Ami shot to her feet and hurried after Yun.
“Oppa!”
Her long-legged older brother walked too fast for her short stride, but she chased him anyway.
“Oppa! What’s wrong with Hilde?”
Yun didn’t answer.
He headed straight for the underground parking lot. Ami kept up as best she could, undeterred by his silence. Asil and Leeho followed close behind.
When they reached the parking area, the headlights of Yun’s black sports car flared to life.
The vehicle, set to autopilot mode, backed smoothly out of its space.
Ami dashed over and yanked open the passenger-side door.
“I’m coming too!”
“Me as well~.”
Ricardo, who had just arrived via elevator alongside the siblings, spoke as the doors slid open.
He grabbed the passenger door, grinning at Yun as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Mind giving us a lift, senior~...?”
“It’s a two-door.”
Yun started the engine without bothering to close the door.
Ami looked up at Ricardo.
“Rick, I’ll sit on your lap!”
“Sure.”
Ricardo didn’t hesitate.
He sat down first, then pulled Ami up onto his lap in one motion.
As Ami squirmed to find a position, she glanced back at Leeho, Asil, and Shu, who was floating on her hoverboard.
“Follow us however you can!”
Vrooooom—!
The car shot forward before the door was even closed.
Ricardo reached out and slammed the passenger door shut with a thud.
“You know this is illegal, right?”
“We’ll just say a Creature appeared....”
Yun asked as he pressed down on the accelerator, and Ricardo smiled faintly.
Yun scoffed but didn’t argue. In reality, standard law didn’t apply to Badgers during Creature incidents—and plenty abused that fact for petty offenses, just like Ricardo and Ami were doing now. It was one reason most police officers hated Badgers.
But no one cared about legality at the moment.
As the pitch-black car tore down the road, Ami turned toward her brother.
“Now tell me!”
Yun ignored her again.
He kept his eyes ahead, fingers scrolling on his phone.
Without even glancing down, the display changed fluidly.
The Bluetooth connection clicked, and a call tone rang through the car.
An unsaved number flashed on the screen.
Ami and Ricardo both watched it in silence.
The ringing stopped.
[Darling♡]
A honeyed male voice filled the car.
Ami’s eyes widened; Ricardo blinked. The sing-song tone continued.
[You’re the one calling first? I’m touched. What is it? A long-overdue date request?]
“Did you not treat that hole in your gut yet, brat?”
Yun said flatly.
The sports car roared down the street, well above the speed limit.
Inside, amid the engine’s thunder, the man’s voice returned—no longer coy, but sharp and rough.
[You really ask for a lot. Can’t even say thank you, huh?]
“The culprit.”
[Those cult bastards probably took him.]
A chuckle rasped through the speaker.
[Still ridiculous, watching rivals join hands like obedient dogs.]
“So, not your doing?”
[For fuck’s sake, hey!]
The man snapped, irritation cutting through his words.
[I save his life, erase his brand, and this is what I get? You act like every disaster’s my fault!]
“Yeah.”
[Son of a— It wasn’t my fault last time either, when his PTSD flared up over that damn father of his. He lost it again, and somehow that’s on me? The pale bastard you cling to’s too fragile for his own good, that’s not on—]
Click.
The call ended.
Yun tossed the phone aside and pressed harder on the pedal.
VROOOOM—! The car thundered down the road.
Ami and Ricardo sat in silence for a while.
Red light spilled across the sky outside the window.
Ami was the first to speak.
“Darling?”
Yun didn’t react.
She leaned forward stubbornly.
“What did he mean by saving him? Who’s the culprit? Something did happen to Hilde last night, didn’t it?”
“Sit up straight. If I brake hard, you’ll die.”
Yun’s voice was curt as he focused on the road.
He said nothing more until they reached the test site.
***
The testing grounds were chaotic.
As soon as the car stopped, the passengers jumped out. Their destination was obvious—a parked ambulance surrounded by soldiers clearing the area.
Hilde, drifting in and out of consciousness, had already been loaded inside by Tom and Hesh.
Ami and Ricardo ran up to the ambulance and saw his wounds.
Ami’s jaw dropped, words caught in her throat.
Ricardo stared, eyes glinting with a sharp, cold blue light.
Only when a medic said, “Please sit down, we’re departing,” did he finally speak.
“What the hell is this?”
“Oppa!”
Ami turned toward Yun, who was on the phone with Samuel, tears streaking her face.
“Oppa! Explain this!”
Yun pocketed his phone.
He walked up to Hilde, dragging his sister still clinging to his sleeve. Hilde lay on the stretcher, an IV line hooked to his arm. As the ambulance lurched into motion, the IV bags swayed above him.
His hair was wet with sweat and seawater.
Yun looked down at his subordinate, who groaned softly with his eyes closed.
“Happy now?”
Hilde opened his eyes halfway.
He looked up at the people around him with faint golden eyes and managed a weak smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“He was kidnapped last night,” Yun said flatly to Ami, who was crying openly.
“Yehyeon will make an announcement soon—warning everyone to be cautious of violent anti-Badger groups.”
“Kidnapped?”
Hesh echoed blankly.
Tom, wiping tears from his face with his hand, widened his blue eyes.
“Kidnapped?”
A stunned silence filled the ambulance.
Hilde closed his eyes again. Everyone stared at Yun, speechless.
