Patch was chewing on his Lángos when I woke up.Halfway through, he suddenly stopped,lifted his head,and stared at me without blinking.
Being stared at by a cat like thatwas mildly terrifying.
What? Are you laughing at me?I complained in my head.
He padded overand sniffed my wrist.His pupils narrowed to slits,ears flattening slightly.
Like he smelled something off.
I reached out to pet his head.Patch just tilted it awayand went back to his breakfast.
It really felt like…
He'd noticed I'd changedbefore I had.
I took a couple of bites of Rožok and headed out.
Another unreal blue sky.Pure postcard weather.
UFO Park wasn't far away.The moment I stepped deeper inside,that familiar pressure in my chest returned—
space pushing down.
Stronger than yesterday.
Then—
A dog up ahead suddenly went wild,barking like it had stepped on an invisible boundary.Its owner, an old man,struggled to hold the leash as it pulled back hard,snarling at the right-side bushes.
In the next second,the bushes dented inward,like something shoved them from behind.
A warped human shape fell out.
Skin like it had been burned and frozen over,joints bent at wrong angles,eyes hollow,dark red-black dried at the mouth.
Not a pure Abyssal.
More like someone bitten and twistedinto a Corrupted.
The old man froze.The dog bolted in the opposite direction.
My body moved before my brain.I sprinted over and shoved the old man aside.
The Corrupted lunged.That 0.2-second delay stretched through my body again.Time snagged;I barely dodged the first swipe,but its claws still raked my shoulder.
Fire tore across my nerves.
It scented bloodand prepared to come again.
Then—
A calm male voicecame from deeper in the trees:
"Left."
I didn't fully catch it,but my body leaned left on instinct.Claws scraped past my face.
Emilia heard it clearly.
It was her brother Rowan's voice.
Her expression sharpened,like something inside her snapped awake.She burst into the fight from the side.
The Corrupted turned toward her.Something in my chest sank.
…No time to think.
My legs were already moving.
I slammed into the creature,knocking it off course.Claws slashed across my side.
Second wound.
I grabbed its twisted armand forced it down.Emilia seized the opening,driving her blade straight in.
The Corrupted convulsedand finally went limp.
The park returned to quietexcept for our breathing.
I leaned against a tree.My shoulder and side throbbed.
Emilia glanced at me,her gaze lingering on my injuries.Not just worry—she was verifying something.
"You… really okay?"
Her voice stayed cool,but tension hid underneath.
"Still standing," I said, forcing a smile."Guess I'm not at the 'drop dead' stage yet."
By her own explanation,getting hit twice by a Corruptedshould've put me well into the danger zone.
But I didn't feel that creeping collapse.
She studied my wounds a bit longerbefore saying:
"With injuries like that,normally I'd send you to isolation."
"And now?"
"You're still here talking."
She said it flatly—like stating an impossible result.
Then her tone softened a little.
"Thanks… for what you did."
"Just a reflex," I answered,voice unsteady.
She scanned the areaand confirmed no new anomalies.
"I need to take this gentleman in for a check-up.Treat your wounds. Don't push it."
She walked a few steps, then paused.Without turning back, she added:
"If something like this happens again…prioritize staying alive.You don't have to protect me."
It sounded like an order.But in that moment,I heard something different under it.
"All right," I said."If you need help again, call me."
She didn't reply.Just pointed in a direction—telling me not to linger—
then went after the old man.
We had just fought side by side…yet walked off on separate paths.
**
Deeper in the shadows—
Rowan stood silently,half his face hidden.
He had watched everything.
Jeff saving the old man.The Corrupted's attack.Jeff throwing himself in front of Emilia a second time.And the short conversation afterward.
Observe.Judge.Record.
Then he turned awayand walked offlike he had never been there.
**
When I got home and opened the door,Patch's fur was fully puffed,his stare locked on a spot in the stairwell,a low growl stuck in his throat.
He wasn't looking at me.
He was watching…something else drawing closer.
I looked and saw only an ordinary stairwell.Empty.
Patch's reaction said otherwise.
To him,this wasn't just a normal apartment hallway anymore.
**
Somewhere else,in a windowless room—
Walls full of screensdisplaying lines and data.
New entries slid into place:
[Anomalous fluctuation: +0.6][Abyssal-related activity: confirmed][Awakened individual, possible activation: yes][ID: B-39]
The man in the center lifted his head.
Plain shirt, tablet in hand,eyes settling on B-39.
His expression hardly changed,like he was reading today's forecast.
"An Awakened… B-39."
His finger hovered over the map,overlaying movement tracesand Source distributions.
The path drew an unnatural arc.
"Definitely not random."
He spoke softly,filing the code into his mental archive.
To ARC,this was just a properly classified record.
To him—
This human labeled B-39…
was becoming interesting.