Starting With SSS-rank: I Get A New Skill Every Livestream-Chapter 83: Nothing changed

[Kyle’s POV:]

It took some time, but Amanda eventually calmed down. I could tell she had been holding it in for a long while. She wasn’t someone who opened up easily, especially about things this close to her.

One of the many things about her I could relate to.

I handed her my handkerchief. "Do you feel better now? Want me to get you something to drink?"

Amanda let out a small chuckle. "Kyle... I’m not going to get dehydrated from this."

I smiled. "Well, I don’t see you cry like this very often." Gently holding her hand, I asked, "What exactly happened on your birthday? I could tell it was something serious, considering you couldn’t make it on time."

She nodded softly. "In our team... only Layena has experience fighting a Ghoul-ranked creature. It’s really tough, Kyle. Terrifying too. If you ever see one... just run, okay?"

I gave her a helpless smile. Should I tell her I’ve already fought one before? No... she’d just worry.

So I stayed quiet and listened.

"Layena wasn’t around," she continued, "and we had to evacuate an entire hospital from the red zone. The monster’s influence had already started spreading. You might’ve seen the news about Tuebang Hospital being cleared due to a sudden pathogen outbreak."

I blinked in surprise. "Yeah... I did hear something about that."

Amanda nodded. "That’s how it works. The organization I work for manipulates the news so the general public never gets even a hint of what’s really out there."

I nodded in understanding.

She glanced at me again, her bright eyes filled with curiosity. "When did you awaken Genesis?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

For a moment, I just stared at her.

Then I lifted her chin and kissed her soft cheek once... twice... thrice.

"Mmaah! Kyle..." she squealed, melting into my arms.

Ah... this felt nice.

As if I had been missing something for days. Something vital, something I needed just to breathe properly. And now, it had finally returned.

"I awakened not long ago," I said softly. "You must’ve heard about the sudden surge of Genesis from my house. That was me."

Strangely, I didn’t feel any hesitation telling her.

Even after convincing myself that Amanda had betrayed me, that I could never trust her again... words I had hidden from everyone else came out so easily around her.

Was I being a fool in love?

...Who cares. I didn’t want to lie to her.

"Hm? Then as a Nightwalker, does that make me your senior now?" she asked, leaning closer, excitement clear on her face.

I grinned. "Yes, it does. So you’ll have to guide me through this jungle of adventures, senior. I’ll be relying on you every step of the way."

I can tell when someone is flustered.

And I can tell when someone is smug.

Right now, Amanda was both.

Puffing out her chest, cheeks tinted red, she said, "Don’t worry, my dear junior. This elder sister will never leave your side. You can rely on me as much as you want."

I shook my head. She never changed.

And I loved everything about that.

She leaned against me again, our fingers intertwining as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And maybe it was.

It felt instinctive, like we had never broken up, like we hadn’t spent ten days apart.

"Kyle," she said softly, her tone lowering, "...are you in trouble?"

I sighed, immediately understanding what she meant. "The whole rogue situation? Yeah... I’m trying to stay off the system’s radar as much as possible. If I get exposed, my life will turn into hell."

A late awakening would raise questions I couldn’t answer.

Restrictions on movement.

A ban on streaming.

No freedom to hunt the way I wanted.

And then there were the things I carried... the kind that would make anyone suspicious.

The Golden Limb.

My situation.

Yeah, I had more than enough reasons to stay away from the authorities for as long as possible.

I felt Amanda snuggle into my chest, her eyes gently closing.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered, "Nervous?"

"Mmhm... just thinking." She let out a soft breath before asking, "What if we just disappear one day? Go somewhere far away from all this... just the two of us?"

I smiled, resting my head lightly against hers. "That sounds more tempting than anything... but we both know it’s not possible."

She knew it too.

That’s why she didn’t argue. She simply went still in my arms.

Exhaling softly, I said, "Don’t worry. Everything will be fine."

I didn’t doubt it.

No matter what stood in our way, I would tear through it.

Because now... I had a strong enough reason to be stubborn until the end.

.....

[Third Person POV:]

Layena sat in her room, forced to share it with someone she didn’t even know.

Thankfully, the girl kept to herself, quiet and uninterested in anything beyond her own space.

Layena lay on the bed, her eyes fixed on the tracking monitor.

The tracker she had planted on Kyle.

Between uncertainty and duty, she had chosen duty. Even if it meant risking her license, even if it meant consequences she couldn’t ignore, she had taken that step to catch the rogue Nightwalker.

Ethan had sounded confident.

And the reasoning he provided had been enough to push her forward.

Right now, Kyle’s signal blinked steadily from the back garden of the resort, unmoving.

Layena wondered if he was simply enjoying the quiet of nature.

’He really does feel like a different person.’

Even when he stood among others, there was a sense of distance around him, as if he existed slightly apart, wrapped in his own world.

He wasn’t loud or rude. He spoke when approached and never backed down when someone crossed a line.

Men like him were rare these days.

’I wonder what he might be doing...’

The thought had barely formed when—

BZZ

Her phone buzzed.

She pulled it out instantly, her eyes widening the moment she saw the caller ID.

Without wasting a second, she stood up and glanced at her roommate.

Then, without a word, she stepped out.

Her pace quickened as she moved down the hallway, stopping only when she reached the far end of the lobby where no rooms were nearby.

Only then did she answer the call.

{You’ve got some nerve. Ignoring my message and almost missing my call too.}

Layena swallowed hard.

There was no mistaking it.

The commander was furious.

Collecting her thoughts, she replied immediately, "I apologize, Commander. I went straight to speak with Ethan after reading the report."

A soft hum came from the other end before the question followed.

{And? What did you tell him? What reason did he give for his actions?}

That was where Layena faltered.

She had rarely lied in her life, especially not to the woman she admired, the one she saw as both a guardian and an inspiration.

Her gaze dropped to the tracker in her hand.

And then, unbidden, Veronica’s smiling face surfaced in her mind, the memory of the day she had saved her years ago.

Layena stood there, caught between two loyalties.

Unable to move forward.

°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading.