I finished my call after purchasing another hill with a dungeon and didn’t say a word. I looked out the window with a poker face to make sure that Mick wouldn’t be able to figure out what I was thinking. Since he was nervous, he didn’t even make eye contact with me when we first met. He seemed to have noticed that I was quite young as my skin was smooth, similar to the intruder’s the other day.

Mick recalled the stories he heard about me hunting for the intruder cat when he was promoted to first-class security. If he didn’t experience the horrific situation that day, he would’ve thought the events of that endless night were something out of a low-grade horror movie. However, supernatural powers did exist in this world, and Mick couldn’t believe that he had been hired to track them.

“Do you have something to say?” I turned my head toward Mick and asked.

“Is everything good?” Mick questioned hastily.

“That’s what I want to ask you. I know what you went through. You lost all your comrades, right?”

Mick wasn’t close to his dead fellows, but he had watched them get butchered and he could have been one of them. He replied in an impassive voice, “We were aware of the dangers.”

“But how they died was different from your expectation. I feel responsible for their deaths. Have you ever suspected that you were involved in something illegal?” I asked.

“Pardon me?”

I responded, “I mean, you can’t tell your family about your job and you technically don’t belong anywhere. Agents like you are crossing the continent equipped with firearms without knowing what orders will be given.”

It was silent in the car as everyone was listening to our conversation. I added, “We are not working for the government.”

“I know, and that’s fine with me. Thanks for asking,” Mick answered.

Even though Mick had been hired as a secret agent by the government, he could’ve gone through the same thing. There were rumors about those who left the training camp after completing their dispatch contract. These days, official institutions ferreted out and recruited trained personnel they could use as expendable cat’s paws instead of assembling beginners and training them from scratch. The mercenaries were aware that they would be sent to perilous areas while not belonging to any organization. In other words, they became ‘the people whose existence in this world was denied.’

“I hope no one thinks that they work for the government,” I said.

A guy in the passenger seat asked, “So the government doesn’t know anything about this?”

“No, but you guys are doing something meaningful.”

I looked towards the window, hinting that I wouldn't answer more questions. I could tell that Mick had mixed feelings about this. It must have been because I was surprisingly polite, unlike the intruder. If he had not heard about it before seeing me, he wouldn’t have believed that I was more powerful than the cat and was chasing after him to get rid of him.

We arrived at our destination in the evening. We had gone deep into the mountain, in an area that wasn’t on the map, and the car was moving slowly to find the guide. Soon, the flashlight appeared, and I left the car after telling others to wait inside. When I left with the guide, the suffocating air in the car seemed to have been slightly relieved.

“They left,” an agent said while looking out the window, and everyone was curious as they all heard me talking on the phone. Buying the entire land around the hill didn’t make sense to them. Their first mission had been to escort me to the meeting place with the landowner.

“How does it feel sitting right next to him, Mick?” the guy in the passenger seat asked.

“What?”

“Well, he doesn’t seem dangerous. Does your body stiffen instinctively?”

“...”

“Or does he have fangs or horns on his head?”

Mick was the only one who had directly witnessed the cat’s abilities. The rest were promoted to first-class security only because they watched us from afar or were from competent special forces.

“Are you serious?” Mick replied bluntly.

The world he thought he knew was actually far stranger and infinitely more dangerous, and secrets existed behind the scenes. Mick felt like he had become special to take a part in this and was annoyed that the others had not grasped the reality yet. He believed that such agents were harmful to the specialty of the organization.

“Be polite and don’t do dumb things you’ll regret later,” he said.

I returned to the car after a while. I ordered them to park the car near the lodge and made them standby there.

“This is our property from now on. Secure the entrance and be ready to camp for two weeks. I’ll be back no later than two days,” I said before leaving the lodge. Mick hastened to catch up.

“I’ll drive.”

He offered, but I declined and told him I didn’t need a car. He stared blankly at my back while I headed deeper into the mountains, not toward the city.

Everyone wanted to hear Mick’s story again, and he wanted them to realize the true horror of the day. He tried to describe the events in as much detail as possible, so they became quiet and began sharpening the weapons to prevent any more tragedies.

Two days later, I came back, looking like I had wandered all over the mountain. I slept first, and the agents prepared as they knew they would be put on the mission as soon as I woke up. They dressed up in light brown Royal Robbins shirts and pants, then packed high-performance hiking boots, backpacks, tents, sighters, holsters, automatic rifles, and cartridges.

More than ten agents and I began to climb the mountain, and Mick was amazed by how I showed no signs of exhaustion despite how steep the mountain was. The agents began to get left behind, so Mick had no choice but to ask for a break.

We reached a small waterfall. I tensed up and Mick must have noticed that my face became rigid. He sent a signal to his fellow agents and felt the vibration on the ground as we searched for a shelter.

Zzzzzz-

Then, Mick saw a blue light coming from the ground and he blinked quickly. It was beautiful, but he remembered what happened when that hue disappeared. While everyone else was fascinated by the sight, Mick shuddered in fear. He was determined to catch the cat and thrust a knife into his throat in the same way that Paul died. His heart was about to explode, but fortunately, he could move his body this time. He aimed at the light with his rifle and made eye contact with me. I approached him and said while tapping on his shoulder, “Your job is to protect this place so that no one enters or even sees this.”

Mick’s eyes followed my gaze and saw the light dissipating into a stairway heading down.

“No one wants to die. That is basically a grave that no one can get out alive. Curiosity is poison. Cherish your one and only life,” I added.

I picked up a backpack and called Mick over to speak to him alone.

“You seem to be aware of the seriousness of the situation. Please take care of this place until I get back,” I said.

“H…how long will it take?” Mick asked.

“I’ll be back in two weeks no matter what,” I replied.

I walked to the blue barrier.

***

The agents were divided into three teams. One blocked the entrance, another patrolled the surroundings, and the other was stationed at the campsite. It seemed like a group protecting a cannabis plantation, but no one would completely arm themselves and maintain strict vigilance only for a bunch of weeds.

About a week and a half later, it was Mick’s turn to stay at the camp. However, something was weird.

“What happened?” Mick asked.

“It was a noise I’ve never heard in my life,” one agent replied.

“What are you talking about?”

“We heard it over there. We all heard it!”

The agent looked like he had seen a terrible thing.

“Shouldn’t we go in there? Shit. What the hell is going on there?” Another agent frowned.

Mick stepped toward the surreal boundary but couldn’t hear anything even though he approached closer. Then…

Crrrrrrrkkkkkkkk!

They were right. It was faint, but it sounded like some kind of crying from a very distant place. The sound seemed to claw at one's soul, and six agents gathered around, including those who were patrolling the surrounding area. They aimed their guns at the barrier, and anxiety crept into everyone as they stared down the stairs. Something was about to happen, so some quickly touched their cross necklaces and some began swearing. The tension was near the breaking point, and they didn’t know how long they stayed that way.

Then, a shadow caught Mick’s eyes, and he shouted, “Don’t shoot!”

I was coming up the stairs and covered in blood from head to toe. I was soaked in blood that was dripping from everywhere. The agents stepped back from me when they saw the look in my eyes. No one noticed the noxious stench coming off of me.

Mick’s lips quivered as he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even sure if I was the same guy who entered the dungeon as my eyes had become immensely fierce. Mick stiffened as his eyes met mine. When I scanned through everyone with those eyes, I made all of them feel like rabbits standing in front of a tiger.