It’s quiet, so quiet.

Standing in the blood-soaked gravel plaza, I lit my pipe and looked out over the camp, which was shrouded in an eerie stillness and silence.

No insect sounds, no animal noises—just a perfect, unnatural silence.

Only the occasional sound of wind in the alleys and the slow, writhing movements of shadows were left as signs of life within the camp.

All the camp residents were dead.

A place that had been lively and full of warmth just a day ago had now turned into a cemetery, with its buildings serving as tombstones.

This extraordinarily silent camp was so quiet that even the sound of a heartbeat was hard to hide.

Only the ninjas, who had melted into the darkness, remained.

Even now, there was a ninja hidden in the shadows, watching me from a corner of the plaza.

The ninja, who obsessively exterminated only the camp residents, simply kept me in his sight—ignoring me in my yellow suit as I puffed on my pipe.

It seemed to be a strategy targeting only the camp residents, but even after turning the Geyang Mountain Camp into a cemetery, the ninjas continued to search for something.

Then it hit me.

What those black-clad figures were searching for was the ‘anomaly’ of this camp.

And that ‘anomaly’ would be the clue to solving the case.

I had a strong feeling about it.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out, tearing through the camp’s silence.

Unless the ninjas had secretly hidden guns, it had to be the revolver I had given to Junior Number 2.

The gunshot sounded closer than I expected.

Just like me, heading toward the sound to find my junior, the ninjas started rushing toward the direction of the noise.

Bang! Bang!

The gunfire continued.

Is the situation more dangerous than I thought?

The revolver I gave only had six bullets, so the shots just fired must have used them all.

When I arrived at the source of the gunshots, it was a place stacked with construction materials.

I was considering whether to climb over the wall of materials when a loud noise cut through the air.

Screeeeeech.

It was a shrill whistle, loud enough to be irritating.

The ninjas, who had been skulking in the shadows and climbing over the construction material walls, all stood up simultaneously and started running somewhere.

The number of ninjas that suddenly emerged was much greater than I had anticipated—at least double what I expected.

All the ninjas were heading north.

To the north of the camp, there was likely an entrance to a large underground sewer system. Could it be that there’s something there?

Pondering this, I stepped into the empty space that the ninjas had vacated.

One of the ninjas surrounding me pulled something out from his robe.

What is it? I wondered, but the object was nothing like I expected.

Pudding!

A cutely wrapped, high-quality pudding.

Why on earth was a ninja carrying something like that?

The ninja unwrapped the pudding with great care, almost as if performing a religious ritual.

The solemnity of the act was almost reverent.

After unwrapping the pudding, he placed it on his palms and, while lying face down on the ground, offered it to me with both hands outstretched, as if presenting it to a king.

Curious about what it might taste like, I sampled the offering.

Nom nom nom.

Wow, it’s delicious.

Even better than what I used to eat at Sehee’s lab.

It was a brand of pudding I had never seen in Korea, but the taste exceeded my expectations.

As I stomped my feet in delight, the ninjas gathered and started building something.

A giant human pyramid!

A large throne-like structure!

The ninjas had stacked their bodies to form a huge pyramid, with a throne perched on top.

?

So, am I supposed to climb up there? But there are no stairs.

As I was thinking this, the ninjas extended their hands, creating a staircase-like formation.

It seemed they wanted me to step from hand to hand to climb up.

I placed my foot on the palm of the ninja at the base.

It felt quite stable, as if they had clenched their fists tightly.

Hehe, it tickles a bit, though.

The sensation of my feet resting on their palms made me wiggle my toes playfully.

Moving from hand to hand, I firmly pressed down with both feet and stood atop the throne.

Though I had expected it to be shaky or uncomfortable, it was surprisingly sturdy.

Then, with a jump, I dived onto it!

Hop, hop.

Even as I jumped on it, the throne made of ninjas remained solid.

Hop, hop—this is fun, so I kept jumping.

On one side of the throne, a ninja appeared, offering me another pudding.

On the other side, another ninja fanned me.

Wow, it really feels like a royal throne.

As I leaned back against the throne, I felt truly like a king.

A giant throne on a giant pyramid.

And there I was, on top!

A comfortable seat, delicious pudding, and the omnipotent feeling from the firewood.

Should I take these ninjas to Sehee’s lab?

It would be fun to keep them there and have them build pyramids whenever I’m bored.

