That night, the city felt colder.
Jiwoon stood atop a ruined parking complex, the black lotus coin still in his hand.
Its energy pulsed softly—like a heart waiting to be broken.
"Accelerate… or delay?"
But before he could choose, the system buzzed.
MISSION UPDATE: Urgent Threat Detected
Target 008: Lee Harin — Rogue Sin Hunter
Sin: Unauthorized interference with System Judgment
"Wait—Harin?"
Jiwoon froze.
Lee Harin… was one of the few people who had ever helped him survive the early days.
She was once like him — a Debt Hunter.
Hunted by the System
Jiwoon rushed to the coordinates.
He found her surrounded by glowing System Orbs, all aimed at her vitals.
She looked up, bleeding, but alive.
"Jiwoon… you came."
"Why are they hunting you?!"
"Because I found a way to reject the system's judgment," she whispered.
"I saved a target… and it marked me as corrupted."
System Override Attempt Detected
Suddenly, the sky turned crimson.
A massive System Eye opened in the clouds, locking on Harin.
"Subject Lee Harin is beyond redemption."
"Execution imminent."
Jiwoon stood in front of her.
"She doesn't deserve this!"
"Interference logged. Hunter Han Jiwoon: Warning."
He clenched his teeth. The voice inside—the demon—laughed.
"Let her die. One less threat to your throne."
But Jiwoon stepped forward anyway.
"You'll have to go through me."
The Sin Within
With a flash of light, the System manifested a Sin Beast — a dragon-headed construct made of corrupted data and regret.
It lunged. Jiwoon summoned his armor, eyes blazing.
He activated the Sin Echo Pulse, reflecting the beast's pain back tenfold.
It screamed, twisted, shattered into pixels.
Aftermath
Jiwoon collapsed beside Harin.
"You shouldn't have helped me," she said.
"I had to."
"Why?"
Jiwoon looked at the stars above.
"Because I needed to know… that I'm still human."