“Is she still awake at this hour?”
A woman sat alone in the break room chair.
Pinenes glanced at her briefly before continuing up to the deck. He needed to cool his head in the chilly night air.
But at that moment—
“Um….”
A faint voice stopped Pinenes in his tracks.
Even the sound of floating stones rattling in the engine room ceased, leaving the ship filled with an awkward silence.
It took a while before the woman spoke again.
“Thank you… for earlier.”
“…?”
Pinenes fell into thought for a moment.
In his 25 years of life, he could count on one hand the times he had heard words of gratitude directed at him.
Was she thanking him for saving her life earlier?
I see.
His actions hadn’t been driven by kindness.
Rescuing allies was simply the most efficient strategy in the fight against goblins.
The fact that it had saved them was merely a aftereffect of his approach.
Understanding this, he gave her a small nod in place of a response and turned to climb the stairs again.
But it seemed that gratitude wasn’t the only reason she had called out to him.
“Wait!”
Her voice rang out again, louder this time.
Pinenes slowly turned his head toward her.
Her eyes were red and swollen.
“Can you stay… just for a little while?”
“Why?”
“I just… have something I’d like to ask.”
But that was just an excuse.
The real reason she had left her room at this late hour was that she couldn’t bear the loneliness and fear.
Simply having someone to talk to was enough.
“Would that be… too much to ask?”
“…Fine.”
Pinenes didn’t refuse.
After all, his reason for going outside was to clear his head.
If talking for a while could serve the same purpose, then there was no need to step out into the cold.
He leaned back against the sofa across from her.
Noticing that he had developed a habit of crossing his legs, he flinched for a brief moment.
To her, however, his movement seemed entirely natural.
“What is it you’re curious about?”
“Well… um….”
Pinenes had no intention of sharing anything important.
In the tutorial, they had no choice but to work together for survival, but now, it was impossible to determine whether his current companions were allies or enemies.
This woman might one day be his ally—or his foe.
Getting unnecessarily entangled with her was not in his plans.
…!
Just then.
As he looked at her sitting quietly, Pinenes’ eyes trembled.
What kind of trickery was this?
Her entire body, lips trembling with uncertainty, was engulfed in a radiant golden flame.
She didn’t even seem aware of the light surrounding her.
Once again, the golden flames were visible only to his eyes.
“The Eyes of the Sovereign.”
He recalled the past.
The ability of the Iron Sovereign had led him to victory against the goblins.
If he hadn’t noticed the blood-red colour of the goblin leader, he wouldn’t have figured out the tutorial’s strategy.
And if it weren’t for the golden-flamed mercenary who struck down that goblin leader, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything even with that knowledge.
The Sovereign’s Eye had revealed both the key to victory and the locked door blocking the path.
Even after that, his eyes had allowed him to detect both enemies ready to strike a fatal blow and allies on the brink of death.
Fixing his gaze on the woman, Pinenes analysed her more carefully.
But unlike before, no detailed explanation popped up.
Only the golden radiance shimmered intensely.
“Golden flames, huh.”
Pinenes ran a finger over his eyelids.
He had attempted to use this power again after the battle, but with little success.
He still had no idea when or how it activated, but there was one thing he could infer—
The meaning behind the colours of the flames.
Red meant danger.
Gold meant opportunity.
Based on the patterns so far, that interpretation seemed correct.
“So this woman… is an opportunity for me?”
The moment he asked himself that question—
Whoosh!
The golden flames engulfing her body flared even brighter.
As if the fire itself were answering him.
…What is this?
He thought deeply for a moment, but this time, there was no further reaction.
No messages, either.
His eyes seemed to be telling him:
“I can light the way, but you must find the reason to walk it.”
The choice was his alone.
Pinenes silently observed the golden flames, his thoughts growing more tangled.
The woman’s name was Han So-hye.
She had lived near the convenience store where he used to work part-time.
Same place. Same ship.
Did that mean the thugs and high schoolers sleeping in their rooms had also been transported here simply because they were nearby when Earth fell?
If that was the case, it was highly likely that people who had been near to one another were transported together.
Not that Earth’s fate mattered anymore.
“Pinenes Bledian… sir?”
“Just call me Pinenes.”
“Okay, Pinenes-nim!”
He had meant that there was no need to add honorifics, but hearing it didn’t particularly bother him.
…Well, I guess she can call me whatever she wants.
They continued their conversation.
So-hye’s questions weren’t particularly related to survival in this world.
In truth, the topic itself wasn’t that important.
Humans are social creatures.
She had come to the break room at this late hour because she was afraid to be alone.
For someone thrown into a foreign world with no explanation, having someone to talk to was a great comfort in itself.
“It’s… a little cold here.”
After about thirty minutes of conversation, So-hye murmured as she hugged herself.
“Can I sit over there with you?”
“I don’t mind.”
Pinenes nodded absentmindedly.
