Reset After Solo Clear: Shadow Master Rebirth

The Man in the Black Hoodie

"I can't keep thinking about this alone."

Raka woke up that morning with a decision he had already made the night before. Amara's message was still displayed on his phone. Azrael's account had been completely erased, the Shadow Master class was not recorded in any database, the hidden gate with the corrupted audio log, all of it had piled into one massive question he could no longer answer on his own.

"If there's one person who might know something, it's her."

He changed into whatever clothes he could find. The worn black hoodie was the only choice he had in his closet, so he put it on and headed for an address he had known for a long time from community news reports.

"Sorry, this area is restricted to staff and registered guests. Who are you?"

Raka stopped in front of the large glass doors Order of the First Light building. Two broad-shouldered security guards immediately blocked his path.

The building towered overhead, its sides covered in gleaming glass. Well-dressed people moved in and out carrying expensive briefcases, and several of them were clearly high-ranking hunters, judging by the guild insignias pinned to their chests. Raka stood among them in a black hoodie worn thin around the sleeves, looking nothing like someone who belonged in a building of this caliber.

"I want to meet Amara," Raka answered calmly.

"Do you have an appointment?" the first guard asked, his eyes scanning Raka from head to toe. A worn black hoodie, ordinary pants, not a single sign that indicated he was anyone important.

"No," Raka answered honestly.

The second guard sighed, clearly accustomed to dealing with situations like this. "Miss Amara doesn't accept visitors without an appointment. Especially people she doesn't know."

"I understand, but this is important," Raka replied without moving an inch.

"Important how? Do you work with her? An investor? A colleague?" The first guard crossed his arms.

"No," Raka answered shortly.

"Then what business do you have with her?"

"Personal," Raka replied, offering no further details.

"Everyone says that," the first guard shot back, beginning to lose patience. "You're a fan of hers, aren't you? There are plenty of people like you. They come here on a whim hoping they can meet her in person."

"I'm not one of them," Raka said flatly.

"Then what are you?" the guard pressed, his tone growing sharper. "Just looking at you, you don't have any clear identification, no vehicle, not even a bodyguard. Important people don't show up like this."

"Appearance doesn't determine what kind of person someone is," Raka replied calmly.

The guard gave a short, disbelieving laugh. "Pretty philosophical for someone who's being kicked out of the lobby."

Raka didn't take the bait. His voice remained just as even. "I only need to speak with her for a moment. After that, I'll leave."

"Can't do that." The second guard stepped closer, his hand clamping around Raka's arm. "Now, you should leave quietly before we call for backup."

Raka looked at the hand gripping his arm, then looked back at the guard. He remained completely calm, without the slightest hint of fear.

"I suggest you take your hand off me."

"Are you threatening us?" the first guard demanded, stepping closer as his expression hardened.

"I'm just letting you know," Raka replied.

His calmness only angered the two guards further. They tightened their grips and began dragging Raka away from the entrance.

"Miss Amara!"

The call did not come from Raka. One of the staff members who had just stepped out of a car in the building's courtyard was calling out to the figure who had just walked outside.

Amara stopped in the middle of the courtyard, her eyes catching the commotion near the entrance. She walked closer, her brows drawing together as she saw two of her security guards dragging an unfamiliar man.

"What's going on here?" she asked, her firm voice cutting through the commotion.

"Miss Amara." The first guard immediately released his grip, looking slightly nervous. "This is just a troublesome man who insisted on meeting you. Probably an overly obsessed fan."

Amara looked at Raka, briefly taking in his appearance. The worn hoodie did little to make him look intimidating.

"What business do you have with me?" Amara asked directly. Her tone remained wary, but not hostile.

Raka looked back at her. For the first time, he was standing face-to-face with the person he had only ever known through a screen.

"Azrael," he said simply.

Amara froze for a moment, her eyes widening slightly before she quickly composed herself.

"Everyone knows that name," the second guard scoffed dismissively. "There's nothing special about saying it."

Raka ignored the comment, keeping his eyes on Amara.

"Floor fifty," he continued quietly. "The coalition raid failure."

Amara remained silent, but the way she looked at Raka began to change. Her gaze grew sharper, more serious.

"That's public information too," Amara said, though her voice trembled slightly. "Everyone who followed the raid reports knows about that."

"I know that isn't enough to change your mind," Raka replied calmly.

Raka took a single breath before speaking the two lines he had memorized word for word the night before, the exact words Lumine had once sent to Azrael through a private chat on the night before the reset.

Amara's face immediately went pale.

The security guards around her exchanged confused glances. They had no idea why two unfamiliar sentences could leave their superior completely frozen.

"Where did you learn that?" Amara whispered, her voice barely audible. "I... I never told anyone that. Not even Iceveil knew."

Raka didn't answer. He simply stared at her in silence, letting the silence speak more clearly than any words could.

"Let him go," Amara suddenly ordered, turning toward the two security guards who were still standing stiffly nearby.

"Miss, but..."

"Let him go!" she repeated more firmly.

The two guards exchanged glances before finally stepping back, though they remained wary. Confusion still covered their faces as they tried to understand who the worn-out man in the hoodie really was, the same man they had just dismissed.

Amara stepped closer to Raka, looking at him from a much more intimate distance than before, trying to find something in the unfamiliar man's face that could explain all of this.

"Who are you, really?" she asked softly, her voice trembling between suspicion and something deeper.

Raka did not answer the question directly.

"We need to talk alone."

Amara stared at him for a long moment, her eyes filled with an internal struggle between logic and a feeling she couldn't simply ignore.

"Why should I believe you're not some crazy person who just happened to know leaked information?" she asked, though the confidence in her own voice had already begun to falter.

"Because if I were just some crazy person, I wouldn't know the exact words you typed to one person on one night, words you never told anyone afterward," Raka answered quietly.

"Come with me," she finally said, turning and walking toward the building. "But if this is just a trick, you'll regret coming here."