---
Ryan ushered the group through the door, then told the last person to close it behind them. Suddenly, as if something struck his mind, he glanced around.
Ryan: "Hey… has anyone seen Sacium?"
The group fell silent. No one really wanted to bring up that name—the one who had disappeared in yet another dangerous level.
Jesse: "Maybe… we should just go. Just forget about him."
Her words surprised everyone. Jesse had always been kind—those words didn't sound like her. And yet… a few nods of agreement followed.
Aaron: "Screw that guy. He never helped us anyway."
That wasn't true. Both Ryan and Helen knew that. But…
Rose: "Well… not exactly. But still~ maybe he just used you, Ryan~"
Ryan: "W-what…?"
Rose stepped closer, leaning in, whispering something into Ryan's ear.
Helen, standing at a distance, couldn't hear the words, but they made her feel strangely dazed. And when she saw Rose physically so close to Ryan, something twisted inside her—an unfamiliar discomfort, like a needle sliding into the wrong nerve.
After Rose whispered, Ryan's eyes changed—unnatural, almost hollow. Then suddenly, they snapped back to normal.
Ryan: "This level's dangerous. Let's… rest for a bit."
But everyone could tell. Ryan wasn't resting. He was stalling. He was waiting.
Ten minutes passed.
Ryan: "Still tired…"
Thirty more.
Ryan: "Just a bit longer…"
An hour passed. Aaron finally snapped.
Aaron: "Are you getting up or what, Ryan?! Face it! He left us!"
Ryan: "That's… impossible. Sacium would never—"
Rose: "Would never what~? Pretend all this time? Maybe. Maybe not~ Who's to say? But Ryan, you need to accept it—maybe that's the real Sacium~"
Helen looked at Ryan. She felt it too—that same bitter truth clawing at her heart. Maybe Sacium had left them. But she also noticed something off in Ryan's eyes. Like someone else was driving.
And then, finally, Ryan stood.
Ryan: "You're right, Rose… I can't risk everyone's lives for Sacium."
Ryan: "Pack up. We're moving."
Jesse, curious, checked Ryan's stats.
Name: Ryan
HP: 4628/4628
Stats:
Strength: 720
Endurance: 740
Speed: 70 km/h
Intelligence: 100
Status: Angry
Weakness: Indecisiveness
"Wait… is this strength coming from his anger? Or has he truly grown stronger?"
Uneasy, Jesse walked beside Ryan, trying to calm him. He softened a little—but the stats didn't change.
Ryan: "Alright. Let's move out!"
He led the group cautiously through old buildings. Outside, massive shadowy figures loomed, drifting aimlessly.
"I have to be careful. I have to guide them through this. I must stay focused," Ryan told himself.
They kept hidden, slipping between shadows and abandoned homes. Suddenly, a kite-like creature swooped down—a warning from Entity 22.
It told Ryan a group of Entity 96 – The Watchers were approaching fast. It added that this was a death zone—teeming with Entities hidden in every house.
Ryan: "This is bad! EVERYONE, RUN!"
Entity 96 – The Watchers: Floating eyeballs with twitching nerve cords sprouting from their choroid. Bloodshot and lidless, their iron-hard corneas glow with deadly light. Any traveler caught in their beam turns to dust, their soul lingering for five excruciating hours of pain before vanishing forever.
As they ran, they turned back—and there they were. Floating eyes, moving closer. Their pupils lit up ominously.
And then—
FWIP.
A sharp sound, like air being ripped apart.
Ryan had flash-stepped. In an instant, he sliced a glowing eye in half.
The others turned aggressive, flinging tendrils and nerves like whips.
In the sky—undefined, chaotic.
Giant eyeballs floated above, sclera dilated, pupils spinning wildly. From them, tangled nerve cords lashed out—like vines, like whips, like blades.
"Crack—slash—whoosh—thud!"
The air screamed as the cords ripped through space.
Ryan was still in mid-air—no ground, no cover. He twisted sideways, pushing off a nerve that had just missed him. Using the momentum, he spun midair, dodging three more in a blink.
More followed. One after another. He kept twisting, diving through slashes that could have cut him in half. Every breath was a heartbeat away from death.
He sliced through another eye and dashed back toward the group.
They kept running. And running. It felt endless.
Behind them, the watchers pursued. Ryan, Aaron, and Aiden fought with everything they had to keep the others safe.
An hour passed. Two? No… maybe ten?
Everyone was drained. Exhausted. Yet still, the eyes kept coming. Endless.
Then it happened.
Ryan, too slow to block it, let one eye's light beam hit the group as they were resting.
Ryan: "NO!!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
Helen stared at the beam of light in horror.
"Is this it? Am I going to die?"
"Is my life ending… just like this?"
"It's so loud. My heartbeat… is so loud."
"Can I really hear it?"
"I'm sorry… Miss. I got you killed for nothing."
Thoughts raced in her mind—hundreds, thousands—in a single second.
"I've never thought so fast before."
"Is this… what dying feels like?"
"If only my body could move as fast as my mind..."
Then—she saw something.
A huge shadow, looming over them.
"Huh? What… is that?"
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