Madam Celine.

I knew right away she was the one in the Butterfly Mask the moment she appeared. Even though her face was hidden, the bewitching gaze piercing through the mask kept fixed on Lee Taebaek and his group.

She was biding her time.

Lee Taebaek, whose patience was usually thin, had held out just fine.

But it seemed the other side couldn’t wait any longer.

Madam Celine was an aesthete.

In simple terms, she loved ‘beauty’. If something met her standards, she’d pursue it by any means necessary. And humans fell into that category too, needless to say.

That’s why he’d dressed up Goeun and Rock to the nines and brought them to this salon. He figured if they caught Madam Celine’s eye, things would go smoothly.

There was a variable, though.

Lee Taebaek had indirectly created Madam Celine himself. So he had etched into his brain that her specialty was past exam variations…

“The Viper Mask over there will be our next item up for bid! I’ll start the bidding myself!”

An auction where the host participates? What kind of messed-up world is this? This wasn’t a past exam variation; it felt like a whole different subject.

“To whoever strips that Viper Mask bare and presents him before me! I’ll throw in those women around him for free as a bonus!”

“Oho?!”

The ones Madam Celine had her eye on weren’t Goeun and Rock. It was Lee Taebaek himself.

“Don’t worry about the City Government’s prying eyes. You all know who’s backing our salon! Come on, everyone, show us what you’ve got!”

“So we just need to catch that one guy?”

Madam Celine nodded. Then she stepped lightly as if dancing a waltz all by herself, hyping up the crowd.

“Everything that happens here is on us—we’ll cover it up. So go wild! Rampage all you want!”

“You’d better keep that promise, Madam. Otherwise, it’ll be no fun.”

“Do you think I’d lie to guests here? I’m not that bold.”

With the salon owner personally quelling their doubts, the audience began rising from their seats.

Gazes swept over their bodies like sticky syrup. Beneath the masks, eyes brimming with lust were no doubt appraising Lee Taebaek and his group.

These weren’t ordinary spectators.

Electronic circuits glowed on hairy, rugged skin. Heat lines stood out like burst blood vessels, flickering fluorescently as they vented steam.

About twenty in total.

All of them were fully prosthetic.

In the blink of an eye, the situation turned hostile. Lee Taebaek’s group hesitated for a split second before kicking back their chairs and leaping to their feet. He had no intention of blaming them for freezing up.

He was the one who’d brought them to the salon, even if it was for their sake.

Thud, thud.

But apologizing right now wasn’t an option—the situation was dire. A gang armed with full prosthetics approached at a leisurely pace.

Half-naked under the dim lighting, their body circuits stood out starkly. Intimidating as hell.

“F-fuck, what the hell are those guys?”

“Sobang, startled again?”

“You think just anyone shows up to an upper-layer salon? And it’s an auction. This is where big shots from the city come to indulge their dark desires, you pig.”

“Wh-who’re you calling a pig, you witch!”

Well now, they even had the energy to bicker amid all this.

The homeowner’s recovery bounce was impressive.

She sealed up her mentality and got into combat stance in no time.

In a do-or-die spot like this, a reaction like Jin Sobang’s was normal.

Lee Taebaek passed a bit of extra intel to the calmest one in the group with a glancing remark.

“Three more hiding behind the curtain.”

“How’d you even spot that?”

“Just did.”

Every time a patch applied, the proportional values rose accordingly. Plus, those around him kept raising their evaluations of his potential.

There’s a saying that even seals start breakdancing from praise. It applied to Operator Lee Taebaek too. As the characters in the story began viewing him favorably, his ‘proportional increase range’ expanded without him even realizing.

The biggest contributor clicked her tongue coldly.

“They’re dead serious.”

Lee Taebaek agreed.

Had they known about the infiltration in advance? How? He’d come in secret. He’d have to find out.

First, get through this damn mess.

His mind snapped back into gear. Amid the dazzling lights, he drew his Para Blade and spat.

“I deliberately didn’t put anything on.”

Damn, even good looks could be a curse.

First time he’d ever found himself obnoxious.

Meanwhile.

“Heh heh heh, I’ll treasure you.”

“You’d crawl over if you knew who we are, right?”

The vulgar bastards closed in. At least they’d thrown on some clothes entering combat mode—small mercies.

Shing.

The blade scraped out from the Para Blade’s core like it was clawing free. The steel gleamed fully exposed.

“You said everything that happens here is to be overlooked, right?”

The thin blade reflected the Viper Mask.

A fairly welcome miscalculation, too.

“I’ll kill you all.”

Lee Taebaek snapped his remaining fingers with a ‘click’.

Almost simultaneously, the chair beneath him frosted over white. Frigid air swirled through the auction hall. As steam jetted sharper from their heat lines, panic flickered in the eyes under the masks.

