# Chapter 100
Time is relative, they say. Lee Hwan slightly furrowed his brow at the vibration on his wrist.
Just in case, he had set alarms at 5-minute intervals. He was already on high alert, but it was to prevent himself from focusing too long on the documents.
[…is defined as such. Therefore, the reason mutations are discovered in gates that have been open for a long time after arbitrary opening is not simply due to time, but is presumed to respond to the ecology and situation of monsters.]
Fortunately, there were no heavily redacted documents except for information like which team was using what strategy. Lee Hwan was in the middle of frantically reading a dissertation he had selected.
‘When monsters are stressed, they spread certain pheromones in the air, and the gate responds to it… huh.’
This was the first time he’d heard of this. This information wasn’t even detailed in the previous dissertation he received from Kang Dongha.
Lee Hwan started to vigorously scratch his head from the headache but quickly lowered his hand in case any hair might fall out. It would be frustrating to get caught earlier because he carelessly left traces here.
The content of the dissertation he understood could be summarized like this:
‘When monsters suffer, the gate responds by creating specific substances, and rare mutations occur inside the gate, such as previously unseen plants or minerals sprouting.’
It suggested that gates, native plants, minerals, and monsters are not separate entities but could be seen as the gate itself. Therefore, if negative invasions continue, mutations to prevent them begin very slowly.
However, just as peppers produce capsaicin to protect their seeds, and coffee beans produce caffeine, humans ended up harvesting everything anyway.
Once again, humans collected all those plants and minerals and were using them beneficially in various research.
When this fact was discovered in gate research, Naru focused on the special substance in the gate that brings about all these changes.
They somehow gathered this substance from gates and directly injected it into monsters, ultimately observing new abilities or physical changes in them.
‘This substance was only found in the most recently mutated gates, and it was even discovered by a dual-job research student with mana sensitivity who hadn’t even received a doctoral degree… And because the substance is collected so rarely, the paper hasn’t even been published yet…’
Then Naru probably paid money to collect it. Sooner or later, someone else would discover it too, but at least until then, they had the opportunity to research it alone. They were truly nimble operators.
Lee Hwan recalled the monster he saw in the Red Room. Perhaps those monsters were ones that had been mutated in this way.
While identifying related information by going through other documents, the watch on his wrist vibrated at least three more times. Thanks to reading until his eyes nearly popped out and racking his brains until they steamed, Lee Hwan now understood that this substance was being widely used as a catalyst in experiments utilizing monster factors.
‘But its quantity is too small, so they decided to manipulate the gate… sigh.’
Only after reading the third document from the back did the full story become clear. Lee Hwan quietly lamented as he tapped and completely turned off the alarm on his watch, which had begun vibrating again.
[By abandoning 3rd level²⁾ injured monsters at the gate, artificially producing □K□□-□…]
‘I knew it, you bastards.’
Attack monsters but don’t kill them. Inflict severe wounds and repeat the process of letting them escape through the gate multiple times, making it possible to artificially produce special substances.
If so, what happens to the monsters that are placed in such environments and accumulating? Gates that gradually undergo mutations and might overflow if they cross the line just a little…
‘They’ve been doing this for 4 years, choosing difficult gates that only Attack Team 1 enters; it would be strange if nothing had exploded.’
Lee Hwan held his throbbing head and suppressed his irritation before pulling out his phone. He had been contemplating a lot about the root of increasingly serious incidents.
Now he understood what had happened before the regression. But how on earth could he stand against this crazy corporation, politicians, and power holders?
Even if he bombed Building D right now, the experiments wouldn’t stop. Unless he killed every single person related to the research without missing any, his efforts would end with just a single futile struggle.
In short, it was too heavy a burden for him to bear alone.
Lee Hwan sometimes thought, even while eating or washing: what could he possibly do in this world where Taesung was not a helper? The conclusion he reached was this:
‘Someone else can take the bullet.’
He could certainly wander and search hidden laboratories. So he would do the investigation, and someone else would make the announcement.
‘That journalist association… was it famous at this time too?’
Lee Hwan continued taking photos of the monitors while searching his memory.
Despite a considerable amount of time having passed since gates were created, there were still many social orders that remained collapsed and unrecovered.
There was an international group of journalists who focused on illuminating such issues and exposing the wrongdoings of corporations and some countries to society.
What if he organized this situation and evidence well and handed it over to them?
Countries worldwide were ostensibly comrades who had survived the gate crisis, but beneath the surface, they were like asuras trying to take advantage and shift blame onto each other. Likewise, domestic companies maintained a competitive relationship of shaking hands with smiling faces while stabbing each other in the back.
If they all rushed in, they might not be able to stop all of Naru’s experiments, but they could at least roughly avoid total destruction.
