When Korven first saw Sinxu following her, her pessimistic mind forced her to vet Sinxu for anything that could be considered a threat to her life. Although he had tried to cover it up by tucking it under an oversized hoodie, Sixu was unable to prevent Korven from noticing the pistol. Hence, during the conversation, Korven had been inching closer and closer to Sinxu, slowly as not to alarm him to her discovery.
With Sixu's gun to her chest, Korven has to stay calm, no matter how fast she moves, Sinxu could react fast enough to put a bullet in her chest.
"You don't seem threatened. I'm sure you know what will happen if you don't give me a straight answer," Sinxu says.
"I'll give you a couple of minutes to decide."
Korven doesn't respond.
"Look, I'll ask one more time, will you stop looking into the Aldrick and the Angels or is your mission more important than your life?" Sinxu asks again
Korven had often pondered how important her life really was to her; she had come to terms with the fact that her life was inherently full of suffering; hence, what value was there even in living? Every time she had questioned her will to live, she had arived at the same conclusion, she would dedicate her life to making her city a better place to live, "There's no point in living through suffering, just like how there's no reason to end one's life, so I must make the world a better place, or else I've just lived a life of suffering." Korven had once said after being attacked over an investigation. This new perspective on life is the source of the mantra Korven has been repeating in her head since Sinxu drew his pistol.
"I am Korven, I see through the secrets of Kilder, and it is up to me to cut through them."
Korven quickly glances at the watch on Sinxu's wrist,
11:59
"The watch was at 11:58 44 seconds ago when Sinxu gave me that dilemma." Korven thinks
"He probably started counting then, meaning I have less than a minute to find a way out."
In a well-disguised panic, Korven attempts to survey the surrounding streets without moving her body, which would, in turn, provoke a reaction from Sinxu.
The sidewalk she is on is almost completely dark, even in the middle of the day, as the pewter clouds of Kilder cast a shadow over all the streets. Sinxu holds the pistol at an angle where, even if there were any passersby, the view of the weapon would be covered by Sinxu's arm. Looking around, Korven only sees a few barely in use apartments, a still functioning church, and a small closed corner store with shattered windows.
Korven looks down at the watch again just to make sure of something she had already known.
"Perfect!" she thinks as a smile starts to form on her face.
The smile grows wider and wider until she bursts out laughing, leaving a confused look on Sinxu's face.
Instead of getting her attention back through discourse, Sinxu strikes Korven across the face with his pistol.
"I have no time for your stupidity!"
"What are you laughing at?!" He yells.
Korven struggles to take Sinxu seriously. She tries to stop a smile from forming on her face, but can't; instead, she answers,
"You don't want to kill me," Korven answers.
"I don't pull a gun out every time I want to talk to some girl," Sinxu says
Korven rolls her eyes at the joke, then continues her thought.
"If you really had murderous intentions, you would hold the gun to my head, not my chest. I've survived gunshots of this proportion, and you know it." Korven says, while this is mostly true, Korven is quite sure a shot from this distance would hit her heart, killing her. She had said this because she knows that even though he is likely trained with a firearm, the chances of Sinxu ever having to kill anyone are near zero.
"Try me," Sinxu says, trying to maintain his intimidating look, as he picks the gun off of Korven's chest, starting to move the end of the gun to her forehead.
"RING! RING!"
The clock strikes 12; this is the moment Korven had been stalling for. The bells of the old church Ring so loudly that Sinxu's focus drops for a second; he fumbles with his pistol in shock.
That second is enough for Korven, who, with no delay, delivers a swift kick to the hand holding the gun. Sinxu raises his fist, getting ready to punch Korven. With an almost inhuman reflex, Korven dodges, putting herself in an excellent position to strike back, and puts all her power into a strike to the chin. Sinxu stumbles back, placing his hand on his chin and taking deep breaths in response.
"He's strong and works for the police. I would be stupid if I were to keep fighting," Korven says to herself.
"Wow, you're so big and strong, aren't you?" Korven says sarcastically before giggling at her joke.
Sinxu lunges at her, but Korven had already moved out of the way, successfully dodging the attack.
"Don't be stupid, I'm trying to help you out here, I mean you no harm," Sinxu says.
He runs at Korven, lands a punch, and sends Korven to the ground. Korven slowly backs away before standing up, giving Sinxu another opportunity to strike.
Luckily, Korven was ready for the attack and had already prepared a counter. She jumps forward,d then back,ck putting Sinxu off balance before hitting him with a calf kick.
Sinxu struggles to stay up before hitting the concrete hard. Korven runs over to the pistol, places it in her waistband, and runs away from the fallen Sinxu.
"I've been meaning to get one of these," Korven says, while holding on to the pistol, ensuring it doesn't slide out on her run home.
"Gurun is always a dangerous place, but that's because not many people have ways to protect themselves."
Instead of taking the subway home, Korven continues her walk, avoiding places where police might be.
The city feels alive, like a beating heart, unlike the street where she fought Sinxu. The rest of the city is lively, and, while far from "nice," at least has people moving day to day, a concept that Korven had always found unattractive but now helps calm her down. Korven doesn't live a day-to-day. No two days are similar; no matter what happens, tomorrow will be different from today.
"Finally"
She says, after arriving back at her apartment. She throws the gun next to what she has nicknamed the "Void Knife" in a hidden shoebox, which she places back onto her bed. For tomorrow, she will need all the weapons she can get her hands on.