Somewhere else, inside a monitoring room cloaked in darkness, several shadows gathered around an oblong table. Each had screens glowing before them, the same image reflected in their hidden eyes—Adam.

The feed showed Adam cornered, and Sylvie with her crimson crystalline rapier drawn, and right in front was Dr. Hal's face.

"What are they arguing about?" one shadow asked, leaning forward.

"The Duelist of Rose is there," another replied, her voice a little worried.

"Who the hell is the Duelist of Rose?"

"S-tier Hero from France. One of the strongest people alive." The speaker's fingers drummed against the table. "You're a Hero, you don't know her?"

A third shadow, with his feet on the table, groaned. "And pray tell, why did we all need to be here for this?"

Only the silence that stretched across the room answered the man. It wasn't until the shadow seated at the very end of the table finally spoke that every pair of eyes there left their screens to focus on him.

"This is Patient Zero." His voice carried weight that seemed to press down on everyone present. "A remnant from Project Miracle."

Several shadows straightened themselves, their eyes widening as they looked back at the screen.

"Project Miracle? Wasn't that scrapped the moment the Game started?" one whispered. "That was two decades ago."

The figure at the head sighed, the lament in his whisper obvious for everyone to hear.

"Patient Zero was special." He paused to look at everyone there, even though it was dark. "He laid out our very foundation."

"I still don't understand why we all needed to witness this," the impatient shadow pressed, finally removing his feet from the table.

"Because." The shadow head raised his voice. "We are here so all of you can witness and pay respect to the very foundation that made us what we are today. Every cure we have now, every breakthrough in the medical field—Patient Zero laid the groundwork for it all."

The room fell into reverent silence, broken only by the soft static from the video feeds.

"But now..." his voice dropped, "we must make sure that he can't go out into the world."

He leaned forward, his face almost visible in the dim light.

"It's regretful, but all the things we've done must not be seen, or this country will collapse. The people cannot know what we built our empire on."

"W-what?" A cocky laugh broke the somber atmosphere, and the impatient shadow leaned back in his chair.

"The people might not even care at all. There are Heroes now—real ones who can level mountains and split oceans. This Patient Zero isn't special anymore." He gestured dismissively at the screen. "Heck… everyone seated at this table is a Hero. Times have changed. And also…

…why isn't anyone turning on the lights?"

***

"I… am in a desperate rush to do that."

"Huh…?"

Back at the Japanese restaurant, Dr. Hal stared at Dr. Aniston in disbelief.

"But why?" His voice cracked with frustration. "What's your real reason for being this desperate? I respect you, Dr. Aniston, I truly do. But this feels more like a vendetta than science."

"What?" Dr. Aniston's exhausted eyes met his.

"A vendetta?"

"You want to erase your mistake, but Adam's not a mistake." Dr. Hal doubled down, his voice growing stronger. "Look at him! Does he look like the image of evil that you've been telling me? He's not!"

"Dr. Hal…" Dr. Aniston only glanced at him. "You're not getting paid enough to understand the whole picture, nor are you being paid to understand it."

"Then explain it to me!" Dr. Hal gestured toward the hallway where Adam and Sylvie stood. "Because right now, all I see is a young man who wants to be left alone… and one of the strongest people in the world at his side!"

Dr. Aniston shook her head slowly.

"The Duelist of Rose isn't going to do anything here."

"We'll be in trouble," Dr. Hal insisted. "The Duelist of Rose is loved by people. If we're seen antagonizing her—"

"It doesn't matter."

Their back-and-forth continued, their voices overlapping on one another. But finally, Dr. Aniston gestured irritably toward Dr. Hal.

"Dr. Aniston!"

"Fine. Go ahead," she scoffed.

Dr. Hal quickly turned and approached Adam and Sylvie, forcing a smile onto his face despite the circumstances.

"You can go," he said simply, his voice carrying genuine relief.

He glanced at Bjorn, nodding toward the exit. "Make way for them."

Bjorn stepped aside without hesitation, his massive frame creating a clear path.

Sylvie stared at Dr. Hal suspiciously, then glared at Dr. Aniston for several long seconds before dissolving her blood weapon. The crystalline rapier crumbled into rose petals that scattered across the restaurant floor.

"Sir Adam." She looked at Adam, her voice soft but urgent. "Stick close to me."

Adam only nodded and moved to walk beside her. They passed by Bjorn, and Adam's eyes met the Silent Brawler's for just a moment. Adam sighed—this wasn't the right time for whatever confrontation was brewing between them.

