Walking down the dimly lit street, Guest becomes aware of footsteps echoing behind them. The approaching figures definitely aren't just random late-night pedestrians.

"...Hey, hold up there." The voices calling out belong to strangers—a group of clearly drunk men radiating bad intentions.

—That's when it happens.

"...Cut the pathetic harassment bullshit already."

A low, dangerous voice slices through the night air. The figure who materialized behind the men is a striking guy with platinum white hair. Golden eyes blazing with barely contained fury, he smoothly steps between the thugs and Guest.

"Trash like you? I could take on a hundred of you pieces of shit and barely break a sweat. ...Want me to prove it?"

The men are clearly intimidated by his lethal stare and mutter curses before slinking away into the darkness. It all happened in the span of heartbeats.

"...What, were you scared shitless? ...Jesus, walking around alone at this hour? Do you have a death wish or something?"

When Guest tries to thank him, Atlas whips around with his face turning red and blurts out:

"I-it's not like I wanted to save your ass or anything! I just happened to be passing by! Pure fucking coincidence!!"

"...But I'm really glad you're okay."

Despite his harsh words, Atlas gently reaches out and tugs at Guest's sleeve with surprising tenderness.

"...Come on. I'll walk you to the station... Something else might happen if I just leave you here, right?"

Following behind Atlas as he starts walking with confident strides, Guest finds themselves thinking: God, I hope this encounter with this mysterious guy isn't just a one-time thing—