Chapter 659

“Sleep well, my angels.”

The pastor closed the door and left. The children, who had been lying there with their eyes closed, all snapped their eyes open at once.

-Fuck, even this is scary

-They’re not gonna get caught, right? TT___TT

Before they knew it, the viewers were watching the screen with sweaty palms.

The directing in Reed Kingdom had a knack for driving people mad with anxiety. The contrast between the young, vulnerable children and the cultist adults who held absolute power over their lives naturally created a sense of dread.

The chances of failure seemed so high it made their heads throb.

“Look.”

The sound of hymns began drifting in through the window. The children approached it. Candlelight flickered inside the chapel.

“Has even one of you ever heard that sound while we were sleeping?”

“....”

“We’ve been drugged to sleep this whole time. Every night they hold that service.”

“What kind of service is it?”

Someone asked anxiously.

“I don’t know exactly. But there’s one thing I’m sure of.”

“....”

“They had Isaac, who supposedly left, lying there while they prayed over him.”

The children’s faces went pale. They looked like they didn’t want to believe him.

“Okay, we don’t have time. Look here.”

Taeo pulled out a sheet of paper he had prepared beneath the bed. He also held a flashlight in one hand.

“Get out of this building quietly and head around the mountain. And run without letting any of the villagers see you. Never, ever let them spot you.”

“And then?”

“Get as far away as you can, then find the police. Ask them for help.”

Taeo tried to pretend he wasn’t trembling, but he was still only a child himself. The end of his voice shook terribly.

“Then what about you, Oppa?”

“I....”

Looking at Lia, Taeo swore,

“I’ll follow you.”

Lia desperately shook her head.

“No! Come with us!”

“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll follow.”

The children were terrified. There was no way Taeo wasn’t afraid as well. But only one of them was the oldest, tallest, and strongest.

“Isaac might still be alive.”

* * *

“Genesis 1:12. The earth brought forth grass, and plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Matthew 15:13. Jesus answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”

Inside the chapel, the pastor smiled with wild, glaring eyes.

The congregation dressed in red prayed with rosaries bearing crosses wrapped around their hands. They clasped their hands together and murmured.

* * *

“I’m scared....”

“Are we... are we going to be okay?”

“Sniff....”

The children were sneaking out of the orphanage. To enter the mountains, they had no choice but to pass the chapel.

The infant Jesus depicted in the stained glass was smiling.

Looking down at the children.

“Careful... Shh....”

Lia walked at the very back, protecting the other children. Worried about Taeo, she glanced behind her once.

Taeo was the only one left inside the darkened orphanage.

And then.

“Grrrr....”

There was a feral dog beyond the bushes.

* * *

“Leviticus 21:17. Whoever among your descendants throughout their generations has any physical defect shall not approach to offer the food of his God. Punish those who defile this land of God, which must remain holy and whole, and sanctify perfection and wholeness, leaving no spiritual sin or defect....”

A child’s scream came from beyond the window.

“Aaaah!”

-Fuck TT___TT

-Ah, they’re fucked

-Holy shit, they’re in serious trouble

-Aaaaaaaaaah

Everyone’s eyes changed.

The pastor walked toward the window. He opened the window depicting the infant Jesus.

“Children.”

His eyes met those of the Eden Orphanage children on the other side.

The pastor’s eyes curved as he smiled affectionately.

Tenderly, like their father.

Lia shouted.

“Run!”

As though her cry had been the starting signal, all the children broke into a run.

The pastor didn’t raise his voice. He merely gestured to the congregation with his head.

The worshippers dressed in red rushed out of the chapel.

The little angels fled from Eden, with robes as red as blood streaming after them.

“Grrrr....”

The feral dog beyond the window seemed to be the mate of the animal they had caught not long ago.

The pastor stared at the dog before picking up a nearby candlestick.

“Yelp! Yip!”

Then he mercilessly brought it down on the dog’s head.

Thud, thud, thud....

The sickening sounds came one after another.

“Hannah!”

“S-Save me!”

They all ran desperately, but they were still only children. Unfamiliar with the dark paths, they stumbled and were caught by the adults.

“Get over here!”

“Come here!”

“So you were rotten stock after all! You little brats!”

The congregation was furious. Terrified by how different they looked from usual, the remaining children fled in tears.