Soon, he thought. But not now. It would—

"Bjorn."

But before they could get far, Dr. Aniston's voice cut through the hallway and whispered to everyone's ears.

Adam looked back, only to see the massive Hero charging toward them, fists already beginning to glow and crackle.

"No!" Dr. Hal screamed.

Before anyone could react, Bjorn's head was already on the floor. No one even saw it, not even Adam, who was closest to them.

He was already aware of how fast Heroes can be, and he'd already fought with Sylvie before… but this truly was something else.

Her hand was on the back of Bjorn's head, driving him down with her thin arm. And soon, the floor began to crack under the pressure.

Dr. Hal winced at this, sucking in a sharp breath through his clenched teeth. He glared at Dr. Aniston, his eyes incredibly wide.

"I respect you a lot. I truly do, Dr. Aniston," he repeated. "...But are you stupid?"

Dr. Aniston didn't respond. Her expression remained unchanged even as the situation spiraled completely out of control. She did, however, step back when the floor continued to fracture and crawl toward her.

And then, with a sound like thunder, the floor collapsed entirely.

A deafening rumble filled the hallway as Sylvie and Bjorn plummeted through the floor, taking several unfortunate men in suits with them who happened to be close by. And Adam, unfortunately, happened to be close as well.

"Kh!" Adam gritted his teeth, balancing himself on falling chunks of concrete before rolling as they crashed onto the lower floor. He could hear people coughing everywhere, and he had to cover his nose so as not to inhale all the dust that settled around him.

He waved his hand futilely in front of his face, trying to clear the thick haze that obscured everything. But of course, it didn't really help.

He had to stay crouched on the floor for a few seconds, waiting for the dust to settle. And when it did, Adam could see Sylvie still restraining Bjorn, locking both his arms like he was just some large child.

Sylvie glanced at Adam through the settling debris.

"Run!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the damaged walls.

And as soon as she said that, Adam felt a gasp escape him. The memory of the doctor in his visions resurfaced, and the moment she helped Adam escape the Hospital.

But this time, however… Adam could finally see a part of her face. Her eyes… it was the same color as Sylvie's. Hazel, almost golden.

He shook his head, clearing both the dust and the memory. It wasn't the time for that. He quickly looked around for an exit. He spotted a corner and rushed toward it.

"Huh…?" But as he moved, he heard a crying, pained groan whisper in his ear. He looked back to see a man pinned beneath fallen rubble, along with two men in suits trapped nearby.

"What are you doing?!" Sylvie saw Adam returning and couldn't help but hold her breath.

These people were after him, and he was still helping them?

She watched as Adam lifted the heavy debris, his muscles straining as he pulled the civilian free… then extracted the two men in suits as well.

Why is he even—Oh…

But then, she also watched as Adam promptly knocked out both suited men after ensuring they were okay.

"There he is!" To Adam's surprise, however, more men in suits appeared from the corner where he had planned to exit.

Adam quickly scanned the area again, but the only escape route he could see now was a large window.

Well… that works.

Without hesitation, Adam sprinted toward the window and rammed through it, glass exploding outward as he leaped into open air.

"Wait, Sir Adam! This is the 26th floor!" Sylvie finally let go of Bjorn, only to grab him by the ankle and swing him like a club toward the wall. She didn't even glance at him before following Adam through the shattered window.

She pushed past the newly arrived men in suits and leaped after Adam.

"Sir… Adam!" she screamed for him, but the only thing she could do now was watch Adam fall below her… and watch as he crashed onto the roof of a parked car.

Even from above and with the wind slamming on her face, she could hear Adam's bones crack and snap, causing her to wince.

"Sir Adam!" she called for him again, landing beside the car and cracking the pavement beneath her feet.

There, she watched in fascination and horror as Adam's bones corrected themselves right before her eyes—ribs snapping back into place, his arm straightening with a pop.

"This is…" But she couldn't concentrate at all. Her mind suddenly felt heavy, overwhelmed by the intoxicating scent of Adam's blood that wafted through her nose.

Her eyes went blank to the point that she didn't realize that the people around the street had recognized her and were slowly crowding around them.

"Isn't that… the Duelist of Rose? She was here?!"

"Did… someone just fall down from the building?!"

"What's happening? Is she fighting with someone?!"

The people started screaming, but Sylvie couldn't hear them at all. Something… took control over her.

And there, right in front of everyone, Sylvie leaned closer and licked the blood from Adam's healing cheek.

"Y... Yow?!"

And of course, everyone raised their phones to capture that.

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