The cold was the first thing he felt.
A dull pain coursed through his entire body, as if his skin were made of shattered glass and each breath caused it to crack even further. He tried to move, but his body barely responded. It was as if he were buried under his own weight.
Aleph forced his eyes open.
Darkness.
No… not entirely. There was a sky.
Red.
Sickly. Lit by a sun that looked more dead than alive.
He blinked a few times, trying to focus his vision. His body lay among the rubble of a ruined building. Broken walls, streets covered in cracks, and dense air, thick with a metallic scent that stung his throat.
"Where…?"
His mind was a mess. He couldn't remember how he got here. He only knew it had been sudden. Violent.
With a grunt, he tried to sit up.
Pain.
Everything hurt.
His muscles protested, his skin burned, and when he pressed his hand against the ground, he felt the sticky warmth of blood on his gauntlet.
He was injured.
With a frustrated groan, he forced himself to focus. First, assess the situation.
He looked around. The city was in ruins, with shattered structures that seemed abandoned for years.
"Did I… finally arrive in SMT?"
There were no signs of life, but shadows moved in the distance. Something was here.
Something that didn't seem remotely human.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Burroughs… what's the situation?"
Silence.
A pang of anxiety hit him.
How severe was the damage to the system?
But then, a distorted, choppy voice emerged in his mind.
[S-system… c-critical damage… limited functionality…]
Aleph clenched his teeth.
"How much… how much have I lost?"
[Current status: Injured
Strength: Severely reduced.
Magic: Severely reduced.
Connection to Stellaron: Inactive.
Current capacity: 2% of total power.]
The number hit him like a bucket of ice water.
2%.
He couldn't process it.
Before this, according to Burroughs, his power was close to that of a weak Demi-fiend.
Now… he could barely be considered above an ordinary human.
He remained silent for a moment, processing the information.
He couldn't panic.
He couldn't lose control.
He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the dizziness and the emptiness gnawing at his chest.
"What do I have available?"
[Active magic skill: Bufu.
Physical state: Equivalent to level 5.]
Aleph clenched his fist. It was pathetic.
But he moved anyway.
He forced himself to stand, staggering for a moment before stabilizing. Every fiber of his body protested, but he had no choice. He needed to move.
That's when he heard it.
The dry sound of something dragging itself across the pavement.
Aleph looked up.
A few meters away, emerging from the ruins, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
Ashen skin, empty eyes, and an unnatural posture, as if it were a puppet held up by invisible strings.
It was somewhere between a zombie and a vampire.
And it wasn't alone.
Other figures began to stir behind it. Slow. Inhuman. Aleph's eyes scanned his surroundings, and the truth became clear.
He was in enemy territory.
And he was completely alone.
"Great, just what I needed."
[I told you countless times, Master, that you should have maxed out your Luck stat along with the others.]
...
The zombies advanced slowly, their clumsy bodies moving erratically, but Aleph wasn't fooled. They were slow but relentless.
If they surrounded him, he was dead.
In his current state, he couldn't afford to fight.
His body was in shambles, his magic reduced to a single Bufu, and his strength was that of a beginner.
Forcing a fight in this condition was suicide.
He gritted his teeth and ran.
Every step was a challenge.
His legs burned, his breath was heavy, and every heartbeat sent a jolt of pain through his torso. But he ignored it all.
This wasn't the first time. If anything, he had the feeling he'd been through this countless times before.
Or at least enough that it wouldn't stop him from moving.
The creatures followed. First slowly, then faster.
Shit.
He turned into a narrow street, dodging the remains of an overturned car and leaping over the rubble of a collapsed building. He needed to find a place to hide.
But the sound of a harsh impact made him turn his head.
A few meters away, something—or someone—had just been slammed violently against a wall.
The dust settled, revealing a white-haired girl trembling from the blow.
Unknown. Completely unfamiliar—he was sure of it.
Then why?
Why did his heart race at the sight of her?
Why did he feel the urge to break the teeth of whatever had thrown her?
Aleph froze, his mind locking up for a second.
His mouth opened, but no words came out.
"Stelle…?"
A familiar yet foreign name surfaced in his mind.
But when he saw the color of her eyes, he corrected himself.
No.
It wasn't her.
His attention then shifted to her attacker.
A larger zombie, with a grotesquely deformed arm covered in spikes of violet energy.
A mutant.
The girl gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand. Her clothes were torn from the impact, but her eyes still burned with stubborn determination.
She was preparing to fight.
Aleph felt his body move before his mind even processed it.
He didn't care about his condition. He didn't care about the pain.
He only knew one thing.
She was in danger.
And that…
Was unacceptable.
...
The mutant roared and raised its twisted arm, its silhouette trembling with dark energy.
Aleph didn't think.
He didn't have the same power.
He didn't have the same speed.
But he could still move well enough.
With a painful burst of effort, he sprinted toward the girl.
The mutant struck, its arm descending like a hammer.
Aleph jumped.
Not high enough.
The blow grazed his side, sending him crashing to the ground with a hard impact. His vision blurred for a second.
[Master, that thing has a special energy. Do you want me to analyze it?]
"Do it."
But he was already used to pain.
He got up before his body could even register the wound. He couldn't afford to stay down.
The white-haired girl looked at him in surprise.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Aleph didn't answer. He simply raised his hand and screamed in his mind.
"Bufu!"
A streak of ice shot from his fingers, striking the mutant's torso.
The mutant growled. An attack like that wasn't enough to kill it.
But it was enough to stop it for a moment.
Aleph looked at the girl.
"Run!"
She hesitated for a moment but then nodded and sprinted in the opposite direction. Aleph followed immediately, ignoring the burning pain in his body.
They had to get out of there.
The mutant roared and started chasing them, its footsteps making the ground tremble.
