Declaration Of Extra Strike

 

‘

Tae Jae-heon wants to see me? What could he possibly need at this hour?’

 

I stared suspiciously at the secretary’s stiff expression. Someone who could come find me whenever he wanted had decided to send a secretary to summon me instead?

 

Maybe it was because I had just put on Lailaps’ Collar, but I couldn’t shake a vague sense of unease. Without thinking, I reached for my neck, though the now-invisible collar didn’t catch on my hand. 

 

I still hadn’t fully processed the emotions from the orphanage incident. Even in day-to-day life, just the thought of it was enough to make my face flush and my body heat with a sudden surge of emotion. Meeting Tae Jaeheon one-on-one, in this state, felt like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

Why now, of all times…

 

I wanted to avoid him if I could, but the secretary’s persistent urging left me no choice. I reluctantly followed, hoping it was nothing important.

 

When the secretary stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 100th floor, I subtly reached out and pressed another floor. A robotic voice echoed through the space:

 

“Unregistered fingerprint detected.”

 

“…Elevator buttons require a card or fingerprint scan,” the secretary explained.

 

“I know. I just wanted to see.”

 

Feeling a bit awkward under the secretary’s gaze, I waved my hand dismissively and changed the subject.

 

“Tae Jae-heon’s above this floor, isn’t he? I heard that level’s been closed off.”

 

“Yes, only the Guild Leader has access to it now.”

 

“Why? Did he hide some treasure up there or something?”

 

It was a casual remark, but the secretary flinched visibly. The elevator reached the 100th floor and the doors opened right on the time, so I didn’t notice his reaction and stepped out. But something felt off—there were no footsteps following me.

 

Puzzled, I turned back to see the secretary standing still, meeting my gaze.

 

“This is as far as I escort you. Please proceed inside.”

 

“What? Hey—!”

 

Before I could finish, the elevator doors closed with the secretary giving a polite bow. Left alone in the silent hallway, I let out an exasperated sigh and reluctantly started walking toward the room ahead.

 

I was familiar with the luxurious hallways and doors, having often stayed here like it was my own home whenever I visited headquarters. But when I opened the door, the space inside felt so unfamiliar that I thought for a moment I might’ve entered the wrong floor. I stepped back out to check the hallway again.

 

‘What the hell? This is the 100th floor, isn’t it?’

 

After confirming the glowing number “100” above the elevator doors, I hesitantly stepped back into the room, feeling unsettled.

 

“Tae… Jae-heon? I’m here. Tae Jae-heon!”

 

I glanced around the dark room. The once-cozy furniture had disappeared, replaced by strange, unidentifiable machinery. A chilling air pervaded the dimly lit space, amplifying the eerie atmosphere. When the door closed behind me and the sounds from outside were cut off, faint mechanical noises and the bubbling of air bubbles breaking the surface reached my ears.

 

‘Where the hell did he go after calling me here?’

 

Feeling a rising sense of unease, I cautiously moved toward the source of a faint blue glow deeper inside. As I passed behind the machines, a large tank emitting the blue light came into view.

 

“Argh, that scared me! Damn it, what is this?”

 

The tank was filled with some unidentified liquid, and suspended within it was a human figure—completely naked. The sight made me recoil in revulsion, my brows furrowing deeply. But curiosity got the better of me, and I hesitated

before stepping closer.

 

Inside the bubbling liquid, the figure floated ever so slightly, swaying up and down. Upon closer inspection, they weren’t entirely naked. Their body was wrapped in tight bandages, but their condition was alarming. Burns peeked out from areas the bandages didn’t cover, and parts of the body—an arm, a section below the knee—were missing entirely.

 

‘Who is this, and what the hell happened to them?’

 

As I touched the surface of the tank, the figure’s floating hair gently parted, revealing their face. The moment I saw it, my jaw dropped.

 

Suspended in the tank, eyes closed, was me.

 

“Fck…. Tae Jae-heon, you insane bastard…”

 

Though the face wore a serene expression, like someone peacefully asleep, the mangled body, combined with the pallid complexion illuminated by the blue light, made it unmistakably a corpse—

my

corpse.

 

Realizing that I was staring at a dead version of myself sent chills racing down my spine.

 

Now I understood why Tae Jae-heon hadn’t been fooled by that imposter earlier. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that he’d be storing my corpse somewhere. I had assumed that death would be the end, but instead, I’d been reduced to this—used as some twisted part of Tae Jae-heon’s macabre experiments.

 

It was hard to keep looking. I staggered backward, unable to take my eyes off the tank, only to bump into one of the machines behind me. 

 

A clicking noise confirmed that I had accidentally pressed something, but my gaze remained fixed on the tank, which began to rotate with a low hum.

 

As the tank turned, the backside of the corpse came into view. On its back, the familiar tattoo of five wolves was still etched deeply into the skin. Though partially obscured by bandages, it shimmered faintly, as if still alive and moving.

 

‘The body’s dead, so where is it drawing mana from?’

 

Whether time had been halted using some item, or some other chemical process was keeping it intact, I couldn’t tell. But the unnaturally pristine condition of the corpse—firm skin and defined muscles—was sickening. The grotesque preservation made bile rise in my throat.

 

“Fck, I knew he was insane, but this? Keeping a corpse… Ugh, what a twisted, perverted bastard.”

 

There was no way I could just leave it. Letting my corpse be used as some sick toy by Tae Jae-heon was unthinkable.

 

I looked around and approached a console filled with buttons. After pressing a few experimentally, a blue lever caught my eye. I pulled it, and a low warning sound blared as the liquid inside the tank began to drain away.

 

The moment the liquid was gone, the body—my body—would lose whatever preservation was keeping it intact. Watching the level of liquid slowly decrease, I felt a mix of unease and determination.

