"Hey. Still alive? Why'd you go quiet?"
Lin Mo's weak voice pulls him back. Jang Yu comes to slowly. "Yeah, yeah. Still here."
He tries to sit up and immediately winces, coughing twice as his injuries protest. A sudden pulse from within. His shadow devour ability is calling to him, urging him to consume the remains in front of him.
Jang Yu reaches out and lightly taps the specter's corpse. Within moments, the aberrant's massive body dissolves piece by piece into nothing.
Lin Mo opens those sightless eyes wide. "Hey, you okay? You went quiet again."
Jang Yu quickly answers. "I'm here. I'm fine."
He glances at the HP bar above Lin Mo's head and feels his chest tighten. Ten percent. That's barely alive. But with today's medical technology, he tells himself, he should pull through.
Then Lin Mo reaches out and grabs his shoulder. "Help me up. Get me to the wall."
Jang Yu helps him over and eases him against the wall. Even that simple effort leaves Jang Yu panting hard. He's running on empty.
Lin Mo asks between labored breaths. "You're not Night Watch, are you?"
Jang Yu pauses. He doesn't recognize me. We live in the same building. He glances at those empty, sightless eyes. Right. Of course.
He leans back against the wall and catches his breath. "No. I'm not."
Lin Mo lets out a wheezing laugh. "Figured. Anyone who struggles that hard against a single aberrant has no business being Night Watch."
Jang Yu is speechless. This guy, he thinks. Absolutely unbelievable. I just saved his life.
Before he can say anything, Lin Mo breaks into a violent coughing fit, his face cycling between deathly pale and flushed red. Lin Mo manages a weak laugh. "Just kidding. You were actually pretty impressive."
He doesn't get to finish. Another violent cough takes over, his color shifting between chalk white and feverish red.
Jang Yu's heart clenches. You okay? How is he still laughing in this condition? he thinks. Do all Night Watch people have nerves like this?
Lin Mo forces the blood back down and smiles again. "So. Which university? What year are you?"
Jang Yu makes something up on the spot. "Second year at Bei Watchtower Academy." Better to keep his real situation quiet. Less trouble that way.
Lin Mo raises an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his voice. "Oh. You're my junior. What's your major? Combat track or liberal arts?"
Jang Yu wants to scream. Please stop talking. Just rest.
But Lin Mo is already answering his own question. "Combat track. Probably. A liberal arts student couldn't hold their own against a mid-tier rank one."
He lets out a small, quiet laugh. Then he rubs two fingers together. "You got a smoke?"
Jang Yu blinks. He digs through his pocket. "Just chocolate bars. Want one?"
Lin Mo grins. "Biscuits work."
Jang Yu takes one out and snaps it in half. He pops one half into his own mouth and hands the other to Lin Mo.
Lin Mo stares at him, caught between laughing and disbelief. "You stingy little—"
Jang Yu points to the floor nearby. Broken pieces of chocolate bar are scattered everywhere. "I had more. They shattered in the fight. Want me to pick some up?"
Lin Mo is done. "Get out of here. Eat it yourself."
After that, neither of them speaks. Two people who just survived a brutal fight, sitting in the quiet, tasting the small sweetness on their tongues.
After a moment, it's the battered Night Watch member who breaks the silence. "Was that your first time taking down an aberrant solo?"
Jang Yu nods slightly. "More or less."
Lin Mo is quiet for a beat. His eyes drop. "Sometimes I really envy you combat track people. Born with the gift. Not like me. Weak talent, weak will. Even the drug didn't make a difference."
Jang Yu can't help but cut in. "You should stop talking. Save your strength. Help is coming."
Lin Mo turns his head away and sighs softly. "It's fine. I just want someone to talk to. For support staff like us, willpower is like cotton. Doesn't matter how much you pack in, it's still just fluff. When the corruption comes flooding in, what are you supposed to do? You can't hold it back."
He coughs violently. His HP bar flickers.
Jang Yu asks quietly, "Do you regret it? You could have gone pure liberal arts. Why did someone in support staff end up in the shadow realm?"
