n

n

nKairos continued watching the monsters continue to try and get up, but due to their lack of coordination, they slipped on each other and tumbled back down.

nThe old man had a proud smile on his face as he watched them slip back down. He said something, but it was in Chinese so the others had difficulty in understanding. Nicole let out a small laugh and responded with her own remark.

nThe old man raised an eyebrow then turned to Kairos.

n“Eh… Thanks, thanks very much.”

nHe slurred the “s” sounds and had to pause between each of the words, but was still able to more or less articulate the words so that they had meaning.

nKairos was a little confused, not understanding why he was being thanked.

nNicole leaned over and whispered.

n“I told him that you said that was smart, and he thanked you.”

nKairos turned to the old man.

n“Uh… mai guan shi.”

nHe turned to look at Nicole.

n“Did I say your welcome right?”

nIn response, she smiled softly.

n“Just a bit weirdly pronounced, but yes, you did.”

nThe old man laughed rather heartily and began talking at a rather fast pace. Nicole nodded occasionally and would respond to him as well. As for everyone else, they were more or less standing on the roof awkwardly.

nChase lightly nudged Sydney with his elbow and spoke softly.

n“Hey, do you understand what they are saying?”

nSydney smiled bitterly.

n“Um, no. She learned her Chinese from her father.”

nShe bit her lip and took a deep breath.

nFor a second, Chase wondered why that sounded a bit off-putting to him. Then, it suddenly clicked. The person she was talking about was dead. Not only that, but he died not too long ago.

nChase decided to keep quiet.

nThe rooftop was somewhat dirty, but considering the standards that they were in, it was pretty clean. Someone had taken the time to sweep the place. Along with that, was a table that had various cutlery on top.

nNext to it was a rather large cooler which almost seemed like a treasure chest.

nFor some reason, there was even a weapons rack that held a few glaives. Next to it was one that was resting on the floor.

nThere were also two blankets laid out on the floor. Both of them looked used, but only one of them had large dark brown stains from dried blood.

nTori tilted her head to the side as she looked at the cooler.

n“Hm… what are you doing, little one?”

n“Eeep!”

nA startled cry came from behind the cooler.

nThe old man turned to look towards the cry and seemed a little annoyed. He muttered something before getting behind the cooler and pulling out a boy. He said something before pointing at Kairos and the others.

nNicole let out a soft giggle.

n“He said his name is Tai and is also nagging at his grandson to introduce himself.”

nThe little boy bowed awkwardly, with a forced smile on his face. It was fairly clear that he was afraid and wanted nothing to do with this situation.

n“Um… Hi, my name is Ling.”

nUnlike his grandfather, he was able to pronounce English fairly easily and with the proper accent. He had short black hair in the form of a bowl cut. His irises were hazelnut, except for this one small patch that was light blue instead. Ling had partial heterochromia. The contrast of dark and light colors made it fairly noticeable.

nKairos waved rather leisurely with his eyes slightly out of focus.

n“Hey, my name’s Kairos.”

nThe others also introduced themselves, and everyone got to know each other’s names. Tai would occasionally point to someone and repeat their name in a curious tone, trying to confirm if he understood it properly.

nSometimes it took a few tries, but everyone politely repeated their names for Tai to hear, prompting him to nod with a smile.

nIt was getting rather dark, making it difficult to see clearly, though it was still enough to make out the general figures of the environment and the figures around them.

nThe various growling sounds of monsters and footsteps below them began to die down.

nChase was the first to lay down with one hand over his stomach.

n“I think I’m going to go to sleep a little early. If I take a watch, could it be at the end? I’m hoping my wound will heal by then.”

nKairos lightly rubbed onto the side of his cheek. It definitely hadn’t healed, though it seemed to be making progress. It seemed that opening his mouth to talk had delayed the process by quite a bit.

n“Speaking of, I think I have to take a break from talking to heal this wound in my cheek, so I’m going to go to sleep as well. Do you guys mind taking watch?”

nTori, Sydney, and Nicole didn’t seem against it.

nWith that, he laid down on the ground. Though, he did end up taking out a snack before he went to sleep. Tai decided to strike up a conversation with Nicole and was rather loud at first.

nHowever, he soon quieted down after Nicole mentioned that some people wanted to go to sleep.

nLing sat down on the blanket that wasn’t bloodied, but did not go to bed. He clearly wasn’t comfortable enough to sleep yet.

nTai happened to turn and see him sitting on the blanket, then immediately chastised him for not giving up the blanket to one of the guests. From there, he urged Nicole to use it instead.

nLing seemed to be against it internally, but got up and out of the blankets anyway. As for Nicole, she hurriedly denied Tai, though he kept insisting.

nIt took Nicole to firmly state that she really did not want to sleep in the blankets that someone else had for Tai to back down.

nWhile the two of them were having their own conversation, Tori couldn’t help but talk to Ling.

n“Hey, what rank are you?”

nLing seemed a little surprised that someone decided to strike up a conversation with him. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

n“Um… what do you mean?”

nIn reality, he had understood the question. However, he hesitated which made him take a few extra seconds to answer, and that pause made him feel like he couldn’t say the answer.

