While KNNN is still under development, I'll be publishing my earlier web novel, VACUM, chapter by chapter.

I hope it helps make the wait a little more enjoyable.

Though it's an early work and far from perfect, I hope you enjoy the journey.



Clank.

Primitive beasts bit down on the mechanical harness and pulled us forward.

With every strain of their muscles, metal rang. Gears locked into place, and steam hissed through the gaps.

The wind slapped against my face.

"I could use a drink before I sleep."

The orc's laugh mixed with the grinding gears.

"Idiot. All you ever think about is booze."

Aina's golden hair whipped through the air, brushing against Lily's mouth and eyes behind her.

Lily tapped Aina's head with her toy.

"Ugh. It smells."

"Tie it up."

I couldn't help but laugh.

I couldn't explain why.

---

The city opened up ahead.

Smokestacks rose above the rooftops, and steam hung low between the flags.

A breathing city.

A boiling city.

Neutral ground.

Here, even when blood is spilled, screams do not come first.

The sound of calculating the price comes first.

"Holton."

"Slow down a little."

"Gren."

"You should be used to it by now."

Clank.

Markets and taverns.

Steam engines and people.

Sounds and smells piled over one another.

Then—

My eyes drifted toward an alley.

A woman.

Through the overlapping voices, one short sound.

"...Don't."

The next words never came.

Instead—

Scrape.

The sound of metal dragging across stone.

The cart came to a sudden stop.

Gears screamed.

Valves burst open.

Steam exploded outward.

My body lurched forward.

"What the hell?"

Aina stepped down smoothly.

The gear pressed tightly against her chest shifted once.

Twin pistols hung from her leather vest.

Drawing them took no time at all.

She entered the alley.

"Hey—"

No answer came.

"I'll give you one second."

Ragged breaths.

Wet walls.

Tangled shadows.

"You—son of a bitch."

Bang.

The muzzle didn't even waver.

The bastard's head snapped sideways.

Splatter.

Blood sprayed across the wall.

Smoke drifted from the brass blunderbuss, its body lined with toothed gears.

Clink.

A cartridge fell to the ground.

Beyond the rolling shell, something else rolled across the floor.

Aina's voice was indifferent.

"I told you."

"When I say something, I do it."

Click.

Click—

The cheerful sound of her heels echoed through the alley.

Aina walked back out.

"What are you doing?"

Aina smiled.

"We still have to go all the way."

I couldn't answer.

Strangely...

More than the gunshot.

More than the blood.

Only that smile remained inside my head.

Thump.

Thump.

Aina knocked on the side of the cart.

"Move out—"

Hiss—

The valve closed.

The cart began moving again.

The red fragments disappeared beneath gears and steam, swallowed by the noise of the city.

As if nothing had happened.

But I knew.

In this city, the moment a single screw comes loose...

...a head falls.

Cracks are not mended.

They are removed.

Blackout.

V A C U M