Jinyoung had the unsettling sensation of waking up without feeling like he wasn’t quite awake. His mind was foggy and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, almost as if he were still dreaming. But the pain that wracked his body told him that he was indeed awake.

  “How’d you sleep, boy?”

  He didn’t need to turn his head to identify the speaker, but he did so anyway, wincing at the pain brought on by such a simple action.

  Youngho sat, hands on his knees. Hand on his knee, actually.

  The old man looked good, considering. Jinyoung thought he spotted a few new fresh scars dotting his adoptive father’s cheeks while the hint of fresh bandages peeked out from the nape of his collar. His gaze followed the lining of his jacket until he reached the left arm sleeve which hung limply at the man’s side.

  “Like your handiwork?”

  Jinyoung felt the blood rush to his cheeks and fought the urge to look away.

  “It was the best I could manage,” he replied. “Under the circumstances.”

  Youngho slipped the jacket from his shoulder and revealed the amputation. The bandages peeled off easily and revealed a clean cut that had healed nicely. The scars would take years to heal if they ever did, but it looked good considering.

  Youngho noticed his stare had returned and chuckled.

  “I’ll heal, boy. It’ll take more than this to slow me down.”

  A sharp click drew his attention to the door. Willow stepped in the room followed closely by Seah.

  “You’re awake,” Willow said with a breath of relief. “Maybe we can finally get out of here now.”

  A wave of dizziness struck Jinyoung. He used his arms to steady himself on the bed until it passed.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Three days,” Willow answered. Her voice had an edge to it that Jinyoung couldn’t quite place. “Seah got to you just in time to pull you before the entire silo collapsed in on itself.”

  Jinyoung nodded, but he kept looking back at Seah. She walked into the room and didn’t speak a word. In fact, the few times he had encountered her, she had spoken in short sentences or avoided his company altogether.

  But before he could speak, Willow cut him off and continued.

  “Halmae and Grim got out before the entire town imploded on itself. And not long after, the Pegasus Clan scattered the Frostbitten horde and secured this area. They have scouts heading out now to get any players who headed out from town when Henry set the launch sequence earlier.”

  Jinyoung kept nodding, but he wasn’t interested in what Willow had to say. And the more she spoke, the more he realized that she was distracting him.

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  So, instead of waiting for the awkwardness to abate, he cut her off mid-speech.

  “How’s Hana?”

  Willow’s mouth hung open for a second before she snapped it shut.

  Youngho grunted and rose up from the chair. “We all made it out okay. She’s not hurt or anything.”

  Jinyoung could feel his body instinctively relax. It was obvious that the three of them had been avoiding the subject and for a moment, he had assumed the worst.

  “Good, good,” he said. “Where is she? Can I see her?”

  Any hope he had evaporated when he saw the look on Willow’s face. Even Youngho’s brows furrowed with worry.

  “What is it?”

  Willow opened her mouth to speak, but it took her a moment to find the words. “She said she needed time.”

  “Time?” Jinyoung repeated. “I don’t understand.”

  Youngho grunted, but Willow shot him a look silencing the veteran warrior immediately.

  Willow kept his eyes on Youngho, but her words were aimed at Jinyoung. “She said she wanted time to think.”

  “Think?” he repeated again. “You guys are talking in circles, here. Just tell me where Hana is.”

  For a brief moment, Willow and Youngho both spoke at once. Trying to say something, but neither one got their point across. It was an overlapping cacophony of Hana “needing some time to herself” or “finding space to figure out her next steps.”

  When Jinyoung thought he was going to explode from frustration, Seah interrupted and cut through the noise.

  “She left.”

  Jinyoung had to stop himself from repeating Seah’s words back to her. Instead, he asked the obvious question. “Where?”

  Seah shrugged, a motion that angered Jinyoung so much he could feel the heat in his cheeks.

  She left?

  He shook his head and tried to focus his thoughts, but it was chaos in his head. “No, she can’t. She shouldn’t be alone after what she’s just been through with Seunghyo and…”

  Jinyoung’s voice trailed off as he tried to think of the words.

  “Where she goes and what she does is her choice, Jinyoung.”

  His mind reeled as he tried to rationalize what they were telling him. He sputtered off saying, “But she’s the clan leader” and “She’d never do that”, but the others looked away. Only Seah met his gaze as he tried to make sense of what they were telling him.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and took careful measure of his words. “I need to talk to her.”

  He stood out of bed and pushed past Youngho and Willow’s hands. But the world went blurry and his legs gave out from underneath him. The others caught him before he hit the ground and exacerbated whatever injuries he already sustained.

  Before he could protest, Seah took him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. There was a coldness there that he’d never seen before. It reminded him of the numbness he’d felt when he wielded the spear against Seunghyo.

  “Jinyoung, she’s gone.” Seah let the weight of the words settle on him before continuing on. “She said she needed time without all of you.”

  She said, he thought. That doesn’t make sense unless.

  “Willow, did you talk to her?”

  The novice player shook her head. “Not really. I tried to, but she just gave me a hug and left.”

  Jinyoung looked at Youngho who gave a depressed shake of his head. Hana hadn’t given him any warning either.

  Finally, his gaze stopped on Seah. Hana used to idolize Seah when she was young, but their relationship had grown distant ever since Seah took on a position at the Player Society.

  “Seah. Why would she talk to you instead of the others?” Jinyoung asked. He watched carefully for a reaction, but Seah’s face was a mask that gave nothing away. “You instead of Willow or the old man. The Director of the Player Society?”

  It was Seah’s turn to stay silent. There was no change in her expression, but Jinyoung could tell he’d guessed correctly.

  “Unless…”

  Jinyoung didn’t want to check. He knew the reason why Hana had talked to Seah instead of Willow or Youngho. It wasn’t because Hana trusted Seah or because of their prior relationship. It was because Seah was one of the few people with the authority to take Hana’s request.

  Almost mournfully, Jinyoung opened his System menu and looked at his notifications. And, just as he expected, there was just one waiting for him.

  [Hana has left the clan.]