The air shakes with sharp and sudden screams, fear spreads faster than one could think.
Someone tries to force the door open.
It doesn't move.
Another person laughs nervously, too loudly, too sharply.
"Is this some kind of prank?!"
"It's not funny!"
They take out their phones.
Hope flickers in the cold blue light as people try to call someone, anyone.
Nothing gets through.
"No signal— what the hell?!"
"It's the system! It's blocking it!" A voice shouted from the crowd.
Voices bleed into each other. Fear moves quickly, chaotically, uncontrollably.
Saigid doesn't move at first. His eyes are still fixed on the message hanging in the air.
[Survive until tomorrow]
[Reward: 1,000,000 coins]
A game.
No… not a game.
Something about it feels too real.
Too absolute.
Around him, people are already losing control.
And then
"The same as last time."
The voice cuts through the noise.
Flat. Calm. Almost bored.
Saigid turns.
A man stands near the wall, leaning back like he's waiting for a train that hasn't arrived yet. Dark hair. Unbothered expression. No tension in his body at all.
Like nothing changed.
Like this isn't happening for the first time.
Saigid watches him.
Something feels off.
In front of the man, a panel flickers into existence.
[Yushai's level: Σ]
Someone nearby notices it.
"What… what is that?"
"A symbol? Is that even a level?"
"I don't see that on mine!"
Confusion replaces panic for a moment.
People stare, trying to understand.
Saigid's own vision shifts.
Another panel appears.
[Saigid: Level F]
He narrows his eyes slightly.
"Level F…"
A ranking system.
So it's real.
Not a glitch. Not a joke.
He exhales slowly, then looks back at the man.
Yushai.
Still calm.
Still not reacting.
Saigid steps closer.
Not too fast. Not too slow.
Careful.
"You're not surprised," he says.
Yushai glances at him briefly.
"You are?"
Saigid tilts his head a little."…Not really."
A brief silence. The noise surrounding them hasn't quieted down but it sounds like it's far away like white noise.
Maybe they're only supposed to exist in the background for now. Saigid looks at him. There is no fear.
No confusion.
No hesitation.
Only certainty.
"You knew," murmurs Saigid.
And Yushai doesn't say a thing.He just closes his eyes and stops like he's waiting. For an event that hasn't occurred yet.