One second before the explosion.
Neon, panicking, screamed at the top of his lungs.
"FIXER!"
In a situation like this, only one person was capable of reacting and making a decision—Lyxander, with his highly anomalous thinking ability.
He understood everything instantly.
Oscar's three-star identity was Fixer.
In an extremely short span of time, countless possibilities flashed through his mind. Without hesitation, he made a mad decision.
Lyxander ran straight toward Oscar.
In the fraction of a second before the explosion, the others saw him sprint forward, trying to follow—but it was too late—
The explosion had already occurred.
BANG!
Flames engulfed the entire room in an instant. From outside the building, a deafening blast echoed, yet no police officers rushed in—due to strict orders not to interfere with those wearing black uniforms.
The shockwave hurled the Crows violently across the room. Fortunately, their military uniforms were made of special materials, greatly reducing the damage from the blast and impact.
However, there was one person not wearing a military uniform.
Oscar.
The explosion destroyed almost his entire upper body—more than enough to kill an ordinary human.
Unfortunately, Oscar was no ordinary human.
A three-star identity grants its user an ultimate ability, one powerful enough to be overwhelming.
Using the Ultimate of his Fixer identity, Oscar repaired his entire body—his clothes included—returning everything to its original state.
However, this ability had a strength that became a flaw in certain situations.
Its repair range.
Fixer was fundamentally a single-target ability, but when using its Ultimate, the effect expanded into an area, providing extraordinary repairs to everything nearby—especially anything close to Oscar himself.
As a result, the entire room was restored.
But this ability repaired objects—it did not rewind time. The gas in the room had vanished, yet the positions of the Crows who had been blasted away were not returned to their original places.
The person closest to Oscar was Neon.
The moment he regained consciousness, Oscar swiftly pulled a folding pistol from his pocket and fired at Neon's head.
Bang!
The bullet pierced straight through Neon's skull.
Lyxander was the second person to regain consciousness.
He was also one of those who benefited the most from Oscar's Fixer ability—because he had chosen to run toward him.
He had gambled the moment he heard the word Fixer from Neon.
And now, he had won that gamble.
Unfortunately, the situation was far from favorable.
Seeing Oscar shoot Neon, Lyxander immediately pulled his own folding pistol from his pocket without hesitation.
But he made a fatal mistake.
'Damn it,' Lyxander cursed himself.
'I know how to fold this gun—but I don't know how to unfold it.'
Too late.
Oscar's pistol was already aimed at his face.
"Haha." Oscar chuckled softly.
"My original plan was to blow up the room to erase all evidence of the murder, then save you one by one with my Fixer ability. Unfortunately, you've chosen death instead, Lyxander."
"Bastard," Lyxander snarled. "Then you should've explained your plan earlier."
Lyxander was not someone with a strong sense of justice. He would not hesitate to abandon the truth if it meant surviving.
Bang!
The bullet flew into Lyxander's head.
Thud!
His body collapsed onto the floor, blood flowing from his head.
The third person to regain consciousness was Vivi.
Witnessing the shooting before her eyes triggered an old trauma.
Fragments of memory surfaced—
A blonde woman in a military uniform lying lifeless on the floor.
Consumed by rage, Vivi immediately pulled a folding pistol from her pocket, pressed a specific part, and the weapon unfolded into a complete firearm.
Bang!
A shot flew straight toward Oscar's face—but he activated his two-star ability: Cleaner.
A small black hole opened in his palm, absorbing the bullet.
The Cleaner identity allowed its user to erase impurities—even fingerprints. However, absorbing a bullet took longer than dealing with ordinary stains.
By the time Oscar finished absorbing it, Lyxander's body had already disappeared.
The same was true for Quartz and Tadeus, who had yet to regain consciousness.
"Damn it… he escaped," Oscar muttered, clearly panicked.
Still, it wasn't a problem.
Using his Cleaner ability, he attempted to draw Lyxander's bloodstains toward Vivi's hiding place.
After all, Vivi had a small body—she could only hide three people, not carry them away.
But as Oscar stepped out of the bedroom, a bullet was absorbed into his palm.
It wasn't Vivi's shot.
It was the bullet lodged inside Lyxander's head.
Vivi wasn't stupid.
Even in her rage, she accepted the reality that Lyxander was dead.
Bang!
A shot fired from the second bedroom—but it wasn't aimed at Oscar.
It was aimed at the ceiling light.
Just as Lyxander had once said—
'There's no ventilation at all. The room is completely sealed. No wonder the gas smell is so strong.'
This room was sealed—not only from air, but also from light.
When the light went out, the entire apartment plunged into darkness.
Oscar realized it immediately.
"I remember… the youngest famous two-star. Vivi Amo. A two-star identity suited for her—Sniper."
Oscar recalled Vivi's strength: a passive skill that could not be deactivated.
Her left eye allowed her to see firing trajectories and the vital points of living beings.
Oscar knew—
In darkness, he would lose.
He tried to repair the light.
But before he could—
His hand was severed.
His neck was slashed.
His back was carved open.
"Gahhh… bastard…"
Next came his legs, his back, his head.
He was cut apart endlessly.
Oscar continuously repaired himself, crawling across the floor drenched in blood, desperately trying to fix the light—enduring the agony of being butchered alive.
In the end, he chose to use his Ultimate once more.
Identity abilities had no usage limit—but they drained immense stamina and could cause loss of consciousness.
Oscar chose that risk rather than being endlessly dismembered.
Unfortunately for him, Vivi hadn't only destroyed the light—
She had turned off the switch as well.
Fixer repaired objects; it did not reverse time.
He could not turn a switch back on once it had been flipped off.
"Ah… AGHHHH!"
His scream echoed in despair.
His body was cut apart again and again until he lost all consciousness—and could no longer heal himself.
Oscar died a miserable death.
Standing above him was Vivi, drenched in blood, staring coldly at his corpse.
Click.
The lights turned on.
Someone had switched them on.
Vivi instantly prepared to attack.
But she froze in shock when she saw who stood there.
It was Lyxander.
•••
Elsewhere, Simon Chrys sat calmly, enjoying a cup of coffee with a white-haired woman wearing a lab coat.
Reina Chrys—his only daughter.
Wasn't it strange?
Someone who had been hit by a truck needed only five days to recover.
Someone whose body still ached terribly after being hugged could fight perfectly the next day.
"Father," Reina said softly,
"we've examined Lyxander's body… and found something interesting."
She paused.
"Lyxander is slowly… turning into an Entity."