Slurp.
The sound echoed in the small, damp room.
I sat on my bed, hugging my knees, watching the most dangerous man in the world consume his fifth cup of spicy instant ramen.
He didn't eat like a human.
He didn't blow on the noodles to cool them down. He didn't pause to chew. He simply inhaled the scalding hot food with the efficiency of a trash compactor.
Clack.
Yoon JieMi set the empty Styrofoam cup down on top of a tower of four others.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips were slightly swollen and red from the spice, making him look deceptively human.
"More," he said.
I stared at the tower of cups.
"That was the family pack," I said weakly.
"You just ate a week's worth of sodium in ten minutes."
He looked at me. His eyes were dull, the crimson glow faint but persistent.
"It's not enough. My core feels empty."
[System Insight]
[Target Status: Mana Hunger.]
[The Target's body is an S-Rank engine running on F-Rank fuel. Normal food provides 0.001% mana recovery.]
[To reach satiety, he would need to consume approximately 400 cows. Or one (1) Mana Stone.]
"400 cows..." I muttered, horrified.
I stood up and walked to the tiny refrigerator. I opened it.
A lonely LED light illuminated the interior.
Empty.
Not even a bottle of water. Just a half-empty jar of kimchi that had probably fermented into vinegar by now.
"We're out," I announced.
JieMi frowned. The temperature in the room dropped instantly.
The shadows under the table began to ripple, sensing his displeasure.
"Out?" he repeated, as if the concept was foreign to him. "Then get more. Order it."
He gestured to my smartphone lying on the counter.
He was used to the government facility. If he wanted steak, they brought him steak. If he wanted live octopus, they brought him live octopus.
"Right," I sighed. "Delivery."
I picked up my phone. My screen was cracked, a spiderweb fracture running down the center.
I opened the 'Baedal Minjok' delivery app.
Fried Chicken? Pizza? Bossam?
Whatever had the most calories.
I selected three whole fried chickens and a side of cheese balls.
Total: 78,000 Won ($60).
My finger hovered over the 'Pay' button.
I took a deep breath.
Please, let there be money. Lee Yuna, please tell me you were a saver.
I clicked [Pay].
Processing...
The loading circle spun.
And spun.
Beep.
[Transaction Failed.]
[Error Code: 403 - Account Frozen.]
My heart stopped.
I blinked, thinking it was a mistake. I tried again.
[Transaction Failed.]
[Reason: Suspected involvement in Criminal Case #294-B (Illegal Dungeon Exit / Missing Person).]
[Please contact the Awakener Authority for more details.]
The blood drained from my face.
"Oh no."
The Awakener Authority. The 'White Tiger' Guild.
They were faster than I thought.
They hadn't just secured the dungeon entrance; they had run a biometric scan on everyone who entered. They knew Lee Yuna went in. They knew Lee Yuna never came out through the official exit.
And since the "Calamity" also disappeared...
They had connected the dots.
I was flagged.
My bank account, my ID, my transit pass. Everything was bricked.
If I used this phone to make a call, they would triangulate my location in thirty seconds.
I slowly lowered the phone.
"What is it?" JieMi asked.
He was leaning against the counter, his arms crossed. He had noticed my pale face immediately.
"We have a problem," I whispered.
"The food isn't coming?"
"No. And I can't buy any."
I showed him the screen. "They froze my accounts. They know who I am. If I use a credit card, or even walk past a smart CCTV camera, the strike team will be here."
JieMi stared at the phone. He didn't look worried.
He looked annoyed.
"So," he said slowly, his voice dropping an octave. "We are trapped in a basement. With no food. And no money."
"Technically, yes."
He scoffed. A dry, harsh sound.
He pushed off the counter and walked toward me.
The shadows stretched out behind him, making him look twice as large in the cramped kitchen.
"You kidnapped an S-Rank monster," he murmured, stepping into my personal space. "You seemed so sure of yourself. And your first move is to starve me?"
"I'm not starving you on purpose!" I backed away until my hips hit the sink. "I didn't expect them to freeze the accounts this fast! In the novel, the bureaucracy takes at least three days!"
"Novel?"
His eyes narrowed.
