Shing.

  Master Khun struck his sword down.

  I closed my eyes.

  I waited for pain.

  For heat. For pressure. For the sound of my skull splitting open.

  One heartbeat passed.

  Then another.

  Nothing came.

  The silence stretched too long, thin as a wire pulled tight around my throat, freezing my blood.

  I didn’t feel pain.

  That terrified me more than the strike itself.

  Was that… another dream?

  My breath came shallow. Too fast. I didn’t dare move, didn’t dare blink, afraid the blade might remember what it was meant to do.

  My eyes opened slowly, like the world would punish me for looking.

  The katana hovered just above my forehead, close enough that I could see my reflection warped along its edge.

  What...?

  My knees weakened a second too late. If the sword fell now, I wouldn’t even be able to run.

  For a heartbeat, I thought time had stopped. That I had somehow slipped between moments and cheated death.

  Then Master Khun pulled the blade back, his eyes remained unreadable.

  The air rushed into my lungs all at once, sharp and burning. My hands were shaking. I pressed them into my sleeves, hiding it, but the tremor didn’t stop.

  Something in me had already accepted dying. Now it had to learn how to live again. And it didn’t know how.

  Master Asha strolled forward, her smirk widening.

  “You are one very inconvenient squirrel,” Master Asha said, eyes glittering. “Lucky, too. For now.”

  Squirrel?

  I blinked.

  “You were given a second chance,” she continued lightly. “Not because you deserve it. Because someone decided you’re useful.”

  Useful.

  The word scraped worse than any insult.

  Useful meant replaceable. Meant disposable later. Which could also mean I wasn’t standing here as a person. I was standing here as a remaining number.

  I opened my mouth, then stopped. No. If I asked who had decided that, the mask I've build in their mind would shatter. All my efforts would go to waste. Can't let that happen. Let's just ask a stupid question. I can gather more intel later.

  "So I can go back to my daily life?" I asked, my voice pitching higher than I wanted. I forced a small, shaky smile, the kind you wear when you’re trying to convince a monster you aren't worth eating. If I kept talking, maybe the world would stay normal. If I acted like this was just a misunderstanding, maybe my heart would stop trying to punch through my ribs.

  "Unfortunately, not." Master Khun's smile returned, calm and polished like a dagger in velvet. "You will be following us instead."

  "Where are we going?" I asked, just as Master Jay locked a cold bracelet around my wrist. My skin prickled under its weight.

  I fiddled with it.

  Bracelet? How tacky.

  "You'll see," Master Asha replied, brushing imaginary dust from her nails.

  They turned and began walking. The moment I hesitated, the bracelet yanked my entire body forward. I stumbled to catch up. "Hey!"

  I tried to undo the latch. It tightened.

  "You should stop that," Master Jay warned, flicking my hands away. "Doing that would only make it worse."

  "Oh yeah? What could be worse than this now?" I snapped, shaking the bracelet at him.

  He gripped my wrist. His voice was quiet but firm. “Your wrist might snap,” he said. “And the system won’t stop tightening just because you scream.”

  "…You're kidding me, right?"

  Master Jay said nothing. He looked forward.

  My smile fell. Vision tunneled.

  My wrist throbbed once, sharply, like it was warning me. I stopped struggling for I love my wrist. It's one of my alluring traits after all.

  We moved through the dark in silence, my escape attempts increasing with every step, and failing just as miserably. After each one, Master Khun would scold me. The way he spoke, calm yet exasperated, reminded me of Ma.

  It made my chest ache but I shook it off and thought of pretty things. After all, I'm still with them. The one who killed Ma.

  We arrived at my house and saw The Doctor gently set his tea down. "Is the child alive?"

  I peeked from behind Master Jay. The Doctor smiled. “You got my message before you sliced her in half,” The Doctor said cheerfully. “Wonderful timing. Another second and she’d be paste.”

