---
Silence doesn't last forever.
Even the deepest shadow will eventually be chased by a flicker of light—
Whether that light is truth or vengeance, it makes no difference to the hunted.
And now, Jin-Soo was being hunted.
Not by monsters.
Not by Guilds.
But by something new.
---
[Somewhere Unknown – A Private Military Compound]
A man sat in front of six holo-screens, each filled with static images:
Blurred photos
Satellite renderings
Shattered footage with no audio
In each clip, a figure flickered in and out. Never in full view. Never speaking.
A girl's voice crackled through an intercom:
> "Sir, the Hunter Tracking Division has failed to identify him again."
The man leaned back.
His name was Yoo Gun-Ho. Former Hunter. Now leader of a black-cell unit that didn't officially exist.
> "We're not tracking a man," he muttered.
"We're tracking a myth wearing flesh."
He tapped one photo—grainy footage of the Busan raid aftermath.
> "Bring me five elite Shadows.
Tell them… the game has changed."
---
[Red Spiral Temporary HQ – Gwangju]
Kang Mi-Ra stood with arms crossed as a new face entered their ranks.
He was tall, quiet, and carried the posture of an elite—but his eyes were empty.
"Name?" she asked.
The man bowed slightly.
> "Han Se-Joon. Former Azure Blade surveillance commander. I surrendered after your raid. I have no illusions about forgiveness. I only want to help."
Mi-Ra didn't respond right away.
He placed a data drive on the table.
> "This holds records of every black-market transaction conducted by Azure Blade… and their overseas buyers."
Silence fell in the room.
Finally, Mi-Ra asked:
> "Why are you helping us now?"
He didn't look at her.
> "Because he spared me.
He was in the control room.
He looked at me—then walked away."
---
[Meanwhile – Jin-Soo: Jeonju Operation, 11:23 PM]
Jin-Soo crouched in a ventilation shaft above the Wyrmstone Guild's underground mana lab.
Below, seven scientists stood around a drained Hunter—his veins lit with residual magic.
"Subject is near death," one muttered. "Good. That means the prototype is ready for replication."
Jin-Soo's shadow fell over the grate.
> [System: Stillborn Realm – Soft Cast (4-meter radius)]
[Target Detection: Suppressed]
[Ambush Route Calculated.]
Jin-Soo dropped silently.
By the time the first scientist looked up, the lights had gone out.
> No screams.
No alarms.
Only silence.
---
[Elsewhere – Seoul Outskirts: "The Retribution Five" Assembled]
Yoo Gun-Ho inspected the five Hunters before him.
Each one was once classified as S-rank, but dismissed for "moral ambiguity."
Now?
They were mercenaries.
Kwon Shade – master of illusion and decay magic
Ha Yun-Sil – teleport assassin
Nam Dae-Gi – raw strength enhancer with body armor skin
Seon Ji-Hoon – former Holy Knight turned Mana Torturer
"Blank" – a nameless tracker who never misses a scent
Yoo simply said:
> "Your mission: find the Monarch of Silence.
Do not kill him—yet.
We want his system."
---
[Back in Jeonju – Post-Operation]
Jin-Soo stood before a wall of corrupted mana reactors, all powered by fragments of real souls.
He had burned every record.
Destroyed every lab terminal.
Rescued every survivor.
But something was wrong.
> [System Warning: External tracking attempt detected.]
[Signature Type: UNKNOWN]
[Concealment Skill in use against you.]
[Stillborn Realm compromised.]
His eyes narrowed.
He dropped the broken core in his hand.
The hunter had now become the hunted.
---
[Red Spiral HQ – Emergency Alert]
Mi-Ra's screen flickered.
New data packet: TRACER_001
Encrypted coordinates—tracking logs showing invisible mana trails leading straight to Jeonju.
The trail didn't end there.
It moved.
Fast.
Toward Daegu.
She whispered:
> "He's being hunted…"
She turned to Han Se-Joon.
> "Tell me everything about anti-shadow squads."
"Now."
---
[Final Scene – Jin-Soo, Running Silent]
Beneath Daegu's neon towers, Jin-Soo moved through alleyways with no digital footprint, no heat, no trace.
But he knew.
They were close.
> One was watching him from a building rooftop.
Another had already mapped his likely routes.
He stopped by a locked gate. A small child sat nearby, sobbing.
She looked up and said softly:
> "Mister, are you a hero?"
He hesitated.
Then crouched and handed her a piece of candy from his coat pocket.
> "No," he whispered.
"But heroes never came.
That's why I did."
Then he vanished again—into the dark.
Because he knew:
> The war wasn't over.
The shadows had just begun to fight back.
---