Hong Min awoke to a sharp pain in every muscle of his body. The cold had seeped into his bones, and his ragged clothes were still damp, clinging to his skin like a second, cold skin. For a moment, he didn't dare open his eyes, fearing he would find himself alone. But he forced his eyelids up, only to see a massive silhouette sitting silently a few meters away, facing the darkness. 404 hadn't left.

  Hong Min sighed, a sigh that was a mixture of relief and despair. The security he had felt was real, but so was the pain. His stomach was twisted in agonizing knots, and his throat was as dry and rough as sandpaper. "Water..." he rasped, "Food..."

  404 rose silently and approached him. There was no pity in his eyes, only cold analysis.

  After moments of desperate searching in their immediate surroundings, Hong Min saw movement on the high cavern ceiling . A colony of bats, hanging like dead, black fruit. The thought was disgusting, but his hunger was stronger than his revulsion. "404," Hong Min said in a weak voice, "I need you to catch one of those flying things."

  Without a word, 404 jumped. It wasn't a human jump, but a rocket-like launch. He ascended into the air with astonishing quietness, snatched one of the bats from the flock, and then landed with silent grace. He extended his hand toward Hong Min, and in his palm, the small creature trembled.

  Hong Min took the bat with shaking hands. He looked at its small, gleaming eyes and its sharp teeth and felt a wave of nausea. But his stomach screamed louder. He started a primitive fire using the flint in his pouch and roasted the small creature until its skin was charred. The smell was foul, but he forced himself to eat, tearing at the tough meat with his teeth. 404 watched him the entire time, then asked with his analytical curiosity, "Does this procedure stop the sounds emanating from your stomach?"

  Hong Min ignored the question. Having temporarily solved the problem of hunger, an unbearable thirst remained. "We have to go back to the lake," he said with firm resolution.

  He looked at 404, fear creeping back into his heart. "Listen, you wretch. We're going back there. I don't know what's waiting for us, but this time, there are rules."

  404 waited quietly, as if receiving new data.

  Hong Min said with utmost seriousness, "Rule number one: You listen to me. When I shout an order, you execute it immediately without hesitation. Understood?"

  "Understood," 404 said.

  "Rule number two: Our goal is not to fight. Our goal is to get to the water and get back. You don't attack anything unless I order you to, or if it's about to kill me directly."

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  "Understood."

  Hong Min took a deep breath. "Before that... what type is your 'Soul Gate'?" It was a desperate question, a last hope of understanding the source of his power.

  "What is a 'Soul Gate'?"

  Hong Min was stunned for a moment. How could a being this powerful not even know the basic concept of energy? But he quickly hid his shock. "Fine..." he muttered, thinking to himself, 'He clearly has something; all this power can't come from nothing. But he either doesn't know what it is, or the Panir call it something else. It doesn't matter right now. I'm not going to train him, and how could I when I don't have a Soul Gate myself? This is a problem for another time.'

  He spat on the ground in frustration. "Damn it! Fine... Rule number three, and the most important: Your job is to protect me and keep me alive. My job is to think. Don't try to think for yourself. Just execute."

  They set off back in tense silence. Hong Min moved cautiously, his eyes scanning every shadow. They passed the chasm where the stone monster had fallen. Hong Min looked down and saw a pile of shattered rocks that hadn't been there before. It seemed the monster had turned into mere stones upon its death. The sight gave him a false, comforting sense of control.

  They finally reached the lake. Hong Min ran to the water's edge and bent down, scooping water with his hands and drinking greedily. The water was cold and pure, and he felt it course through his dry body like life itself. It was the first moment of true peace in days. After he had his fill, he sat on a rock, and a strange thought occurred to him... the thought that they might actually be safe here.

  He turned to 404, who stood behind him like a statue, and asked to reassure his own heart, "Alright... is it safe now? Do you see any other threats?"

  404 looked at him with his usual calm. His silence lasted a moment too long. Then he said:

  "Safe? No."

  Hong Min froze. "What do you mean, no? We got rid of the stone monster."

  And then, 404 dropped the bomb with absolute calm:

  "We eliminated the rock entity that was pursuing us. The other one I sensed when we were on the cliff has not moved from its position."

  Hong Min felt as if the ground had swallowed him whole. He shot to his feet, blood boiling in his veins, shock, terror, and rage mixing into a single cry:

  "Another entity?! What is this other thing?! Is it the same type?"

  404 looked at him with his usual calm. He answered the first question directly and logically.

  "No. Its composition is different. Metallic."

  Hong Min froze as he processed the information. Metallic... Then his anger erupted again, but this time it was directed at the silent betrayal.

  "Metallic... Wait. You knew it was there this whole time while we were fighting for our lives? Why in the hell didn't you say anything?!"

  After Hong Min had vented all his fury, 404 looked at him with his empty, grey eyes, and in the same calm, indifferent tone that had shattered Hong Min's world, he said the two words that would define everything:

  "You didn't ask."

  Silence fell. It wasn't the silence of the cavern, but the silence of the horrifying truth that settled in Hong Min's soul. He had just realized he wasn't the partner of a powerful being, but the operator of a deadly machine. A machine that would offer no information he didn't explicitly request. His survival didn't depend on 404's strength, but on his own ability to ask the right questions in a world whose dangers he didn't even know. The real threat wasn't the unknown monster; it was the lethal silence of the being standing right beside him.