On the deck
A heavy silence settled over the ship's restaurant.
The sounds of clashing and tearing had stopped.
All that remained were ragged breaths and low groans of pain.
'Damn it.'
The old man ground his teeth.
He had been the one who suggested focusing their attacks on Valikitz first.
The rumors hadn't been exaggerated. Valikitz's combat ability was monstrous.
Those scissors that could slice through anything they touched, and movements so acrobatic it was nearly impossible to land a hit.
It hadn't even been ten minutes, yet twenty men were already dead.
Even so, no one gave up.
In the end, Valikitz was just one person.
If they dragged it into a long fight, they figured they had a chance.
But that entire calculation collapsed in an instant.
The moment the other Valikitz—who they thought had jumped into the sea and died—reappeared.
More precisely, the moment he picked up the fallen sword.
'Didn't expect him to be a swordsman.'
It happened in a blink.
The man lowered his stance the instant he grabbed the sword.
That was all the old man managed to see.
The next moment, everyone who had been closing in was sprawled across the ground.
The old man himself had instinctively pulled back, but still ended up with a deep gash in his side.
"I'm out."
"Same here."
"I surrender too."
One by one, the mercenaries dropped their weapons.
They still had the numbers, but no one could picture a way to take down those monsters.
"Valikitz takes first place. He gets first pick."
"This was about ranking from the start, wasn't it? Yeah, a lot of people died, but that's on them. Anyone got a problem with that?"
The mercenaries shrugged.
Who would dare disagree?
They'd be dead before they finished speaking.
Well, except for one.
The old man.
'Shit.'
He slowly backed toward the railing.
He had been the one who insisted on taking out Valikitz first.
At this rate, he was in danger—
The moment he turned toward the railing, a dark blue mist appeared.
"You should die, don't you think?"
That was the last thing he heard.
The mercenaries clicked their tongues and looked away.
No one objected.
It was a rightful execution under the rules of this world.
Step. Step. Step.
Wiping the blood splattered near her eyes, Roche walked toward Jinhyuk.
The closer she got, the higher the corner of her lips rose.
Nothing else entered her sight.
The only thing filling her vision now was Yoo Jinhyuk.
Their first meeting at the hotel.
Approaching him.
It hadn't been a carefully calculated decision.
Just instinct.
She had given him her real name—Roche—something she had never told anyone.
She even suggested they board the expedition ship together just to draw his interest.
Her mission from Valikitz in Russia was to eliminate competitors and monopolize whatever Iceland had hidden.
Considering that, it had been an incredibly foolish choice.
She had increased the number of variables with her own hands.
And after what she had just seen, that variable was far stronger than expected.
From the perspective of completing her mission, it was a massive mistake.
Even so—
She didn't care.
If anything, she felt good.
Because now she finally understood.
Why she had been so drawn to a man she had just met.
A moment ago, Jinhyuk had pushed the mercenaries back.
An action that clearly moved Roche away from death.
And yet, ironically—
He was also the one closest to her death.
The only person she had ever met who could give Valikitz Roche a certain death.
That was why.
She was drawn to him.
Madly.
She stopped a couple of steps away.
Just standing face to face with him felt like balancing on the blade of death.
She didn't want that feeling to vanish so easily.
"Mr. Yoo Jinhyuk."
"Yes?"
"I want you to live. But I also want to kill you. I want to keep living too… but at the same time, I want to die."
"…Right."
Jinhyuk swallowed dryly.
Did he understand any of that?
'Of course not.'
Not a single word made sense.
What kind of feeling was that? What kind of nonsense was she spouting?
There was only one thing he could tell.
Her eyes were even more unhinged than before.
"Want to make a bet? On three, we both attack. If your attack lands first, our temporary alliance continues, and we end it here. But if mine lands first—"
Roche's lips curved upward.
"The alliance ends. And we fight until one of us dies. Alright…?"
"Three."
Bang!!!
Roche got punched square in the face and went flying.
An even heavier silence fell.
"Guh—!"
"Whoa…"
Gasps of shock broke out.
More than a few people had their jaws hanging open.
Their gazes shifted from the airborne Roche to Jinhyuk.
Gulp.
Cold sweat ran down Jinhyuk's back.
Those countless eyes seemed to be saying—
You absolute trash.
'Did I hit too hard?'
He had tried to hold back.
But just in case she dodged or blocked, he had gone all out on speed.
'Oh right. Force equals mass times acceleration.'
The formula popped into his head a bit too late.
He quickly ran over to where Roche had landed.
The dark blue mist had dissipated.
The scissors she had been holding were gone.
He placed two fingers under her nose.
Okay—she's breathing…?!
Roche suddenly grabbed his fingers.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
Honestly—
That scared the hell out of him.
Her unfocused eyes stared up at him.
She wiped the blood from her nose.
"Didn't expect that from you."
A strange smile spread across her lips.
"Your… manners… are… absolute—"
She didn't finish.
Her head dropped with a soft thud.
Jinhyuk froze for a moment, then reached out again.
Her breathing was steady.
"She's asleep."
He had no idea why he said it out loud.
"She looked exhausted since yesterday. Guess she was really tired."