While I was lost in these thoughts, a loud whistle suddenly pierced the air.

Rustle.

The ninjas forming the throne and pyramid began to descend from below.

One by one, they respectfully offered a pudding, bowed, and then left.

Has something happened?

As I stood there, eating pudding one by one, I watched as the ninjas slowly retreated into the shadows.

The ninjas disappeared, leaving behind an enormous amount of pudding.

How am I supposed to eat all of this?

A man, completely shrouded in black like a ninja.

A man reeking of blood.

He stood blocking the entrance to the container, holding a sword dripping with blood.

The crimson stains running down his blade hinted at the purpose that had brought him here.

I tightened my grip on the hammer and assessed the situation.

Grrr.

The ninja made a sound like boiling water, then pointed his finger at someone.

The client.

The ninja was targeting the client.

“Hyejin, protect the client!”

It was clear that the ninja’s target was the client.

Even if something seemed off, the client was still our client.

I couldn’t let her fall into the hands of some ninja.

The tension rose, as if the ninja knew a fight was inevitable.

The ninja’s gaze was fixed on my every move, but it mostly focused on the large hammer I was holding.

The ninja shifted his weight as if ready to pounce at any moment.

Thump, thump.

My heart pounded as if it would explode—not from fear, but from excitement.

The brief silence was shattered by the sharp sound of wind.

A metallic slash swung before my eyes with human-like speed.

I calmly blocked it with the head of my hammer, but the ninja’s attack wasn’t something that could be stopped with just one or two moves.

The slashes, delivered from all angles, made it clear that the ninja was trained to a master’s level.

But.

He couldn’t touch me.

I waited for the moment when the ninja slashed, and then swung the hammer.

Like a cannonball fired from a loaded cannon, my swing smashed the ninja’s blade, crushed his right hand, and shattered his head.

The body, now missing a head and a right hand, fell backward.

With a squelch, the delayed pool of blood began to spread across the container floor.

Huff, huff.

My breath was ragged from the excessive adrenaline.

But there was no time to rest.

Another ninja was already climbing over the wall of construction materials, trying to enter.

I gripped the hammer again and prepared to face the approaching ninja.

The second ninja, seeing his comrade’s body, moved more cautiously.

He stared at me intently, as if waiting for an opportunity, like a still, calm lake.

Tap, tap, tap.

The ninja tapped his foot rhythmically on the ground, as if waiting for something.

Then, suddenly, he leaped out and slashed at me.

It seemed like a move designed to kill both of us in one go.

But against my hammer, such a desperate move was meaningless!

I aimed to crush him, weapon and all, with my full force.

It was when I began to swing that I noticed something strange.

Another ninja appeared from behind the first one.

Not one, but two?

I couldn’t block the second ninja’s thrusting blade.

Ah, is this how I die?

Just as I thought this, a loud noise rang out.

Bang!

The revolver that the senior had left behind fired a shot, and the ninja who had ambushed me collapsed as the bullet pierced his head.

“Ha, thanks, Hyejin.”

We had defeated two ninjas, but it wasn’t time to relax yet.

The ninjas kept coming—two, three, four of them, and more.

Hyejin had only two bullets left in the revolver.

Fortunately, the container entrance was narrow.

There was no need to worry about being surrounded, but….

Can we really win this?

There were five ninjas in front of us.

There could be more outside, but I decided to focus on the immediate situation.

Just as the tension inside the container was reaching its peak, the ninjas charged all at once, signaled by a silent cue.

I tried to swing my hammer at the oncoming ninjas, but they no longer intended to give me a chance to strike.

Two blades came at me from odd angles simultaneously.

I was barely able to block or dodge them, let alone counterattack.

I was gradually being pushed into a corner.

The distance between Hyejin and me was shrinking.

At this distance, the ninjas would be able to directly target the client….

This is dangerous. What should I do now?

Bang! Bang!

Two more gunshots echoed.

But the bullets missed their mark, fired in vain.

The ninjas, aware of the revolver’s presence, had deliberately lured the shots.

Screeeeeech.

Just when I thought it was the end, a loud whistle pierced the air.

As soon as the whistle sounded, the ninjas distanced themselves from me, slowly retreating and melting back into the shadows.

By the time the long whistle faded away, the ninjas who had been confronting us were already gone, hidden beyond the shadows.

Hah, we survived.