Getting out was easier than getting in.
The floodgate Jack had sealed was heavy, but with his new stats from reaching Level 4, Kai forced the manual override wheel to turn.
Creeeeak.
He slipped out into the twilight. The city of New Babylon was waking up, neon lights flickering on in the smog.
He pulled his hoodie low. He was covered in dried sewage and blood, but in the Slums (Sector 9), nobody looked twice at a dirty Hunter. They just assumed you had a bad day.
Kai didn't go to the Guild Hall.
Reporting back meant paperwork. It meant questions. How did an F-Rank survive a D+ Naga? Where is the Core?
The Viper Guild would confiscate everything.
"I need cash. Now," Kai whispered.
He headed straight for the "Black Zone"—an illegal market hidden in the basement of an abandoned subway station.
[The Black Zone - Shop: "Leo's Pawn"]
The shop smelled of rust and cheap tobacco.
Leo, a crippled ex-Hunter with a mechanical eye, sat behind a reinforced glass counter, cleaning a shotgun.
"We're closed," Leo grunted without looking up.
"I'm not buying," Kai said, placing a heavy, blood-stained cloth on the counter. "I'm selling."
Leo looked up. His mechanical eye whirred, zooming in on Kai's face.
"Kai? The Porter? I heard your squad got wiped out. Jack is on TV right now crying about how he 'tried to save everyone'."
"Jack is a liar," Kai said flatly.
He unwrapped the cloth.
The D-Rank Variant Core rolled out, glowing softly in the dim light.
Leo froze. He dropped his rag.
He picked up the core, examining it with a jeweler's loupe.
"Twin-Headed Naga... High purity," Leo muttered, his voice losing its roughness. "This is hot, Kai. Extremely hot. If the Viper Guild knows you have this..."
"Do you want it or not?" Kai interrupted. "No questions. Cash only."
Leo stared at Kai for a long moment. He saw something different in the kid's eyes. The timid Porter was gone. The person standing there looked like a predator wearing human skin.
"Market price is 35k," Leo said, tapping the glass. "Since it's hot, and I have to scrub the mana signature... 25k."
It was a rip-off. A 30% cut.
But Kai didn't have time to haggle.
"Deal."
Leo nodded, impressed. He opened a safe and counted out stacks of used bills. "Pleasure doing business. If you find more... trash like this, bring it to me."
Kai shoved the money into his bag without counting. He turned to leave.
"Hey," Leo called out. "Jack thinks you're dead. If he sees you walking around..."
"He won't see me," Kai said, his hand resting on the hilt of the stolen dagger under his jacket. "Not until I want him to."
[St. Mary's Hospital]
The smell of antiseptic was suffocating.
"Mr. Kai, I'm sorry," the receptionist said, looking at her computer screen with a practiced frown. "We can't extend the grace period anymore. Mia's life support consumes high-grade mana fluid. It's expensive."
She reached for the phone. "I have to call security to escort you out and terminate the—"
THUD.
A brick of cash slammed onto the counter. Then another. And another.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
The receptionist stopped dialing. Her mouth hung open.
"Update the account," Kai said, his voice cold and devoid of politeness. "VIP suite. Best medication. Now."
"Y-Yes, sir! Right away!" Her attitude flipped instantly.
Kai walked past her, down the long white corridor, until he reached Room 304.
Through the glass window, he saw her.
Mia. She was only twelve. Her skin was pale, and patches of blue crystals—Mana Crystallization Syndrome—were growing on her arms.
She looked peaceful, sleeping amidst the humming machines.
Kai pressed his hand against the glass. The rage that fueled him in the dungeon softened into a deep, aching sadness.
"I made it, Mia," he whispered.
But he knew this money would only last two months. The crystals were spreading. To cure her, he needed the Elixir of Life.
And that only dropped in S-Rank Dungeons.
S-Rank.
God-tier.
It seemed impossible.
But Kai looked at his reflection in the glass. Behind him, in the shadow cast by the hospital lights, a pair of yellow snake eyes blinked open.
[Current Status]
Name: Kai
Class: Necro-Monarch (Hidden)
Level: 4
Shadows: 1/10
He wasn't an F-Rank Porter anymore.
"I'll burn the whole world down if I have to," Kai vowed.
He turned away from the window.
Now, he had a sister to save.
And a Captain to kill.
（"Enjoying the massacre? Drop a Power Stone to feed the Clone Army!"）