Chapter 24: The Thing That Counts (Part II)

The scream had already stopped.

That frightened Rin more than if it had continued. Kaelith ran ahead without slowing. His footsteps echoed through the stone corridors while soldiers rushed from every direction.

"What happened? Where was it?"

"I heard it near the barracks!"

"No, the west corridor!"

Everyone had heard it. No one agreed where it had come from. The fortress had become a maze of echoes.

By the time Kaelith reached the lower hallway, nearly twenty soldiers had gathered.

No monster. No blood. No broken doors. Only one man sat against the wall.

He was alive. But something about him felt...

Wrong.

His spear lay several feet away. His helmet had rolled across the floor.

He stared straight ahead without blinking. His breathing was slow.

Almost peaceful.

Yet his entire body trembled.

Selara immediately knelt beside him.

"Move."

The surrounding soldiers stepped back.

She checked his pulse. Normal. His breathing. Normal. His pupils. Normal.

She frowned.

"No wounds."

Lucien arrived moments later, carrying several enchanted crystals.

He passed one slowly over the soldier’s body. The crystal remained clear.

"No curse."

Another crystal. Nothing.

"No possession."

A third. Still nothing. Lucien lowered his hand.

"I don’t understand."

Neither did anyone else. The soldier suddenly whispered.

"So cold..."

Everyone fell silent. Selara leaned closer.

"Can you hear me?"

No response. His lips moved again. Barely.

"...It counted me."

A chill swept through the corridor. Vorak folded his arms.

"What does that mean?"

The soldier repeated the exact same words.

"It counted me."

Again.

"It counted me."

Again.

"It counted me."

Each repetition sounded quieter than the last. As though he wasn’t speaking to them.

He was remembering. Rin slowly stepped forward. Kaelith’s arm moved instinctively across his path.

"Careful."

"I know."

"...No."

Kaelith looked directly into his eyes.

"You don’t."

For a moment, neither moved. Then Rin gave a small nod.

"I’ll be careful."

Kaelith lowered his arm. Only slightly. Rin knelt in front of the soldier.

"Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

"What counted you?"

The soldier remained perfectly still. Rin tried again.

"What did you see?"

Several long seconds passed. Then... Very slowly...

The soldier’s eyes shifted.

They met Rin’s. For the first time. His pupils shook violently.

His lips parted. He whispered,

"...It skipped you."

Silence. Every soldier in the hallway stopped breathing. Rin felt his stomach drop.

"...What?"

The soldier continued staring at him. His voice remained empty.

"It counted..."

A pause.

"Everyone."

Another pause.

"...Except you."

Then his eyes rolled back. He collapsed unconscious into Selara’s arms.

"He’s breathing," she said quickly.

"But he’s completely exhausted."

Lucien looked disturbed.

"I’ve never seen anything like this."

Neither had Aiden. Because when Rin looked toward him... The color had completely drained from his face.

"No..."

It wasn’t fear anymore. It was panic. Real panic. He crossed the room in three hurried steps and grabbed Rin by both shoulders.

"You cannot be alone."

The force of it surprised everyone. Kaelith reacted instantly. His sword slid between them in a single smooth motion. Not touching Aiden. Just enough to separate them.

"Release him."

Aiden barely seemed to notice the blade. He kept staring at Rin.

"You don’t understand."

Kaelith’s voice hardened.

"Explain."

Aiden’s breathing had become uneven.

"It shouldn’t..."

He swallowed.

"It shouldn’t have skipped him."

Rin frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

Aiden looked from Rin... To Kaelith...

Then toward the unconscious soldier.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"...It’s choosing."

No one spoke. Even Vorak had gone silent.

Selara stood.

"Choosing what?"

Aiden closed his eyes.

"I don’t know."

"You said you’ve seen them before."

"I have."

"Then tell us."

"I can’t."

Lucien frowned.

"You can’t?"

Aiden slowly shook his head.

"No."

"Or you won’t?"

"...Both."

The answer frustrated everyone. Vorak took a step forward.

"If you know something that can help—"

"It won’t."

Aiden interrupted quietly.

"Knowing doesn’t stop it."

The hallway became unbearably still. Kaelith finally lowered his sword. Only a fraction.

He looked toward two nearby soldiers.

"Take him to the infirmary."

