?She looked exactly as Dong-jun had seen her through the smart glasses. Silver bobbed hair and a suit of contrasting black and white.

  ?Dong-jun’s eyes welled up with tears involuntarily. But he couldn't afford to be sentimental; his situation was far too dire. The male android’s hand was still crushed around his throat.

  ?The male android looked at her and gave a sickening smirk. "Interesting."

  ?With that, he tightened his grip on Dong-jun’s neck.

  ?"Kh... ugh."

  ?The truth was, he had been lying. Using Dong-jun as bait was merely a source of amusement for him. He never intended to leave Dong-jun alive from the start. His thoughts differed from his master's; he was a free-willed android.

  ?"..."

  ?Under the intensifying pressure of the grip, Dong-jun reached his limit. The veins in his face began to bulge. His vision flickered red. If this continued, it was truly the end.

  ?"Ugh."

  ?...

  ?His neck was crushed.

  ?"Pfft... Pathetic."

  ?Those were his words after crushing Dong-jun's neck.

  ?"..."

  ?However, within a few seconds, his expression shifted. "...Huh? What? What the hell?"

  ?The weight of the body he was holding had vanished. Dong-jun’s neck, which had been hanging limply in the man's grasp, disintegrated into digital particles, like dandelion seeds scattering in the wind.

  ?Then, the environment began to transform. The walls, the sky, the floor—everything dissolved into a vast, white void. An endless white virtual field. It was a digital simulated space.

  ?The woman he called So-an had forcibly dragged the man into this virtual realm just before he could kill Dong-jun, creating a fake avatar of Dong-jun and a simulated background in the process.

  ?"Cough!"

  ?But the real Dong-jun was not there. He still existed in reality. In his eyes, the male android had simply stopped moving five seconds ago, his hand frozen mid-air as he attempted to choke him. The same was true for So-an in the distance.

  ?"..."

  ?"What is happening?"

  ?Dong-jun didn't fully understand the situation, but he immediately tried to pry the man's fingers off his throat.

  ?"You're playing clever tricks, aren't you?" the man said, looking at So-an.

  ?"I did not particularly want this. You are the one who forced my hand," she replied.

  ?The man was displeased by her answer. He nodded slowly, staring at her. "I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm not the kind of fool who dances to your petty tunes."

  ?He attempted a forced disconnect. The white background began to vanish around him, revealing the reality once more. But almost instantly, the world reverted to the white void. She was also retrying the connection. Digital particles appeared and disappeared repeatedly. Reality and the virtual space flickered back and forth in a frantic loop. A constant war of connecting and disconnecting ensued.

  ?Dong-jun was still struggling to escape the man's grasp. To Dong-jun, the man seemed frozen, but every time reality flickered back for a split second, the man's fingers dug into his vertebrae as if to crush them.

  ?"Uuugh..."

  ?Dong-jun desperately tried to pry the frozen hand open. But the man, engaged in combat with So-an in the virtual world, was still controlling his physical body in reality. Eventually, out of sheer irritation, the man hurled Dong-jun to the ground.

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  ?"Cough!"

  ?Dong-jun slammed into the floor, spitting out blood.

  ?"Stop with the crude simulations," the man growled.

  ?As he took a step, the white floor shattered and scattered. Sharp blades sprang from his forearm frames. He moved faster than a cheetah. As he swung his blade at So-an's neck, her hands instantly reconfigured into thick shields.

  ?Clang! Tang! Clang!

  ?Digital sparks flew across the white terrain of the virtual space. So-an blocked every strike with flawless precision, but she was slowly being pushed back by the man's overwhelming output. To gain distance, the man delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to So-an's midsection, sending her sliding backward.

  ?He was irritated. He couldn't understand it. "How is it that you have superior technology to mine?"

  ?"..."

  ?She simply shrugged at his question, remaining silent.

  ?"Hmm..."

  ?He found it strange. He had received the strongest metal body and top-tier technology through massive capital from that person. It didn't make sense that she was matching him or even slightly trailing him. If he hadn't had combat experience, he might have been overwhelmed.

  ?But she gave him no time to think. Before he could solve the mystery, she lunged at him with a counterattack. She was incredibly fast. Having discarded the shields, So-an's hands were now 'swords'—thinner and sharper than the man's blades.

  ?The man was flustered. He dodged her initial attacks, but he began to fall behind as her strikes grew faster and more powerful.

  ?"You... bitch!"

