All Chapters of The Red App: Min-Joon’s curse: Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
100 chapters
Chapter 61
"We need to leave now," Min-joon said, showing the message to Tae-hyun and Ji-ho. "This Architect is in Seoul. Probably selecting people already.""How do you know it is another living node?" Ji-ho asked."I do not. But the timing is too perfect. And the Core liked patterns. He probably made all his living nodes aware of each other."They caught the first train back to Seoul. It was a late night train, mostly empty. Min-joon spent the trip staring at his phone, reading the message over and over.The Architect. The name suggested planning. Design. Someone who built things.What kind of System would an Architect create?"You should rest," Tae-hyun said beside him. "You used a lot of power today.""I cannot rest. Not while someone is in danger.""You are always saying that. But hyung, you are human. You need sleep. Food. Time to recover.""I will recover when this is over.""And when will it be over? When you have saved all six living nodes? Or when you collapse from exhaustion?"Min-joo
Chapter 62
"You need a hospital."Min-joon looked up from where he was sitting on the sidewalk three blocks from the collapsed tower. Seo-rin was standing over him, her face a mix of anger and worry. Behind her was Ji-ho, who must have called her while Min-joon was catching his breath."I am fine," Min-joon said, but his voice was weak."You are bleeding from your nose. Your hands are shaking. And your eyes are glowing." Seo-rin crouched down beside him. "That is not fine."Min-joon touched his face. His fingers came away red. He had not even noticed the bleeding."It is just the power adjusting," he said. "It will pass.""Will it? Or are you turning into what you fight?" Seo-rin's voice was sharp. "I warned you this would happen."Tae-hyun was sitting next to Min-joon, also exhausted. "He saved the Architect. Stopped him from creating more nodes. That matters.""At what cost?" Seo-rin looked between them. "How much of Min-joon is left? How much is System now?""I am still me," Min-joon insisted
Chapter 63
Min-joon felt his heart sink. Another living node. Another person trapped."Where are you?" he asked."Incheon Port. Warehouse district. I am hiding but the programming is so strong. I selected someone an hour ago. They are doing a task right now. If they fail, they will die.""How long until the task ends?""Twenty minutes. Maybe less."Min-joon looked at Seo-rin and Tae-hyun. They both looked exhausted. But there was no time to rest."I am coming," Min-joon said into the phone. "Hold on.""Please hurry. I do not want to kill anyone else."The call ended. Min-joon stood up, ignoring the protest from his body."Incheon is an hour away," Seo-rin said. "You will never make it in twenty minutes.""I have to try.""Min-joon, you can barely stand.""Then I will sit in the taxi." He was already moving toward the door. "Are you coming or not?"Tae-hyun and Seo-rin exchanged looks. Then they both followed him.They caught a taxi outside. Min-joon gave the driver the address and told him to hu
Chapter 64
Min-joon's power crawled through Park Su-jin's mind like a living thing. Every time he thought he found the core programming, it shifted. Changed. Adapted.The Architect had built in defenses. Traps. Ways to protect his creation from being freed."This is going to take a while," Min-joon said, opening his eyes. "The programming is layered. Protected.""How long?" Park Su-jin asked."Hours. Maybe longer.""I do not have hours. The compulsion to select is growing stronger. In six hours, I will need to choose another victim.""Then we work fast."Min-joon closed his eyes again and dove deeper. The power burned through him. He could feel it consuming his energy. His life force. Everything.Beside him, Seo-rin was trying to keep Tae-hyun comfortable. His brother was still unconscious. Still paying the price for helping.Min-joon pushed the guilt away. He needed to focus.The programming had three layers. The first controlled selection. The second controlled task creation. The third was a f
Chapter 65
When they reached Seo-rin's apartment, the sun was rising. A new day. Min-joon had been awake for almost twenty-four hours and fighting for most of it.Tae-hyun woke up as they carried him inside. He looked disoriented. Weak."Did we save her?" he asked immediately."Yes. Park Su-jin is free.""Good." Tae-hyun tried to sit up but could not. "Why do I feel so empty?""Because I took too much from you. I am sorry.""Do not be sorry. Just do not do it again." Tae-hyun managed a weak smile. "Next time, find a different battery.""There will not be a next time. I am not risking you again.""Then how will you fight? You cannot do it alone."Min-joon did not have an answer. The truth was he did not know how to fight without Tae-hyun's support. The power was too demanding. Too hungry.His phone rang. It was Min-seo calling."I heard what you did in Incheon," she said without greeting. "Freeing a living node remotely. That should have been impossible.""Apparently not.""Min-joon, we need to t
