8 hours later.
Jihan's body lay inside a reinforced stasis tank deep beneath Hana's hidden facility. His torso was wrapped in reinforced nanoweave, bones being reconstructed through high-pressure med-gel injections.
A large chunk of his shoulder had been torn out during the final explosion. Four ribs broken. Eye hemorrhaging. Mild internal bleeding.
But he was alive.
Barely.
[INTERNAL SYSTEM NOTICE – PRIVATE ACCESS ONLY]
Subject: Jihan (Black Layer Anomaly)
Status: Boss-Killer Confirmed
Threat Level: Crimson Protocol Tier 3
Order: Termination Warrant Issued. Executor Tier Deployed.
WARNING: ENEMY EXECUTORS HAVE BEEN RELEASED
Elsewhere – Black Layer HQ
Inside a pitch-black digital cathedral, a woman dressed in pure black armor knelt before a cracked terminal. The system's coded voice echoed around her like a choir of dead AIs.
"A Priest has fallen. The Chains have been broken."
She lifted her head.
Her face was ghost-white. Eyes fully black.
"Then the Chain-Breaker shall die screaming."
She stood, lifting a long, obsidian blade—its edge glitching with data corruption.
[Executor Tier Unsealed: CODE_NAME // VOID_WIDOW]
Class: Extermination Layer – LVL 55
Mission: Hunt and Delete Anomaly Jihan
Status: En Route
Back at Hana's Facility
Jihan woke with a violent gasp, thrashing inside the stasis pod. Tubes tore free. Fluid splashed onto the floor. He ripped the emergency latch open.
Hana rushed into the room. "You're not healed yet—!"
Jihan stood, trembling, blood still running down his arm. But his eyes burned.
"They're sending something worse. Aren't they?"
She didn't lie.
"Yes. Executor Class. Code Name: Void Widow. One of the system's top hunters."
Jihan exhaled slowly, then said something Hana didn't expect.
"Good. That means I'm climbing."
[SYSTEM UPDATE: Black Layer Progression 12% → 19%]
New Path Unlocked: Code Tree Branch – "Forbidden Command"
Unlock 1 of 3: "Ghost Override" – Stealth Skill w/ Firewall Breaker
Unlock 2 of 3: ???
Unlock 3 of 3: ???
Jihan looked at his palm. A strange black mark was now burned into it—resembling a shattered chain wrapped in flame.
[Title Activated: Breaker of Chains]
Effect: Immune to all Aura-based submission skills. System lockdown duration halved.
He grinned.
Now he could resist mind domination… permanently.
Hana sat on the console desk, arms crossed.
"The Void Widow doesn't talk. Doesn't chase. She executes. Straight to the kill."
Jihan: "What's her ability?"
"Reality lag. She moves between frames. Every strike lands before you react."
Jihan's face darkened. "So I need to see her before she strikes."
"Or predict her. And bait her."
He stood, bloodied fists clenched.
"Then let's do it. I've baited worse things before."
Later that Night – Abandoned Industrial District
The air was unnaturally still.
Even the rats had fled.
Jihan stood alone in the middle of a rusted rooftop. Shirtless. Weaponless. His body still bandaged—but he wasn't hiding.
This was a message.
He was the bait now.
Then—
A flicker.
Just a shimmer in the air.
Jihan ducked.
A blade slashed through empty air above his head.
He spun and punched, but nothing connected.
"You're fast," a voice whispered behind him—calm, mechanical, emotionless.
"But not fast enough."
Jihan turned just in time to block a heel strike that fractured the rooftop.
She stood above him—elegant, brutal. Her armor was like moving ink. No face. No emotion. Just death in motion.
[ENEMY IDENTIFIED: EXECUTOR – VOID WIDOW]
LVL 55 – Status: Invulnerable While Phased
Skill: Frame Skip / Blink Chains / Reality Lag Blade
WARNING: She exists outside normal time windows. Standard evasion impossible.
The fight begins.
She blinked out of view. Jihan didn't chase.
He stood still. Closed his eyes.
Then moved early—
And grabbed her by the neck as she appeared.
Slammed her into the rooftop.
Punched her helmet—
Twice. Three times.
Metal dented.
But she grabbed his wrist—and twisted.
SNAP. His forearm bent sideways.
She flipped behind him, kicked his spine, and as he flew forward—she blinked ahead mid-air, catching him mid-fall—
—and drove a blade through his shoulder.
Jihan screamed—but grabbed her forearm with his free hand, blood pouring down his chest, and pulled her in close.
"You like skipping time?"
He headbutted her so hard her helmet cracked.
Then—he grabbed the blade still lodged in his shoulder—
And pulled it out, letting it tear flesh as it left.
His blood soaked it.
He stabbed her with it.
She recoiled. For the first time—she staggered.
Jihan: "Now we bleed even."
To be continued...