Scene 2. [Those Who Were Not Saved]

  Outside Seodaemun, a desolate cave.

  In the damp air of the Independence Army's temporary hideout, the smell of mold and blood congealed.

  "...Drink."

  The tin cup someone handed over shook violently. Clatter, clatter.

  Young-sik, a young member who had barely survived, took the cup but couldn't bring it to his lips. His wrist spasmed uncontrollably. Water sloshed over the rim and spilled onto the floor.

  He wasn't thirsty. He just wanted to stop the sound of his teeth chattering.

  "Calm down. We survived. It's safe here."

  The squad leader sitting opposite him gripped Young-sik's shoulder tight. But the leader's pupils were also unfocused, scattering in the void. They hadn't been rescued. They had merely been spat out from the maw of hell.

  "Leader... did you see it?"

  Young-sik's voice rasped like scratching iron.

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  The scene inside the truck was branded onto his retinas like a tattoo.

  The steel door ripping like paper.

  The afterimage of a white suit cutting through the air.

  And... the crack-crack sound of that man's limbs twisting.

  "Was that... a human?"

  "...I don't know."

  "Is he on our side? A secret agent from Shanghai?"

  The squad leader kept his mouth shut. He recalled the man snapping the necks of MPs and dragging out their entrails. When killing enemies, the man didn't smile. There was no grim determination.

  He just howled. As if he were in too much pain to bear.

  "No."

  The squad leader shook his head.

  "That is not a comrade."

  Another survivor huddled in the corner shuddered. He was the only one who had made eye contact with Lee Kang from the deepest part of the truck.

  "I saw... his eyes."

  He mumbled, the whites of his eyes rolling in terror.

  "At the end, after he killed them all... he walked toward the cargo bed. Dragging his dangling arm."

  He clutched his own arm and trembled.

  "He didn't come to free us. Those weren't eyes looking to cut ropes!"

  His voice rose to a tearing shriek.

  "They were eyes looking at prey! Like he was starving... like he was about to tear out our throats right then and there... eyes of a beast cub!"

  A heavy silence settled in the cave. No one could deny it. Lee Kang turning away without killing them wasn't due to mercy. He had simply stopped hunting because he was exhausted from the pain.

  "...Forget it."

  The squad leader rubbed his face with dry hands.

  "Whoever saved us, we lived. That's enough."

  Young-sik stared blankly at the water spilled on the floor. Superimposed on his reflection in the puddle were the tiger's eyes, soaked in rain.

  They hadn't survived; their death had been postponed. The overwhelming violence that saved them was a disaster that could one day aim for their throats.

  "...Monster."

  Young-sik whispered, biting his lip. There was no gratitude for the savior. Only the shudder of those who had witnessed a living calamity filled the narrow cave.