The book was quickly found.

The book, which had been taken from Kyle’s study – with his permission, of course – and placed on Taeui’s desk, had suddenly disappeared. However, the place where the book might have ended up was all too obvious. Ten out of ten, it was in Ilay’s room.

As expected, the moment Taeui stepped into Ilay’s room, he saw the book carelessly tossed on the windowsill. He picked it up, and the first thing he did was check its condition. If anyone had folded the corners of the pages to mark their place, something that had happened before, Kyle’s exasperated sigh would surely be heard.

Fortunately, instead of folded corners, a piece of tissue paper had been used as a bookmark. The book was intact, and Taeui finally turned around.

When Taeui entered the room, Ilay glanced at him briefly before resuming his position, lounging sideways on the sofa with his eyes glued to the computer screen. Next to him was a pile of video files, and he appeared to be busy processing some data.

“What are you doing?”

Without a second thought, Taeui moved closer to Ilay and glanced at the computer screen. However, the very next moment, he blurted out: “Oh……!” and took a step back. The entire screen was filled with splatters of bright red blood. Even though the volume was turned down, faint screams could still be heard from the speakers.

“What is this, some kind of gory horror movie? ……But……”

As he muttered to himself, wondering why anyone would watch a horror movie in broad daylight, Taeui suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Amidst the blood-soaked scene, the face of the main character appeared on screen. It was a face he knew all too well.

The man on the screen held a knife, casually swinging the blade as blood sprayed everywhere. Then he removed a pair of blood-soaked gloves, just as drenched as the knife, and tossed them aside. The fact that he didn’t put on a new pair of gloves seemed to signal that the carnage for the day was over…… And that man was none other than Ilay Riegrow, who was sitting right next to Taeui, staring blankly at the screen as if he were merely watching a movie.

“What the hell is this?”

Taeui frowned and muttered under his breath. The scene on the screen continued to unfold. As the on-screen Ilay folded the knife and tucked it into his pocket, another man appeared from the far end of the stark white hallway. This man was drenched in blood from head to toe, yet he showed no signs of injury. He calmly looked around before casually saying:

[“It’s done. The other side has been dealt with too.”]

……That face was also strikingly familiar. There couldn’t possibly be two people in this world with such flawlessly sculpted and statue-like features. It was Christoph.

So that’s how it was, whenever these two appeared together, the scene always turned into a blood-soaked horror film. Taeui finally realized this was a recorded video of some event. He nodded as if he had figured it out.

The footage continued, following the classic trope of a horror movie. Just as Christoph in the video said: [“It’s done”], something massive and ferocious suddenly burst out from behind and lunged straight at him.

But there was no need to worry. Christoph simply turned his head nonchalantly, his expression unchanged, and within a matter of minutes, reduced the massive, menacing black creature – a Tosa mastiff the size of a calf – into a shredded pile of flesh. The scene ended there.

“This seems to be footage from a few years ago.”

Taeui remarked, recalling the faces in the video, which appeared slightly younger than they did now. Ilay, who was fast-forwarding through sections of the video and checking certain points, nodded in confirmation.

“This is training footage from the Private Task Force T&R back then. At the time, we released ten people and thirty Tosa mastiffs into the building.”

“No wonder……”

Taeui nodded in understanding, pulling a nearby chair over and sitting down.

Aside from minor traces of time, Ilay looked almost identical to the person in the video. But Christoph, on the other hand, was nearly unrecognizable at first glance.

The fast-forwarded video suddenly paused on a close-up of Christoph. He was tightly wrapping his arm with a jacket, shoving it into the mouth of a Tosa mastiff while simultaneously driving a knife cleanly into its neck. Every movement was captured clearly on film.

That face was still exactly the same as it was now, but the feeling it gave off was entirely different. Dangerous. Stay away. In Taeui’s mind, an alarm seemed to go off. That flawless face, in this context, had the opposite effect, it made him seem less human. This wasn’t a person; it was something terrifying and chilling.

“Does he seem different from the guy you know?”

Ilay unexpectedly asked. Taeui looked at the screen and nodded slightly.

“Yeah…… but it’s not all that surprising. I’ve sensed it a few times before.”

“Though I haven’t seen it happen recently……” – Taeui murmured, almost to himself. Ilay turned off the video, removed the disc from the drive, and muttered as he worked:

“Richard really does have some weird tastes. To think he’d want to stick around a guy like that. Seriously, like a total pervert.”

“……”

When hearing Ilay’s remark, Taeui couldn’t help but feel a mix of bitterness and helplessness that was difficult to describe. A shadow seemed to fall over his mood as he silently questioned his own taste.

“Well…… as long as they’re happy together, that’s what matters. Richard seems to put in a lot of effort for Christoph…… Speaking of which, it seems like that’s been giving Kyle quite a headache lately.”