  "You have impeccable timing, Doctor. As always," Master Asha said, settling onto the couch and powdering her nose.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Is everything done, Doctor?"

  Master Khun glanced at me briefly. Not with interest. With calculation.

  Master Khun didn't look at me with pity. He looked at me the way a scholar looks at a text written in a dead language. He had received the order to stop his blade. An order that made no sense to him. He was searching my face for a reason, a secret, a spark, anything that explained why HE wanted me alive. However, his eye lid trembled slightly. You would have thought it was the wind's doing but it was annoyance that flared in him. Although Master Khun respects HIM deeply and execute HIS task swiftly, never questioned why, however, this case was an exception.

  "Ah, yes, Master Khun. Though I must say, asking a doctor to handle an engineering task? Quite the gamble."

  "It was just an installation job," Master Khun replied mildly. "And since you stayed behind, I thought a genius like you could handle it."

  "Well, if you say so, Master Khun. I do hope it functions properly."

  Master Khun moved to the center of the room. He raised his hand, pressing into the air like he was swiping at invisible glass.

  "…What is he doing?" I whispered to Master Jay. "Playing with the air?"

  "Each of us has a system," Master Jay said. "Only Scorpions can see it. Missions, inventory, records. Rank decides how much access you get."

  That was it. No lecture. No details.

  My eyes lit up anyway.

  Just like the RPGs I love...

  Suddenly, light erupted in the center of the room. A swirling black hole formed mid-air, radiating an eerie hum.

  Black? Shouldn't it be blue?

  "Are you sure this is safe?" I whispered to Master Jay but he ignored me. Eyes glued to the portal.

  If I ended up injured, I'm pressing charges. I nodded to myself, mentally taking note.

  "It seems the portal device was installed properly," Master Khun said, pleased. "Shall we, now?"

  I was speechless.

  A portal? In real life?

  Before I could react, Master Jay hoisted me like a sack of rice and stepped into the void.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, clutching my breath.

  I opened them again.

  Sunlight. Birds. A bustling market. The sharp contrast blinded me for a second.

  We landed right in the center of chaos. The market buzzed with life. Shouts of sellers, the clatter of coins, the aroma of spices and street food. But no one came near us.

  They kept a wide berth like we carried death in our pockets.

  "Why are they standing so far away from us?" I whispered.

  "'Cause no one wants to make Master Khun angry," Master Jay said casually. "Once he's mad, heads roll. Only the Grand Master can stop him."

  "Ouish~" I immediately shuffled behind Master Jay.

  As we moved through the crowd, I scanned the market stalls; fresh vegetables, clothes, herbs, jewelry. People bargained like their lives depended on it. Sellers laughed, buyers cheered. It was alive.

  Then, unexpectedly...

  "That boy, he's with you, right?" Master Jay asked.

  I tilted my head. "You mean Lyndall?"

  "Llyne!" Lyndall popped out of nowhere like a mischievous sprite. "You called me?"

  "Lyndall! You're here!" I exclaimed, my heart easing.

  My heartbeat was still too loud for relief to feel real.

  "Lyndall? That's his name?" Master Jay grimaced, his grip tightening on his weapon. “That name… figures.”

  "You got a better one? He wanted my name in his, too."

  Master Jay looked away and didn’t answer as if he didn't hear a word I've said.

  I glared at him. That's why I don't like tomatoes.

  He only tightened the grip on his weapon. He didn't look at Lyndall with the casual dismissal he gave everyone else. There was a flicker of something old and buried in his eyes. A recognition that seemed to unsettle him to his core.

  Not personal. Institutional. Like Lyndall wasn’t a person to him, but a remembered rule he had once sworn never to break.

  Strange. Strange, indeed.

  "Lyndall? I got something to ask."

  "Sure, sure!" he said, face stuffed with food like a chipmunk.

  "Where did you get the mon–no, never mind. Recognize that red-haired gunman?"

  Lyndall shook his head. Nothing.

