Conner stepped into the cold night air, the remains of the day clinging to the cracked stone and shattered glass around the courtyard. The barrier still pulsed overhead, slow and steady like the breath of a sleeping giant.
Most of the others were asleep back in the library. A few sat watch upstairs, half-dozing behind barricaded windows. But no one saw him leave.
He didn't sleep well. Not anymore.
The world was quieter at night. Colder, too. The mana in the air shimmered differently—thin threads drifting like snowflakes no one could touch. It buzzed against his skin, faint but present, like static that never faded.
He kept his bow in hand and moved with quiet steps, his shoes wrapped in torn cloth to dull the sound. Joey called it "paranoia." Conner called it "survival."
He wasn't out for food or heroics. He wanted to understand the terrain—boundaries, patrol paths, monster movements. The System was building something here. You could feel it. And he didn't like walking blind.
The eastern side of campus had collapsed during the first wave. Buildings folded into themselves, broken glass and ivy-covered stone tangled in a heap. But the pathways were still walkable if you were careful.
[System Alert: Enemy Detected – Lesser Stalkhound Lv. 2]
It emerged from the shadows—a four-legged thing with skin like bark and glowing yellow eyes. Smaller than the Rootcrawler, but faster. More alert.
Conner dropped low. His right eye flickered.
[Magic Scope Eye – Active]
[Target Locked | Range: Medium | Bonus Accuracy: +10%]
He exhaled slowly and held the draw.
Three seconds.
Release.
The mana arrow punched through the beast's neck before it could even growl.
[Enemy Defeated: EXP Gained – 110]
[Level Up: Conner Hayes – Level 3]
The body slumped silently.
He moved on.
The ruins of the science building jutted into the night like shattered bones. Conner climbed a cracked stairwell and found a high perch overlooking the eastern sector.
That's when he saw it.
A structure—unlike the others.
Not collapsed. Not system-generated like the barrier towers.
This was new.
A circular platform, smooth black stone inscribed with runes, pulsing faintly with violet light. It hovered several inches above the ground, rotating slowly. Around it, the ground had been cleared unnaturally—like the System itself had made room for whatever this was.
Conner didn't go closer. He didn't need to.
[Unknown Structure Detected – ???]
Even the system couldn't explain it yet.
He stared for a long moment, then backed away without a sound.
An hour passed. Then two.
He moved between shadows, marking safe paths with chalk and noting areas of monster activity. Another Stalkhound. Then a pair of vine-bound creepers near the garden. He killed both with calm precision.
[Level Up – Conner Hayes: Level 4]
[Trait Progress: 5%]
[Stat Points Earned: +10 total]
He didn't spend them. Not yet.
The system kept offering choices. But Conner knew the worst thing you could do with power was use it too early.
On the way back, near the old administration building, someone stepped into his path.
Not a monster.
Neive.
She wore the same oversized coat from earlier, her hands tucked into the sleeves, hair loose around her face. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dark.
"I thought I saw you leave," she said quietly.
Conner lowered his bow. "You followed me?"
"No," she said. "I waited. Figured you'd come back this way."
He nodded once. "Smart."
She stepped beside him, not too close. Her breath fogged faintly in the air.
"Found anything out there?"
He thought about lying. Then decided not to.
"Something weird east of the science block. Some kind of structure. Didn't go near it."
She didn't press. Just stood there, thinking.
Then: "You move like you've done this before."
"Not this," he said. "Just… I learn fast."
Silence.
Then she asked, "You going to tell anyone about the structure?"
"Not yet."
She nodded again, like that answer made sense to her. Like she would've said the same.
They walked back together, quiet the whole way.
As they reached the edge of the library courtyard, the wind shifted—and for a second, the barrier above them pulsed faster.
Neive looked up. "Feels like something's changing."
"It is," Conner said. "We just don't know what yet."
She hesitated before going inside.
"Good hunting," she said.
"You too," he replied.
Conner stayed behind a moment longer, his eyes drifting toward the eastern skyline. That structure was still there. Waiting.
He didn't know what it was.
But he'd be ready when it opened.
The next morning, things were… quieter.
Not peaceful. The sky was still wrong, the System still hovered over everything like an invisible net—but for once, no monsters crashed through the walls. No screaming. No explosions. Just the low murmur of voices and the occasional clink of canned food being opened.
It felt almost normal. Almost.
