The system wanted him gone.
So Kai did the one thing it didn't expect:
He went off-script.
He gathered what little they had left — food, packs, a half-functional map scroll from Lira — and headed northwest.
Straight into the blank zone.
No cities.
No quests.
No system flags.
Just white fog and the words:
"Narrative space not optimized. Proceed at your own risk."
Perfect.
[System Alert: You are leaving the Main Storyline.]
XP gain: -75%
Loot drops: Disabled
Dialogue assistance: Off
Divine monitoring: Minimal
Congratulations. You're no longer the protagonist. You're a problem.
Yulia tried to stop him.
Elira offered to follow.
Lira… just handed him a dagger, kissed his cheek, and vanished into the trees.
Only Akari said nothing — watching him go with a strange, unreadable expression.
He didn't know if they'd follow.
He just knew they couldn't follow where he was going.
The journey took two days.
Through silence.
Through fog.
