Vorn finds me the next morning.

I’m at the quest board outside the Undercroft entrance, although not because I’m looking for a quest – I’m classified as unclassifiable with around thirty-something EXP and a social skill, so the quest board probably doesn’t consider me their target demographic anyway – but rather because there’s something concrete for me to focus on when I need to think, and there’s plenty of things I have to think about.

There’s no sign of Lyra’s Unraveling on the wiki. It just says ’Generating’ underneath where the information used to be; it’s been generating all night long.

Vorn sits down next to me, on the stone bench next to the quest board.

He doesn’t sit down across from me – next to me. Side by side. We face in the same direction. As if we’re two observers rather than conversationalists, which, if his actions are anything to go by, is entirely intentional.

I don’t turn to look at Vorn.

He doesn’t look at me.

His UI floats into my field of vision.

---

> **VORN** — Independent Contractor *(Unaffiliated)*

> Combat Rank: A-

> Relationship / Lyra: 381/1000

> Active Flags: 4

> Mood: Assessing

> Hidden: ⚠️ [Observe — 30% reveal attempt... failed]

> Hidden: [REDACTED]

---

It’s still redacted. Observe at thirty percent is clearly not enough to access any flag information. I make a note to keep watching.

"You came to the stall last night," Vorn says. It sounds like an offhand remark, as if he’s commenting on the weather.

"Yeah."

"Lyra said you were in touch."

I glance at the quest board. There’s a new bounty listed today. A floor 2 material run, decent reward, but the recommendation is C-rank, way above my level. "We spoke."

"What about?"

Not a question. At least, the structure of the question is a question, but the tone makes it obvious that he already knows some of the details and is waiting to hear how much of his guess is right.

"Fabric," I tell him. "Mainly."

Silence. The entrance to the dungeon pulses with the rune-hum of low frequency twenty feet away. Two D-rank adventurers come into the guild, permit papers out, the efficient pre-quest excitement of people who’ve done this so many times that they have a ritualized process.

"You’ve been in Ashveil for a week."

"About."

"Unclassified. No guild affiliations. Childhood friend of Daren’s. Passing through." He gives it to me like a character sheet entry. Neutral. Comprehensive. "Those are some unique attributes to have."

"It’s humble origins."

There’s something in his expression, something that isn’t quite a smile but closer to acknowledging that a smile should have been there. "You don’t act like you’re passing through."

"How do I act?"

He turns to look at me, really look at me for the first time since we started talking. Direct. Flat. Full focus. The Observe skill goes through its check, no input required.

---

> Flag Pulse: Assessment — threat classification initiated. Target: Kai. Classification process ongoing.

> Mood: Evaluating → Interested

> Flag Updated: Reclassification from irrelevant to variable. First example.

---

Reclassified from irrelevant to variable.

Yesterday, at the market row, I was irrelevant. Today, I’m variable. I consider the difference between these two categories and wonder why Vorn is the one to reclassify me.

"You know where everything is before it even gets there."

"Good instincts."

He leans back into his chair and lets some of his weight redistribute itself, as if taking time to consider the answer to my question was natural for him. "Daren trusts you."

"We go way back."

"Lyra quickly warmed up to you."

"I’m a likable guy."

"You’re friendly," he acknowledges. "That’s one of your skills."

That’s right, he knows my skills. Not the one I told him, not the one Daren mentioned – he must have assessed me himself once, somewhere along the line, without me noticing.

I look at him again.

"You checked my stats."

"And you checked mine," he says casually. "When we met at the Broken Crown, you were reading my UI."

I did. He clocked it. He didn’t say anything and filed it away, waiting for an entire week to remind me of it, which – as it turns out – is perfectly consistent with all of the information the wiki had ever taught me about Vorn.

"Then we’re both doing our homework," I say.

"Yeah, I guess." He looks toward the dungeon entrance. "What keeps coming up for me is why a non-classified childhood friend with social skills is doing homework."

The D-rank party enters the dungeon, and the guard returns to issuing his permits. The runes glow steady and slow.

I wonder about my pending thirty-one EXP and the wiki entry that’s still working behind my mind’s eye.

"Daren means a lot to me," I say. "I pay attention to what happens to people I care about."

"Good call." Pause. "Lyra?"

"She means a lot to Daren."

"She means a lot to Daren," he echoes. Softly. Like he’s testing the weight of the words.

There’s silence for a while.

I notice his Mood gauge changing out of the corner of my eye.

---

> Mood: Interested → Calculating

---

"And what was your conversation?" he asks. It’s not really a question anymore. Just a statement of fact. He sounds more certain now.

I hold his gaze and he holds mine. For ten seconds, it’s only the two of us in the early morning sun outside a dungeon entrance, and I consider the wiki entry’s description of how Vorn operates: he doesn’t care if she likes him; there’s another thing he wants from her. I think about how 91/100 is still pending and how many degrees of angles I left Lyra with yesterday evening.

"I told her she should speak to Daren," I say. "That’s all." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

He is silent for a very long time.

"That’s all?" he asks.

"That’s all."

Vorn turns to look at the quest board. There’s some subtle shift happening inside his jaw. Not tension, more like recalibration. The physical manifestation of a file update.

"Interesting strategy," he says after a long minute.

"I’m a simple man."

"You’re not." He says it flatly, but it carries more conviction than any emphatic delivery could have. "Simple men don’t put themselves in the way of a variable and its catalyst forty-five seconds prior to the catalyst’s appearance."

He stands. As unhurried as always, like he has a great deal of time to spare and everyone else can just wait.

---

> **VORN** — Independent Contractor *(Unaffiliated)*

> Combat Rank: A-

> Mood: Calculating → Patient

> Hidden: [REDACTED]

> New Flag: ⚠️ Variable assessment — Kai. Status: Active.

---

He’s flagged me as an active priority item on his list. It appears in his UI and carries a unique kind of weight to it when the object of someone else’s patience is me.

"He had a good night at the guild dinner, Daren," Vorn states as he straightens his sleeves, casual. "His rank rose to B. Didn’t you hear?"

I didn’t. I had no idea. He knew about it before me and chose to tell me as proof positive of that.

"That’s great to hear."

"It is." He looks at me one last time — taking a final inventory, thorough but not rushed. "Your EXP grinding is slow because of the twelve STR requirement."

And even that, my stats, he knows those as well.

Without waiting for me to answer, he leaves in the same manner he normally would, the same pace he usually takes, and moves in his usual way towards his predetermined goal.

I watch him leave then pull up the wiki.

---

> Wiki Entry — Lyra’s Unraveling

> Status: ⚠️ Route divergence — rewriting.

> Variable added: Kai — active intervention confirmed.

> Vorn reaction: Assessing. New strategy: required.

> Current corruption rating: 91/100 — static.

> Flag: Point of No Return — PENDING

---

Still pending.

Still static.

I’m no longer an NPC in his world, not a non-essential detail or even just some background player. I’ve become a variable. And with that, whatever he plans to do he will plan with me in mind, which makes everything a lot harder and a whole lot more dangerous.

STR 12. AGI 15. Friendly Conversation. Moral Support. Thirty-something EXP.

Going up against a person of A-minus combat rank with four active flags and a hidden entry and a patience that took the wiki three whole paragraphs to try and describe.

I stare at the entrance to the dungeon.

Runes glow.

I have to get stronger a lot faster than two weeks.