'Not a single day of rest since I got here… at least, not one I've actually been aware of.'
Nihil's thought was a bleak echo, reverberating with every step as he descended the residence's metal staircase.The iron groaned beneath his feet, a complaint that felt perfectly suited to his mood.
'In the end, Laplace is going to be right. I'll end up prostituting myself in some alley, a skeleton offering… what, exactly?'
A shiver ran through him.
No. There was a slightly less depressing option.
'Wait… I remember that run-down grocery store was hiring.'
'Anything would do.'
It was a false premise, but he clung to it with the desperation of someone gripping a red-hot nail. He didn't care if that pitiful wage would never pay off his debt to the bank.
It was pure existential physics: any job, no matter how miserable, would apply some amount of friction—however small—against the inertia dragging him toward the abyss that was his debt.He just wanted to stretch out the fall.
Make it more tedious, maybe.
But longer.
Well… guess I'll go try my luck.
He muttered to himself, the sound lost between the creaking of his own bones and the metal.
He was so submerged in the swamp of his thoughts that he didn't notice the figure climbing up until he collided with her head-on.
- Ouch! I— I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention.
- Don't worry. I was the distracted one.
It was Vesna, the demon landlady. But the woman standing in front of him was a somewhat dimmed version of the storm of enthusiasm that had welcomed him before.What stood out most was the calm—almost fatigue—emanating from her.
- Are you… okay? —Nihil asked, unable to hide his surprise.
- Yeah, yeah. I'm just a bit… tired. Remodeling the fourth floor is heavier work than I thought.
Her voice, for the first time, sounded human. Vulnerable.
- Sounds like pretty demanding work.
- You have no idea!
Vesna nodded, and for a second she looked like she might collapse. But then, as if an internal switch flipped, her back straightened and her face lit up with a spark of familiar energy.
- BUT THAT JUST MAKES IT MORE REWARDING WHEN IT'S FINISHED!
Nihil blinked.Spoke too soon, he thought.
Still, if he was being honest with himself, that burst of forced energy suited her better than her dulled demeanor. It felt more… like her.
- By the way, how's your stay been so far?
The honest answer was:'I haven't had a single conscious minute of rest. A bank employee fell apart on my couch, a ghost used me as an emotional buffet, and technically I'm on death row waiting my turn.'
- Haha… it could be better.
- Could I ask why? —Vesna insisted, her curiosity seeming genuine rather than scripted.
Nihil hesitated. But fatigue was an acid that dissolved filters. And besides—what else did he have left to lose? Dignity, maybe. But that had been pawned along with his soul.
- I guess… it's all the bank stuff, moving to a new city, and, well… I just got assaulted in my own room.
- … What?
Vesna froze. The spark in her eyes went out.
- Yeah, well… how do I put it. I was sleeping—or in a coma, who knows—until I woke up to a ghost girl. I think she lives next door. And, well… yeah. She was kind of "eating" me.
The silence that followed was thick and uncomfortable. Nihil watched Vesna's expression shift.The forced energy drained away, revealing a seriousness he hadn't thought possible in her.It was as if someone had switched off her emotions entirely.
- Is something wrong? —Nihil asked, suddenly feeling guilty for having ruined… what? His landlady's day?
- … I'm really sorry that happened to you. But… there's nothing I can do about it.
- No, no, you don't have to apologize for what your tenants do. Having a roof over my head is more than enough.
He tried for a light tone. Failed.
Vesna's gaze was fixed on some distant point, heavy with deep frustration.
- But… it's my responsibility to take care of my tenants.
She murmured it more to herself than to him.
A sharp pang of remorse pierced Nihil.
I shouldn't have mentioned it.
Vesna… seriously, I'm not upset. She didn't seem… like a bad person. Even if she was trying to eat me.
It wasn't entirely a lie. Morwen stirred a morbid curiosity in him that, under different circumstances, he might have even found interesting.Breaking into a stranger's bed to dine on their despair, though, was—at the very least—disturbing.
- I really would like to kick her out. But… she's sort of a distant relative of my mother. A… "family favor." The kind you can't refuse.
- I already told you not to worry about it.
Nihil repeated, hoping the conversation would end. He had forgotten how exhausting it could be to interact with people who showed genuine, complicated emotions.
At last, the message seemed to sink in, and some of the weight lifted from Vesna's shoulders.
- Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to… take care of a few things.
Vesna seemed distracted again, her eyes glassy.
That was his chance.
- OH, I'M SO SORRY, NIHIL! I TOOK UP TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME!
She exclaimed, as if snapping back to reality, the mask of enthusiasm climbing back onto her face.
Too late.
Before she could add anything else, Nihil had already turned around and was walking briskly toward the main avenue.
- See you later!
He shouted over his shoulder, making a vague gesture with his skeletal hand.
'I seriously have no idea how to deal with people like that,' he thought, flooded with relief as he put distance between them.His day had barely started, and he was already socially exhausted.
Maybe he should've stayed asleep for another three days.Or maybe just disintegrated right there and spared everyone the paperwork…
BOOM.
The thought evaporated, pulverized by an explosion that erupted less than twenty meters ahead.
The shockwave lifted him off the ground like a sack of bones and slammed him flat against the pavement.The world collapsed into a deafening ring, the metallic taste of dust, and sudden heat scorching the air.
Through the smoke and blurred vision, Nihil made out a humanoid figure standing at the center of the crater.It wore what looked like an elegant suit—made of solidified magma.Where its face should have been was a hole, from which fire poured.
With complete calm, the figure brushed a speck of rubble off its shoulder and straightened a tie of molten stone.
There were only screams, fire, and chaos.
His already-stunned mind could only process fragments. With superhuman effort, he tried to crawl somewhere safe. Anywhere was better than the epicenter of… that.
Then, a sharp, clean sound cut through the noise.
BANG.
A sniper rifle shot.
Nihil turned his head and, through the smoke, glimpsed a second silhouette.A long trench coat billowing in the air.The figure was perched on a ledge, holding a sniper rifle.
Its head was not a head—it was dense black fog, from which two yellow beams of light served as eyes.
It looked just as dangerous—if not more—than the first.
With the last of his strength, Nihil dragged himself into a nearby alley and curled up behind a dumpster.
Why do I always end up caught in this shit?
Back in his hometown, violent incidents were everyday life. The law of the strongest was the only constitution.But he wasn't in his hometown anymore.
He was in the City, where chaos was supposed to be orderly—an infernal but predictable bureaucracy.
This… this was pure chaos.
Anarchic.
Stupid.
And he was trapped.
The alley had no exit. If he left, he'd be caught in the crossfire between the Magma Man and the Fog Sniper.
'Looks like the bank's going to miss its chance to repossess me,' he thought, a hoarse, bitter laugh clawing its way out of his throat.
Hahaha.
From his miserable hiding place, Nihil muttered to himself, resigned to the ultimate absurdity:
- This day… really does nothing but keep getting better.