The past few days blurred together as exhaustion crept into my bones. I'd been driving nearly nonstop, stopping only when absolutely necessary—two hours of sleep every five hours, just enough to keep me functional. Leon's cries punctuated the stretches of silence, and I'd pull over, feed him, change him, and then hit the road again. Coffee became my lifeline. I hated it, but the bitter liquid kept me awake, my nerves taut and ready.
Every rest stop was a brief moment of reprieve, but I couldn't afford to stay long. Always watching, always moving. The hunters hadn't caught up yet, but I knew they weren't far behind. Trackers could pick up even the faintest hint of aura, and while I'd managed to mask ours well enough, it was only a matter of time before they'd catch on to the pattern.
Each time I stopped to rest, I'd take in the surroundings, checking for anything out of place. A car parked too long, a stranger glancing too many times. Paranoia had become second nature.
Leon was a trooper, though. He barely fussed, despite the constant movement. He was starting to get used to this life on the run. That was good… and heartbreaking. No child should have to live like this, always on the edge of danger.
I sipped another cup of coffee, the caffeine barely making a dent in the overwhelming fatigue now. We were close to the meet-up with Leora. But I couldn't relax—not yet.
Another stop loomed ahead, some small town that looked like it barely had a pulse. I pulled into a shabby motel parking lot, keeping Leon close as I checked us in under a fake name.
I collapsed onto the bed, letting out a long sigh. I needed to be at full strength for tomorrow's meeting with Leora. Something told me it wouldn't go as smoothly as I hoped. Too many moving pieces, too many unknowns. But at least I had a plan—or, more accurately, a precaution.
I'd developed a new special ability very recently, Soul Link: Search, specifically for situations like this.
It wasn't a direct offensive ability but a defensive one—subtle, quiet, and nearly undetectable. It functioned on conditions, as all my abilities did, like contracts I made with myself and the world around me.
How exactly did it work?
Soul Link was tethered to non-aura users, the mundanes that populated any given area. They didn't need to know they were involved; they just went about their business while I linked to them. No aura was borrowed or equalized, so they felt nothing. But if any of them happened to see the 'target' I was searching for—whether that was a specific person, item, or even hunters in general—it would send a signal straight to me.
The beauty of it was that while the mundanes couldn't see aura, my Soul Link: Search could, through their eyes. It was almost impossible for other hunters to detect this. There were no obvious traces, no aura fluctuations, nothing to give it away. A perfect, passive radar. I'd set it up within a fifty-meter range, casting out the net, and now I could rest a little easier knowing if anyone dangerous approached, I'd know.
Leon had fallen asleep in the stroller I'd brought from the car. I glanced over at him, his soft breaths barely audible in the quiet of the room. He'd been a champ through all of this, but I knew I couldn't keep this up forever. I needed to find a way to secure his future and a way to stop running.
But that was a problem for another day. Right now, I needed sleep. Tomorrow was crucial.
I closed my eyes, sinking into the mattress, and let exhaustion take over.
March 17. The day had finally come.
I drove toward Rumas City, a place that held so many memories for me, and parked near Downing Street. I texted Leora, confirming the time. We'd agreed to meet at the café where it all began—Aluna Café, across from Kayman's Tailoring.
As I stepped inside, the familiarity of the place hit me like a wave. It was the same old café, with its cozy warmth and soft hum of conversation. I hadn't been here in years, but the memories were vivid. I used to come here with my second-hand laptop, hammering out web novels, writing freelance articles, and doing whatever online gigs I could manage. This place had been my refuge, my creative haven back when I was trying to make a life for myself in this strange world.
But that was a lifetime ago. A past life, really. I'd left all that behind the moment I met her.
My eyes scanned the room until they landed on her. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and that smile—sweet, warm, and still capable of stopping my heart. Leora. She sat in the same spot where I used to work, just like the old days.
For a moment, I stood there, taking it all in. The memories of our first meeting, the awkwardness, the nervousness, and the spark of something that had grown into so much more. This café had seen the start of it all.
But now, things were different. We weren't the same people we'd been back then. Too much had changed. Too many secrets, too many things left unsaid. And this meeting? It wasn't just a reunion. It was a crossroads.
I walked over to her table, heart pounding slightly more than I'd like to admit. As I sat down across from her, our eyes met. Her expression was calm, but I knew her well enough to see the tension beneath it.
"Hey," I said softly, not really sure where to begin. After everything, "hey" seemed like the only word that fit.
"Hey," she replied, her voice equally soft, but her gaze searching.
And just like that, we were back in the place where it all started. But this time, there was no going back. Only forward.
I shook Leon gently in my arms as I sat down, his small body shifting comfortably against me. "Hey, look, Leonard," I said in a teasing tone, "it's your mom, who's left us for two years straight and still counting. I think she doesn't love you anymore."
Leora's eyes widened with a hurt look. "Hey~" she protested softly. "That's unfair."
I knew it was, but the weight of everything that had happened—everything I had caused—sat heavily on my chest. There was so much I wanted to say, so much to complain about, to admonish her for, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Deep down, I knew this was my fault. After all, it was me who wrote the novel that this world had been based on.
What even came first? My novel? Or this world?
