I don't know how long I was in there, in the dark and the stench. Hours, maybe. The pain was a constant companion, a background noise in my mind.

Finally, I managed to gather enough strength to push the dumpster lid open. The gray light of dawn blinded me.

I climbed out of the dumpster, landing heavily on the alley floor. I was naked, except for my dirty underwear. They had taken everything. My clothes, my terminal, my dignity.

The morning cold made me shiver. I was alone, hurt, in the middle of nowhere.

Despair threatened to swallow me. But a single thought kept me afloat. My mother.

Was she okay? Had Yoo-Na lied? Or had she kept her word?

I had to know. I had to get to the hospital.

I looked around, searching for anything to cover myself. There was a large, flattened cardboard box against a wall. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

I picked it up and wrapped it around my waist, like some kind of ridiculous loincloth.

I walked out of the alley. The sun was just beginning to rise, but there were already a few people on the streets. Workers starting their day.

They saw me. A half-naked young man, covered in bruises and dirt, with a cardboard box for clothing. They looked at me with a mix of fear and pity. They crossed the street, thinking I was a madman, a junkie.

I ignored them. Every look, every whisper, was fuel.

I didn't know where I was. But I recognized the direction of the mountains in the distance. I started walking, limping, barefoot on the cold asphalt.

Destination: the hospital. I had to see my mother. It was the only thing that mattered.

It took me hours to get to the hospital. Hours of walking, barefoot, under the stares of passersby. When I finally arrived at the main entrance, my feet were bleeding and my body was shaking with exhaustion.

The security guards saw me coming. They blocked my way.

"Hey! You can't come in like that!" one of them said, his hand on his baton. "You look like a maniac. Move along."

"I have to see my mother," I said, my voice weak. "Kang Seo-Yeon. She's in intensive care."

"We don't care. Get out of here before we call the police."

Panic washed over me. I couldn't give up now.

I saw an opening. I gathered what little strength I had left and I ran. I pushed past the surprised guards and burst into the hospital.

"Stop him!" they yelled behind me.

I ran. Down the hallways, ignoring the pain, the shocked looks from people, the alarms that were starting to sound.

Building 3. 12th floor.

I arrived at her room, my heart pounding. I looked through the small window.

The room was empty.

The bed was made. The machines were gone.

Absolute despair overwhelmed me. I was too late. She was…

"Young man?"

A gentle voice pulled me from my nightmare. I turned. A patient, a woman in her fifties with graying hair and a kind face, stood there in her hospital gown. She was pushing her own IV stand.

Despite my appearance, she didn't seem afraid. She looked at me with a strange recognition.

"You… you're Seo-Yeon's son, aren't you? I saw you the other day."

She saw my bleeding feet, my bruised body, the cardboard around my waist. Her face filled with compassion.

"My God. Come. Into my room. Quickly, before security gets here."

She led me into her room, right next to my mother's. She closed the door.

"Sit down. Don't worry." She opened a small closet and took out a change of men's clothes, probably her husband's or son's. "Here. Put these on."

I took the clothes, my hands shaking. "My mother…" I managed to say. "What happened to her? Where is she?"

The woman watched me put on the clean clothes. Her eyes were gentle, but filled with a deep sadness.

"First, tell me what happened to you, son. Who did this to you?" she asked, her voice motherly.

I hesitated. Then, it all came out. The words poured out of me, a jumbled flood of rage and pain. The academy. The bullying. Yoo-Na. The Pit. The threat. The betrayal.

She listened in silence, her face hardening with every word. When I finished, she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Those monsters…" she whispered.

I caught my breath, my heart racing. "Now… my mother. Please. Tell me the truth."

The woman looked down. She took a deep breath, as if preparing to deliver a blow.

"I… I was awake last night," she began, her voice trembling. "I couldn't sleep. I saw a young man, a student, go into your mother's room. He wasn't there for long."

An icy chill ran down my spine.

"After he left, your mother's machine alarms started going off. The nurses came running. It was chaos."

She paused. Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

"They said…" her voice broke. "…they said her oxygen mask had been 'accidentally' disconnected."

The word "accidentally" hung in the air, full of venom.

"They tried everything. They really did. But… it was too late."

She looked up, her tear-filled eyes meeting mine.

"I'm so sorry, son."

"Your mother… she passed away."

The world stopped. The sound vanished. The air disappeared.

There were only those words. "She passed away."

Yoo-Na.

She had kept her promise.

I didn't scream. I didn't yell. A single tear rolled down my cheek. A tear of pure hatred. And in the silence of that hospital room, a laugh escaped my throat. A crazy, broken laugh, full of a rage so intense it became silent.

The boy who just wanted to save his mother had died with her.

All that was left was the monster.

The rest of Saturday and all of Sunday passed in a blur. It was a fog of dull pain and silence.

The kind lady from the next room, Mrs. Lee, took care of me. She told the hospital staff I was a friend's son and was staying with her. She called the hospital services for me. She explained that the funeral couldn't be held for three days. Paperwork.

Three days.

I didn't cry anymore. I didn't laugh anymore. I was empty. A hollow shell filled with a single feeling, cold and hard as a diamond: hatred.

I decided to stay at the hospital for the weekend. My body was broken. It needed to heal. Every meal Mrs. Lee brought me, every hour of sleep, was fuel. Fuel for what I had to do.

I thought of only one thing. Monday.

I wasn't going to run. I wasn't going to hide. Apex Academy was no longer a school. It was their fortress. It was their playground.

And I was going back.

Not as a student. Not as a victim.

But as a hunter.

Monday morning arrived, gray and cold.

Mrs. Lee gave me some money for the bus. She looked at me with worried eyes. "Be careful, Ji-Hoon. Don't do anything stupid. Your mother wouldn't have wanted that."

I nodded, but her words didn't reach me. My mother's will didn't matter anymore. Only mine did now.

I went back to the academy. The clothes she had given me were simple, anonymous. I blended into the crowd of students returning from their weekend.

As I passed through the main gate, the air of the academy felt different. It wasn't oppressive anymore. It was… electric. Like a hunting ground.

I went back to my room in Gamma building. It was empty, silent. My terminal was gone, but my bed and my small wardrobe were still there.

I waited. I didn't go to morning classes. I sat on my bed, in the dark, saving my energy.

Around noon, there was a knock on the door.

I opened it. It was Min-Soo.

He looked at me, saw I was physically better, but his eyes immediately noticed the emptiness in mine.

"Ji-Hoon…" he started. "I heard… about your mom. I went to the hospital to check. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," I said, my voice flat and emotionless.

"I also got this back," he said, holding out my terminal. "I found it in a trash can near Basement 7. I hacked the chip's location system."

I took the terminal. I turned it on.

The Ivory Circle's quest was still active.

[Quest Reminder: Please report to Basement 7 tonight at 10:00 PM.]

Min-Soo saw what I was looking at. Panic filled his face. "You're not going, are you? Ji-Hoon, it's a trap! After what they did…"

"I know," I cut him off.

I looked up at him. And for the first time, he saw what was really in my eyes. It wasn't sadness.

It was a promise of murder.

"That's why I'm going."