The squad leader of Hector’s forces moved slowly through the darkness.
His state-of-the-art ocular implants painted the pitch-black corridor in clear shades of infrared.
The air reeked of dust and stale oil, but he didn’t so much as flinch — he was used to worse.
The operation’s going smoothly.
Their target — Amber — had barely put up a fight against the ambush.
She was supposed to be a forr Netwitch, but like most of her kind, she was vulnerable to direct, physical assault.
Records of her rcenary past — the ones she tried so hard to bury — had been dug up easily by Hexa Core Armory’s intel team.
She wasn’t the primary objective of tonight’s mission, but leaving her alive would've been a mistake.
Especially with the kidnapping of Iris underway — any loose ends had to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) be tied off beforehand.
That was Hector’s way.
As the squad descended deeper underground, the air grew colder, heavier.
The leader flashed hand signals to his troops, telling them to stay sharp.
They were gradually cornering the target in the dark.
It was almost over.
And then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion ripped through the basent, shaking the ground and raining concrete dust from the ceiling.
The squad leader instinctively dropped low and spun around.
One of his n crumpled lifelessly to the floor — his head gone.
Sparks and black smoke sizzled from the stump of his severed neck.
An anti-tank rifle?
The leader’s brow furrowed.
What kind of psycho brings an anti-tank rifle to a close-quarters fight?
But worse — he couldn’t see the shooter.
Not even with his upgraded vision that captured light, heat, and movent across multiple spectrums.
Nothing.
Sa for the others.
They scattered, diving behind cover, ready for another shot.
The squad leader ducked behind the nearest pillar and cracked open the comm channel to the Netwitch operative stationed in the rear.
They would need beyond-human senses now.
The Netwitch could see through walls, through darkness, through everything.
[Nothing. Nothing’s showing on the scan—]
The operative’s panicked voice crackled through the line.
And then—!
A blinding flash of light split the basent.
A beam shot upward, lancing from underground straight toward the surface — a column of blinding force.
Screams tore through the comms, followed by the wet sounds of flesh being ripped apart.
The Netwitch was dead.
The squad leader caught it in the corner of his vision — a shimr of green light, like heat haze, flickering and disappearing.
—!
He knew imdiately what that ant.
The green shimr.
Anti-tank rifle fire against human targets.
Firepower that shredded walls like paper.
It all clicked into place.
Data from old black ops files surfaced in his mind.
"Shit..."
He cursed under his breath.
"The target is Green Lace — forr Nexus Node operative, presud dead! Full retreat, now!"
Without hesitation, he popped a smoke grenade.
A dense cloud of smoke swallowed the corridor, muffling sound and scattering the light.
Trusting only his muscle mory, he sprinted back the way they’d co.
Shit. Amber was Green Lace all along?
Was all that sloppy intel a deliberate fake?
BOOM. BOOM.
The brutal roar of the anti-tank rifle echoed behind him.
Short, broken screams.
The shriek of tal being torn apart.
But he didn’t look back.
He knew — against soone like Green Lace, the legendary operative from Nexus Node, Hector’s team didn’t stand a chance.
Finally, he reached the stairs leading up to the ground floor.
The ruined Seoul Office stretched before him under the sick glow of battered neon lights.
Broken furniture and shattered glass littered the ground.
And in front of the exit, silhouetted against the neon—
A figure stood waiting.
A woman in a black bodysuit.
She raised her rifle.
"Goddamn it."
That was the last thing the squad leader ever said.
BANG.
The gunshot rang out across the empty Seoul Office — one he never heard.
****
Amber squeezed the trigger one last ti — blowing apart the final enemy’s head — but the brutal recoil sent her reeling.
She collapsed onto the cold floor, her overheated body sinking into the chill.
Dizzy... So cold...
Blood still poured from the wound in her right shoulder.
Her vision blurred.
She could feel her senses fading, her limbs growing numb.
She didn’t even have the strength left to twitch a finger.
Is this it...? Am I dying...?
The thought rose faintly.
In the fog of her mind, she saw "I"’s smiling face.
They hadn’t known each other long — but sohow, she cared about that kid.
Sorry, "I"... looks like I won't be able to get you more coating after all...
As her consciousness slipped away, a shadow lood over her.
"Amber!"
A familiar voice called out.
And Amber closed her eyes.
****
Leaving my studio, I skimd through the files Aria had sent .
The data was brief — too brief.
But it said enough.
Short, blunt, rushed.
Aria was moving fast too — probably heading out to check on Amber’s situation herself.
Well, if anyone could handle herself in the field, it was Aria.
Without wasting another second, I threw myself into the shadows.
It felt like I was swimming through freezing liquid — darkness wrapped around , thick and familiar.
