Tyler’s warning had barely finished before everyone understood the danger for themselves.

They ran.

Not because Tyler ordered it again, but because behind them the advancing wall of energy had already begun swallowing the city block they had just left.

Buildings disappeared the moment the barrier touched them.

Concrete cracked, windows shattered into white dust, and entire structures dissolved in silence inside the moving light as though erased rather than destroyed.

It did not explode.

It simply removed whatever it passed through.

That made it even more frightening.

Tyler ran first, with Tansy beside him, Rose close behind, and old man Rudd keeping pace despite his age. The road ahead stretched through abandoned intersections and broken signs while the pale glow behind them continued approaching at a steady speed.

No one wasted breath speaking.

Every few seconds Tyler glanced back just enough to judge distance.

The barrier was not fast enough to catch them immediately, but slow enough to force constant movement.

Then, just as they crossed another side road, something moved in the bushes near the pavement.

Sarasara—

The rustling came sharp and sudden.

Before Tyler fully turned, the bush burst apart.

A man jumped out between them, gun already raised.

His target was obvious—old man Rudd.

But before the ambusher could fire properly—

Bang.

The shot came first from Rudd.

The old man had drawn and fired almost instinctively.

The ambusher jerked backward, the bullet striking him before his own finger completed the trigger pull.

For one absurd second the scene looked so sudden and ridiculous that even Rose blinked.

A hidden enemy had appeared like some wild creature jumping out of tall grass, only to be dropped instantly.

The man collapsed into the roadside weeds, groaning in shock.

Rudd lowered his gun and muttered with dry satisfaction:

"Call the ambulance... but not for me."

Even Tyler almost laughed despite the situation.

The old man walked over and checked the fallen weapon.

"Oh," he said while picking it up, "this gun looks bigger."

He also took the magazines quickly.

Tyler did not object.

After all, Tyler had already copied enough guns and magazines earlier using the copper pot, then deliberately left them hidden inside one abandoned house so the group could "accidentally" discover them after the ape battle.

That way no one questioned how they had gained more supplies.

The entire ambush had happened so fast it almost felt absurd.

Bush moves.

Enemy appears.

Enemy gets defeated instantly.

Spoils collected.

Like an old game event.

Tyler glanced around more carefully now.

"That’s good," he said. "Which means there may be more people hiding ahead. Watch every corner."

They resumed running.

Then—

Bang.

Another shot.

Everyone instinctively turned.

Rose stood with her gun raised toward another bush farther down the road.

Smoke rose from the barrel.

She narrowed her eyes for one second.

Then clicked her tongue.

"Tsk. Just a bush."

Her tone sounded genuinely disappointed.

Tansy reached her in two quick steps and lightly bonked her head.

"Stop wasting bullets and run."

Rose rubbed her head but obeyed immediately.

The group continued moving.

Only after they disappeared did that same bush move again.

A man slowly crawled out from behind it, clutching his shoulder.

Blood ran between his fingers.

Tears filled his eyes—not from fear alone, but from pain and sheer bad luck.

He glared toward the road where Tyler’s group had vanished.

Then quickly ran the opposite direction.

Behind him, the moving energy barrier reached the earlier ambush point.

The body of the first ambusher—the one Rudd had shot—lay where it had fallen.

The moment the barrier touched it, the corpse reduced to ash instantly.

Nothing remained.

No blood.

No body.

Just empty road.

After crossing another stretch of road and climbing over a low water tank structure near an intersection, Tyler finally signaled stop.

Everyone paused to breathe.

For the moment, the glowing wall no longer looked immediately close.

Tansy turned and watched carefully.

"It stopped moving?"

Tyler nodded and then shook his head.

"Not permanently."

He studied the visible arc of light farther away.

Then he explained his thought.

"I don’t think this is a wall pushing from one direction. It’s probably a circular barrier around the whole battlefield."

The others looked at him.

Tyler continued calmly:

"And if I’m right, it’ll keep shrinking after fixed intervals."

That assumption came naturally to him.

He had seen systems like this before— not here, but in Boundless world, in virtual survival games designed exactly to force players toward conflict.

A shrinking safe zone.

A forced center.

No endless hiding.

Tansy understood immediately.

"So eventually..."

She looked toward the city center.

"...we all move inward."