nTori blinked a few times.

n“The rank that shows on your system. What else would I be talking about?”

nLing cleared his throat awkwardly.

n“Ah, it’s um, F with a plus at the end.”

nHe brought up the status panel, showing its contents. Though the night was dark, the status panel was still visible to everyone. It ended up attracting quite a bit of attention, prompting the others to look at it.

nThe immediate thing that was noticeable was how low the stat points were.

nThey ranged between 1.1 and 1.5. Although it would be enough to be on par with other professional athletes before the apocalypse, as of now, it was simply far too low.

nUpon seeing the status panel, Tai chastised Ling and told him to close it. Though Ling didn’t really understand why, he did so.

nTai ended up breaking off from Nicole and dragged Ling to a corner. He began whispering to him, while Ling listened half-heartedly.

nSuddenly losing the person she was talking to, Nicole decided to walk over to Kairos’ side and sit next to him. As he began tucking away the wrappings of his finished snack, Nicole spoke up.

n“Those two are really close, haha.”

nKairos blinked a few times. Though he said before that he wouldn’t talk, he couldn’t help but do so.

n“What? They are?”

nNicole tilted her head to the side.

n“Ah, I guess it does look kind of weird, but this is kind of just how caregivers show their love in more asian parts of the world.”

nKairos raised an eyebrow.

n“By… yelling at them alot?”

nNicole shrugged her shoulders.

n“Well, when you say it like that, it does sound kind of weird, but yes.”

nShe let out a soft sigh.

n“Tai is actually quite a nice person. Though he has been brought up in the traditional ways where the child would commonly be beaten if they did something wrong, he can’t bring himself to hit his grandson.”

nKairos rubbed his chin, pondering over it.

nNicole then pointed towards Ling.

n“And as for Ling, he is always listening to what his grandpa says. In fact, if you pay attention, he is actually seeking out answers from his grandpa, using his word as a guide to follow.”

nKairos turned to her with both eyebrows slightly raised in shock.

n“Since when were you actually sharp?”

nNicole couldn’t help but giggle.

n“What do you mean, sharp? This much is obvious.”

nKairos tilted his head to the side.

n“…It isn’t obvious to me.”

nNicole shrugged her shoulders.

n“Maybe it’s because I was raised by a Chinese parent while you weren’t.”

nKairos looked down.

n“I guess…”

nNicole was talking rather energetically earlier, but abruptly fell silent. She suddenly became rather lethargic.

n“Haa…”

nShe hugged her knees and rocked back and forth slightly.

n“I wish… I still had my father.”

nKairos let out a soft sigh.

n“He always had the best of intentions.”

nNicole smiled bitterly.

n“To be honest, I didn’t know why I was so excited to talk with him. But now I realize it’s because I felt like he somewhat resembled my father. The fact that he had a grandson amplified that fact even further.”

nKairos slowly nodded to acknowledge her statement.

nNicole’s breathing became ragged.

n“I… I’ve been trying so hard not to think about it. But it keeps coming back. I-It hurts so much.”

nShe took a few deep breaths, more or less recovering herself. Nicole then whispered so that only Kairos could hear.

n“Sometimes I wonder how my mom is taking it, but I’m too afraid to ask. Not because of her response, but just because I don’t want to think about it.”

nShe ended up leaning a little closer. Not enough to touch, but enough to feel the other’s body heat.

nKairos reached out and laid his hand on her knee. His lips parted ever so slightly.

n“It’s painful to think about, but keeping it inside would only worsen it. You have to face it eventually, so it’s better to face it right now.”

nHe then said one other part in his head.

n‘Though I am being a big hypocrite by saying that.’

nNicole tightly grabbed onto the hand that Kairos had placed on her knee. She bit the bottom of her lip.

n“O-Ok.”

nThough Kairos could not see, there was something in the way that Nicole was faintly trembling that told him she was crying.

nIt was quiet.

nVery quiet.

nBut Nicole was definitely crying.

nTai was still lecturing Ling, when Sydney decided to walk up and wave her hand sheepishly.

n“Um, sorry, but I think it would be better to sleep now.”

nAfter being asked to, Ling translated for Tai.

nUpon understanding what she meant, Tai hurriedly bowed.

n“Sorry, sorry.”

nHe ushered Ling to the blanket and slept in his own blanket.

nBut before everyone could fall asleep, the person who everyone thought was asleep, Chase spoke up.

n“That child must make a decision.”

nTai asked Ling for a translation, but the person in question didn’t understand it himself.

nAfter a few moments, Ling said it word for word.

nTai was confused and got Ling to pass on his question.

n“Um, what do you mean by making a decision?”

nChase did not respond immediately, making a strange silence hang in the air.

n“You are far too weak, Ling.”

nEveryone else was a little surprised.

nTai asked for a translation, but Ling ignored him and responded on his own.

n“I can become stronger! I’ve been practicing with the glaive almost all day now!”

nChase sighed.

n“I don’t mean your stats, or your skills.”

nHe sighed.

n“When I say weak, I mean you are too naive.”

n