The saloon doors groaned as Wu Hei pushed them open, the scent of stale whiskey and sawdust thick in the air. The interior was dim, lit by flickering oil lamps that cast long shadows across the warped wooden floor. A dozen pairs of eyes turned toward them—some wary, some indifferent, others gleaming with something darker.
The townsfolk were a ragged bunch. Men in dust-coated coats nursed drinks with mechanical sips, their fingers calloused from labor Wu Hei couldn't begin to guess at. Women in faded dresses leaned against the bar, their expressions unreadable. And at the far corner, a group of figures sat hunched over a table, their faces obscured by wide-brimmed hats.
The man in the duster coat—the one who had greeted them outside—followed them in, his spurs jingling softly with each step. "Name's Marshal," he said, tipping his hat slightly. "And you're the first outsiders we've seen in a long while."
Wu Hei scanned the room, his instincts sharp. "We're just passing through."
Marshal smirked. "Ain't we all?"
They took a table near the back, away from prying ears. Róng Róng immediately flagged down a server—a gaunt woman with hollow cheeks—and ordered a round of whatever passed for ale in this place. When the drinks arrived (a murky liquid that smelled faintly of sulfur), Wu Hei took a cautious sip before speaking.
"These people," he murmured, keeping his voice low. "They're not just constructs. They're too… real."
Yuna's ears twitched. "You think they're like us? Dragged into this place?"
Kael frowned. "Or are they part of the arena? Monsters made to look human?"
Róng Róng shuddered. "Did you see their eyes? They've been here a long time."
Wu Hei exhaled slowly, recalling the horrors of the bunker—the half-melted contestants, the forge that repurposed the fallen. "If they were people, then Kami didn't just kill them. She recycled them. Made them into… this."
Yuna's claws tapped against the table. "So what does that make the ones here? Survivors? Or just more of her puppets?"
Kael leaned in. "Does it matter? If they're intelligent, if they're suffering, then we can't just treat them like obstacles."
Wu Hei clenched his jaw. "We don't have a choice. This is a Battle Royale. Only one of us walks away."
Silence settled over the group. The weight of the unspoken truth pressed down on them—if these people were once like them, then their fate was a warning.
After a tense pause, Wu Hei pushed back from the table. "We need answers."
He approached the bar, where Marshal stood polishing a glass with a rag that had seen better days. The man didn't look up as Wu Hei leaned against the counter.
"How long have you been here?" Wu Hei asked.
Marshal chuckled dryly. "Long enough to know better than to ask questions like that."
"The darkness," Wu Hei pressed. "When does it come for this place?"
At that, Marshal's fingers stilled. He set the glass down carefully. "You've seen it, then. The void."
Wu Hei nodded.
Marshal exhaled through his nose. "Two days, maybe three. It's slow here. But when it comes…" He trailed off, his gaze distant. "Ain't no outrunning it."
Wu Hei's grip tightened on the bar. "Is there a shard in this biome?"
Marshal's eyes flicked to the twin shards at Wu Hei's chest, then back to his face. "There's talk of something buried in the old mine. But no one who goes in comes back."
Wu Hei filed that away for later. "And shelter?"
Marshal jerked his chin toward the stairs at the back of the saloon. "Rooms upstairs. Coin or trade."
Wu Hei hesitated, then reached into his pack and pulled out one of the energy drinks he'd scavenged. The liquid inside glowed faintly. "Will this cover it?"
Marshal's eyes gleamed. He took the can, turning it over in his hands. "Aye. That'll do."
Upstairs, the rooms were cramped but clean, the beds little more than straw-stuffed pallets. Wu Hei claimed one, while Yuna and Kael took the other. Róng Róng, ever the opportunist, curled up in a corner with his fursuit as a makeshift pillow.
As Wu Hei sat on the edge of the bed, rolling the stiffness from his shoulders, Kael spoke up.
"We can't stay long."
Wu Hei shook his head. "We won't. But we need rest. That bunker took more out of us than we thought."
Yuna stretched, her tail flicking. "And the shard in the mine?"
Wu Hei met her gaze. "We go at first light."
Róng Róng groaned. "More tunnels? Fantastic."
Kael smirked. "You could always stay here."
The dwarf scowled. "And let you three hog all the glory? Not a chance."
Wu Hei leaned back, staring at the cracked ceiling. The saloon's noise drifted up through the floorboards—laughter, clinking glasses, the occasional burst of song. For a moment, it almost felt normal.
But outside, the wind howled through the empty streets of Nowhere, a reminder that this was just another layer of Kami's game.
And the darkness was coming.