LOTM: Before the Protagonist Chapter 56 56: The Night

North Boroughs, in a restaurant.

Jace sat at a table eating a fancy steak with total imrsion, as it literally was the greatest thing he had ever eaten.

The richness of the marbled beef lted on his tongue, a stark contrast to the bland, processed als that had defined his life before.

Before Transmigration, he had lived at his university dorm and ate in the cafeteria; the food there was not great at all, often leaving him hungry and unsatisfied.

While eating the beautiful steak before him, he couldn't help but recall the flashes from the dream divination he had perford this morning.

The psychopath, Edward, was cooking what seed like a really good steak, but in reality, it was a thigh piece—a human thigh! Thinking about it, his appetite dulled.

but he got his emotions under control and continued to eat, forcing himself to focus on the imdiate taste of the beef rather than the dark mory.

He looked up and saw Natalie who sat before him.

She had taken only a few bites and was fiddling with the steak on her plate with her fork.

He then looked at his own steak, which was only about two bites left.

"Are you not hungry?" he asked.

Natalie looked up but didn't say anything, and continued what she was doing.

Looking at her, Jace had the urge to ask, 'Are you watching your weight?' but it seed illogical as the woman who sat before him was a Beyonder, and he didn't have any idea about how she would react.

The silence between them stretched, thick and heavy, punctuated only by the distant clatter of silverware against china from other tables.

"If you aren't going to eat it, why don't you give it to ?" he said softly, trying to sound a little innocent.

Natalie looked over and saw his almost empty plate, and then slid her plate towards him.

Jace smiled and took the steak on her plate.

Natalie saw him as he ate.

As a Hunter, she usually had a huge appetite, but today she was on her nstrual cycle, so her stomach hurt a little and she didn't have much of an appetite.

She looked outside the restaurant through the big glass window. It was evening, and the night was falling with a soft crimson glow that painted the street in shades of blood and shadow.

It was her plan to wait outside Edward Lane's bungalow until the night fell and comnce the operation.

But the boy that was sitting before her said he was hungry, and along with that, she also heard his stomach rumble.

Later, he had the audacity to ask, "You are paying, right?" with a sheepish smile on his face.

Usually, she would not tolerate such things from her other partners and associates.

But she had to admit, Jace had grown on her.

"I'm done, let's go," Jace said, as he looked up at Natalie.

Natalie looked at him for a mont. "Wipe your mouth," she said as she handed him a tissue.

Jace looked at her in question as he took the tissue and wiped his mouth.

He then looked at the tissue and saw there was a little red sauce there. "Oh, how clumsy of ," he said, and wiped his lips properly, and said, "Thank you," to Natalie.

——

The dark had fallen completely, leaving only the crimson moon hanging in the sky.

Jace and Natalie were currently walking to the target's house.

The environnt was dark, with only the street lamps for light.

The world seed silent except for Jace's and Natalie's footsteps.

The cold night air nipped at their skin, a reminder of the season, and the stillness of the neighborhood felt unnaturally heavy, as if the houses themselves were holding their breath.

In the end, it was Jace who broke the silence. "Oh, I've been aning to ask you, how is your potion digestion going?" he asked as he turned to look at her.

"I'm close to digesting it," Natalie replied, continuing to walk.

Jace wondered why this woman was so dull; she never talked about anything except for work and replying to his questions.

"What about your partner?" he asked.

That got her attention. She glanced at him as she walked. "She digested it a few days ago," she replied.

Jace nodded.

"How did you know?"

He heard Natalie's question and narrowed his brows in question.

"Oh, you an about your relationship? Well, you can't really hide things from a Seer; besides, it just fits," he replied after realizing the aning of her question.

They continued to walk in silence as the number of buildings started to lessen as they walked.

"So, what do I need to know about the powers of a Sequence 7 Psychiatrist before engaging with the target?" Natalie asked.

Jace thought for a mont and answered, "Well, it is a strong and unique sequence. They are physically enhanced with their senses and eyesight increased—ah, but they are likely not stronger than you, a Sequence 7 Pyromaniac.

Other than that, they have a few unique abilities that go well with their pathways, but in terms of combat, you only need to worry about two," he said in a thoughtful tone.

"And what are they?" Natalie asked as she looked at Jace.

"The first is Awe or Dragon's Might. It works on targets within a certain range. If used on a person, the person would freeze and get panicked, with their thoughts disturbed.

The second and most dangerous one is called the Frenzy. With this, they can trigger a person's emotions and ntal state, throwing them into a frenzy.

This frenzy can even cause soone to directly lose control, so you would do well to avoid it... But it shouldn't be a problem for you, as a Hunter's danger intuition is quite strong," Jace explained in detail.

The gravity of his warning hung in the air, underscoring the lethal nature of the opponent they were about to face.

Natalie processed the information and looked at Jace. "What about you? How will you avoid it?" she asked.

Jace turned to look at her and smiled. "Are you perhaps worried about , Natalie?" he asked.

Natalie looked ahead as she continued to walk. "You think too much," she said flatly.

Jace sighed. "How disappointing," he muttered. She likely heard it with her sharp ears. "Well, anyway, I appreciate your concern but I have my ways."

'I can just use Paper Figurine Substitution after I feel the Clown premonition,' he mused.

After several minutes of walking, the buildings around completely faded behind them, leaving only plain ground.

Further ahead, on the left side of the road, was a two-story bungalow with a terrace. It had a vegetable garden at the sides of the doorway, with well-kept grass.

They reached and stopped at the right side of the bungalow in the shadows, to go through the process.

But that's when Jace felt a slight intuition of being watched.

Jace instantly tapped his fingers and turned on his Spirit Vision.

Then, he turned his head to look up, where he saw a pair of small, slit-pupiled green eyes watching him while sitting on the balcony, white curtains futering behind it .

But with his Spirit Vision, he saw a completely different image.

He saw the cat's body and its abnormally high spirituality, which led him to believe it was a low-sequence Beyonder.

The color of its emotion, though, was calm and more calculative than most humans he had ever t, which again confird his previous contemplations.

He smiled at the cat and mouthed the words, "Hello."