Night had deepened.
At midnight, the town's bell tower rang seven times. A cold wind scraped past the window. Shen Yan curled up in the woodshed behind the tavern's kitchen. He had asked to stay for the night, claiming he had nowhere else to go. The waitress hadn't refused.
He didn't dare sleep.
It was late into the night when he heard faint footsteps outside the door—someone was trying to open it.
He got up, gripping a piece of firewood in his hand, but then came a familiar voice:
"It's me."
The waitress stepped inside, looking even more exhausted than she had during the day.
"Tonight… is your evaluation period," she said softly. "At least three people have marked you as 'suspicious.' If the same happens tomorrow, you'll be chosen."
"Why are you telling me this?" Shen Yan asked.
"Because you're not like us," she said, eyes fixed on him. "When you first came here... you weren't afraid. Not even a little."
Shen Yan froze.
—She remembered his first death?
"No… this isn't a normal instance," he muttered. "You're...?"
The waitress didn't answer.
She only said:
"Stop trying to help anyone. Don't think about justice. Don't argue. Just survive."
---
The next day, Shen Yan tried to help a crying little girl find her mother.
Because of that, another townsperson questioned him in public: "Why are you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"
When the evening bell rang, the train came again.
This time, he couldn't escape.
---
But something was different—
When he woke up, a new system prompt appeared in his mind:
[Ability Unlocked: Vision Feedback LV.1]
[You can now read the emotional state (trust/disgust/fear/etc.) of all beings within 1 meter of you.]
[Instance Evaluation Updated: Behavior Acceptable. Adaptation In Progress.]
Shen Yan leaned back against his own gravestone and closed his eyes.
In that moment, he no longer wondered, "Why is this happening to me?"
He only thought—
"Next time, I must survive."