  I glanced at Master Jay again. He was checking his gun.

  He's been acting strange ever since Lyndall appeared…

  We soon arrived at a massive gate made of steel, guarded by dozens of armored soldiers. No one passed without getting checked. I watched one traveler get pulled aside and vanish behind the walls.

  "The wall is soundproofed," Master Asha said with a grin. "No one hears what happens inside."

  She knew exactly what I was thinking. I broke out in cold sweat.

  "Just ignore her," Master Jay said, ruffling my hair.

  I looked around. The wall stretched endlessly left and right, metallic and dark, gothic in its design.

  “This is as far as you go with us,” Master Asha said casually, like she was commenting on the weather. “From here on, you’re no longer under Scorpion jurisdiction.”

  My stomach scrunched up in uncomfortable pain. “What?”

  Master Khun didn’t look at me. “Your clearance ends here.”

  Clearance. So this was deliberate. Not abandonment.

  I took another glance at the wall, searching for any signs.

  I wonder if there's any crack for me to slip...

  Master Khun's next words cut me mid thought like how how his strike with his sword.

  "That alloy hasn't buckled since the beginning of time," Master Khun said, not even looking at me. "It won't start for you."

  Master Khun stepped aside.

  That was when I saw him. A towering brute who had been standing in the gate's shadow like a gargoyle.

  He was a mountain of scarred muscle, his skin the color of bruised slate. A thick, rusted iron collar was bolted around his neck, and his eyes, small and yellowed, were devoid of any human warmth. He didn't carry a sleek weapon like Master Khun or a gun like Jay; he carried a heavy, notched cleaver at his hip that looked like it had tasted more bone than meat. He moved with a heavy, rhythmic thud that made the gravel beneath his boots groan.

  He stepped forward, his shadow stretching out and swallowing me whole.

  My instincts screamed before my brain caught up.

  "Ouiii?" I shrank back, my heart hammering against my ribs. "I'm not going with you?!"

  "No." Master Khun replied, his voice cold and final.

  He passed through the gates without a backward glance. Master Asha followed, her heels clicking a rhythmic, mocking goodbye.

  Master Jay lingered for a second. He grabbed my hand, his fingers pressing something hard and cold into my palm. "Try not to die, brat." He let go and disappeared.

  I looked down. Something was in my hand. He gave me… a token?

  Then the brute grabbed me and hoisted me over his shoulder like a bean bag.

  Not roughly. Not gently. Like he’d done this a thousand times before. Like this was intake.

  "Hey! Where are you taking me!?" I yelled, trashing my arms and legs everywhere.

  "Somewhere worse than hell, kiddo. HAHAHA!" He laughed like a villain out of a horror movie.

  My face drained of color. I fought; bit, kicked, yelled. Nothing worked. No one helped.

  Then I spotted it. A glint of metal on a nearby stall.

  Bingo.

  When the brute turned his head, just for a second, I moved.

  My fingers closed around a knife from a nearby stall. The vendor shouted, but I didn’t hear him. All I could hear was my pulse.

  I didn’t stab. I didn’t even raise it.

  I just held it, like proof that I hadn’t given up yet.

  If I was going to be processed, I would not be processed quietly.

  Maybe it was because the brute’s shadow swallowed me first. My vision blurred, the bright market sun vanishing as the world went dark, and then I saw it.

  A tunnel ahead, wide and yawning like the mouth of a beast.

  I tightened my grip on the blade, the cold metal biting into my palm. In my other hand, the token Master Jay gave me felt like lead. I was heading into the mouth of a beast, and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to fight my way out or pray the token was enough to save me.

  For the first time since the sword stopped above my head, my hands started shaking.

  Oh boy. This is where everything goes wrong.

  This chapter officially opens the next arc. Expect heavier Scorpion involvement and world lore from here onward.

  Feedback and theories are always welcome.

  Thanks for reading and supporting Llyne’s descent into madness.