When Dudu's last words rang out before she closed the door, Kim Dokja finally realized what misunderstanding their posture had just caused. Still, he didn't move until a few more minutes in case someone came barging in again. Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to have the same idea as him, as the man also kept their position, bodies pressed close.

Their obscure posture made Kim Dokja embarrassed, but his survival instinct betrayed him, not ready to leave such warmth just yet. Even so, his brain refused to rest and began to run wild. This wasn't the first time they were this close ever since he left the coffin, However, none of those times could he feel the man's body temperature as clearly as now.

Was it because his sense was gradually regaining its function, or the man's temperature had risen up?

...He won't get sick, right?

Meanwhile, Yoo Joonghyuk was facing an internal crisis.

The idea was impulsive, but it had been half a year since they'd had the opportunity to be so close to each other, the problem quickly arose. His heart and body urged him to hold the person in his arm tighter, while his brain argued this wasn't the place. All his senses greedily felt every little movement, from the feeling of Kim Dokja's hair gently brushing against his chin, or the older man's breath lacking warmth on his chest.

His reason and body were combating when suddenly, Kim Dokja moved slightly. Yoo Joonghyuk knew Kim Dokja didn't mean it, but their body was too close. His reasonings immediately shattered almost a half and he could feel his lower body reacting.

Kim Dokja's arms were starting to get numb, so he couldn't help but move up a little. But before he could stand up straight, Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly released his grip and stepped back. The cold seeped in, making him shiver unconsciously. Just as he clenched and opened his palm to let the blood circulate again, Kim Dokja was finally able to raise his head to see the expression of the man in front of him. Greeting him was an even-colder-than-usual expression directed at the stove, before the man turned his back away.

....He must have been very uncomfortable. Kim Dokja silently prayed for the man's ruined reputation.

A loud knock on the door interrupted his prays, along with a comically loud cough:

"Ahem! Are you two done? Time to go."

Just by hearing her voice, Kim Dokja knew she was up to no good. He pat the guy on his shoulder, said empathetically:

"Don't worry, I will explain it to her, your reputation won't be harmed."

Yoo Joonghyuk's expression turned even colder, almost a dead fish eye, and soured immediately. But he just said blandly:

"...No need."

With a sudden pull of the door, Dudu, who was pressing her ear against the door, almost fell face flat on the ground. However, the person who had just rudely pulled the door open completely ignored her, voice even colder than his atmosphere:

"Lead the way."

Dudu patted her chest and looked at the man confusingly, then turned to Kim Dokja:

"What did you do?"

"...Nothing?"

The door after the stall wasn't in a very exposed spot, but Kim Dokja still felt people's eyes on him after the three walked out. He asked Dudu:

"What did you tell them?"

"Nothing, just that you're The Architect's guest."

Kim Dokja was still doubtful, but Dudu didn't have any signs of lying, so he could only ignore those curious looks. Meanwhile, Dudu had to do her best not to laugh. She indeed only said he is The Architect's guess, but just Taran's reaction back then was enough to pique their curiosity.

And people's imaginations are very wild, especially for someone as mysterious as Mr.Yoo.

Dudu recalled the first time she saw Yoo Joonghyuk. He came with a young girl and a white-haired woman. The black-haired girl said she was his disciple, and everyone thought the white-haired woman was his lover. But when they asked, the two girls showed different reactions, the only thing in common was they brushed it off immediately.

The young girl laughed and said her master already had someone else in his heart. Meanwhile, the woman's reaction is a bit more complicated, her denial of being in a relationship with Yoo Joonghyuk is very clear, and everyone can see that she only sees Yoo Joonghyuk as a friend. What baffled them all was her emotion when the kids urged her to tell more about Yoo Joonghyuk's love.

That was the most complicated expression Dudu had ever seen on the woman's face, softness, gratitude, and sadness all at the same time. So, there was a time when a rumor went around about a peculiar triangle relationship, but it died down after the trio left. Later only Yoo Joonghyuk returned to the Drifter Camp, sometimes with his discipline, sometimes alone.

