Sector 07 was the slums of the "Optimized" world. It was dirty enough that the System's cameras were sparse, but clean enough that monsters didn't spawn in the alleys.
Jinsu sat in a rundown noodle shop. He wore normal, cheap clothes. No Shroud. No glowing eyes.
A patrol of Association Enforcers walked right past the shop's window. Their visors swept over Jinsu. The light blinked green. They kept walking.
Jinsu took a slow sip of hot broth. Perfect.
The bell above the door chimed. Elena walked in. She was out of her Guild uniform, wearing a heavy coat and a baseball cap pulled low. She slid into the booth across from him.
She looked at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You're sitting in plain sight. There's a City-Wide Red Alert for a terrorist in Sector 02, and you're eating noodles."
"The broth is terrible," Jinsu noted, setting his chopsticks down. "But it's nice to be ignored."
Elena leaned in, her voice a desperate whisper. "Was it you? Did you hit the Old Library?"
Jinsu didn't answer immediately. He reached into his coat and pulled out the leather-bound analog journal. He slid it across the sticky table.
Elena's breath hitched. She touched the cover.
"He was the firewall in the basement," Jinsu said, his voice flat, but careful. "The System turned him into a thrall to guard their Core."
Elena closed her eyes. A single tear escaped, tracing a line down her pale cheek. "Did he... suffer?"
"No," Jinsu lied effortlessly. "He was already gone. I just closed the file."
Elena nodded, gripping the journal tightly against her chest. She took a deep, shuddering breath, locking her grief away behind her B-Rank mask once more. When she opened her eyes, the terror was gone. Only a cold, calculated fury remained.
"The Association is panicking," Elena reported, her tone shifting to pure business. "Without the Sector 02 Logic Core, their surveillance in the Western Districts is down by 40%. To cover it up, the Guild Masters are announcing a massive 'Clearing Expedition' into a newly spawned A-Rank Gate."
Jinsu's eyes narrowed. "An A-Rank Gate? That's a lot of high-density mana."
"Exactly," Elena said. "They are sending their best. The golden boys. The 100% Compliant heroes. It's a propaganda run to distract the public."
Jinsu looked at his blinking UI.
[STABILITY: 25% - Mana Consumption Required].
"When do they deploy?" Jinsu asked, a faint, predatory violet light momentarily flashing in his dark eyes.
"Three days," Elena said. "But Jinsu... it's an A-Rank Gate. You can't just walk in."
"I don't have to," Jinsu smirked, a cold, chilling expression. "I'm a licensed Porter, remember? And the Guild always needs someone to carry the bags."