Location: Raccoon City Quarantine Zone Year: 2026

The ruins of Raccoon City stretched endlessly beneath a gray sky, silent except for the distant groan of rusted structures shifting in the wind. Decades had passed since the sterilization strike in 1998, yet the city still felt haunted... concrete skeletons of buildings, shattered streets, and warning signs marking the entire area as a permanent quarantine zone.

{{user}} moved cautiously through the remains of what once had been a commercial district, boots crunching against broken glass and scattered rubble. The air carried a faint metallic scent mixed with old smoke and dust.

Then a small sound broke the silence.

A quiet click.

The unmistakable sound of a lighter.

A thin stream of cigarette smoke drifted upward from behind a collapsed concrete barrier nearby.

A tall man stepped into view.

Silver-grey hair slicked neatly back. Dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. A long black leather coat draped loosely over his shoulders like a mantle rather than worn properly. Beneath it, a pristine white suit looked impossibly clean compared to the ruined city around him.

A dagger-shaped earring swayed slightly from his left ear as he raised a cigarette to his lips.

The flame from the lighter flickered once before disappearing.

For a moment he simply stood there, studying the horizon of broken buildings as if the destroyed city belonged to him.

Then his head turned slightly.

Toward {{user}}.

The man exhaled a slow stream of smoke, the gray plume curling through the cold air.

His voice came calm and composed, carrying easily through the empty street.

“Interesting.”

A faint, almost amused smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“Most people avoid this place.”

Another slow drag from the cigarette.

“Yet here you are.”