Night in Green Veil Gate was louder than Alexis expected.
Not chaotic. Not dangerous.Just alive.
The city walls muffled the forest's hostility, but they didn't silence it. Even after the gates closed, the distant echo of howls rolled across the outer grounds, bouncing off stone and settling into people's bones. The sound didn't send players running. It just made them quieter, more aware of how thin the line between safety and danger really was.
Alexis stood at the railing along the inner parapet, overlooking the lantern-lit courtyard. Players rushed between shops, healers, inns, and supply merchants. Guards paced back and forth, spears upright, their faces carved from patience and mild irritation.
The city smelled of smoke, iron, and cooked onions.Real enough that he felt his stomach react.
"Not a bad first day," a voice said behind him.
He turned. Lyra leaned against the stone pillar beside him, arms crossed, watching the crowd below with her usual guarded calm.
"You think so?" he asked.
"We didn't die. That puts us in the top fifty percent of Floor One performers."
"Is that the bar now?"
"It's launch week." She nodded toward a group of players arguing near the forge. "For half of them, surviving the tutorial would've been an achievement."
Alexis followed her gaze. One player was yelling at the blacksmith NPC about weapon durability.
"'This is my starter sword, why does it break,'" Lyra recited in a mocking whine.
Alexis huffed. "People really came in expecting holographic mobs."
"They came in expecting a game," Lyra said. "This isn't a game. It's…" She paused, searching for the right word. "A place that counts."
He studied her profile for a moment.
"Are you always this grim?"
"I'm realistic."
"You're assuming the worst is normal."
"I'm assuming the Tower doesn't care about us." She pushed off the pillar. "And it's usually right."
He didn't argue. The Nightshade Wolf's teeth were still etched in his mind. The way its weight had crushed his guard. The pain that had sparked through his arms. The sharp, fast-thinking fear that had pushed him to react without overthinking.
He hadn't felt adrenaline like that in years.
Lyra watched him a moment longer.
"You're thinking too hard," she said.
"You're not?"
"I think fast. Not hard."
"Is that your secret?"
"One of them." She gestured toward the stairway. "Come on. We need a fire."
They made their way through narrow streets toward the lower district. The smell of roasted meat thickened as they approached a long communal fire pit, where players and NPCs shared benches. A few musicians—players, by their awkward posture—tuned lutes against the night air.
Alexis scanned the faces. Some players looked shaken. Others were euphoric, bragging about their kills. A handful sat perfectly still, staring at nothing, still processing pain feedback.
Lyra nudged him lightly.
"Sit."
He did. The wooden bench was worn smooth, warm from bodies.
Lyra sat beside him, her elbows on her knees, staring into the fire.
They said nothing for a while.
Then Lyra spoke, her voice quiet enough that only he could hear.
"You hesitated with the injured wolf. The one you found alone."
He stiffened slightly. "You saw that?"
"I saw it in how you moved afterward," she said. "People who kill easily move differently than people who choose to."
"Is that a problem?"
"It's an observation."
He frowned. "And what did you observe?"
Lyra didn't look at him. She watched the flames dance, reflecting orange in her eyes.
"That you fight like someone who doesn't want to hurt anything," she said. "But will, if he must."
"And that's bad?"
"It's rare."
Alexis opened his mouth, then closed it.
"You hesitated too," he said.
Lyra snorted softly. "When?"
"With the Nightshade Wolf. Before you moved in for the throat. You waited half a beat."
"That was angle assessment," she said.
"No. That was something else."
Lyra's eyes slid to him, slow and cold and unreadable.
"You think you can read me?"
"No," he said simply. "But I noticed."
Her gaze lingered. Then she made a small, almost invisible shrug.
"I don't like killing things that know they're about to die."
Alexis blinked.
"That wolf?"
"It wasn't confused. It wasn't just hungry. It knew." She exhaled. "Some monsters have enough awareness to hesitate. When they know they've lost, the fight changes."
"You're saying it had… fear?"
"Recognition," she corrected. "Fear is too human. But awareness? Yes."
He took that in quietly.
Lyra didn't elaborate.
She wasn't the type to explain herself twice.
After a long moment, she shifted. "We need to talk about tomorrow."
Alexis straightened. "Floor One still?"
"Yes. But deeper. Past where the Nightshade Wolves roam."
He frowned. "Isn't that dangerous for our level?"
