RTN 50

Chapter 50

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In the past, on the day our side destroyed the Phantom for the first time,

Jang Seok-joo met Baek Yi-hyun for the first time on that planet strewn with horrific debris.

Baek Yi-hyun, who claimed the intercom was broken, was politely brought onto the research ship by Jang Seok-joo. He activated the bridge’s wide-area radar so Baek could transmit his location to the mothership, and instructed the crew to polish and bring the best leather chair in the ship.

As soon as Baek Yi-hyun finished communicating and naturally sat in the shining leather chair in the old bridge, Jang Seok-joo, forgetting all manners in front of the esteemed Baek family, blurted out the question:

“How did you destroy the Phantom?”

The researchers froze at Jang Seok-joo’s impolite words, but Baek Yi-hyun remained unbothered. Actually, from the moment they first met, he had shown almost no expression.

Baek Yi-hyun replied briefly:

“I spread my wings wide.”

“My wings… you mean the A-class ones from Bania?”

“Yes.”

That was the end of his answer, it seemed.

Jang Seok-joo was speechless. He couldn’t even sit properly across from Baek Yi-hyun, stood awkwardly, holding back the urge to ask more questions while his bloodshot eyes darted around. Then Baek Yi-hyun calmly asked:

“What are you curious about?”

Curious? That calm question made Jang Seok-joo want to grab Baek Yi-hyun by the collar and shake him violently.

Curious? After having historically defeated the Phantom, that was what he was asking?

Swallowing the rising frustration, Jang Seok-joo asked in a strained voice:

“You die if you look into the Phantom’s eyes, right?”

Even asking felt absurd. Why ask such an obvious thing?

Even after joining the 207th Special Operations Battalion, Jang Seok-joo could never get used to Baek Yi-hyun’s uniquely leapfrogging conversational style.

Baek Yi-hyun never explained his logic step by step. It wasn’t arrogance—he was simply unaware that ordinary humans couldn’t keep up with his thought speed.

To understand him, one had to break things down to basic logic and ask questions at every step.

At this time, Jang Seok-joo didn’t yet know how often Baek Yi-hyun’s cognition exceeded that of ordinary humans; he was merely bewildered. He could almost believe Baek Yi-hyun was toying with him.

“You die if you look at the Phantom, so the best thing is to close your eyes and run without fail. But how exactly did you… do it?”

“Don’t look.”

“Are you saying you fought with your eyes closed?”

“It’s not difficult if trained.”

What was that supposed to mean? Jang Seok-joo glanced at the researchers around him for help, but their blank faces were no different from his own.

He looked back at Baek Yi-hyun.

“Why did you train that way in the first place?”

He asked without realizing it and was startled by his own words. He had asked too much. Swallowing dry saliva, he wondered how to recover.

Baek Yi-hyun answered monotonously:

“From the first time I held a weapon, I trained blindfolded. I relied too much on vision, so I needed to develop other senses. It was the previous head of the Bania family’s directive.”

“Did you anticipate that the enemy would use the Phantom?”

“To some extent, I suppose. The bloodline has diluted over generations, but the family is founded on a prophet.”

Still, the previous Bania head had not foreseen his own death.

Discussing the annihilation of one’s own family and subsequent death was an uncomfortable topic—especially in front of Baek Yi-hyun.

As Jang Seok-joo’s eyes wandered awkwardly, a young new researcher cautiously approached and placed a teacup on the table.

His hands trembled so much from nervousness that the thin cup clinked against its saucer and even spilled some tea.

Seeing the flustered newcomer, Baek Yi-hyun silently took the cup, sipped it, and exuded calm. The steam rising from the tea softened his otherwise impassive face, giving Jang Seok-joo the courage to speak.

“Sir, Colonel… I apologize for asking this right after a major battle, but may I ask one question?”

“You may ask.”

“You said you destroyed the Phantom with your wings while your eyes were closed. I want to know the exact method. I am ignorant, so please explain from start to finish, step by step, in detail.”

Baek Yi-hyun set the cup down silently.

“Our forces were annihilated because they could not avoid the nightmares from the Phantom’s eyes. So I did the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Phantom doesn’t aim to kill humans. The hallucinations it spreads are just a habit. I didn’t resist—I just let them pass.”

