Getting across Manchester had been easier than Evelyn expected. That was probably the most dangerous part.
For the first twenty minutes, she'd been convinced that every person who looked in her direction was about to recognize her. Every glance felt deliberate. Every stranger reaching for a phone made her stomach tighten. Twice, she'd changed direction because someone had been walking behind her for too long.
Neither person had followed. One had entered a pharmacy. The other had stopped to tie his shoe.
Eventually, she'd begun to feel ridiculous.
Not safe.
Definitely not safe.
But perhaps slightly less convinced that the entire population of Manchester was personally hunting her.
A man had brushed past her outside a convenience store without looking up from his screen. Two women had been arguing about something entirely unrelated to the World Quest. A delivery cyclist had nearly run her over and shouted something unpleasant about pedestrians.
For a few precious minutes, the world had almost felt normal.
Almost.
The World Quest was everywhere, of course. She'd passed a group of people gathered around a public information display, arguing about the reward. Someone outside a café had been showing a photograph on his phone to anyone willing to look.
Her photograph.
She hadn't stayed long enough to hear what they were saying. But nobody had pointed at her. Nobody had shouted her name.
And by the time she reached the neighborhood where she'd grown up, Evelyn had started to believe that the oversized grey hoodie, black jogging trousers, and blue cap might actually be enough.
Maybe people were looking for someone who resembled her university photograph. Someone with her hair visible. Someone wearing the clothes she'd worn that morning.
Not a girl with her head lowered and her hands buried in the pockets of a hoodie that was two sizes too large.
It wasn't a particularly sophisticated disguise. But apparently, it was working.
She almost smiled at that.
Then she remembered why she needed a disguise in the first place.
The smile disappeared.
The old shop had been empty for years. Evelyn remembered when it had sold newspapers, sweets, and cheap stationery. She and Lucy used to stop there on their way home from school, usually to spend whatever coins they'd managed to convince their parents to give them.
The owner had been an elderly man who always pretended not to notice when they spent fifteen minutes deciding which sweets to buy.
He'd retired when Evelyn was sixteen. The shop had closed shortly afterward.
Now its front windows were covered from the inside, and the faded sign above the entrance had lost several letters.
She'd almost walked past it. Then she'd remembered the narrow passage running along the side of the building.
And the back door.
It had never closed properly.
Apparently, some things didn't change.
The door opened after a firm push. Inside, the air smelled of dust, old cardboard, and damp plaster.
Most of the shelves were gone. A broken counter stood against one wall, and several empty boxes had been stacked beneath a window.
Evelyn checked the room twice before allowing herself to sit.
Nobody.
No movement.
No voices.
Just an empty shop that had somehow survived years of neglect.
She lowered herself onto the floor behind the counter and pulled out her phone. The screen lit up.
Evelyn stared.
87 missed calls.
146 unread messages.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
She scrolled.
Mum.
Dad.
Lucy.
Hannah.
Daniel.
People from university. People she hadn't spoken to since secondary school. Several numbers she didn't recognize.
A former classmate had sent three messages asking whether the World Quest was really about her. Someone else wanted to know if she'd done something to upset the System.
Another person had offered to hide her.
For a share of the reward.
Evelyn read that message twice. Then blocked the number.
There were dozens more.
Evie please call me.
Are you okay?
Where are you?
Is that actually you?
I know someone who can help.
Please answer.
You can trust me.
She stared at the last one.
That was becoming a rather difficult sentence to believe.
A notification appeared at the top of the screen. Another incoming call.
Unknown number.
Evelyn declined it. Almost immediately, the phone rang again.
She switched it to silent. Then she opened Lucy's conversation.
Her sister had sent eleven messages in the last hour.
Lucy: where are you
Lucy: mum's freaking out
Lucy: evie please
Lucy: there are people outside
Lucy: they keep asking about you
Lucy: dad says don't come home
Lucy: are you okay
Lucy: please answer me
Evelyn's throat tightened. She typed.
Evie: I'm okay
The reply arrived almost immediately.
Lucy: OH MY GOD
Lucy: WHERE ARE YOU
Evelyn hesitated. She looked toward the boarded-up windows.
Evie: Somewhere safe
It was a lie. Or at least a very optimistic interpretation of her current circumstances.
Lucy: can you call
Evelyn stared at the request.
She wanted to. God, she wanted to hear her sister's voice.
But there were people at the house. People who might be listening, watching, or demanding to know who Lucy was speaking to.
Texting felt safer.
Evie: Can't right now
Evie: What's happening at home?
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Lucy: it's awful
Lucy: they're still here
Evie: Who?
Lucy: adventurers
Lucy: loads of them
Lucy: some came inside
Evelyn sat up straighter.
Evie: Inside the house?
Lucy: yeah
Lucy: they searched your room
For a moment, Evelyn could only stare.
Her room.
