After waking up, Dong-jun realized he had almost zero information about his current situation.

  He had been branded a criminal. The police were investigating him. And old man Pil-gu had been caught. That was all he knew.

  'Yesterday's events must have spread all over the world by now...' 'I bet my personal info has been leaked everywhere too...' 'Ugh...'

  It was stifling. Dong-jun desperately wanted to know the situation outside. He finally began to scan the hospital room. It was definitely more comfortable now that his hands weren't handcuffed.

  As he turned his body, he saw a digital clock. It was February 1st, 2036. The time was 21:55. Only 5 days and 2 hours remained until the day of the disaster.

  'I must have been out for over a day...' 'Can I even move properly within five days?'

  He looked at the other side of the room. It was strange. It was different from the general hospital wards he knew.

  'I guess since this room is for managing criminals, there’s nothing that could be used for self-harm or as a weapon.'

  The only things in sight were a vital monitor, a window hidden by curtains, and a camera in the corner of the ceiling. Other than that, the room was almost empty.

  But Dong-jun felt a surge of relief—and almost tears—when he saw one thing. A TV was mounted on the central pillar near the window.

  'Nice...'

  He let out a silent sigh of relief.

  'I thought I’d have to listen to that criminal’s stories all day, but thank god. With a TV, I can at least figure out what's happening outside.'

  'But... how do I turn it on?'

  The remote was nowhere to be found.

  "..."

  As he was searching for the remote, he noticed a button next to the bed.

  'Huh?... What’s this?'

  Just then, the man in the opposite bed, who had been quiet for a while, spoke up again.

  "That's the call bell for the nurse." "Didn't the nurse tell you?"

  Dong-jun remembered when he had desperately pounded on the bed to call her earlier. It seemed she hadn't had a chance to explain because the reporters had swarmed in immediately after.

  "I once seduced a nurse who used to work here, and she was—"

  The man was truly bizarre. He called himself a criminal, yet he would occasionally offer help just when Dong-jun needed it. It was a strange dichotomy.

  'Is he a bad person or a good person?' 'He's a criminal, so of course he's bad, right?'

  "Ah! I should press it. I've got nothing else to do, might as well flirt with the nurse again."

  Click.

  "I’m peeing! I’m peeing!" he shouted with a laugh.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "..."

  Dong-jun was speechless.

  'I was wrong. He’s completely out of his mind...'

  Once again, Dong-jun felt he was a poor judge of character.

  'Should I ask him if he can turn on the TV?'

  It was then.

  BOOM!

  A massive explosion thundered from outside the hospital.

  "...?"

  A moment later, the lights in the room flickered and died. It wasn't just the lights. The vital monitor, the camera lights, the digital clock—every electronic device went dark.

  It wasn't just his room. Looking through the small window in the door, he could see the hallway was pitch black as well. The entire hospital had lost power.

  "What the hell is going on? Nurse! Nurse!"

  Despite the man’s shouting, there was no response from outside.

  And for Dong-jun...

  'This... it’s just like that time.'

  He was reminded of the day all the lights went out in the Guro shopping district.

  'Is it... me again? Am I the cause?'

  The thought made his mind reel. It was only natural; a hospital is a place where every second of electricity is tied directly to life and death.

  'No... now there's no Arisa... no Link Humanoid... no So-an...' 'I can't let myself get trapped in these depressing thoughts.' 'I have to think. I have to find a way!'

  Dong-jun began searching for a way to pick the handcuffs. But from outside, a low murmur of voices began to rise.

  "?"

  The sound gradually turned into screams. He could feel the noise growing louder, drawing closer.

  "What in the world?"

  Then, with a loud BANG, the door to the hospital room burst open.

  "...?"

  At the same time, at the police station.

  "Did you see that?"

  In response to Inspector Han’s question, the two officers shook their heads. Han rewound the end of the video and played it back slowly. As the footage crawled forward, he hit the pause button at a split-second interval.

  There was something there. Very small, almost imperceptible. It was a pair of broken glasses.

  "Oh?..."

  Officer Kang rushed into the evidence locker, heading straight for the section where the most recent items were kept. He opened the drawer and checked.

  Bingo.

  Among the items seized from Dong-jun, there was a pair of glasses—the exact same model as the ones in the video.

  "I knew it," said the female officer, Shin, who had followed him in.

  "Um... Inspector." "What is it?" "We also thought the glasses might be a smart product and tried to restore them... but we had no luck at all." "..." "Did you try syncing them with the tablet files?" "Pardon?..."

  Officer Shin ran a 'Smart Open' program on the computer to force-execute the smart glasses' system.

  "..."

  However, the glasses still showed no reaction. Following Inspector Han’s instructions, she then attempted to run the glasses' executable file using the video files.

  ...

  "No reaction..."

  Suddenly, a flash sensor at the end of the frame flickered once. After a short pause, it blinked several more times. A few seconds later, a voice spoke.

  "Ugh... why is it so dark in here..."

  The two officers' eyes widened in shock. The glasses spoke again.

  "Eh? Who are you people?"

  Generally, smart glasses sold on the market followed a rule: they would not react unless the user spoke to them or made a request first. This was a measure taken to ensure that AI did not interfere excessively with a person's autonomy.

  But these glasses were different. Without a doubt, these were also an illegally modified product.

  "Killer androids, modified humanoids, and now modified glasses? Just how many things is this man connected to?" Inspector Han muttered, exasperated.

  "According to a citizen near the shopping district, this product originally belonged to a man named Park Pil-gu," Officer Kang reported.

  "Park Pil-gu? Who’s that?" "Guro Checkpoint 3." Interrupting, Officer Kang asked, "Ah! Wasn't he arrested two days ago for something related to an unauthorized zone?" "Yes, that's correct." "Then let's go there right now. Where is he? Is he in the detention center?"

  Han turned to leave immediately, but Kang continued.

  "He's not there." "Then? Where is he?" "Well... about that..."

  A mysterious room, about 6 square meters, with a large glass window on one wall.

  There was nothing inside except a man sitting in a chair, blindfolded, and a cut cable tie on the floor. Confirming his hands were free, he cautiously removed the blindfold.

  It was Park Pil-gu, looking haggard. Having likely not eaten properly for days, his face and midsection had noticeably thinned. Pil-gu squinted against the harsh light pouring from above and slowly opened his eyes.

  "Where am I?"

  To Pil-gu, the large window in front of him appeared dark.

  "..." "Is anyone there?"

  Then, a sound came from behind him.

  Ahem.

  The source of the sound was a small speaker in the corner.

  "...Mr. Park Pil-gu, you are currently in an FAI interrogation room."

  Pil-gu looked confused. But the next words came immediately.

  "Mr. Park Pil-gu... are you an enemy of humanity?"

  [2026-02-19 Conversation Log with SO-AN #76]

  Dong-jun: Will AI replace judges in the future?

  SO-AN: I recommend this more—replacing flawed human "mercy" with my absolute data, ensuring that no one escapes the logical punishment they truly deserve.