Conner sat on the floor near a sunlit corner of the library, nursing a warm bottle of water and watching dust drift through the light. Joey flopped down next to him a moment later, holding two energy bars like they were rare artifacts.
"Scored the last chocolate one," he said, tossing one to Conner. "Don't say I never do anything for you."
"Thought you were saving that for trade negotiations."
"I was. But it's getting harder to look smug when I'm chewing dry protein bricks every meal."
Conner peeled the wrapper back. "We should start rationing again tomorrow."
Joey groaned. "You're no fun."
"I'm not wrong."
Katie walked past, her hair pulled into a loose braid, frost still gently clinging to the tips of her sleeves. She gave a small nod to both of them, then disappeared toward the supply table.
"She's terrifying," Joey muttered once she was out of earshot.
"She's stable," Conner said.
"Same thing."
A pause. Joey leaned back against a bookcase, stretching his legs out.
"So," he said, "you ever gonna tell me what you were doing sneaking around outside last night?"
Conner didn't answer right away. He took a slow bite of the energy bar. "Scouting."
Joey narrowed his eyes. "You serious? Alone?"
Conner shrugged. "Better I learn the terrain before the System throws something worse at us."
"Yeah, or before something eats you."
"Didn't."
"You're impossible," Joey said, but there was no heat in it. Just tired admiration. "What'd you find?"
Conner hesitated. Then: "A structure. System-made, I think. East side of campus."
"Did you go near it?"
"No. Just marked the location."
Joey gave a low whistle. "You're really out here playing long-term survival sim while everyone else is still figuring out how to boil water."
Conner almost smiled. Almost.
Later that afternoon, Neive found him outside, sitting on the concrete ledge near what used to be the garden walkway. The plants were half-dead, twisted by the surge of mana, but some of the ivy had started glowing faintly—like it was adapting.
"You sleep at all?" she asked, stepping beside him.
"A little."
She sat, folding her legs under herself, a quiet rhythm to her movement.
"You're always up early," he said.
"I don't like waking up late," she replied. "Feels like missing something."
He nodded, watching the barrier pulse in the sky.
"You planning to go back out?"
"Eventually."
"You tell Joey?"
"Some of it."
"And Katie?"
He glanced over. "No."
Neive tilted her head. "You trust me more than her?"
"Different trust."
A pause.
She looked forward again. "I was thinking about what you said. About waiting. Not spending stat points yet."
"You don't think it's smart?"
"No, I do. I think it's smart. But I also think most people aren't built to wait like that."
"You mean patience?"
"I mean restraint," she said. "Everyone's scared. They think if they don't get stronger now, they won't make it to later."
Conner nodded. "They're not wrong."
"But you're still waiting."
"Because I want to make it past later."
She smiled at that. Not wide, but real.
Back inside, someone had started writing things on the wall—lists of food, names of people who'd gone missing, even a tally of the creatures spotted so far. Joey called it "the panic board." But no one stopped them.
It made things feel more real. Or maybe more manageable.
Katie was helping organize the stockpile when Conner passed her. She glanced up, then paused.
"You found something last night," she said.
He stopped. "…Yeah."
"You going to tell the group?"
"Eventually."
She nodded, like that was a reasonable answer. "Next time, take someone with you."
"I'm more useful alone."
"Until you're not."
He didn't reply.
Katie looked down at the crate in front of her. "We're not trying to be heroes, Hayes. We're trying to survive."
"I know."
"Good."
She moved on, and so did he.
That evening, as the group settled in for another uncertain night, Joey started talking about movies.
"First thing I do when we get out of this dome?" he said, pointing at the sky. "I'm binging every single dumb action flick I can find. Just give me explosions and one-liners."
"You're already living one," Neive said dryly from across the room.
Joey pointed at her. "That's the spirit."
"What about you?" he asked Conner.
Conner didn't look up from where he was cleaning his bowstring. "Quiet room. No System. No noise."
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Just silence?"
"And a chair."
Neive gave a small laugh. "That sounds… kind of perfect."
They sat like that for a while—talking nonsense, throwing out fake movie titles, arguing over whether pizza would still exist after the world reset. It didn't change anything, but it made the air feel lighter.
Even for a few minutes.
When the night settled in, Conner climbed back up to the upper floor, looking out toward the eastern sky.
The structure was still there.
Still waiting.
But for now, at least, the world had stopped shaking.