Part 6: Back to the center -last part-

There was only one place Epsilon wanted to go.

Home.

He didn't want to see anyone. He didn't want to speak.He just wanted to be alone—away from anything or anyone that could stir more doubt, more confusion.

His mind was fixed on a single goal:Forget.

Forget those annoying words that had started to echo in his thoughts.

Words that shouldn't have mattered.Words that he never planned to take seriously.

"I'm afraid that if I get used to killing... I'll stop caring who I kill.""I'm afraid of killing the innocent—without any regard."

No.

That's wrong.

He trusted the Organization blindly. He always had.

The Organization only eliminated threats—only those who deserved it.Right?

Right...

That was the very meaning of his promise to "regain himself."

He wasn't the kind of person who hesitated. He followed orders.That's what he was.

That's what he was supposed to be.

"Something like that... will never happen,"Epsilon muttered under his breath."The Organization only targets those who threaten the continent. I just have to forget... everything that happened."

As he approached his front door, he paused.

His hand hovered over the handle.

Then he closed his eyes…

And breathed in—slowly. Deeply. Over and over.

Most people breathe like that to calm down.To let go of the weight on their shoulders.To flush out the "negativity" inside them.

Because if bad thoughts take root—if they're repeated enough—they begin to twist you. They make you bitter, broken, dead inside.

But Epsilon was different.

He breathed not to release negativity...

…but to suppress humanity.

To return to the state he knew best:Cold. Calculated. Unfeeling.

That's what it meant to be a Deadly Character.

With one final breath—he opened his eyes.

Cold again. Focused again.

"I'm ready to forget."

But then—

Rattle. Thump.

...!?

"Huh? What was that?"

He froze.

It came from inside the house.

The back of the house—near the kitchen.

"Tch. Those rats again?I swear I'm buying poison next time I go to town…"

But even as he joked to himself…

His intuition—that killer's instinct honed over years of deadly missions—kept tugging at him.

Something was off.

Even if his logic told him it was rats, his gut said otherwise.

The air didn't feel right.

The atmosphere had shifted.

Slowly, cautiously, he stepped deeper into his own home...

Each footfall eerily silent.

"Nani kore...?""Why is the kitchen light on…?"

That was the first real sign.

The moment his expression hardened again.

His body tensed, and that chilling stillness returned to his eyes.

Someone was in the house.

Someone had entered a place no one should have dared to step into.

And whoever it was…

They were either very brave

…or incredibly stupid.

He took a breath to suppress his reaction. His killer's instinct was already activating—surging through him, demanding he eliminate the unknown threat before it became dangerous.

His left hand slid to the handle of his mini sword.

"No hesitation."

And in one sharp motion—

He stepped into the kitchen.

Only to find—