“Human beings are such frail little creatures,” said Kang Jin-Ho as if he couldn't comprehend it. “And they can be so... irrational, too.”

His voice stabbed painfully into Yi Myeong-Hwan's hearing.

“Humans are always near the edge of death. Just listen to a news broadcast and you'll understand what I mean. Humans die from so many different reasons, don't they? Disease. Accidents. And even murder.”

“...!”

“Even as we speak, a shocking number of people are losing their lives all around the world. Ironically, though, humans believe they are not going to die. Car accidents alone kill around ten people per day, yet we all still drive our cars, blissfully unaware of the dangers. Don't you find that weird? Why do humans think they would never become one of the statistics?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan wasn't listening. The pain crashing into his senses was too severe for him to focus on anything else.

The pain from his bones breaking was indescribably horrifying. Since Yi Myeong-Hwan was a martial artist, he had experienced countless injuries in his life. However, the pain from injuries through an accident or training was nothing compared to what he was experiencing right now. The pain from this kind of torture was... in another realm altogether!

Similar types of injuries should result in a broadly similar level of pain, but that was not the case here. Yi Myeong-Hwan's taut nerves and heightened senses were adversely amplifying his pain by several...