"Hey, look at that."
In the alleyway, three young men leaned against the wall, cigarettes glowing between their fingers. One of them nudged the other and pointed toward a neat-looking building with a glowing sign that read Home Hotel.
"A hotel in a dump place like this?" one of them smirked. He took one last drag before flicking the butt away, then started walking toward it, the others following behind.
"You think there's cash in there?" another asked.
"Only one way to find out."
The moment they stepped inside, they pulled out their guns and fired into the ceiling. The one leading waved his weapon around. "Alright, nobody move! Hand over the cash— all of it!"
Only two people were inside.
Behind the counter stood a woman with reddish-brown hair, a name tag that read Sam Crane. She was busy organizing something, but glanced up briefly before returning to her work with a faint smile and a wry shake of her head.
On a nearby sofa sat a young man, calmly drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. He set both down, a faint smile touching his lips.
"You kids sure have guts," he said. "Use that courage for school or work, not this crap. Leave before it's too late."
"What the hell you saying, shithead?" the leader snapped, pointing his gun at him and nodding to his two friends.
The two young men behind the leader split up, one heading for the counter, the other for the young man on the sofa.
The young man took another sip of coffee before standing up. "Well," he said quietly, "I did give you a chance."
Before the robber could reach him, the young man grabbed his wrist so hard the scream echoed through the lobby. In one smooth motion, he twisted the gun free and aimed it at the leader.
The leader froze, his eyes widened a bit. Then another scream rang out; his friend at the counter was already down. The leader's hands trembled as he looked between his friend and the young man, before throwing the gun aside and quickly kneeling.
"Shit… you guys are real!?"
"We're real," the young man replied with a faint smile, settling back into his seat, "but not as real as your father."
"Jacob, why the fuck did you drop the gun!?" the robber near the sofa shouted.
"Fuck you! They're real assassins! You didn't believe me, huh? I saw them kill ten men in this same alley!" The leader, called Jacob, laughed like he'd finally gone mad.
"What the hell, then why'd you lead us here!?"
"I just wanted to see if it was true," Jacob said, still laughing. "Now I believe it."
"Fuck you!"
Moments later, three large men in suits emerged from the back. They grabbed the robbers effortlessly, lifting them like they weighed nothing.
"Hey," the young man called out as Jacob was being dragged away. "What's your name?"
Jacob glanced back. "Jacob, sir."
"You're brave," the young man said. "But reckless. If you want to live long, stop letting recklessness lead you. Move with courage instead." He paused, then added, "I'm Gabriel."
"Thanks," Jacob muttered just before they threw him out into the street.
Jacob groaned in pain as his back slammed against the cold floor. He stood up weakly, glancing at Gabriel with a deep, unreadable look before running away.
"How is it?" Gabriel turned his attention to Sam and said, "I always wanted to do that."
"Congratulations, I guess?" Sam shrugged. Suddenly, the phone rang. She picked it up, frowned, then hung up. "Boss, there's a big problem."
"Is it the debt again? Are they vultures or what? Tell them I'm dead." Gabriel clicked his tongue.
"That's not it." Sam shook her head and gestured for him to follow. "It's better if you see it yourself."
Gabriel's brow furrowed. He set his coffee and newspaper aside and followed her upstairs. They stopped in front of Room 04, where guards were stationed on both sides. When Sam opened the door, Gabriel immediately pinched his nose and frowned.
A corpse lay sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. Several more bodies were scattered around, the room torn apart as if hit by a storm. The walls were splattered red, and the air reeked of iron and decay.
He stepped inside, scanning the scene before turning to Sam. "When did this happen?"
"I don't know, sir. But that's not the question you should be asking." Sam crouched beside one of the bodies, ran a finger through the blood, and looked back at him. "The real question is, how did this happen?"
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked.
"Sir, no one checked into the hotel today. We didn't have a single guest. So how did these people get in? And why didn't we hear any gunshots? Something's not right."
The silence pressed heavily on Gabriel's shoulders. He let out a deep sigh as he looked over the bodies.
"We're already in debt, and now this? If word gets out that someone died in our hotel, our reputation's finished."
"This doesn't look good, sir. We've worked hard to maintain our reputation, but if the Higher Table hears about this…" Sam trailed off, letting the unspoken threat hang in the air.
