"It's right this way. I shall be going now," The incarnation gestured toward an individual patient's room before he gave a small salute and hurried off.

Out of the bustling hallways, the private room within the building appeared to be a world of its own, having isolated the sounds from the outside.

It has good soundproofing. I noted.

Then my eyes quickly scanned the room curiously, before settling onto the propped-up figure on the bed in the room.

Although Anna Croft still looked pale, her arms were now wrapped up in bandages and secured to a brace for the bones to mend themselves correctly.

A nurse had been attending their commander at the side, sweat dripping down their face as they activated a healing skill of some sort, before Anna Croft softly whispered something to the nurse to get them to evacuate the room.

Judging by the fact that Anna was allowing this kind of treatment either told me she wanted to save her potent healing items, or that she had none left.

Calmly, the nurse surveyed the passing people, not reacting much to Selena nor much to the two strangers that came with her. Keeping professionalism, the nurse closed the door behind her on her way out.

-click!-

Now, it was just Anna Croft, Selena, Jung Younho and I who remained in the room.

"Anna, how are you feeling?" Selena was the first one to initiate the conversation.

"I am recovering." Anna, with a collected expression on her face, nodded her head, "By the way, Captain Selena, I am assigning you with the mission we have discussed before. You should prepare your team and set out immediately."

"You mean...'that'?" Selena appeared hesitant.

"Yes. As Iris has already secured her side, it is now your turn." Anna gave Selena a faint smile.

"But I-"

"We have no time." The smile had dropped from Anna's face as her tone turned stern.

At that, Selena flinched, perhaps reminded of a prior memory when Anna punished her with that same tone.

Is it me, or does Selena look more timid than what I thought she would be like? My brows furrowed by a tinge as I attempted to shift through my memories of both [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] and as my setting of reading [Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World].

"Yes." With a downcast look, Selena obeyed Anna's instruction as she headed for the door, but not before giving us one final, "farewell, best of wishes".

Once again, the door resounded with a -click!- as it closed shut.

With that, it was just Jung Youngho, Anna and me in the room.

What should I say now? Although I had wanted to meet Iris or Anna Croft to be updated about the situation, I wasn't sure how to phrase my following words, nor was I completely sure about my next set of actions, whether to priorities finding out more about this round, or discovering a way to get back to the Seoul dome of the 1864th round.

Right, I could say-

"What are you planning to do now?" Before I could speak these words, Anna Croft beat me to them.

Come to think of it, Anna must have known for a long while now.

Taken aback with my mouth slightly open, a few stumbling words made their way out of my mouth,

"W-well, I..."

What did I want to do?

"Will you try to find a way back to your own round?" Anna Croft, as if knowing my inner thoughts, asked the same question in my heart.

I stayed silent.

Raising her brow, Anna Croft decided that I wouldn't reply for a while, and continued, "How about this? Let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes. If you help me with one task, then I will help you with all my power to find a way back."

Somehow, I did not trust the words coming out of Anna's throat. If I did, then I would be no better than Yoo Junghyuk who got back-stabbed by Anna Croft by more than the fingers of both hands combined.

It would have been good if I had the [Lie Detection] skill.

[The incarnation, 'Anna Croft' has used 'Lie Detection' on herself.]

[The incarnation, 'Anna Croft's' words have been proven true.]

I hadn't expected Anna Croft to use [Lie Detection] on herself. Her words now held an edge of credibility.

Still, I couldn't completely trust the [Lie Detection] skill, which had several loopholes that could be bypassed. However, it wouldn't hurt to hear her out.

"We might not need your help in finding a way back." I attempted to downplay Anna's offer, "But if you were to tell me what this task is, I'll think about it."

I think I might have a lead as to what led me to this round.

With her signature polite smile and negotiation face that even Anna Croft might not be aware that she adopted, she began to explain,

"Sure. All I want you to do is to investigate who the 'disaster' of this round may be through asking the sealed and awakened 'guides'."

"And what if I decide to feed you fake information?" I curiously questioned.

However, Anna Croft's polite smile said it all.

'You can't lie against me.'

Right. Anna Croft still had her [Lie Detection] skill.

However, both the sealed and awakened 'guides'?

"That's too much. I don't even know where and how many guides there are." My brows deepened into a frown.

"You don't have to find all of them. Just investigate what you can and relay the information back to me. Then I will help you in return."

Even if I didn't find much, even if I investigated minimally, Anna Croft would still unconditionally give me aid with all her resources on hand? It felt against part of Anna's creed at offering a losing deal.

I couldn't help but blurt out, "Just like that?"