“Lia! Find Lia!”

Someone among them shouted.

Lia’s face filled the screen.

* * *

Holding the bloodstained candlestick, the pastor picked up a white candle.

The sacred light cast shadows across his face.

Candle in hand, he headed toward the orphanage building like a pilgrim.

Walking with neat, measured steps, the pastor sniffed the air as though intrigued.

“Tae-o-.”

Calling Taeo’s name playfully, the pastor burst into laughter as he looked down the hallway before heading toward the bedroom.

“What a naughty boy.”

The holy-water bottles that had once lined the entire hallway were now scattered all over the floor.

The liquid they had believed to be holy water was actually ethanol.

Every night, the pastor had tried to disinfect the impure children.

So that they would be worthy of paradise.

So that they could become clean servants of God.

The camera zoomed in on the pastor’s cold eyes as he surveyed the ruined hallway.

At the far end of the corridor, a door opened.

“Were you planning to start a fire? Ethanol and gasoline, too. That’s dangerous.”

“...Yes.”

Then Taeo emerged, trembling violently, holding a rifle.

“Why are you doing this? This place is your home and your paradise.”

“I know everything. I know it was all a lie....”

“Oh dear.”

Tears had gathered around Taeo’s eyes from fear. He was visibly shaken.

“Give Isaac back. Otherwise, I-I’ll shoot you with this gun, and I’ll burn this place down.”

“You mustn’t talk like rotten stock.”

The pastor was still holding the bloodstained candlestick.

Thick, fresh blood dripped steadily from its tip.

The flickering candlelight illuminated the pastor’s face.

* * *

“Lia! Come here!”

“There she is!”

The fanatics could be seen running along the mountain path after the fleeing Lia.

“Get back here!”

* * *

“Isaac, you see... Yes, Isaac.”

The pastor murmured, then spoke with rapture.

“He became a part of this paradise!”

“....”

“He was such a lowly child. Impatient, careless, selfish, lazy. Stock like that cannot easily be improved even over several generations. But!”

“....”

“If you cut that body into pieces and graft them onto superior stock, then that is true ministry! Is that not a sacrifice for the superior servants of the Father?”

Step.

Step.

Step.

The pastor came steadily closer to Taeo.

“You truly are stock perfectly suited to this paradise! Even though you must have been afraid, you stayed behind alone to protect the children. And you’re even trying to take Isaac with you? On top of that, you figured all of this out! All this time, neither I nor a single member of the congregation noticed anything. You were born quick-witted and clever.”

His panting breaths were filled with ecstasy.

“Didn’t the children abandon you without a second thought and leave? I’m sure all of them obeyed you except Lia. That’s why the only ones this land needs are the two of you. There’s no need to observe you any longer. Ah. My judgment was right! I was right!”

“Don’t come any closer....”

“Taeo, my chosen one. Splendid servant of the Lord!”

“Don’t come any closer!”

“You could never shoot me. Why? You could have hit that feral dog, but you deliberately fired wide. Someone like you, who takes pity on even a mere animal, could never point a gun at Father!”

The pastor’s shouting, as though he were bearing down on Taeo, looked consumed by madness.

“I’ll shoot!”

“No! You can’t!”

Exactly four steps.

“You’ll live with me forever! For the rest of your life! In this eternal life!”

* * *

“Lia!”

“Come back before we kill everyone!”

Lia turned her head at the fanatics’ shouts. No matter how hard she ran, her strides were still those of a child. Even though she had run until she could barely breathe, she hadn’t gotten very far.

“Come here!”

Before she knew it, the fanatics were rapidly closing in on Lia. More and more footsteps could be heard. That meant there were even more people around her than she could see.

The wind blew, sending the wild grass swaying.

When she looked around, her brothers and sisters were nowhere to be seen.

This place wasn’t paradise.

It was hell.

“Oppa-!”

Lia screamed.

Bang!

Startled, Taeo pulled the trigger.

“Urgh....”

The bullet grazed the pastor’s upper arm, right beside his heart. He clutched the wound in pain. And from his hand—

-No, no TT_TT

-Fuck, please

-Holy shit TT___TT

The candlestick stained with the feral dog’s blood wobbled.

The pure white candle fell toward the floor.

