It was completely blank.

As Teyat walked through the forest towards the cliff he always went to, the strange events he had experienced suddenly rushed into his mind.

What was the power that the voice in my mind would give me, and who was it?

Why did it say that it was a part of me?

Teyat's mind was filled with confusing questions.

He walked carefully in the direction he had determined in the forest.

He was approaching the cliff when suddenly a scream belonging to a girl erupted in front of him.

Screams and shouts rushed into his ears.

Teyat ignored them, but these sounds were in his path.

Sighing and cursing under his breath, he slowed his steps and walked toward the source of the sound.

Some things entered his view.

What he saw was a black car and two men standing beside it, looking at and talking to teenage girls tied up in front of them.

A sudden grin appeared on Teyat's pale and soulless face.

He muttered quietly.

"If there's an obstacle in my way, I have to remove it and then continue on my path."

•

Teyat slowly approached the scene and hid behind a tree on the other side of the men involved in the situation.

He tried to figure out what was going on.

He heard the voice of the black-haired man beside the car.

"Buddy, what do you think? Should we have a taste of the girls?"

At that moment, the gray-haired man laughed.

"Yeah, it's been a long time since I've tasted young girls."

Seriously, what despicable people. Sorry, I mean parasites.

The schoolgirls in high school uniforms tied to the tree, their mouths gagged, listened to the men and opened their eyes in horror, letting out muffled screams.

One of the men was about to step forward to handle his business when suddenly a friendly and reassuring voice came from behind.

"Hello, Mr. Parasites. I have a question for you, one that a respectable person once asked me, but I couldn't answer."

The men suddenly turned around and saw a bloodied boy standing with his hands behind his back.

The men panicked immediately.

"Who are you? What's with your condition?"

Teyat suddenly cut him off.

"Thank you, Mr. Parasites. Here's the question I couldn't answer: What does it mean to be human?"

The men were baffled, and they quickly reached for the guns in their pockets, but couldn't find them.

Instead, both of them pulled out their knives.

"Quick, tell us who you are. This is your last chance, kid, or else I'll chop you up along with these girls and sell your organs—"

His voice was suddenly cut off because Teyat had swiftly pulled the gun he was hiding behind him and shot the man standing next to him.

The man, who was still alive and watching in shock, raised his hands in the air.

With fear-filled eyes, he stammered.

"C-c-calm down, man. You must be poor. I can give you money. I can save your family's life."

And Teyat shot one of the man's raised hands.

The man, with blood pouring from his hand, screamed in pain, grabbing his wounded hand with his free one and collapsing to the ground.

Because he hadn't given the answer Teyat was looking for, Teyat, with cold and dark eyes, calmly and slowly walked toward the man writhing on the ground, staring at him in terror.

When the man realized Teyat was approaching him, he desperately began dragging himself backward on the ground.

"Damn it, I promise I'll give you whatever you want. P-p-please don't kill me, I swear I won't tell anyone, just let me go!"

Teyat looked at the man, completely indifferent to his fear-filled words.

"Will you answer my question? I'm waiting."

The man stammered in terror.

"Y-yes, yes, being human... um, yes, being human means being superior—"

His words, filled with fear, were cut off.

Teyat suddenly shot the man's other hand and approached him.

The man, writhing on the ground in agony, screamed even louder as both of his hands were torn apart by bullets.

"Superior? Who, humans? Creatures without willpower? How utterly foolish."

These words left his lips in a cold tone.

Then Teyat fired the final shot into the man's head.

The girls who had witnessed this scene continued to let out muffled screams in terror.

Yet despite this, Teyat turned to them with a gentle, sincere smile.

After giving them a warm smile, he put down his gun and bent over to pick up the knife that the man had dropped after being shot.

He took the knife not to kill the girls, but to help them.

He untied the gags in their mouths.

"Please don't kill us. We're begging you—"

With an indifferent tone, Teyat walked behind the tree.

"Shut up. I have no intention of killing you. I just removed the obstacles in my way and..."

He paused for a moment before speaking again.

"And for a bit of a hobby."

He said in an unconcerned tone.

The girls stammered in fear.

"I-I understand, sir. Thank you for saving us."

Seeing the emotional state of the girls, a smile appeared on Teyat's face.

"Alright, you're free now. Do whatever you want."

The two girls stood up and hugged each other. One of them opened her mouth to speak.

"We don't know where we are. We'll get lost in this forest."

Teyat looked at them indifferently.

"I don't care..."

The two girls were stunned.

"Huh?"

"The police will be here soon. Wait here."

The two girls nodded together.

Teyat gave them a tired look.

'Why do they look so much alike?'

Because the girls were twins and looked very similar, he didn't even consider that they might be twins as he internally asked this stupid question.

He let out a deep sigh. The girls continued hugging each other and sat down at the base of the tree, leaning their backs against it.

Teyat continued toward his goal.

At that moment, one of the girls called out to him.

"Ex-excuse me, what's your name?"

The twin standing next to her suddenly scolded her silently, angered.

"Idiot, he'll kill us, let him go."

Teyat's back was turned to the girls. At that moment, he thought.

'Huh? Okay.'

Teyat, standing still with his back to them, said his name.

"Teyat."

The girl who had asked his name smiled warmly, her previous fear completely gone.

"Teyat... Thank you."

Teyat turned around and gave her a warm, reassuring smile.

"You're welcome."

And suddenly, a bullet hit Teyat in the leg, and he collapsed to the ground in pain. The bullet had come from the police, who had arrived silently, shattering his hopes of freedom.

The police suddenly swarmed over Teyat.

Some officers ran to the girls and protected them.

The girl who had asked for his name ignored him the moment she saw him shot and handcuffed by the police.

Teyat's goal had failed.