Inside the Director's office, it was obvious that someone had turned the room upside down.
Drawers were left open. Cabinets slightly misaligned.
The desktop screen still glowed faintly in the dim lighting, its brightness the only real source of illumination in a room clearly not meant to be used in darkness.
The Director wasn't the one inside.
The person searching was drenched in sweat, not from fear, but from heat.
A full-body suit trapped warmth against his skin, causing his body temperature to rise steadily as minutes passed. Rey could feel it clearly now, his breathing growing heavier.
Then—
A notification appeared.
───◈ Resistance Tab Unlocked ◈───
➤ [A new tab has been unlocked: Resistance.]
───◈ New Resistance Acquired ◈───
➤ [Heat Resistance (F)]
→ Slightly reduces the effects of environmental heat and heat-based damage.
───◈◈◈◈───
Rey paused and checked the system screen.
A new tab had appeared.
"…Resistance?" he muttered.
"What's this now?" he asked, glancing inward where Aiden was also observing the system messages.
"Oh, nothing special," Aiden replied casually. "Just benefits you'll keep stacking from now on. Your body adapts fast. If you ever manage to develop Curse Resistance, you might even suppress or negate the curse you're carrying."
Rey's eyes narrowed slightly. "That sounds… important."
"It is," Aiden said. "Also very far away."
Rey didn't dwell on it and returned his focus to the desktop.
After a few more minutes of digging, he finally found something meaningful.
A contract.
Attached as a PDF.
As Rey read through it, his expression slowly hardened.
This wasn't just one Martial Center.
A hidden faction was manipulating equipment distribution across most Martial Centers in the Dragon Kingdom.
Illegal possession of weapons. Modified items. Dangerous gear disguised as training tools.
Almost every center was involved.
Almost.
A few directors had refused to cooperate.
Those who resisted were either being pressured… or replaced.
Even the Director of Lumina City's Martial Center was directly tied to the scheme.
Everyone involved was earning obscene profits.
At first, Rey thought the Empire itself might be behind this.
But that idea collapsed quickly.
If the Empire were responsible, no one would dare oppose it. Not even one Director.
The existence of resistance meant only one thing.
The force behind this was powerful, but not imperial.
A major noble.
Or a coalition of them.
Someone influential enough to threaten the royal family, yet cautious enough to remain in the shadows.
Rey exhaled slowly.
This was bigger than he thought.
He immediately transferred the PDF to his phone and wiped all traces from the system. Logs. Temporary files. Anything that could be used to trace access.
Once done, he shut the computer down.
Just as he turned to leave—
Victor appeared in front of him.
Blocking the way.
"What is it?" Rey asked. "Why are you stopping me?"
Victor's eyes narrowed slightly. "Aren't you forgetting something, kid?"
Rey blinked. "Forgetting… what?"
Victor stared at him for a second longer.
Then smiled.
A slow, unsettling grin.
"Hah. You really forgot," Victor said. "This mission wasn't just about evidence. We also came here to recover what we spent. With interest."
Rey froze.
"…Ah. That."
"You were going to leave empty-handed?" Victor continued. "Search for it yourself, or let me do it. But if I do, don't complain when it doesn't end up in your pocket."
"Right—right. I'll handle it," Rey said quickly.
He turned around and began searching again.
It didn't take long.
Hidden behind a false panel inside a cabinet was a compact locker, about the size of a large box.
Rey didn't even bother opening it.
He stored the entire thing directly into his inventory.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"No," Aiden replied. "That's all."
Rey nodded and reached for the door.
He turned the handle.
Nothing.
He pulled harder.
Still nothing.
Locked.
His brows furrowed.
"…Did the guard outside lock it?" Rey whispered.
"Not just him," Aiden replied calmly. "Every guard in the building is outside this room. And the Director himself is likely on his way."
Rey's breath hitched.
"What? How? I was in stealth the whole time—"
He looked down.
His body was fully visible.
"…Aiden."
"Maybe," Aiden said lightly. "Maybe not."
Rey clenched his fists. "You idiot. Can't you just let me live a quiet life for once?"
Outside, the guards heard the raised voices and stiffened, assuming multiple intruders were arguing after being cornered.
Weapons were raised.
Guns readied.
Cold steel drawn.
Rey forced himself to calm down.
There was no second exit.
No windows.
The Director's office was buried in the heart of the building.
Then—
Silence.
The guards exchanged glances.
Something felt off.
One of them was shoved forward.
The unlucky guard grabbed the handle with trembling hands.
The door swung open—
BANG!
A fist slammed into his face.
His body flew backwards, crashing into the guards behind him.
Chaos erupted.
Guns were raised instantly.
Blades flashed.
Then—
A silhouette emerged.
Dark clothing clung tightly to his body. A mask concealed his face. A cap shadowed his eyes.
Two daggers gleamed in his hands.
Every guard attacked at once.
Gunfire echoed.
Blades slashed.
But the intruder moved like a phantom.
Precise. Efficient.
He blocked what he could.
Dodged the rest.
Yet something was strange.
He wasn't killing.
Only injuring.
Disabling.
Aiden watched, irritation rising.
"What are you doing?" he snapped. "Do you think this mindset keeps you alive? Keep hesitating, and you'll die right here."
Rey ducked under a blade and whispered back, "They're just doing their jobs."
"And you think that matters?" Aiden growled. "Let them hit you a few times and see how righteous they are."
Rey didn't answer.
