Arthur didn't mean to get attached. He'd just meant to throw a rock, save a kid, and walk away. But now Jun was walking two steps behind him like a duckling, eyes wide, lunchbox clutched in his hands like it held the meaning of life. Arthur didn't say anything. He'd already tried ignoring him, warning him, threatening mild abandonment. Nothing worked. The kid stuck.
The streets had calmed, in the way a battlefield calms after everyone's already dead or hiding. Fires burned unattended in the distance, casting a soft orange glow over cracked concrete and broken glass. Somewhere, something shrieked. Another monster. Another chance. Arthur perked up slightly, until he realized it was far off. Shame.
A pop-up window blinked beside his head:
> [Quest Notification: Escort Companion to Safety – Reward: 50 Coins]
He tried swatting it away like a fly. "No."
The window stayed.
He sighed and trudged on, Jun's soft footsteps still pat-patting behind him. There was a lot of nothing—abandoned cars, silent buildings, a trash can still inexplicably on fire. Arthur didn't know where he was going. He just wanted somewhere quiet to die.
Jun broke the silence first. "Mister Arthur… were you a soldier?"
Arthur glanced back at him. "No."
"Oh… but you're really good at killing monsters."
"I haven't actually killed any monsters," Arthur said. "They've just been dying... near me."
Jun tilted his head. "Is that a superpower?"
Arthur stopped walking and stared at him. "If it is, it's the worst one ever."
They turned a corner and spotted movement ahead. Three figures, hunched over a body. Human shapes—at first. But as Arthur squinted, he noticed the twitching, the awkward bends in their limbs. Not survivors. Monsters. Humanoid, but with jointless arms that flopped like noodles and eyeless faces split by a vertical, tooth-lined slit. One of them raised its head at the sound of their footsteps. It sniffed the air—no nose, but somehow it knew.
Jun gasped and stepped behind Arthur. "Are those—?"
"Yup," Arthur said. "New flavor of nightmare."
The creatures turned and screeched, limbs stretching unnaturally as they lunged forward.
Arthur didn't panic. He was too tired. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the only weapon he had: the half-full water bottle he'd bought from a vending machine six hours ago. He tossed it, lazily, not even aiming. He just wanted to distract them.
The bottle arced through the air, spinning end over end—and hit a broken streetlight just right. The plastic ruptured, spraying water across the cracked concrete. It trickled into a puddle, which connected to a loose electrical wire from the toppled lamp post. There was a spark. Then a crackle. Then a blinding zap as the puddle turned into a live current.
The monsters stepped directly into it. The first one convulsed violently, smoke rising from its torso. The second screamed and tried to retreat, only to slip on the wet pavement and fall face-first into the wire. The third tripped over its friend and collapsed in a heap.
By the time Arthur blinked, all three were twitching, smoking husks. Jun stared, slack-jawed.
Arthur turned to him. "That was physics. Not me."
"But you—"
"—threw a bottle. Yeah. I'm a genius."
Jun clapped quietly, like he was watching fireworks.
Arthur stepped around the bodies, already regretting existing. "Let's find shelter before the next accident makes me King of the Apocalypse."
They found a small pharmacy. The glass doors were already shattered, shelves half-looted, but it was quiet, and nothing inside seemed to be trying to kill them. Arthur nudged aside a box of off-brand energy drinks and sat down behind the counter. His back hurt. His head hurt. Mostly from all the pop-up windows.
> [You have completed: "Electric Personality" – +40 Coins]
[Hidden Trait Activated: Cause-and-Effect Catastrophe – Level 1]
[Enemies slain via indirect environmental impact: 3]
[Title Unlocked: "Unintentional Genius"]
Arthur rubbed his eyes. "I didn't ask for any of this."
Jun sat beside him, legs folded, watching the door.
They sat in silence for a while. It wasn't awkward. Just... tired. Arthur leaned his head back against the counter and closed his eyes. For a moment, he almost felt like he could sleep.
Jun spoke again. "Thanks for saving me."
Arthur didn't open his eyes. "I threw a bottle."
"Still," Jun said softly. "No one else did."
Arthur opened one eye and looked at him.
The kid wasn't crying. He wasn't shaking. He just looked... small. Quiet. Like someone who'd learned not to expect much, and was always surprised when the world didn't hurt.
Arthur sighed. He stood up. "We'll stay here tonight."
Jun brightened. "Really?"
"Until something tries to kill us. Then we run."
"Okay."
They set up in the backroom—some dusty blankets, a crate for a table. Jun found a half-melted chocolate bar and divided it exactly in half. Arthur didn't argue. It tasted like cardboard, but it was the first thing he'd eaten today.
Before sleeping, he glanced at the cracked mirror on the wall. His reflection stared back: messy hair, tired eyes, shirt smeared with ash and zombie goo.
He looked like a protagonist.
He hated that.
"Tomorrow," he muttered, "I'm definitely dying."
From behind a shelf, the System beeped quietly.
> [Good luck with that.]