Tom stammered.
“Hilde... got kidnapped?”
“Then those bastards are the ones who did this to him?”
Ami didn’t even bother wiping her tears anymore.
“To someone who did nothing wrong? Just because he’s an enhanced body?”
Yun pressed a hand on Ami’s head but didn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he silently gazed down at his half-conscious subordinate.
The medics had rolled up Hilde’s shirt and treated the wounds, but it wouldn’t be enough.
He’d have scars.
Burns like these were severe.
Yun had seen Yehyeon’s injuries treated hundreds of times. Even with Yehyeon’s remarkable recovery ability, burns like that took ages to heal. Jaeyeon, during her outbursts, had often beaten Yehyeon in inventive ways—branding him with heated seals among them.
Hilde’s wound would likely leave a faint mark at best.
Thinking of it, Yun realized Jaeyeon’s wrath against Yehyeon was, in part, connected to Hilde.
It tied back to the Titans.
Once Hilde learned the full story, those distinctive eyes of his would again fill with guilt—because that was who he was.
Rationally, none of this was Hilde’s fault. There ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ wasn’t even proof he’d been inside the Core when Jaeyeon lost control.
But he had been the leader of the Titans.
The original sin that landed his kind on Earth.
That burden never stopped haunting him.
“Was he made to take the test in this condition?”
A furious voice broke the silence.
Yun looked up at the speaker—his sharp-eyed junior with dark green eyes.
His response was icy.
“He insisted.”
“When has he not been stubborn?”
“And since his forehead looked fine, I thought the abdominal wound had healed too. Yehyeon’s furious about it as well.”
“Forehead?”
Ricardo’s brows knit sharply.
“He was branded there too?”
Yun answered with silence.
Ricardo gave a hollow laugh. Ami slumped down beside Tom, staring at Hilde through her tears.
The ambulance rattled, IV bags swaying.
It was heading for headquarters—where Dr. Samuel Han, one of their best, waited. With so many people inside, the air quickly turned heavy and stale.
Hesh’s voice broke through the thick air, trembling with anger.
“Did they catch the culprits?”
Yun nodded absentmindedly.
“They’ll face proper punishment, right? How did the kidnapping even happen? Did those anti-Badger zealots hire someone with an illegal enhanced body?”
“Who knows.”
Yun looked at Hilde as he spoke.
He was thinking the same thing—who could have done this. Most would assume “illegal mercenaries,” but the truth wasn’t that simple.
Hilde had already regained power enough to surpass most seniors. Few could have abducted someone like him without leaving a trace.
Very few.
What caused it?
As Yun seethed at the thought of nearly losing what was his, the ambulance raced on. The rough road smoothed into paved asphalt.
No one spoke. The only sound came from Ami and Tom quietly wiping their tears.
Then Hesh, eyes red, suddenly shouted as he scrolled through his phone.
“He was kidnapped because he’s a rookie?”
Heads turned.
He was reading an emergency notice from headquarters.
“So that means it could’ve been any of us? He got taken instead of us?”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
The voice that answered made everyone freeze.
All heads snapped toward it.
Hilde spoke in a hoarse whisper.
“None of this is your fault.”
“You should’ve told us!”
“Why be so stubborn?”
Beside furious Hesh, Ricardo’s voice was sharp. Hilde gazed up at the ceiling, eyes weary, and smiled faintly.
He murmured as his eyelids drooped.
“My friend....”
“What?”
“...I can feel him coming....”
It sounded like delirium. The words didn’t fit the moment, and no one responded. But Ricardo caught them, and the two rookies stared at him in shock.
Ami stood up.
She touched Hilde’s forehead.
“He’s burning up.”
She sniffled.
“He must be delirious from the fever.”
“...I want to hold my sword again....”
The feverish muttering continued.
“...Rei....”
Then he passed out completely.
The others watched the rookie breathe shallowly through pain and heat.
The ambulance carried its silent passengers forward. As dusk faded and night fell, sirens wailed through the streets as other vehicles made way.
Tom whispered to himself.
“Who’s Rei?”
No one could answer.
***
Wow. I passed the test.
That alone feels good. If I’d failed after pestering Yehyeon that much, it would’ve been mortifying.
Colton would’ve looked at me like I was useless, too.
That was my first thought when I woke up.
It hurt like hell, but I felt strangely clear-headed. Now all that’s left is to recover my strength through training and clean up the mess I caused. I’m a full-fledged Badger now—so I can finally go outside the Core freely.
I’ll look for traces of my people on my own.
Thinking that, I pried open my heavy eyelids.
Yeah... burns really are the worst.
“Oh.”
The moment I opened my eyes, I made a sound.
Dozens of eyes on me.
The scene before me was unlike anything I’d seen before, and my eyes went wide.
I stared blankly at the people in front of me.
“A funeral?”
Smack!
Pain flared across my head.
It stung, but I couldn’t rub it—too many wires and tubes were stuck to me.
I decided to take comfort in the fact that the head pain dulled the burn pain a little.
Trying to justify myself, I mumbled an apology.
“Sorry.”
Yun didn’t reply.
Neither did the executives, all dressed in black suits, looking down at me.
There were three of them, plus Yun, in the private room. All in immaculate suits, gazing down with grim expressions.
Ah...
I’m screwed. They’re really angry.
