Three days before the Taekwondo Tournament Finals.
Lee Daehyun hadn't slept.
The old ID he found—it didn't make sense.
Raon Jin, listed as a junior researcher at the "NeuroLink Human Evolution Lab," a facility shut down after a mysterious fire six years ago.
How? He's only a kid.
But the image, the name, the fingerprint scan…
They all matched.
Exactly.
Daehyun sat in front of his computer, eyes bloodshot. "This isn't normal. He's not normal."
And if no one else saw it—he'd expose it himself.
---
Meanwhile, in a quiet room lit by moonlight…
Han Areum sat up, drenched in sweat.
Another dream.
Another glimpse of Raon standing in a white lab coat… smiling gently as a child cried behind him.
The dreams felt like memories.
But they weren't hers.
Right?
Her hands shook. Her heart raced.
"Who are you really, Raon?"
---
Next day. Gymnasium.
The school buzzed with energy.
The taekwondo tournament finals were coming—and Raon had unexpectedly swept through the brackets, defeating two trained competitors in a matter of seconds.
Now, he stood at the center of the ring, stretching calmly.
His opponent?
Baek Dojin—a third-generation martial artist, raised in a dojang since birth. The pride of the region.
"He's gonna destroy the pretty boy," someone muttered.
But Raon's eyes were calm. Empty. Calculating.
---
Match start.
Dojin lunged forward with a lightning-fast spinning kick—
Raon leaned back, just enough to avoid it, his body moving like liquid.
Then he stepped forward—
One hit.
A precise strike to the inner thigh.
Dojin's leg buckled.
The crowd gasped.
Raon didn't stop.
He moved behind Dojin mid-fall, using his own momentum to flip the larger boy into the mat.
Silence.
One move.
Match over.
---
Later that evening…
Raon stood under a streetlight, wrapping his hand in a bandage. Not from injury—but to hide the bruising caused by his own restraint.
From the shadows, Daehyun appeared.
"You're not human," he said, holding up the old ID.
Raon glanced at it.
Then at Daehyun.
"No," he said simply. "But I'm very good at pretending."
Daehyun stepped forward. "What do you want from Areum?"
Raon smiled slightly.
"Would it hurt more if I said everything?"
---
Final Panel:
Inside a dark server room, a lone terminal lit up.
> [Vessel Synchronization: 87%]
[Emotional Stability: Inconsistent]
[Target Identity: Han Areum]
Project H.E.R.: In Progress
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