Lee Ji-hoon, the Regressor, stood on the rooftop of a decommissioned skyscraper, looking down at the Hunter Union's Primary Relic Vault—a structure secured by A-Rank wards. He wore the official, pristine uniform of an S-Rank Hunter, a rank he'd been fast-tracked into by the Hunter Union, recognizing his unparalleled threat-analysis and combat history (which they mistook for natural talent).
He wasn't there for a patrol. He was baiting a trap.
Ji-hoon held a small, crystalline shard: an A-Rank Skill Crystal of [Flowing Aegis]—a highly coveted defensive skill. He had just publicly returned it to the vault after "clearing" a notoriously unstable A-Rank Gate solo, an act that had secured his S-Rank promotion and media silence on the previous corruption scandals.
The entire city believes I'm here to celebrate my promotion and secure the artifact, Ji-hoon thought, his eyes tracking the minute air currents around the vault. But I'm here to provide a target.
Ji-hoon activated his S-Rank core. The energy around him didn't glow; it shifted. His Regressor skill, [Temporal Echo], activated, not to look into the future, but to create a detailed map of the immediate past and near future. He watched the residual mana imprint of Han Tae-oh's Shadow Glide from two days ago.
"The Shadow-Rank is operating near the Black Market Nexus," Ji-hoon murmured to himself. "He knows he needs high-grade skills, and he knows I hate unnecessary risk. My public A-Rank clear and the immediate securing of a powerful defensive skill—a skill Tae-oh lacks—will appear to be a high-ROI opportunity."
He knew Tae-oh wouldn't risk failure, and the only way Tae-oh guaranteed success was by knowing the flaw.
Ji-hoon deliberately introduced a flaw into the S-Rank vault's security grid. He channeled a tiny, precise amount of his own mana into a secondary circuit protecting the crystal display. It was a subtle, almost undetectable overload that an S-Rank Hunter would dismiss as ambient interference.
But Tae-oh isn't just an S-Rank Hunter. He's a Synthetic Architect, an auditor of reality.
Ji-hoon set the trap precisely:
1. The Bait: An A-Rank skill crystal Tae-oh desperately needs for his growth.
2. The Flaw: A structural weakness in the security grid that only the [Flaw Replication] skill can instantly identify as a bypass.
3. The Ambush: Ji-hoon used his Temporal Echo to map out three distinct infiltration paths Tae-oh might take, ensuring his ambush would be perfectly timed.
Ji-hoon descended, leaving the crystal in the center of the display room. He gave the official command to activate the final, impenetrable security protocol.
As the heavy vault door sealed, he spoke into his comms. "Activate the surveillance team. But do not engage. I want only one person to know we are here."
A moment later, his encrypted comm unit beeped. The message was from Team Leader Hyun-woo (the C-Rank Hunter who betrayed Tae-oh, now healed and hyper-vigilant).
Hyun-woo: S-Rank, the Shadow-Rank has been quiet for two days. He's gone.
Ji-hoon replied instantly, his voice colder than the reinforced steel of the vault.
"He is not gone. He is calculating. He just acquired Hyper-Regeneration. He thinks he can outlast me. Now he needs a power surge. The moment he sees a flaw that guarantees success, he will move. He can't help himself. He is the most brilliant, self-serving architect of destruction I have ever faced. We wait. He's coming for the crystal."
Ji-hoon settled down behind a thick layer of anti-mana shielding. He didn't need to see the vault. He needed to predict the exact moment his rival's predatory mind determined the trap was actually an opportunity.