Sliding between shadows, I made my way toward the coordinates Aria had sent.
It didn’t take long to arrive.
The abandoned subway transfer station lood ahead, forgotten by ti, a relic from an era when crowds once filled these platforms.
Now, broken debris littered the cracked floor, and the entrance steps were half-buried under piles of rubble and trash.
"...Way too quiet."
For a gang hideout, it was disturbingly silent.
Had Victor already torn through here?
I tapped my lips thoughtfully with my finger.
Maybe I should sneak inside quietly and search for him—
Nah. Too much work.
I chose the simpler, more effective thod.
Break everything.
Clenching my fists, I charged straight at the rusted tal doors.
They crumpled like paper and flew inward with a loud screech.
Amid the rising cloud of dust and shattered debris, I stord into the darkness.
The wide main concourse stretched out before .
Under the faint ergency lights, Red Rail gang mbers scrambled to draw their weapons.
"Intruder!"
"What the hell — it's just so kid?!"
****
"Where's Victor?!"
I grabbed a Red Rail thug by the collar, yanking him off the floor — his arms and legs were already broken.
Terror and agony filled his eyes.
"I don't know! I swear! Who the hell is Victor?!"
He sobbed, begging.
Huh. Pretty tight information security for a gang...
I clicked my tongue in annoyance and blew his head off.
Blood sprayed across the wall in a sickening fan shape.
Turning around, I saw the concourse was a battlefield of corpses and wreckage.
Twisted bodies, shattered limbs, headless remains.
"Red Rail, huh... They're tougher than I thought. Not a single one broke."
I dropped heavily onto a patch of relatively clean concrete.
The exhaustion wasn’t physical — it was the hollow, bitter kind.
After smashing everything, I still hadn’t found a single lead.
This is exactly when Amber would’ve been useful...
"What now...?"
Where had Victor gone?
And Iris — was she even still here?
Damn it. I didn’t even ask about Iris...
Looking around, the only "people" left were too headless to answer any questions.
Just then, my AR interface buzzed.
It was Aria.
"Aria? How's Amber?"
I blurted the question imdiately.
Amber’s safety was still my biggest worry.
[A, listen. Victor’s not there.]
Aria’s voice was urgent, almost frantic.
"!!!!"
[Victor slipped inside the subway lines. He’s tracking the transport carrying Iris along the tracks. You need to catch up to him — fast.]
She sent a new set of coordinates.
There was sothing raw in her voice — fear she couldn't hide.
[Victor’s heading toward a zone occupied by Hexa Core’s elite forces.]
****
Victor moved like a ghost, slipping through the gaps in Red Rail’s crude periter.
His steps were silent, slicing through the darkness, while his enhanced ocular implants absorbed every scrap of light and detail.
Following faint tire marks and the residual energy signature of the transport vehicle, he advanced deeper into the abandoned tunnels.
His upgraded legs, lungs, and foot implants pushed his movent far beyond human limits.
Stealthy enough to avoid detection — fast enough to keep up.
Victor could feel it — his body wasn’t flesh anymore. It was a perfect machine.
Good.
He exhaled a breath of relief.
Good thing he’d decided to undergo all those augntations.
With his old body, he would’ve fallen too far behind by now.
As he pushed deeper into the tunnels, the environnt began to shift.
Torn fractures in space.
Pockets of black, ink-like corruption floated through the air.
Victor had never seen phenona like this before.
This wasn’t just an abandoned subway system anymore.
Sothing dangerous lies ahead.
The thought sent a chill through him — but he didn’t slow down.
He had to save Iris.
That girl had already suffered enough in her short life.
At last, he reached the end of the tunnel.
A vast underground cavern opened up before him.
Victor swallowed hard.
It was a graveyard of machines.
Mountains of rusted, broken implants.
Tanks ripped apart, their armor peeled back like rotten fruit.
Even the wreckage of downed aircraft lay twisted among the ruins.
Spent shells and shattered artillery littered the ground.
It looked like a battlefield from a forgotten war.
And at the center of it all — the transport vehicle.
The one he’d been following.
Parked dead in the middle of the graveyard.
Standing beside it was a massive figure.
Victor’s muscles tensed the mont he laid eyes on it.
A towering body of black, gleaming tal.
Inhumanly large — monstrously imposing.
And in the dark, its crimson eyes burned like coals.
Even though he had never seen him in person, Victor recognized him instantly.
Babel’s living legend.
Hexa Core’s ultimate hunting dog.
Hector.
Why is Hector here?!
Victor’s mind reeled.
As he struggled to make sense of it, Hector slowly turned his head.
His burning chanical gaze locked directly onto Victor’s hiding spot.
["Looks like we have a rat in the house."]
The cold, chanical voice rumbled across the cavern like a funeral bell.
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