Su Yu bared his teeth as he pushed himself up from the ground.
The patch of his knee had gone completely numb—tomorrow it would probably swell up like a steamed bun.
He dusted himself off, tried to roll his shoulder, and gingerly tested the right arm that felt like it had officially resigned and moved out.
Then—like an eighty-year-old grandpa—he staggered over to Kiana.
He forced a relaxed grin, even though the corner of his mouth was twitching uncontrollably from pain.
"Alright. The 'heroine awakening' drama was top-tier," he said in a teasing tone, rubbing the back of his head. "But should we maybe… roll credits and get off this mountain?"
He deliberately kept it light.
"Kevin's probably already downstairs getting impatient. If we don't go soon, he's going to start hallucinating some soap-opera nonsense about senior and junior running away together at night."
Kiana didn't jump up and yell 'Who's running away with you, idiot!' like she usually would.
She just stood there quietly, night wind tangling her trademark white hair.
The madness and despair in her heterochromatic eyes had sunk to the bottom.
In their place was something like the sea after a storm—dead quiet, yet impossibly deep.
"Su Yu."
Her voice was hoarse, probably from crying too hard.
"Just now… I almost killed you."
Su Yu froze.
The smile was still on his face, but the light in his eyes stalled.
"The Herrscher of the Void… woke up."
Kiana slowly raised her hands, staring at those pale palms—the ones that had stopped in midair at the final second.
"Right when you finished saying all that… that demon woke up. She took control of my body, hijacked my nerves. She wanted me—"
She paused, her voice so fragile it sounded like it might shatter.
"She wanted me… to punch straight through your heart."
The wind tore past, carrying that chilling confession away.
Below, the crowd was leaving in waves, the noise fading into distance—until only two people remained up high in the dark.
Su Yu exhaled.
This idiot.
This unreasonable, self-destructive idiot.
From start to finish… she'd been protecting him in the most suicidal way possible.
Even if the price was throwing herself into an abyss like garbage.
"So you jumped—"
"Because I was afraid I'd lose control and kill you."
Kiana met his eyes head-on.
"In this world… you're the only person who was willing to take me in. If even you got hurt because of me, then the meaning of my existence—"
"Enough."
Su Yu lifted his hand and rested it gently on top of her head.
Not like that violent headbutt earlier.
This time, his touch was light—warm, steady, like he was soothing a startled animal that had its fur standing on end.
"I get it. You don't have to explain so much. I'm not an NPC who can't understand human speech."
Kiana didn't dodge his hand. She just looked at him.
"I want to ask you for something."
Her tone was more serious than she'd ever sounded—serious enough to feel like a plea.
"To keep me from hurting you again… I need to do what Mei did. Put a bomb on my heart."
"A bomb?" Su Yu frowned. "Are you insane? This is a peaceful society. Where am I supposed to get contraband like that?"
"It's just a metaphor."
Kiana shook her head, her clarity painful to look at.
"It can be any tool that makes me lose mobility instantly. A high-voltage shock collar. A concentrated anesthetic injector… anything. As long as when that demon wakes up, it can stop me immediately."
She turned her gaze to the city lights in the distance, fading little by little.
"If we don't have that failsafe… next time I'll jump again."
"And I won't hesitate."
"And I won't let you catch me."
Su Yu stared at her.
Moonlight washed over her profile, highlighting the tear tracks that hadn't even dried.
Her expression was calm.
Calm enough to hurt.
But in her eyes, something was burning—unyielding.
This was her fight.
To live.
To not lose to the Herrscher.
To protect the people beside her—
She was willing to strap a bomb to herself.
For Kiana, living took more courage than dying.
This was real courage.
Su Yu drew a deep breath, like he was forcing all the filth out of his lungs.
He reached out, and solemnly took her hand.
That hand was pale and cold, almost without warmth.
"I understand."
His voice was soft, but every word landed cleanly.
"I'll ask Dr. Mei. She's the top bioengineer in this world. She definitely has some black tech that can knock out an elephant."
Kiana flinched, then lowered her head.
Her bangs covered her eyes; her shoulders trembled slightly.
"…Thank you."
"Don't thank me."
Su Yu released her hand, turned around, and started limping toward the stairwell. His gait was so bad it was practically a slow-motion tragedy.
"This is just basic producer-grade heroine insurance. If the heroine keeps going berserk and murdering people, how's this game supposed to pass review? Parents would report it and get us banned."
"…You can't be serious for even one minute, can you?"
Kiana's voice came from behind him—exasperated, but also… warmed by relief.
Su Yu didn't turn around.
But the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Let's go, idiot."
"Down the mountain. Late-night snack. To celebrate that we didn't die, order whatever you want. Pizza Hut or McDonald's—my treat."
A familiar notification chime rang in his head.
