CHAPTER 78: CH 78: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - PART 2

Kana strolled through the unfamiliar street, the noise of the market gradually fading behind her.

It had been a while since she left the central square, and the thinning crowd should have been her first warning.

Instead, her mind was half-occupied with the strange sense of being watched—until the system’s voice rang out sharply in her head.

[Warning: You are being followed.]

She sighed under her breath, keeping her gaze forward.

’Yeah, I noticed.’

[Warning: You are being followed.]

Kana’s lips pressed into a thin line.

’You’ve told me twice already. If you want to be useful, maybe you could actually tell me who’s following me.’

There was a pause, then the system’s voice returned, flat and unhurried.

[Scanning area...]

A moment later.

[Identified: Guard from High Priest Rudy. Intentions: Capture.]

Kana’s foot nearly caught on a loose cobblestone. Her head almost whipped around, and her mouth was halfway to shouting before she forced herself to breathe slowly.

The urge to make a scene was strong—maybe even to call for help—but that would only attract more trouble.

’Okay,don’t panic.’

She told herself.

’System, between me and that guard, who could win in a fight?’

[Analysis... Due to your lack of formal combat training, you will be at a disadvantage. However, due to your maxed-out skill set and stats, probability of victory is 90%.]

Kana’s eyebrow twitched.

’Maxed out skill set? Stats? You make it sound like I’ve been training for years. It’s not my fault I haven’t had the time to check what I can do. It’s been one thing after another ever since I came here.’’

She nearly laughed.

She quickened her pace slightly, weaving between two older women carrying baskets.

’And for the record, I have no idea how to use you. Not a single tutorial. Just "warning this, warning that."’

There was no reply, only the quiet hum of background awareness. Kana clicked her tongue. Figures.

[Warning: Incoming danger.]

She blinked, realizing that the steady flow of people had thinned to almost nothing.

The road here was narrower, the buildings older, and she had no idea which direction would take her back to the familiar streets.

A cold weight settled in her stomach.

Somewhere behind her, that persistent presence grew heavier, as if her stalker had decided it was time to close the gap.

[Immediate action required. Recommend evasive maneuvers.]

Kana’s pulse jumped. She could feel the hair on her arms stand on end—he was close. Very close.

[Warning: Duck.]

Without thinking, Kana dropped into a crouch, her knees bending sharply as something heavy brushed past the air where her head had been.

She didn’t look to see what it was—her body was already moving, instincts screaming to put distance between herself and her pursuer.

Her heart thundered in her ears, but her mind remained startlingly clear.

’All right! Time to plan an escape.’

She thought.

Kana didn’t wait for the system to tell her twice. The instant the warning came, she darted to the side, weaving between two stalls and bursting into the narrow backstreets.

The sharp sound of boots striking stone followed close behind.

She glanced over her shoulder just long enough to catch a shadow slipping after her, fast, deliberate, and far too skilled to be some random pickpocket.

The way the man moved—low, efficient, with his gaze locked entirely on her—screamed hunter.

"Oh, you picked the wrong girl today."

Kana muttered under her breath, though her heart pounded loud enough to drown out her bravado.

She didn’t really know how to fight. That much she admitted. But running? Darting? Slipping through tight corners and hopping low fences? That was practically second nature, even if the streets were unfamiliar.

The man lunged at her in the next turn, arm shooting out to grab her.

Kana yelped, twisting in an almost clumsy spin—yet somehow, her body reacted with speed that made her slip right past his grasp.

’System, this is what you call being useful.’

She thought sharply.

[Target is accelerating. Projected interception time: 45 seconds.]

"I don’t like those numbers!"

She hissed, vaulting over a low cart. Her foot barely clipped the edge before she landed—awkward, but still upright.

The guard swore under his breath, vaulting after her with far more grace.

Yet when he reached for her again, she stumbled forward at just the right angle for his hand to miss her shoulder by a hair.

Kana grinned despite herself.

"Maxed-out stats are amazing."

It wasn’t skill—she knew that. Every twist, every lucky avoidance was the system quietly compensating for her poor instincts.

It made her feel almost smug, like cheating on a test you hadn’t studied for and still getting a perfect score.

The man’s expression shifted from cool focus to irritated disbelief. He moved faster now, his long strides eating up the distance between them.

Kana darted into a market street, shoving past surprised shoppers.

She spotted a row of barrels stacked high beside a shop and ducked behind them—just in time to hear his heavy boots skid past the spot she’d been.

A small laugh escaped her.

The system, however, was less amused.

[Warning: Target is adapting to your movement patterns.]

Sure enough, a shadow fell over her before she could move again.

"Got you—"

Kana ducked low, shoving one of the barrels toward him with a shove she didn’t think she was capable of. The thing rolled hard into his shin, forcing him to hop back.

"You fight dirty."

He snarled.

Kana was already sprinting away.

"And you’re just now figuring that out?"

They tore through another alley, the chase a constant dance of her narrowly slipping out of his grasp and him adjusting his tactics.

He tried cutting her off; she sidestepped with uncanny timing. He went for her arm; she dropped low and spun free, more from instinctive panic than any planned maneuver.

Still, the longer it went on, the more his frustration mounted.

This should be easy, he was probably thinking.

Kana could see it in the way his jaw clenched tighter every time she escaped. To him, she was some untrained girl, yet she was making him work like he was chasing a phantom.

Kana, on the other hand, was riding a strange high. Her lungs burned, her legs screamed, but she wasn’t losing.

If anything, the thought of actually winning this chase—escaping—was starting to feel real.

’System, odds of me shaking him off?’

[Currently: 72%. Maintain erratic movement to increase probability.]

Erratic she could do. She swerved suddenly into a weaving path, forcing him to either slow or risk tripping. He didn’t slow—but his grab went wide again.

Kana bolted toward a crowded plaza ahead. Her best shot at losing him was blending into a throng of people, and her eyes locked onto the colorful chaos like salvation.

The guard must have realized the same thing. His pace picked up, his shadow growing beside hers.

With a last burst of speed, Kana dove into the plaza, ducking between two women carrying baskets and sliding behind a group of musicians setting up their instruments.

The guard pushed after her, but by the time he cleared the crowd, she had already cut left and slipped into another side street.

Her chest heaved. Her pulse roared in her ears. But there was no sound of boots behind her now.

[Target temporarily lost.]

Kana leaned against a wall, letting her legs wobble and her breath catch up.

"That was...too stressful."

She panted.