"Captain, she's unconscious now. Can I take off her mask and see who's behind it?"
The man's eyes gleamed with curiosity as he stared at the mask covering her face. He had seen countless masks before, but this one was different. Faint patterns across its surface glowed in the darkness, giving her silhouette an unnerving and dangerous presence.
His desire to claim it was written all over his face.
"Hm. Fine. Tie her up in the corner first."
The captain glanced at her subordinate and immediately understood what he was thinking. The man had been collecting unusual masks for years. By now, his morbid obsession was obvious to everyone in the squad.
The subordinate nodded heavily and hurried toward Lavanya with a wide grin.
"And listen carefully," the captain continued. "I received a message from the ground team. They found the target, but there hasn't been any update for over half an hour."
Her expression darkened.
"That leaves two possibilities. Either the target escaped... or he's coming for us."
The vast rooftop fell completely silent.
"So don't let her out of your sight. She may still be useful."
The captain continued weighing every possibility. Her assumptions could be wrong. Perhaps her own ground team had betrayed them, or perhaps this girl really was just a sacrificial pawn.
Still, there was a chance she was valuable.
And as long as that chance existed, she couldn't focus solely on killing the target and completing the mission. She had to secure an insurance policy.
A vast consciousness stretched before Lavanya. It resembled the starless universe she had always gazed at during quiet nights, yet there were no cosmic lights here to illuminate the endless expanse. Despite the absolute darkness, she could see everything around her. More than that, she could feel a gentle, ambient warmth embracing the entire space.
There was no beginning or end. Only infinity.
Standing before her was a human-shaped shadow. It looked exactly like her. Though its color blended almost perfectly with the surrounding void, she could still clearly distinguish its outline.
A soft smile touched her lips as she slowly raised her left hand. The shadow mirrored the movement precisely, causing her smile to widen.
"It's been a while since I've seen you," she murmured.
A quiet laugh escaped her as she spun around, dancing with the figure. She knew exactly what it was. It was herself.
Ever since childhood, she had played with this strange reflection whenever she slipped into this place. Though she remembered none of these encounters in the waking world, her deeper consciousness remembered them perfectly. For some reason, that was enough. It was enough to make her cherish these fleeting moments, and enough to draw her back to them again and again.
Then, her movements slowed.
The shadow was changing. Its form began to unravel, dissolving into the surrounding world.
Lavanya tilted her head. "What is happening to you?"
The figure had no face, no eyes, no mouth—nothing that could express emotion. It was merely a human silhouette, yet she could clearly see it melting into the endless void, becoming one with the world that belonged to her.
A strange, cold unease stirred within her chest. For the very first time in this place, she felt as though the world itself was taking a slow, deep breath.
Yug had made a mistake.
He had killed her too early.
The receptionist had been the focal point for the rest of the ground team. Several of her disguised comrades had been keeping a watchful eye on her desk. Even now, Yug could feel their sharp, hawk-like gazes sweeping across the lobby, their instincts flaring at her sudden lack of movement.
Fortunately, they were completely unable to communicate with one another to sound the alarm. That, at least, was by design. The Vokal-Spiders had already severed their voices.
It was those observers he targeted next.
"Head."
Yug's whisper was a cold, mechanical breath beneath his mask.
Thwip.Thwip.Thwip.
Three suppressed gunshots followed in rapid succession. Bullets tore seamlessly through the skulls of three people scattered in the crowd. They died almost instantly.
Without breaking his stride, Yug moved through the room with terrifying efficiency. He casually adjusted their slumping postures as he walked past, carefully positioning the lifeless bodies so they appeared to simply be resting or attentively watching the function.
Out of those three bodies, only one had actually been an assassin. The other two were just innocent bystanders who happened to be standing too close.
But as his eyes relentlessly scanned the crowd, he noticed something troubling.
Someone else had seen it.
A civilian standing nearby was staring wide-eyed at the dark blood beginning to drip onto the polished floorboards. Then another bystander turned. And another. The illusion was already breaking.
"Damn."
Yug's expression darkened beneath the joker mask. The situation was spiraling out of his strict parameters.
"I need to finish this quickly before they escape my range."
He couldn't afford to let a single witness slip through the doors.
The grand hall remained eerily, suffocatingly silent. Not a single scream echoed through the room. The mechanical spiders clinging to their throats ensured that.
Yet, as the horrifying realization of death rippled through the trapped crowd, sheer, unadulterated panic spread all the same.
Only moments ago, the reception hall had been filled with laughter. Guests had been sharing wine, exchanging warm introductions, and enjoying the evening without a care in the world.
