Chapter 30 · The Gatekeeper's Gambit - Chapter 30: Dead Men Still Queue

The dead guy didn't even fall.

He walked out of Black Gate like the trial had spit him back for a refund. Seventh-floor robes. No pass. Feet still moving. The rope line went quiet so fast Mo Han heard somebody swallow.

He didn't take his hand off the slate. "Stay behind the mark." Nobody moved. Good. "You. Walking. Stop."

The man stopped. Eyes open. Gray. Not tracking anything that had a pulse.

Wei Tiegu was already shoving forward, shoulder first, like the queue rewrite from two minutes ago was a joke that had expired. "That's a Seventh Keeper. That's my people. You don't hold my people."

"He doesn't have a pulse," Mo Han said. "He also doesn't have a pass. So he queues."

"He's dead."

"Dead men still queue." Mo Han tapped the slate. Names jumped. A new slot bloomed at the back, grayed out, tagged UNCLEARED. "Until the tower clears the body, he occupies a slot. Same as anybody who walked out without a token."

Su Jin stood at his left, close enough that her heat was a problem. Contract heat. She hated being parked at a checkpoint like furniture.