"Not all deaths are quiet. Some tear the world in half."

  The warehouse stank of rot, metal, and secrets.

  Ren and Yuki crept past the rusted door, boots crunching glass, flashlights cutting through the black.

  They were too close now.

  NOX wasn't just a syndicate—it was an engine. A machine built to strip the soul and rewire the body. And at its center:

  A file Ren found hours ago in Yuki's room.

  "Subject Zero: Breathless Prototype."

  His name is in red.

  Her father’s initials stamped across every page.

  Yuki hadn’t cried.

  Not once.

  She just said, “We finish this. For him.”

  Now, they moved together like a single breath.

  Room by room. Deeper underground.

  Ren’s chest ached. The pressure is building again. That crawling tension under his ribs—the one that came before he lost control.

  Then they reached it.

  The chamber.

  The glass tube in the center, glowing blue. Empty… but humming.

  Monitors flickered. A faint heartbeat monitor pulsed, even with no body to track.

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  And above the terminal: a message.

  “Breathless cannot escape its origin.”

  “Ren…” Yuki whispered. “This is where they made you.”

  Before he could speak—

  The lights shut off.

  A shriek of metal.

  A gunshot.

  Yuki screamed.

  He spun around—and saw her fall.

  Blood exploded from her shoulder. She hit the ground hard, teeth clacking. She tried to move—tried to crawl—

  Another shot.

  Her leg twisted unnaturally. Bone peeking through skin.

  Ren dove, pulling her behind a crate as bullets rained down. He looked into her face.

  Pale.

  Shaking.

  Smiling through pain.

  “I guess… I’m not invincible,” she joked, coughing blood.

  “Don’t talk,” he begged. “Save your breath—Yuki, please—”

  A figure descended from the shadows.

  Long coat. Gloves. Mask.

  But Ren recognized the gait.

  His mother.

  “You should’ve stayed hidden,” she said coldly. “But she… kept digging.”

  Ren rose, fists clenched, veins pulsing with pressure.

  His breath locked in.

  His vision pulsed white.

  He struck like lightning—closing the distance in a blink.

  Too slow.

  A blade flashed.

  Ren missed.

  And—

  Yuki screamed again.

  The masked woman had grabbed her by the hair—and slashed her throat.

  It wasn’t clean.

  Yuki choked—blood spraying in hot, desperate bursts. She clawed at her neck like she could stop it. Like she could force the breath to stay.

  Ren’s world was shattered.

  He roared—an inhuman, monstrous sound.

  The glass around them shattered.

  But Yuki…

  Yuki gurgled a final breath.

  And then—her hand fell limp.

  Her eyes—once full of stars—emptied.

  She died looking at him.

  No last words.

  No goodbye.

  Just that look.

  That WHY.

  ???