Even full prosthetics probably didn’t replace the brain. Unless emotions were totally numbed, gaps would show—and gaps became opportunities.

The fruit of long accumulation. Lee Taebaek had learned from battles how to overcome numerical inferiority. He hadn’t been in the city long in calendar time, but the density was on another level.

‘Crack!’ Lee Taebaek wrapped himself in hazy mist like the eye of a storm. The moment the triangular mask shook within the white smoke.

Boom!!

The frozen chair shattered into fragments. Lee Taebaek exploded forward, thrusting his blade.

A shrill scream rang out as the blade burst from the nape. The victim raised his hands to pull it free, but Lee Taebaek kicked his chest. Another foe close behind swung to block the kick.

It ended in an attempt. The head-pierced one’s skull fused with the attacker’s forearm.

The dead man was already ice cream solid, and the corpse’s chill met the living flesh, bonding instantly. Because they were full prosthetics, the temperature gap was small, so adhesion was instant.

The one-armed foe grunted. Lee Taebaek didn’t miss the opening, leaping high.

The front five looked up in unison. Desperate faces tilting back. Staring them down, Lee Taebaek slowly closed then opened his eyes.

Lee Taebaek drew his Python and pulled the trigger. High, echoing shots rang out in succession. The Python held eight rounds—matching the number of ceiling lights dangling around.

Bang, bang!

Bullet Time suspended time’s flow endlessly, while a Mental buff swept away the lingering emotions in his chest.

So how could they miss?

No sooner had casings hit the floor than sparks flew from the lights’ bases. Crackling, they collapsed and exploded.

Chaos erupted.

His allies seized the perfect moment.

A spark ignited at one’s instep, followed by a fire arrow piercing his chest as he writhed.

Full prosthetic made fire hard to catch, but Goeun maxed output by narrowing her target per her restriction. Just one foe, but definitively finished.

One of them I can definitely finish.

Plus, she corralled the fallen light fragments with magic, blinding the enemies. A novel magic application.

We held the edge even blind—there was a difference in numbers. They were cramped by their crowd; we were just four, free to rampage.

Only then did Jin Sobang charge, Rock joined in, and Lee Taebaek—now reverse-gripping his Para Blade—plunged down.

Keuk!

The blade cleaved one vertically. The skewered chicken raised an arm to counter. Brain intact, his life wasn’t done.

Clank!

A wrist flipped open, barrel aimed at Lee Taebaek’s forehead. The foe spat curses with a grin. The arm hummed, crimson energy blazing from the wrist port.

“…?”

Then it fizzled. What the—? The foe’s eyes darted wildly even with the Viper Mask right in front of him. The system detected external intrusion—not the Viper’s doing.

Spot on. Rock’s handiwork. She’d used a chair as cover, dropped her mask at key spots, and mouthed.

“■■■.”

Curse Speech. Once a day, steal one ‘concept’. Rock uttered “energy.” Panic rippled from the platform—likely Madam Celine, curse expert.

We’ll chat later, lady.

It won’t take long. She’d thought her scheme clever, but this was within margin of error.

And if a game goes as expected, the player gets bored fast. Right—this wasn’t a game.

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter.”

Lowering his gaze, he met a pair of pleading eyes. A plea for life sent through that gaze.

Lee Taebaek’s pupils were indifferent. Blacker, more emotionless than cybernetic eyes.

The moment the foe’s eyes lost the will to fight, he reloaded swiftly. A hole opened in the pleading foe’s brow.

“Thought pitiful stares would soften me? If you wanted to shake my heart, don’t meet in a sleazy dump like this. Or at least wear clothes.”

Throwing a harsh rebuke, he wiped the blood covering his eyes with the back of his hand. Then he rolled his eyes around.

The hunt continued. Alternating magic, cold steel, and heavy firepower, he massacred the foes.

Madam Celine’s neck prickled.

The unknowns were getting shredded mercilessly. Full prosthetics should’ve made them ninja-tier at least, but they died pointlessly.

Viper Mask and crew had pierced their own blaze and the enemy’s death gate using darkness and gear.

What?

Even swatting flies with a flyswatter seemed harder. Glimpses in the flashing hall. By revolver muzzle flares, survivors numbered…

Three, two, one.

Only she remained.

The presences of her hidden curtain guards dwindled to one. Looking back, two bullet holes had appeared without her knowing when.

The lone survivor huddled like a pillbug. Amid the frenzy, he’d taken potshots here too?

As Madam Celine’s soul nearly fled her flesh, a sharp whoosh grazed her earring.

Drip.

Her mask slipped gooily. Red foam beaded a slash across her cheek.

Step, step.

Lee Taebaek ignored the totem-like woman, passing by. Screams, ensuing gunfire.

Retrieving his thrown blade, he traced her other earring with the edge.

“Think.”

Lee Taebaek exhaled hot breath.

“What’s the bid on your life?”