Sa-young took a moderate step and stood right behind J as the other hunter began to talk about their upcoming schedule. The overheated hunter, who had been waxing lyrical about the importance of medicine, gasped and took a step back.

"Lee, Lee Sa-young."

"Oh, Sa-young, you got here fast. How was Dongdaemun Gate?"

J looked back and pretended to know, but Sa-young just replied coldly to the hunter standing in front of him.

"Send another asshole."

"What? But..."

"Send another asshole."

The hunter, who wanted to say more, bowed after failing to break through Sa-young's wildness. Sa-young lowered his head and whispered in J's ear.

"I'm just listening to bullshit..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Efficiency-wise, I'm the one going."

"Don't talk bullshit to me either."

"I told you to talk nice."

Sa-young muttered more in an angry, pouty voice, but it was inaudible to me. His soft black hair was buried between J's shoulders and neck. J patted Sa-young's head with another hand while looking at the documents. He looked very familiar.

Watching the unfamiliar scene, I crossed my arms trembling.

Isn't this a dog's dream?

True to Yoon Autumn's words, the fairy tale of the doomed world was dizzying and confusing. J and Lee Sa-young in this fairy tale were both the same and different from the ones I knew. Like a distorted reflection in a warped mirror.

They were pointless stories that made me question whether I should continue to watch them, but there was a reason why they could not be dismissed as nonsense. The room that appeared in the comfort of autumn... was very familiar.

Snow-white ash, familiar collapsed buildings covered in ash, all in broken space. Monsters constantly pouring in from open gates everywhere.

Isn't it so similar to the inside of the West Sea Rift that I've been digging through for eight years?

'.....'

I lowered my eyes and took a breath. With the sound of shattering glass, countless flutes rushed past me at the speed of a reeling movie.

In one scene, Autumn was saving people with the Channel 1 hunters, and in the next, the hunters were in disarray, covered in cuts, scars, bandages, and missing limbs as they fought monsters.

The surviving hunters tried their best to save the humans, kill the monsters, and close the rift, but things showed no signs of improving. There was endless skirmishing. Even the hunters who had held out were collapsing one by one. Desperation began to show on the faces of the humans.

And then time and space suddenly changed. At that time, Autumn was cowering in the crack of the collapsed building. White monsters filled the street, and it was not enough, they continued to pour out of the crack that appeared in the air.

J, who was sitting next to her, had his arm bandaged and was holding a spear.

"I'll block this place, so run away first."

"Wait! Even if it's J, so much..."

"If I run away, everyone will rush to the base camp. Can you handle that?"

Yoon Autumn lost her words and closed her mouth tightly. A scarred hand patted Autumn's head.

"It's okay."

"J!"

"Oh, I'm fine."

"......."

"I'll be right back. Trust me."

His eyes squinted through his half shattered mask. The monster's roar and footsteps from beyond the building grew louder. The young man wiped the smile from his face. He rose to his feet, the bloody spear in his hand.

"When I give the signal, run and don't look back."

"Oh, that's right. One more."

J put his index finger to the corner of his mouth, just like the first one I'd seen.

"It's a secret from Sa-young. Okay?"

The scene ended there. But I didn't need to look behind it to know. J would never come back.

Before I knew it, I was in an unfamiliar room. Looking at the textbooks, pens, and school uniforms on the wall, jumbled on the desk, it seemed to be Autumn's room. Autumn, who was lying on the bed, cried for a long time from the moment she opened her eyes.

Is this it? I looked up. At that time, there was a slightly different sound than before. The chilling sound of a broken piece of glass being trampled.

Self-consciousness. An ominous sound continued, and a piece of glass similar to Autumn's palm appeared in front of my eyes. A piece that was shiny with so many colors... It turned black. At the same time, I was immersed in pitch black.

In the darkness, which could not be seen an inch away, only the harsh sound of a beast's breathing could be heard irregularly. At first, it seemed to be a deep sob.

Then, with a thud, something shattered. A small ray of light pierced the blackness. Another thud. With a snap, it sounded like wood breaking.

"You son of a bitch, how long are you going to stay down here?"

Crashing through the door was Honeybee, her face and body covered in wounds. Her once-vaunted golden hair was severed at the back of her neck. Gesturing into the darkness with a bandaged hand, she screamed.

"Do you have any idea how much power we'll lose without you? They're a bunch of idiots fighting for their lives, don't you get it? You're supposed to be alive!"

"....."

"You're the only one who's sad? We're all sad, shit! Don't act like you're the only one who lost the world!"

"Honeybee, calm down, you're hurting yourself."

