[Location: Hikaru's Home City]
The night was blooming with life.
Moonlight bathed the city in a pale silver glow while a cold yet gentle wind drifted through the streets, brushing against glass windows and towering buildings. Massive skyscrapers stood proudly against the dark sky, their heights seeming to challenge the heavens themselves. Above them, countless stars glimmered softly, as if blushing behind the veil of night.
The city was alive.
Voices of young people, adults, and elders blended together with the constant movement of vehicles, creating an endless rhythm that filled the atmosphere with energy. Lights spilled from restaurants, apartments, street signs, and towering structures, washing the streets in layers of gold, blue, and white.
Yet far from the crowded roads—
One particular street felt different.
An empty road stretched quietly beneath the night sky, its sidewalks lined with thick trees whose branches intertwined overhead, creating an eerie tunnel of shadows. The silence there was deep, broken only by fluttering leaves and the soft howl of the slow-moving wind.
A sleek black car moved steadily through the darkness.
Its polished surface reflected fragments of moonlight as it cut through the empty road with smooth elegance. The low hum of the engine vibrated gently through the stillness, oddly comforting amidst the isolation.
Inside the car, seated in the back seat, was a man dressed in formal attire.
Black shoes.
Black pants.
A white shirt with its sleeves folded neatly to the elbows.
A loosened black tie fluttered lightly as the wind rushed through the half-open window. His sharp brown eyes reflected the glow of the screen in his hand while strands of messy dark hair shifted gently with the breeze.
It was Kio.
Completely absorbed in his phone.
Or more accurately—
Doom scrolling.
His thumb lazily dragged across the screen while expressionless videos, useless arguments, tragic news, and random nonsense flashed endlessly before his eyes. The pale blue light illuminated his face in the dim interior of the car, making his tired expression seem strangely calm.
For someone known as a deadly hitman, the sight felt absurdly normal.
Kio sighed softly and leaned further back into the seat, the glow of the city lights sliding across his face as the car continued deeper into the sleeping streets.
Then suddenly—
"Oh shit, I forgot to call him," he muttered under his breath.
He quickly tapped a number on his phone and lifted it to his ear as the call began ringing.
A moment later, a voice answered from the other side.
"Hello, Recardo speaking."
Kio instantly replied in his usual carefree tone,
"Yo! You in the bar?"
From the other side came a bored, tired voice.
"Yeah. Got a problem with that?"
Kio placed a hand dramatically over his chest.
"Ah... I'm hurt."
But before Kio could continue speaking, his eyes suddenly drifted toward the rearview mirror inside the car.
Several headlights glowed in the distance behind them.
Following.
Kio's expression instantly shifted into exaggerated exhaustion.
"Huff~~ so annoying."
Suddenly, Recardo's explosive voice blasted through the phone speaker.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING ANNOYING, YOU SHITHEAD?!"
Kio visibly jolted from the sudden shouting.
"Hey, hey, calm down! Not you," Kio replied quickly. "I was talking about the guests coming for me."
Recardo paused for a moment.
"Huh? What, someone's chasing you?"
"Yeah, for sure." Kio replied to Recardo.
Kio casually leaned forward toward the front seat and smiled brightly at the driver.
"Hey, you've got a wife and a child, right, driver uncle?"
The driver stiffened slightly at the sudden question, glancing nervously through the mirror.
"Yes… why?"
"Ohhh," Kio said cheerfully, "then if you don't want to get blasted by some 9mm bullets or maybe a grenade, please speed up the car because we're being chased by armed bandits."
The driver's face instantly paled.
Without asking another question, he slammed his foot against the accelerator.
VROOOOM!
The black car surged forward violently, speeding through the empty road as the trees blurred past outside the windows.
Kio calmly returned his attention to the phone while casually unlocking the car door beside him.
"Hello… Recardo, you still on the call?"
"Yeah," Recardo replied. "And I wanna ask for a favor. Remember when I helped you run away from that group of weird girls?"
