Tap water rushed out, slamming against the bottom of the dirty, rusted concrete sink in the underground clinic's bathroom.Jihan stood hunched over in front of the mirror, scrubbing his hands with a cheap bar of soap. He scrubbed so hard, so violently, that the cuts covering his knuckles split open and started peeling again.But Jihan didn't care about the stinging pain. His eyes widened in horror, staring at the soap suds on his hands.To him, the suds weren't white. They were a deep, dark red. Blood."Do it, son... Save your sister..."Anton's raspy whisper echoed inside his skull again, playing over and over like a broken record. Jihan could feel the sensation of the middle-aged man's neck snapping under his arm all over again. He could see Anton's tired face, his resigned smile, and the green medicine vial for Elara that was now sitting in his jacket pocket."Wash off, damn it... just wash off!" Jihan cursed under his breath, his voice trembling as he scrubbed his hands even more

"Son of a bitch!"The harsh curse exploded from Jihan's throat along with a splatter of fresh blood. Reno's barbed wire was still wrapped around his right calf, tearing through flesh and scraping against his shinbone. The pain made Jihan's vision swim with stars, but his brain refused to give up.In front of him, the neon red screen of the Death Bank System blinked aggressively.[Opening Lifespan Collateral Loan Channel...][Do you want to borrow power? Y/N]"Yes! Open the catalog, you bastard!" Jihan screamed internally, his hands gripping the cold concrete floor of the clinic.The screen changed. Instead of displaying a row of deadly powers like the Domain of the Reaper or Iron Fist, the screen actually brought up a cash warning with a mocking font.[Warning: Your Cash Balance is $0. Black Essence Deficit.][Employee (Reaper) Authority is temporarily frozen for top-tier loans!][Redirecting to the Clearance Sale Catalog...]"I don't care if it's a clearance or whatever! Give me some

The freezing wet asphalt felt like an iron grater against Jihan's peeling skin.Reno's phone, which had been glowing near his head, was now dead. It left behind the phantom of Brama's smile, etched as pure terror in Jihan's brain."Argh, fuck. Move, you useless body!" Jihan cursed in a hoarse voice. He dug his elbows into the asphalt, dragging his shattered body inch by inch toward the overturned black SUV.Both of his hip joints were still dislocated from the Black Swan penalty. He couldn't feel his legs at all. A thick line of blood trailed behind him on the empty highway.The stench of leaking gasoline mixed with the smell of burning rubber stung his nose."Luna, Luna!" Jihan called out in a panic when he managed to reach the passenger window. The glass was already shattered to pieces.Inside the overturned cabin, Luna hung suspended by her seatbelt. Fresh blood flowed from her forehead, covering part of her cracked thin-framed glasses. The car's dashboard was crumpled inward, pinn

Jihan's breathing sounded like a broken, wet whistle. The sound was shrill, ragged, and filled with the primal despair of a man being choked by empty air.His remaining twenty percent lung capacity made his left chest feel like it was crushed under reinforced concrete. He thrashed on the cold asphalt of the highway. Both of his hands clawed at his own neck so hard that his fingernails tore the skin, leaving bloody trails across his throat. He opened his mouth as wide as he could, gasping for oxygen that seemingly refused to enter his body.Above him, Brama stood towering. His gray suit still looked pristine, completely untouched by the drizzle or the blood splattered all around him.The middle-aged man casually twirled an iron crowbar in his right hand. He looked down at Jihan the way someone would watch a bug dying from pesticide."Breathing is the cheapest thing in the world, Zero," Brama said calmly. His voice was soft but chilling to the bone. "But for you right now, it costs a lo

The expensive leather shoes worth tens of thousands of dollars stepped backward. The polished tips stepped into a puddle of rainwater that was now mixed with fresh blood.Brama, the big boss of the Black Dragon Syndicate who always held absolute control over his chess pieces, felt an unfamiliar sensation creeping up the back of his neck. Heavy beads of cold sweat slid down his temples.He looked down, staring at his silver revolver that now lay on the asphalt as a puddle of melted hot metal. Then, his eyes slowly moved up, staring straight at the figure that had just risen from the dead.Jihan no longer looked human. The young man's entire body was wrapped in a thick black fog that absorbed all the light around him. The asphalt beneath Jihan's feet melted and boiled. Jihan's completely pitch-black eyes stared at Brama with a soul-freezing emptiness."Three hundred seconds," Brama whispered softly, his voice trembling. He reflexively glanced at his Rolex watch. Jihan's five minutes wer