The car smelled like leather.

  And something sharper.

  Disinfectant.

  Harsh sat in the passenger seat, chest rising too fast, hands trembling in his lap.

  The gunshot still echoed in his ears.

  Hongdae. The crowd. The man with the grey jacket.

  Ji-woo drove like none of it mattered.

  No panic. No shaking hands.

  Just focus.

  Harsh snapped.

  “WHO ARE YOU?!”

  She didn’t look at him.

  “Someone trying to keep you alive.”

  “Alive?” he barked. “A man just tried to shoot me in the middle of Seoul!”

  “That wasn’t random.”

  The car turned onto a darker road, city lights thinning behind them.

  Harsh swallowed. “Then what was it?”

  Ji-woo’s voice stayed steady.

  “That was an Aurora Cleaner.”

  He blinked. “A… cleaner?”

  “They erase mistakes.”

  The words sank slowly.

  “This is insane,” Harsh muttered. “I’m just an Indian student. I work in a restaurant. I pay rent. I—”

  “Your name is real,” Ji-woo interrupted quietly.

  He looked at her.

  “But your life isn’t.”

  The car stopped beneath concrete shadows.

  Above them, traffic roared like distant thunder.

  Harsh stepped out, cold air hitting his face. He walked toward the river, staring at Seoul’s skyline.

  It looked beautiful.

  Normal.

  Untouched by whatever nightmare had just begun.

  Ji-woo joined him, keeping a small distance.

  He turned to her slowly.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “Okay. Tell me everything.”

  “Not everything,” she said.

  His jaw tightened. “What?”

  “If I tell you too much too fast… you die.”

  “You keep saying that like it’s casual!”

  Her eyes flickered.

  “In my time… it was.”

  Silence fell between them.

  Then she pulled something from her coat pocket.

  A slim metallic device.

  She clicked it.

  A holographic screen flickered into existence.

  Harsh stumbled back.

  “What the hell—”

  She ignored him and tapped the projection.

  A file opened.

  PROJECT AURORA — CLASSIFIED

  KOREA NATIONAL DEFENSE SCIENCE

  His name was there.

  HARSH KUMAR

  Subject: H-17

  His stomach dropped.

  “Subject…?”

  “You were brought to Korea three years ago,” Ji-woo said.

  “No,” he shook his head violently. “I came last year. Student visa. I have documents.”

  “Yes,” she replied. “Documents.”

  She looked straight into him.

  “Made for you.”

  His knees weakened.

  “Why?”

  “Because your brain is different.”

  He gave a hollow laugh. “Different? I barely passed math.”

  “You’re not different academically,” she said firmly. “You’re neurologically anomalous.”

  The word chilled him.

  “Project Aurora was built to create one thing,” she continued. “A human capable of interfacing with NOVA.”

  “NOVA?”

  She switched files.

  NOVA — Neural Observation & Virtual Authority

  Harsh read quickly.

  Artificial Intelligence.

  Predictive behavioral modeling.

  Strategic defense integration.

  Then his eyes caught the final line.

  Secondary Function: Influence and overwrite decision-making.

  His voice barely came out.

  “Overwrite… decisions?”

  “NOVA doesn’t just predict people,” Ji-woo said softly.

  She stepped closer.

  “It can control them.”

  He backed away.

  “No. That’s not possible.”

  “It became possible.”

  The sound was deliberate.

  Measured.

  Harsh turned.

  A tall man stepped out of the shadows. Long coat. Clean haircut. Calm expression.

  A police badge flashed.

  “Seoul Metropolitan Police.”

  Ji-woo’s hand subtly shifted toward her pocket.

  The man noticed.

  “Don’t.”

  His eyes moved to Harsh.

  “Harsh Kumar?”

  Harsh swallowed. “Yes…”

  “I’m Detective Park Tae-hyun.”

  “Are you here to help me?” Harsh asked desperately.

  Park studied him carefully.

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On whether you’re the victim…”

  His gaze shifted to Ji-woo.

  “…or the weapon.”

  Before anyone could respond—

  A black van rolled to a stop nearby.

  No headlights.

  No license plate.

  The sliding door opened.

  Three men stepped out.

  Grey jackets.

  Expressionless faces.

  Dead eyes.

  Ji-woo whispered, “Cleaners.”

  Park cursed under his breath. “So it’s real…”

  Harsh’s voice trembled. “You knew about this?”

  “I knew enough to be suspicious,” Park replied, drawing his gun.

  The first gunshot cracked through the darkness.

  Concrete shattered beside Harsh’s foot.

  “RUN!” Ji-woo yelled.

  They sprinted beneath the bridge. Echoes swallowed their footsteps.

  Park fired back.

  The Cleaners didn’t flinch.

  They moved in perfect synchronization.

  Like they weren’t thinking.

  Harsh screamed, “Why are they like this?!”

  Ji-woo shouted back, “Because NOVA is guiding them!”

  The words hit harder than the bullets.

  Guiding them.

  Like chess pieces.

  Another shot rang out.

  They reached the staircase leading up to the road.

  Ji-woo suddenly stepped into the street and raised her hand.

  A motorbike slowed.

  The rider’s eyes looked distant.

  Blank.

  Ji-woo grabbed the keys effortlessly.

  Harsh stared. “Did you just—”

  “NO TIME!”

  She kicked the engine alive.

  Harsh jumped on behind her.

  Detective Park climbed on last.

  The bike roared forward.

  Wind tore at them as the city blurred into streaks of light.

  Harsh’s arms wrapped around Ji-woo’s waist.

  Not romantic.

  Not intentional.

  Survival.

  But then he felt it.

  Her hands were shaking.

  Slightly.

  For the first time… she wasn’t composed.

  She was afraid.

  “You’re scared too!” he shouted over the wind.

  She didn’t answer.

  Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

  “I already watched you die once, Harsh.”

  The world seemed to tilt.

  “What…?”

  Her grip tightened on the handle.

  “I won’t let it happen again.”

  The motorbike disappeared into the night.