 

Eventually, the tank was empty, and the body collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud. It lay face down, lifeless. After staring at it for a moment, I walked to a corner of the room and uncovered a white sheet draped over some furniture.

 

“I can’t believe I’m cleaning up my own corpse. This is beyond disgusting… So, what was that funeral back then? Was it a damned empty coffin?”

 

Grumbling under my breath, I approached the tank and undid several locks that secured it shut. With a faint creak, the tank opened. I draped the white sheet over my former body but paused as a peculiar scent wafted up from the tank. I wrinkled my nose instinctively.

 

“What’s this? I’ve never smelled this before… Could it be some kind of potion?”

 

Before draining all the liquid, I should have tried appraising it. Clicking my tongue regretfully at the now empty tank, I unconsciously reached out to touch the still-moist skin of the body. 

 

Even though I knew there wasn’t enough left for an appraisal skill to work, my finger prodded the exposed shoulder. To my surprise, the soft, supple texture of the skin was anything but corpse-like.

 

Startled, I pulled back for a moment before cautiously tracing a finger further down, as if drawing a line in my mind.

 

Before my finger reached the tattoo, a sudden surge of heat made me yank my hand away. 

 

Opening my fist, I found a faintly glowing symbol forming on my palm. It flickered and pulsed before gradually solidifying into the unmistakable shape of Castor’s mark.

 

‘Why is this appearing all of a sudden?’

 

What was even stranger was its location—it had moved. The mark, which had previously been on my right hand, now glowed on my left. Staring at it in shock, I noticed a similar light emanating from the tattoo on the corpse’s back. It pulsed in rhythm with the mark on my hand.

 

“Wait, what the hell is this?”

 

Realizing something was off, I brought my hand closer to the wolves tattooed on the back. 

 

As I examined the overlapping lines, a hidden ♊ symbol emerged in the folds of the design. Without the glow, I would never have noticed it. It was cunningly concealed within the wolves’ intertwined lines.

 

‘When did this get here?’

 

Tracing the lines again, I felt certain the symbol had been deliberately hidden. Tae Jae-heon was the one who had tattooed me. Did that bastard know about this? If this had been here from the beginning… then I, too, might have been a counterpart to Castor, just like Ryu Su-yoon.

 

As the symbol on my palm grew clearer, the one on the corpse’s back faded, becoming nearly impossible to see. It felt as though what had once been on my body had transferred fully to me—no longer part of the dead flesh, but alive within my hand.

 

The mark on my right hand, the one I’d received in that dreamlike encounter with Joo Ho-hyun, was long gone. But if the mark on my left hand had always belonged to me…

 

“Castor… the Gemini.”

 

I muttered the words aloud, startling even myself. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense—the uncanny resemblance, the identical age. The reasons to doubt were evaporating.

 

Could it be that Joo Ho-hyun and I…?

 

A sharp creak interrupted my thoughts.

 

Just then, I heard the sound of the door opening behind me. Startled, I hurriedly grabbed a handful of the corpse’s hair and shoved it into my pocket. In the same motion, I yanked the discarded cloth and draped it over the body. The clicking of approaching footsteps stopped right behind me.

 

A sharp cluck of the tongue made me turn around.

 

“…This is even more pathetic than I imagined.”

 

Tae Jae-heon stood silhouetted by the light, his piercing gaze scanning me from head to toe. I clenched my fists, suppressing the fury bubbling inside me, and forced words through gritted teeth.

 

“What the hell is this? Are you insane? Why do you even have my corpse?”

 

“…”

 

“Did you drag me here just to show me this? Damn it, I already know you’re crazy. You didn’t need to prove it by—”

 

Suddenly, Tae Jae-heon bent his knees. The unexpected movement made me flinch and instinctively squeeze my eyes shut, bracing for a blow. But instead of striking me, his hand caught my chin, tilting my head side to side as he murmured softly.

 

“You didn’t cry.”

 

“…Why the hell would I cry?”

 

“Who knows? I wonder why I thought you might.”

 

Still crouched in front of me, Tae Jae-heon glanced over my shoulder at the shrouded corpse and gestured toward it with his chin.

 

“How does it feel to see your old body?”

 

“It feels like shit! What kind of question is that? Why do you even have that thing? If you’re planning to keep it—”

 

“No need. Now that you’re back, it’s useless. That thing… I’ll have it cremated.”

 

He said it so casually, like he was doing me a favor, and the nonchalance in his tone made my face twist with anger. I watched as Tae Jae-heon rose to his feet and kicked the cloth off the body with his foot, all while I desperately tried to

keep my emotions in check.

 

He just said I was ‘back.’

 

That single word gnawed at my mind, louder than all the turmoil inside me.

 

As I had suspected all along, that bastard knew I was alive. But since when? How long had he known? The questions tumbled one after another, filling me with doubt about everything.

 

Did he know I would return in someone else’s body? That I would wake up in Joo Ho-hyun’s body? Could he have known that I planned to betray him, to die in the process?

 

And the tattoo—did he know I was Castor’s counterpart? Was that why I was the only one taken from the orphanage? Why my friends were sent to the New Wing, subjected to experiments…?

 

The thought of my friends made rage surge within me again. My fists clenched tight, nails digging into my palms.

 

No matter how much I asked, he wouldn’t give me a real answer. I knew I needed to keep my head down if I wanted to escape with Zero tomorrow. But the anger boiling inside me refused to be suppressed. Slowly, I stood, glaring at him.

 

“Why…”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Why did you take me?”

 

My voice, thick with barely-contained fury, dropped to a dangerous low. Tae Jae-heon, unfazed, replied as if he were stating the most obvious fact in the world.

 

“Because you’re special.”

The lore is loreing.....