13. What it meant to be a beyonder
I felt it.
Another intruder.
...Again?
Only a few days had passed since Xio and Fors had broken in. And now, someone else?
Is the security here really that bad?
Reluctantly, I got up and moved toward the intruder's presence.
But what greeted me was beyond expectation.
Unlike Xio and Fors' subtle infiltration, these figures were draped entirely in black—from their coats to their hats, blending seamlessly into the night. Their approach was quiet, yes, but when a patrol guard passed by, they didn't wait in the shadows or attempt to hide.
They eliminated him.
I saw it happen. And they knew I had seen.
Now, I was surrounded.
My enhanced vision allowed me to see better than normal, but it wasn't quite night vision.Meanwhile these intruders were seasoned in operating in the dark. Probably from the underworld.
Two theories crossed my mind:
The Hunting I did in the East Borough– I might've erased all physical traces, but not the mystical ones. There could be a mid- to high-sequence Seer in Backlund tracking it.
and Merchants – Ruthless businessmen may have caught wind of my parents' dealings. Whether it's my mother's invention or eliminating future rivals... neither option was something I could allow.
There were five intruders in total, all dressed in black. After realizing they had failed to dispose of the patrol guard in secret, they waited for their leader to make a decision. The correct choice was clear: escape immediately or eliminate the witness.
But the leader hesitated.
The witness, a young man just on the cusp of adulthood, hadn't screamed. He hadn't tried to run or make noise like most people would in such a situation. Instead, he simply observed them, his eyes sharp, careful not to miss even the slightest movement.
His gut instinct told him to flee, to make a swift exit before the situation escalated further. But what unsettled him most was the young man's reaction—he was trembling, just like anyone who faced death for the first time. Trembling in fear, yes, but there was something else. He was also calm, his mind clear, despite the fear pulsing through him.
That contradiction—fear mixed with composure—bothered the leader. The uncertainty gnawed at him. He had already spent a few precious seconds deliberating. It was time to make a decision.
And the decision was clear.
Eliminate the witness.
In the end, these weren't professionals who had been trained for this—they were survivors. People who had learned these skills out of necessity in the harsh underworld, where experience was their greatest teacher, and everything they did revolved around money. Now, they hadn't completed their mission to steal the design. They couldn't escape yet.
Two of the subordinates were positioned to strike from the front, while the other two moved to take my right and left sides, aiming to attack from my blind spots. Meanwhile, the leader searched for an opening to strike at the right moment.
This was their strategy for dealing with a single target, no matter how strong they were. They had survived through it, and it had proven effective in the past.
Thankfully, we hadn't entered the mansion yet. In the wide yard with little to obstruct movement, they believed they had the advantage.
I couldn't help but grimace as I stared at the dead patrol guard, thinking of the man who had greeted me this morning. His sudden death was the perfect reminder that life could be snuffed out in the blink of an eye.
As they attacked, I found a gap and quickly landed a hook on one of the intruders. The strike stunned him, but it wasn't enough to incapacitate him.
The other two had already gotten behind me. The leader took advantage of my momentary distraction and aimed to make a pincer attack, while the other two moved in with their daggers.
Usually, this would have worked. But, unfortunately for them, they had just stepped into a spider's nest.
"Never mess with a spider's nest," I muttered under my breath as the five of them froze in place.
"Kghh..."
"Ughh..."
I could hear their grunts and confusion as they struggled, trying to free themselves. But it wouldn't take long before they managed to escape the threads binding them. I had to incapacitate them quickly. Disrupting their order was my priority.
Just as I moved in to land my strike—
Bang!
A bullet grazed my ear, and I felt the sharp, burning pain almost immediately.
The leader had hidden a gun in his other hand and fired, taking advantage of the moment I let my guard down. The threads around him made it difficult for him to move, causing his aim to be slightly off. Thanks to that, I was able to react just in time, though the bullet still managed to nick my ear. If he had aimed at my body, I wouldn't have been able to dodge in time.
