Chapter 206 - Sanctuary’s Call

Jin stepped through the school's gates, the night air cool against his skin as the familiar walls rose around him, a bastion woven into the urban forest. Trees pierced through cracked asphalt, their branches tangled with vines that curled over crumbling concrete, nature reclaiming the city's ruins. The school, their sanctuary, stood resolute, its silhouette softened by moonlight filtering through leaves. The others had already slipped inside, their footsteps fading into the building's embrace, leaving Jin alone to process the day's weight. Securing Ryu's alliance at the police station base had been a hard-fought triumph, his loyalty a certainty Jin had trusted but needed to confirm. Yet, the system's bounty feature, revealed by the ambushers, loomed like a storm cloud, threatening their fragile peace. The whisper of wind through the trees carried a sharp edge, a reminder of the dangers beyond their walls.