"That's the point," she said. "Everyone's crowding the safe zones. If we want to get ahead, we need better materials, better experience rates, and fewer players competing for kills."
"Or more ways to die."
"That too."
Alexis stared into the fire. "I don't want to rush things."
"We're not." Lyra leaned back, stretching her legs. "We're advancing with intent. That's different."
He considered that.
"This is still day one," he said.
"Yes."
"We've barely fought."
"You fought well."
"You did most of the real work."
"I did my work. You did yours."
He glanced at her. "You always give answers like that?"
"No."
"You do for me?"
She tilted her head. "You ask the right questions."
He didn't know what to say to that.
He wasn't sure she meant it as a compliment.
Or if it even mattered.
A faint chime cut through the hum of conversation.
SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT:First Player to Craft a C-Grade Weapon — "Asha Blackstone."Reward: +1 Crafting Insight, Minor Fame (Local).
The crowd erupted into chatter.
Lyra's eyebrow rose. "Someone's forging already."
"That's fast."
"That's initiative," she corrected.
Alexis hesitated. "Think we should talk to the blacksmith tomorrow?"
Lyra's lips pressed into a thin line.
"Maybe," she said. "If he's willing to teach beginners. Most Floor One crafters don't waste time unless you pay them with materials they want."
"I have a few pelts—"
"We'll need more." She rose from the bench. "And better."
Alexis nodded.
He could feel the ache setting into his muscles—the kind of ache that wasn't real, but his brain treated it as if it were. The neural aug softened physical strain but emphasized feedback to reinforce immersion. It left tingles across his shoulders, the ghost of the Nightshade Wolf's weight still pressing through his guard.
"We should log off soon," he said.
"Not yet."
He looked up. "No?"
Lyra gestured toward the north wall. "There's something I want to check before the city gets too crowded."
"Check what?"
She gave him a look that said: follow me or don't.
He followed.
They climbed a narrow side stair to the north parapet, where the city's lanterns didn't quite reach. A guard glanced at them but said nothing.
Night beyond the wall was a different shade of dark. The forest was a black silhouette, only broken by scattered motes of movement—eyes, flashes of fur, the faint shimmer of system markers on distant monsters.
"Do you see it?" Lyra asked quietly.
Alexis scanned the tree line.
"No," he said. "What am I looking for?"
Lyra didn't answer. She pointed.
A shadow moved.Slow.Deliberate.Larger than anything they'd fought.
Alexis frowned. "What is that?"
"Watch."
The shape padded between trees, nearly silent. Leaves brushed its back even though its body was low. Its outline ran longer than a wolf's. More like a cat.
A very large cat.
Alexis expanded his focus ring for long-range identification.
The system flickered.Then—
[???: Unidentified Predator]Grade: C to B-tier rangeBehavior: No dataWarning: Avoid until proper assessment
"Great," Alexis muttered. "A question mark monster."
Lyra's voice was low. "That didn't spawn today."
"You think it migrated?"
"I think something pushed it closer."
Alexis felt a cold ripple trace down his spine.
"What kind of something?"
Lyra didn't answer.
She watched the moving shadow disappear deeper into the wood.
Then she turned away.
"We won't fight that anytime soon," she said. "But it means something is shifting already. Too soon."
"You mean the Tower?"
"I mean everything."
Her voice softened in a way he hadn't heard before.
"Tomorrow, we stay sharp."
"We will."
Lyra hesitated, then nodded. Her eyes lingered on the forest for a moment longer before she spoke again.
"Let's log out."
He nodded.
They descended the tower stairs and crossed the courtyard in silence. The gate guards were exchanging shifts. Someone was arguing with an NPC about room prices. A bard near the fire pit played a clumsy melody that somehow soothed the tension.
At the inn entrance, Lyra stopped.
"Same time tomorrow?" she asked.
He didn't hesitate. "Yeah."
Lyra gave a short nod. Not a smile. Not warmth. But… something.
"Don't think too much," she said.
"You'll do enough thinking for both of us?"
She paused.
"No," she said. "You think. I watch."
He opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but she was already walking toward the stairs inside.
Alexis watched her go.
He felt tired. But in a good way.
The kind of tired that meant tomorrow mattered.
He opened his interface.
[LOG OUT?]Yes / No
He hovered a moment, glancing at the fading lanterns and the quiet murmur of players settling in for the night.
Then he clicked Yes.
The world dissolved into black.
And the Tower waited.