Lucian stepped out of the hotel.
Silently.
His movements lacked their usual grace, his shoes barely lifting off the ground as he moved like gravity had become heavier somehow.
"Is that what you wanted to show me, System?"
His voice didn't come out aloud. It echoed only inside his own mind, flat and tired.
[You've got to grow up, Host. I just showed you the reality.]
The coldness in the system's voice stung sharper than it should've. But Lucian didn't argue.
Didn't sigh.
Didn't curse.
He just kept walking.
The hotel door shut behind him with a soft click, but it felt like it slammed shut on something more than a building on a chapter, a memory, a flicker of hope.
The streets outside buzzed with life.
Cars passed. People moved. Conversations blurred together in a low hum.
But Lucian? He was a shadow among them.
A few more slow steps, and then
He just stopped.
