I hadn't noticed, or rather, I had slipped it to the back of my mind, but I was hungry and tired once again.

The agility that let me be light on my feet, and the strength that fueled my muscles were gone. But I didn't complain, or speak at all as I followed Anna Croft through the ruined state of Washington DC.

This time Anna Croft had assembled a small group, with one of them being Iris, who appeared smug for an unknown reason.

Suddenly, however, the faces of the other members changed, and Iris pulled at me quickly to leap upwards like a cat into a nearby still-withholding tree.

Despite not needing to, Iris placed her hand over my mouth to prevent me from speaking, whose face was more serious than before.

What happened? I was a little curious, but it wasn't before long before I heard the sounds of combat from up ahead.

Something about them sounded familiar.

Before I could contemplate on that thought, however, Iris had roughly yanked my shirt without so much as a warning, and we were on the move, rushing through the streets.

"---!"

A vague roar belonging to the undead.

"--k!"

Another one resounded after the first, with increasing clarity as we approached.

"--Godd*mn-"

That voice was one I had recognized.

For the first time since departing from Anna's base, I was shaken, and my breath hitched in my throat.

What was he doing here? Had he been swept up in my teleportation because he was in contact with me at that time?

"You annoying magots!"

A halberd swept over the weak lesser grade 8 undead species, splicing them neatly from their skulls in a wide sweep. The undead gave a last twitch, before finally dissipating into a purplish dark mist.

Jung Youngho. He had followed me over to the Washington Dome.

Despite Jung Youngho's expert dispatching skills however, the commotion had drawn more undead that quickly replaced the decreasing count.

There was also something else that was strange. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but his movement looked off.

Is it me or does he seem weaker than before?

A shrill sound of a whistle disrupted the movements of the undead.

In the brief moment of reprieve, I heard the pop of a ring being dismantled, and something was thrown into the crowd of undead.

At first Jung Youngho looked stunned. However, when he recognized the object that was thrown on the ground, he cursed.

"F*ck!"

-BOOM!-

A grand fire had suddenly leapt and spread across the screaming bodies of the lucky undead in the periphery, and the shockwaves rattled the buildings, broken glass clinking to the ground.

I had been pulled by Iris after that shocking operation into a distance far away.

From beside me, I found Anna had nabbed Jung Youngho and was successfully pulling him along as well. That made me re-evaluate Anna's abilities.

After we were a safe distance away, Anna and her team members set up some sort of barrier after riding the site of any stray undead silently.

It was also at the time that Jung Youngho recognized me.

"Hey, do you know where we are?" Also restrained from both arms and legs, Jung Youngho wriggled closer and attempted to whisper to me.

I simply shook my head.

"I remember after running all the way from Seoul Museum, I was suddenly teleported away to zombie land. Then these people showed up and ambushed me. Hmph, cowards."

In reply, I shrugged my soldiers to show I was listening, but was not fully invested in what he was saying.

I was wondering why Jung Youngho also showed up nearby, but not exactly where I was. It was my free pondering without caring too deeply about it.

Jung Youngho rolled onto the ground lazily, studying my reactions.

After a brief moment of silence, he looked at me and said, "You seem different from usual. What's the matter?"

I looked at Jung Youngho and kept a level stare. "Nothing."

Jung Youngho frowned, before being cut off.

"That doesn't seem -"

"Jung Youngho."

Jung Youngho turned to the person who called out his name, and came face-to-face with Anna Croft and her glowing [great demon's eye].

"Oi, woman, how do you know my name?" Jung Youngho's eyes narrowed, undeterred from being stared at by that eye.

Of course, that didn't mean other people around appreciated that aspect.

-Slam-

Iris had sent a fierce kick to Jung Youngho's face, turning him over from the impact.

Stunned for a moment, Jung Youngho spat out the blood from his cracked lip as he processed the moment.

"Don't look at Anna like that." Iris coldly harrumphed, crossing her arms.

Jung Youngho hadn't understood what Iris had said, but he could still read her intentions. Still, finding the situation a little ridiculous, he laughed, looking slightly deranged.

"Haha, little lady." Jung Youngho glared at Iris viciously, "Come a little closer."

"Spare your words. I don't understand what you're saying." It was unknown if it was by god's intention, but Iris had walked closer while saying that.

In that moment that she did -

"What the heck?!" Iris quickly stepped back.

Jung Youngho lunged over, snarling as he gnashed his teeth together as he attempted to bite through Iris's arm.

Iris was scared away, warily eyeing Jung Youngho. "What are you, a dog?"

"Enough." Anna finally stepped in at the moment, eliciting head-turning from both Iris and Jung Youngho.

"But Anna-"

"Who are you to-"

"Enough." The forceful demeanor from Anna successfully drew a close to the debate.