Taeui muttered while pondering the recent issue. It wasn’t really his problem, it was Kyle’s, but for Kyle, it was evidently a serious matter.

It had happened just a few days ago.

Late at night, the sound of Kyle’s agonized groaning came from his study. It startled Taeui, who had been passing through the hallway below, prompting him to rush upstairs to check.

In the private study, Kyle was slumped over his desk, groaning in despair in front of the computer screen. Displayed on the monitor was a webpage for an online antique book auction. It seemed an auction had just concluded, as the words [Successfully Bid] were flashing in the bottom corner of the screen.

“Were you bidding? Did you win something interesting……?”

While checking to see if Kyle was okay, Taeui glanced at the screen. Once he confirmed that Kyle wasn’t in any serious trouble, he began to speak—but the sight of the auction website made him stop mid-sentence as a thought suddenly struck him.

For Kyle to be slumped over, groaning in despair right in front of an antique book auction screen, it was anything but normal.

‘……He lost.’

Taeui glanced back at the screen and saw an image of an old, tattered book. The book was in such terrible condition that even the title on the cover was illegible. He quickly scanned the small auction details listed below.

‘Dear heavens, what is this price? How many zeroes are in that bid?!’

Taeui couldn’t help but feel stunned by the winning bid for that tattered book. But when he noticed the title: [Serve the Nation Fully* – Author: Jin Xiaoyang], he finally understood. At the same time, he looked down at Kyle with a sympathetic expression.

(*위국제전 – 爲國齊全: Serving the Nation with Full Dedication. This phrase embodies the spirit of responsibility and wholehearted dedication to the nation. The book doesn’t actually exist, so don’t bother searching for it.)

‘Ah…… If it’s this book, that really hurts.’

Wasn’t this the very book Kyle had mentioned so many times before, saying he absolutely had to own it? But it was far too rare, never appearing on the market, and he had been searching for it for years. Now, when it finally surfaced, and he let it slip through his fingers, it was no wonder Kyle was in such anguish.

As Taeui thought about this, his gaze unintentionally landed on the ID of the winning bidder who had beaten Kyle to claim the ‘treasure’. It was an ID he found all too familiar, someone who had recently gained notoriety on antique book auction sites: [Christ_in_Richd].

“……Could there possibly be an ID more obvious than this……”

Taeui muttered, staring at the ID with wide eyes, his expression blank with disbelief.

Recently, Kyle had been repeatedly defeated by Christ_in_Richd in numerous antique book auctions. Not only did that person possess enormous financial resources, but they also had an incredible knack for timing and bidding speed, consistently securing victory in auction after auction.

‘They’re not strangers to each other, so couldn’t they let him have just one……?’

Taeui sighed and shook his head in exasperation, glancing at the winner in Dresden.

“This book…… This book…… Just this one—I absolutely must have it! No matter what happens…… Just this one!”

Kyle mumbled, his voice trembling as if he were on the verge of tears. His body shook violently before he suddenly jumped up from the desk and grabbed his phone. Taeui glanced at the frantic fingers dialing the number and immediately realized the destination: Dresden. And not just any number, it was Richard’s direct line.

‘He finally made the call……’

Taeui quietly watched the scene unfold, then thought to himself. After several long rings, the person on the other end of the line finally picked up. Kyle immediately began speaking in a rushed tone:

“Ah, yes, it’s me. I’m calling you because…… No, of course, I know calling at this hour is rude, but…… Wait, wait, Richard……!”

Before he could finish, the call was abruptly cut off. Kyle froze, staring at the phone in his hand, and then suddenly jumped up, exploding in frustration.

“How can he be so busy in the middle of the night that he coldly hangs up like that! I spoiled him so much when he was young, played with him so many times, and now he treats me like this. Unbelievable!”

Taeui silently wondered to himself whether this had anything to do with Christoph suddenly disappearing from the messaging app about an hour ago……

“Ah, Serve the Nation Fully. If it’s that book, Kyle has been wanting it for over ten years now.”

Taeui shook his head, recalling the sight of Kyle sitting alone, both furious and despairing, but when he heard Ilay’s words, he looked up.

“It’s been that long? No wonder……” – Taeui

“No wonder what?” – Ilay

“The next day, he came to me, very hesitant, and asked me for a favor. He wanted me to talk to Christoph and see if he’d be willing to give up the book.” – Taeui

Even for Kyle, someone who rarely asks for help, to do that must mean he truly yearned for the book. Taeui murmured to himself and gave a small nod. At that moment, Ilay narrowed his eyes with a knowing expression.

“Shifting the target from Richard to Christoph and choosing you as the intermediary is quite a clever move…… So, what did you do?”