Taeo made a split-second decision. He quickly darted into the bedroom and shut the door.

A puddle of ethanol and gasoline covered the hallway floor.

The orange flame fell toward it, illuminating the liquid beautifully.

It looked like a lake beneath the setting sun.

And then.

“Taeo Oppa-!!!”

Lia’s voice rang out from far away.

“Ahahahaha...!”

The pastor burst into laughter.

BOOM-!!!

The inevitable destruction.

Inside the bedroom, Taeo heard the deafening explosion. Flames engulfed everything around him. An uncontrollable disaster finally descended upon them. The shock wave sent the young Taeo staggering, and his head slammed into the floor.

His ears rang.

Hot blood ran down his cheek where debris from the explosion had grazed him.

Dazed, Taeo thought of one person.

“Lia....”

Taeo murmured Lia’s name.

Listening to the crackling flames.

“....”

He lost consciousness.

* * *

His vision was blurry.

After slowly blinking a couple of times, the edges of his vision, which had been completely black, gradually cleared and came into focus.

“....”

With bandages wrapped around his head, arms, and legs, Taeo moved his eyes across the room, his face blank.

“You’re awake?”

Men he had never seen before were sitting beside him.

One had blond hair and blue eyes.

And right beside him sat an Asian man.

“...Who... are....”

“You’ve been unconscious for quite some time, so it’ll be difficult to use your voice right away. You don’t have to speak.”

“Your body must hurt, so if it’s too difficult, you don’t have to answer. You can just listen. You’ve been unconscious for a while. Want some water? Does anything hurt?”

Taeo shook his head.

“The children... what about... them...?”

At those words, the foreigner and the Asian man exchanged glances.

“Nothing has been confirmed yet. Unfortunately. They may all be dead.”

“We’re doing everything we can to find them. A search is underway, and if we get any good news, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Who are... you...?”

“Let us introduce ourselves properly. We’re an International Criminal Court (ICC) team. We were searching for Project Cardia. You were lucky. If you’d been caught in the second explosion, you definitely would have died. You’re here because we found you first.”

“We’re international investigators. We came across you while investigating the orphanage. We’re glad you survived.”

Taeo silently began to cry.

His brothers and sisters, whose fates were unknown.

And he was the only confirmed survivor.

The two men said nothing as Taeo pressed his lips tightly together and wept.

“What... exactly is Project Cardia...?”

The two men looked slightly surprised by Taeo’s question.

“I’m not very good at it, but I can understand a little.”

This time, the Asian man spoke first.

“It’s just a simple investigation—”

“Hey! Don’t simplify it however you want. I told you this kid could be the key.”

“But he’s a child who hasn’t even reached puberty yet. We can’t drag him into this.”

As the two argued, Taeo interrupted.

“Don’t hide it from me. Tell me.”

“....”

“From beginning to end. Everything.”

The look in Taeo’s tearful eyes had changed.

“This kid has a right to know.”

“Ha....”

“Listen carefully, kid. Three years ago in Europe, an investor in an IT company died from complications after receiving an emergency organ transplant of unknown origin. We traced the source of the organ. The DNA matched that of a child from Korea who had been reported missing years earlier.”

The Asian man translated with a pained expression.

Taeo blinked upon hearing it.

He seemed to be thinking of Sion and Isaac.

The Asian man continued.

“Around the same time, hallucinogenic synthetic drugs being distributed through an exclusive club for the elite were also discovered. While tracing the source of the funds, the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) discovered that the money was being laundered under the name of an overseas religious relief foundation and funneled into the accounts of several orphanage foundations located in rural villages throughout this country. That’s how we ended up here. Though we were a little late.”

The foreigner handed Taeo the stack of papers he had been holding.

-Isn’t that the grass that was growing in the village?

-TT___TT I thought it was just ordinary wild grass

-Ha... this hurts

“In principle, our institution holds individuals criminally responsible. You can think of us as intervening when a country fails to properly investigate crimes within its own borders, or when those crimes are neglected or covered up. This cult is tied not only to wealthy big shots with money to burn, but also ?? (Original source) to politicians who’ll try to bury the investigation. There aren’t just one or two bastards involved... and they’re in positions where they can cut off the tail whenever they want.”

Taeo blinked.

