NOVGO.NET Chapter 49 Stranded Vi
Chapter 49: Chapter 49 Stranded Vi
It was as if an unseen force had taken hold of the door, trying to rip it off its hinges.
The violent pounding echoed through the room, each hit stronger than the last. Luna simply sat where she was, patiently waiting for the door to cave in on its own, but it never did.
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the noise stopped.
The relentless knocking died away until silence swallowed everything once more, disappearing into the distance as though it had never happened in the first place.
No one dared to move.
They exchanged uneasy glances before Luna finally noticed Kai had somehow launched himself toward her during the commotion. Half his body was practically leaning against hers.
Whether he had done it out of fear or simply because he wanted a better view of the door, she couldn’t tell.
Either way, she had already lost her patience.
"I don’t want to turn those hands on my lap into barbecue, so do your thing."
Kai froze.
Almost instantly he sprang away from her, stumbling backward before scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.
"S-Sorry about that. I didn’t even realize I had gotten that close."
His excuse hardly made any sense to Luna, but she couldn’t be bothered arguing with him.
Instead, she fixed her eyes on the door again, almost expecting another round of pounding.
Nothing came.
Whoever—or whatever—had been knocking never returned.
"That was... strange." Adrian frowned deeply. "How could something naturally make that kind of knock?"
No one answered him.
Deep down they all knew it wasn’t normal.
Yet none of them wanted to be the first person to admit that something beyond their understanding had been outside the room.
Looking around, Adrian noticed everyone had unconsciously spread out across different corners.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why.
They were all pretending everything was fine.
If nobody acknowledged what had happened, then perhaps it wasn’t as terrifying as it actually felt.
"A good Samaritan should volunteer and check if that thing is really gone!" Ethan suddenly suggested.
Four pairs of eyes slowly turned toward him.
Even Luna silently joined the stare from the edge of the bed where she sat.
Ethan immediately felt his scalp go numb.
"W-Wait... why are you all looking at me?" he asked, raising both hands defensively. "I said a good Samaritan, not a sacrificial lamb."
Luna let out a small scoff.
"As expected."
She folded her arms.
"If you can’t do it yourself, then keep your suggestions to yourself. Don’t become the reason someone dies."
Her voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
The quiet warning carried enough weight for Ethan to understand exactly what she meant.
He immediately looked away before sinking back onto the couch.
Whether it had been a meteor, some strange creature, or something they couldn’t even explain...
As long as it couldn’t get through the door...
...they were safe.
At least that was what everyone wanted to believe.
Luna laid back against the bed and closed her eyes.
Was she sleeping?
Sort of.
But even then, her awareness remained sharp.
Completely letting go of one’s surroundings during the apocalypse was nothing short of suicide.
Anything could happen.
The moment someone became completely vulnerable was usually the exact moment death arrived.
Sleeping humans were the easiest prey.
Eventually Ethan and Adrian drifted off.
It was finally their turn to rest.
Kai and Rowan remained awake to stand watch.
Kai clearly wasn’t happy about it.
He was exhausted, but Adrian still looked weak despite having rested for a while. Not long after lying down, he had fallen into such a deep sleep that even Kai was surprised.
Luna had simply waved him off.
"Let him sleep. Once he wakes up, he’ll have recovered enough. Then both of you can rest."
Neither Kai nor Rowan argued.
Now the responsibility fell entirely on them.
Kai stood beside the window, carefully watching the darkness outside.
Rowan remained near the door, occasionally pacing around the room just to keep himself from falling asleep.
Silence stretched between them for several minutes.
Finally...
"Have you ever wondered what you’d do if you became the last man on Earth?" Kai suddenly asked. "How do you think you’d react?"
Although they had traveled together before Adrian joined them, the two of them had never really shared a proper conversation.
Right now...
Kai simply wanted someone to talk to.
Anything that could distract his mind from everything happening outside.
Rowan thought about it for a moment before giving a small shrug.
"I honestly don’t know."
He chuckled softly.
"I mean... at first it sounds cool. People always joke about being surrounded by beautiful women."
He shook his head.
"But when you actually think about it..."
His smile disappeared.
"It sounds depressing."
Kai quietly listened.
"I’d be overwhelmed. No matter how amazing people make it sound, I’d still want to see other men around me."
He looked at Kai.
"There are things you can only talk about with fellow guys. Feelings... experiences... some conversations just aren’t the same."
Kai nodded.
"Yeah... I get you."
He rested his forehead against the window frame.
"Our lives aren’t the same anymore."
A tired sigh escaped him.
"I can’t stop thinking..."
His eyes wandered toward the destroyed city outside.
"...what if we’re really some of the last people left alive?"
His voice became quieter.
