Next Friday arrived far faster than Blake would have liked.

And somehow, that entire week had felt unbearably long at the same time.

Honestly, he was anxious.

Far more anxious than he wanted to admit.

The mission itself was already dangerous enough, but after everything that happened recently, his mind felt even more restless than before.

The entire week had been nothing short of awkward, especially Monday.

The moment classes started that morning, Blake immediately realized neither of them knew how to act anymore.

Him and Myles couldn’t even look at each other properly.

Every time their eyes almost met, one of them immediately looked away.

It was ridiculous.

Sitting near each other suddenly felt strangely tense.

And the worst part was that neither Asher or Anthony seemed to notice anything unusual, so they just pushed them together for conversations...

Meanwhile, Blake felt like his entire body became stiff every time Myles moved even slightly closer.

Yet somehow, the evening before that had actually gone relatively normally.

They had talked.

Not perfectly, obviously, but enough to almost resemble one of their usual conversations again.

It was honestly bizarre.

Blake still couldn’t understand how the two of them managed to go from unbearable awkwardness to normalcy.

Tuesday and Wednesday slowly became better, or perhaps they simply got used to it again.

The two of them gradually returned to behaving like before, mostly.

They talked normally.

Walked together normally.

Though occasionally, there would still be moments where silence suddenly stretched too long between them.

Moments where Blake remembered the kiss all over again and nearly lost his mind.

Thankfully, Myles never brought it up again either.

Which Blake appreciated but, at the same time, didn’t appreciate.

Because part of him wanted clarification.

The other part wanted to bury himself underground permanently.

By Thursday, things had become manageable enough that Blake could finally focus fully on the mission again.

And now, it was Friday.

Time to actually begin.

Blake exhaled slowly before turning away from the mirror.

"Spoon."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

"Take out the mask."

[ Yes, Dear Host. ]

The moment the system replied, something suddenly materialized directly into Blake’s hand.

A smooth white mask.

Blake looked down at it quietly.

This thing alone had cost him far more coins than he initially wanted to spend.

Still, it was necessary.

Now he was finally ready to show off his imagination properly.

"Please work well."

He lifted the mask slowly and placed it over his face.

Then, he closed his eyes.

To be fair, Blake had spent an embarrassingly long time designing this appearance mentally.

He simply created the kind of guy he thought could realistically exist without resembling anyone specific.

He mixed together different features he found online and hoped for the best.

Thankfully, nobody similar came to mind.

As for the uniform, he had researched the AFE uniforms online carefully beforehand and recreated one nearly perfectly.

At least visually.

Whether it would hold up under actual inspection was another issue entirely.

Blake took a slow breath before opening his eyes again, then he froze slightly.

"Oh."

Honestly, he was a little shocked.

But mostly relieved.

It worked exactly how he wanted.

The person staring back at him from the mirror looked completely different.

Not super tall.

But clearly built.

Broad shoulders, toned arms, a body that looked properly trained without appearing absurdly muscular.

His hair was dark brown instead of dirty blond, slightly messy and shorter around the sides.

And his eyes were gray.

Cold-looking enough to suit the uniform.

Even his facial structure had changed entirely.

Sharper jawline.

Straighter nose.

Slightly paler skin.

Blake stared at himself for another moment before sighing quietly in relief.

"Okay..."

At least that part was successful.

He reached up briefly, touching the side of his face, but there was no time to stand around admiring it.

Blake looked toward the table nearby.

Another item rested there.

A gun.

His expression darkened slightly.

He had bought it from the system shop two days ago.

Fifty coins.

He wanted to check on the favorability level, but this was at least going to help in the long run, for other missions...

Blake picked it up carefully.

He genuinely hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

But if things became dangerous, then he might have no choice.

Still, he had already decided one thing.

If he had to shoot, he would be careful not to kill anyone.

As long as possible.

He checked the safety briefly before hiding it properly beneath the uniform jacket.

Then he straightened again.

"I’ll sneak for my lover."

As always, he felt lighter.

He clicked his tongue quietly.

Soon, he would upgrade it to A-rank, but that required one hundred coins.

And right now, he absolutely did not have that many left.

Which meant B-rank would have to do.

Hopefully, it was enough.

Blake took one final breath before heading toward the apartment door.

Then he left.

Outside, the air felt colder than usual.

Or maybe he was simply nervous.

Blake shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward the nearest bus stop calmly.

At this point, there was no turning back anyway.

A few minutes later, he got onto the bus quietly and sat near the back.

Nobody paid attention to him, as expected.

The ride itself felt painfully long.

Blake spent most of it staring silently out the window while mentally repeating the underground map over and over again.

Left turn.

Straight corridor.

Second security split.

Emergency tunnel.

He had memorized everything as carefully as possible.

Still, anxiety kept pressing against the back of his mind.

What if something changed?

What if the blueprints were outdated?

What if...

Blake shut his eyes briefly.

’No, thinking too much would only make things worse.’

Eventually, he got off near another city.

Compared to his own area, this place looked far more industrial.

Empty roads, large buildings and few to no people around.

Blake adjusted the collar of his uniform slightly before walking further away from the main streets.

And walked.