Her bedroom.
The place where she'd left her books, her clothes, the ridiculous stuffed rabbit Lucy had given her for her eighteenth birthday.
Evie: What do you mean searched?
Lucy: everything
Lucy: drawers wardrobe under your bed
Lucy: they took stuff
Evie: What stuff?
Lucy: clothes i think
Lucy: and some pictures
Lucy: one of them had a bag
Evelyn felt cold.
Why would they need her clothes? Her photographs?
Then she remembered something she'd learned in a general System studies course.
Tracking abilities.
Skills that worked with personal belongings.
She'd never paid much attention to that particular lecture. It had seemed like the sort of thing relevant to adventurers, investigators, and people who actually expected to be hunted.
Apparently, she should have taken better notes.
Evie: Did Mum let them?
Lucy: NO
Lucy: she was screaming at them
Lucy: dad tried to stop one
Evie: Is Dad okay??
The answer took longer.
Far too long.
Lucy: yeah
Lucy: they pushed him
Lucy: he's okay though
Evelyn pressed a hand against her mouth.
Her father was a quiet man. He worked, complained about electricity bills, watched football when he had time, and occasionally attempted repairs around the house that generally required a professional to fix afterward.
He wasn't an adventurer. He didn't have a combat class.
He had no business standing between armed strangers and his daughter's bedroom.
And yet he'd tried.
Of course he had.
Evie: Tell him not to fight them
Evie: Please
Lucy: mum already told him
Lucy: they won't leave us alone
Evie: Can you go somewhere else?
Lucy: we tried
Lucy: dad wanted us to go to aunt sarah's
Lucy: but there's people blocking the drive
Evelyn stopped breathing for a second.
Evie: What?
Lucy: they said we have to stay
Lucy: in case you contact us
Lucy: mum said they can't do that
Lucy: they don't care
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
There were laws. There were police. There were entire government departments responsible for handling adventurer-related incidents.
People couldn't simply turn up at someone's house, search through their belongings, and prevent them from leaving.
Could they?
She looked down at the messages.
Apparently, they could.
Or at least nobody had managed to stop them yet.
Evie: Have you called the police?
Lucy: yes
Lucy: they're here too
Lucy: not doing much
Another message followed.
Lucy: evie i'm scared
Evelyn shut her eyes.
She wanted to tell Lucy everything would be okay. She wanted to promise that the people outside would leave. That their parents would be safe. That tomorrow would somehow be normal again.
Instead, she typed the only thing she could honestly say.
Evie: I'm sorry
Lucy: don't be stupid
Lucy: you didn't do anything
She wasn't sure the rest of the world agreed.
Evie: Stay with Mum and Dad
Evie: Don't tell anyone where I am
Lucy: i don't know where you are
Evelyn almost laughed.
Fair point.
Evie: Keep it that way
Lucy: are you coming home?
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
She was less than fifteen minutes away. She could picture the route perfectly.
Past the little park.
Left at the corner shop.
Straight down the road she'd walked thousands of times.
Home.
Evie: I don't know
The three dots appeared.
Then:
Lucy: please be careful
Evelyn stared at the message for a long time.
Evie: You too
She should have put the phone away. Instead, she opened Daniel's conversation.
She wasn't sure why. Perhaps because his name had been sitting among the notifications like something poisonous. Perhaps because part of her still couldn't accept what he'd done.
There were twenty-three unread messages. The first few had arrived shortly after she'd escaped him.
Daniel: Evie
Daniel: Please answer
Daniel: I know you're scared
Daniel: I didn't mean for it to happen like that
Evelyn felt her stomach turn.
Like that.
As though he'd accidentally spilled coffee on her. As though he hadn't pushed a knife into her body.
She kept scrolling.
Daniel: I know what happened now
Daniel: I think I understand
Daniel: We can fix this
Daniel: You can go home
Her thumb stopped.
The next message had arrived forty minutes later.
Daniel: Those people looking for you aren't like me
Daniel: They'll hurt you
Daniel: I won't
Evelyn let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"You stabbed me."
The words sounded strangely loud in the empty shop.
She lowered her voice, although there was nobody to hear.
"You actually stabbed me."
Daniel had known her since they were children. He'd helped her study for exams. He'd attended birthday parties at her house. Her parents liked him.
Lucy had once suggested, with the irritating confidence of a younger sister, that Evelyn should just marry him and get it over with.
Evelyn had thrown a cushion at her.
That memory felt as though it belonged to someone else.
She scrolled further.
Daniel: I've been thinking
Daniel: There might be another way
Daniel: Something that should work this time
Her breath caught.
This time.
He was planning to do it again.
Not apologizing.
Not asking for forgiveness.
Planning.
Daniel: I promise it won't hurt
Daniel: Not like before
Daniel: I can make sure
Daniel: Trust me
Evelyn stared at those two words.
