The drone exploded in a flash of white light and smoke, like it had never existed.
No blast. No shrapnel. Just a clean self-wipe.
Yuto and Rin stood in silence, watching the air settle.
"That was a drone," Rin said quietly. "Wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Yuto replied.
"I've never seen anything like it."
"You weren't supposed to."
She turned to him, her expression serious. "How long was it watching us?"
"I don't know."
"Could it hear what we said?"
Yuto didn't answer right away. His eyes stayed fixed on the empty space where the drone had hovered. His hand slowly lowered from his pistol.
"Yes," he said finally. "It heard everything."
Rin stepped closer, her voice tight. "So now whoever made that drone knows about the system. About Argus. About the ruins in the north."
Yuto gave a slow nod. "Yeah. And they know we're heading there."
"Then they'll try to stop us."
"Definitely."
She stared at him. "So what do we do?"
Yuto took a breath, adjusted the strap holding his shotgun on his back, and looked toward the distant trees.
"We move fast," he said. "We stay off the main paths. We only stop when we have to."
She frowned. "That's your plan?"
"That's the start of it."
"Any idea how far north this node is?"
Yuto opened his system interface.
A glowing map unfolded in his vision, overlaying the terrain ahead. A red marker pulsed faintly at the top of the region—far beyond the village, past rivers, into lands not even labeled.
"Three days," he said. "Maybe four. If nothing slows us down."
Rin looked down the trail. "Something will slow us down."
Yuto didn't argue.
They started walking again, following no road, just shadows and instinct.
After several minutes, Rin spoke again. "Do you trust Argus?"
Yuto didn't look at her. "No."
"But you're still following what he said."
"I don't trust him," he said. "But I believe him."
Rin was quiet for a few steps, then asked, "What's the difference?"
Yuto thought for a second. "Trust is when you believe someone won't hurt you. Belief is when you know they're telling the truth, even if it hurts."
Rin looked at him sideways. "That's kind of depressing."
He smirked a little. "Welcome to my life."
The forest changed as they went. The trees became thinner. The ground rockier. Patches of blue grass replaced the usual green. The air felt colder.
Rin rubbed her arms. "I've never been this far north. Most people don't go beyond the river."
"Why not?"
"Too many stories. Lost parties. Old ruins. People who see lights and don't come back."
Yuto's voice stayed steady. "Sounds familiar."
She looked at him. "You don't believe in ghosts, do you?"
"I believe in things that shouldn't exist."
"That's worse."
"Exactly."
They reached a ridge and climbed carefully. Loose stones shifted under their boots, but they moved together. Yuto checked behind them every few minutes. So far, no one was following.
Still, the system pinged once.
> [ SCAN MODE: PASSIVE ]
[ NO VISIBLE THREATS – POSSIBLE LONG-RANGE MONITORING ACTIVE ]
[ RECOMMENDATION: REACH COVER SOON – VISUAL PROFILE TOO HIGH ]
Yuto whispered, "We're being watched."
Rin paused halfway up the ridge. "What?"
"Not directly. Nothing's near us. But someone has a line of sight."
"Magic?"
"No. Satellites. Or long-range eyes."
She blinked. "I don't know what that means."
"It means we're still on camera."
They reached the top of the ridge and ducked under the edge of a fallen tree. It wasn't much shelter, but it blocked sightlines. The view ahead stretched wide. Hills. Sparse trees. A river cutting far through the land like a crack in glass.
"That's the river you mentioned?" Yuto asked.
"Yes. That's the Grayline. It runs between the living kingdoms and what people call the dead lands."
He glanced at her. "The what?"
"The dead north," she said. "That's what most maps call it. The zone beyond where mana flows normally. Where even spells start to break down."
Yuto opened his map again.
Sure enough, the label over the node was written in gray text.
"Sector 07: Dead Zone – Entry Risk Level: Red"
Rin tapped her fingers on her thigh nervously. "If magic breaks down there…"
"My guns won't," Yuto said quickly.
She nodded. "Good. That makes one of us useful."
He smiled faintly. "You're more than useful."
She glanced at him. "Don't flatter me. I know I can't keep up with you in a real fight."
"You're still here. That's more than most."
They sat for a moment longer, catching breath.
Then Rin looked at him again.
"You're still not telling me everything, are you?"
Yuto was silent for a beat.
Then he replied, "No."
"Why not?"
"Because the more you know, the more danger you're in."
She narrowed her eyes. "I'm already in danger."
"I know."
"And I'm still here."
"I know."
"So talk to me."
He sighed and looked down at his hands.
"I didn't come to this world by accident."
She didn't say anything.
He continued.
"I didn't wake up in the forest confused. I didn't wander in from some distant empire. I was sent here. Dropped. By someone—or something—that gave me this system and told me one thing."
"What?"
"Pull the trigger. Survive. Find the others."
Rin blinked. "Others?"
Yuto nodded slowly. "But now I think that message was a lie."
"Why?"
He looked at her with tired eyes.
"Because I'm the only one left."
Before she could respond, the system chimed again—sharp and urgent.
> [ HOSTILE SIGNATURE DETECTED – DISTANCE: 600 METERS – AIRBORNE CONTACT INBOUND ]
[ UNIT TYPE: UNKNOWN ]
[ WARNING: HIGH-SPEED TRAJECTORY – ETA: 90 SECONDS ]
Yuto stood instantly, hand on his gun. "We've got incoming."
Rin scrambled to her feet. "What direction?"
He pointed toward the sky, where a faint dot was already moving—fast, too fast to be natural.
"What is that?" she asked.
"Trouble."
The system chimed once more.
> [ TRACE CONFIRMED – ENEMY CLASS: HUNTER DRONE – SERIES K-9 MODEL – UNIT DESIGNATION: "SEEKER" ]
[ OBJECTIVE: TERMINATE SIGNAL HOST ]
[ REPEAT: TERMINATE ]
Yuto's jaw clenched.
