The pitch-black bathroom remained dead silent, save for the persistent, aggressive vibration of the communicator resting in Hide’s palm.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

The pale, harsh light of the screen cut through the darkness, illuminating the pooling dark red blood on the white tiled floor and casting long, distorted shadows up the walls.

Hide stared at the screen. His first, most immediate instinct was to press the decline button and throw the device back into his pocket.

He had a bleeding, unconscious assassin at his feet who needed to be bound and stabilized before he bled out, and the last thing Hide needed was a distraction.

Yet, as his thumb hovered over the red icon, he hesitated. Today had been an absolute storm of chaos.

Could it be the Joker? The thought entered his mind unbidden, causing his jaw to tighten instantly.

Hide despised the damnable, masked freak. Every interaction with that theatrical bastard left a bitter taste of frustration in his mouth. But beneath the layers of hatred, a cold, calculating truth remained: the Joker knew far too much.

He knew about the tragic truth surrounding his mother’s death, and he had explicitly implied that Hide’s father wasn’t even in this world.

Hide had managed to convince himself that the clown hadn’t leaked his secrets to anyone yet, but the terrifying possibility could never be fully ruled out. If the Joker was calling him now, ignoring it could mean catastrophic consequences.

Letting out a slow, heavy sigh, Hide slid his thumb across the screen and brought the communicator to his ear. He didn’t speak, choosing instead to listen to the ambient audio on the other side.

"Hello, hello! Hide, my boy! I certainly hope I didn’t wake you up from a pleasant dream!"

The voice that cut through the small speaker was instantly recognizable. It was light, brisk, and carried the effortless, boyish cheerfulness of a man who didn’t have a single care in the world.

Hide didn’t even need to wait for the man to finish his characteristically eccentric greeting to know exactly who it was.

It was Commander Maddox. The S-Rank titan and commander of the NEA.

Hearing that warm, structural voice, Hide forced a tight, artificial smile onto his face out of pure, unthinking reflex.

It was a bizarre, deeply ingrained habit of his. Whenever Hide spoke on a communicator, his face would automatically arrange itself into a pleasant expression, even though the person on the other end couldn’t possibly see him through the audio-only link.

He had picked up the habit years ago because, for the longest time, the only people who ever called him were Kai and Risa. Back when he was just a weak, talentless student, receiving a call from his childhood friends was the only light in his miserable existence.

Hearing their voices always brought a genuine, protective joy to his chest, making him smile automatically before he could even utter a word.

He remembered that feeling, and then, like a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head, the grim reality of the present crashed back into his skull.

The artificial smile vanished from Hide’s face instantly, replaced by a cold, deadpan expression. His blue eyes darkened into icy slits.

"Commander Maddox," Hide said flatly, his voice devoid of any warmth. "To what do I owe the honor at this hour?"

On the other side of the line, Maddox let out a theatrical, exaggerated cough, though Hide could vaugely hear the rustle of paperwork and the clinking of a glass in the background.

"Ah, straight to the point as always! You really do possess a deeply inconvenient personality, boy. But fair enough, let’s bypass the pleasantries. The truth is, I don’t have much time on my hands tonight, so I’ll drop the main topic directly into your lap."

Maddox paused, his tone shifting slightly—not losing its humor, but gaining that terrifying, structural weight that always reminded Hide of a coiled predator.

"Your official elite academy training protocol has been accelerated. It begins day after tomorrow, at exactly eight o’clock in the morning. I expect you to be inside the Area 5 main facility quarter, fully geared and ready to bleed."

Huh?

Hide’s brow furrowed in absolute, unfiltered irritation.

"What kind of nonsense is that?" he hissed, barely keeping his voice from escalating into a shout. "I literally just touched down in Area 17 a few hours ago! I haven’t even unpacked my single bag, and you’re telling me I have to board another luxury Airbus back tomorrow?"

"Time is a luxury we no longer possess, boy," Maddox replied smoothly, his voice dropping an octave into a serious rumble. "The stages are being built faster than anticipated, and the curtains are going to rise whether you’re memorized your lines or not. Don’t be late."

Before Hide could even formulate a blistering retort, a sharp, ragged sound shattered the tension in the bathroom.

"Mmph... ughaa..."

Hide froze. On the tiled floor beneath him, the Sihue Clan assassin suddenly violently twitched. His eyes fluttered open, and a wet, bloody gasp escaped his throat as his consciousness forcefully dragged itself back to reality.