But his movements changed.
The next guard rushed forward.
And missed.
A blade pierced his throat from the side.
Blood sprayed.
The body collapsed.
Silence fell for half a heartbeat.
Then terror spread.
They understood.
The intruder had been holding back.
The real nightmare had just begun.
Rey stopped holding back.
The hesitation that had slowed his hands earlier was gone, stripped away the moment blood had been spilt. If he stayed any longer, stronger forces would arrive. He needed to end this now and disappear.
"{Umbral Dash}. {Abyssal Burst}. {Phantom Stride}."
Three skills activated in succession.
Power surged through his body. Not explosively, not dramatically, but clean and sharp. His strength rose by a few points. His agility followed. On paper, it was nothing impressive.
In reality, it was enough.
Rey moved.
Every strike of his dagger now sought a vital point. Throat. Heart. Spine. Arteries. The blade slipped in with frightening precision, sometimes merely crippling, sometimes ending a life outright.
His strengthened body blocked blows that would have staggered him before, while his agility allowed him to slip through gaps that shouldn't have existed.
As he fought, he felt it.
The subtle feedback from his skills.
They were growing.
Each movement felt smoother. Each strike cleaner. His buffs had increased slightly again, proof that his skills had levelled up mid-combat.
He didn't even need to draw additional daggers from his shadow.
Guards fell one after another.
Then the gunfire started.
Relentless.
Continuous.
His speed wasn't enough to evade bullets completely, and his endurance couldn't afford to tank them head-on. The hallway turned into a death funnel.
Without hesitation, Rey grabbed a guard and dragged him forward, using the man's body as a shield.
Bullets tore through flesh.
He sprinted toward the corner of the hall, bullets grazing past him like angry wasps. He made it just in time, slamming into cover.
Pain flared across his body. Scratches. Grazes. Shallow wounds.
No one walked away clean from that kind of fire, shield or not.
The body he'd used collapsed, riddled with holes.
Rey exhaled sharply.
Thankfully, his regenerative ability kicked in. The damage began to close, skin knitting itself back together faster than normal human limits allowed.
He peeked out slightly.
Gunfire erupted instantly.
A bullet missed his head by mere millimeters and shattered against the wall behind him.
Rey clicked his tongue and pulled back.
"Tch."
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then he felt it.
His shadow shifted.
An idea formed.
A slow smirk spread beneath his mask.
The guards in the hallway were exposed. No cover. Confident he couldn't reach them.
That confidence was their mistake.
Before they could fully react, several daggers shot out toward them as if thrown directly.
The guards reacted fast, dodging instinctively. A few were grazed, but nothing fatal.
They exhaled in relief.
Too soon.
The daggers didn't fall.
They didn't hit the walls.
They curved upward.
Lights exploded one after another.
Glass shattered.
The hallway plunged into darkness.
Screams followed.
Bodies hit the floor, one after another, cries of pain echoing through the pitch-black corridor.
Panicked, several guards activated their torches.
The beams revealed three corpses on the ground.
And one man.
Still alive.
Barely.
Rey held him by the collar, a dagger buried deep in his chest. The guard gasped helplessly, eyes wide with terror.
Rey released him.
The body collapsed.
He turned toward the remaining guards, who stared at him like they were witnessing a monster crawl out of a nightmare.
At that moment, their walkie-talkies crackled to life.
One guard answered with trembling hands.
A furious voice erupted from the other side, coming from the security room.
"What are you doing? Hold him there. Stall him for a few minutes. Sir is on his way. Don't let him escape."
The man swallowed hard.
"If you fail, dying here will be merciful compared to what the boss will do to you."
The transmission cut.
Rey had heard everything.
"So that's how it is," he murmured.
He rushed forward again.
The guards retreated, panicking, backing away from the darkness he controlled. They kept retreating until they reached a section of the hall where emergency lighting still functioned.
Six guards remained.
Rey stopped.
He looked at them.
Then grinned.
"Let's end this in one move."
Six daggers slid out from his shadow, floating silently in the air before him.
The guards froze.
This wasn't something a human should be able to do. It looked like something torn straight from fiction.
Even the observer watching through the cameras went silent.
Before anyone could scream, the daggers shot forward.
One was different.
Five were identical.
Five guards died instantly. No struggle. No resistance. Their bodies collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
The sixth guard remained standing.
The different dagger had pierced his heart.
His mouth opened, spilling meaningless sounds. His eyes turned bloodshot. His skin darkened unnaturally.
Then the wound changed.
Dark blood poured out instead of red.
The flesh around the injury swelled grotesquely, muscles bulging until the dagger was forced out and clattered onto the floor.
The man collapsed, convulsing violently.
After a few horrifying seconds, he stopped moving.
Rey stared.
Silence returned.
"…What the hell was that?" Rey muttered.
"Oh," a calm voice replied. "So the curse is finally taking root."
Veylen appeared beside him, observing the corpse with interest.
"It seems the curse was dormant until your experiences began piling up. Power paths have a way of awakening things that should've stayed asleep."
Rey frowned. "I don't get it."
"You don't need to," Veylen replied. "Not yet. You'll understand once you start seeing it more often. Just remember, it's tied to your curse effects."
Rey didn't ask further.
He checked the area.
No movement.
No survivors.
He turned and left.
In the security room, the observer sat frozen, staring at the aftermath on his screens. His hands shook as he picked up the phone.
"H-Hello, boss…"