Bae Won-woo, who had followed, grabbed Honeybee's shoulder. But she slapped his hand away and screamed.

"Son of a bitch, do you know Jung-bin is dead? Today Mok Tae-oh is dead, shit. Mok Tae-oh is .... that stupid bastard is dead!"

Honeybee giggled, but soon began to shed tears. Bae Won-woo watched Honeybee with a puzzled face, then looked into the darkness. He was wearing a brown coat with an empty left sleeve.

"...Sa-young."

"....."

"I understand how you feel. But..."

Bae Won-woo's scarred face looked tired. He tried to say something, but finally closed his mouth.

"...no. Let's go, Honeybee."

Bae Won-woo picked Honeybee up, almost carrying her, and carried her out of the room. The sound of crying faded into the distance. The room became silent again.

"...J."

A faint voice echoed in the darkness. It sounded familiar. As if hypnotized, I took a step into the darkness. At that moment.

"Hyung."

A purple flame flashed in the dark.

Something swooped down from the darkness and at the same time a huge hand, glowing like a kaleidoscope, wrapped itself around my jacket. Autumn's urgent voice pierced his ears.

"J! Wake up!"

"Heuck, uck..."

I took a sharp breath and blinked. I was in a familiar Haejang-guk house. Across the street, Autumn was sweating profusely. When she saw that Ui-jae had opened his eyes, she breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes tightly.

"Thank goodness..."

"What did you just do ....?"

I asked hesitantly. Autumn held her shaking hands. Her right hand, which had glowed in countless colors, was... black. Autumn, her left hand wrapped around her right hand, mumbled nervously.

"I don't know. I've never seen that last one before."

"What was it? I... It's definitely connected to this world, but..."

"Wait, calm down."

If anything, Autumn had lost her composure more than she needed to calm down. Chewing on her lip, Autumn lowered her head.

"I'm sorry. It's the first time I've shown this to anyone, so, uh, I didn't expect it to happen. I'm really sorry. I never thought you'd be taken somewhere else..."

"Just take a breath, what do you mean you were taken somewhere else?"

"This is..."

I gestured in rhythm to remind her to take a deep breath. Yoon Autumn followed his hand and slowly calmed her breathing. When she regained her composure, she spoke in a sleepy voice.

"I just made and led the way for the people J saw. I made a path to come back here from all memory, but it suddenly stopped... I took you to a place I didn't know at all."

"Did someone else intervene?"

"I don't know. It's the first time I've seen something like this..."

"What about your hands?"

"What? Ah..."

Yoon Autumn's right hand was constantly swaying with black energy. Autumn mumbled, hiding her hands in her long padded sleeves.

"It's okay, probably. I'll tell the office and they'll take care of it."

"It's because of the last... scene, isn't it?"

"I think so."

"....."

There was a short silence. Was it Lee Sa-young who was buried in the darkness of that last room, why did I flow into that room, what drew me there? Why was Lee Sa-young so... ....

"J."

I raised my head. Yoon Autumn muttered.

"I haven't told anyone else that you're J. There must be a reason why you're hiding your identity, and I'll continue to keep it a secret."

"....."

"Oh! Of course, the Bureau asked me if the J who appeared this time was the same J who entered the West Sea Rift... Oh, I said yes, didn't I? No, that's right, I wanted to keep it a secret until the end, but it would be too embarrassing to talk to the director alone..."

"....."

"...I'm sorry."

Autumn bowed her head again. I held out my hand.

"No, no, I should thank you for not saying more...."

Come to think of it, the gap between J's appearance in the dream and the me now must be pretty big... Autumn came to me convinced that the two were one and the same. She had been nervous in front of the director, but she hadn't realized it.

"I just felt like... you should know that there's an end to this world."

"Didn't you tell the Bureau?"

"Of course I did."

"Wouldn't they be prepared?"

"Yes, that's why it's a problem."

I looked at her curiously at her answer. What's wrong with being prepared? I'm sure that's what Autumn wants.

Autumn swallowed and said.

"The Bureau has considered many ways to prevent the end... J just happened to be in the rankings. They're desperate for him to help them deal with the apocalypse. I'm sure they already have a search team in motion."

"It's a good thing you registered as a hunter, because the search team said they're focusing on unregistered hunters and the general public, considering the possibility that J might have lost his memory due to the shock."

I listened quietly to Autumn, suddenly lifting my head.

"How did you know that I registered as a hunter?"

I wish I had lost my memory, I thought bitterly. Anyway, if I was a little late, I might have been included in the search network. The contract with Lee Sa-young was quite useful.