The fear gnawed at me constantly. I was afraid for myself, afraid I might die at any moment because I'd written it that way. I feared for Leora, who might suffer through lonely twilight years if anything happened to me. And I feared most for Leon, our son, whose future was riddled with the thorns I had woven into this story.
"My bad," I muttered, trying to ease the tension. "Do you want to hold him?"
"Yes. Yes, I do," she said, her voice softening as she reached out.
I handed Leon over to her, watching as her face instantly softened. Her hands trembled slightly as she took him, cradling him like a fragile treasure. It was clear she'd missed him—missed us. But two years was a long time. Too much time.
Leon blinked up at her, his little hands reaching out and grabbing at her blonde hair, tugging on it with curiosity. His blue eyes, just like hers, stared at her, probably wondering who she was. He didn't cry, though. He rarely cried these days. I guess living a life on the run made even a toddler learn to stay quiet.
Leora smiled softly, brushing a thumb across Leon's cheek. For a brief moment, the tension lifted, and I saw the mother she always wanted to be. The one she'd been before everything went to hell.
"You've grown so much…" she whispered, her voice catching. "He's so beautiful."
"Yeah," I said quietly, watching them. "He gets that from you."
Leora looked up at me, her expression filled with emotions I couldn't quite read. Guilt, love, maybe even relief. But I could see the questions in her eyes too. The unspoken ones—Where have you been? How are you? What have you been up to??
I looked away, unable to hold her gaze for long. Because no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't give her a simple answer. There wasn't one.
"I…" The words caught in my throat, refusing to come out.
It was complicated. Too complicated.
I'd thought about it long and hard, trying to figure out how to explain the truth to her. How could I possibly break it to her? 'Hey, I'm God. I created this world. Worship me. You're all just characters in my story…' Yeah, no. That was absurd. The existential crisis that came with the realization was enough to break anyone. If I actually told her, worst case scenario, she'd think I'd lost it and have me sent to the nearest asylum. Best case? She'd hug me, tell me everything was going to be okay… all while quietly thinking I'd gone insane without her and needed serious help.
I couldn't risk it. I was too afraid of what would happen if I denied this world's reality, too afraid of what it would do to her. To me. So, instead, I said something else.
"I'm going to do something you're really going to hate," I murmured, but I knew she heard it.
Before she could respond, I reached out and gently caressed her face, then leaned in and kissed her on the lips. It was long, sweet, and dreamy… just like the day I first met her.
For my special ability, Soul Link, to work, I needed to touch the target, and the target had to perceive me. As I held Leora close, I let out a half-hearted laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm going to buy milk," I said with a grin, "and I'll probably be gone for a long time, but I'll try to come back as fast as I can." A joke, but one that stung with truth. If only I could guarantee my return.
There were only eight years left before the main storyline kicked off, and I had no idea when my death would come, just that it would happen in those eight years. If death was inevitable, I wanted it on my own terms, not dictated by the events I had written into this world.
Leora's voice cut through my thoughts. "What are you talking about, Reynard?" Her tone was serious, demanding answers I couldn't fully give.
I sighed, dropping the humor. "I hated the old arrangement. So here's what we're going to do. I'll handle the hunting, and you—" I gestured to Leon, still in her arms—"you do the baby thing. You're better connected, you have a stronger network than the one I threw together over the past two years. Leon will have a better life with you. You'll give him everything I can't."
I stood up.
I saw the anger flash in her eyes, the hurt turning into something sharper. "Sit. Where are you going?" Her voice trembled, a mix of frustration and disbelief.
Without answering, I borrowed both her and Leon's aura, sharing it among us. Leora didn't notice right away. I took Leon's life attribute, vital and pure, and combined it with Leora's speed attribute.
"Until then, love," I said softly, offering her a faint smile.
In an instant, I activated the borrowed speed, layering it with the life attribute to enhance my agility and endurance. I was gone in a blur, moving faster than her aura would allow her to follow, especially with Leon still in her arms. She couldn't chase me. Not this time. And probably not ever, especially with Leon now in her care.
A few minutes later, I found myself on a rooftop a few miles away, watching the nearly invisible blur of the café from a distance. The wind whipped at my jacket as I stood still, my eyes scanning the area. I was far enough away to avoid immediate detection, but close enough to delude myself I was standing close with them. I felt my wife and son's aura in me, slowly trickle into nothing.
"Ah~ I will probably regret this…" But it wouldn't be as bigger a regret if I allowed Leora continue on her path. I couldn't help but think about the life I was leaving behind, the choices I'd made that brought me here.
From the shadows behind me, Jacob—known as Diamond_Black in the Hunter's Net—materialized. His movements were quiet and precise. In one hand, he held a struggling hunter, the man's eyes wide with terror as he clawed helplessly at Jacob's grip.
"That's two out of three favors I owe you," Jacob said casually, his voice calm despite the violent scene. "One more, and we're square."
Without hesitation, Jacob flexed his wrist, and the hunter's neck snapped with a sickening crack. The body went limp, falling to the ground with a dull thud.
I stared at the scene, emotionless. I had accumulated more favors than I could count—favors that I'd be cashing in soon. I'd need every single one of them to take down the organization hunting my son. Leora's network might've been more established, built from years of experience as a hunter, but my arsenal of information and the debts owed to me would be just as potent.
This was war and I had every intention of winning it.