The heavy blast doors of the hideout didn't just open; they were liquefied into molten metal by a beam of pure golden light. From the smoke stepped a figure that sent a shiver down Jin's spine. It was a man wearing the armor of a High-Rank Hunter, but his skin was a sickly, translucent grey, and his eyes were replaced by glowing red 'System' sensors.
[Target: The Defragmenter][Class: System Puppet / Rank S (Zombie State)][Mission: Delete Corruption Source 'Jin Kim' and 'Mi-na Kim']
Zero-Day fired his railgun, but the Defragmenter didn't even flinch. He moved with a speed that defied physics, appearing instantly in front of Zero-Day and swatting him away like a fly. The rebel hacker crashed into a wall of monitors, his fiber-optic cables sparking and breaking.
Jin stood his ground, his hand gripping the hilt of the newly evolved 'Glitch Dagger'. The obsidian blade was now larger, pulsing with a dark violet and crimson energy after absorbing the Auditor's Key.
"Brother, wait!" Mi-na shouted, her blue eyes scanning the enemy. "He isn't moving with his own will. I can see the golden strings connecting him to the ceiling... to the System itself!"
"Then I'll just have to cut the strings," Jin growled. He lunged forward, but the Defragmenter met him with a sword made of solid mana. The collision of their weapons created a shockwave that shattered every screen in the room.
Jin felt his bones rattling. Even at Level 35, the raw power of a Rank-S was overwhelming. But he wasn't fighting as a hunter anymore. He was a Glitch.
[Warning: Health at 30%...][Evolution Skill Ready: World-Severing Slash]
"Mi-na, now!" Jin roared.
Mi-na placed her hands on the floor, her silver veins glowing so brightly they illuminated the entire bunker. "System Overload: Static Field!" she screamed. Suddenly, the Defragmenter's movements stuttered—he was caught in a digital lag created by Mi-na's presence.
Jin didn't miss the chance. He raised his dagger, the blade extending into a massive, jagged line of red light that seemed to tear the air like a piece of paper.
"Edit: Reality Integrity... set to ZERO!"
[Skill: World-Severing Slash Activated]
Jin swung the blade. He didn't just cut the enemy; he cut the 'space' where the enemy existed. The red slash tore through the Defragmenter, through the golden strings of the System, and through the very bunker walls. The Rank-S puppet disintegrated into a rain of broken code, his physical body turning into ash before it even hit the ground.
[Kill Confirmed: Rank-S Defragmenter Erased.][Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! ... Current Level: 45]
Jin collapsed to one knee, the dagger smoking in his hand. The bunker was crumbling around them, the ceiling beginning to cave in.
"We have to go," Zero-Day gasped, coughing up blood. "You just killed an S-Rank puppet. The Admin... the Admin is going to be furious. They'll send the whole Association after you now."
Jin looked at his sister, then at his hands which were now covered in glowing red symbols. He wasn't just a hunter anymore. He was the most dangerous error in the history of the world.