And walked.

The deeper he went, the quieter things became.

Eventually, he reached an abandoned-looking area near several old concrete structures.

Almost nobody came here.

Perfect.

Blake stopped near the sealed sewer entrance and exhaled slowly.

’Right.’

Who even knew if this would actually work?

For a brief second, he simply stared down at the heavy metal covering.

Then he crouched slightly and punched it.

Clang.

The metal dented inward slightly.

Blake blinked.

’That’s actually insane.’

The strength upgrade really worked.

He immediately punched it again.

Harder.

Then again.

And again.

The metal groaned loudly beneath the force.

Cracks formed around the edges.

Crash!

The entire entrance finally broke apart violently.

Blake didn’t waste even a second.

He immediately jumped down into the opening.

The moment after...

Slam.

Another thick metal barrier suddenly shut above the entrance automatically.

And then...

WEEEEEOOOOOOO—

An alarm exploded through the underground tunnel, and it was incredibly loud, to the point Blake nearly flinched, although he knew it would go off.

"Shit."

He immediately started running.

The underground path stretched ahead exactly how he remembered from the blueprints.

’Good...’

His footsteps echoed sharply while the alarm continued screaming overhead.

Somewhere deeper inside the tunnel system, voices suddenly erupted.

Then footsteps. There were men carrying rifles immediately began rushing through nearby pathways.

Blake reacted instantly.

He slowed down slightly and blended directly into the moving crowd.

Nobody questioned him immediately.

His uniform helped enormously.

On his chest rested an AFE badge that looked believable enough from a distance.

Of course, if anyone actually scanned it properly, it would probably fail instantly.

Which meant he needed to avoid speaking as much as possible.

Blake kept his mouth shut tightly.

Thankfully, his skill helped.

People’s attention naturally slid away from him quickly.

Even so, he remained tense, especially because of his voice.

Blake had genuinely practiced lowering it during the week.

Unfortunately, after two sentences, it started sounding completely ridiculous, so speaking little was definitely the better strategy.

The soldiers around him continued rushing toward the breached entrance area.

’Perfect.’

That gave him room to separate quietly from the group, slipping away down another corridor calmly.

His heartbeat hammered loudly in his chest.

But eventually, the AFE doors finally came into view ahead.

Blake nearly sighed in relief.

Two armed soldiers stood guard outside.

’Go on.’

He forced himself to walk confidently toward them.

The soldiers only fully noticed him when he got close enough to speak.

"I only went out for a second," Blake said shortly.

Thankfully, his lowered voice sounded acceptable that time, the two guards immediately straightened.

"Badge."

Blake’s stomach tightened slightly as one of them held out a scanner.

"Badge," the guard repeated.

Blake remained silent.

He simply stood there.

Not moving much.

Not looking either of them directly in the eye.

The seconds stretched as planned, and the soldiers’ focused expressions slowly loosened.

Their attention visibly blurred, as if Blake himself suddenly became less important to look at.

Less memorable.

The first guard lowered the scanner slightly.

"You here to take one out?"

’Take one out?’

He had absolutely no idea what they meant.

But after a brief hesitation, he simply nodded once.

Immediately, the atmosphere relaxed entirely.

"Then go ahead."

The doors unlocked.

"Thanks."

Thankfully, his voice held together for one more sentence.

Then he immediately walked inside before anything else could happen.

The moment the doors shut behind him, Blake finally released the breath he had been holding.

’Holy shit... that actually worked.’

He genuinely thought he was about to get caught.

Still, he couldn’t relax yet, not even close.

Blake looked around carefully.

The interior of the AFE looked colder than he expected.

Gray walls.

Metal floors.

Bright white lighting.

And strangely empty.

"Hm?"

Blake frowned slightly.

There were no visible cells nearby.

No prisoners either.

Only long hallways stretching deeper inside the facility.

For a moment, he wondered if he entered the wrong section.

But according to the blueprints, this was correct.

Blake started walking carefully through the corridors, glancing around every corner while remaining alert.

The deeper he went, the quieter everything became.

Then finally, he found them.

Cells.

An entire hallway filled with them.

Long rows extending deep into the facility, heavy reinforced doors, small observation windows...

Everything exactly as he expected, except for one thing.

It was completely silent.

Blake slowed slightly.

His footsteps suddenly sounded far too loud.

No yelling.

No movement.

No banging against doors.

Nothing.

The prisoners inside the cells made absolutely no noise at all.

And somehow, that felt far more terrifying than screaming would have.

A cold feeling slowly crept down Blake’s spine.

Were they asleep or watching him?

His eyes moved carefully across the dark cell windows.

For some reason, the entire hallway felt wrong.

Like something dangerous was quietly waiting behind those doors.

Blake swallowed once unconsciously.

The silence was so unnatural it genuinely scared him.

’Are the criminals waiting for a chance to attack me or?’

The thought alone made his shoulders tense instantly.

And yet, the hallway remained completely still.

Only the sound of Blake’s own breathing echoed faintly as he stood there staring into the endless row of silent cells.

Then, a faint metallic noise echoed somewhere deeper inside the corridor.

Blake immediately looked up.

And the silence somehow became even heavier.