"Of course, if you are able to go above and beyond, I may even reward you."

Seriously?

I continued to look Anna Croft up and down speculatively.

Has Anna Croft been replaced by some angel spirit? No, let's snap back to reality.

"So, what do you plan to do?" Anna threw the ball back at me, speaking the same words she had at the beginning of the conversation.

"...One last question. Where did you put my stuff?"

"It's over here." Anna patted a spot beside her.

Leaning over, I found my familiar bag of items that had been previously shielded from view by the bed covers.

But as soon as I reached my hand over, Anna shifted the bag backwards out of my reach.

"Well?"

"You do know that is my stuff?" I breathed in, trying to contain a rising irritation.

This time, Anna didn't stop me from retrieving the items that had been with me since the beginning.

There was something comforting on retrieving something that was 'my things', as if it added in a layer of security.

Looking at Anna Croft still reclined in the bed, waiting patiently on my response, I smiled wryly to myself.

I'm still quite passive, aren't I?

Jung Youngho wasn't wrong about his comment.

"...fine. But you shouldn't expect much."

Anna smiled brightly at my response, although I couldn't shake the feeling in the back of my mind that she had already anticipated my answer.

As usual, let's just go with the flow. However, it was different from before.

Thinking this to myself, I questioned Anna Croft,

"By the way, when do you think you'll be fully recovered? And what about Iris?"

"Let's see. At the current pace, I'll be fully recovered by the end of this week. As for Iris, she is still unconscious. She overtaxed herself by using a power far beyond what an incarnation body can handle at this time. It'll be hard-pressed to determine an exact date that she will wake up again." Anna Croft narrated these events objectively.

"By the way,"

[Incarnation 'Anna Croft' is asking permission to activate 'Midday Tryst' with you.]

[Y/n]

I stared at the blue window.

"We shall keep in touch this way. It will be a lot more convenient for information to be relayed." Anna explained.

With the feeling of surreality, I tapped on the screen to accept the request.

[You can now start communicating with the target.]

I never imagined that I would ever set up a midday tryst with Anna Croft. Things in life could never be predicted, huh?

"Got it. Well, bye for now," Waving my hand as a farewell, I too exited the room with Jung Youngho in tow, allowing Anna to get her beauty rest.

But as I held the door handle, I caught a glimpse of Anna's contemplative eyes filled with complex emotions as they watched my form.

-click!-

The door slid closed for the third time, and with it, Anna Croft's gaze. 

Why did she look at me like that? 

I didn't have the luxury to dwell on that, for Jung Youngho finally opened his mouth to speak,

"What did you talk about back there?"

Lifting his thumb, Jung Youngho pointed backwards to Anna's patient room as we brushed past the continuously hurrying incarnations as utensils clattered in the background.

"We talked about a deal. She will help us find a way back to Seoul if we -"

"Bratty b*tch, what deal? Did you get scammed again this time? You suck @ss at negotiations." Jung Youngho gave a hugely exaggerated sigh as he held his hair in his hands. "You should really leave it to me, this legendary magic king, to do it."

I glared at Jung Youngho.

"Jung Youngho, we're going to find the other guides. [Help me]."

"That's definitely not going to work this time because my connection with my sponsor is-"

[You have used command [Help me] in accordance to the contract. Incarnation Jung Youngho has no choice but to help you.]

"WHAT?" Jung Youngho almost screeched as I imagined he got a similar notification screen as mine. 

It had been a while since I used this privilege, I wistfully reminisced.

"Hey. Why are you smiling?" Jung Youngho grumbled.

I knew that the contract of [Help me] had become redundant and useless. After all, coming this far, I knew Jung Youngho would help me regardless of whether I invoked the contract of not.

Jung Youngho was a killer. He was not someone to be forgiven.

But wasn't I the same now too?

It feels strange, but is it alright if I become his friend? I wanted another proof that I existed in this world.

"Nothing." I continued to smile.

With a continued exchange of banter with Jung Youngho, we had made our way outside of the base.

The silence on the streets was vastly different from the bustling liveliness within the tall walls of the base.

In fact, it was a little eerie about the fact that it was too quiet. On our journey through the city, I could not see, hear, nor sense the presence of the undead that had previously been obstructing our journey.

There was an invisible undercurrent brewing in this city. Something was behind the weird appearances and disappearances of the undead.

Regardless, I currently had one task to do, and the first stop was the United States Capitol, where the only known guide to me resided.

Let's go meet Ornis and ask him about the possible locations of the other guides.

A/N: Here's a sporadic update. I wonder if I should take down the '1 chap/week' in my novel description now?