The pain erupts like a volcano in my skull, molten agony searing through every nerve, as if my brain is being shredded by shards of glass. I scream, collapsing onto a cold, linoleum floor, my hands—calloused, trembling—clawing at my temples in a futile attempt to stop the torment. Each reincarnation is worse, the Void's punishment growing sharper, as if it's carving my soul into something colder, harder. Park Ji-hoon's body is gone, shot in that Mapo-gu factory, Park Soo-jin's shocked face burned into my mind as I bled out, her voice echoing: Jiwon… you're telling the truth. She knows my secret now, the first to see through the lie of my stolen bodies. But I'm someone new again, and the memories flood in, a deluge of someone else's despair.I'm Kwon Dae-hyun, 31, a disgraced ex-cop turned private investigator in Busan's seedy underbelly. His life unravels in my mind like a noir film: a decorated officer who took down a drug ring, only to be framed for corruption when he got too close to the syndicate's secrets. Dae-hyun's wife left him, his career crumbled, and he drowned his guilt in soju and dangerous jobs. His last memory is a setup—a client, a man with a serpent tattoo, luring him to a rooftop and putting a bullet through his heart. He died here, in this rundown office, blood pooling on the linoleum, his files scattered like confetti. The metallic tang of his blood lingers in my nose, mixing with the stale air of cigarette smoke and cheap whiskey.I'm Kang Jiwon, and I have ten days to find the Shadow. Park Soo-jin's words burn in my mind: The Circle. The Shadow runs it. Dong-hyun's just a pawn. She's my ally now, the only one who knows I'm not what I seem, but she's a ghost herself, hiding from the syndicate. Lee Dong-hyun's name ties my lives together—a mid-level boss I've chased since my first death—but the Shadow is the real prize, the one who ordered Min-soo's murder. My brother's face flashes—his laugh, his blood in that Seoul alley, his voice telling me to live big. I grit my teeth, pushing through the pain. The Voice's taunt echoes from the Void: Blood demands blood. I've spilled rivers of it, but Min-soo's killer still breathes. Not for long.
I stagger to my feet, Dae-hyun's broad frame heavy but solid, his worn boots scuffing the floor. The office is a dump—peeling wallpaper, a cracked desk, files strewn everywhere. A framed photo catches my eye: Dae-hyun with a young woman, smiling, before the syndicate ruined him. His ex-wife, Soo-min. His memories ache with regret, mirroring my own for Min-soo. I shake it off, searching the desk. Dae-hyun was good at his job, even after the badge. His files are gold: surveillance photos, wiretap transcripts, names. One file, marked Circle, catches my breath. It's thin, but it mentions Lee Dong-hyun and a meeting at a Busan casino, Golden Serpent, tonight. The Shadow's name appears too, scrawled in Dae-hyun's shaky handwriting: Codename. Untouchable. Runs everything. My pulse races. This is no coincidence. Dae-hyun was close, too close, and it got him killed.A burner phone in the drawer buzzes. A text: Kwon, you owe me. Casino, 11 PM. Don't screw this up. —Hawk. Dae-hyun's memories know Hawk—Jang Min-ho, a rogue informant who trades secrets for cash. He's untrustworthy but connected, and he might lead me to Soo-jin or Dong-hyun. It's 7 PM. Four hours to prepare. I rummage through Dae-hyun's office, finding a loaded .45 pistol, a switchblade, and a hidden recorder taped under the desk. Dae-hyun's paranoia saved his best evidence: a recording of a syndicate deal, mentioning a hacker—Ghost. Soo-jin. My heart pounds. She's here, in Busan, and I'm closer than ever.I clean up, swapping Dae-hyun's bloodstained shirt for a leather jacket. His memories guide me to a safe in the wall, holding fake IDs and a stack of cash. Dae-hyun was ready to run, but he never got the chance. I pocket the essentials and head out, Busan's neon jungle swallowing me. The city's alive with noise—street vendors, drunk salarymen, the distant crash of waves. The Golden Serpent casino looms ahead, a glittering fortress of vice. Dae-hyun's instincts scream trap, but Jiwon's rage drives me forward. The Shadow's out there, and I'll carve through Busan to find them.
