The siren cut into my ears.
People were screaming.
— EVERYONE TO THE BUNKER! THE "TEARS OF THE SKY" ARE STARTING! RUN—
He didn't finish.
Something black burst out of the alley and dragged him away.
The scream ended too suddenly, as if it had never existed.
I stood frozen in the crowd, desperately turning my head from side to side.
"Mom… Dad… where are you?!"
The sky darkened.
Black drops began to fall.
Where they touched the ground, something moved. Twisted shapes crawled out of the shadows, forming bodies that were never meant to exist.
Monsters were appearing too fast.
Faster than people could run.
For a seven-year-old child, it was too much.
I knew I had to run to the bunker.
I knew that.
But without my parents…
I couldn't.
I was scared.
So I ran the other way.
The moment I turned into the alley, the smell hit me.
Rot. Something burning and rotten at the same time.
A huge black body stood in front of me. Uneven, stitched together from pieces of flesh.
One of the Dead.
They were considered small.
But they were fast.
"T–Stay away…" my voice trembled.
My eyes filled with tears.
"Mom… Dad… please… someone help me…"
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I was waiting for pain.
But it never came.
The world suddenly slowed down.
The monster moved as if it were trapped in thick water. A golden light wrapped around its body, burning through the darkness.
When I dared to open my eyes again—
It was gone.
— "A Baron! One of the Barons has arrived!" a woman screamed.
— "It's Kyler!"
— "We're saved!"
People shouted in relief.
Too early.
While they were celebrating, the monsters became even faster.
Kyler moved instantly.
Cold. Precise. Efficient.
Monsters disappeared one after another, erased by golden light as if they had never existed.
I believed in him.
And I ran again.
"MOM?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
I saw them.
My mother and father were surrounded. Several monsters closed in from every side. They tried to fight back, but there was nowhere left to retreat.
"KYLER! PLEASE! HELP THEM!"
I screamed until my throat burned.
He could do it.
He was a Baron.
He had to.
Kyler looked at us.
Just for a second.
Then he turned away.
He ran toward the others.
A moment later, I heard it.
My mother's scream.
Then my father's.
My legs wouldn't move.
"No… this is a dream…" I whispered.
"He's strong… he would save everyone…"
But it wasn't a dream.
An hour later, I was sitting inside the bunker, staring at nothing.
The thought that my parents were gone refused to make sense. It simply didn't fit inside my head.
If Kyler had helped…
If he had wanted to…
The bunker doors opened.
Kyler entered, checking on the survivors, asking about injuries.
I stood up.
Punch.
Pain shot through my hand as it hit his face.
He staggered and crouched down in front of me.
"What—"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THEM?!"
"YOU'RE SO STRONG!"
"YOU COULD HAVE SAVED MY PARENTS!"
Tears streamed down my face.
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I couldn't," he said quietly. "At that moment, I was saving five others."
"How couldn't you?! You're a Baron!"
"Being a Baron doesn't mean I can do everything."
"I had to choose."
"Between two… and five."
He squeezed my shoulder harder, forcing me to look at him.
"I'm truly sorry. But in that situation, I couldn't do anything else."
He stood up and walked away.
I stayed there.
"He's lying…" I thought, wiping my tears.
"There's nothing he can't do…"
"You're not joking, right?" Aten looked at me suspiciously while chewing bread.
"That sounds like something you made up."
I didn't answer right away.
I was turning my glasses in my hands. Old. Scratched. They used to belong to my father.
"I didn't make it up," I finally said.
"If it were just a story… I wouldn't hate Kyler."
Aten went silent.
I left the dining hall.
The corridors of the bunker were quiet. Dim lights flickered above, and the ventilation hummed like the bunker itself was breathing with effort.
Ten years had passed since that day.
And I still couldn't forget it.
Forgiving Kyler…
That was never an option.
An old cracked screen flickered on the wall.
NOTICE
Volunteer recruitment for monster zone cleansing will begin soon.
Priority: Yellow Zone.
I stopped.
The Yellow Zone.
Not safe.
Not completely deadly.
The border between survival and death.
Leaving the bunker wouldn't be easy.
I smiled faintly.
"Perfect…"
A chance to go outside.
A chance to get stronger.
A chance to finally find Kyler.
I put the glasses into my pocket.
If I was going to face this world again—
I wouldn't be the child left behind.