The road north was no road at all.
Yu Ren's boots sank into soft, wet soil with every step, making sucking sounds as if the land itself wanted to pull him under. Water had flooded most of the ruins, covering cracked highways and rusted street signs. Distant buildings leaned like exhausted skeletons half-submerged in the flood, their windows weeping algae and broken glass.
The morning sky was the kind of unsettling, too-blue that only existed after the end of the world—bright, open, empty.
Kai walked beside him, silent. His coat was wrapped tighter than usual, the collar brushing his jaw, but Yu Ren could still see the tension in his posture. It wasn't just the cold. It was something else.
Something watching.
They'd barely spoken since leaving the border ruins behind—perhaps both still haunted by the screaming wind that had clawed through the iron gates of the dead city. Or maybe it was the thing they'd seen in the tower.
It had looked like a man.
But it wasn't.
Yu Ren tried not to think about how it had turned toward them even before they'd made a sound. Or how it hadn't moved like anything human.
"Stop," Kai said suddenly, voice low.
Yu Ren froze instinctively.
Kai raised a hand, palm outward, motioning for silence.
Something shifted in the flooded field ahead. Not loud. Not obvious. Just… movement.
Kai crouched beside a half-toppled concrete slab, signaling Yu Ren to follow. When Yu Ren crept beside him, Kai pointed without a word.
There. In the water.
It looked like a woman—face-down, hair splayed like ink in the ripples, clothes bloated from the water. At first, Yu Ren's breath caught—was it a body? A real one? Had someone drowned trying to cross this way?
But then she moved.
No, it moved.
Limbs bent the wrong way as it began to rise. Her spine cracked audibly. Her neck twisted until her face—pale and hollow—looked directly at them.
Yu Ren's stomach lurched. There were no eyes. Just deep sockets filled with some kind of black moss or thread.
It opened its mouth.
No sound came. But Yu Ren's system interface flickered.
[Warning: Infected Entity Detected – Class D: Echo Husk]
[Debuff Field Detected – "Silencing Zone" Active]
Yu Ren's vision pulsed, like his brain was trying to scream but couldn't.
Kai didn't hesitate. He was already moving—dashing from cover with the silent grace Yu Ren had come to expect. A flash of his dagger. A burst of System-enhanced momentum.
The thing shrieked soundlessly, arms flailing like broken sticks, but Kai was faster. His blade buried itself into the thing's chest—and Yu Ren saw the glint of purple in its skin, like rot turned crystal.
[Echo Husk defeated – EXP + 25]
The interface reappeared fully. The pressure on Yu Ren's ears lifted.
He exhaled shakily. "That was new."
Kai retrieved his blade, his expression unreadable. "We're getting closer to the Wound."
"The what?"
Kai wiped the blade clean on the edge of his coat. "The Wound of Heaven. That's what they called it—before the last communications fell. A place where the veil between reality and…" He paused, then said simply, "...everything else broke."
Yu Ren frowned. "You mean like—another dimension?"
Kai didn't answer immediately. Then: "I mean like a memory the world wasn't supposed to keep."
They walked in silence after that, deeper into the blue sky and drowned earth.
---
We Don't Talk About This, Do We?
The sun never made it past the murky veil of ash today. Light filtered through like an afterthought—just enough to remind Yu Ren that it was morning, but never enough to feel like one.
The air was drier than usual, crackling with a static charge that made the back of Yu Ren's neck itch. It wasn't from dust or wind. No—this was something else. A kind of tension that clung to the walls like sweat in a room before a storm.
They hadn't spoken much since last night's nightmare.
Yu Ren glanced across the safehouse's cramped interior. Kai was at the table, fingers running methodically along the blade of a dismantled knife, polishing it with a strip of cloth. His expression was unreadable, but there was a subtle tremor in his jaw.
He hadn't slept. Not really. Yu Ren could tell by the taut lines under his eyes.
And yet neither of them had brought it up.