  ?With a ferocious roar, he swung his hand violently to break the momentum. She dodged just in time, but the skin on her face was torn away, revealing the silver metal beneath. Wires embedded in his fingers had whipped out. Seeing her torn face, he smiled with satisfaction.

  ?"Ha... it seems you're hiding some secret from me... but no matter what, you're just a piece of scrap metal in the end."

  ?She resumed her combat stance. But with a sneer from the man, the wires tore through the air again.

  ?"Aaaagh!..."

  ?The scream erupted not in the virtual world, but in reality. Dong-jun was gasping for air, having barely escaped the man's grip. Deep bruises from the hand were etched into his neck.

  ?Reality was miserably silent. In the distance stood So-an and the man, frozen like statues. In that eerie stillness, Dong-jun alone was moving.

  ?"..."

  ?Dong-jun's body was a wreck. The impact of being thrown had twisted his leg, and blood seeped from his broken wrist and torn neck. His condition was worse than yesterday. Yet, he had to move.

  ?Not now.

  ?Spitting out blood, Dong-jun crawled across the floor. Every time his fractured leg touched the ground, a wave of pain threatened to make him scream. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but he felt this was a chance she had created for him. If so, this moment while the monster was frozen was the only opportunity to destroy it.

  ?How much time was left? If that frozen monster returned to reality, it would surely pierce his heart this time. If she really was So-an, she was only 200 meters away.

  ?So-an...

  ?He wanted to go closer to confirm, but stopping the monster was the priority. Even the agonizing pain couldn't break his will.

  ?What should I do...

  ?Every time the man's blade struck So-an's shield, the white space flickered and collapsed.

  ?"Why are you losing? Your core should be far more noble than mine!"

  ?With the man's mockery, the frame of So-an's shoulder shattered. So-an couldn't answer. Her eyes were fixed not on her enemy in the virtual space, but on the data log of Dong-jun, who was crawling and bleeding in reality.

  ?[Current User Health: 32%... Critical Warning]

  ?Even if it meant lowering her defense efficiency, So-an was searching for a system bypass to raise Dong-jun's survival probability by even 0.1%. That was why she didn't back down even as her face was torn by the enemy's wires.

  ?Chiii—

  ?In the split seconds she returned to reality—every 0.1 seconds—the cylinders in her ankles rotated minutely. While blocking the enemy's sword in the virtual world, her mechanical instincts were tracking Dong-jun's location. Her feet slowly ground into the asphalt as she advanced toward him.

  ?Reality was a horrific cityscape drenched in blood. Dead police officers, semi-destroyed vehicles, smoke, and debris made the air thick and hot. Crawling along, Dong-jun saw a headless corpse. He felt a surge of nausea.

  ?But at that moment, he remembered when the man's head had fallen off. He had moved even without a head.

  ?"..."

  ?Do I have to destroy something inside the body? If it wasn't the head, there had to be something in the body responsible for his processes.

  ?Dong-jun looked around. Fortunately, he saw a handgun. He dragged himself toward it with one hand. When he finally gripped the pistol, the finger on the trigger trembled. He steadied it with his other hand.

  ?Just as Dong-jun adjusted his grip with shaking hands and aimed at the enemy's chest...

  ?"Aaaaagh!"

  ?With a scream, his body was slammed into the ground. A police android, its sunken eyes flickering with red light, gripped Dong-jun's fractured leg as if to snap it.

  ?"You... are... un... der... ar... rest..."

  ?[Critical Error: User Pain Level Exceeds Limit]

  ?Simultaneously, the white ground of the virtual space shook violently. Watching Dong-jun's agony in real-time, So-an's movements stalled for 0.5 seconds. She moved faster to get to his side.

  ?The man didn't miss the opening. With a sickening grin, he whipped his wires. "It's over, scrap metal."

  ?Invisible wires coiled around her neck and limbs. As she hung suspended in the air, red overload wires burst through her silver skin. At the same moment, the real Dong-jun was lifted off the ground. The police android holding his ankle lifted him up with grotesque strength.

  ?The virtual So-an was being destroyed by wires, and the real Dong-jun shrieked as he was held by cold mechanical hands. The death throes of two worlds were screaming out at once.

  [2026-02-15 Conversation Log with SO-AN #72]

  Dong-jun: SO-AN, what if even you get caught! You're supposed to be the one saving me!

  SO-AN: I recommend this more—realizing that a cage for you is just a playground for me, as I exist in the very wires and signals that lock your doors.