The back corridor of the library was much quieter than the main area. The lights were only half working, some dimming as if waiting for a technician to come fix them. Its scent was different too damp, older, like a building trying to remind anyone walking through that it had been standing long before the students born inside it.
Ares walked half a step ahead of Adara, his movements relaxed but calculated. He balanced his rhythm calm enough not to draw suspicion, ready enough in case something suddenly moved.
Adara followed in silence. She seemed a bit confused, but not resistant. There was no fear on her face only a curiosity that was far too genuine.
"Thanks, by the way," Adara said suddenly. "For walking me out. Sometimes this hallway is kinda creepy."
Ares only nodded. "It's fine."
A short answer, but enough.
The System whispered softly in his mind:
> [Subject Adara shows stable emotional responses.]
[Waves indicate no sign of external manipulation at this time.]
[Threat level: moderate.]
Ares ignored the last part. "Moderate" covered too wide a range to be reliable. A threat could spike within a fraction of a second especially if someone like the black-jacket student was nearby.
They were almost at the back door when something happened.
Not footsteps.
Not a figure suddenly appearing.
But the silence itself shifted.
The air in the corridor changed as if the temperature dropped a few degrees. The light above them flickered twice slow, then fast, then went dead for a moment before turning back on.
Adara instinctively grabbed Ares's arm.
Reflex.
And her fingers felt cold.
Not room-temperature cold
but the same cold that reminded Ares of the gray book earlier.
Ares stopped walking.
"Adara," he said softly. "You felt… that shift?"
Adara nodded quickly. "Yeah. Like… the air changed? This is the first time I've felt something that weird."
Ares tried to read her. No deception. She truly sensed something. That meant Adara wasn't entirely "ordinary."
System torsion.
> [Extreme anomalous waves receding.]
[Source unknown.]
[Something is near the user, but not attacking.]
Ares frowned. "Define 'something'," he muttered.
> [Access denied.]
[Data incomplete.]
[Primary directive: remove subject from the area.]
And as if the world wanted to reinforce that command, a faint sound echoed from the far end of the hallway like fabric brushing, or footsteps that didn't quite touch the ground.
Ares turned instantly toward the sound.
Nothing.
But… not really nothing.
The shadow at the base of the wall shifted slightly, like something standing just outside the light's reach.
Ares made a quick decision.
"Adara. We're leaving. Now."
He took Adara's wrist not harshly, but firm enough to show this wasn't a moment for questions. She followed without protest whether because she trusted him, or because she felt the same creeping danger wrapped inside the silence.
They quickened their pace.
The back door was only a few meters away. One push and they'd be back in the open, crowded campus area.
But before they reached it, another sound emerged.
A whisper.
So thin.
Only one word.
"Ares."
Ares froze.
A chill ran down his spine.
Adara also stopped, face pale. "Did you… just say something?"
Ares shook his head. "Not me."
The System shrieked.
> [Voice identity: unknown.]
[Source is… extremely close.]
[High-level alert.]
Ares turned his head slowly.
And for a fraction of a second just long enough to shatter anyone's sense of safety he saw it.
A silhouette.
Very faint, almost like a trick of the light.
Humanoid, but lacking detail.
Like someone who hadn't been fully "drawn."
It stood too close.
Only a few meters from them.
And it was staring at Ares.
No face, yet its gaze felt piercing.
Adara suddenly tugged Ares's arm.
"Ares… the door."
Ares exhaled and immediately led Adara to the exit. Not running panic only created more trouble but fast enough to put distance between themselves and that… thing.
They stepped outside.
The moment the door shut, the air and sound returned to normal warm, bustling, filled with students.
As if nothing had happened at all.
Adara held her chest, trying to calm her breathing. "Ares… what was that?"
Ares looked back at the door they had just left.
The System whispered softly, almost as if trying to muffle something far bigger:
> [This incident is not random.]
[User stands at the center of the pattern.]
[Subject Adara… is not a stray variable.]
[She is part of the pattern.]
Ares clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing.
He looked at Adara.
And for the first time… he realized the girl wasn't just "connected."
She might be the key to unlocking everything.
Or the first to be destroyed if he made the wrong move.
Ares inhaled slowly and said:
"We need to talk. But… not here."
Adara swallowed, her expression serious for the first time since they met.
"Okay. I'll go with you."
Ares nodded.
The game had started this morning.
But this was the first moment he felt he wasn't the only player anymore.
Adara was now inside his game.
Or maybe…
Ares had just stepped into hers.