Kio let out a tired sigh.
"Yes, yes. Just say the favor already."
The moment the final words left Kio's mouth—
He slipped out of the speeding car.
The cold wind roared around him as his body dropped toward the asphalt below.
The instant his feet touched the road—
SWOOP!
Kio vanished.
Completely.
The armed bandits inside the pursuing cars widened their eyes in shock.
One of them leaned halfway out the car window, staring blankly.
"I swear I saw him slide out of the car…" the bandit muttered nervously. "Where the hell did he go?"
As his sentence ended, a sudden sound shattered the confusion hanging inside the car.
Thud!
Every bandit instantly looked upward toward the roof of the vehicle, their expressions tightening with unease.
One of them cautiously leaned his head out of the window to see what had landed above them.
The moment his eyes adjusted—
Pure terror flooded his face.
Kio was crouched low on top of the speeding car, perfectly balanced despite the violent speed. One hand casually held his phone against his ear while the cold wind whipped through his messy dark hair and loosened tie.
And somehow—
He was still busy chatting with Recardo.
"So you seriously don't have any cash?" Kio asked lazily. "Why don't you just use online payment methods?"
From the phone came Recardo's irritated voice.
"Just come and pay for the drinks as repayment for my help. And don't start acting like some teacher li—"
Before Recardo could finish—
The bandit hanging out the window suddenly screamed in panic.
"HE'S ON THE ROOF! SHOOT HIM! HE IS O—"
The words never finished.
Shhk!
Kio's knife flashed through the darkness in one smooth motion, slicing cleanly across the bandit's neck.
Blood sprayed into the rushing wind.
Before the dying man could even collapse, Kio shoved a grenade directly into his mouth.
Inside the car, the remaining bandits panicked instantly, hurriedly loading their weapons.
But they were already too late.
BOOOOM!!!
The grenade detonated violently.
Flames erupted from inside the vehicle, engulfing the car in a blazing explosion that tore through metal and glass. The blast wave sent the vehicle spiraling out of control as burning debris scattered across the road.
The car flipped violently through the air before crashing onto the asphalt.
The other pursuing vehicles swerved in panic.
CRAAASH!
One slammed into another.
Then another.
Metal twisted and shattered as the road descended into complete chaos. Explosions echoed across the empty street while burning vehicles overturned one after another, ending countless lives within seconds.
Dead bodies lay scattered across the asphalt.
The air became thick with the ugly stench of blood, smoke, and burning flesh.
Yet strangely—
Kio was nowhere among the wreckage.
Inside the first black car, the driver's hands trembled violently against the steering wheel. Sweat dripped down his forehead as he struggled to process what he had just witnessed.
Then suddenly—
A familiar voice spoke calmly from the back seat.
"Yeah, yeah, I understand. I'll pay for your drinks and stuff. I'll reach in time, don't worry."
The driver's body stiffened instantly.
Slowly—
Very slowly—
He glanced into the rearview mirror.
Kio was back in the car.
Completely unharmed.
Still sitting casually in the back seat with his phone pressed against his ear, as though nothing unusual had happened.
The driver's heart tightened painfully.
"H-How…?" the thought screamed inside his mind. "How can someone move that fast…? The car was moving at 120 kilometers per hour…"
Kio ended the call and let out a tired sigh, leaning back comfortably into the seat.
"Huff~~ that's a lot of work for one day."
Then his focus shifted toward the trembling driver.
A cheerful grin slowly spread across Kio's face.
"Hey, uncle, you should probably get therapy or something," he said casually. "Maybe try sleeping more, eating properly, spending time with your family… ohhh, actually, I've got a really good idea for you."
The driver only grew more terrified.
His mind still couldn't comprehend how someone could casually joke around moments after killing multiple armed men without the slightest change in expression.
Meanwhile—
Kio kept yapping endlessly as the black car disappeared deeper into the moonlit city streets.