Based on people's reaction, apparently, that rumor hadn't died completely, Dudu excitedly thought.

Kim Dokja took a look around, but the familiar Whitestone Sinner was nowhere to be found. He asked Dudu:

"Where is K.K.?"

"She saw someone she knew and went after them. Oh, I wonder who could get the model worker to leave her commission." She stretched her voice in a pretentious tone: "What should we do? Should we go catch the runaway Sinner or investigate?"

Kim Dokja shook his head, clearly didn't mind this at all:

"K.K. will be back. Let her do her thing."

They have the info, and the trouble has been shaken off. It's time to find the Maniac.

As Dudu led them further into the alley, darkness slowly surrounded them, separating them from the bustling of the square. But different from on the kitchen balcony, this quietness was cold, unsettling, and murky. After taking turns, they stopped in front of a small door and knocked. No one answers. As if worrying about disturbing the quiet, Dudu lowered her voice:

"I'm coming in..."

Pushing the door open, she paused in the small foyer and walked straight to a side door. The dilapidated door opened with a dismal creaking sound. The room behind it was small, maybe even less than 4 square feet, with no bed at all. In a corner of the room, a woman was lying on a cushion made of rag. Unlike Mia, this was a healthy body but had a similar aura of death. Through her cloudy eyes, he could see that her spirit had been captured by some twister will and was in a nightmare of madness and torment.

Seeing Dudu, she reluctantly opens her mouth. But before she could utter a word, Dudu interrupted her:

"Oh, no. You're still alive. It's not like I only play tunes for dead people, and look, I didn't even bring my suona today!" She hung the suona on her back and ambled over to the bed: "What's your name?"

Kim Dokja sent Dudu an unclear gaze, she didn't know this woman?

The person lying there struggled to open her mouth. Dudu listened attentively, then nodded:

"Furian... That's a great name. You should come to me next time you're celebrating something, and I'll play you a joyful tune. I've brought you an expert. He'll help you."

As Kim Dokja kneeled beside the woman in place of Dudu, her faint voice crawls into his ears:

"I... had a nightmare... of burning fingerprints... trailing flames... and... a monster... a huge, burning one... It-it was howling... It grabbed me..." Her fragile, skinny frame shaking, almost like a zombie: "Help me... Pl-Please..."

"I will."

He took her hand in his and closed his eyes. A vague ached feeling resonated from the Shackles, unlike any Sinner he had come in contact with before. This is mental contamination, and he could feel the tearing of some kind of evil consciousness.

A thin red chain circled around his wrist, then pierced through Furina's body from inside out, flashing red light onto the two witnesses.

Furian screamed, her voice was hoarse at first, borderline on humanity, then became distorted and maniac, like a wounded monster. A familiar sensation came over him, and he saw the scorch marks all over the darkness as his head began to ache. If this was the warning of the shackles, as Oak Casket said, then this is no doubt Mania.

The stingingness on the side of his skull only grew stronger as his Shackle delved deeper into Furian consciousness. His intuition was urging him to retract his hand, but he let himself sink in.

This is the only lead he had.

Since the only connection between the two people had focused on his job, silence quickly fell on Dudu and Yoo Joonghyuk.

He was fully focused on Kim Dokja, preparing to pull him out in case things went haywire. He couldn't sense anything else after the Shackle activated, so he could only rely on Kim Dokja's reaction to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Dudu couldn't get her thoughts to stay in one place at all.

Aside from some people, most of Drifter Camp were quite scared of Yoo Joonghyuk. As someone who never came in contact with him before, she fell into the latter category.

Throughout the few times he's been in the Camp, the guy barely interacted with anyone, not even using his full name. It was mostly his disciple and the white-haired doctor who did the social work. Dudu had never heard of him display any emotion aside from the always aloof expression, even with her wide network.

If she had to put it into words, then Yoo Joonghyuk was like a blade displayed in a museum, right there, but untouchable.