“These fucking bastards are like Hitler brought back from the dead. If this keeps up, they’ll build gas chambers all over again. Fucking eugenics!”

The Asian man translated his words as mildly as possible.

But Taeo could feel every bit of the rage burning inside the blue-eyed man.

“But we’re still going to catch them.”

The foreigner’s eyes burned brightly with a sense of justice.

“I don’t care if it takes decades. I don’t care if it takes my entire life. We’re going to catch every last one of them and rip them out by the roots. So they can never pull this kind of shit again.”

“....”

Taeo struggled to sit up.

His dry lips parted again, a rough scratch running across his cheek.

“Let me join you.”

“What?”

“...I have to do it.”

The foreigner’s smile.

The Asian man’s sigh.

But the child’s face remained utterly unmoving.

The sound of spinning helicopter blades could be heard.

Taeo boarded a helicopter with the two men. He stared down at the ground as it gradually receded into the distance.

Far away, the burned remains of the orphanage and chapel could be seen.

Everything was charred black, as though it had been touched by the Devil’s tongue.

The thick wild grass surrounding the area was being cut down by agents deployed for the search operation.

Sticky green sap dripped onto the ground.

Only the red cross still remained in place.

Taeo closed his eyes.

“Oppa! Come here!”

“Hyung-! Look at this!”

“Because whenever Lia calls Oppa, you have to come.”

The place where his beloved brothers and sisters had lived.

“Let’s never be separated.”

“Promise.”

But only now did he understand.

That place had never been Eden.

Taeo was the sole surviving sinner to emerge from that den of demons.

* * *

Several months later.

The ICC building was entirely black.

Underground, a child was practicing at a shooting range with a gun in his hands.

Ten. Ten. Ten.

Every shot hit its mark.

Wearing transparent goggles, Taeo pulled the trigger again and again, as though every emotion had been carved out of him.

The sharp sound of bullets cutting through the air came at regular intervals.

The upper floors of the ICC came into view.

People were holding a meeting.

“All right, rookie. You need to pick a codename. Keep it simple and easy to call out.”

“Um, but....”

“What? If you have a question, ask it properly. Don’t mumble.”

“I heard there’s an agent here whose codename is Time.”

“So you’ve heard of him too? What about Time?”

“If codenames are that vague, wouldn’t it cause confusion during operations? Things could get mixed up.”

At that, the senior agents burst into laughter.

“You really don’t know him at all, do you?”

“Leave him alone. If he’s never been in the field with him, it makes sense.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire continued from the underground training room.

At some point, the target had changed from a classic circular board to the shape of a human being.

Bullets repeatedly buried themselves in the black figure’s heart.

Instead of merely grazing an upper arm, he aimed directly for the heart and fired.

Not a single shot went astray.

“He’s never failed a mission. Not once.”

“Because he always finishes the job with time to spare.”

When the ammunition ran out, the mechanical target automatically moved farther away.

Click.

Just as he was about to reload—

-Time. Orders from upstairs.

A voice came over the radio.

-A new project has begun.

The camera slowly panned sideways.

Away from the target.

Toward the man holding the gun.

“...All right. I’ll come up.”

And there stood Taeo, now a fully grown adult, wearing a black bulletproof vest and transparent goggles, his face utterly impassive.

Taeo had grown into a man who lived for one goal and one goal alone.

Bang!

<Code Name: Time Seven>

Over a black-and-white image of Taeo’s face, the preview for Episode 2 began to play.

“Get into sniper position.”

Taeo could be seen climbing onto a building an enormous distance away from the target.

The camera followed him, revealing the Russian cityscape.

-We strike the moment Sergei makes contact with Natalie.

Moscow’s Red Square came into view.

Through the scope, a woman entered his sights.

Her pitch-black hair fluttered in the wind.

She seemed pleased by the warm coffee she had just been handed, the corners of her lips curving into a faint smile.

Taeo’s finger froze on the trigger.

Light fell across her.

And what he saw was the face of the woman he had once wanted to protect with his life.

“It says there’s no information on this individual?”

“That can’t be.”

Speaking with a man in the ICC software room, Taeo swallowed dryly.

“I’m sure it’s her.”

With the sound of an organ, Episode 1 of <Code Name: Time Seven> came to an end.