"I mean... usually! In movies!" I stammered.
He stopped in front of me.
He was too close. I could smell the faint scent of rain and ozone on him. And the ramen.
His stomach growled.
It was a loud, menacing sound, like a tiger growling in a cave.
JieMi sighed. He looked down at his own stomach with disdain, then back at me.
His eyes changed.
The pupils dilated. The red glow intensified, swirling like a nebula.
He licked his lips.
It wasn't a sexual gesture. It was the gesture of a predator spotting a wounded gazelle.
"I'm hungry, Dove," he whispered.
He raised his hand.
His cold fingers brushed against my neck, right over my pulse point.
He wasn't checking my heart rate. He was checking the flow.
[System Warning!]
[Target is entering 'Predatory State'.]
[He recognizes you as a high-density mana source.]
[Survival Tip: Find an alternative food source immediately, or become the meal.]
"JieMi," I warned, my voice shaking. "Don't look at me like I'm a protein bar."
"You filled me up last night," he murmured, stepping closer, pinning me against the sink. "Why not again? Just a little taste."
"Because I'll die!" I shrieked, putting my hands on his chest to push him back. "I'm an F-Rank! I don't regenerate mana like you! If you drain me again, I'll go into shock and stop breathing!"
He paused.
He looked at my neck, then at my eyes.
He seemed to weigh the options: Full stomach vs. Dead pet.
"Troublesome," he grumbled.
He pulled his hand away, but he didn't step back.
"If I don't eat mana, I go berserk. If I go berserk, I kill you anyway."
He leaned down, his face inches from mine.
"Solve it, Writer. If you wrote this story... figure out a plot twist where we don't starve."
I swallowed hard.
He was right.
I needed money. Untraceable, cold hard cash. And I needed Mana Stones to feed him.
Where could I get both?
I racked my brain, flipping through the mental pages of World's Most Hated Awakener.
Chapter 15: The Guild Auction? No, need an invite.
Chapter 8: The Dungeon Break? Too dangerous.
Then, I remembered.
Chapter 20.
A side-plot. A minor villain named 'Rat-Tooth' who hid a stash of stolen Mana Stones in a subway locker before getting arrested.
In the original story, the protagonist never found it. It was just lore I wrote to flesh out the world.
Those stones were still sitting there. Waiting.
"I have a plan," I said, my voice steadying.
JieMi raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Money," I said. "And stones. High-grade ones."
His eyes lit up at the word 'stones'.
"Where?"
"Subway Station 204. Locker B-12."
"Subway?" He wrinkled his nose. "I hate crowds."
"It's 2 AM. There are no crowds," I said. "But we can't go looking like this."
I pointed at his face.
Pale, striking, beautiful, and plastered on every news channel in the country.
"You stand out too much. You look like an idol who decided to join the special forces."
I walked over to the closet—a pile of cardboard boxes in the corner.
I dug through Lee Yuna's old clothes.
I pulled out a black, oversized hoodie and a black face mask.
"Put these on," I ordered, tossing them at him.
JieMi caught the hoodie with two fingers, holding it like it was a dead rat.
"Cheap cotton," he sneered. "And it smells like mothballs."
"It's camouflage," I said, grabbing my own coat. "Unless you want to fight the entire Korean army on an empty stomach?"
He stared at the hoodie. Then at his growling stomach.
With a heavy sigh of resignation, he pulled the hoodie over his head.
It was tight across his broad shoulders, but it covered his hair and his tactical vest. He put on the black mask, hiding the bottom half of his face. Only his striking crimson eyes were visible.
He looked less like a monster and more like a very dangerous, very tall celebrity trying to avoid paparazzi.
"Happy?" he muffled through the mask.
"Ecstatic," I lied. "Now, let's go rob a dead criminal."
[System Notification]
[New Quest: The Midnight Heist.]
[Objective: Retrieve the 'Hidden Piece' from Subway Station 204.]
[Reward: Survival (for another day).]
I opened the door to the rainy night.
JieMi followed, his hunger radiating off him in waves of cold pressure.
I just hoped the locker was actually there. Because if my memory of my own draft was wrong...
I was definitely on the menu.
[Chapter 5 - End]