The room was quiet, everyone watching her. Suddenly, the screen flickered.
She clicked. Nothing.
Tapped. Still nothing.
Then, the monitor went black.
Frances's eyes widened.
"...No."
For a moment, the darkness felt absolute.
And then—
the hum of the world shifted.
Somewhere else, far from Songint's bright laboratories, a different monitor lit up in a dimly lit room.
A lone figure sat at a desk, face hidden beneath a black hoodie, an eerie clown mask glowing faintly in the monitor's light. His fingers danced across the keyboard; lines of encrypted code reflected in his lenses.
Back at Songint—
Alarms blared.
Every workstation crashed, screens going dark one by one like falling dominoes. Engineers and programmers rushed to reboot, assess, contain. A controlled space turned chaotic in seconds.
Frances stood still amidst the panic, both hands on the desk. Her jaw was tense. She didn't speak.
Chairman Song and Mr.Jing rushed into the lab from the upper deck, alarmed by the sudden system failure.
"What happened?" Mr.Jing demanded. "I thought it was over!"
Frances finally turned toward them, calm but grave.
"I thought I had it. But even before the shutdown… something felt wrong. The virus was too easy to kill."
Chairman Song furrowed his brow. "Too easy?"
"Not weak, but deliberate. Like it wanted to be caught. I saw anomalies in the code, but they were subtle. Almost invisible. I didn't want to assume… but now it's clear."
She took a breath.
"It was a trap. The virus had already been neutralized. We are already late to begin with. Instead of removing it, he rewrote it… turned it into something worse.
The modified code blocks out anyone else who tries to fix it—making him the only one who can remove it completely.
The hacker understood the situation far too well. He knew that by the time we tried alternative solutions or rebooted recovery efforts, it would already be too late. Jing Financial's shares are dropping by the minute.
And before we can even stabilize our systems, the company could already be on its knees. He planned it perfectly! Now, he's positioned himself as the only key—and the only option."
The room went still.
Then—
Notifications flooded hacker forums around the world.
A name surfaced.
MvE….
He had hijacked the virus, and now he made his move.
A ransom demand flashed across global channels.
$3,000,000 — or the virus stays and spreads.
The message reached Songint in an instant.
Ceo jing, looked at the crashing numbers on his phone—shareholder stocks plummeting in real-time.
He cursed under his breath. Then with gritted teeth, nodded.
"…Pay it."
…
The room was quiet. Chairman Song and Mr. Jing had left hours ago, leaving Frances alone among the still-glowing monitors. Everyone else had gone home, exhausted, but she hadn't moved from her spot.
Her hands pressed against the cold console, eyes fixed on the screens, replaying the chaos of the day—Hours had passed. Frances didn't sit. She just stood there, Finally, she exhaled sharply. Her voice cut through the silence, low and steady.
"Bring me all the available information about the hacker code name MvE.
Sia, who is still lingering outside the room, hesitated. "M-Ms. Song… it's late. Shouldn't we—"
"I said bring it," Frances interrupted, voice calm but uncompromising. She didn't look at him, eyes narrowing as the first files loaded.
"He's not just some hacker," Sia said cautiously. "MVE… he's well known and infamous among the cyber world in the city. He is known to only infiltrate massive companies, and no white-hat hacker has ever caught him. The only reason we can trace him at all is that he always left a binary code; 111 behind his attacks, as if his signature.
Frances murmured under her breath. "Triple one."
"We used to call him that," Sia continued, "until someone realized and decrypted a line of code he always left behind—Meah_ve'achat_Esre.(MVE) Hebrew for one-hundred-eleven. That's when the code name MVE was born.
Some even call him the Night Clown because His attacks… they're almost just antics just to give headaches to big companies."
Frances exhaled slowly, tension still coiling in her shoulders. "So, he really has quite a reputation… untamable," she muttered, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag.
A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled the way he had toyed with her earlier—her anger sharp, her gaze cold, then twisting into that unnerving, almost amused laugh.
But instead of burning in anger at finding someone her match, it was more of a blessing in disguise. Her grand plan is on its way; her excitement grew louder, and it will start with finding the mysterious hacker MVE.
If I want to take over something, I need useful people. Mia Jung has been scheming for many years now, even sacrificing her youth. Her goal isn't something shallow, and I know damn well that Mia Jung is already hiding her cards and anticipating my resistance, Frances thought to herself.
"His appearance is not random, it's deliberate!" Frances exclaimed.