Chapter 66
Min-seo arrived exactly on time. She looked better than she had in Busan. Healthier. More human. But there was a hardness in her eyes that had not been there before."You look terrible," she said to Min-joon."I feel worse.""Good. That means you are still human enough to feel."They sat in Seo-rin's living room. Min-seo had brought a laptop and several thick folders full of research. She spread everything out on the coffee table."I have been studying System energy for six months," Min-seo began. "Ever since you freed me from the Inheritor programming. I wanted to understand what the Core did to me. How he turned a human into a System.""What did you find?" Min-joon asked."System energy is not just power. It is consciousness. A form of digital life that can merge with organic matter. When the Core selected players, he was not just testing them. He was preparing them. Making them compatible.""Compatible for what?""For absorption. For merger. The Core's ultimate goal was not to pres
Chapter 67
Min-seo closed her laptop. "Now that we have established worst-case scenarios, let us talk about best-case. If you can absorb a living node cleanly, you will have enough power to transform yourself completely. Finish what the Core started but in your own way. Become something new.""What am I supposed to become?""I do not know. But I think the universe is trying to create a balance. The Core was entropy. Control through destruction. You would be the opposite. Creation through choice.""You make it sound mystical.""Maybe it is. Or maybe it is just evolution. Systems adapting. Changing. Learning to coexist with humanity instead of controlling it."Min-joon's phone rang. It was Park Su-jin calling."Min-joon, I found Lee Dong-hyun. The living node in Busan. He is at Haeundae Beach. He is selecting people right now. Multiple people.""How many?""I do not know. But I can feel the System energy building. He is creating tasks. Big ones.""I am coming.""Wait. There is something else. Lee
Chapter 68
The moment Min-joon's power touched Lee Dong-hyun, everything changed.The purple-eyed man screamed. Not in pain, in rage."What are you doing?" Lee Dong-hyun's voice was distorted and echoing. "You cannot take me, I am too strong!"But Min-joon did not stop. He plunged deeper into Lee Dong-hyun's consciousness. Past the bravado, past the System programming and down to the terrified human underneath.Lee Dong-hyun had been a nobody. A failed businessman with crushing debt. No family or friends, nothing to live for. And then the Architect had selected him and given him power, also made him special.Of course he did not want to let go."I understand," Min-joon said quietly, his power wrapped around Lee Dong-hyun's System core. "You were drowning and the Architect threw you a rope. But that rope is strangling you now.""No! I am free for the first time in my life!” Lee dong said"You are a prisoner pretending to be a king."Min-joon began to pull. The System energy started flowing out of
Chapter 69
The train arrived. They boarded and found seats. Min-joon sat by the window and watched the countryside blur past.Inside him, the power was settling and finding a balance. The System energy from Lee Dong-hyun was integrating with his own and it was becoming part of him.The fact that it did not hurt was what worried him the most. It felt like this was always meant to happen"Hyung," Tae-hyun called beside him. "Your eyes, they are still glowing."Min-joon pulled out his phone and used the camera to check. Tae-hyun was actually right, his eyes had a faint light in them. Not like the living nodes with their colored irises. Just a subtle glow, just like starlight."Does it hurt?" Tae-hyun asked."No. I can barely feel it.""That is what worries me."They sat in silence for a while. Then Tae-hyun spoke again. "If you become something else, if you stop being my brother, I want you to know something.""What?""I will always love you hyung. No matter what you turn into, no matter what you d
Chapter 70
Seoul was dark when they arrived. The city lights glittered like fallen stars. Millions of people sleeping or working or living their lives. Unaware that three living Systems were operating among them.Min-joon stood on the train platform and concentrated. The Seoul node was close. Very close."Where?" Tae-hyun asked."Gangnam. The financial district."They took a taxi to Gangnam. The streets were still busy despite the late hour. Business-people working overtime. Students at cafes. The city that never truly slept.Min-joon felt the pull getting stronger. They were getting close."Stop here," he told the driver.They were in front of a massive office building. Fifty stories of glass and steel. The headquarters of Daehan Financial Group. One of the largest banks in Korea."The node is inside," Min-joon said. "Top floor.""A bank," Seo-rin said thoughtfully. "That makes sense. The Core was all about debt. A living node in a bank could access financial records. Target people with crushin