That half-transparent panel he loved and hated appeared again in his vision.
[SYSTEM PROMPT]
[Detected: "Kiana Kaslana" related information updated]
[Key plot triggered: Herrscher awakening]
[Herrscher of the Void awakening progress: 5%]
[WARNING: Each time it touches host memory for material extraction, awakening progress will increase]
[WARNING: When awakening progress reaches 100%, an irreversible event will trigger]
Su Yu's brow tightened.
[Additional Notes]
[To fully anchor "Kiana Kaslana" in this world, mainline tasks must be continuously advanced and her recognition within this world expanded]
[This is a death marathon racing against time]
[Suggestion: When recognition reaches a certain level, and the host accumulates enough emotion points, a solution may be found in the shop]
[Good luck]
The panel flickered twice and vanished.
Su Yu stood there as the night wind brushed his cheek, carrying the leftover heat and restless afterglow of the concert's end.
A solution… maybe.
That damn system always talked like a third-rate novelist—vague on purpose.
But he knew: this was the best news he could get right now.
As long as there was hope—even if it was just a straw—
He started calculating.
He had to keep pushing the game's development forward, and keep a close watch on Kiana's mental state.
Every memory extraction was dancing on a blade.
But without extracting, recognition wouldn't rise.
And without recognition, she couldn't truly live in this world.
A marathon that would make you cough blood.
"Hey. What are you spacing out for? Wind blow your brains out?"
Kiana's voice snapped him out of his planning spiral.
He realized he'd been standing there like a wooden post, while Kiana watched him with the look you give an idiot.
He tried to step forward and pretend nothing happened—
"—HSSS!"
A spike of pain drilled into his knee like someone was using a power drill inside it. He almost pitched forward.
"Tch. See? You can't do it. Why are you forcing it?"
Kiana sighed, walked up in a few quick steps, then—
Very naturally—
Turned around, crouched down, and offered him her back.
"Get on."
Su Yu blinked at the slender—but not flimsy—back in front of him.
"…What?"
"I said, get on." Her voice was distinctly impatient. "That leg is basically dead right now. Do you want me to drag you by the ankle like a corpse?"
"No, it's just—" Su Yu rubbed his fingers awkwardly, his face heating up. "I'm a grown man. Letting a girl carry me… isn't that kind of… you know… propriety? Men and women should—"
Kiana frowned.
She glanced back at him with a 'Did water get into your brain?' expression.
"Just now, when you were that close to me—basically pressed against me—you didn't remember I'm a girl."
"When you yanked me back from the edge, you didn't care about 'propriety' either."
"And now you're suddenly acting like a shy maiden?"
Su Yu opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Bug girl, you shouldn't have logic this airtight!
"…Fine," he sighed in defeat. "Then I'll accept your kindness, heroine."
He steeled himself, carefully leaned onto her back—
And in the next second, his feet left the ground.
Kiana stood up as if she were lifting a discounted bag of cotton from the supermarket.
No labored breathing.
No wobble.
Su Yu felt his scalp go cold.
So this is the Kaslana core strength…
This stability…
In front of her I'm basically a defenseless weakling.
If I don't go ask Hua—the part-time warrior— to teach me a couple of self-defense moves when we get back…
My… uh… guardian authority is going to collapse.
Kiana started toward the stairwell.
Her steps were steady, light and precise; Su Yu barely felt any bouncing.
Warmth seeped through clothing, a living person's warmth—real, undeniable.
He's so light.
Kiana thought, quietly annoyed.
A one-meter-eighty adult man, and he weighed like an underfed stray cat.
She could feel his body heat through her back.
It was ordinary—neither cold nor hot—just the warmth a normal human should have.
And yet this ordinary, fragile body had charged in without hesitation at the moment of life and death.
Those hands that complained about typing fatigue had clamped onto her wrist—
and dragged her back from the abyss.
He was an idiot she could knock over with one punch.
So why was he trying to look cool just now?
Idiot.
Big idiot, Su Yu.
Her lips lifted slightly in a tiny, unseen smile in the shadows.
"Hey," Su Yu's voice came near her ear, suspicious and curious. "What are you smiling at? Laughing because I'm heavy?"
"Nothing," Kiana replied, smoothing her expression back into familiar coolness.
"Just thinking when you'll stop causing trouble for me."
"Hey, hey, hey—be reasonable! The one who almost performed rooftop freefall was who exactly?!"
"That was tactical retreat. You don't understand."
"What kind of tactical retreat goes down?! That's a suicide attack!"
Their bickering echoed through the empty stairwell.
Far away, the city lights still glittered.
The concert was over. The crowd drained out like sardines through exits. The dome sank gradually into night's quiet.
Behind them, the rooftop that had just witnessed a brush with death—two idiots saving each other—was swallowed by darkness, receding into the distance.
....
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