CHAPTER 12: LEVEL UP, SHUT DOWN
The silence after the man stops screaming doesn't feel empty.
It feels final.
Like something inside the street just locked itself shut.
I stare at the place he was pinned.
Debris. Blood. No movement.
My hands are still half-raised.
Still ready for something that won't happen.
Karan steps closer beside me.
"…you did it," he says quietly.
I don't answer.
Because I'm not sure what "it" is supposed to mean.
Behind us, one of the Null Wing players shifts.
"Someone moved in," a voice calls out.
Too late.
They noticed.
Karan grabs my arm.
"Move."
We don't run.
Not yet.
Just back away fast.
The monster's body is still twitching on the ground where I hit it.
And then—
a flicker.
In the air.
Right above Karan.
A system window.
Not mine.
His.
[PLAYER STATUS UPDATE]
[LEVEL INCREASE: +1]
Karan freezes.
"…what?"
I glance at him.
"What?"
He blinks.
His eyes unfocus for a second.
Like he's reading something I can't see.
Then—
it vanishes.
Just gone.
Karan looks at his hands.
"…I just saw something."
"What?"
"I leveled up."
I stare at him.
"…that's real?"
He doesn't answer immediately.
Then nods once.
"Yeah."
His voice is quieter now.
Like he doesn't trust it.
Behind us, shouting gets louder.
Null Wing is moving.
Karan snaps back into focus.
"Not the time," he says.
But I already feel it.
Something shifted.
Not just for him.
For all of us.
We retreat into the broken street line again.
Fast steps.
No talking.
Until we're behind a collapsed wall.
Cover.
Breathing hard.
Karan leans against it.
Still shaken.
"That was my first," he mutters.
"First what?"
"Level."
I nod slowly.
It should feel like something.
It doesn't.
It feels like a warning.
I flex my hand.
My fingers twitch slightly faster than I expect.
I try to ignore it.
But my body doesn't.
It remembers the movement before I do it.
I close my eyes for a second.
Just to steady myself.
When I open them—
Karan is watching me.
Hard.
"You felt that too, right?" he asks.
I don't answer.
Because I did.
Something else inside me shifted during the fight.
Like the system didn't just react.
It adapted.
I try to move my foot.
Fast.
A burst.
Panic Dash.
It triggers—
but wrong.
Too sharp.
My leg spasms instead of moving cleanly.
Pain shoots up my thigh.
I hiss.
Karan straightens.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"It wasn't nothing."
I shake my leg slightly.
Muscles feel torn.
Not broken.
Just… overstretched.
"Just testing something," I say.
Karan steps closer.
"Don't lie to me."
I look away.
"That wasn't a full use," I admit. "It was… a micro burst."
"Micro what?"
"I didn't fully trigger it."
Karan frowns.
"That's new?"
"I didn't plan it."
He studies me.
"You're changing."
The words sit between us.
Heavy.
I don't like them.
"I'm fine," I say quickly.
Karan scoffs.
"No, you're not."
"I said I'm fine."
"You just tore your own muscle testing a movement you didn't even understand."
I clench my jaw.
"It worked."
"No," he snaps. "It didn't."
Silence again.
Not peaceful.
Just tight.
We both hear movement in the distance.
Null Wing still active.
Still hunting.
Still controlling the space.
Karan lowers his voice.
"We need information."
I nod.
"I know."
He looks at me.
"…there was one left."
I already know what he means.
The weak one.
Captured earlier.
Dragged behind during the chaos.
We find him behind a broken bus frame.
Tied.
Barely conscious.
Breathing shallow.
He looks up when we approach.
Fear first.
Then recognition.
"Not them…" he whispers.
Karan crouches slightly.
"Depends what you tell us."
The man laughs weakly.
Then coughs.
Blood on his lips.
"Doesn't matter," he mutters.
I kneel opposite him.
"Null Wing," I say. "Tell us everything you know."
He shakes his head slightly.
"They don't talk… they don't need to."
"Where are they taking people?" Karan asks.
The man hesitates.
Then laughs again.
Short.
Broken.
"Trading," he says.
My stomach tightens.
"Trading what?"
He looks at me.
Long pause.
"Everything."
Karan leans in.
"Be specific."
The man swallows hard.
"People…...........................................
I feel something cold settle in my chest.
"They sell humans," I say quietly.
The man nods.
"Like currency."
Karan mutters something under his breath.
I don't hear it clearly.
I'm focused.
"Meera," I say. "They took a girl. Where would she go?"
The man's eyes flicker.
"High value," he whispers.
"Answer me."
"Depends…" he coughs again. "Depends what she has."
"She doesn't have anything," I snap.
He shakes his head.
"That's not how they see it."
Karan steps closer.
"Then how do they see it?"
The man's breathing gets worse.
Short.
Unstable.
"They assign value," he whispers. "Not just strength… memory… compatibility… anomalies…"
My head tightens.
That word again.
Anomalies.
I don't like it.
"Where do they keep them?" I ask.
He hesitates.
Too long.
Karan leans in.
"Talk."
The man shakes slightly.
"Central exchange point…" he whispers.
"Location," I press.
He tries to speak.
Coughs instead.
Blood spills out.
Dark.
Thick.
He shakes more now.
His eyes unfocus.
"They took her because…"
He stops.
Gasps.
Karan grabs his shoulder.
"Finish it."
The man looks at me.
Like he's trying to focus.
Like something inside him is breaking apart mid-thought.
"They took her because......."
His head jerks forward.
He coughs violently.
Blood spills again.
More this time.
His body collapses slightly.
Karan steps back.
I move closer.
"Because what?" I demand.
The man tries to inhale.
Fails.
His mouth opens.
No sound comes out.
Just air.
Then nothing.
His body goes still.
Eyes open.
Unfinished.
Karan stands slowly.
"…he's gone," he says.
I don't move.
I stay crouched.
Staring.
Waiting for the rest of the sentence.
It doesn't come.
The street behind us feels louder now.
Too loud.
Like everything is pushing in.
Karan looks down at me.
"Arjun."
I still don't respond.
Because I feel it again.
That gap.
That missing piece.
But this time—
it's not in me.
It's in the answer.
And I realize something I shouldn't have to realize.
We weren't told everything.
We weren't even told enough.
And Meera—
is somewhere inside that unfinished sentence.