Episode 4
To deceive someone, the very first rule was simple: know your target.
Without knowledge, there could be no scam.
The con man understood that truth better than anyone.
From countless threads of information, he had spun a fortune—each secret a seed of profit, each careless whisper another coin in his pocket.
Sometimes, the first contact with prey happened by chance.
A random encounter, an innocent greeting—fate had a cruel sense of humor.
One moment of coincidence was often enough to send someone’s life spiraling into ruin.
But after that, it was all up to skill.
Once he caught a scent, the con man was relentless. His obsession with information bordered on madness.
Those who worked under him could never fully grasp his ways, but it didn’t matter.
Their job was never to understand—only to obey.
They gathered data, they covered his tracks, and when the time came, they took the fall.
A handful of cash was all it took to buy their loyalty—and their silence.
In that cheap devotion, the con man had built his empire.
With enough information, he could do anything.
This time would be no different.
He already possessed detailed records of Ji-hyun’s entire family.
It had cost him, sure, but it meant he was prepared for every possibility.
If needed, the family themselves could serve as leverage—collateral for the game.
Violent, yes. But effective.
And this time, he wasn’t after money alone. Revenge would be part of the deal.
Rage had started the fire, but once it burned, calculation took over.
Cold, surgical decisions. Orders given without hesitation.
Today’s target: Ji-hyun’s younger sister, Ji-soo.
He knew her schedule to the minute—when she left school, when she got home, which streets she walked, which corners the CCTV couldn’t see.
He had it all planned.
When the time came, they’d snatch her up and have their fun.
Time passed, slow and irritating, like a dripping faucet.
But patience was one of his few virtues.
At last, he glanced at his watch and muttered,
“It’s about time. Bring her in.”
The van door slid open, and his men moved like shadows.
Masks on, steps measured—smooth, practiced, and utterly without hesitation.
It was night.
With patrol routes mapped and every camera’s blind spot accounted for, no one would see them coming.
And even if a CCTV caught a glimpse, it wouldn’t matter.
They carried a device—an illegal little miracle popular among those who did dirty work.
No one knew who made it, but it could blind a camera in seconds.
It wasn’t a Tool, not yet—but it felt like something that shouldn’t exist in this world.
The men moved confidently, emboldened by its presence.
Kidnapping the brat’s little sister.
A risky job—failure meant ruin—but necessary.
They had to show the world what happened to anyone who dared cross him.
In this line of work, to be underestimated was to die.
Still, the con man knew the truth.
He wasn’t doing this just to make a point.
He was afraid.
Afraid of that boy.
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Ji-hyun.
The first time he’d seen him, the kid had been nothing—a clueless college brat coasting through life on luck and family.
But at the hospital… something had changed.
The boy’s eyes—those eyes—had stared straight through him, cold and knowing.
They had seen everything.
And for the first time in years, the con man had felt something he couldn’t explain.
Fear.
That boy was dangerous.
He didn’t just threaten a scam. He threatened him.
It couldn’t be allowed.
So the con man swore that tonight’s job would succeed—no matter what it took.
He owed it to himself.
To his pride.
To the fear he refused to admit.
As the van doors shut, the con man smiled.
Across from him sat a girl with wide, terrified eyes—Ji-soo, still too stunned to scream.
The van rolled into the night.
----------
“I'm sorry!”
Ji-hyun shouted as he ran, his hospital gown already replaced with plain clothes.
The nurses froze in alarm—of course they did.
He hadn’t even filed for discharge, and this was the same patient who’d bled through his sheets just hours ago.
But Ji-hyun had no time to explain.
Earlier that dawn, he had tested the limits of his ability—pushed it to its edge.
Through that power, he’d caught sight of the con man’s movements.
And what he saw chilled him.
The man was preparing something—something that involved his family.
The images flashing in Ji-hyun’s mind weren’t mere possibilities anymore; they were plans in motion.
So Ji-hyun tapped into every source he could.
Every camera near the man’s office, every phone signal, every sliver of digital noise that could carry a clue—he seized them all.
He had thought he’d have time.
That they’d wait for him to leave the hospital before moving.
He was wrong.
They had already begun.
The con man didn’t need to move personally—not with connections reaching up to politicians.
He had no reason to act rashly.
And yet, he did.
Through the eyes of the city’s machines, Ji-hyun watched it unfold.
Through the whisper of data and light, he knew.
He couldn’t just stand by.
“Taxi!”
He burst through the hospital doors, waving frantically.
The moment a car stopped, he jumped in, spitting out an address he’d memorized from the feeds.
The driver blinked. “Sir… that place?”
A frown. It was a run-down industrial zone—abandoned warehouses, rust, and silence.
No sane passenger asked to go there after dark.
“Please,” Ji-hyun said, breathless. “It’s urgent.”
Something in his voice made the driver stop questioning.
The engine roared to life.
As the taxi sped through the night, Ji-hyun’s mind was elsewhere—half in the car, half submerged in the web.
He weaved through firewalls and codes like threads of mist, bending them to his will.
Between legality and something far beyond, he worked.
By the time the streetlights gave way to darkness, everything was ready.
All that remained was to arrive.
His heart pounded.
He would end this.
No matter what happened to his body, his mind, or even his ability.
If it burned out tonight, so be it.
He would burn it for her.
For family.
The night was colder than usual.
Ji-soo wrapped her scarf tighter as she left the library, her breath fogging in the air.
Senior year.
Even fear had to wait until after exams.
Her mother was gone most nights, her brother still recovering, and little Ji-hyuk too young to rely on.
So she bore it—studying, cooking, keeping the house in one piece.
A heavy burden for a girl her age.
“Ugh… cold,” she murmured, half smiling.
She wanted nothing more than to get home, to feel warmth, to rest.
But before she could take another step, darkness moved.
Men.
From nowhere.
Hands grabbed her—rough, fast, merciless.
There was no time to scream.
No air, no space to fight.
And then—
The van.
Her head spun as the door slammed shut.
Faces blurred before her—grinning, hollow, predatory.
“Hello there, sweetheart,” the con man said.
His tone was almost kind, but his eyes were pure ice.
Ji-soo didn’t need words to know what awaited her.
Fear swallowed everything.
The mere presence of those men froze her in place.
A blade pressed to her cheek, its edge cold and thin as breath.
Her body trembled.
Will I die here?
Tears welled up, silent, unfallen.
She could barely think, let alone resist.
Terror wasn’t loud—it was suffocating.
“Get her out,” the con man ordered as the van stopped.
Dragged, shoved, blinded by headlights, Ji-soo stumbled out.
Her mind filled with every nightmare imaginable.
Any of them could come true now.
And then—
Light.
A brilliant flare tore through the darkness, swallowing the world in white.
The con man flinched, his men stumbling back.
And from the light, a voice.
“Give me back my sister.”
The man stood tall against the radiance, his silhouette sharp and familiar.
That voice—she knew it.
“…Oppa?”
Ji-soo’s lips trembled as if calling to a dream.
Her brother smiled faintly, calm amid the chaos.
“Sorry,” Ji-hyun said, stepping forward. “I’m a little late.”
The con man sneered, hiding his unease behind mockery.
“Careful, kid. You might scratch her pretty face.”
Ji-hyun chuckled under his breath.
He didn’t even look at him when he spoke next.
“You can come out now.”
No one understood who he was talking to.
The con man turned his head, uneasy, scanning the shadows.
“Who the hell are you talking to?” he barked.
And then—
Before the words finished leaving his mouth—
A thunderous roar split the night.
