Sean didn't sleep.
The man outside had vanished before dawn, but the unease lingered.
He wasn't afraid, he was calculating.
That's how he'd always been.
---
Morning came gray and quiet, with soft rain tapping against the windows.
Sean sat on his floor, phone in hand, staring at Survive.
He hadn't touched it again since last night.
But today, his thoughts were sharper.
"I need to know exactly what this thing can do," he muttered.
---
He spent the early hours watching more videos this time, on tracking, hiding digital footprints, and learning about aliases.
Somewhere between videos, a random news clip auto-played.
It wasn't loud, but the words caught Sean's attention.
"Still no signs of the so-called 'phantom leader' connected to the vanished artifact circle now widely known as A Dozen Shadow."
Sean's eyes stayed calm, watching quietly.
"Authorities and private agencies worldwide remain on alert after detecting what they call a faint digital trace of an artifact's use the first signal since the leader's disappearance."
The news anchor didn't linger on it. They quickly shifted back to another topic.
But Sean's mind stayed locked on those words.
"Artifact's use?"
---
He said nothing, but a chill passed through him.
His phone remained quiet in his hand.
---
Later in the day, Pretty sent another message, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Uy, murag nawala ka gahapon. Okay ra ka?"
("Hey, you seemed gone yesterday. Are you alright?")
Sean's fingers hovered over the reply button for a moment.
Then he typed slowly.
"Naminaw ra ko'g ulan. Nindot man paminawon usahay."
("I was just listening to the rain. Sometimes, it's nice to hear.")
She replied almost instantly.
"Abi nako'ng unsa na. Di sad magpawala. Naa rako diri, ha?"
("I thought something happened. Don't just disappear, okay? I'm just here, alright?")
Sean stared at her words, his face unreadable—but somewhere inside, something softened just slightly.
"Shadow."
Every time she said it, that name settled deeper into him.
---
As the night approached, Sean glanced out the window again.
No One's watching this time.
But in a hidden room far away somewhere he didn't even know existed people were already talking about him.
A quiet voice from the shadows whispered over a glowing screen.
"Trace confirmed. Artifact classified as Leader Level has been reactivated."
Another voice, colder and sharper, replied.
"Then it begins."
---
Sean closed his curtains for the night, unaware of the storm slowly building around him.
But deep down, something in him already knew
His quiet world was about to change.