He tilted the cup, and a small stream of tea split into two. One pooled in a circle; the other spread thinly as it flowed.

“This difference. If the quantity is the same, the latter will cool faster. It means experiencing the nightmare as weakly as possible if you cannot avoid it.”

Ah. Watching the smooth spread of tea, Jang Seok-joo blinked. It was like being struck on the back of the head. The nightmare was artificially dispersed to weaken its effect.

“I approached the Phantom with my eyes closed and spread my wings to the limit. The nightmare traveled along my wings quickly. If I endured for a few seconds, the nightmare would weaken, and even looking into the Phantom’s eyes would only cause slight discomfort.”

“How did you know the nightmare had varying intensity…?”

“Past data showed that soldiers farther from the Phantom had higher survival rates. There is a physical concentration.”

“But that’s because they were too far to see it at all. Survivors appeared only tens of kilometers away…”

“Interviews with survivors revealed that they felt mild discomfort or fleeting traumatic images. I concluded that experiencing the nightmare weakly from a distance was likely.”

“So it was just a guess…”

“It was a strong hypothesis.”

“That’s gambling.”

“Even if the hypothesis was wrong, only I would die. Worth trying.”

The casual manner in which he mentioned such a terrifying process horrified Jang Seok-joo.

“If the nightmare weakens, the Phantom is just a giant creature. A well-trained squad alone can target its heart.”

Baek Yi-hyun seemed indifferent, but his thinking was extraordinary. Facing a nightmare directly from the Phantom’s eyes was instant death.

Even with training, approaching it with eyes closed was a gamble with life on the line.

Moreover, it couldn’t be delegated. Baek Yi-hyun himself, wielding an A-class weapon, had to execute the operation.

“So only the Colonel can destroy the Phantom…”

Jang Seok-joo swallowed.

No, technically, anyone could do it. As long as they could extract the nightmare quickly, it didn’t have to be Baek Yi-hyun. They didn’t even need to spread it externally. They could also direct the nightmare inward. Either way, the concentration of the nightmare around the Phantom’s eyes would be weakened.

The direction didn’t matter—speed did.

“Anyone can do it.”

He glanced at the researchers, seeking agreement, but their faces were blank and dull. Frustration surged.

Those idiots… can’t they think? He thought, imagining Baek Yi-hyun’s subordinates must be different.

Suppressing his annoyance, Jang Seok-joo looked at Baek Yi-hyun again. There was no expression, so he had no choice but to elaborate.

“Theoretically possible.”

Jang Seok-joo’s eyes widened. Baek Yi-hyun continued smoothly:

“I neutralized the Phantom by spreading my wings to extract the nightmare quickly. Conversely, you could also converge the nightmare to its extreme. For example, twisting spacetime inside the Phantom to suck the nightmare into another dimension would yield the same result.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Jang Seok-joo nodded vigorously. Baek Yi-hyun replied matter-of-factly:

“In that method, it doesn’t have to be my weapon. Any allied soldier can capture the Phantom. Coordinate setting is tricky, but with close support from observers, it’s feasible.”

“Three people should suffice.”

“You think so? Considering my battalion’s capabilities, at least five would be required. The margin of error is too large.”

“Three are enough for us. Two calculate, one transmits. Not difficult.”

“This is a research ship—also acting as an observation post?”

“We provide the framework. That’s not important. Then, this is a perfect strategy, right?”

He spoke hoarsely, heart racing, dizzy with excitement. The Phantom, the war—it finally seemed like it would end.

But the next moment, all hope collapsed.

“It cannot be applied in practice.”

“Excuse me?”

“A sufficient amount of Cho-ju is required. Without it, there will be backlash.”

“How much? If it can capture the Phantom, the Emperor would approve.”

“About the size of a human being is needed to withstand the nightmare.”

The energy drained from Jang Seok-joo. He slumped against the chair like boiled spinach.

A Cho-ju the size of a person? Impossible. Even gathering all Cho-ju the Empire possessed wouldn’t make a fistful. Not nearly enough.

This war itself started over competition to control even a single Cho-ju.

Jang Seok-joo lowered his gaze, realizing how fleeting his hope had been.

“There’s… no such thing.”

He muttered blankly.