"Lock all the exits," Gabriel ordered calmly. "We don't know if the suspect is still inside. Check the CCTV. Tell everyone to stay alert." He turned to leave but paused midway. "And make sure this doesn't leak."
Sam nodded, turning to the guards, she said, "Call the cleaners."
"Yes, ma'am," one of the guards replied before hurrying off.
Outside the room, Gabriel rubbed his temple, feeling another problem stack on top of the last. As he walked down the hall, he suddenly froze. At the far end stood a figure dressed entirely in black, face hidden behind a mask, a large bag slung over his shoulder.
The figure stared at Gabriel, unmoving, almost as if to make sure Gabriel saw him. He only moved once Gabriel gave the order.
"Fuck! After that guy!"
Sam, who had just stepped out, saw the figure too. She drew her gun, fired a shot, and sprinted after him, the guards close behind.
Gabriel watched them disappear down the hallway. He turned back toward the bloodstained room, the image of the masked man's eyes lingering in his mind; something about them felt strangely familiar.
Pulling on a pair of gloves, he crouched beside the corpses, searching their pockets and clothes. Nothing, just a few guns. Gabriel exhaled, took a quick photo of the scene, and made a call.
"Can you do a background search on them? Call me right away if you find anything. Alright, alright."
After hanging up, Gabriel left the room, one hand in his pocket, lost in thought.
If the High Table found out that someone had died in their "neutral zone," the hotel would be under new management in no time.
Honestly, if it weren't for his late grandmother's wishes and the Crane family's efforts to keep this place alive, Gabriel would've run away with all the money he had. All he ever wanted was a peaceful life, far away from the underworld.
Thinking about it, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
…
"Get down!"
Sam's eyes widened as she saw the enemy pull out a large weapon. She quickly rolled to the ground, hiding behind the wall. A sound like air being torn apart followed, and the stairs behind them exploded. Debris rained down, some guards who couldn't react in time were killed instantly, and the aftermath made everyone's blood run cold.
"What the hell kind of weapon is that!?" Sam gasped, stunned by the sheer power of it. It looked like something ripped straight out of the future, but there was no time to think. The enemy was already on the move.
The fight turned frantic. The attacker fired his high-tech weapon while Sam and the guards retaliated with their pistols. Bullets and energy blasts exchanged in a deadly rhythm as the intruder sprinted toward the exit, only to find it sealed by a heavy roller shutter.
He pointed his weapon at it, but quickly realized he was out of bullets. He cursed under his breath and threw the gun aside. Spinning around, he raised his hands.
"I surrender!"
"Who are you? Remove your mask," Sam ordered, keeping her aim steady.
"I can't… It's complicated." The man shook his head, glancing at a device on his wrist before looking back at her. "Just let me go. It'll be better for all of you. No need to make an enemy of me…"
"Let you go?" Sam said mockingly. "If you hadn't run and killed one of ours, maybe we could talk about that." She nodded slightly at one of the guards, who stepped forward cautiously.
The enemy didn't respond at first. Then he chuckled softly. "I guess you're right. For a moment, I thought you were my enemy when I saw that guy…" He started to raise his hand to point in a direction—
Bang!
The gunshot echoed through the lobby.
Everyone froze. The man stood there for a second, a bullet hole clean through his forehead, before collapsing to the floor with a dull thud.
Sam's eyes widened, then hardened. "Who fired that shot? Who fired the fucking shot?!"
The guards exchanged confused looks, panic rising. None of them had fired. Sam narrowed her eyes, scanning each face before clicking her tongue in frustration.
"Damn it… We're screwed. Someone call the boss."
She turned back to the body and crouched beside it. When one of the guards removed the mask, Sam's eyes widened in shock. "What the hell… is this?"
…
It took only a few minutes for Gabriel to arrive. The moment he stepped into the lobby, he could feel the tension hanging in the air. The guards looked at him in disbelief, and even Sam seemed shaken enough that Gabriel briefly wondered if there was something wrong with his own face.
"Sir…" Sam said quietly. "You'd better take a look at this."
Gabriel nodded and stepped closer. The moment his gaze fell on the corpse, his expression darkened to match Sam's. His brow furrowed as he muttered under his breath, "What the hell… is this?"