The Null-Point shop was dead silent when Jinsu kicked the rusted door open.
He walked to the counter and slammed the glass jar down. The beating human heart inside pulsed, illuminating the dark shop in rhythmic flashes of blue.
The Null-Broker stood up, his horizontal violet eyes widening to the edges of his pixelated face. "You actually did it. You killed the Founder's Anchor."
"I killed a man who begged for death," Jinsu corrected coldly, leaning over the counter. "Now give me my mask. The System is sending Generals to Sector 02 as we speak."
The Broker didn't hesitate. He grabbed the Logic-Jumper—the jagged black shard of original source code—and pressed it against the glass jar. The blue liquid boiled. The heart disintegrated into a stream of pure, golden data, which flowed into the black shard, turning it silver.
"Hold out your arm," the Broker commanded.
Jinsu extended his left arm. The Broker took the silver shard and violently drove it directly into Jinsu's forearm.
Jinsu didn't scream, but his eyes rolled back as his Processing stat went into overdrive. He saw thousands of lines of code rewriting his surface data. He saw the System's "Scanner" sweeping over the city, a massive digital eye looking for a 0.00% anomaly.
The eye passed over the shop. It looked directly at Jinsu.
And then... it moved on.
[SYSTEM LOG UPDATED]
[Profile Mask Installed: ID - Han Jinsu]
[Displayed Compliance: 92% - Civilian / Porter]
[Threat Level: Minimal]
Jinsu gasped, pulling his arm back. The silver shard had completely melted into his skin, leaving a barcode-like scar.
"It worked," the Broker laughed, a sound like grinding metal. "To the Gods, you are just a traumatized Porter trying to live a quiet life. You can walk in the sun again, boy."
Jinsu checked his status.
[SYSTEM]
[HOST: HAN JINSU]
Current Level: 26
Strength: 28
Agility: 31
Processing: 65
ERASURE: C+ (Can delete B-Rank logic)
STABILITY: 25% (CRITICAL)
Public Mask: ON (Compliance 92%)
Jinsu looked at the blinking red 'CRITICAL' warning on his Stability. He had used too much Void-Step, and absorbing S-Rank data had damaged his physical anchor.
"I need to stabilize," Jinsu rasped.
"You need to eat," the Broker replied. "High-density mana. But right now, you need to test that mask. Get out of the Glitch Market before the Pruners tear the sewers apart looking for the thief."
Jinsu turned toward the door. "Broker. Keep your ears open. The Association is going to try and cover this up."
"Always, Architect."