After parking the car and turning off the engine, my sister remained silent for a while.

I felt a bit frustrated having to wait for her to speak, but I decided to keep quiet and be patient.

There was no point in rushing her to get to the point.

Fortunately, she spoke again before I lost my patience.

"It took me some time to organize my thoughts about where to begin. First... you need to understand their objective to make sense of everything."

"Their objective... is it my body?"

Thinking about it again gives me chills, but Han Yeong-Seok, who I thought was the leader...

No, since the contents are the same, let's just call that bastard what he is.

Anyway, that bastard said his goal was my body.

Not in a weird way, but literally my "body" itself was the objective.

But I don't know what they want to do with my body.

Well... that bastard did excitedly explain it to me in the park, but honestly, who would be stupid enough to believe everything he said?

"I can guess what you heard. But that's half right and half wrong."

"Half wrong...?"

"Their goal is indeed Sia's body. You're the only test subject based on the Berserk Dragon that hasn't gone berserk and has maintained your sense of self. But that's their goal for targeting you specifically, not Harmageddon's ultimate objective."

"...That sounds like wordplay to me."

"I can see why it would. To put it more simply, you're necessary for their goal, but you yourself aren't the goal."

"Ah..."

So I shouldn't have put them in the same category, but viewed them separately.

This late realization made me feel embarrassed, and I covered my face with a sigh.

[You don't need to be ashamed of your shortcomings. The situation itself wasn't conducive to normal thinking.]

I blinked at the Berserk Dragon's voice, which came to me as soon as we got away from the Association.

So the situation wasn't conducive to normal thinking...

The Dragon wasn't saying this because my situation was pitiful or pathetic.

He must be trying to say it was a situation beyond my control.

*It's because of the Mental Interference, right?*

[Yes, that's correct.]

*But... didn't you say you were blocking that for me?*

[Human minds are inherently somewhat exposed.]

*What does that mean? My mind is exposed?*

I didn't think my mind was literally outside my body or anything...

As I was thinking this, the Berserk Dragon sighed.

[That's just a metaphor, not literally true. Humans are social beings who live by interacting with others and other living things. So even with the strongest Mental Barrier, unless you're completely shut off from the world due to some major trauma, you'll inevitably be influenced in some way as you live. In your case, someone is deliberately affecting your mind.]

*So my inability to control my emotions is also because of Mental Interference?*

[It's not complete, but there is some influence.]

As I nodded at the Berserk Dragon's words, my sister turned to look at me.

Oh right, I was in the middle of a conversation with her.

"I'm sorry, he suddenly started talking to me..."

"The Berserk Dragon?"

"Huh? Oh, yes..."

"What did he say?"

When I relayed what the Berserk Dragon had just explained, my sister nodded and let out a deep sigh.

She looked deep in thought.

"If that's true... it would explain the incident where heroes wielding the Berserk Dragon's weapons went berserk."

She fell silent again, looking contemplative, so I waited patiently until she spoke again.

"Anyway... their ultimate goal is to reopen the Gate. Using you, Sia."

When I heard my sister's words, I immediately recalled what that bastard had said in the park today.

—I just want to reopen the Gate.

Could it be... he was serious?

Because of his final comment about it being "more fun this way," I thought he was just a pleasure-seeking criminal without any real purpose...

"How would that even work? I've never even seen a Gate, let alone know how to open one..."

It was the Berserk Dragon who answered my question, not my sister.

[At the boundary... or rather, near what you call Gates, they probably plan to make you unleash your power.]

*What does that mean? If that could create Gates, wouldn't they have appeared already?*

[A dragon's power could make it possible. And because this world is unstable, the possibility is even higher.]

*Okay, I get that it might be possible because of dragon power. But all the Gates are already closed. So what does it mean to unleash power at a Gate?*

"Is it the Berserk Dragon?"

I nodded at my sister's question and relayed what the Berserk Dragon had just told me, just like before.

I felt like a messenger, but this was better than knowing nothing.

"...What makes him think this world is unstable?"

[The fact that you humans breathe fire and fly through the air is evidence enough. It means you haven't escaped the Gate's influence yet... or that a Gate is still open somewhere.]

"I see... that makes sense."

After silently fiddling with the steering wheel for a while, my sister sighed and continued.

"There's a place in the Association's underground that only the Association President can enter. Most likely, whatever is interfering with Sia's mind, or an unclosed Gate, is there."

"Wait, are you saying the Association President is a Harmageddon spy...?"

"He was on the list. But since we only had circumstantial evidence, we put him further down. I'd like to believe he hasn't fallen that far despite his suspicious behavior... but the more we analyze the situation, the more it points to him."

My sister's words meant that the Association President could be a Harmageddon spy.

I suppose you can never be certain about people, so I can't definitively say it's impossible.

But thinking about it logically, I just couldn't understand why the Association President would be a spy.

"But what would the Association President gain from working with Harmageddon?"

I don't know the Association President well enough to say much...

I just couldn't understand why someone in such a position, with so many accomplishments and achievements, would work with crazy people like Harmageddon.

Could you logically understand if the CEO of a major logistics company joined forces with Somali pirates?

No, you couldn't.

"What could he possibly need..."

"Probably the Association's survival."

My sister let out a bitter laugh and brushed her bangs aside.

"Recently, there have been growing criticisms about the Hero Association's incompetence. Annual villain appearances, the recent surge in terrorism, Harmageddon's existence... All these issues have piled up, creating the perception that the Hero Association just takes government funding without doing anything useful. In the National Assembly, they've even debated whether the Association should continue to exist."

"The National Assembly? Why would they suddenly get involved...?"

"You know that until just a few years ago, the Hero Association was called the Hunter Association, right?"

I do know that heroes were originally called hunters.

So naturally, the Hero Association was originally the Hunter Association.

"Yes, I know."

"Then this will be easier to explain. The reason the Hero Association is facing so much scrutiny now is because during the Singularity Incident, when the government collapsed, it was the Hunter Association that maintained public order in Korea. And later, when the Gates were almost all closed, they helped the government regain stability."

"Isn't that a good thing...?"

"It would have been if it ended there. But reality is a bit different. The Hunter Association essentially rebuilt a fallen nation, giving them tremendous influence regardless of political parties. They had power and capability... it was practically absolute authority."

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

"And naturally, many people tried to abuse this."

"Because they weren't heroes back then...?"

My sister nodded with a bitter smile.

"That's right. That's probably why this is happening. They're desperately trying to break free from the Association's grip. The existence of the Hero Association, with its capabilities and embodiment of 'justice' itself, is like a thorn in the side of those wearing golden badges."

"So it's all about power..."

"Exactly. If that's really the reason, the Association President is trying to reopen the Gate to return to how the Association was back then. Because he can't forget the power they once had. Or if not that... he's doing this purely for his own greed."

My sister's words reminded me of what that bastard had told me at the hospital.

—They say that when the chairman of a major corporation was diagnosed with terminal cancer and was dying, he drank an "Elixir" that dropped from a Gate, which not only cured his cancer but also rejuvenated him.

"The Elixir...?"

"If we narrow down the possibilities, it would be those two."

This is definitely a serious threat, but there was something more important.

"But in the end, it's meaningless if we don't catch Harmageddon's leader, right?"

"...No, it'll be fine."

As I said earlier, there's one person I suspect.