Kin didn't sleep.
He lay on the mattress, staring at the cracked ceiling, replaying the decapitation over and over. The weight of the katana. The general's eyes. The blood spraying in an arc.
I didn't do that, he told himself. The System did. I was just… watching.
His hands still felt foreign.
Around 6 AM, exhaustion finally pulled him under. But there were no dreams. Just darkness. Then—
A sound outside. Not a knock. Voices.
Kin's eyes snapped open.
He crept to the window. Peeked through the torn curtain.
Two men in dark coats stood on the street below, talking to Lina. They weren't military police—no insignia. But their posture screamed authority. One was tall, bald, with a scar across his jaw. The other was shorter, wiry, constantly scanning the street.
They're looking for someone.
Kin's blood turned cold.
He couldn't hear the conversation, but he watched Lina's body language. Arms crossed. Head tilted. Defensive but not afraid. The tall man pulled out something from his coat—an envelope?—and pressed it into her hand. She glanced at it, then slipped it into her pocket.
Then she pointed. Not toward Kin's apartment. Down the street. Away.
But then the wiry one pointed up. At the building. At the windows.
Lina shrugged. Said something. Then she walked back into her own ground-floor unit and closed the door.
The two men headed for the building entrance.
[Alert: Hostile Investigation Detected]
[Threat Level: Moderate (Unconfirmed)]
[Recommend concealment.]
Kin's heart pounded. He looked around the apartment. Nowhere to hide. The closet was barely big enough for his two shirts. The window led to a fire escape, but that was just as exposed.
Think, think, think—
[Solution Available: Facial Disguise – 6,000 SN]
[Duration: 6 hours. Effectiveness: 85% against casual observation.]
Six thousand. He had plenty left after paying Lina. He bought it.
A strange coldness washed over his face, like someone pressing clay onto his skin. He stumbled to the rusted mirror nailed to the wall.
The face staring back wasn't his.
Same eyes. Same hair. But the jaw was wider, the nose shorter, a thin scar across the eyebrow he didn't recognize. He looked… harder. Older.
Creepy, he thought.
Footsteps on the stairs. Two sets. Heavy. Getting closer.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Open up. Official business."
Kin's voice came out steadier than he felt. "One second."
He opened the door.
The two men stood there. The tall one looked him up and down. The wiry one stared past him into the apartment.
"Name?" the tall one asked.
"Jan," Kin said. The first name that came to mind. "Jan Koval."
"You live here?"
"For now. Rent's paid."
The tall man pulled out a small device—a scanner of some kind. He ran it over Kin's face. The device beeped green.
The disguise works on tech too. Kin filed that away.
"Have you seen this man?" The wiry one held up a tablet. On it was a grainy photo of… Kin. But from last night. Blurry. Taken from a security camera. His face was partially visible, right before the System took control.
Kin's stomach dropped. He kept his expression bored. "Can't tell it's blurry. Could be anyone."
"Sir its not that blurry ," started the shorter one .
"Hey I cannot clearly see it, don't blame me," Kin retorted arrogantly.
The shorter official clenched angrily, then calmed down with a deep breath. The tall man stared at him for a long three seconds. Then he nodded. "If you see him, contact this number." He handed Kin a black card with a single phone number.
"What'd he do?"
"Terrorism. Murder of a government official."
Murder, Kin thought. It was justice.
"Sure," Kin said. "I'll keep an eye out."
The two men turned and walked back down the stairs. Kin watched them go. When their footsteps faded, he closed the door, leaned against it, and slid down to the floor.
His hands were shaking.
[Crisis Averted – Temporary]
[Remaining Disguise Duration: 5 hours, 47 minutes]
[Threat Level Updated: High (Confirmed)]
[Warning: Your building has been noted. Secondary inspection possible within 1-2 weeks.]
[Recommend increased caution. Relocation not immediately but as soon as possible .]
Kin read the message twice.
They might come back. But not tomorrow. Not next week.
He looked at the black card in his hand. Turned it over. Nothing on the back.
Who were they? Not military police. Not regular cops. Something else.
[System Note: Organization identified – "The Quiet Commission." Unofficial government-sanctioned assassination investigation unit. Specializes in eliminating threats that cannot be publicly acknowledged.]
[They do not stop. They do not forget.]
Kin's arrogant laugh came out hollow.
"Well," he whispered to the empty room. "Then I'll just have to be smarter than them."
He looked out the window. The street was empty now.
But Lina's door was still closed. She'd taken money. Pointed them away from his building—or at least, not directly at his window.
She didn't sell me out completely, he realized. She just… took the bribe and pointed somewhere safe.
Or maybe she was playing both sides.
[Lina Trust Level: -5%. She accepted payment but did not provide your exact apartment location. Motive unclear.]
Kin exhaled. Not great. But not a betrayal.
He stood up. Walked to the window. Looked down at Lina's door.
I need to talk to her.
But not now he needed rest.
He had less than 71 hours until the next mission. And now, a new problem: a Quiet Commission that was already sniffing around.
[Side Objective: Investigate "The Quiet Commission" – Unlocked]
[Reward: 5,000 SN + Intel on enemy tracking methods]
Kin flopped onto his mattress.
One problem at a time, he told himself.
He didn't sleep well. But he slept.