*bump* *bump* *bump*
If it weren't for what was happening now, I wouldn't have believed my heartbeat could be this fast—this loud. I fell on my butt in pure shock, ears ringing, pain still burning through one side.
My ear throbbed. It hurt like hell. But I didn't dare touch it, afraid I'd make it worse.
For a split second, I completely forgot what I was even doing here. Then reality crashed back in. Not just the leader, but the others too—all of them—were glaring at me with open contempt.
I tried to stand, but my legs refused to move. There was no strength left in them. My whole body trembled… but the pain kept my mind sharp.
Suuu… Haaa…
I drew in a deep breath, forcing myself up, inch by inch. Meanwhile, the threads I'd used to bind them had started to fray—the limit of their durability had been reached.
One of them moved first, using the dagger still clutched in their hand to cut themselves free. Then another. Then another. One by one, they helped each other. In less than a minute, all five were free.
Despite the shaking in my limbs, I rose to my feet again. I stood before them—staggering, bleeding, exposed.
It felt like everything had reset. Like we were back at the beginning.
Except now, my secret was out.
And my ear was still bleeding.
"We're leaving!" the leader barked, signaling for them to escape.
He had realized that the young man in front of him was no ordinary target. He was no mere pawn, but a monster—someone akin to the special people of the underworld. The gunshot was loud enough to attract attention that it wouldn't be long before they were surrounded, even if they managed to kill me. The only thing in their favor was the fact that they had managed to keep their identities hidden.
The others were dissatisfied, but they had seen their leader in action and trusted his judgment. Reluctantly, they followed him, jumping over the fence and making their escape.
I gritted my teeth, watching them go. Part of me felt a rush of relief. But another part of me immediately scolded myself. What would happen if I let them go? What consequences might I face later if I didn't act now?
With a firm resolve, I chased after them. If there was one thing I could pride myself on, it was my speed. They had a head start, but I could easily catch up.
As I closed the distance between us, I wove a new thread. But this thread was different from the others I had used before. It shimmered in the moonlight as I guided it from my fingers.
This was my cutting thread.
I reached them and kicked the last man in line.
"Gah!" He screamed in pain, falling to the ground, taking the next man down with him. The other two and the leader turned, preparing to fight.
'If he can chase us down like this… there's no way we'll escape—unless we scatter.'The leader quickly assessed the situation. Two of his men were still on the ground. If he chose to flee now with the remaining two, the distance between them wasn't great enough—they'd likely be picked off one by one.
That's why he made the decision to fight back.At least until the other two could get back on their feet.
They charged at the young man again, and just like before, the result was the same. He effortlessly dodged every strike.
But that was fine. The leader's eyes flicked past the young man—he saw movement.
His men were getting up.
Soon, it would be five against one again.
Or so he thought.
In the next moment, like a crumbling tower of blocks, parts of their bodies were sliced apart—clean, precise, and terrifying. One by one, his men collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
He wasn't the only one who saw it.
The other two stood frozen in horror. One of them let out a panicked scream and turned to flee, but he only managed a few staggering steps before his body split apart, joining the others on the floor.
The last one didn't move.No—he couldn't.
Paralyzed by fear, he stood still, as if the air itself would slice him should he dare to breathe wrong.
"Huh…?"
A voice full of confusion escaped him, soft and trembling, just before his vision tilted sideways—his head slipping from his shoulders.
It was the last thing he ever saw.
The leader, still standing, could only watch as despair wrapped its cold fingers around his heart.
He cursed himself—cursed his arrogance, cursed his stupidity for ignoring the unease clawing at his instincts.
And then—everything went black.
I covered my face with thread and carefully erased every trace I'd left behind.
Only then did I return home—quiet, unnoticed.
It was the middle of the night when I stepped into the bathroom and let the water run. I stood beneath the stream for what felt like hours, scrubbing every inch of skin.
But no matter how many times I washed…
It just wouldn't disappear.
How should I hide my ear injury from people around me?