Chapter 36: The Whisper Behind the Code

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Whisper Behind the Code The forest was wet. Too wet. Kai sat with his back against a tree, hair dripping, heart still racing from a place that didn’t exist but had left marks anyway. Marks like doubt. Like fear. Like knowing someone he trusted would eventually drive a blade through his chest — and call it love. [System Log Fragment Recovered – Hidden Communication Protocol Detected] Sender ID: ??? Encryption: Harem-Classified (Level 7) Message Type: Untraceable Relay Content: "He suspects nothing. Continue authorization?" Kai didn’t see the message. Not yet. But the System did. And it watched in silence — because the ones it had chosen to love the Hero were already beginning to choose themselves instead. Somewhere nearby, Seris cracked a squirrel’s bones between two fingers and tossed the remains into a fire. "Still breathing?" she asked. Kai grunted. "That depends. Are we out of illusions?" Seris smirked. "If this is a dream, it’s a crappy one. No thrones. No weird fake girls calling you ’husband.’ Just mud and burnt meat." Kai didn’t laugh. He hadn’t slept since Chapter 35. He didn’t plan to. They were two days out from the city that had loved him too perfectly. Now, in a clearing lined with dying stars and thick branches, they camped beneath reality. A place the System didn’t track openly. But it always listened. [Meanwhile: Hidden Log – Private Communication in Progress...] User: Nyx Auren (Assassin Class – Affection Rank: 77%) Status: Field-Active Connection: Night Protocol Uplink Message Sent: "He’s changing. More unpredictable. If you want me to finish the job, I need full override access." System Reply: Access Approval Pending. Loyalty Flag Fluctuating. The fire flickered. Back at camp, Kai stirred. Something pulled at his thoughts — not a voice, not a memory. Just a tension in his soul. The weight of an incoming betrayal. He turned to Seris. "Where are the others?" She arched a brow. "You’re worried?" "No," he said too quickly. "Just... calculating risk." Her grin widened. "You mean trust is dead." "No. Trust was murdered. I just haven’t found the killer yet." Elsewhere. Nyx stood alone on a rooftop in a nearby border town. The moon framed her like a silent accomplice. She stared at her gloved hands. One held a vial: glowing red, coded with runes. A System Boon — gifted in secret. The other hand gripped the hilt of her blade. [System Offer: Operation BLACK LOTUS] Objective: Assassinate Kai Veyron (Trigger Event for Alt-Ending Branch 3B) Reward: Bond Rewrite, Fate Reversal, New Origin Status: Pending Execution... She didn’t drink the vial. Not yet. But her finger was on the cork. And her heart? Still split. "Why couldn’t you just be what we needed you to be, Kai?" Back in the woods, Kai stood, restless. He looked at Seris. "Let’s move." "Now?" "Someone’s going to make a choice soon. I want to be standing when they do." [System Notification – New Trait Unlocked: "Suspicion as Survival"] Kai’s Perception vs Harem Bond: +12% Ability Triggered: "Heart Divergence – Passive" You will now feel shifts in affection, even if they’re hidden. And he did. Not in Nyx. But in someone else. A tiny flicker, far off — affection that once burned bright, now flickering. Yuri? Elira? Astra? One of them. One was tilting the knife already. That night, Seris stayed up watching the fire. Kai slept lightly, blade at his side. He dreamt of a dinner table where all the girls sat smiling. Every one of them held a knife under the tablecloth. And only one was crying as they raised it.