Don’t tell ... a plot twist just happened.
After everything I’d done, the careful planning, the disguises, the stealth, I’d still walked straight into one.
I grimaced, jaw tight.
Getting caught here wasn’t part of the plan. It wasn’t ever part of the plan.
Bracing myself, I turned slowly, forcing my face to stay blank even as my heart hamred.
And that’s when I saw him.
A man stood there, tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in a fitted black suit that almost seed to blend with the dim light of the corridor.
Black hair slicked back, a neatly trimd beard lining his sharp jaw.
But it wasn’t his appearance that made my chest tighten, it was his presence.
His aura pressed against like a weight, suffocating, the kind of pressure only a high-ranker could give off without trying.
Great. Just great.
I swallowed.
System, This is your fault.
[No.]
It is! Well, partly mine too, because I could’ve made damn sure to just dry all the informations out of you.
[...]
If you had told sothing like this was going to happen, maybe, just maybe, I could’ve prepared for it. Thought of sothing. Anything.
[How would I know?]
I almost narrowed my eyes.
Don’t give that. You know.
[Do I look omniscient to you?]
Yes. Or close enough. Don’t play dumb with . You sohow knew about secret abilities, about locations nobody should know. So don’t act clueless now.
[...]
See? You can’t even answer that. Which ans I’m right.
The man hadn’t moved. He just watched , silent, his eyes dark and unreadable.
My palms itched against the strap of the empty bag I carried, every second feeling longer than the last.
And besides, do I even look omniscient to you? No. But I’ve been the one predicting, improvising, using a hundred percent of my brain to stay alive. anwhile, you, the supposed ’assistant system’, haven’t lifted a damn finger.
[Who told you where it was located?]
Yeah, yeah, you did
I admitted through almost gritting my teeth.
But that’s literally the only thing you can brag about in this whole mission. One. Single. Thing.
[...]
I thought systems were supposed to be assistants. Guides. Sothing useful, at least. Not... this.
[...]
No reply. Of course. It always went quiet when I struck a nerve.
anwhile, the man in the black suit finally tilted his head, as if studying closer.
His gaze felt like it pierced straight through the uniform, the mask, the bag, everything. Like he already knew.
"I will ask again," the man said, his voice calm but carrying an edge sharp enough to cut through steel. "What are you doing there?"
The sound snapped out of my back-and-forth with the system.
My stomach dropped.
This was bad, worse than bad.
I forced myself to breathe evenly, glancing at the door behind before shifting my eyes back to him.
My brain scrambled for an excuse, anything, and then I pointed to the door.
"Ah... I thought this was the section I was sent to drop this bag, sir."
The word ’sir’ slipped from my lips automatically, but I knew why I’d said it.
The appearance I had taken is just a low rank guard, who had no business talking to a man like him without at least a little respect.
And sure enough, his expression flickered at that single word ’sir.’
Confusion. Hesitation.
Good. That was sothing.
"Where did you co from?" he asked.
My mind tripped over the question.
Where did I co from? What kind of trick question was that?
At first, I thought he’d already caught , that he was just playing with before tearing apart.
But no... his tone was still probing, suspicious but not absolute.
Think. Fast.
"I was among the people in the truck that just entered the compound, sir," I said, forcing my voice steady. "I’m the one assigned to offload the bags."
That was the only thing that made sense. It was thin, but thin was better than nothing.
The man went silent. He studied with eyes that didn’t blink, and the silence stretched on and on until my palms began to sweat.
I hated it. Silence was dangerous. Silence ant he was calculating sothing I couldn’t read.
Finally, he spoke.
"What truck?"
I almost cursed out loud.
Seriously?
"The truck that had the money in it, sir," I said quickly.
His gaze flickered as if he was piecing sothing together.
"...Okay. I think I rember now."
My lungs loosened slightly, relief creeping in, until his eyes sharpened like blades. His voice, too, hardened.
"But... if you were truly among the n sent to bring the funds, you wouldn’t be offloading them here. You were supposed to et the funds storage manager."
The words hit like a blade through the ribs.
Things were spiraling fast, heading straight into the fire.
I bowed my head slightly, forcing a contrite tone.
"I apologize, sir. That must’ve been my mistake. I must’ve misunderstood the instructions given."
Another silence. His gaze lingered on , weighing, dissecting.
Finally, he gave a small nod.
"Seems like it."
I exhaled slowly, bowing deeper this.
"If that’s all, I would like to take my leave now, sir. Please excuse ."
I turned to walk, every nerve screaming at to stay calm, not to run, not to betray even an ounce of fear.
My boots carried one step, two—
"...And besides that," his voice cut through the air, cold and certain, "all our staff, every last one of them, were notified. Even those not on shift. No one was to co here."
I froze. My eyes stayed locked forward, muscles stiff.
"Then tell ," he continued, his voice low and deliberate, "how is it that you did not know about that?"
I swallowed hard. My brain scread, searching for a thread to hold onto.
"I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t understand what you an," I said, keeping my voice as neutral as possible.
He chuckled faintly, but there was no humor in it.
"What I an? Who knows? But perhaps it’s sothing only you would know."
My eyes turned sharp at his words.
System, I thought you said there were many valuable things here.
Why is it only here that is cancelled for staffs to enter.
[Yes, there are indeed, funds, ability cores, technique books, and other resources. But out of all those, what lies in the main storage room is the most important.]
Ability cores.
My breath hitched.
Wait. Did it just say ability cores?
Ability cores was sothing that grant abilities to whoever uses it.
There weren’t just valuable, they were practically priceless.
Rare beyond belief, to the point that not even the combined treasury of an entire nation could buy one outright.
People killed, betrayed, and waged wars for the faintest rumor of one.
And this place... had one?
But then another thought froze .
If an ability core was here... and it wasn’t even the most important thing in the storage... then what in the world could possibly be more valuable?
My chest tightened as I whispered in my head.
System, what exactly are you hiding?
[It’s not only a technique in there. The ability core I ntioned is the one inside that room.]
I blinked.
What? You told it was just a technique!
[If I told you about the core, would you have accepted the quest?]
The words hit like a punch.
[I am certain you would have chosen the penalty, having your stats reduced, rather than attempting to steal an ability core.]
And damn it, the system was right.
I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near this place if I had known.
Because stealing a core wasn’t just dangerous, it was suicide.
No one had ever pulled it off. Not once. Everyone who tried ended up dead.
So were killed instantly, so after days of torture, but in the end, all of them were corpses.
Ability cores weren’t property. They were sacred treasures guarded by organizations as if they were fragnts of godhood itself.
And now, here I was, standing in front of the door to one, dressed in a stolen uniform and clutching a pathetic disguise.
My blood ran cold.
Wait.
I turned, slowly, toward the man in the black suit.
His gaze was locked on , sharp and unrelenting, his presence heavier now than before.
System, aren’t ability cores supposed to be... you know... guarded insanely hard?
[Yes...]
The answer ca too slowly, too cautiously.
The man’s lips curved faintly, his tone calm but edged with finality.
"Are you finished thinking? Because no matter what you co up with... it will be useless."
A shiver crawled up my spine.
System, doesn’t that an—?
[Yes.]
My eyes widened in horror.
And at that exact mont, the building shook.
A thunderous BOOM ripped through the compound, the walls trembling as a shockwave of heat and dust slamd into us.
Lights flickered. Sirens howled. The floor quaked beneath my boots.
"An explosion!"
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