"Just look at that survivor camp."
His expression darkened.
"It was overflowing with people not long ago."
"Now..."
"They’re almost all gone."
Rowan remained silent.
"And I can’t shake this feeling that it wasn’t ordinary."
Kai clenched his fists.
"How does an entire camp disappear like that?"
"It feels like the government is hiding something."
Those words finally caught Rowan’s full attention.
He slowly sat on the floor.
"So what are you saying?"
He frowned.
"You think they let everyone die on purpose?"
Kai nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah."
His answer came almost instantly.
"What if they evacuated the people they actually wanted?"
"What if they’re somewhere else protecting a chosen few while everyone else gets abandoned?"
His voice carried growing frustration.
"What if this was their plan all along?"
"To wipe out everyone they don’t need..."
"And build a new world with the survivors they selected?"
The thought itself was horrifying.
Rowan remained quiet for several seconds.
"If that’s true..."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"...then they’d probably prioritize influential people."
"The rich."
"The powerful."
"The ones they believe are useful."
Kai slowly nodded.
"Exactly."
After a brief silence, Rowan glanced at him again.
"But..."
He hesitated.
"Weren’t you rich before all this happened?"
Kai blinked.
"I mean..."
Rowan scratched his cheek.
"The way you talk... the way you act..."
"You don’t really seem like someone who’s struggled financially."
"It feels like you’ve never had to work a day in your life."
The moment those words left his mouth...
Kai’s expression completely changed.
The light inside his eyes dimmed.
His lips parted slightly.
"I..."
No words came out.
For several long seconds he simply stared at the floor.
"Yeah..."
His voice finally returned.
"I was."
He laughed bitterly.
"But everything changed the day I awakened."
His fingers slowly tightened into fists.
"It sounds selfish saying this..."
"But obtaining this power completely ruined my life."
His smile carried no happiness.
"I know..."
"If I hadn’t awakened, I’d probably be dead by now."
"But surviving wasn’t worth what came after."
"My own life stopped belonging to me."
His breathing grew heavier.
"People hated me."
"As if I had chosen to awaken."
"They envied me."
"They feared me."
"They blamed me for something I couldn’t control."
His laugh sounded more painful than amused.
"I was abandoned."
"My own family turned their backs on me."
"They framed me."
"They cast me out."
His eyes slowly reddened.
"And the funniest part..."
He let out a dry, hollow chuckle.
"They handed me over to government officials."
"They wanted to perform experiments on me."
"They wanted to turn me into nothing more than a test subject."
He swallowed painfully.
"My parents agreed."
"They didn’t care what happened to me."
"As long as it made them popular."
"As long as they gained recognition."
"Their own son meant nothing."
Silence filled the room.
"Before they could officially take me into custody..."
Kai looked toward the window again.
"...the flood happened."
His voice fell silent.
Rowan understood there was nothing more to say.
After a while, he spoke as well.
"The awakened were never free."
Bitterness filled every word.
"That was the saddest part."
"Those rankings..."
He scoffed.
"F-Class."
"D-Class."
"SS-Class."
"They were just fancy labels."
"They made everyone believe they were privileges."
"But in reality..."
"We were slaves."
Kai quietly listened.
"I know because I was one of them."
"An F-Class awakened."
"The lowest of the low."
"We were bullied constantly."
"The higher-ranked awakened could do almost anything they wanted."
"They abused us."
"They humiliated us."
"And the people in charge pretended not to see it."
"They always favored D-Class and above."
His jaw tightened.
"I was forced into situations no one should ever experience."
"But complaining was useless."
"They’d simply call it training."
"They’d tell us it was an honor."
He laughed bitterly.
"It was all a lie."
"Everything the government called privilege..."
"...was nothing more than another chain around our necks."
His voice gradually faded.
"I wouldn’t go back there."
"Not even if someone forced me."
Kai remained quiet.
The more he thought about it...
The more everything seemed to point toward one conclusion.
The government wasn’t trying to save people.
They were becoming another disaster altogether.
Zombies.
Natural calamities.
Mutated beasts.
Those were the enemies everyone could see.
But how long would that remain the case?
What happened when humanity itself became the greatest threat?
Kai clenched both fists tightly.
"Fuck them, Rowan."
His voice trembled with hatred.
"I hope every single one of them dies."
"Every last one."
"If hell really exists..."
"I hope they’re all rotting there."
The room fell silent again.
Kai slowly turned back toward the broken window.
A long groan escaped him.
Neither he nor Rowan noticed the motion outside.
Far beyond the shattered buildings...
A dark silhouette stood silently atop the ruins.
Completely motionless.
Watching.
Patiently following them from a distance.
The very same shadow that had been trailing them without their knowledge.