"Why is she called the Spirit of Sacrifice?" Kai asked, his confusion deepening.
The man remained silent for a long moment.
He slowly reached out and caressed the stone torso of the statue, his eyes hidden behind the fractured, dark lenses.
"She was a young girl filled with a desperate passion to help others."
The man sat down heavily on the ground, leaning his head back against the cold marble pedestal. It was so quiet that Kai swore he could hear the slow, rhythmic beat of the stranger's heart.
"On the Black Day, when the monsters started their rampage, there were countless casualties," the man continued, his voice hollow.
Kai hesitated.
"Where were the Heroes of Adaptability during all this?"
The man ignored the question completely, staring straight ahead.
"She selflessly treated everyone. She didn't sleep. She didn't eat. She healed the broken and the dying without taking a single rest for seventy-two hours..."
Kai's eyes burned with a desperate need for answers.
"And then?"
The man slowly tilted his head back, looking up at the stone face of the woman.
"Then... she became the Spirit of Sacrifice for everyone else. But not to me."
Kai looked back up at the statue. A heavy sadness washed over him, and he gave a deep, respectful bow. Let her rest in heaven, he thought.
"Old man, what about you—?"
Kai turned back toward the stranger.
Empty.
He was gone. It was as if Kai had been speaking to a ghost.
The only proof the man had ever existed was a faint dusting of glowing blue crystal powder, slowly falling through the air and settling onto the floor where he had just been sitting.
Kai stared at the falling crystals.
Teleportation? Illusion?
He forced himself to walk away. He needed to get discharged. He needed to get out of this hospital.
As he navigated the corridors back toward his ward, he spotted a man with a missing leg crawling on the floor.
He was frantically dragging a combat knife across the linoleum, slicing at the empty air.
Shocked, Kai rushed forward to help. "Hello? Sir, why are you holding a knife?"
The man ignored him, his eyes completely wild.
"My experience points... where are you? Where are my experience points?" he muttered, giggling mindlessly.
Kai froze in horror. As he reached out to try and help the man up, the veteran violently swung the knife. The blade missed Kai's throat by a fraction of an inch.
He lost his damn mind in a dungeon raid, Kai realized, stepping back quickly. He walked away, deciding it was too dangerous to interfere with a broken player.
Kai finally made it to his room, changed his clothes, and gathered his things. Just as he was about to leave—
Knock.
Kai spun toward the door. The blank-faced nurse was standing right behind him.
"Aaah!" Kai jumped back, his heart slamming against his ribs. He took a deep, shaky breath.
"Gasp... you just gave me a mini heart attack."
The nurse's expression didn't change. "Are you having any pain near your heart?" she asked mechanically.
"No, I'm fine," Kai sighed.
Remembering the hallway, he pointed toward the door.
"Listen, there is a man on the lower floor. He's holding a knife and crawling on the ground searching for something."
The moment Kai spoke those words, the nurse's pupils shrank to pinpricks. It was as if a dormant protocol had just been triggered.
"Ignore him," the nurse said, her voice dropping an octave. "He is just mentally ill and needs some rest."
She briefly made eye contact with another nurse passing by the doorway and blinked twice in rapid succession—a silent, mechanical signal.
Kai watched the exchange, his paranoia spiking. Are they spies? What is this system?
"Your report is cleared. You may leave. Please be safe," the nurse said, turning on her heel.
Kai muttered a quick thanks and hurried down the hall.
Just as he reached the main hospital exit, a deafening sound echoed behind him.
BOOM.
It was the unmistakable, violently loud crack of a gunshot.
Kai's face hardened into stone. He spun around, ready to summon his ice, expecting to see a monster or an assassin.
To his absolute horror... everything was normal. A man in the waiting room was casually turning the page of his newspaper. Two children were playing with toys in the corner.
But walking down the corridor was the same nurse. She was calmly pushing a wheelchair.
Sitting in the wheelchair was the one-legged man. He was completely silent now. His head slumped forward.
And across the nurse's pristine white uniform was a fresh spray of tiny, bright red dots.
Kai swallowed the bile in his throat. I am daydreaming again, he lied to himself. I have to be. He pushed through the glass doors and escaped into the city.
An hour later, Kai was standing on the crowded platform of the underground metro.
It was the evening rush hour. Thousands of exhausted workers were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, waiting for the train.
Damn my rotten luck, Kai thought internally.
I won't get a single seat to rest my head. A mechanical hum vibrated through the tunnels.
The headlights of the approaching metro flared in the darkness.
Two hands slammed into his back.
Hard.
Intentional.
Kai stumbled forward, his boots slipping on the slick edge of the platform. Time seemed to slow down.
He watched the massive steel face of the metro train barreling toward him, mere inches away from his face.
He gasped for air, his body breaking into a cold sweat.
Deep inside him, the mysterious Shard violently pulsated.
A force anchored his feet, pulling him back from the brink just as the train roared past, the wind tearing at his clothes.
He had survived by a fraction of a millimeter.
The train screeched to a halt. The doors hissed open.
Kai didn't look back to see who pushed him. He rushed inside the train carriage, diving into the first available seat near the door.
He closed his eyes, his heart hammering in his throat. Thank God, he prayed, leaning his head back against the glass. At least I got a seat.
The doors closed, and the metro started to move. Kai felt a wave of comfort wash over his exhausted body. He felt like he could finally sleep.
Wait.
Kai slowly opened his eyes.
Something felt wrong.
The train was packed. Bodies pressed shoulder to shoulder. Hands gripping the metal rails.
Yet no one was sitting.
Not one person.
Every seat in the carriage was empty.
Except his.
A slow chill crept up Kai's spine.
Because if everyone was standing…
Then why had no one taken the seat beside him?.
"What is happening here?" Kai whispered.
[ Zero Kelvin Activated ]
The system prompt flared in his vision as the temperature in the train car plummeted. Kai felt a sudden, heavy presence to his left.
Slowly, carefully, he formed an ice blade in his palm.
Then he turned his head.
Someone was sitting there.
Quietly reading a newspaper.
The man slowly folded the newspaper… even though the train had not stopped yet.
Review professional