Aleph and the girl ran through the rubble of the ruined city.
The air filled with the sound of their ragged breaths and the echo of the monster's footsteps.
They couldn't fight. They couldn't stop.
They could only run.
They turned a corner, dodged the wreckage of several destroyed cars, and slipped into a narrow alleyway.
"This way!" the girl shouted.
Aleph didn't question her—this wasn't the time for that.
They reached a collapsed building with a small opening between the debris.
The girl went in first, and Aleph followed just as the mutant reached the alley.
The zombie roared, but it was too big to squeeze through the hole.
Aleph collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. His vision blurred from exhaustion.
They had escaped.
For now.
********
Silence took over the space.
Only their heavy breathing and the distant echoes of the mutant's roars broke the stillness.
Aleph let himself slide against a crumbling concrete wall, his body completely drained. His legs trembled. His chest burned. Every muscle screamed in protest.
Beside him, the white-haired girl watched him with a strange expression.
She didn't speak right away.
First, she checked the opening they had come through, making sure the creature hadn't followed them. Only when she confirmed they were safe did she turn her gaze back to him.
Aleph barely lifted his head before he felt a light tap on his forehead.
It wasn't hard, but it caught him off guard.
"You're an idiot!"
The girl's voice was irritated...
He couldn't help but wonder—why?
Aleph blinked, confused. For a brief moment, the image of a short-haired, pink-haired girl overlapped with the white-haired one, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
She crossed her arms, frowning.
"You're injured! You were staggering from the moment I saw you, and you still did all that! What the hell were you thinking?"
Aleph sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.
"I thought..." He hesitated. But only for an instant. "...that I couldn't let you die."
The girl stared at him.
Aleph felt something when he looked at her—something inexplicable. A sense of familiarity he couldn't understand.
There was something about her presence.
As if he had known her for a long time.
But there was no way that was possible.
"Idiot..." she muttered before slumping down beside him.
For a while, neither of them spoke. They just rested in the silence of the ruined city.
He closed his eyes for a moment. The sound of eerie laughter echoed in his mind, and his body shuddered involuntarily.
Finally, the girl sighed.
"My name is Kiana. Kiana Kaslana."
Aleph opened one eye and glanced at her.
"Aleph Avesta."
Kiana gave a faint smile.
"That's a weird name."
Aleph let out a small laugh.
"You have a weird name too."
Kiana chuckled a little, but then her expression grew serious again.
"Are you a Valkyrie?" she asked.
Aleph shook his head. He didn't know what this Valkyrie she spoke of was, but it was safe to assume it meant powerful women, right?
"No. As you can see, I'm a full-fledged man."
"Then what are you?"
Aleph looked at his hands.
Hands that once could summon flames, ice, and storms with a mere thought.
Hands that now could barely cast a basic spell.
A sigh escaped his lips. Getting used to this would be difficult.
"...Someone who's lost. Cold, and a little hungry."
Kiana blinked.
She didn't respond right away, but then, in a softer tone, she said,
"Then… will you stay with me until you find your way?"
Aleph looked at her for a few moments, wondering if she was dumb or something.
Why would she make that kind of offer to someone like him—a complete stranger?
And in his current state, as an injured person, he'd only be a burden.
For some reason… he didn't want to refuse.
He just nodded.
Kiana smiled, as if she had won a small victory.
"Good. Now, stop acting like you're about to die and tell me… do you know how to cook?"
Aleph stared at her, incredulous.
"...What?"
Kiana grinned widely.
"If we're going to be together, someone has to make the food. And I'm really bad at cooking."
Aleph sighed and rubbed his forehead. Again—where was this familiar feeling coming from?
Somehow, it felt like this had happened to him countless times before.
"...I suppose I do."
Kiana clapped her hands.
"Great! Then, when we get out of here, you'll have to cook something."
Aleph rolled his eyes, but a small smile formed on his lips.
Maybe his stay in this world wouldn't be so bad.
************
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, painting the sky a deep red. Aleph and Kiana were still taking refuge in the ruins, gathering their strength before moving on.
[Master, it has been determined that Honkai energy could accelerate your recovery if absorbed in moderation.]
"Are you referring to my state or my condition?"
[Both, though as I said, do so in moderation.]
...
Aleph looked at his hand, frowning.
His regeneration was still there, but ridiculously slow.
The loss of his power was almost suffocating.
Before, he could make the earth tremble with a single command. Now, his magic had been reduced to a simple Bufu.
It was like a part of him had been ripped away.
He tried opening the system again.
"Burroughs… give me an updated status."
[Total capacity: 2.4%]
Aleph let out a tired sigh and turned off the display on his gauntlet.
It had increased… but only by 0.4%.
This was going to take forever.
"Were you playing video games?"
Aleph looked up.
Kiana was watching him curiously, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
"Yeah."
At this point, lying was something he had gotten better at. Not that he was particularly proud of it.
She tilted her head.
"And what game is it? Also, how's your condition?"
Aleph let out a humorless laugh.
"I'm still a damn useless wreck."
Kiana looked at him for a moment… then flicked his forehead with her finger.
"Hey!" Aleph protested.
Kiana smiled.
"You're still alive, aren't you? Then you're not that useless."
Aleph blinked.
He didn't know how to respond to that.
Kiana stretched and glanced outside.
"We should get moving. I don't want to stay here longer than necessary."
Aleph nodded slowly.
"Where are we going?"
Kiana turned with a confident smile, nodding to herself as she placed a hand on her chest.
"I know a place where we'll be safe. Follow me."
Aleph watched her in silence for a moment.
He still didn't know what had happened. He still didn't understand his situation.
But…
"Screw it."
Eventually, he would. And to do that, he had to—
Survive.