The Golden Serpent is a maze of slot machines and velvet tables, the air thick with cigarette smoke and desperation. High rollers in suits mingle with syndicate thugs in the shadows. I spot Jang Min-ho—Hawk—at a poker table, his wiry frame hunched, eyes darting like a cornered animal. Dae-hyun's memories paint him as a snake, loyal to no one but money. I approach, keeping my voice low. "Hawk. We need to talk."He glances up, smirking. "Kwon? Thought you were dead." His eyes flicker—suspicion, like Woo-bin and Min-kyu before him. "What's the rush, detective?" I lean closer, Dae-hyun's gravelly voice coming naturally. "Park Soo-jin. The hacker. Where is she? And what do you know about the Shadow?" His smirk fades, and he signals for us to move. We slip into a back room, all red velvet and dim lights, where deals go down."You're digging deep, Kwon," Hawk says, lighting a cigarette. "Soo-jin's a ghost. Hides in plain sight. Last I heard, she's in Busan, sniffing around the Circle's shipments. As for the Shadow…" He pauses, exhaling smoke. "Nobody knows their face. They run the Circle—drugs, trafficking, politicians. Even Dong-hyun answers to them." My blood runs cold. The Circle again. Min-soo's exposés targeted their trafficking ring. Hawk's hiding something; I see it in his twitchy fingers."Give me a location," I say, gripping the switchblade in my pocket. Hawk laughs, but it's nervous. "You don't get it, do you? The Shadow's everywhere. You're already dead." The door bursts open before I can press him—four syndicate thugs, armed with knives and a single pistol. Hawk bolts, shouting, "He's not Kwon!" My heart stops. Another one who knows I'm not who I seem. How?The fight's instant chaos. I dive behind a table as the gunman fires, the bullet splintering wood. Dae-hyun's training kicks in, and I roll, slashing a thug's leg with the switchblade. Blood sprays, hot and red, and he screams, collapsing. Another swings a knife at my throat; I block with my arm, the blade slicing deep, blood pouring. I grit my teeth, firing the .45. The shot catches his chest, and he drops, blood pooling like ink. The third thug tackles me, his weight crushing, but I drive the switchblade into his side, twisting until he goes limp, blood soaking my hands.The gunman's still standing, aiming at my head. I'm too slow, but a shadow moves—another figure, fast, precise. A silenced shot, and the gunman falls, blood blooming from his temple. I turn, and there she is: Park Soo-jin, pistol in hand, eyes blazing. "Jiwon," she says, voice sharp. "You're reckless." She saved me, but her gun's still raised, wary. She knows my secret, and it's a knife between us."Soo-jin," I gasp, clutching my bleeding arm. "The Shadow. The Circle. Tell me everything." She hesitates, glancing at the bodies, the blood pooling around us. "Not here," she says. "Follow me." We sprint through a back exit, the casino's chaos fading behind us. She leads me to a dingy safehouse in Busan's Haeundae, a cramped apartment with laptops and encrypted drives. Her side's still bleeding from the factory fight, but she's all business, booting up a laptop."Min-soo was my partner," she says, typing furiously. "We exposed the Circle's trafficking—kids, drugs, shipped through Busan's docks. The Shadow ordered his hit. Dong-hyun's just a middleman, but he knows the Shadow's next move." She pulls up a file: a shipment manifest, dated tonight, at Busan Port. "This is our shot," she says. "Dong-hyun's there. We get him, we get closer to the Shadow."I nod, but Dae-hyun's memories scream warning. The manifest mentions a name: Serpent. The man who killed Dae-hyun. My blood runs cold. This is a trap, but Soo-jin's already moving, grabbing a duffel of gear—guns, knives, a flash drive. "You're not Ji-hoon, or Kwon, or whoever else," she says, eyes locked on me. "How many times have you died?" I freeze. "Five," I say, voice low. "Ninety-four left." Her face hardens, but she nods. "Then don't die tonight."
Busan Port is a labyrinth of cranes and containers, the air thick with salt and diesel. It's past midnight, day seven. Soo-jin and I move silently, her leading the way to a warehouse marked in the manifest. Dae-hyun's instincts guide my steps, his cop training blending with Jiwon's rage. We spot Dong-hyun—finally—a wiry man in a suit, barking orders to a crew loading crates. A man with a serpent tattoo stands beside him—Dae-hyun's killer. My hands shake, but Soo-jin grabs my arm. "Focus," she whispers. "We need him alive."We creep closer, but the trap springs. Floodlights blaze, and syndicate thugs surround us—ten, maybe twelve, armed to the teeth. Dong-hyun laughs, his voice cold. "The hacker and the dead man. The Shadow warned us about you." My heart stops. The Shadow knows about me? Soo-jin fires first, her shot taking out a thug, blood spraying. I draw the .45, Dae-hyun's aim steady, and drop two more, their bodies crumpling, blood pooling on the concrete.The fight's a bloodbath. I slash with the switchblade, opening a thug's throat, blood gushing like a fountain. Soo-jin's a blur, her pistol barking, bodies falling—chests explode, skulls shatter, the warehouse floor slick with red. Serpent lunges at me, his knife flashing. I dodge, but he's fast, slicing my side, blood welling hot. I fire, catching his shoulder, but he keeps coming, his eyes wild. "You're not Kwon!" he snarls, like he knows. I tackle him, driving the switchblade into his chest, blood spurting as he gasps, dying.Dong-hyun's running, but Soo-jin's on him, tackling him to the ground. I stagger over, blood dripping from my side, and pin him. "The Shadow," I snarl. "Who are they?" Dong-hyun spits blood, grinning. "You're a dead man walking, Jiwon. The Shadow's closer than you think." My blood freezes. He knows my name. Before I can press, a sniper's shot rings out, and pain tears through my chest. I collapse, blood filling my lungs, Soo-jin's scream fading. Day seven.
The Void engulfs me, red and pulsing, hotter than hell. The Voice is there, its tone sharp, mocking. "Six lives, Jiwon. Six failures. The Shadow knows you. Will you break?" I try to scream, but my voice is ash. Pain rips through me, worse than ever. "Blood demands blood," it hisses, and I'm falling—I wake in a new body, head splitting, pain like a saw through my brain. I'm in a Seoul basement, the air thick with mold. Dong-hyun's words haunt me: The Shadow's closer than you think. Soo-jin's alive, my only ally, but the Shadow's watching. The Circle's bigger than I imagined, and Min-soo's killer is at its heart. I'm changing—colder, harder—but I'm not done. Not yet.