The forest had a rhythm now. A pulse Asher could almost hear. Between the creaking boughs and shifting wind, his own movements felt like they belonged.
> [Stealth Subsystem XP: 63%]
[Skill Proficiency: Shadow Flicker – 22%]
[Entropy: 4.9%]
Every blink was cleaner. Shadow Flicker no longer staggered him or blurred his aim. It carried him like instinct—moment to moment, kill to kill.
The next clearing held two cultists.
He didn't stalk this time.
He moved.
Shadow Flicker carried him across the trees in a breath. One blade to the spine, one flicker sideways to catch the second before she could scream.
> [Kill Confirmed – KP +75]
[Stealth XP +12%]
[Entropy: 5.0%]
[Shadow Flicker Proficiency: 25%]
They were carrying something wrapped in torn robes. A man, bleeding from the head, but alive.
Asher sliced the ropes and gave him a silent nod.
The man didn't hesitate.
---
Under a rusted footbridge, Asher scrolled through the Replay Log. Not the fresh kills—but the one that mattered.
The Rake.
He paused the frame just before their fight began. There, in the blurred distance behind the trees—tall, pale, faceless.
Still.
Watching.
> [Replay Log – Frame 742]
[Observer Identified: Slender Man]
He remembered the stories. The myths. But this wasn't memory—it was real.
And now he understood.
Zalgo hadn't answered the cult's ritual. There was no divine hand reaching down.
> [Memory Lock: Fragment 01 – Not Yet Unsealed]
[Entropy Threshold for Unlock: 15.0%]
Whatever the cult tried to summon, it had failed. Or been overwritten.
Parasight had intervened.
Not as a gift. As a seizure. As a hijack.
And Slender Man had watched it happen.
Asher stared at the frame again.
The Rake hadn't come because of him. That encounter was chance. But this?
This was deliberate.
> [New Optional Task – Investigate Proxy Anomalies]
Reward: KP +100
Bonus Unlock: Mask Fragment (Unknown)
Entropy Gain: +0.3% per successful observation
Parasight wasn't passively evolving anymore.
It was preparing something.
And someone else was watching to see if he'd survive it.