I passed through the hot flames and thick black smoke, entering the building.

Deeper, deeper still. I went in searching for survivors.

Why am I rushing into a burning building to save people?

The structure could collapse at any moment, and there could be third or fourth explosions without warning.

Despite these thoughts running through my head, I kept moving.

I searched everywhere I could, and when I found someone, I wrapped them in a large wet cloth, carried them on my back, and brought them outside.

I repeated this over and over.

"Over here."

I handed the unconscious person to the paramedic.

That made five people. They said there were eight people left in the building, so three more to go.

"Hey!"

"I'm going back in."

Someone, either a paramedic or a Hero, tried to stop me, but I ignored them and rushed back into the burning building.

I ran toward the structure with flames licking at it like red tongues, without any tools or even safety equipment.

Anyone would say this was insane.

If you want to die, die peacefully—not by jumping into a fiery pit. That's what any sane person would think.

Yet here I am, doing exactly that.

"Huff..."

I, who valued my life too much to risk it for Hyun, who ran away from pain and suffering, who pretended not to notice to avoid getting hurt—that same person is now voluntarily jumping into a fiery pit.

Why am I doing this?

I'm not sure.

I did something similar at the courthouse, but that was different—I went to an area where the fire hadn't spread.

And I didn't do it to save people, but because I thought saving people might reduce my sentence.

If someone asked if this time is different...

Well, I honestly don't know.

I just wanted to break free from my past of always running away and avoiding things.

I wanted to stop wallowing in guilt, blaming myself, and regretting things too late.

It's not purely about saving people, but couldn't I say something has changed?

If nothing had changed, I wouldn't be throwing myself into a fiery pit like this.

—*Isn't this enough already?*

Let's stop now. That thought suddenly crossed my mind, and I clenched my teeth.

There it is again. It's starting again.

*'Shut up...'*

Let me do what I can.

Come to think of it, I've been thinking this way even before the Light Dragon gave me that advice.

I've been wondering what I could do and what I should do.

I hated not being able to do anything.

I tried to be helpful to Hyun in whatever way I could.

Because I thought if I gave up, that would be the end.

But whenever something happened, especially related to Harmageddon, those thoughts would turn completely negative.

Of course, there were times when the situation was so bad I had no idea where to start, but I overcame those with help from others.

But something strange happens the moment Harmageddon-related incidents occur.

I become strangely passive and timid.

I give up and surrender over trivial things, and even deny my own determined resolutions.

It's like someone is planting negative thoughts in my head.

*'...I thought it was just my imagination.'*

It can't be. It must be my imagination. Anyone would think the same in this situation.

That's what I thought at first. Until the Light Dragon opened his eyes.

The day the Light Dragon first spoke, I felt a strange familiarity.

A feeling I'd experienced many times before.

Right before killing the monster at the hospital, when I was blaming myself alone at Hyun's house, when fighting No. 445 at the court...

The Light Dragon told me it was about being honest with my emotions, but it was definitely different then.

That feeling of my mind being pulled in one direction.

And now I think I understand what that feeling was.

[So you've finally noticed.]

I frowned at the Light Dragon's voice as I pushed aside the collapsed building debris.

My large hands and sharp claws made it easy to clear away the rubble.

*'You knew?'*

[How could I not know? I've been the one blocking the interference with your mind all this time.]

"What?"

I momentarily stopped at this completely unexpected revelation, but quickly resumed clearing debris when I heard groaning from underneath.

He knew? No... more than that, he's been blocking interference with my mind?

*'Since when...?'*

[Since I awakened inside your body until now, continuously.]

Come to think of it, the Light Dragon always looked tired.

He'd say he wanted to sleep, not to disturb him, not to be noisy.

I couldn't understand why a mind without a body would say such things about being tired, but if it was because he was exhausted from blocking mental interference, it makes sense.

*'Do you know who's been interfering like this?'*

[Are you asking because you truly don't know, or because you want confirmation?]

*'It's Harmageddon, isn't it?'*

[Yes. Who else would do such a thing? Even when you were talking with the Necromancer's shell this time, I couldn't tell you anything because I was busy blocking it.]

"Shell...?"

Just as I was about to ask what he meant, the faint screams from under the debris became clear.

"...Help me!!"

Realizing this wasn't the time for such conversations, I started moving my hands again.

*'We'll talk later.'*

After saying that, I cleared away all the debris and pulled out the person trapped underneath, bringing them outside.

That's six people now. Two more to go.

Just as I turned to go back into the building, someone's large hand grabbed my wrist.

The big, rough hand made me flinch for a moment, thinking it was Hyun, but it belonged to a firefighter.

The firefighter gently pulled my hand and wrapped a blanket around me.

I was confused—why give me a blanket when I needed to go back into the fire?

Looking quizzically between the blanket and the firefighter, I saw him kneel on one knee and hold my hand firmly.

This was the first time someone other than Hyun had held my hand, so I just blinked in confusion.

"You can stop now."

"What...?"

I blinked blankly at this sudden, unexpected statement.

Stop? Coming from a firefighter, it was even more shocking.

With people still inside, telling me to stop meant giving up because it was too late.

"No, but... there are still two more people... Oh, is it already...?"

I was about to ask if I was too late, but the firefighter shook his head, saying that wasn't it.

"Kid, while you were busy helping, we weren't just standing around. The person you just rescued was the eighth and final survivor. So you can rest now."

"Oh, so that's it..."

I sighed in relief, and seeing this, one of the firefighters came over and patted my shoulder.

"Thank you for your help. And... I'm sorry we made you work so hard in place of incompetent adults. We'll handle the rest, so please move to a safe area."

I was about to nod reflexively when I remembered the face of the Hero who had died earlier, so I stopped and told the Hero about it.

"You must have been shocked at such a young age... Thank you for your courage."

"...No, it's nothing."

Do I deserve to be thanked?

I should be the one apologizing, yet I received both thanks and an apology.

That's why I had to deny the Hero's words of gratitude.

I wasn't in a position to receive thanks, though I could accept an apology.

After pondering for a while, I closed my eyes tightly and said:

"Please don't thank me. This terrorist attack happened because of me."

"What... do you mean?"

The firefighter's eyes widened in surprise at my words.

Such a reaction was only natural.

There's no point in hiding it here—it would come out eventually anyway.

Rather than accepting thanks and apologies without a clear conscience, isn't it better to be honest?

Besides, I'd already told another Hero everything.

Why hesitate now?

"Actually..."

With my eyes tightly shut, I told the firefighter the same story I had told earlier.

The exact truth of what happened, nothing more, nothing less.

The firefighter listened silently, and when I finished, quietly took my hand.

"It's not your fault. This didn't happen because you did something wrong."

The firefighter's eyes showed not a trace of deception.

"So don't blame yourself too much."

Thank you for your courage.

The firefighter said this while bowing deeply in gratitude.

I was too choked up to respond to such a reaction.

"Sia!"

Fortunately, Ha-Young arrived just before my tears could burst forth, allowing me to hide them.