They carefully lifted the unconscious guard. Even while asleep...

His face remained frozen in terror. As they disappeared around the corner, no one said a word.

Rin couldn’t stop hearing those four words.

It skipped you.

Skipped him. Not missed him. Skipped. As though...

Whatever had counted the others...

Had intentionally ignored him. The thought made his skin crawl.

The search resumed.

If anything...

It became even more desperate. Hidden passages. Unused storage rooms.

Watchtowers. Guest chambers. The kitchens. Every corner of the fortress was inspected again.

Nothing. Not a single trace.

Hours passed. The tension spread through the soldiers like a sickness.

Small conversations disappeared. People spoke in whispers. Some refused to walk alone, even for a few steps.

Others constantly looked over their shoulders. No one laughed anymore. Even Vorak had fallen quiet.

Near dawn...

Kaelith and Rin found themselves patrolling one of the outer walls.

The mountains stretched endlessly beneath the pale light of early morning. Snow drifted through the air in slow, silent circles.

For several minutes... Neither spoke. Finally Kaelith broke the silence.

"You’re tired."

Rin laughed weakly.

"I think everyone’s tired."

"You haven’t slept."

"Neither have you."

"No."

"...You should."

"I will."

"When?"

"When this ends."

Rin smiled.

"So..."

"Never?"

For the briefest moment... Kaelith almost smiled back.

"Perhaps."

They continued walking. Rin rested both hands on the frozen stone wall.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You may."

"Do you actually think we’re going to find it?"

Kaelith didn’t answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the distant forest.

Finally...

"No."

Rin looked at him.

"...No?"

"We’ve searched everywhere."

"So we just keep looking?"

Kaelith slowly shook his head.

"I don’t believe we’re hunting it."

A cold breeze swept across the wall. Rin already knew what he was going to say.

Even so...

Hearing it aloud made his chest tighten.

"I believe..."

Kaelith’s voice was calm.

"...it is hunting us."

Silence settled between them. For once...

Rin had no joke to offer. No sarcastic comment. Only the unsettling realization that Kaelith was probably right.

Far below...

The fortress remained busy. Soldiers continued their search.

Torches flickered despite the growing daylight. From above...

Everything looked almost normal. Almost.

Rin looked toward the endless white valley beyond the walls. He couldn’t shake the feeling...

That somewhere... Someone was watching them.

Not with hatred. Not with anger. With curiosity.

As though they were pieces on a game board.

Waiting...

For the next move.

Morning came.

No one celebrated.

The sun rose over the mountains, painting the snow in pale gold.

Usually, the sight brought a sense of peace.

Today... It only proved that daylight changed nothing.

The Witness had not been found.

The gates remained sealed. No one entered. No one left.

The fortress breathed...

But uneasily. By midday, exhaustion had settled over everyone. Even the most disciplined soldiers struggled to stay focused.

Conversations became shorter. Eyes wandered toward empty corridors. Every unexpected sound made someone reach for a weapon.

The fear wasn’t loud anymore. It had become familiar. That frightened Rin more than anything else.

People were adapting. To being hunted. He found himself wandering through one of the older sections of the fortress.

Ancient stone walls. Narrow windows. Dust that had settled decades before.

The hallway was empty.

At least... It looked empty.

Rin stopped walking.

"...Hello?"

No answer.

He frowned.

For a second...

He could have sworn someone had been standing at the end of the corridor. Watching him.

He blinked.

Nothing.

"...You’re officially paranoid."

He muttered the words to himself.

Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling. Someone... Had just walked away.

Blue light flickered beside him.

"...Not you again."

The System appeared.

Its screen glitched before stabilizing.

Notice

Host’s heart rate elevated.

"...Really?"

Correct.

"I wonder why."

No response.

Rin sighed.

"...Can you at least tell me if the Witness is nearby?"

A long pause.

Longer than usual.

Then—

Information unavailable.

"You don’t know?"

...

"...Or you can’t tell me?"

The screen flickered violently.

For a brief instant...

A line appeared that had never appeared before.

Access denied.

Before Rin could read it properly...

It disappeared.

The usual blue interface returned.

Recommendation: Avoid isolation.

"...You are unbelievably bad at making me feel better."

The System did not respond. It simply vanished.

That afternoon...

The atmosphere in the fortress became stranger.

