A fine rain fell over the Lower City, soft and endless, blurring the broken alleyways. Oily puddles stretched under flickering streetlights. The air reeked of rust, mold, and something colder — despair.
Seo-jin tightened the strap of his bag.Simple delivery, they said. Just hand off the package across Sector 9.
"Simple mission," Ko had promised.
Seo-jin wasn't buying it. Not in this world.
He slipped deeper into the alleys, dodging the warped spots where fragments had twisted the ground. His steps were quick, but his nerves were wound tight.Every breath burned in his throat.
— "Hey, you!"
The shout cracked the silence.
Seo-jin froze.
Three figures stepped out of the shadows, all wearing shredded leather jackets reinforced along the spine — the signature of the Grey Thorns. Metal hooks dangled from their sleeves, glinting in the dim light.
The leader — a shaved-headed thug with thorn tattoos crawling up his neck — sauntered forward, a nasty grin cutting across his scarred face.
— "A Lotus courier? Man, today's our lucky day."
Seo-jin didn't answer.His fingers dug into the strap, heart thundering in his chest.
— "Drop the bag. Maybe we'll let you walk."
Slowly, Seo-jin disengaged his fragment. His skin prickled with static. The world around him seemed to shudder slightly.
"Three of them. Leader's reckless. Others backing him up."
No way to run.Ground was slick. His legs already heavy.
He exhaled through gritted teeth.
— "Sorry. Not for sale."
The leader chuckled.
— "Wrong answer, rat."
They moved at once.
Seo-jin reacted instinctively.
Pain stabbed his temples as he pushed his fragment out — a thin fissure cracking the air at his right.
The second thug stumbled, slipping hard into a puddle.
Steel flashed.The leader was already on him, blade swinging.
Seo-jin barely dodged. The blade nicked his jacket, a cold kiss along his ribs.
He struck back, ramming his knee into the attacker's wrist.A wet crack. The knife clattered away.
But another thug was already closing in.
Seo-jin flared a quick micro-fissure beneath his feet.
The ground buckled.The iron rod swung wide and uselessly.
Seo-jin lunged, grabbed the man's shoulder, and slammed him into a crumbling wall.The impact shook the alley.
His breathing turned ragged. His heartbeat was a hammer against his skull.
The leader cursed, spitting blood onto the ground.
— "You little bastard..."
Seo-jin staggered a step back. His vision blurred for a second.
His fragment... almost drained. Two more fissures, max.
One wrong move and he'd black out.
The leader charged again, wild.
Seo-jin waited.
Focused.
At the last second, he dropped another fissure beneath a rusted car carcass.
Metal groaned.
The wreck tipped over with a screech. The leader dodged — barely — but lost his balance.
Seo-jin didn't waste the opening.
His fist smashed into the man's jaw.Crunch.A knee into the ribs followed, brutal and fast.
The leader gagged, then dropped like dead weight into the mud.
Silence fell.Heavy. Final.
Seo-jin stood over them, swaying slightly.Every muscle screamed.His fragment pulsed weakly in the back of his mind.
He looked down at the three bodies.
No regret.
Not tonight.
He adjusted the bag across his chest and forced himself forward.
One step at a time. Through the pain.
Through the cold.
Twenty minutes later, he reached the rendezvous point — a rundown warehouse lit by flickering oil lamps.
The contact, face hidden behind a filthy scarf, grabbed the package without a word.
In return, he handed Seo-jin a strange metal tube, etched with a black lotus emblem.
Mission complete.
The walk back to Lotus HQ was endless.
The rain grew heavier, drumming against broken concrete.
By the time Seo-jin pushed open the rusty door, he was limping, soaked to the bone.
Heads turned.
Ha-eun, leg bandaged, sprang up from her corner.
— "You're alive!" she blurted out.
Seo-jin managed a tired smirk, tossing her the tube.
Ko emerged from the gloom, his single eye sharp as ever.
— "Looks like you had some fun," he said, low.
Seo-jin shrugged, wincing.
— "Three Grey Thorns. They wanted the package."
Silence.
Then Ko chuckled, rough and approving.
— "You didn't just survive. You fought. You won."
He leaned closer, voice dropping.
— "In this world, kid... you either adapt or you die."
He tapped his fist lightly against Seo-jin's chest.
— "You're becoming one of us."
And for the first time in a long time, Seo-jin felt something warm spark inside him.
Recognition.Respect.
Earned the hard way.
Later, lying on his beat-up mattress, Seo-jin stared at the cracked ceiling.
His hands were scraped raw.His muscles screamed with every breath.
But something inside him had shifted.
He wasn't the same boy who had stumbled into Lotus HQ, scared and reluctant.
A weak fragment... but a free spirit.
Tomorrow, he'd push even further.Tomorrow, he'd bend the rules of this broken world.
And maybe — just maybe — he'd survive.
The next morning, with the rain finally stopped, Ko summoned him into a side room.
Ha-eun limped along behind him.
On a battered table: handmade weapons, raw fragment shards, torn city maps.
Ko pointed at a simple armband, engraved with a crude star.
— "Your reward," he said, tossing it at Seo-jin.
Seo-jin caught it, surprised.
— "What's this?"
— "Your place. You're no longer a parasite.You're officially Lotus."
Ha-eun beamed proudly.
Seo-jin slipped the armband on.It felt heavy.It felt real.
Ko leaned in close, voice like a low growl.
— "But now you have a choice. Stay a pawn... or start climbing."
Seo-jin clenched his fists.
— "I'll climb."
Ko's lips curved into a rare, genuine smile.
— "Good. Because here? If you want to rise... you crush anyone who tries to drag you down."
That night, Seo-jin and Ha-eun sat beside an old brazier, sharing rare silence.
The flames flickered against the ruined walls.
— "Someday," Ha-eun said, tossing a stone between her hands, "I wanna see the top of the City. Real sky. Real light."
Seo-jin nodded.
— "Me too. But not just to see it."
Ha-eun raised an eyebrow.
— "Get strong enough to be invited?"
Seo-jin's lips curled into a crooked grin.
— "Strong enough to take it without asking."
They locked eyes.
No words needed.
A crazy dream.But it was all they had.
And it was enough.