"Well, it seems you know him?" Anna directed this statement guised as a question at me.

Why are you asking me? I was inexplicably dragged into the conversation, but I stayed silent, instead looking straight at Anna Croft without any further action.

As if expecting that, Anna ignored me from that point on.

"Which round are you from?" Anna was asking Jung Youngho the same thing she asked me.

"Round? What are you talking about? Balloons?" Jung Youngho leisurely replied.

[The skill, 'Lie Detection' is being used.]

[The statement is unconfirmed to be true or false.]

Despite being constrained, Jung Youngho still showed no fear, brazenly challenging Anna with his stance. It was amazing, really.

"Do you know a man called Yoo Junghyuk?"

"Who's that?" Jung Youngho grinned.

[The skill, 'Lie Detection' is being used.]

[The statement is unconfirmed to be true or false.]

"Answer in simple yes or no from now on."

-bam!-

Anna's face was impassive as she lowered her foot.

Jung Youngho's face contorted with pain, yet the brazen raise of his mouth didn't disappear.

Watching this exchange, I felt a twinge of anger on Jung Youngho's behalf.

「But didn't you not care?」

I stood up to intercept Anna Croft and Jung Youngho.

"What? Will you answer in that man's stead?" Anna's cold eyes locked onto mine, and I stared back.

"Sure."

It doesn't matter who.

Anna Croft's lips lifted in a cold smile, completely different from her usual polite yet strange smile.

However, Anna Croft didn't ask me anything.

She merely passed by my shoulder and stalked away.

"Set up camp. It is inconvenient to move with two prisoners. We will depart early tomorrow." Anna Croft relayed her orders to the others around her, who complied.

Was she the owner of the absolute throne?

However, Anna Croft also displayed no signs that she had conquered it, so I had to wait and see.

I heard someone spit from beside me.

"Man, what is her problem? Brat, what trouble did you get into this time?"

I myself did not know.

"I am speaking. Aren't you going to respond?"

Jung Youngho was very talkative. Well, I suppose that was because that was the only thing he could do at this time.

However, I didn't want to talk to him. It was already terrible that I had run into an acquaintance, and I wanted to ignore everything. I could feel my anxiety mounting.

"Hey. Are you going to ignore me this whole time?"

I sat down and closed my eyes.

Viewing my body language, Jung Youngho appeared to have finally understood. He seemed like he still wanted to say something, but all I heard was a long sigh, and silence soon followed.

Moments ticked by.

Just as I was about to be defeated by my drowsiness and fall asleep, I could feel someone shaking my shoulder.

"Hey. Wake up and eat something."

I opened my eyes to find Anna Croft quite close to me. Again, she appeared to be observing me.

Swerving my head around to gain stock of my surroundings, I found that Jung Youngho was asleep on a blanket and snoring away without a care in the world. A smear of medicinal ointment and band-aid had been administered to his wounds.

A fire crackled comfortably nearby, and a series of tents had been set up in the periphery underneath the cracked buildings.

I could also observe that a barrier had been put up around the area.

Before I could look into it anymore, a bowl of soup had been shoved into my hands, warming them up.

I looked up from the tendrils of steam at Anna Croft, who appeared a little warmer under the light of the fire.

But was I supposed to be touched?

"Thank you."

Anna Croft gave me a polite smile and rose back up to walk away again and talk to another person.

I took a sip of the hot broth, the heat traveling down my throat. The dormant hunger erupted all at once at the hint of food.

I haven't ate since we left...

Although the soup couldn't be considered amazing since it was just canned soup warmed up, to my famished self, it was delicious.

As I looked at the star-dotted sky, with Jung Youngho's snores, the crackling fire and my full stomach of warm soup, I felt a hint of nostalgia.

How were Na Bori, Lee Jihye, Mrs. Wang, Lee Sookyung, Jie Kushin, Christina, Kim Ulguam, Su Peng and the others doing?

Before I realized, a small smile had rested on my lips.

「It doesn't matter.」

Oh. Right.

That smile once again faded.

I set down the disposable bowl that held the piping hot soup and continued to look up at the cold sky with stars far away from a human's grasp.

But if any human being had even gotten close enough, they would be burned away without a trace left behind.

[The Sorrowful Heart of Silver asks what is wrong.]

Now that I thought about it, I didn't know how they had found me. It appeared to be the same constellation that followed me since the beginning. The one that was never mentioned anywhere, not even in [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

They did remind me of something, however.

「The Fable of Steel was crying.

⸢"I'm sorry, ■■■."⸥

The forged steel expanded with loud noises and swallowed up his words. Tears that should've flowed out remained frozen within his eyes, dyed in the silvery light.」

Where had I read it? Who were they, really?

...Forget it.

Let's just go to sleep.

A/N: I basically gave away their identity