The sun had long since been shoved aside by twilight, yet Lake City’s night burned hotter and brighter than the day.

Shwaaaaa!

The night sky soon unleashed a downpour on the city of eternal lights, as if trying to cool its fever. Thick rain clouds and the scent of wet earth heralded the storm.

Moments later, the thick smoke screen washed away, revealing the horrific scene beyond. Raindrops drummed on the corpses like they were instruments, each body missing at least one limb.

Drip. Drip.

The dead outnumbered the living two to one.

It was safe to say nearly all were gone.

The few survivors stood frozen like statues. They too were pelted by raindrops alongside their fallen comrades, their faces growing paler by the second.

“Haa… haa…”

Fumito panted heavily. As expected, he was a mess. Having thrown defense to the wind in his frenzy, bullet holes riddled his body.

The haze had lifted, silence descending as the pattering rain provided a somber backdrop.

A temporary lull had arrived. But it was precarious—the spark could reignite at any moment.

All eyes turned to Lee Taebaek, as if he alone held the power of life and death over everyone.

Gulp.

Lee Taebaek’s gaze wasn’t on the scene. It drifted somewhere in the empty space between the moon and clouds.

His level had jumped two stages. Stats that had been single digits now all crossed into double figures!

And that wasn’t the end.

Vitality surged through every corner of Lee Taebaek’s body, which had been too weak to even hold an umbrella against the rain. And that was just the start.

“…”

Bullet Time.

A secret skill Lee Taebaek and his team had made as a joke. They called it the most basic implant, chuckling over it as an Easter egg among themselves.

But it was dummy data they’d half-jokingly created and scrapped due to copyright issues. So why…?

Lee Taebaek felt a chill, like locking eyes with a ghost. Maybe it really was one—the specter’s form was just lines of text.

A reward for fixing a bug is another bug.

It was absurd, but his lips curved into a smile anyway. Lee Taebaek was a gamer through and through. He went wild for level-ups and flipped out over loot.

Besides, he’d just savored the thrill of survival. Separate from gripes about new bugs, the fullness of being alive tugged his lips upward.

Shwaaaaa…

Raindrops clung to his lashes, forming a veil over his retinas. Taebaek swept back his wet bangs.

First he saw Haiyen, dead on his knees. Blood trailed from the blade-embedded temple, dripping past his split jaw.

He frowned, then retrieved the blade from the temple and the Python from the mouth.

Holding gun and blade in each hand, he stood still. He let the rainwater rinse the blood and oil from them.

Swish.

Then he glanced sideways at the surroundings. The surviving enemies recoiled with dull eyes.

Haiyen was one of the underworld’s top powerhouses. Even if his strength came from doping on Berserk. That was the consensus of Triad Gang and Lukaken staff alike.

No wonder they’re shocked that guy’s dead.

Lee Taebaek turned his sunken gaze toward one direction. A lump of flesh stained with desire came into view.

“Haiyen… Haiyen… is dead…?”

Lukaken Junior’s lips trembled. His already pale face looked worse than the corpses.

He could guess the gist. In short, Lukaken Junior had harbored ambitions beyond his station.

At least right under a megacorp. If greedy, he’d eyed their doorstep. If his head was that swollen, maybe even a spot in the megacorp itself.

Lukaken addicted Haiyen to Berserk, turned him into his blade, and dreamed beyond…

Lukaken Junior must have glimpsed Haiyen’s strength and potential in some incident. So he’d supplied Berserk under the guise of clinical trials.

And while laundering dirty money through him to build ties, planned to wield him as his sword.

As his deductions wrapped up, a scoff escaped Lee Taebaek’s lips. It was ridiculous.

Dream big, but know your limits. How lightly did that pig bastard view the megacorps?

“That idiot’s beyond words.”

Muttering, Lee Taebaek envisioned Lukaken Pharmaceuticals’ grim future.

It was as good as bankrupt already. Because he’d end it himself. The Python and blade were clean enough now.

Time to finish.

Splash.

Tucking away the Python, Lee Taebaek stepped forward. Diluted blood splashed at his ankles.

Splash.

He knew it too. To outsiders, that pig and he were both knee-deep in lawlessness. He’d commit countless crimes ahead.

Humans need a core. Not some moral idealism, though.

He’d never planned childish heroics.

Just one thing he’d hold to: eradicate the bugs he’d forbidden as a dev. With these hands.

For some reason, the bugs he’d sealed were rampant. Drugs, human trafficking, live experiments, for example.