Tyler nodded.

"And that means sooner or later we meet the other teams."

The road ahead suddenly felt narrower than before.

The place had become quieter after that, but not in a comforting way. It was the kind of silence that made every sound feel suspicious, as though something hidden was always waiting just beyond sight. Tyler moved first along the broken side road he was carrying the new gun that Old Man Rudd looted, his steps careful but steady, while Tansy kept watching the rooftops and Rose stayed alert near the rear with her gun held tightly in both hands. Old man Rudd walked between them, his metal staff resting across one shoulder as if he had already accepted that danger would come again before they found another place to rest.

Far ahead, a flicker of movement appeared between two abandoned buses. Tyler immediately raised one hand, signaling everyone to stop. They crouched behind a cracked concrete divider and watched carefully. For several seconds nothing happened. Then a stray dog emerged, thin and dusty, carrying a torn piece of cloth in its mouth before disappearing into another alley.

Rose exhaled softly. "For a second I thought it was another machine."

Tyler did not relax. "In this game, even a dog might not stay just a dog."

Tyler was right it was not a real dog.

The wind moved through broken windows nearby, producing a hollow whistle that sounded almost like distant voices. None of them spoke again as they resumed walking.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

"Damn it... I’ll kill that little brat... She shot my arm... Aah—"

The man who had barely escaped Rose’s shot stumbled behind a half-collapsed roadside wall and leaned heavily against it, breathing hard through clenched teeth. His shoulder still burned where the bullet had torn through flesh. Blood had soaked part of his sleeve, and every movement sent another pulse of pain down his arm.

He quickly took out a small metallic cup from his supply pouch.

The device looked simple at first glance, but the moment he pressed it against the wound, its inner surface glowed blue. A low humming sound followed. Then suction activated.

The cup locked onto the wound like a magnet.

The man gritted his teeth harder.

Inside the transparent edge of the device, tiny metal fragments began pulling outward—small scraps from the bullet impact, torn particles from his own weapon strap, and finally the bullet itself.

The cup clicked once.

The bullet dropped inside with a sharp metallic sound.

Only then did the suction stop.

He removed the cup carefully, breathing through his nose while trying not to curse louder.

A rough hole remained in the flesh, but at least the metal was gone.

He quickly wrapped a bandage around his shoulder, tightening it until the bleeding slowed.

"Damn little demon..." he muttered again, still thinking of Rose.

After finishing, he sat down on the broken edge of the pavement and pulled out a strip of canned jerky from his pack.

The dry meat tasted terrible, but hunger mattered more now.

He chewed while listening to the city around him.

Silence.

No footsteps.

No voices.

Only distant wind moving through empty streets.

Then—

A metallic sound.

Something rolling.

He froze immediately.

The jerky stopped halfway to his mouth.

A barrel rolled slowly across the road nearby, turning on its side before settling against broken concrete.

The sound had not come from nowhere.

Someone had touched it.

He stood at once, raising his gun with his good arm.

The pain in his shoulder flared again, but adrenaline pushed it aside.

He aimed toward the direction where the barrel had come from.

No movement.

Still, he began walking slowly.

One careful step after another.

Gun raised.

Eyes fixed.

"Who is it?" he shouted, trying to sound confident despite the dryness in his throat.

No answer.

He took two more steps.

Then suddenly something jumped.

A rabbit burst out from behind broken debris and landed on the road before darting sideways.

"Ah—!"

The man flinched so hard he fired instantly.

Bang.

The shot hit the road near the rabbit, missing completely as the animal vanished into the ruined street.

For a second he remained frozen.

Then nervous laughter escaped him.

"Ha... ha..."

He lowered the gun slightly.

Then laughed again, louder now from relief.

"Hahaha..."

He wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Just a rabbit..."

His breathing slowed.

The street returned to silence again.

Then something wet landed on his shoulder.

A thick drop.

Heavy.

Warm.

He frowned.

Slowly looked up.

Another drop landed.

Larger this time.

Sticky.

Saliva.

His expression changed instantly.

He turned—

But he never had time to scream.

A huge shadow dropped from above.

The sound that followed was not a shout. It was Not a gunshot. Only tearing and then chewing.

Slow, heavy chewing echoing through the empty road while the barrel kept rolling a little farther in silence.