Suddenly Lin Mo clenches his fist. His knuckles crack. "Of course I regret it. A desk job, chatting with people, slacking off whenever I wanted. Wouldn't that have been the life? I must have been out of my mind to come in here. And now I can't get out."
The outburst costs him. Another violent coughing fit takes over. Jang Yu quickly helps him through it. "Easy. If you keep this up, you won't make it to the rescue team."
Lin Mo gestures toward the children. "The distress signal went out a while ago. They'll be here soon. Besides, with your amateur skills, if another aberrant shows up, you'd be an appetizer. Stay and keep me company."
Jang Yu suffers in silence. Please, he thinks. You're worse than any aberrant.
Lin Mo talks and gestures with surprising energy. Jang Yu pinches the bridge of his nose and slowly shakes his head.
Then, mid-sentence, Lin Mo jabs him with an elbow. "If you ever go back to the academy," he says with a grin, "tell Director Zhou in the combat faculty I'm sorry. Tell him I let him down. Couldn't even beat a mid-tier rank one aberrant."
Jang Yu's head spins. He suddenly has the urge to go fight another aberrant instead.
Lin Mo keeps going. "And tell Vice Director Huang over in corruption studies at the liberal arts faculty. Thank him for everything he taught me, and tell him to please, please tone it down in class. All that passing the torch drama is painful to sit through."
Jang Yu gives up and forces a smile. "Should I be writing this down? Or maybe just say it yourself when you recover."
Lin Mo pauses. Something crosses his face. He shakes his head gently. "Sorry. I've been holding all of this in for a long time. Just needed someone to say it to."
A long, quiet sigh follows. The kind that carries something hard to name. A distant look settles in his eyes. "Bei Watchtower Academy. I'd give anything to go back to those days."
Then he looks up. "Any more biscuits? Give me two. Spicy flavor."
Jang Yu stares at him. "Your taste is something else. Also, spicy biscuits don't exist anywhere on this planet."
Lin Mo laughs softly. "Fair enough. Never mind then."
Just then, sounds from the distance. Lin Mo tilts his head. "Sounds like Night Watch."
Jang Yu exhales. "Good. You're going to be okay."
He picks up his shopping bag. Unsteady on his feet, he starts walking away.
Lin Mo frowns. "You're not coming with me?"
Jang Yu gives a quiet laugh. "I'm good. I'll find my own way out."
Lin Mo manages a smile through the pain. He holds Jang Yu's gaze for a long moment, something unreadable in it. Then, "Go. Safe travels."
Jang Yu meets his eyes, nods. "Take care." And turns away.
A few steps later, a transport formation appears on the ground. Jang Yu turns back instinctively. The Night Watch team has arrived. They're crouched over Lin Mo, checking his condition. Jang Yu watches, telling himself, Lin Mo will be okay.
Then one of them turns to the others and slowly shakes his head.
Jang Yu's breath stops. Lin Mo's HP bar is dropping fast. The black veins across his skin begin to writhe like living things, twisting and crawling.
How? Jang Yu thinks. Modern medicine can handle this. It should be able to handle this.
No one answers. The Night Watch members gather the children. They stand over Lin Mo, solemn and still, and bow. Deep, and respectful.
Lin Mo's HP bar reaches zero. His figure begins to fade.
Jang Yu's hand shoots out. "Wait."
But darkness floods his vision. The next moment, everything shifts. He's standing in the middle of a street, staring at nothing.
A nearby announcement pulls him back. A Night Watch member stands there, voice full of conviction. "As awakened, remember. Never give up, even in your final moment. We honor the fallen and press forward until every last aberrant is gone. Because we are the Night Watch."
Jang Yu watches the floor numbers climb. Dirty and battered, he stands in silence, head down.
Just like that, he's gone. The thought hits harder than he expected. They were just talking, laughing. But the more Jang Yu thinks about it, the more he understands. Lin Mo just wanted someone to talk to at the end. No flowers, no applause. Just a quiet, ordinary farewell.
But no matter how ordinary, I'll remember him.