The girl returned the next morning.
Izuku found her crouched at the mouth of his alley, her ash-smudged face peering through the gloom. She held out a chipped clay bowl filled with murky broth, steam curling weakly into the frigid air.
"Payment," she said, her voice barely louder than the skitter of rats. "For the apple."
Izuku eyed the bowl. The broth smelled of boiled leather and desperation, but his stomach twisted in anticipation. The system's analysis flickered:
[Contaminated Broth: 80 Calories | Risk of Parasites (35%)]
He hesitated. Trust was a currency more dangerous than poison here.
The banquet hall of Murim flashed in his mind—Ayaka's smile, the poisoned goblet, the sting of betrayal sharp as a blade. "Drink, my love. The sect honors you tonight."
Izuku's fingers twitched. The clay bowl trembled in his grip.
The girl sipped from it first, her eyes never leaving his. "See? Safe."
He forced the memory down. This is not Murim. She is not Ayaka.
[Calories Consumed: 80/250.]
[Quest Updated: Secure Sustenance.]
The girl sat cross-legged in the dirt, watching him. "They call you Ghost. Say you don't bleed."
Izuku's gaze dropped to the bandage on his shoulder, stained brown from yesterday's fight. "They're wrong."
"I'm Hana," she said, plucking a beetle from the wall and popping it into her mouth. "You teach me to fight. I bring food."
The system flared:
[New Quest: Form Alliance (Optional)]
[Reward: Daily Calorie Efficiency +10% | Risk: Betrayal Probability 67%]
Izuku's fingers tightened around the empty bowl.
Namgoong Jisoo's oath echoed—a hand clasping his shoulder beneath the sacred oak. "Brother, my blade is yours, now and always." Decades later, that blade pierced his spine.
"You watch my back," Izuku said finally, his voice rougher than he intended. "I watch yours. No promises."
Hana grinned, a flash of white in the grime. "Deal."
Three Days Later
The Black Lotus Gang found them at dusk.
Izuku had been teaching Hana how to dislocate a wrist—a trick he'd learned from a dying Murim mercenary—when shadows blotted out the alley's dim light. Four enforcers, their faces scarred, their blades glinting with cheap enchantments.
"Heard you've been stealing our rats, Ghost," sneered the leader, a hulking man with a serrated dagger. "Time to pay rent."
The system's alerts blared:
[Combat Alert: 4 Hostiles Detected]
[Survival Probability: 12%]
[Suggestion: Flee (Success Rate: 3%)]
Hana trembled but didn't run. Izuku stepped forward, his voice flat. "We don't have anything."
The dagger pressed against his throat. "Then you'll pay in blood."
Haruto's tear-streaked face flickered in his mind—his son, trembling as he loosed the arrow. "Forgive me, Father. The heavens demanded balance."
Izuku moved.
He ducked under the blade, driving his elbow into the man's ribs. A sickening crack, amplified by the curse's pain surge, but he pivoted, snatching the dagger as it fell. Hana lunged at the second enforcer, her small hands clawing at his eyes.
Chaos erupted.
Izuku fought with the desperation of a cornered animal. He bit, kicked, stabbed—not to kill, but to maim. The dagger's enchantment sparked weakly, burning his palm, but he clung to it.
[Combat Log: Rib Fracture (Enforcer 1) | Deep Laceration (Enforcer 3)]
[Pain Resistance: 0.15%]
Hana screamed. The third enforcer had her by the hair, a knife at her throat. "Drop the blade, Ghost, or she—"
The Heavenly Chains seared his soul anew, the gods' voice booming: "Kneel, and your suffering ends."
Izuku threw the dagger.
It wasn't a warrior's throw—weak, off-balance—but the blade sank into the enforcer's thigh. He howled, releasing Hana. She scrambled free, kicking his kneecap with a satisfying crunch.
The gang retreated, cursing. Izuku collapsed against the wall, his breath ragged.
[Quest Complete: Survive Combat]
[Reward: +0.01 Agility | +0.02% Pain Resistance]
[Pain Resistance: 0.17%]
Hana crouched beside him, her hands shaking as she pressed a filthy rag to his bleeding arm. "You're crazy."
Izuku met her gaze. "You stayed."
She shrugged. "Better than starving alone."
That Night
They sheltered in a collapsed chimney, the residual warmth of old fires leaching into their bones. Hana produced a stolen honeycake, split it down the middle.
[Calories Shared: +120 each.]
[Quest Complete: Secure Sustenance.]
Izuku studied her in the dim light. "Why follow me?"
Hana licked honey from her fingers. "You're the only one here who doesn't look at us like we're already dead."
Woon Seolhyun's healing light flickered in his memory—her hands glowing as she mended his wounds after the Battle of Crimson Sands. "The heavens smile upon you, Izuku." Years later, her divine chains strangled his qi.
The system pulsed, clinical and detached:
[Adaptive Resistance: 0.17%]
[Effect: Pain Duration Reduced by 0.2 Seconds]
Hana's voice cut through the static. "There's an apothecary two sectors over. Guards are thin at moonrise. We could steal real medicine."
Izuku's hand drifted to the festering cut on his leg. Trust her. Use her. Betray her first.
"Tomorrow," he said.
To Be Continued in Chapter 7 – The Cost of a Crumb