Night Hacker

The business card old man Kitano had given him ultimately led Gu He to Horiyasuhigashi's tattoo parlor on Caoyuan Street the next morning.

He had gone to Licai bright and early to consult Miss Ayane, who confirmed he really did need a tattoo. She had originally made other arrangements, but when old man Kitano dropped by to visit his grandson that morning, he casually mentioned that going to Horiyasuhigashi would be best.

"Other people give you tattoos. Horiyasuhigashi gives you irezumi," Miss Ayane had said with reverence. "It is a discipline."

Her own Swift Swallow was one of Horiyasuhigashi's masterpieces.

Going to Horiyasuhigashi didn't mean picking a design out of a catalog. Instead, he created one personally after a conversation with the client.

Back then, everyone else had pegged her as a harbinger of death, but Horiyasuhigashi knew she wanted to be a soaring swallow.

Since he couldn't avoid going under the needle, Gu He had visited Old Cai's clinic to get the facts straight. Removing a tattoo was a non-issue in this day and age; you could just graft on a new layer of skin. While tattoos certainly damaged the skin health of ordinary people, it didn't matter for transcendents.

Especially the body of a DOLL, which was built tough. What did a few needle pricks matter?

"Harm?" Old Cai had scoffed at his concerns about health preservation. "Why are you thinking so far ahead? Focus on surviving this year first. But if you really want to stay healthy, Uncle Cai has a premium health management package here..."