Without skipping a single beat, Hide’s physical enhancements flared. Moving with the terrifying, blind speed of an executioner, he drove his heavy boot straight down into the center of the assassin’s face.

CRACK.

The brutal, heavy impact of steel-scaled foot colliding with a human jaw echoed loudly across the small bathroom. The assassin’s head violently snapped sideways against the porcelain base of the toilet, his body going completely limp as he was thrown right back into absolute unconsciousness.

Over the communicator line, the sudden, wet sound of shattering bone and a muffled groan was violently clear.

Maddox went completely quiet for two beats. "My... that was quite a loud impact. Hide, my boy, what exactly was that sound?"

Hide didn’t blink. He cleared his throat, letting out a perfectly crafted, exasperated chuckle mixed with an intentional curse.

"Ah, damn it... I didn’t see the stray piece of soap on the bathroom floor and took a spectacular fall. Fucking annoying."

Maddox chuckled on the other side, a deep, highly amused sound that suggested he didn’t believe a single word Hide had just uttered but found the audacity hilarious anyway.

"I see. Well, do try to survive your bathing entirely intact, boy. I’ll see you day after tomorrow."

"I’ll be there on time," Hide rumbled flatly.

He tapped the screen, cutting the line without another word, and hurled the communicator onto the sink counter. He let out a long, violently exhausted sigh, running a hand through his silver hair.

He looked down at the bleeding, sprawling mess of the suited assassin. How the hell did this bastard wake up so quickly?

Aegis had crushed his wrists, and Hide had subjected him to a suffocating Mana Press. A normal human would have been in a medically induced coma for a week.

But as Hide recalled the mechanics of the underworld, it made perfect sense. This man was an elite operative of an top clan—and an A-Rank Exterminator at that. His baseline physical endurance and vitality attributes were astronomically higher than any standard human, allowing his cells to rapidly force him back into consciousness despite the trauma.

"You’re going to be a massive pain in the ass," Hide muttered.

He stepped out of the bathroom, walked into his small living room, and grabbed a heavy, reinforced metal fold-out chair he usually kept stored behind the utility closet. He dragged the heavy chair into the bathroom, setting it down with a loud clang on the tiles.

Hauled the limp, heavy body of the assassin up, Hide violently dumped him onto the seat. He reached into his inventory and pulled out a thick spool of heavy-duty, reinforced tactical wire he had purchased back at the Trade Center.

He wrapped the wire tightly around the assassin’s torso, pinning his arms, legs, and chest securely to the metal frame of the chair. He made sure the wire dug deep into the suit fabric, ensuring that even if the man regained his full physical strength, breaking the high-grade material would take considerable time.

To finish the job, Hide snatched a bundle of clean, thick towels from the linen shelf. He stuffed a small cloth violently into the man’s mouth to act as a gag, then wrapped a second, larger dark towel completely over the assassin’s head, tying it securely behind the neck.

With the prisoner shoved firmly into the corner beside the shower curtain, Hide grabbed a bottle of industrial chemical cleaner and a brush. He thoroughly scrubbed the dark red blood stains off the white tiles, watching the pink, diluted water swirl down the drain until the floor was spotlessly clean.

Exhausted, Hide stripped off his cloths, tossing them into the waste bin, and stepped into the steaming shower ordering the slime to go back to a ball. Even though the assassin’s face was entirely covered by a thick towel, it was still incredibly creepy and unsettling to have a bound, high-ranking underworld killer sitting in the exact same room while he bathed.

Hide made the shower incredibly quick, letting the scalding hot water wash away the residual sweat, grime, and copper stench of the park battle.

He stepped out, dried himself off, and changed into loose, comfortable home clothes—a simple dark grey hoodie and sweatpants.

Slipping out of the bathroom, he firmly shut the heavy door behind him, isolating the prisoner in the dark. He walked into the living room, the quiet hum of his apartment finally bringing a trace of peace to his mind.

"CASS," Hide called out toward the ceiling.

"Yes, Hide? I am monitoring your status," the AI’s robotic voice responded immediately.

"Heat the premium steak that I ordered, has it been delivered?," Hide ordered, his voice heavy with physical fatigue.

"yes... the dinner will be complete in twelve minutes," CASS replied, the faint hum of the kitchen automated units booting up echoing down the hall.

Hide walked into his small bedroom, completely bypassing his desk. He threw his body onto the mattress, his face buried into the cool pillow as his muscles finally uncoiled.

He thought about random things for a while... and then remembered that he had gotten a whole lot of exp today. So, he summoned his status window.

"Class State."