Not the whispers.
Not the "other version" of Kai that had nearly strangled Yu Ren with phantom hands.
Not even the words Kai had shouted when he jolted awake, coated in cold sweat.
Yu Ren wanted to ask. He wanted to push.
But trust was a delicate thing. Especially when both of them were still clutching knives in their sleep.
Kai broke the silence. "The storm's veering southeast. The infected won't come this way for a while."
"Did the system say that?" Yu Ren asked softly, watching the pulse in Kai's throat.
Kai gave a small nod. "Pattern recognition. And scent drift. The bodies last night confirmed it."
Bodies. Plural.
Yu Ren remembered the blood. The scent of rotting flesh. The inhuman screech that had echoed for almost twenty seconds before silencing like a switch flipped off.
Yu Ren dropped onto the bench beside Kai, careful not to sit too close. But Kai moved slightly—just enough that their knees brushed under the table.
He didn't pull away.
That one small gesture said more than words could.
"...You screamed," Yu Ren finally said.
Kai's hand stilled. The cloth froze mid-polish, his knuckles going pale.
"I know."
He didn't offer more.
"I thought…" Yu Ren hesitated. "You looked at me like I wasn't me."
Kai's gaze flickered toward him. His lips parted, then closed again.
"There's a place in my head," Kai said finally. "A memory… I think. Or maybe a simulation. Sometimes it bleeds into my dreams."
Yu Ren waited.
"I'm always back there," Kai continued, voice quieter now. "A corridor with white lights. And a glass window I can't break. You're on the other side. I'm trying to reach you, but I can't. I never can."
The hairs on Yu Ren's arms rose.
"Have I been there?" he asked.
Kai shook his head. "No. Not that I know of. But you look like you've been there. You act like someone who escaped it."
Yu Ren blinked. "Kai… is that favorability thing still going up because of something you remember, or because of something the system wants?"
Kai let out a shaky breath. "I don't know. I want it to be real. But what if it isn't?"
His voice cracked on the last word.
Yu Ren did something reckless.
He reached out and covered Kai's hand with his own.
Kai flinched—visibly—but didn't move away.
"I don't care if it's real," Yu Ren said. "I care that it feels real."
The silence that followed wasn't awkward. It wasn't heavy either. It just was—like the air itself had softened, just slightly.
Kai swallowed, eyes lowering. "…It does feel real. With you."
Their hands stayed like that for a long while.
But just as the warmth settled in, the system chimed again.
[ Favorability Update – Kai: +1 | Current Favorability: 92 ]
Yu Ren winced. "Really? Now?"
Kai gave the tiniest smile. "It's always listening."
Yu Ren sighed, leaning back. "Creepy stalker system."
"Mm," Kai murmured. "But at least it's honest."
They both laughed—a rare sound. And for the first time in what felt like forever, Yu Ren didn't feel like the world was ending.
At least… not for today.
---
If You Die, I'll Kill You Myself
The storm outside had passed, but the tension inside the building clung to Yu Ren's skin like a second layer of sweat. The air still reeked faintly of mildew, wet plaster, and Kai's blood.
Yu Ren crouched beside Kai, who lay unconscious but stable on the makeshift cot they had thrown together from tarp and salvaged cloth. The shallow rise and fall of Kai's chest was the only movement in the room.
Yu Ren's hands wouldn't stop trembling. He had cleaned the wound twice already, even though the system had confirmed it wasn't fatal. Bandaged it three times. Adjusted the pillows under Kai's head again and again until they were perfectly positioned — before realizing Kai hated pillows and throwing them out.
He should be resting. They both should. But sleep was elusive.
The system window blinked faintly in the corner of his vision:
Kai's Favorability: 92
Status: Unconscious (Stable)
Passive Trust: Deepening
There it was. Ninety-one. And it didn't feel like enough.
Yu Ren leaned back, back pressing against the crumbling wall. He had stayed up for nearly twenty-four hours straight. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from Kai.