“Huh? Oh, it wasn’t too much trouble to ask once, so I talked to Christoph.”

“And then?”

“Surprisingly, he agreed right away. Isn’t my birthday at the end of this month? I had almost completely forgotten about it, but Christoph brought it up first and said he’d give me the book as a gift.”

“……Hmm.”

The moment Ilay’s faint and knowing smile flickered across his face, Taeui immediately sensed trouble. He quickly straightened his expression and raised a hand, as if to stop whatever was coming.

“Wait, don’t get upset over nothing. That conversation was very brief and ended there. Besides, you gave Christoph a birthday gift too, didn’t you?”

“But that was a gift ‘from the Riegrow family to the Tarten family‘, not from me to Christoph personally. Though…… it seems like you think I’d be upset about this, don’t you, Taei?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean—…… You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Just as Taeui was about to defend himself further, his eyes fell on Ilay’s half-smiling, half-serious expression. That look made him trail off, lowering his voice. At that point, Ilay chuckled softly and leaned back in his chair.

“I know there’s nothing for me to be upset about. I was just thinking about Christoph.”

“……? What about Christoph?”

“It reminded me of Christmas.”

When Ilay murmured this, seemingly amused, Taeui froze for a moment.

Christmas. It was when the old members of the Private Task Force T&R had all gathered and stayed for a few days. Throughout that time, Christoph had spent most of it sitting on the sofa with a less-than-pleased expression. He rarely said anything, but whenever he did speak, it was mostly complaints or sharp remarks aimed at Ilay.

“Something as trivial as that isn’t worth calling a debt, but…… haha, you see, that guy……”

Ilay’s murmured words, accompanied by a smile, carried a dangerous undertone that made Taeui feel uneasy. He only dared shift his gaze, silently thinking that nothing good was likely to come of this.

Still, since these two never spoke kindly to each other, Taeui was used to it and didn’t think too much of it. But it seemed Ilay remembered the incident all too clearly.

“That’s right, exactly like that. I’d almost forgotten, but now I remember.”

Ilay, as if talking to himself, suddenly turned a sharp, piercing gaze toward Taeui.

“So, what about the book?”

“Huh? Oh, he stopped by earlier and handed it over. It’s probably sitting neatly in Kyle’s library by now.”

“Oh, so that’s why Kyle’s been walking around grinning like a lunatic all afternoon.”

Ilay nodded as if he understood, then stroked his chin, and seemed to drift into thought for a moment. Then, suddenly, he reached for his phone, causing Taeui to glance at him in surprise.

‘Who’s he calling?’ – Taeui’s question was quickly answered when the person on the other end picked up.

“It’s been a while, Richard. Happy New Year.”

‘Ah, so he’s calling Dresden. But why so suddenly?’ – While Taeui was still staring blankly, trying to figure it out, Richard on the other end of the line also seemed surprised by the unexpected greeting. After a brief pause, he responded:

[“Yeah, thanks. Happy New Year to you too.”]

Then, without wasting time, Richard asked directly:

[“But what’s this about?”]

The question was firm and carried the implicit understanding that Ilay wouldn’t call just to exchange New Year’s greetings. As expected, Ilay didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point:

“I heard you recently acquired a rare book. Serve the Nation Fully, isn’t it?”

[“Ah…… So you’re calling on Kyle’s behalf?”]

Only then did Richard realize the purpose of the call.

[“That’s right, I just got it. It took a lot of effort, wasn’t cheap, and took several months to secure.”]

“That’s true. A book like that isn’t easy to come by.”

[“So let Kyle know that I don’t intend to give it up. Actually, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t—because I’ve already given it to Christoph. Asking would be pointless.”]

“Oh? No, I didn’t call to talk about that. I heard Christoph gave that precious book to Taei, so I wanted to call and express my thanks. After all, you put in a lot of effort to obtain that book, so I thought it was only right to show my gratitude.”

Ilay smiled politely as he said this, and the other end of the line immediately fell silent. Three seconds of silence passed. Ilay maintained his calm smile, while Taeui, sitting beside him, seemed frozen in place, unable to move.

After those three tense seconds, Ilay broke the silence.

“Oh, don’t tell me you didn’t know? I hope I didn’t call unnecessarily.”

[“Ah…… I see. Thank you for letting me know.”]

The tone on the other end of the line dropped half an octave and chillingly cold. Immediately after, the call was abruptly cut off. Ilay set the phone down, the faintest of smiles still lingering on his lips. And Taeui, who had been frozen in place the entire time, finally managed to stammer:

“W-what the hell did you just do……?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Ilay replied with an innocent expression, as if he had no idea what Taeui was talking about, then stretched leisurely, looking utterly satisfied. Meanwhile, Taeui could only stare at the phone in growing anxiety.