Chapter 5: The Man in Black

Someone?

Is that another failed product Ouruola mentioned?

Noah immediately snapped to attention.

She nodded solemnly, reached into her strap, and pulled out a dagger.

With her other hand resting on the trigger of her pistol, she crept to the edge of the container.

After confirming she hadn’t been spotted, she tilted her head and peered around the corner.

Sure enough, three shady figures had slipped into the Warehouse District.

They wore black robes, hoods, and pure black masks, making their appearances impossible to discern.

The leader had a long blade hanging from his waist.

He was directing the other two to scavenge supplies, but to their disappointment, there was nothing here but a pile of empty crates.

Noah instinctively felt the leader was trouble.

She lowered her head and glanced at Ouruola, who was also studying the trio.

“Are these your former companions?”

“No…”

Ouruola’s expression turned serious.

“But I can sense this guy is strong. If they find us, we’re both dead for sure…”

“Do you know who they are?”

Noah asked quietly.

“No…”

Ouruola shook her head, lowering her voice further.

“They’re all masked. Can’t tell their identities from the outfits… Let’s be careful… If it gets too risky, we’ll just head back the way we came.”

The two continued observing the black-clad figures.

The leader initially only used hand signals to direct his subordinates in searching the area.

But just after Noah and Ouruola exchanged whispers, he suddenly looked up toward their direction.

Noah wasn’t sure if he’d spotted them, but she immediately pulled back behind the container.

She and Ouruola exchanged a glance and nodded in unison—time to retreat immediately.

As they backed away, they stayed alert to any sounds behind them, hugging the containers to stay out of the black-clad figures’ line of sight.

But after only a few steps, Noah suddenly felt something cold press against her throat.

She looked down—it was the leader’s long blade.

Ouruola froze.

She stopped all movement and glanced sideways, noticing that the other two black-clad figures had sealed off the entrances and exits to the area.

In short, they were surrounded.

Noah’s mind raced.

She had a gun, but she didn’t think she could beat the black-clad man’s speed.

If she so much as raised her hand, he would decapitate her in an instant.

She gritted her teeth and asked in as calm a tone as she could manage, “Who are you?”

The black-clad man didn’t answer her.

Instead, he asked coldly, “Tell me, [how many moons are in the sky?]”

Because of the mask, his voice sounded muffled and hollow, but that wasn’t the point.

Noah immediately realized from his question that this was a secret code.

How many moons in the sky?

Noah was stunned.

Since the black-clad man asked this, the answer definitely wasn’t ‘one.’

But she couldn’t hesitate—not answering quickly was as good as not knowing.

She was just about to throw out a number and gamble when she heard Ouruola reply beside her.

“What a stupid question! Of course there’s only one moon in the sky!”

The air froze instantly.

Noah could feel the long blade under her neck about to slice across her throat.

She swung her elbow back, slamming it hard into the black-clad man behind her.

Taking advantage of his staggering, Noah dropped to the ground and rolled, narrowly dodging his swing.

Noah had no time to blame Ouruola.

She crouched and raised her pistol, firing at the black-clad man’s position as fast as she could.

But he was faster than she imagined—in an instant, he was behind her.

Noah’s eyes went wide.

As she tried to turn and re-aim, the blade flashed.

Blood mist scattered through the air.

Noah’s headless body crumpled to the floor.

In her last moment, she heard the black-clad man’s cold laugh.

“Wrong answer. Too bad.”

‘Is death, for me, a release—or a punishment that prevents my revenge…’

Noah’s consciousness drifted through a dazzling starry sky.

She knew she was dead.

She even knew she was about to return to the starting point.

But she couldn’t control her awareness; she could only let it wander through the nebula.

Amid a haze, she heard a distant voice ask her:

[“Tell me… how many moons are in the sky?”]

Noah tried desperately to clear her mind, but couldn’t.

She struggled to open her eyes, yet remained in a half-asleep, half-awake state, unable to see clearly.

She silently mouthed the words she wanted to say and replied in a dazed tone.

“I… I don’t know…”

The voice paused, then answered the question.

[“The answer is… sky… ■■ moons…”]

Noah couldn’t make out what the voice was saying.

She fought to wake up, but her eyes wouldn’t open.

Strange sounds buzzed in her ears.

She couldn’t help asking, “What did you say… I can’t hear you…”

The voice fell silent.

After a long while, she heard it speak again, fragmented.

[“Time… ■■… ■should go back■…”]

Noah hadn’t expected that.

She was about to press further, but suddenly lost consciousness.

“Wait! You still haven’t—!”

A strange halo flashed.

Noah found herself back in the Room of Failure A0135.

Before she could react, a sharp pain at her neck wrenched her nerves.

She clamped one hand over her throat and used the other to grip the metal cabinet beside the mirror.

Noah coughed violently, doubled over, struggling not to collapse from the agony.

She coughed until tears and snot streamed down her face, praying the pain would fade quickly.

“You scared me! What’s wrong with you?!”

Ouruola had originally come over to tease Noah about staring at the mirror, but instead saw her suddenly coughing like crazy.

Ouruola quickly backed away a few steps, sizing Noah up with a strange look.

Concluding that Noah might be having some kind of seizure, she shook her head and sighed.

“Ugh… this damn place really doesn’t have a single normal person…”

Noah had no energy to care about Ouruola’s jab.

She was stunned by two things.

First, her return hadn’t started from the initial room but from A0135’s room—meaning Death Return wasn’t fixed.

Second, who was the one speaking to her after she died?

And he said something about how many moons are in the sky??

She didn’t catch it at all!

Noah lifted her head and looked at her disheveled reflection in the mirror.

First, she wiped the corner of her mouth, then washed her face with the faucet below the mirror.

Once she was sure the pain in her throat was gone, she turned back to Ouruola.

“Tell me, how many moons are in the sky?”

Ouruola was busy searching for metal objects nearby.

Hearing Noah’s question, she shot her a look like she was talking to an idiot.

“What a dumb question? One moon, obviously.”

Noah pondered for a moment, then shook her head to herself.

“No… definitely not one…”

“Do you have a mental problem?”

Ouruola tapped her head and grimaced in disgust.

“Then how many, genius?”