She would usually have no intention of interacting with this dangerous blade, but watching him acting so whipped around the MBCC Chief was just too fascinating and unusual to stay indifferent to. Finally, she still couldn't help but blurt out:

"Mr. Yoo, how did you two know each other?"

Dudu had been fidgeting for quite a while, while throwing curious looks towards them, so Yoo Joonghyuk could predict this question coming. He had no intention of answering her question, yet a piece of memory was still being pulled up to the surface.

A rugged hand grabbed a slender man by the collar and hung like a monkey outside of a broken bridge, a ludicrous sight if anyone else saw it.

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't grow up in Seoul. Until his 8th birthday, his original hometown was in First Murim, not so far away from the coast where the Catastrophe called Star Stream began.

Because his parents often go on business trips, Yoo Mia was basically raised by him. His next-door neighbor, master, and someone the siblings consider to be their family, Namgung Minyoung, was basically their acting mom, although she was in no way a model mother.

Ever since he was young, Yoo Joonghyuk was always the one whose other parents used to compare their children to. Saying that almost all the other kids in the neighborhood had some grudges against him was an understatement, although he didn't exactly have time to care about that, taking care of Yoo Mia and keeping up with his training already occupied most of his time.

After his parents passed away and he moved to Seoul, his skeptical premature personality only evolved to be even more practical. Even so, the massacre in car number 3707 was still something that shook his entire worldview entirely.

The first time he realized how insidious humans can be. The day he first killed.

Even when he later learned of Mania, or that he didn't need to kill [humans] to clear the condition, the damage had been done.

In the midst of that, meeting a guy who seemed to know what happened so well, even tried to join hands with him only made the situation more suspicious, so naturally, his first thought was to kill Kim Dokja.

Later when he thought of it, it was clearly Kim Dokja's scheme to cut off Paradeiso's tails. Yoo Joonghyuk didn't fake any of his action or killing intent, he must be a very easy target to read. To someone who has been fighting those monsters his whole life, there was no way he couldn't predict what the Ichthyosaur would do next, and how to deal with it.

A flapping sound of feathers cut off his line of reminiscence. Outside of the small window, a blackbird stood there, almost blended into the darkness. Its yellow eyes were no larger than two fireflies, focusing on Yoo Joonghyuk so animated to the point, unlike an animal. It was a bird that he couldn't be more familiar with.

"Stay here and look after him."

Startled by his sudden move, Dudu blurted:

"Where are you going?"

But Yoo Joonghyuk already went outside. Where the bird stood could easily be seen from the window, but wasn't that close. After picking a safe distance from Furian's room, he faced the bird:

"What is it?"

The raven's small bean-like eyes narrowed as if it were smiling, a shrill sound came from its mouth:

"Caw caw! Just some to say hello to a friend. How rude of you to return without forewarning! If Auntie Helen didn't tell me, I wouldn't have even known."

Helen, the old woman who lent them the kitchen, was her people, so he wasn't surprised to hear that name. Still:

"I don't have time for your shenanigans, what message does the Architect want to convey?"

"Caw! No message, just want to chat with you for a bit, not many of my comrades are still alive anyway~"

Yoo Joonghyuk's brows furrowed visibly. Something smelled fishy. She always liked to put up a show, but that was for the sake of her play. It wasn't like her to just call him out here for a simple chat. Unless...

Just as quick as his speed when he turned around, the big raven liquified and transformed into a large flock of identical ravens, blocking his tracks. Rage quickly filled the man's gaze, he hissed through his teeth:

"You betrayed him?"

"Betray? No, I'm simply keeping you here for a little.~"

****

A few minutes ago, inside Furian's home.

"Hey, wake up."

A hand gently slapped Kim Dokja's cheek a few times, waking him up from the heavy aftermath of using Shackle. His forehead and the back of his neck were drenched in cold sweat, while his fingers were as stiff as if they were petrified. He didn't know how long had passed, but it was enough for him to slide in and out of Furian's consciousness a few times, the next time more painful than the previous.