Including dummy data like Bullet Time.

Something had gone wrong, tangling the world’s flow. He still didn’t know the cause or full story.

But it gave him direction and guidance.

Root out and eliminate all the bad actors.

Why? Simple.

Because he loved this world infinitely.

I’ll fix it.

He’d gladly take on the task.

He was part of Raken’s—and its operator.

The downpour peaked. Lukaken Junior hacked like his throat was clogged.

“O-oh, stay back…!”

Lukaken squealed like a pig at slaughter. He stretched out hands as if grasping at air.

Plump fingers parted to reveal it: the approaching figure, blade tip lowered like a reaper’s scythe. Even the enemies blocking the way parted slowly.

“Do you know who’s behind me?!”

The villains’ struggles were textbook, like they’d trained under the same master.

“S-stop him!”

“…”

“B-block him, and I’ll give you all the cash over there!”

“…!”

Someone twitched. Gangster 1 nudged his shoulder and said loud enough for all:

“Hey, hey—don’t. No selling your life for money.”

“You moron. It’s 10 billion won. 10 billion. Chumps like us couldn’t touch that in a lifetime.”

“Sigh. Know one thing, ignore two.”

Gangster 1 shook his head pityingly.

“The black-haired guy who killed Boss Haiyen’s gotta be megacorp. Probably Siesta’s…”

“What?!”

Gangster 1 glanced at Lee Taebaek’s slow approach toward Lukaken, lower lip quivering.

“Before joining Triad… saw similar swordplay…”

Hesitation-free strikes, specialized in ambushes and kills. Gangster 1 licked his lips, muttering.

“That’s definitely a Siesta assassin. Means the megacorp sniffed out this deal. Tsk, no wonder we didn’t get caught. Damn.”

“Then what do we do…?”

“What? Keep your mouths shut and stand still like now. Rush him and… ugh, don’t even. Heard if megacorp grabs you, you beg them to kill you—not save you, just kill you…!”

The other gangsters looked resigned at Gangster 1’s tale. The indifferent wind and rain slapping their cheeks made their faces even more wretched. Mention of megacorp had broken their spirits.

Escaping the megacorp web was impossible. They chose safety over the cash before them.

“You traitors!”

Lukaken wailed, but the gangsters sneered and turned away. No point responding.

Splash.

Footsteps reached Lukaken’s feet. He looked up, pupils dilating wildly.

Lightning and thunder crashed down together.

Kraaaah!

Black sky, black eyes. Lee Taebaek loomed over him, dark clouds crowning his head like a halo.

“W-wait, let’s talk… -Gurk!”

A blade sprouted from the folded fat of his nape. Lukaken let out a short death rattle as blood gushed.

Slash.

The blade pierced his throat horizontally, slicing clean.

“Ever seen a man talk to a bug?”

Lee Taebaek shook off the blood like flicking a sword. Lukaken clawed at his slashed neck, gasping before collapsing forward.

The world fell silent.

The eerie quiet unnerved more than noise.

The gangsters raised hands in surrender, but it could be misread the wrong way.

Desperate eyes shot to Gangster 1. The silver-tongued one—fix this.

Gangster 1 scanned frantically. Lukaken’s staff were wiped out. Unarmed, caught in the gang’s indiscriminate fire.

The two culprits, Lukaken and Haiyen, had gone together as guests of no return.

“This is insane…”

…No choice. Better odds if he, the dropout, stepped up instead of some thug running his mouth.

Gangster 1 took the negotiation reins.

“Uh, so we—”

After a beat of silence, as he opened his mouth—Gangster 1’s neck snapped at a right angle.

Clang!

The gangsters gawked at the limp body. Heads slowly turned toward the sound.

Three figures stood where the bullet came from. Broad-shouldered man flanked by a masked girl and a woman in white coat.

“Heroes always show last, but this? Just cleanup.”

Kang Hyeonseong muttered flatly, though laugh lines crinkled his eyes.

“Cleanup like this? Thanks anyway. Battalion Commanders’ meeting tomorrow. Boosts our voice nicely.”

Yu Dahui gathered her hair into a ponytail, gun in hand yet braiding effortlessly.

“You sulked through meetings with your vow of silence. This time, from bonuses on—gonna be wild.”

With hair neat, Yu Dahui spun her Beretta 92 stylishly—Italian-made.

Kang Hyeonseong bellowed a laugh, then strode forward, bumping his fists together.

Storm clouds thinned around the crescent moon, losing power. The rain tapered off.