I sat cross-legged in the corner of Aki's paper fortress, flipping through a thick volume of Demon's War Journal—a novel I'd always wanted to read but never had the time for.
"You're still here?" Aki asked, eyes still glued to his book.
I didn't look up. "First tell me—where the hell did you get all these beauties?"
"Some are mine," he said casually. "Others are from the mall I was in when the apocalypse started."
"…Wait, so you're telling me the world was ending, and your first thought was 'Let me hoard every manga in the building'?"
He finally looked up. "It's my life. My choices."
Fair.
Eventually, I explained why I was really there—that I believed there was a shapeshifter hiding somewhere in the apartment.
Predictably, he didn't believe me.
But it did interest him. "If there's really a shapeshifter," he said, "that's the most exciting thing since Volume 89's betrayal arc."
So we made a deal.
A few hours later, we stood in front of Jun, asking for keys to access the sealed areas.
Jun blinked at us like he was seeing a unicorn.
"How the hell did you convince Aki to leave his room?" he asked. "Tessa's gonna freak. You should've filmed it."
Aki and I looked at each other, shrugged, and said in sync:
"Anime."
Jun chuckled—until he glanced at me. "Hey, Ash… have you met Tessa?"
My face twisted instinctively.
"No. And I hope I never do. She's a real bi—"
The sentence spilled out before my brain could hit the brakes.
"I mean, seriously. She assaulted me, locked me up, and walks around like she owns the world. I'd rather have a shapeshifter roommate than see her face again."
Aki slowly turned to me. "Tessa's my best friend."
I blinked.
"…Oh."
Jun's smile didn't fade, but his eyes were cold enough to refrigerate the room.
"She's also my girlfriend," he added.
I gave a weak thumbs up. "Right. She's… awesome."
Too late.
Keys in hand, we got back to work. This time, we focused on the basement—searching every inch: behind cars, under benches, storage crates, fuel drums. Nothing. No core. No fluid trails. No misplaced limbs.
We were exhausted. Time had lost meaning.
"Should we sleep first and search again later?" Aki finally asked, rubbing his eyes behind foggy glasses.
"Yeah," I yawned. "Good idea."
We locked the basement and trudged up the stairs like sleep-deprived zombies.
I was fiddling with my room key, trying to remember which one was mine so Aki could lock the door after me, when a familiar and unwanted voice cut through the silence.
"Oh! Aki, I'm surprised to see you out of your room—"
Then she noticed me.
Her smile vanished.
"Why are you out of your room?"
Tessa.
"Uhh…" I blinked. "Wanted some fresh air… and, uh, sunshine?"
At midnight.
She didn't buy it.
What followed was inevitable.
The hallway turned into a courtroom.
I stood in the center of a gathering crowd alongside Jun and Aki, facing Silas—who looked like a disappointed principal about to revoke our lunch privileges.
He wasn't angry that I'd left the room.
He was angry that Jun and Aki had kept it from him.
Aki and I were barely conscious, half-asleep as Silas scolded Jun with enough intensity to wake the dead.
Eventually, the yelling faded.
We were told we couldn't leave again. Not yet.
We didn't care.
We were out cold on the floor within minutes.
Hours later, Jun gently shook me awake.
"From now on," he said, "you're officially under my batch—the Second Batch. That means night shift. Stick with us. And for the love of humanity, stay away from First Batch workers."
I nodded, too tired to argue.
Then I turned my head and closed my eyes again.
This time, I told myself, I won't let anyone die.
Not again.