The paper butterfly flared with a faint crimson light, its wings vibrating with a sound like a sharpening blade.
"Don't move," Kang-woo croaked, his hand resting on Seol-ah's shoulder.
He didn't look at the butterfly. He looked up. On the shattered balcony of the fourteenth floor, the moonlight glinted off the bone-white barrel of a sniper rifle.
"Oh, you noticed my little pet?" the voice sang out.
From the shadows of a collapsed bus, a woman stepped out. She didn't wear Hunter armor. She wore a tattered, black hanbok, her long hair pinned back with a hairpin made from a human finger bone. Her eyes were tilted and cat-like, glowing with a predatory amber light.
[Entity Identified: Yeon-hee, the 'Corpse-Butterfly'.][Rank: Disaster-Class Criminal (Rank B+)][Status: Ruler of District 4.]
"The Iron Fang is five minutes away," Yeon-hee said, tilting her head. "Han-sik doesn't like losing face. He'll burn this entire block just to find your charred remains."
"And you?" Kang-woo asked, leaning heavily against the car. "Are you here for the 10 billion won too?"
Yeon-hee laughed, a sound that sent chills down Seol-ah's spine. "Money is useless in the Black Zone, little Butcher. I want what's inside you. That gray mana... it's delicious. I can smell it from a mile away."
She snapped her fingers. The paper butterfly on the car hood turned into a swarm of hundreds, circling Kang-woo and Seol-ah in a whirlwind of razor-sharp edges.
"I have a proposal," she continued. "I hide you from the Red Butcher. I give you a place to bleed out in peace. In return, you give me a 'drop' of that soul-ink you stole from the Reaper."
[Warning: Negotiating with a Disaster-Class Entity.][Risk: High. Reward: Survival.]
"Kang-woo, no," Seol-ah whispered, her hand moving toward her broken bow shards. "She's a cannibal. I've seen her files at the Bureau."
"Files don't matter when you're dead, investigator," Yeon-hee sneered.
Kang-woo looked at his hand. His veins were still pulsing with the stolen 'Auditor's Ink.' It was a poison he couldn't digest yet. If he kept it all, it would rot his heart. If he gave a piece away...
"Fine," Kang-woo said. "Hide us first. If I see a single red headlight, the ink dies with me."
Yeon-hee's smile widened, showing teeth that were slightly too sharp. "Deal."
She waved her hand. The paper butterflies swarmed the silver sedan, lifting it off the ground as if it were weightless. "Follow me. And keep your skeleton on a leash. My pets are hungry."
The Centurion emerged from the grocery store, its bones matted with fresh ghoul blood. It stood protectively behind Kang-woo as they moved into the depths of a ruined subway station—Yeon-hee's lair.
Ten minutes later, the sound of roaring engines echoed through the streets above. Han-sik and the Iron Fang had arrived.
"Find them!" Han-sik's voice boomed from the surface. "Check every shadow! I want that brat's head on my bumper!"
Down in the darkness of the subway tunnels, Kang-woo collapsed onto a pile of old newspapers. The air was cold and smelled of sulfur.
"Now," Yeon-hee said, standing over him, her hand outstretched. "The ink."
Kang-woo focused. He forced a single drop of the pitch-black, viscous ink to the tip of his finger. It felt like pulling a tooth without anesthesia. He flicked the drop into her palm.
The moment she touched it, she let out a shiver of ecstasy. The ink vanished into her skin, and her amber eyes flared with a violet tint.
"Marvelous," she breathed. "You really are a paradox."
She turned toward the tunnel entrance. "The Iron Fang is searching the surface, but they'll find the 'traps' I left for them soon. You have one hour to recover. After that, you leave District 4."
"Wait," Kang-woo said, his voice regaining some strength. "Why help us? A drop of ink isn't worth making an enemy of the Iron Fang."
Yeon-hee looked back over her shoulder, her expression suddenly serious. "Because the King of the Dead is a boring neighbor. I want to see what happens when a maggot like you tries to eat the throne."
She vanished into the dark, leaving behind a single paper butterfly to watch them.
[Resting in a Secure Zone.][Health recovering: 1% per minute.][Mana stabilizing...]
"We can't stay here," Seol-ah said, sitting next to him. "She'll sell us out the moment it suits her."
"I know," Kang-woo said. He looked at his status screen.
[Warning: The 'Debt Collectors' are frustrated.][The King has increased the Bounty.][Next Wave: The 'Hounds of the Grave' have been released.]
Far off in the tunnel, a sound began to echo. It wasn't the sound of engines or human voices. It was the sound of iron claws scraping against concrete, and a low, guttural growl that made the very air vibrate.
The Hounds didn't care about Yeon-hee's traps. They were tracking the scent of his soul.
Kang-woo looked at the Centurion. "Up. We're going deeper."
"Deeper?" Seol-ah asked. "That's District 5. Nobody comes back from there."
"Exactly," Kang-woo said, his eyes glowing with a cold, silver light. "If we're going to be monsters, we might as well go where the biggest ones live."