The smell of roasted beans drifted in the air. Ethan sat at a window table in the café, stirring his untouched coffee.
His eyes stared blankly at the street, but his mind was racing.
He was supposed to be planning the next step of his mission. Saving Serena. But the thought had long stopped being about the mission. He really wanted to save her—not for the system, not for the reward—but because... he just wanted to. He didn't know why, but there was something about her that felt real. Important.
But something didn't sit right. Someone was after him.
"Who is that person... or that group?" he mumbled under his breath. "Why me?"
His thoughts drifted again, this time to his parents.