Trust me.
She remembered Daniel standing over her. His shaking hands. His frightened expression.
The knife.
And the terrible realization that he genuinely believed he was helping.
That was the worst part.
He hadn't looked angry. He hadn't looked cruel.
He'd looked sorry.
As if killing her were an unpleasant favor he had to perform.
She locked the screen. For several seconds, she sat perfectly still.
Then she turned the phone back on and blocked Daniel.
It didn't make her feel much better.
But it was something.
Evelyn remained in the shop for another twenty minutes. She tried to think.
That was becoming increasingly difficult.
Her family was trapped inside their own home. Strangers had searched her room. People were apparently taking personal belongings that might help them track her.
Daniel was somewhere out there, thinking of better ways to murder her.
And she was sitting on the dusty floor of an abandoned shop with a Skill that brought her back from the dead.
She opened her System interface.
StatusNameEvelyn HollowayClassNovice ScholarUnique SkillUndyingVitality+1ResistancePiercing Resistance Lv. 1
She stared at the familiar entries.
There it was.
The one thing keeping her alive.
Or bringing her back afterward.
She still wasn't sure which description was more accurate.
The distinction felt important.
She'd died. She remembered dying.
Whatever Undying did afterward didn't change that.
And there was no guarantee she could endure it again.
Her gaze lingered on Piercing Resistance.
A reward for being stabbed.
Wonderful.
If the System continued being this generous, perhaps she'd eventually become resistant to every conceivable method of murder.
She closed the interface.
That was not a comforting thought.
Her phone vibrated. Another message from Lucy.
Lucy: more people just arrived
Lucy: they're arguing outside
Evelyn sat forward.
Evie: About what?
Lucy: you
Of course.
Lucy: mum says someone's going to get hurt
Evelyn looked toward the door.
She could stay here. She could wait. She could try to leave Manchester altogether.
That would probably be the sensible decision.
But her parents were only a few streets away. Lucy was frightened. And Evelyn had no idea whether the people surrounding their house intended to let them go.
She didn't need to go inside. She didn't even need to speak to them.
She just needed to see.
To know they were still okay.
Then she could leave.
That sounded reasonable.
Almost sensible.
She stood. Pulled the cap lower over her forehead. Checked that her hair was tucked beneath it.
And stepped back outside.
The first sign that something was wrong was the traffic.
Cars had stopped moving along the road leading toward her family's street. A delivery van was parked at an angle near an intersection. Two drivers were arguing beside it, while a third vehicle attempted an increasingly hopeless three-point turn.
Evelyn kept her head down. She walked past them.
Then she heard shouting.
Not ordinary shouting.
Angry voices.
Several at once.
She slowed. The closer she came, the more people she saw.
Some were standing in small groups, talking and pointing toward the residential street ahead. Others had their phones raised.
A few were wearing armor.
Actual armor.
In the middle of Manchester.
One man had a sword strapped across his back. Another wore a long coat with glowing symbols running down the sleeves.
Evelyn turned away before either could look at her.
Her heart began to pound.
She'd been foolish.
Of course they'd be here.
Where else would they go?
She moved around the next corner and stopped behind a parked vehicle. From there, she could see part of her street.
And the sight made her stomach drop.
There were people everywhere.
At least three large vehicles were parked along the road, none of which belonged to the neighbors. One bore a guild emblem Evelyn didn't recognize.
Several adventurers stood near the entrance to her family's property. Others occupied the pavement opposite.
A group of civilians had gathered farther down the street, kept back by two police officers who looked thoroughly overwhelmed.
Someone was filming from an upstairs window. Another person was arguing loudly with a uniformed officer.
"This is a residential area! You can't just let them do whatever they want!"
"Sir, I need you to step back."
"My children live here!"
"Please, sir."
Evelyn barely heard them.
She was looking at her house.
The front door was open.
A stranger stood in the doorway. Another emerged carrying a small black case.
Her father's car was still in the drive. But a dark vehicle had been parked directly behind it, blocking any possibility of leaving.
Evelyn's hands curled into fists.
They really weren't letting them go.
A shout drew her attention.
Two adventurers were standing near the front gate, facing each other.
One wore dark armor with red markings. The other had a pale blue insignia on his shoulder.
"I don't care what arrangement you made," the first man snapped. "We were here before you."
"That doesn't give you exclusive rights."
"We secured the property."
"You broke into a civilian residence."
"And what exactly are you planning to do about it?"
The second man's hand moved toward the weapon at his hip.
Several people nearby shifted. Evelyn instinctively crouched lower behind the vehicle.
For a moment, she thought they were going to start fighting.
Right there.
In front of her house.
"Get away from my home!"
Evelyn froze.
Mum.
Her mother appeared behind the stranger standing in the entrance.
Her hair was untidy, and her face was red.
Evelyn had seen her angry before.