Let alone he left a mark before he disappeared, that only means he's scheming for something. He's doing it on purpose; he's not someone that is easy to deal with.
But nonetheless, I don't care what he's up to. I can use someone like him to do my own plans.
Sia was confused about what Frances was talking about. "What do you mean, Miss Song?"
"It's rare to find someone like that," she whispered, a spark of determination in her voice. "Someone this… dangerous, yet brilliant… I'll do whatever it takes to bring him to our side!"
"Use everything we have. I don't care if he lives from hell, you must find this man at all costs," Frances commanded through the phone as she left.
….
In the middle of a dark and hidden alley.
Thud.. Thud… Thwump.
"Hey, spiky. Still don't want to admit who your boss is?" Sabio Beelzebub a short cholo-looking man hooked his fingers into Spiky's hair and yanked his head up. Sweat and blood dripped down Spiky's swollen face.
Spiky, a notorious loan shark tied to a chair in the dark room, just stared back and laughed at him.
Irritated, Sabio's fist snapped forward, crashing into Spiky's jaw and sending him slamming to the side.
"Still not talking, huh?" Sabio growled, signaling his men behind him. "Beat him."
They went at him. Minutes later, Spiky lay on the floor, drowning in his own blood. Even then, he muttered with a bitter, sarcastic tone:
"I'd rather die than betray our organization."
He spat toward Sabio.
Sabio's jaw clenched. He was running out of ways—out of patience—to make this man reveal who was backing him.
Then the door burst open.
Bang.
Spiky's dazed eyes slowly lifted. The moment he recognized the silhouette; his entire body froze.
A tall figure stepped in.
Black suit.
A cross tattoo under his right eye.
Eyes dark and empty—like a dead void.
Spiky's voice cracked. "Y‑y‑you're… the notorious Angel of Death…of city A,
Achylys Azazel…"
He scrambled backward in panic.
Achylys didn't respond.
He simply walked forward, each step slow and deliberate.
Spiky tried to stand, tried to resist, but it was useless.
Achylys grabbed him in the throat and lifted him with one hand. His expression didn't change.
Spiky choked out, "Wh‑why?! What did I ever do to you? Why are you targeting me? You don't want to mess with the person backing me! I'm warning you—stay away from him and let me go!"
Achylys spoke, voice low and cold, one hand still in his pocket.
"Name them."
His grip tightened.
Even as he suffocated, Spiky refused.
Achylys squeezed harder, then suddenly released him, letting him crash violently to the ground.
Achylys sat down on a chair, leaned back, crossed his leg, and opened a book—calm, detached.
His men dragged Spiky up, so he faced him. Spiky's eyes were half‑open, blood streaking down his face.
"Just kill me already…" Spiky muttered, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Achylys replied, still reading.
"Your worthless life doesn't matter."
He tossed a photograph onto the floor.
Spiky's eyes snapped wide. His jaw clenched. His fists trembled.
He dragged his gaze up to Achylys, breath uneven. "Where… Why do you—"
Sabio stepped forward, grabbed him by the hair, and forced his head up again.
"You really think we don't know you have an illegitimate son?" Sabio growled into his ear.
Spiky trembled but forced a weak lie. "I… I don't know what you're talking ab—"
Another photo hit the ground—this one is recent.
Achylys spoke without emotion. "You have five seconds to decide."
He raised one hand, showing the count.
"Wait—" Spiky tried, but Achylys continued.
5…
"Hold on—please—"
4…
His breathing grew rapid.
3…
2…
1…
He collapsed to his knees, shaking violently.
"No… no, no, no—please…" His voice cracked, dissolving into raw, broken sobs. "Please, don't hurt him… I'll talk. I'll tell you everything—just don't touch my boy. Please, please…"
…..
A deep, commanding voice echoed through the dark, hidden room.
"So it is truly Counselor Jing who's behind the massive loan syndicate." He paused, slowly tapping the armrest with a finger, each tap reverberating like a warning through the shadows.
"For now, continue monitoring the syndicate's moves," the man murmured from behind a crimson curtain, his figure reduced to a dark, looming silhouette.
Achylys and Sabio stood before him, heads bowed in respect as he spoke.
"Grandmaster… do you have further commands?" Achylys asked, his voice was steady despite the tension.
"No," the figure replied. "I will handle the rest. It is time to fulfill my promise. The two of you… it is time. I will grant you entrance to Lykhierion University, as we agreed."
In unison, Achylys and Sabio knelt, one knee touching the floor, their gazes lowered.
"Thank you, Grandmaster,"