"They sent a kill drone."
"From where?!"
"I don't know," Yuto said. "But we've got less than a minute before it's here."
Rin pulled her broken staff from her pack, eyes wide. "What do we do?"
Yuto lifted his shotgun, already charging the next shell.
"We stand our ground."
The air pressure shifted. Leaves trembled on nearby trees. A sharp hum filled the clearing—like metal screaming at the edge of hearing.
Yuto squinted into the sky. "There. You see that shadow?"
Rin raised a hand to shield her eyes. "It's too fast. I can't tell what it is."
"It's a drone," Yuto said. "High-grade. Built to kill targets, not scout."
"How do you know?"
"Because it's not slowing down."
Rin's voice shook. "What happens if it finds us?"
"It won't find us," Yuto muttered. "It already has."
The Seeker burst through the clouds—sleek and black, almost bird-shaped, but with sharp angles and glowing vents. Twin fins flickered on either side of its body, each one lit with red patterns that pulsed like veins. Beneath its frame, a cylinder-shaped launcher spun slowly. Its scanning lens glowed blood-orange.
It didn't make a sound when it stopped—just floated twenty meters above them like a predator choosing where to strike.
Rin whispered, "Is it… thinking?"
"No," Yuto said. "It's calculating."
The system buzzed.
> [ TARGET LOCKED – EVASION NOT ADVISED ]
[ ENERGY SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED – TEMPEST MAW RECOGNIZED ]
[ SYSTEM NOTE: PRIORITY THREAT CLASS UPGRADED TO LEVEL BETA ]
"Level Beta?" Yuto muttered. "They're taking me seriously now."
Rin didn't look away from the drone. "We can't run, can we?"
"No," Yuto said. "It'll shoot us in the back."
"Then we fight."
Yuto adjusted his grip on the shotgun. "I'll draw it low. You take cover behind the ridge. If I fall—"
"No," she interrupted.
"Rin—"
"You don't give orders like that," she snapped. "Not to me."
His eyes flicked toward her.
"I'm not dead weight," she said. "I might not have your firepower, but I'm not leaving you alone out here."
Yuto nodded once.
"Alright," he said. "Then stay close. Watch my left."
"Done."
The drone beeped once. Its barrel rotated.
Yuto's system screamed in his head.
> [ FIRST STRIKE INCOMING – PROJECTED BLAST IMPACT IN 3 SECONDS ]
"Now!"
Yuto shoved Rin behind the nearest rock and dove left.
The Seeker fired.
WHOOM.
The blast struck the ground with terrifying precision. Dirt exploded upward. A flash of red light tore through two trees, slicing them clean in half.
Yuto landed in a crouch, rolled, came up firing.
BOOM.
The shotgun blast hit the drone's shield. It shimmered blue for a half-second before stabilizing again.
"It's shielded," he growled.
"Then how do we take it down?" Rin shouted from cover.
"I've got to overload it," Yuto said. "But I need time to charge the SMG core."
"I can distract it!"
"No—"
She was already up, hands glowing with raw mana. She hurled a pulse of unstable wind directly at the drone's face.
The drone flinched. Just slightly.
Enough.
Yuto fired again.
BOOM.
A piece of the drone's fin cracked off, spiraling downward.
"Got it!" he shouted.
The drone responded instantly. Its launcher locked again.
Yuto's system pinged.
> [ ENEMY ADAPTATION IN PROGRESS – SECONDARY MODE ENABLED ]
[ SEEKER WILL NOW ENGAGE GROUND COMBAT PROTOCOL ]
"Of course it does ground combat," Yuto muttered.
The drone folded in midair, its wings tucking inward, its shape twisting like a beast made of metal and hate.
It slammed into the ground with a heavy thud, sending a shockwave outward.
Dust blasted everywhere.
When the dirt cleared, the Seeker stood fully upright—now walking on two spiderlike legs, its lens scanning rapidly side to side. The barrel on its chest hummed like it was hungry.
It stepped toward Yuto slowly.
Rin shouted, "Yuto, it's changing formation!"
"I see it!"
He ran left. The Seeker's eye tracked him instantly.
It fired again.
CRACK.
The blast barely missed, carving a trench in the hillside.
Yuto turned mid-run, slid behind a fallen log, and jammed a cell core into his SMG.
"Charge now," he muttered. "Come on…"
The system beeped again.
> [ CHARGE COMPLETE – NEW MODE: RAPID VOLLEY ENABLED ]
[ FIRE RATE TEMPORARILY INCREASED ]
Yuto kicked off the ground and popped up.
TRRTTRRTTRRT.
Three bursts slammed into the drone's chest.
Its shield flickered—then cracked.
"Now!" he shouted. "Rin—hit it low!"
She burst from cover, wind swirling around her like a cyclone. She focused it into a narrow stream and hurled it at the drone's legs.
The Seeker staggered.
Yuto didn't hesitate.
He dashed forward and jumped.
BOOM.
His shotgun blast hit the Seeker point-blank in the core.
The drone fell back, sparks flying, its lens glowing erratic red.
Rin shouted, "Did that kill it?!"
Yuto raised his gun again, just in case.
The drone lay still.
Then—
Its eye flared once.
Bright red.
> [ SYSTEM WARNING: FINAL COUNTERMEASURE DETECTED ]
[ UNIT SELF-DESTRUCT PROTOCOL ENGAGED – 10 SECONDS TO DETONATION ]
[ REPEAT: EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY ]
Yuto's face went pale.
"Move!"
He grabbed Rin's wrist and ran, pulling her downhill, away from the clearing.
Behind them, the drone twitched.
Then it exploded.