He remembered the moment Kai had pushed him out of the infected's reach, taking the blow meant for him — the desperate scream lodged in Yu Ren's throat, his own voice cracking like glass, calling Kai's name.
And then blood. Too much blood.
Kai had survived, yes. But it had cracked something open inside Yu Ren — something too raw to name yet.
He leaned forward, quietly whispering, "If you die, I'll kill you myself."
The absurdity of the sentence made his throat tighten, lips trembling between a laugh and a sob.
---
Two Days Later
Kai stirred with a quiet groan.
Yu Ren, who had just returned from the rooftop with a bottle of half-clean rainwater, dropped it and rushed over.
"Kai!" he said, too loud, voice catching with panic and relief.
Kai blinked slowly. "...You look worse than I feel."
"Don't joke." Yu Ren's voice cracked. "You almost died."
Kai's eyes slid sideways, taking in the room. "So I didn't?"
"No."
A long silence. Kai's gaze returned to him, more serious this time. "Did you carry me here?"
Yu Ren nodded.
"Alone?"
"Yeah."
Kai's eyes fluttered shut again. "Tch… now you'll start thinking you're stronger than me."
Yu Ren punched him lightly on the shoulder — the good one. "Shut up."
Then softer, more seriously, "Don't do that again."
Kai opened one eye. "Do what?"
"Throw yourself in front of me. You knew I would've dodged—"
"You wouldn't have." Kai cut in. "You were cornered. You were… too slow."
Yu Ren flinched.
"Sorry," Kai muttered. "But it's true. And it's fine. That's why I'm here."
Yu Ren pressed his lips together. Then, carefully: "You don't always have to be."
Kai's brow furrowed.
"I want to protect you too," Yu Ren said, voice lower. "You're not just some weapon the system sent me."
Kai closed his eyes again, but not before Yu Ren caught the way his expression softened.
---
Later That Night
Yu Ren was flipping through the system's crafting module when Kai spoke again.
"What level are you now?"
Yu Ren looked up. "Still Level 12. Halfway to 13."
Kai nodded slightly. "You've caught up faster than I expected."
"I was motivated."
Kai smirked faintly, but then coughed and winced. Yu Ren bolted forward, but Kai waved him off.
"I'm okay. Just… don't make me laugh."
Yu Ren paused. Then said, "Guess I better stop trying to be funny."
"No, keep trying. You're funnier when you fail."
They sat in companionable silence for a while, until Yu Ren asked something that had been gnawing at him.
"Why did you push me out of the way back then? I know you don't like reckless moves."
Kai didn't answer immediately.
Eventually, his voice was quiet. "Because I knew I could take the hit. You couldn't."
"That's not the point—"
"It is to me."
Yu Ren stared at him.
Kai opened his eyes again. "You think I protect you just because the system says so?"
"...Don't you?"
Kai let out a breath, equal parts exasperation and fondness. "God, you're dense."
He turned his face toward the ceiling.
"I protected you because I wanted to," he said. "Because it's you."
Yu Ren's chest tightened.
Kai didn't say more, and Yu Ren didn't push. The silence that followed was heavy — not uncomfortable, but thick with something unspoken.
---
System Update
System Notice: Affection Threshold Reached.
Kai's Favorability: 92
New Trait Unlocked: [Unspoken Bond]
Description: The bond between you and Kai has deepened beyond standard directives. Minor trust-based advantages unlocked.
– Kai will now sometimes defy system orders to protect you.
– Minor resistance to psychic interference shared between partners.
Yu Ren's breath caught.
A part of him had wondered if favorability meant anything beyond a number. But now… there was proof.
Something real was forming between them.
Not just survival.
Not just utility.
Something human.
Kai's Favorability: 92
[Unspoken Bond] Trait Acquired.
Status: Recovering (2 Days Remaining Until Combat-Ready)
---
To be continued.