Willow stepped back. The family reunion had gone about as well as she’d expected. Neither sibling spoke of their relationship with their father in detail, but it had come up enough that she could feel the apprehension.

Whereas Hana had hugged her father, Jinyoung simply stood there like a statue. He hadn’t even introduced himself, he just waited until their father recognized him. Then gruffly spat out, “Old man.”

Meanwhile, the survivors were beginning to take notice of the awkward reunion.

“Ahem,” Willow coughed politely. “Maybe we should take this somewhere more private?”

Seunghyo smiled. “That’s not a bad idea.”

The pathfinder led them to another stairwell heading up to the seventh floor. Hana and her father walked up arm in arm while Jinyoung had a grim expression set on his face.

Willow moved to follow when Seunghyo held up a hand. “I don’t want to be indelicate, but this is a family matter and…”

Her face flushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, you’re right.”

Seunghyo flashed her a sad smile and continued up behind the others leaving Willow, for the first time in several days, alone.

The other survivors on the floor were mumbling amongst themselves now. And while it might’ve been her imagination, Willow didn’t like the way they looked at her.

I’d better keep moving, she thought to herself. But where?

The last thing Willow wanted to do was follow the others up immediately after she agreed to give them space. Hana had gotten her this far, the least she could do was give her space to deal with family matters.

Instead, Willow took the stairs leading down to the fifth floor where Seunghyo had mentioned a research station. At the very least, she could scout some intel while the others were busy with personal matters.

The fifth floor was a sea of workstations. It was odd seeing so many computers at a time when they were a premium.

Willow moved to the nearest computer and tapped a key, hoping that maybe there was enough power here to run some of the computer. But each computer sat lifelessly no matter how many keys she pressed.

“You’ll be wanting to head into the basement for that, cher,” a voice called out.

Willow turned to see a man standing two arm’s lengths from her. Close enough that she should’ve heard him approach. The fact that she didn’t made her nervous.

“Sorry, I didn’t-”

“No need to apologize,” he responded, waving an arm out at the sea of computers. “It’s not like any of this is mine,”

Willow struggled not to show fear. The man was dressed warmly, but a pair of wicked daggers were sheathed in holsters at his hip. Judging by his dress and choice in weapons, he was rogue.

“What, may I ask, are you doing here?” he asked politely.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I-I’m just waiting for my party. They’re upstairs and-”

The man’s laughter stopped Willow cold. Not that it sounded strange, but the laughter itself was strange.

Willow had met several rogue class players in the past. And she was always unnerved by their eyes. Many who chose the rogue classes focused on perception skills that enhanced their vision by allowing them to spot targets at a distance or see in the dark.

“No, no. That’s now what I mean, cher. I mean, what are you doing here?”

The hairs on the back of Willow’s neck stood up on their ends. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a situation she wanted to be in.

Slowly, she began to back away before the man clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“I meant no offense, but it’s not every day someone like me meets a princess.”

Willow felt the blood freeze in her veins.

The man continued. “It is you, isn’t it miss Cha Hae-in?”

Before she could react, the man stretched out an arm and Willow saw immediately that she was in danger. The shadows around her likewise stretched out and wrapped in her darkness. The solid floor beneath her dissolved and she felt herself fall backwards, deeper and deeper until she was surrounded by the inky black.

Sunbae!

***

Jinyoung leaned against the wall, keeping a distance between himself and his adoptive father. Hana had tried explaining how they came to find him, but the old man was having trouble understanding. Meanwhile, Seunghyo kept watch at the stairwell so they could have some privacy.

Youngho pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Wait, start over again.”

He’s not getting it, Hana.

Hana drew in a breath and started over again. “You were up here about three months ago when you received an SOS, right? After the Player Society tasked you with investigating, they sent another team to patrol the borderlands. When they got your SOS-”

“My SOS?” Young interrupted.

“Yes,” Hana nodded. “When they got your SOS, they requested backup which is when Seunghyo’s team arrived. After they went missing, Seah tasked us with coming in.”

“And you believed that?” her father shouted.

The siblings traded looks.

“No,” Jinyoung replied. “A lot of this hasn’t added up since we arrived, but we’re piecing it together as we go along.”

Youngho shook his head and glared at Jinyoung. “You came here chasing your tails without a clue as to what’s really going on.”

Jinyoung took a breath. It was as if he’d never left.

The last conversation he remembered having with Youngho was a shouting match about Jinyoung’s plans for after the Academy. Youngho had expected him to stay behind and help train Hana, but Jinyoung yearned to make his mark in the world.

Things had been so different with Hana, he just assumed it would be the same with the old man.

He had been wrong.

“Look, old man, we came here to help you and the survivors get out. But maybe we should’ve once we found Seunghyo.”

“Yeah, you should have,” Youngho shot back. “At least then, you wouldn’t have dragged your sister into this dangerous situation!”

“She’s the one who wanted to come here!” he shouted back. “I would’ve left you here, old man! And if you didn’t want anyone coming, why’d you send out that SOS?!”

Youngho grit his teeth and sucked in a deep breath. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say, boy. I never sent out an SOS.”

In the moment that followed, silence reigned. Jinyoung quickly tried to remember what turn of events had led them to believe Youngho had sent out an SOS. It made little sense that Youngho would send out an SOS to begin with. It was more likely the crotchety old bastard would die fighting his way out of danger.

The only reason they had believed it to begin with was-

Shit.

Slowly, Jinyoung and Hana turned back to face Seunghyo. Hoping that he would have an explanation or some logical reason.

Instead, they were greeted by the sight of the pathfinder holding his bow with an arrow notched and aimed directly at them.

“I’m sorry, Hana.”