Not more dangerous. Stranger. Soldiers began reporting impossible things.

"I saw someone standing outside the armory."

"No one was there."

"I heard children laughing."

"There aren’t any children here."

"I watched a door open by itself."

"It never opened."

Lucien carefully wrote every report into a journal.

By evening... He quietly closed the book.

"There are too many."

Selara looked over his shoulder.

"Hallucinations?"

"I don’t think so."

"Then what?"

Lucien stared at the pages.

"I think..."

He hesitated.

"...it’s making us question our own senses."

Near sunset... Kaelith found Rin sitting alone in the courtyard. The fountain had frozen solid.

Snow collected across its edges. Rin stared at the ice without really seeing it.

Kaelith sat beside him. Neither spoke. Eventually...

Rin sighed.

"I keep thinking..."

"What?"

"What if it’s already seen all of us?"

Kaelith answered without hesitation.

"It has."

"...That doesn’t bother you?"

"It does."

"Then why are you so calm?"

Kaelith considered the question.

"I’m not calm."

Rin looked at him.

"You hide it well."

"I have to."

"For the soldiers?"

"Yes."

A pause.

"And..."

He looked toward Rin.

"...for you."

Rin looked away. The silence that followed wasn’t awkward.

It was warm. A brief refuge from everything else.

Then—

A bell rang. Not the alarm. The evening bell. The signal that another day had ended.

Yet somehow... It felt as though nothing had ended at all.

Night returned.

One by one, the corridors emptied.

Soldiers took shifts. The patrols doubled. Every torch was kept burning.

Kaelith personally ordered that no one patrol alone.

Even so... The fortress felt impossibly large.

Rin finally returned to his room.

He closed the door. Locked it. Then checked the lock again.

"...I’m becoming ridiculous."

His room was exactly as he’d left it.

The bed. The desk.

The window overlooking the valley.

Nothing unusual. He walked toward the washbasin.

Cold water splashed across his face. He closed his eyes for a moment.

The water helped.

A little. He looked up.

His reflection stared back. Messy hair. Dark circles. Tired eyes.

"...You look awful."

His reflection silently agreed.

Rin gave a weak laugh.

"I know."

He dried his face with a towel.

Then turned away. One step. Two. Three. Something...

Felt wrong. He stopped.

Every instinct in his body screamed at him.

Don’t turn around. He did anyway.

The mirror stood exactly where it had always been.

But—

His reflection... Hadn’t moved. It was still facing forward.

Still staring directly at him.

While the real Rin stood turned halfway toward the door.

His blood froze.

"..."

The reflection smiled.

Not a wide grin.

Not cruel.

Gentle.

Patient.

Almost curious.

Rin couldn’t breathe.

The reflection slowly lifted one hand.

One finger extended. It pointed. Not at Rin. Behind him.

A whisper drifted through the room. So soft... It might have been the wind.

"...Found you."

Rin spun around.

Nothing. The room was empty.

His heart hammered against his ribs. He forced himself to look back at the mirror.

The reflection matched him again.

No smile. No movement. Only himself.

A frantic knock exploded against the door.

"Rin!"

Kaelith.

Rin rushed across the room and threw the door open. Kaelith stood outside with several soldiers behind him. Sword already drawn.

"I heard your voice."

"I..."

Rin looked back toward the mirror.

"...I thought I saw something."

Kaelith followed his gaze.

The room was silent. Empty. He stepped inside without hesitation.

The soldiers searched every corner.

Under the bed. Behind the wardrobe. The window.

Nothing.

Vorak arrived moments later.

"What happened?"

Rin swallowed.

"My reflection..."

He couldn’t even finish the sentence.

No one laughed.

Not after everything that had happened.

Kaelith walked to the mirror.

He studied it for a long moment.

Then rested one gloved hand against the cold glass.

Nothing happened.

He turned back toward Rin.

"I believe you."

The same three words. Spoken with the same certainty. Just as they had been at the window the night before.

Rin let out a shaky breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Then...

A faint sound echoed somewhere deep within the fortress.

Not footsteps.

Not a scream.

A child’s laughter.

Soft.

Distant.

Gone almost as soon as it appeared.

Every soldier in the room heard it.

No one spoke. Because this time...

No one could pretend it had been their imagination.

The fortress had laughed.