Jinhyuk muttered louder.
The mercenaries watching him had their eyes shaking violently.
They had no idea how to react.
More honestly—
They wanted to say it out loud.
She's not asleep. She's unconscious.
In the awkward silence,
Jinhyuk hoisted Roche up and slowly started moving.
First things first—
Run.
"This stuff really works?!"
"It makes your skin amazing!"
"No way! It smells worse than crap!"
"The worse it smells, the better it is for you!"
I want to sleep more, but the noise keeps dragging me back.
Were there always this many loud people on the ship?
"Mm…"
My eyelids felt unusually heavy today.
Still, I needed to figure out what was going on, so I forced them open.
Plop.
A large ice pack slid off my face.
No wonder my eyes felt heavy.
But… who puts something this big on someone's face?
"I'm up."
"She's awake!"
"Of course. I'm a genius doctor."
"You're a doctor, Elia?!"
"Hmm, according to my master, the potion I made has a 50% chance of saving you and a 50% chance of killing you. It's packed with deadly curses and poison."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"You don't get it. Fifty percent is actually a pretty high chance."
"That… kind of makes sense!"
Roche looked between the two of them.
The cute girl who had cut her hair in the utility room.
And another girl wearing an Eskimo hat pulled low.
Elia stepped closer and checked Roche's condition.
"Hmm! Thanks to my potion, your face looks much better now."
Roche tilted her head.
"Was it that bad?"
"You were covered in blood."
"Redder than a monkey's butt!"
Momo thrust out her chubby Doraemon-like fist.
"Who did that to you?!"
She looked ready to throw hands immediately.
Roche let out a small laugh and pulled Momo into a hug.
Jinhyuk came to mind, but she decided to let it go this once.
After all, he did treat her.
She gave Elia a small nod.
"Thank you. For treating me."
"Don't mention it. Our master—no, Jinhyuk—specifically asked me to."
Roche stared at her.
Sweat trickled down Elia and Momo's backs.
From Roche's perspective, too many things didn't add up.
Starting with Momo—he had said he left her at the hotel.
"Wow, it's hot! No air conditioning in this cabin? What is this, torture?!"
"Seriously! We should file a complaint!"
Their eyes darted around aimlessly.
They wanted to stare out at an iceberg or something—
But there was no window.
A faint smile formed on Roche's lips.
She decided not to ask about them.
"Where's Jinhyuk?"
"He left!"
"He left? Where?"
They were in the middle of an ocean surrounded by icebergs.
Where could he even go?
"He told me to give you this!"
Momo dug through her clothes and pulled out a piece of paper.
"Wow. That's one lazy note."
"I thought so too!"
It looked like he had torn a page from a memo pad and scribbled on it.
Roche unfolded the crumpled paper and read.
Sorry for punching you. You sounded pretty serious, so it just happened. Get well soon!
P.S. The alliance ends here. I'm leaving. Take care. If we meet again, we meet. If not, oh well.
Bye bye.
"…This note is kind of annoying."
The way he wrote "P.S." and then added another farewell below it—
For some reason, that made it even more irritating.
Was that on purpose?
Or was he just like that?
"What does it say?!"
Momo tried to peek.
Roche raised the paper out of reach.
"It's a secret. I can't have you punching Jinhyuk with those marshmallow fists."
She carefully folded the note and tucked it into her pocket.
Then she lay back down on the bed, smiling.
'If we meet again.'
Personally—
She hoped they would.
Someday.
Somewhere.
No matter what.
On an iceberg a short distance from the expedition ship,
Jinhyuk turned back and looked.
'Take care of her for me, Elia. Momo.'
The ocean was filled with icebergs.
It seemed faster to just run, so he got off.
The ship had already changed direction anyway.
Before setting off, he opened his status window.
The black dragon Drakan he was about to face.
He needed to be in peak condition.
He used the two normal blank cards he had saved, along with one rare-grade card.
The two normal ones were used on Seira.
Ding!
[Imprinting skill "Aura Release" from Black Knight Order Commander Seira Kinkeiton onto a blank card!]
Releases a crescent-shaped aura forward!
The power of the aura depends on the mastery of the Black Knight swordsmanship!
Those with mana can convert it into aura to increase damage!
[Imprinting skill "Bold Spear" from Black Knight Order Commander Seira Kinkeiton onto a blank card!]
A technique developed by Shapia, a master of thrusting who used a rapier!
Concentrates strength and aura into a single point for an explosive, high-speed thrust!
Depending on the focus, it can pierce even rock!
Ding!
[Using 1 Rare-grade Blank Card! A Hero Card will be selected at random!]
[Renya, the steel demon forged in darkness, has been selected!]
[One of Renya's ununlocked skills will be randomly chosen!]
Ding!
[Renya's skill "Falling Star of Annihilation" has been imprinted onto the blank card!]
"A star falls and destroys the earth."
The power increases by combining aura and mana!
After checking his newly acquired skills, he loosened up his body.
Gathering strength beneath his feet, Jinhyuk launched himself forward, using the icebergs as footholds.
A smile spread across his lips.
Time to hunt a dragon.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup