Ficool

Chapter 6 - CHAPTER 6 – Shelter of Breathing Things

The door shut behind him with a quiet click.

For the first time in what felt like days, Yu Ren was in a space where nothing moved behind glass, where shadows didn't twitch, and the air didn't scream. It wasn't comfort—but it was less than danger.

Kai sat against the far wall again, one leg stretched out. A dark patch of dried blood marked his pant leg, just below the knee. The wound had been roughly bandaged—sheets and hospital tape, maybe. It was swollen.

"I scavenged some antiseptic before I locked this place up," Kai said, nodding toward a metal tray. "Most of it's trash, but you're welcome to try your luck."

Yu Ren knelt and scanned the tray. The labels were mostly water-damaged, but one small bottle was still sealed: chlorhexidine. He tilted it gently—still half-full.

He glanced back. "May I?"

Kai shrugged. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

Yu Ren opened the cap and moved carefully toward him. He could feel the tension before he even got close. Kai wasn't used to anyone within reach. Neither was he.

"Let me see."

Kai hesitated, then slowly pulled the bandage aside.

The wound was worse than expected. The skin around the puncture was inflamed and red, with signs of early infection. Not yet fatal. But if left alone, it would be.

Yu Ren worked quietly—cleaning the area, rewrapping the leg, tightening the knot. He did his best not to wince at Kai's sharp inhalations.

"You've done this before," Kai muttered.

"My mother was a nurse," Yu Ren replied. "She used to show me things. In case of emergency."

He didn't mention she was long gone now. There was no point.

[+1 Affection: Kai]

[Affection Score: 2/100 – "Guarded Curiosity"]

A soft notification pinged behind his thoughts. He ignored it for now.

Kai finally relaxed back against the wall. "Thanks."

Yu Ren simply nodded. The silence between them settled—not hostile, not warm. Just... breathable.

"System gave me a quest," Yu Ren said after a while.

Kai opened one eye. "Same here. About ten minutes before you showed up."

"What does it want from us?"

Kai scoffed. "Hell if I know. It changes the rules every hour. Sometimes I think it wants to help. Other times I think it's just... watching."

Yu Ren sat down a short distance away, leaning against a fallen IV pole.

"You've had it longer than me?"

"I woke up with it three days ago. No countdown. Just a voice in my head and a flashing red sky." He ran a hand through his tangled hair. "First thought was: I'm dead. Second thought: I wish I was wrong."

Yu Ren exhaled slowly. "I don't think we're the only ones."

"Obviously not. But I haven't seen another human until you."

Kai leaned forward, rummaged in a battered backpack, and pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper—half-printed and half-sketched over in pen.

It was a crude map of the surrounding area: six blocks, marked shelters, red zones, and scribbled notes beside abandoned buildings. Yu Ren's office building was on the edge of the map, labeled "Unstable, looted."

"Not bad," Yu Ren murmured.

Kai handed him a pen. "Add anything you remember. Especially green zones."

Together, they pieced together what they knew. Yu Ren marked the inner hallway where he'd found the intact ration bar. Kai added a note about a storage room in the hospital's basement he hadn't entered yet—"Too risky alone."

[Map Updated: Local Quadrant 2A – Cooperative Scan Initiated]

[Synergy Detected – Trait Compatibility Rising]

[Temporary Buff: Shared Scavenging Bonus +5%]

Yu Ren blinked. "Synergy?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Yeah. System's weirdly obsessed with 'bonds.' I got a bonus earlier when I helped a bird out of barbed wire. I think it thought I was forming an emotional connection."

"…Did you?"

Kai didn't answer.

---

They spent the next two hours securing the rest of the floor. Yu Ren held the pipe while Kai directed him. The wound made it hard for Kai to walk without limping, but he still moved with focus—like a soldier playing medic.

They barricaded the stairwell using bed frames and metal cabinets. Blocked windows. Checked the oxygen tanks (mostly empty). Found more gauze, a working flashlight, and three sealed bottles of water in a vending machine Kai had somehow overlooked.

"You must be lucky," Kai muttered, staring at the water.

"Trait buff," Yu Ren replied, handing one over. "Resource Scavenger."

Kai nodded approvingly. "That'll carry us farther than brute strength."

They split a protein bar in silence, chewing while the wind howled outside.

"Do you think there's a safe zone somewhere?" Yu Ren asked.

Kai was quiet for a long moment.

"I used to think so. System keeps hinting at something called a 'Sanctuary Node,' but I've never seen one. Closest I came was a false lead—it turned into a sinkhole crawling with infected."

Yu Ren's fingers tightened around the wrapper.

[New Objective: Locate Sanctuary Node – First Clue Unlocked]

[Sanctuary Node Activation: Requires 2 Survivors, Lv5+, and 1 Blueprint.]

He showed Kai the prompt.

"…You got a blueprint?" Kai asked, almost accusing.

"Not yet. It said I'd get one if I protected you."

Kai blinked, then laughed under his breath. "Figures. I nearly bleed to death, and you get the shelter plans."

Yu Ren raised an eyebrow. "You're the one the system wants protected."

"Then let's both hope I'm worth something," Kai muttered.

---

That night, they took turns resting—two hours each, split shifts.

At 2:15 AM, Yu Ren stirred awake to the low glow of Kai's flashlight and the quiet scrawl of pen on paper. He wasn't drawing the map anymore. It looked like names.

"Who are they?" Yu Ren asked softly.

Kai looked up. "My squad. Before the fall."

He paused. Then: "Special rescue unit. Military-adjacent, technically. We responded to strange cases. Viral outbreaks, containment failures. Thought we were ready for anything."

Yu Ren sat up, rubbing his face. "And now?"

Kai looked at the paper again. "Now I write names, so I don't forget them. That's all I can do."

The room fell into silence again.

Yu Ren wanted to say something. Instead, he simply stood and took the next shift.

---

[Day 3 Complete.]

[System Evaluation Initiated.]

[Survivor: Yu Ren – Level 2 → Level 3]

[SP Earned: 3]

[Skill Tree Now Accessible – First Skill Available for Unlock.]

[Skill Unlocked: Improvised Crafting Lv1]

"Allows basic creation of tools, traps, or shelter parts using scrap materials. Recipes limited by Intelligence stat and available schematics."

[Blueprint Unlocked: Compact Barricade (Temporary)]

[New Feature: Shared Shelter Menu Activated.]

Next Trait Unlock: Level 5

Next Bond Milestone (Kai): Affection 10 → First Link Skill

Yu Ren closed the notification screen slowly.

The world was still ending.

But somehow, he didn't feel completely alone in it anymore.

---

To be continued.

More Chapters