Starting With SSS-rank: I Get A New Skill Every Livestream-Chapter 16: Trapped and escaped

Layena rushed toward the station as fast as her legs could carry her.

It was unlike the Commander to suspect something so unusual without concrete evidence. She was not a woman who acted on instinct alone.

The Genesis sensors installed across the sector were top tier. They could endure the presence of multiple Grade One warriors at once, even someone like Layena herself, without so much as flickering.

Only Ascendant-grade beings could disrupt them. Someone on the level of Astortia Blake or their own Commander possessed enough overwhelming pressure to damage those systems.

But Astortia was severely injured.

And the Commander was nowhere near the site.

Which left a single possibility.

An unregistered high-grade warrior?

No. That seemed unlikely.

The organization monitored individuals of that caliber without fail. In times as chaotic as these, no powerful sorcerer would recklessly leave their jurisdiction and interfere with another territory.

Her figure was a blur for anyone who passed by, so fast that they could barely register someone just crossed by them.

As she drew closer to the location, she felt it too. The congregation of Genesis was staggering from the alley.

Her eyes saw a sun rising from that narrow street and for a moment, she believed in sending a message for backup. Because this...was not something she was expecting

But then, she decided to inspect the area for once and then only contact the base.

As she closed in to the alley, her feet stumbled into nothing. Her mind failed to register the disappearance of the brightness.

An insane amount of Genesis and it suddenly, "Vanished?" She frowned. What just happened?

She still continued to move closer to the alley and finally stepped into the darkness.

Her eyes swept across the narrow alley, and there he was.

From his height and build, he looked like a boy, but the hood and face mask hid everything. The dim light did him favors, swallowing whatever features might have given him away.

He glanced at her once, then sprinted toward the other end of the alley.

Layela exhaled and chased after him, moving far faster. Whatever she had sensed earlier must have been a mistake. An elite Nightwalker would never run this slow.

"Where are you going?" she asked as she appeared at the far end of the alley, cutting him off, eyes narrowing.

For a second, their gazes locked.

Dark green eyes.

She had seen them before.

The boy ducked and rolled to his left.

Layela frowned. "Hey. Hey!"

He did not wait. After kicking a dustbin aside, as if he had placed it there himself, he slid through a small hole in the wall.

She clicked her tongue and glanced up. Barbed wires crowned the wall, making it taller than she liked.

Grunting, she sprinted forward, leapt, and landed atop a garbage trunk. From there she vaulted cleanly over the wall, not a single spike grazing her.

A vast garden stretched before her, the mansion looming in darkness.

She searched for him, only to find him already halfway through the same narrow opening that led into the mansion.

Their eyes met again.

There was mirth in them.

Thud.

She landed with a low growl and scanned the area once more.

"WOOF!"

A dog lunged at her, powerful and fast, a trained guard.

Layela cursed under her breath. With no platform to leap back over the wall, she had no choice but to dive for the same tunnel.

She sprinted, rolled, and slid face first into the hole. The sudden rush of panic at the barking dulled her thoughts for a heartbeat. As she emerged halfway through, she saw him again.

Standing there.

Holding a bin filled with garbage above his head.

"No, guh!"

She threw up an arm, but it was useless. Wet, rancid trash poured over her, drenching her face and hair in a suffocating stench.

Crunch.

Her ankle exploded in pain as the dog’s teeth sank into it.

She cried out and whipped her head toward the boy, hatred blazing in her eyes.

That was when she saw it.

He gave her a brief, almost polite bow of apology before turning and sprinting away.

She clicked her tongue again, tasting something sour and vile, then jerked her leg hard enough to send the dog stumbling back.

Using the moment, she slid out and wiped the garbage from her face with her hands.

....

’It was fucked up...’

As Kyle ran through the silent streets toward his home, he let out a long breath. The night air burned his lungs, but not as much as the memory of those dark violet eyes meeting his.

He knew her. She was from his university. But surely not someone he was expecting to see here. However, that wasn’t the only thing that surprised him.

The moment that girl appeared, the system had alerted him.

Nightwalker.

High threat.

That was enough.

He knew he had to run. And so he did, relying not on power, but on familiarity. He had spent quite a long time roaming these streets, cutting through alleys, memorizing dead ends, mapping escape routes out of boredom and necessity.

Kyle had a past of running.

More than once, he had been forced to disappear before things turned ugly. He was not the type to pick fights without reason, but he was not the type to bow his head either. If there was a chance to win, he would take it. If there wasn’t, he would leave.

He was not stupid enough to let pride get him killed.

And tonight, that instinct had saved him.

He shook his head, trying to calm his breathing. He was just about to ask the system how much time remained for the quest—

"You really have some nerve to dump garbage on my face."

Kyle froze.

The cold voice cut through the empty street.

His entire body stiffened. For a split second, even his thoughts halted.

Slowly, he turned his head.

There she was.

Arms folded. Posture relaxed. Eyes sharp enough to carve flesh. Even from a distance, her presence pressed down on him like invisible weight.

Danger.

Kyle inhaled carefully, forcing his heartbeat to slow. His eyes scanned the surroundings without moving his head.

The street was wide. Open. No alleys. No convenient obstacles. Streetlights flickered overhead, exposing everything.

There were no buildings close enough to the vault over. No narrow passages to squeeze through. Even his own house was still far ahead.

This route had only one exit.

Forward.

And she was behind him.

Just then, the girl flinched. Her whole aura shifted and her eyes widened.

A chill crept down his spine as well as Kyle suddenly felt the air around them changing

That’s when, the system alerted him,

[A rift has appeared, host! It’s your chance to escape!]

On his left, he saw it.

Death.