I kind of had an idea why the envoy called out Oh Hana.

But they were wrong.

"You've survived this far."

After being summoned, she was informed by the envoy of what happened.

Oh Hana felt uncomfortable by the fact that she had to go up against someone that stayed with her until her very last breath, but was glad she was able to see him again.

"Seems like it."

"…Hm."

It looked as if she wanted to catch up with me, but.

I believed that sending her to the afterlife as soon as possible was the best thing I could do for her.

No matter how you look at it, being used by others was uncomfortable.

"I wanted to thank you regarding the whole thing with Ji Suk. You did that for me, right?"

Before fighting, I warmed up a bit my swinging the sword in the air, but after hearing her question, I almost lost my grip.

It seemed like she fully misunderstood the situation back then.

"…What do you mean?"

"I know everything. You avenged my death because you got angry after I died."

After hearing the word, avenge, I was about to ridicule her, but managed to hold it in.

I wouldn't have ended it like that.

It was true that I was somewhat shocked after she died.

I became angry not because a woman named Oh Hana died, but because a solo survivor named Oh Hana died.

"Your death foreshadowed what would happen if I remained within the group. It was true that I got pretty emotional because of that situation, but I didn't do it because I thought of you in a certain way."

"Wh…what do you mean?"

I continued talking with a frown.

"At that time, Han Ji Suk was angry towards me because I left the group on my own. If you decided to remain in the group, then I could've been the one that was stabbed in the back."

"I'm not very good at dealing with people and I'm not insightful either. But, the only advice I could give you at the time was to survive on your own and that was all I could do for you."

It was true.

The others had their own plans too, so whenever they had the chance, they would act on their own.

On top of that, she was harmed because of the group.

Also, when she had the opportunity to obtain a Grimoire, the group just ignored and didn't think much of it.

I was the one that had doubts about her learning new skills, but the ones that made it worse was the group that she was in.

"I'm sure you wanted to say that you left the group because of me, but you already knew the truth. You didn't see a way to survive within the group."

There was no way to see how the Survive Clan was doing during the second stage.

But, I knew that group was eventually going to fall and be destroyed.

All of their members were eventually going to die.

"…Yeah, that's right. What you did just helped a little, but the one that made the decision was me. Then, if I'm given the chance to be alive like this, you could at least comfort me!!!"

Oh Hana screamed sorrowfully and her voice became an echo that it filled the ruin.

Even if she didn't approach first, the guys around her would approach her because of their interests in her.

Men were always ready to go out with her and all of them were the same.

Because of that, she never knew what true love was.

And she was never in a situation where she fell for someone first.

But, when she arrived here, she felt b.u.t.terflies for a boy she had just met.

It's possible that she's been hypnotized because the stage was a frustrating and scary place.

Despite of that, she wanted answers for the emotions she was feeling for the first time.

But the person that she fell for was standing in front of her with such a cold expression.

She had never been this angry before.

"Do you have any idea how happy I was when you complimented me during my final hours?!"

"It's because I pitied the girl that was dying, but not now. It's unnecessary for someone that already died. I'm going to take you down and move on."

It was the same thing as declaring war.

With this being their last conversation, both of them were ready to fight.

"If you think it's unfair, then kill me so that we can walk to the afterlife together."

"…I was thinking about doing that anyways. Since we've come this far…I'll take you with me!!"

Oh Hana was in the middle of casting a spell that she learned during the first stage.

Since I didn't want to stand there and take the hit, I charged forward.

Fwoos.h.!.+

The fire that formed in her hand started raging and it formed a large fireball, which then exploded in front of me.

Its power was stronger than I imagined and as it pushed me back, I felt my hand getting numb.

After that, more fireb.a.l.l.s started being thrown at me consistently, which prevented me from moving forward.

Because it was flying towards me at a fast rate, if I moved towards a small opening, I would most likely get killed.

"I can't defeat you with the power that I had before I died, but now the situation has changed since I received the envoy's blessing!!'

It seemed like she was going to do whatever it took to bring me down.

She was crying just a moment ago, but now, it looked like she was enjoying this current situation.

Boom!! Boom!!

Every time I blocked a fireball, it flies off in a different direction, but the small fragments causes my HP to decrease little by little.

I kept on defending after knowing that I had to use my mana, but it seemed like her bombs weren't going to slow down anytime soon.

But, there wasn't a need to rely on that now.

"…I got it."

Swoos.h.!.+

I cut the fireball that was flying towards me.

As the spell exploded, small, ruby-like fragments started flying in the air.

[Special Breaker D Rank]

It's a skill that can cut spells with a weapon that's similar to a sword.

"…Special Breaker?"

The envoy trembled while watching the two fight.

It can also be used to nullify any magic that has a form by cutting it.

It required superhuman reflexes because one needed the courage to find the core of the magic and cut it while it's flying towards them.

"To think that a survivor within the second stage has accomplished the Skill Breaker."

The power of a skill within the stage was just as powerful as the ones that you see in a fantasy world.

But, the manager that created this skill believed that no survivor would learn this and ended up laughing bitterly.

He was the first person to obtain this skill and the envoy never imagined a survivor would obtain it while doing their quest.

Swoos.h.!.+

After pa.s.sing through the group of fireb.a.l.l.s, I ended up in front of Oh Hana and quickly cut her staff. I placed my sword to her neck.

"It's over."

Oh Hana had a hunch that the battle was over right when he cut through the spell.

He couldn't even see the wide smile she had before.

She dropped her hands as a sign that she didn't care what happened to her anymore.

"That's enough now."

As I was about to attack her, the envoy intercepted.

"You've pa.s.sed the quest…Do you have any last words for this woman?"

In their point of view, they summoned Oh Hana in order to drive them crazy.

They never imagined that this situation would change like this.

"…It was a good fight. I was thinking about finis.h.i.+ng it with one attack, but I didn't think you would endure it for this long."

If Oh Hana went back to sleep like this, it seemed like she would become one of those spirits at the graveyard.

Pus.h.i.+ng aside all of her pride, she asked a question.

It was embarra.s.sing, but she expected him to answer warmly.

"…Was I helpful to you?"

Okay, this is the last time anyways.

"Yes. Thanks to you, I'll become even stronger…I'll never forget it."

I answered while scratching my head.

Maybe this answer was enough because she had a small smile on her face.

"I'll send you back."

With the envoy's touch, Oh Hana returned to being a spirit.

Her presence suddenly disappeared, despite of the fact that she was standing there.

"She seemed to have liked you. You're very heartless."

"…You heartless human. Anyways, congratulations on pa.s.sing. This is my present to you."

When the envoy twirled their scythe, powder started spreading and ended up touching me.

Surprisingly, the arm that I lost while fighting the skeletons had regenerated.

I kept on clutching my fist because I was surprised.

"You have obtained the envoy's gift box."

"I'll watch over you from here to see how far you go up. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

I returned to the fortress as the envoy saw me out.

End.

Staff :

Kuhaku (PR)