The soft clatter of utensils and low conversation filled the dim restaurant.
A faint blue glow from the holo-lamps rippled across the cracked walls, casting restless shadows over tables crowded with hunters. The air was thick with the smell of roasted meat and oilbread heavy, greasy, but oddly comforting after a long raid.
Lee Jaehyuk sat by the window, hands loosely folded, watching the rain streak down the glass like veins slow, endless, and silent.
Across from him, Kang Joobin leaned back with a grin that was all bravado and charm. His armor, for once, was polished. A half-empty bottle of soju caught the light beside him.
"C'mon, man," Joobin said, tone light but coaxing. "You saw us out there. We work clean. Efficient. You'd fit right in with Steel Fang."
Jaehyuk lifted his cup, the warmth of the drink bleeding through his fingers. He took a sip, unhurried. His expression didn't move.
"Efficient," he repeated, the word carrying a faint edge. "Half your team nearly died because your mage missed the barrier."
Joobin froze, then gave a sheepish laugh. "Hey, Rian's still learning. Give him a few more runs"
"And your healer," Jaehyuk said, cutting him off with quiet precision. "Her mana flow's unstable. She miscast twice and almost passed out. If that cleric hadn't been interrupted, you'd all be corpses."
Silence crept between them, heavy and awkward. Around them, the hum of conversation carried on clinking glasses, laughter, rain tapping faintly against the roof.
Joobin scratched the back of his neck, his grin fading into something smaller. "...So you noticed."
Jaehyuk leaned back, eyes steady. "I noticed everything."
His passive scan Energy Pulse Vision had shown him every flaw: the stuttering auras, the weak links in their formation, the unstable flow of power. To him, their coordination looked less like teamwork and more like broken code stitched together by luck.
But he didn't say that out loud.
Joobin sighed, tone softening. "Look, you're good. Too good to be running solo. The Regime's cracking down on unregistered raids you'll need a guild. You'll need cover."
"I don't need anyone," Jaehyuk said simply.
It wasn't loud, but it landed like a door slamming shut.
Joobin studied him for a moment, then let out a defeated chuckle. "Yeah. Should've figured."
He reached into his pocket and placed a data card on the table. Steel Fang's emblem flickered faintly in holographic blue.
"If you ever change your mind, the offer stands. I'll even double the rewards raid cuts, Soulmark bonuses, gear access. Hell, name your price."
Jaehyuk didn't even glance at it. "Not interested."
Joobin exhaled through his nose, then smiled a little. "Guess that's that."
He stood, slinging his jacket over one shoulder. "Still try not to die out there, Zero."
That name again.
Jaehyuk's gaze sharpened. "Don't call me that."
Joobin lifted his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Lee Jaehyuk, then."
He flashed a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes and walked away into the noise of the restaurant, leaving the data card untouched.
When the door closed behind him, Jaehyuk sat there for a while.
Rain tapped against the window, steady and patient. Somewhere outside, a siren wailed a Regime patrol drone sweeping the city sky.
He opened his Aegis console.
> [Balance: 3,742 Silver Soulmarks]
[Available Dungeons Nearby — Tier D / Tier C / Restricted Access]
[Recommended: Team Entry]
[Warning: Solo runs increase fatality risk by 82%.]
Jaehyuk's lips twitched into the ghost of a smirk.
"Eighty-two percent, huh."
He closed the console, tossed a few coins onto the table. They hit the wood with a soft clink dull and lonely.
Outside, the streets were slick with rain, neon lights bleeding across the puddles like fractured code. His boots splashed softly as he headed toward District 9 the Unauthorized Zone.
A collapsed metro tunnel loomed ahead, coughing out faint black mist. Any sane hunter would've turned back.
Jaehyuk stepped forward without hesitation.
> [Unauthorized Entry Detected — Class D Dungeon: 'Hollow Veins']
[Aegis Console Activated — Adaptive Scan Mode: Online]
[Codename: ZERO — Sync Rate: 100%]
The gate sealed shut behind him, swallowing the city's noise.
Darkness stretched out before him, but blue threads began to shimmer in the void his system tracing every pulse, every lurking presence.
He drew his blade, eyes cold and certain.
For everyone else, the dungeon was death.
For him, it was freedom.