Dudu observed his composure, finally breathing a sigh of relief:

"...It's only been 10 minutes this time. You kept the grasp even if it was so painful. I underestimated you." She wiped away the sweat on his forehead with her sleeve. "So, what's the conclusion?"

Kim Dokja recollected the fragmented scene he had seen in Furian's mirage, his thoughts spinning with dissecting and connecting the dots:

"It's the same thing I've seen. It's Mania. But I was wrong. It's not something from the past or a future revelation. It's happening, the mental contamination field has enveloped the whole Drifter Camp, but there won't be any warning of it. The anti-Mania monitoring system cannot capture anything because there's no Mania contamination leaking from it. It directly captures a person's consciousness, consumes their spirit from within, and drains everything out of them before they turn into a Corruptor. That "thing'' is different from all the Mania monsters. It's deliberately hiding itself. If it hadn't resonated and caused changes to 004, I'm afraid it could have dragged everyone into the abyss without anyone realizing it."

A contamination source that knows how to hide itself... This is too dangerous. Is it capable of this itself, or is someone guiding it?

The image of a man with a black umbrella flashed over his thoughts. Could it be... Parma?

Still hadn't recovered from the conclusion of Kim Dokja's mumbling, Dudu asked him uneasily:

"...Is this contamination source you mention still in Drifter Camp"

He couldn't answer that. An anxious feeling grabbed his heart. This concerned the safety of tens of thousands of people in Drifter Camps. He turned over, wanting to ask Furian where she had contact with the contamination, but the girl's eyes were but empty gray. She had gone.

"It's not your fault. She had been holding on for too long. Everyone in Drifter Camp is trying very hard to stay alive, but staying alive is not an easy thing to do in the first place." Dudu fixed the girl's posture and straightened her ragged clothes. "Do you want to ask her something? Sorry, I don't have Oak Casket's power, so I can't help you ask her questions."

She gently covered the eyes of the deceased with her hand, closing her weary eyes:

"You have no family... so let me send you off. Hopefully, the next time we meet, you'll be smiling."

Then, she stood up and took out her suona. The mournful sound of the instrument echoed throughout the quiet room. When the song ended, they were all silent for a long time.

Dudu hid a snort and smiled at Kim Dokja:

"What, moved to tears? You've never heard anything like this, have you? My suona is the best instrument in the world. It plays happiness and sorrow. Why are you acting so surprised about it?"

"I'm just surprised you didn't ask for money this time."

Her red eyes were still visible, but her mood seemed to have lightened a little:

"Haha! There's no hurry, and this's another form of service. Give me a good name." She put the suona back to where it used to be: "One day, all the people who have parted will see each other again, and by then... Everyone will still remember my suona and me."

She paused, patted the dust on her butt, and jumped up. The witty look returned to her face.

"All right. I'll take her to Oak Casket now. Talking of which, he sure takes his time... "

Just as Kim Dokja was about to ask, he heard a "bang". Dudu took a blow to the back of her head, yet there was something strange about the attack. She instantly lost focus and fell forward. A hand reached out from behind her, catching the limp body.

Before he could see clearly what the attacker looked like, several guns were pointed at him. A couple of execs follow closely and break into the room. The person wearing grayish-yellow grinned, his eyes hidden under a pair of sunglasses:

"I knew it was you as soon as I heard the suona, cutie."

Some of the lead attacker's messy blonde strands fell as he picked up the unconscious girl and looked around, muttering to himself with some smugness in his voice:

"Good, the evidence is all here." He swiftly pulled out a communication device. "Notify the headquarters. Drifter Camp is confirmed to be harboring evil forces. It's time to work, and tell them to bring the big guns."

After hanging up, the guy turned to Kim Dokja. The guy was much messier than any exec he had ever met. Half of his hair was tied back in a sloppy knot. His shirt was completely unbuttoned, and even the blue tie was tucked into his pocket. If it weren't for the black turtleneck underneath, he would be no different from being half-naked. A sudden huge grin popped up on his face:

"Want to come with me? We could use a witness. Rustfire's little brat, or... an intruder?"