He yanked Evelise down behind a half collapsed wall, raising a hand to signal silence. The ghouls crashed into the clearing, sniffing, clawing, snapping at the air. Their blind eyes gleamed faintly as they prowled for scent.

Sid's breath steadied. He let Evelise crouch beside him while his mind mapped the terrain: the fallen lampposts, the vines hanging low, the cracked stone above the fountain. His lips curled in a grim smile.

"Alright… stealth mode on."

He darted from cover, sprinting up the side of the wall and catching the edge of a tree branch. The ghouls snarled, lunging after the sudden noise. But Sid swung from the branch, landed behind one of them.

A strange red keyboard button appeared before his eyes.

[Execute (Stealth Kill from Behind): [Hold F]]

Without hesitation, he slit its throat.

[SYSTEM MESSAGE]

[An Advanced Combat unlocked: Execute (Stealth Kill): [Hold F]]

"What the hell— did I just… unlock a new move? Like an actual skill tree? Heh. Guess I just leveled up."

He quickly dragged the body into the brush, moving silently before the others caught on. He crouched low, eyes flicking across the clearing where the ghouls prowled restlessly, sniffing for prey.

Their movements were clumsy, twitching, but their hearing was razor-sharp. One wrong step and they'd be on him. He glanced back at Evelise.

"Stay low. Don't move unless I tell you to."

She nodded faintly. The moonlight softened over her form as if the forest itself took her in. Her silver hair and torn skirt blended perfectly with the pale ferns and white blooms surrounding her. When she crouched, even her breathing seemed to vanish. She was still, quiet, invisible like a wild rabbit freezing under a predator's gaze.

Sid exhaled slowly, drawing his knife. The red button shimmered faintly in the corner of his vision.

[Execute (Stealth Kill): [Hold F]]

He moved.

His feet barely kissed the ground as he slipped between the vines, keeping low under the thick canopy. One ghoul prowled near the broken fountain, head moving at faint echoes. Sid crept behind it, slow and measured. A breath. A step. Then his finger brushed the air—

[Hold F]

His blade sank clean into its skull. The ghoul collapsed soundlessly.

He eased the corpse into the ivy, wiping the blade on its tattered shirt before melting back into shadow. Another ghoul shuffled near the toppled statue, sniffing the blood. Sid moved opposite its direction, using the crumbled stone as a wall. A low hanging vine swayed nearby, catching his eye. He gripped it, swung silently across the gap, and landed behind the creature.

[Hold F]

Steel flashed, a whisper of air, and the ghoul stiffened, choking on its last growl before falling limp.

Evelise watched from her hiding spot, her red eyes wide but unblinking. When another ghoul crept near her bush, she pressed herself flat to the soil, every instinct screaming but controlled by Sid's command. Her pale hair blended with the leaves, while her green skin caught the moss's hue, making her almost disappear into the overgrown scenery. Sid noticed.

"You really are the White Rabbit… Even nature doesn't see you. Humanimal perks, baby."

Two more remained. They were circling near the old playground, their snarls rising in confusion. Sid slipped into the shadows of the slide, using the rusted structure for cover. One ghoul passed directly beneath it.

He dropped soundlessly, blade ready.

[Hold F]

A quick strike through the base of the skull, followed by a clean drag into the sand. No noise.

The last one turned sharply, hearing the faint scrape. It lunged in the wrong direction, crashing into a rotted bench. Sid was already behind it, grabbing its jaw and pulling its head back.

[Hold F]

The knife plunged deep, silencing it mid-snarl. Sid pulled his knife free, exhaling slowly.

"Nice… Way better than the game. God, I missed stealth kills. I didn't know they'd feel this satisfying in real life."

He looked around. The park had gone eerily still again. The ghouls lay scattered across the clearing, hidden under brush and vines. No alarms, no more snarls. The forest life was returning; he could hear the faint rustle of deer stepping through the undergrowth again.

He wiped his blade clean, then turned to the brush where Evelise hid.

"Evelise. It's over."

She stirred, rising slowly from the ferns. Her movements were graceful, cautious, like an animal testing safety after a storm. When she stepped into the moonlight, the glow of her eyes dimmed, and the tension in her shoulders eased. Sid gave her a short nod.

"Good job staying still. You actually blended in… perfectly. Maybe that's your real skill in this world."

She said nothing, just looked at him for a long moment before lowering her head slightly— a silent acknowledgment.

Sid sheathed his knife and glanced toward the faint outline of trees beyond the clearing.

"Let's move. We're not safe until we make it inside the cabin, so stay close, alright?"

He reached out, and this time, when she took his hand, it wasn't from command. It was choice. Together, they slipped back into the shadowed paths of the overgrown park, leaving the corpses behind and vanishing into the wild silence.

The forest grew thicker the deeper they went. The moonlight thinned under the dense canopy, replaced by long, twisting shadows. Every step they took was cautious and slow.. The wind whispered through the overgrown park, brushing through the tall grass and vines that had long swallowed the path.

Sid's hand remained tight around Evelise's. He could feel her trembling through their grip— sharp shivers that never quite stopped. Her steps were light but uneven, almost hesitant. She never once lifted her head to look at the path ahead. Her ears, hidden beneath her veil, twitched faintly at every sound. The tension rolling off her was enough to make even him uneasy.

He didn't say anything. There was no point. Whatever she was feeling, whatever memory made her react like that before, it wasn't something he could fix now. The only thing that mattered was getting to safety.

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