He didn’t think for a moment about reporting to the Hunters Association or the police. There would surely be people connected to them in the Health Promotion Association. If so, all the evidence he had gathered would vanish along with his life.
‘Come to think of it, it’s good I didn’t bring a USB. There must be security programs installed.’
Only after selecting important documents, taking photos of everything, and even searching the file holders on one side wall did Lee Hwan gather his camera with a satisfied expression.
The elevator he boarded from the first floor headed directly to the upper floor.
Lee Hwan knocked on Kang Dongha’s office door several times and, only after confirming it was empty, twisted and pulled out the doorknob completely.
He entered, put the ID card in the top drawer, and on his way out, forcefully pressed and inserted the doorknob back in.
The inner parts were crushed and firmly fixed, so when Kang Dongha grabbed it on Monday morning, he would simply think it was broken.
Lee Hwan remained tense until he completely left Building D and the Naru premises. As he got farther from the site, his footsteps quickened, and at some point, he found himself running without realizing it.
Though he knew it wasn’t possible, he felt as if someone was chasing him. Only when he left the neighborhood did his mind finally ease a little.
Suddenly his legs began to tremble and gave out completely, causing Lee Hwan to roll halfway across the ground in the alley after running well. And for a while, he couldn’t get up.
His body, which had been fine until leaving the building, felt overloaded. The fatigue he had been suppressing came rushing in, and the strength completely drained from his shoulders.
“Haah…”
Early weekend morning. As if concealing everything that had happened until now, the night sky was pitch black, and the time was filled with the loud shouting of drunk people.
Lee Hwan, unable to support his drooping body any longer, plopped down on the ground. His head was spinning, and it felt like the world was rotating around him.
He needed to get home quickly, but he absolutely couldn’t get up. If he just lay sprawled here pretending to be drunk, would someone take him home?
It was a difficult day. It was too difficult. Thinking about it somehow made him feel even more difficult. The events he had just experienced flashed before his eyes like a panorama.
Lee Hwan put his arm over his eyes while panting. Was it because he had suffered too much? His eyes stung, and it felt like tears might come.
He had seen all sorts of horrible things before the regression too. Days when he wanted to vomit were not uncommon. But even then, it wasn’t this torturous to endure.
Back then, when resting after intense combat, he would often lean his head on Taesung’s shoulder. He did that on days when he had seen too many deaths. He would close his eyes and just bury his head in his back.
Somehow, feeling his body temperature and hearing the thumping of his heartbeat made all the hardships he had experienced until then seem a little lighter. Even though the world was still crawling with monsters.
On the battlefield with no visible future, he relied on Taesung, and Taesung relied on him. On days when he was injured, he had even sat for a long time holding his hand against his cheek.
It was strange. Just his presence calmed his sharp nerves. And conversely, it sometimes made his anxiety soar.
Sometimes Lee Hwan would wake up from dreams of losing him. When he opened his eyes and saw him sleeping beside him after staying up to protect him, his throat would tighten so much that he couldn’t fall back asleep.
At those times, he would gaze endlessly at his face. To confirm that he was simply sleeping, he would place his hand on his slowly rising and falling chest. After that, his body temperature would always end his anxiety.
‘…’
Lee Hwan felt Taesung’s absence again. The reality so different from the past repeatedly and painfully pierced his eyes.
“It’s hard.”
He threw words into the empty air even though there was no one to answer.
“I’m having a hard time, Kang Taesung. It’s tough.”
He muttered like he was throwing a tantrum, even though calling wouldn’t make him come.
“You said you’d come find me.”
After saying that, his lips naturally pouted. Lee Hwan bit his lip and barely suppressed his roughening breath.
Still, he had finally found another piece of causality. He even got two. Based on the memories they showed him, he realized that his pilgrimage had almost reached its end.
He had hoped this cruel journey wouldn’t exceed a year. Fortunately, it seemed that at least that would come true.
“Ugh, haa… haa…”
Lee Hwan supported himself with his trembling arm on the ground and managed to walk. His body ached heavily as if he had been beaten with an iron club from head to toe.
Perhaps he was getting a rare fever after awakening. Hopefully, it wouldn’t last more than a night. Lee Hwan slowly closed and opened his eyes while holding the bag containing the drug.
When day breaks, he would meet Jade. He planned to hand this over and advise him to use it at an appropriate time, away from the eyes of the Naru people. Just delaying the changes from the experiment and suppressing the rampage would extend his lifespan a little more.
Clunk. Ding-dong.
Finally reaching home, Lee Hwan collapsed at the entrance without even washing his blood-stained body and fell asleep.
With his feverish head, he thought the floor was too cold. But even that sensation decomposed as he fell into a dizzy sleep, and soon only deep darkness remained.