Plenty of times.
But never like this.
"You've searched everything! You've taken her things! What more do you want?"
The man in the doorway turned.
"Mrs. Holloway, please remain inside."
"Don't you dare tell me what to do in my own house!"
"Ma'am—"
"No! You listen to me!"
Evelyn felt something twist painfully in her chest.
She wanted to run to her. To shout that she was here. That she was alive.
That everything was going to be—
No.
She couldn't.
A man emerged behind her mother.
Dad.
He put a hand on her shoulder.
Evelyn had never seen him look so tired.
"Come inside," he said quietly.
"But—"
"Please."
For a moment, her mother resisted. Then she looked toward the street. Toward the adventurers. Toward the people filming.
And her expression crumpled.
Evelyn had to look away.
She'd seen her mother cry before.
But not because of her.
Not like this.
A familiar figure appeared briefly behind her parents.
Lucy.
Her sister looked pale and frightened.
She was holding her phone.
Evelyn almost stepped out from behind the vehicle.
Almost.
Then one of the adventurers near the gate raised his voice.
"Everyone needs to clear the immediate area. We have reason to believe the target may attempt to contact her family."
The target.
Not Evelyn.
Not their daughter.
The target.
Another adventurer laughed.
"She'd have to be an idiot to come here."
A few people chuckled.
Evelyn remained perfectly still.
Well.
That was reassuring.
She was apparently an idiot.
She stayed longer than she should have.
Every minute increased the risk.
She knew that.
But leaving felt impossible.
Her parents were right there.
Lucy was right there.
And she couldn't do anything.
At one point, her father tried to approach the blocked driveway. An adventurer stepped in front of him.
Evelyn couldn't hear the exchange.
She saw her father gesture toward the car. Saw the adventurer shake his head. Saw her father try to argue.
Then the adventurer placed one hand against his chest and pushed him back.
Not hard enough to knock him down.
Just enough to make the message clear.
Evelyn felt a sudden, fierce urge to do something very stupid.
She imagined running forward.
Shouting.
Demanding they leave her family alone.
Perhaps threatening them.
With what?
Her exceptional ability to die?
She almost laughed.
Instead, she pressed her forehead against the cold metal of the parked vehicle.
She couldn't help them.
Not like this.
If she revealed herself, every armed person on the street would turn toward her.
And then what?
Her family would be caught in the middle.
She forced herself to breathe.
In.
Out.
Again.
She needed to leave.
She could contact Lucy later.
Maybe find somewhere safer.
Maybe figure out how to get her family away from the house.
There had to be something.
She just needed time.
Evelyn straightened and took one last look toward the front door.
Her mother had gone back inside. Her father was standing beside the gate. Lucy was no longer visible.
They were alive.
For now, that would have to be enough.
She turned away.
And nearly walked into someone.
"Whoa."
Evelyn stumbled backward.
A man stood a few steps behind her.
He looked to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties, wearing a dark jacket over lightweight armor. A short blade hung at his waist.
Not particularly intimidating compared to some of the people she'd seen outside the house.
Which wasn't saying much.
"Sorry," Evelyn muttered.
She lowered her head and tried to move around him.
He shifted slightly.
Not enough to block her completely.
Just enough to make her hesitate.
"Hey."
Evelyn's pulse quickened.
"Yeah?"
"What are you doing back here?"
"Nothing."
He glanced toward the gathering near the house.
"Watching the show?"
"Sort of."
"Bit dangerous to be this close."
"I was just leaving."
"Probably a good idea."
He smiled.
For one wonderful second, Evelyn thought that was it.
An ordinary conversation.
A stranger telling her to get out of the way.
Nothing more.
She stepped past him.
"Wait."
Her stomach tightened.
She stopped.
The man was looking at her more closely now.
Not at her clothes.
Not at her face, exactly.
His eyes narrowed.
"Have we met?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"Don't think so."
"Huh."
He tilted his head.
Something about his expression changed.
A moment ago, he'd looked mildly curious.
Now he looked focused.
Evelyn remembered the lectures about identification abilities.
Skills that could reveal names.
Classes.
Sometimes even levels.
Her mouth went dry.
Surely he wouldn't use one on a random stranger.
Why would he?
"What's your name?" he asked.
She swallowed.
"Emma."
"Emma?"
"Yeah."
He studied her.
Then he smiled again.
"Funny."
Evelyn took a small step backward.
"What's funny?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
His gaze seemed to settle on something only he could see.
For several seconds, he remained perfectly still.
Then his smile vanished.
"Oh."
Evelyn felt the blood drain from her face.
He looked at her.
Really looked at her.
And this time, there was no curiosity in his expression.
Only recognition.
"Well," he said quietly.
"I'll be damned."
Evelyn stepped backward again.
The man's hand moved toward the weapon at his waist.
"You're Evelyn Holloway."