Shan Wolf decided to end things quickly but kept the same approach for Rae Yoorin. He swiftly left the apartment and ran toward his condo as fast as possible.
"Ding!" His phone buzzed with a notification. The first failed login attempt had been made.
"Not on my watch, Ingrid," he muttered, taking a shortcut through an alleyway.
As he rushed through, he accidentally bumped into a group of gangsters outside a local bar.
"Oi! Watch where you're going, punk!" one of them growled.
Shan Wolf ignored them and tried to dash off, but the gang leader shouted, "OI!!!" before hurling a can at Shan's head.
He halted in his tracks, debating whether to fight. "No, it's not worth it," he told himself and turned to leave. But before he could, one of them grabbed him by the collar.
With a swift motion, Shan Wolf flipped the thug over, slamming him onto the ground. He exhaled deeply, loosening his tie before glaring at the rest.
"Bring it, punk, I have time." he said in a cold, low voice.
The gang charged at him. One swung a club, but Shan ducked and kneed him hard, knocking him out. Another came at him from behind with a pocket knife, but the rain had started to pour, and Shan used the puddle to his advantage, splashing water into the attacker's face before delivering a heavy punch that sent him to the ground.
He turned to see ten more men left. His phone buzzed again—another failed login attempt.
"Let's end this," he said, raising a middle finger and gesturing for them to come at him.
Shan weaved through the crowd, delivering brutal blows. One gangster picked up a metal pole, aiming for Shan, but Shan grabbed the gang leader and used him as a human shield.
"Wait, wait, wait!" the gang leader screamed before getting smacked in the head with the pole. Shan tossed him onto the attacker, knocking both of them down.
One by one, he took them all out until none of them could stand. Out of kindness, he anonymously called an ambulance for them before sprinting to his condo.
Upon entering, he rushed to his laptop. A progress bar for an unknown transfer was initiated.
---
Meanwhile, at a hotel where Ingrid and Bae Sik Gong were at, Ingrid was straddling him, her hips moving with purpose as she watched the progress bar reach 99%.
"Almost there," she thought.
Then—an error appeared on the screen.
"What?!" Ingrid froze and stared at the laptop. She turned to Bae Sik Gong, her voice filled with frustration. "What's going on? Why is there an error?"
Bae Sik Gong quickly got off the bed and frantically typed into the program. "Something's not right."
A few seconds later, Ingrid's phone buzzed. Her hands trembled as she saw the caller ID—Shan Wolf but she put the name 'Bastard' as Shan Wolf ID call into her phone.
She hesitated before answering. "H-Hello?"
A slow, eerie whistle came through the phone, making her skin crawl. The haunting tune sent shivers down her spine. When it ended, Shan Wolf finally spoke.
"I had my suspicions, but the way you answered your phone confirmed it for me."
He had already figured out that Ingrid and the hacker were working together. That was why he had chosen to rewind time—his condo was farther than Rae Yoorin's location. By dying first, he could return, eliminate distractions quickly, and rush back to his condo in time. Though he had encountered some obstacles, he would deal with them later.
"Dei, Ingrid," he said in Tamil before switching back to Korean. "You really thought you could hire a hacker to break into my laptop? Looks like your 'expert' isn't much of a pro."
He smirked. "How about I show you what real hacking looks like? You should know—I fixed your office PC plenty of times before all this."
Shan Wolf's fingers flew across his keyboard. Within minutes, Bae Sik Gong's laptop was hit with a devastating virus.
"What the fuck?!" Bae Sik Gong's eyes widened as his screen was flooded with malicious code. Ingrid stared in horror.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
Shan chuckled mockingly. "Awww, what's wrong? Your little hacker friend can't remove the bug I installed? So sad."
Bae Sik Gong frantically typed, trying to contain the virus. "Ms. Mikage! Who is this guy?! Tell him to stop! Please, I'm begging you!"
Shan heard the hacker's desperate pleas and laughed menacingly. "A hacker begging another hacker? Now, that's pathetic."
"I swear I'll end you, you bastard!" Ingrid snapped.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm your bastard. So, want me to stop or should I keep going?" he taunted.
A tense silence hung between them before Ingrid finally spoke in defeat.
"...Fine. You win."
"That's what I like to hear." Shan typed a final command, stopping the virus.
"You're a cunning bitch," he admitted. "A smart cunning bitch that is. But you already know what's coming tomorrow, don't you?"
His laughter echoed through Ingrid's phone, chilling her to the bone. Defeated, she sat on the bed and dropped her phone to the ground as the call got cut off.
"It's over," she whispered.
"Wait, hold on! I think I can—" Bae Sik Gong began, but Ingrid cut him off, her voice dripping with venom.
"Do you understand Korean? I said it's over, you useless son of a bitch."
In Shan Wolf's condo, he sat on the floor, tired and panting with sweats and bruises on his body after what has happened tonight.
But, he tilted his head back, a wide, unhinged grin stretching across his face, eyes gleaming with a manic light as his laughter echoed—dark, triumphant, and utterly devoid of remorse.
Chapter 19 — End.