Then, a suffocating silence spread through the room.
One by one, their eyes turned toward the man wearing the joker mask. He stood calmly among several motionless figures. At first, nobody understood the macabre diorama. Then, they noticed the dark pools of blood seeping across the polished floorboards. And then, they realized those people were no longer breathing.
Silent panic erupted. A few guests immediately turned to sprint for the heavy main doors, only for a smooth, amplified voice to cut through the dead air.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's stage."
Yug's voice carried a twisted, theatrical amusement.
"Whether you live or die depends entirely on your next actions. If I tell you not to move, then you do not move. Obey, and you may just leave with your lives."
He raised his suppressed weapon, pointing the muzzle directly at the back of a fleeing man.
"But move like him..." Yug whispered into the silence. "Knee."
Thwip.
A bullet sliced across the hall. The fleeing man's knee exploded in a spray of crimson. He crashed hard onto the polished marble, his face twisting in absolute agony. He screamed with everything he had, yet not a single sound escaped his paralyzed throat.
The crowd froze instantly. Not a single person dared to move.
A low, chilling chuckle escaped from beneath the glowing red mask.
"Haha... you haven't seen anything yet." His cold gaze swept across the terrified guests. "This performance has only just begun."
Step. Step. Step.
The hollow echo of his boots was the only sound in the silent hall as he walked slowly toward the fallen man. Every guest watched him in trembling, helpless terror. Some clutched their chests, struggling to draw air. Others lowered their heads, terrified that meeting his gaze would invite immediate death.
Yet, scattered among the sea of horrified faces, a few remained completely calm.
Yug stopped beside the fallen man. The guest was writhing in agony, desperately dragging himself across the polished floor toward the massive double doors at the end of the hall. Even now, the man still clung to hope.
Yug calmly pulled out another gun—a simple firearm, not one of his custom inventions.
"You should have stayed still like everyone else."
Bang. Bang.
The deafening gunshots shattered the heavy silence. The man's body jerked violently before collapsing motionless onto the marble. For a moment, nobody moved. The crack of the shots continued to ring in their ears long after the noise itself had faded, a brutal reminder of reality.
The little hope remaining within the crowd crumbled to dust, and fear spread through them like a plague.
Yug slowly turned toward the guests, a wide grin stretching beneath the joker mask. His gaze swept across the hall. Some people trembled, some had already surrendered entirely to fear, while others remained surprisingly calm. A few even carried a distinct confidence in their eyes—far too much confidence for ordinary guests.
Interesting.
"I'm a kind person," Yug said casually, his voice echoing through the vast room. "That's why I gave him a quick death."
A few guests visibly shivered as he slipped his free hand into his pocket.
"And let me reassure all of you. As long as you follow my instructions, you'll remain perfectly safe." He paused, his mask catching the dim light. "Oh, and there will even be rewards."
The crowd stared at him. Nobody could speak, and nobody dared move. Yet Yug could read them clearly. Some were obeying only because they feared him. Some had completely broken under the psychological pressure. Some were desperately trying to shield the people beside them.
And some were calculating. Watching. Waiting.
Exactly what he expected.
"We're going to play a game."
The hall grew even quieter as Yug spread his arms, as though welcoming them to a grand, theatrical performance.
"The game's name is..." A low chuckle escaped him. "'Find Me.'"
The words left Yug's mouth before he had given them any real thought.
In truth, there was no game. At least, not yet. He had already decided from the very beginning that everyone in this room would die.
The problem was that reality rarely cared about plans.
He was alone. Among the crowd were people who clearly weren't ordinary guests. Some carried themselves like trained fighters. Their eyes remained steady despite the absolute slaughter surrounding them.
And more importantly—two unknown assassins were still hiding among them.
Yug had already identified them, but he couldn't deal with them yet. Not without exposing blind spots he couldn't afford to reveal. He was vastly outnumbered. If the hidden fighters and the assassins rushed him at the exact same time, he would be overwhelmed.
His plan was filled with flaws. Too many flaws.
Through the digital feed of his TICKET interface, he could see every single one of them. One wrong move. One unexpected action. One miscalculation. And he might die right here on this polished floor.
Yet Yug remained completely still.
The joker mask hid his expression, but his grin only widened beneath it.
Fear? He had none.
Instead, he quietly observed the crowd. Waiting. Watching. Calculating.
If there were fighters among them, they would eventually act to survive. If the assassins saw an opportunity, they would strike from the shadows. And when they did, Yug would learn exactly who they were and how they moved.
So, he waited for their assault. Patiently.