Since he wasn’t particularly sensitive to the cold, he had no issue with her moving closer.
“Ah…? You didn’t have to get up.”
“You said you were cold, didn’t you? Didn’t you mean you wanted to sit here?”
“Ah, y-yes…!”
The sofa was spacious enough for two or three people to sit comfortably… So-hye added that thought as she sank into the wide cushions.
The warmth she felt beneath her eased her mind slightly.
It was the moment she realized that the man, who had been nothing but cold, possessed the same warmth as any ordinary human.
—
“How do you think Earth is doing by now?”
She hadn’t asked expecting an answer.
There was no way a man from another world would know, nor did he have any reason to care.
But contrary to her expectations, Pinenes responded to her muttering.
“It’s gone.”
A brief silence.
So-hye broke it by asking again.
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t a certainty.
It was merely an guess drawn from the sight of thousands of meteors crashing down and the occasional messages that appeared before his eyes, suggesting that the dimension called Earth had vanished.
But for the sake of survival, it was better to believe it to be true.
“I’ll say it again—let go of unnecessary attachments.”
“……”
“This world isn’t leisurely enough for you to dwell on your past life or ways to return.”
That applied not only to the woman before him but to himself as well.
There was no need to think about what this world was, how he could find his sister, or even what the true identity of Pinenes was.
For now, survival was all that mattered.
—
Golden light…
Pinenes stared intently at the woman.
Feeling his gaze, So-hye swallowed hard.
“You said your name was Han So-hye?”
“Yes.”
Her first impression wasn’t that of a particularly shrewd person.
Perhaps because of her nature, she had been the only woman forced into battle, and even in fights against goblins, she rarely checked her surroundings, putting herself in danger multiple times.
One could call her pure, but another might say she was foolish.
If luck didn’t remain on her side, she would soon meet her end.
However, the golden light surrounding her… If that light signified opportunity, then it might be worth offering her some help.
Having reached a conclusion, Pinenes spoke.
“Follow me. I’ll teach you a little about surviving in this world.”
“O-okay…!”
As So-hye trailed behind him, Pinenes approached a statue standing between the lobby and the hallway.
In the dark of night, the faint radiant glow surrounding the statue stood out even more.
A spirit.
According to Sky Island’s settings, spirits were drawn to sacred or mysterious places.
This is convenient. I needed to use my credits before the next rift anyway.
Spirits were the merchants of this world, and credits—an intangible currency—were the only means of exchange with them.
—
“Have you purchased anything so far?”
“I… bought a steak earlier.”
“Tch.”
Pinenes clicked his tongue.
He must not have explained it well enough earlier.
They didn’t seem to realize how significant the initial 100-credit reward was.
The message after clearing the tutorial had clearly described it as a ‘generous reward.’
“It’s best to save credits when buying food. You can survive for two weeks with just 1 credit’s worth of potatoes.”
“…Just potatoes?”
Noticing So-hye’s slightly disgusted expression, he added further explanation.
“For me, maintaining peak condition is the priority, but for you, accumulating credits comes first.”
“R-right… That makes sense!”
“So, that leaves you with 90 credits now.”
“Yes.”
As she nodded weakly, Pinenes continued his questioning.
The most crucial thing was her trait.
Just as he had ‘Iron Sovereign’ embedded in his body, everyone who crossed into this world was granted a special ability.
Those who failed to understand their own traits and developed blindly would inevitably be thrown out of the survival race.
“What’s your trait?”
“I’m an archer—Dawn’s Archer. It’s a C-rank trait.”
So-hye answered while opening her status window.
The tutorial had already covered how to use the status window, as well as explanations on stats and traits.
“You don’t have to reveal your rank. It’s best not to show all your cards at once.”
“…Sorry.”
“There’s no need to apologize to me.”
Even sovereign’s eyes couldn’t peer into another’s status window, so he merely nodded.
An archer.
If she had to survive alone, it would be a terrible profession.
But in a party, it was a decent role.
With teammates to handle the frontline, an archer could safely deal long-range attacks.
Considering that a D-rank starting trait placed someone in the top 10 percent, a C-rank meant she was quite fortunate.
Pinenes listed the equipment she needed to buy.
After purchasing a bow, arrows, armor, and a wooden shield, she had about five credits left.
Not bad.
So-hye fumbled awkwardly with her new armor and bow.
One might wonder why an archer needed a shield, but she didn’t question it.
Rather than understanding its importance, she was simply following Pinenes’ instructions without complaint.
But as long as the result was good, the process didn’t matter.
—
“Try shooting an arrow.”
“Here?”
“There’s a scarecrow in the training area over there.”
So-hye pulled the bowstring with all her might, her entire body trembling.
The arrowhead trembled unsteadily.
As Pinenes watched her struggle, he lowered her arm and asked,
“Have you used your stat points?”
“No, not yet.”
“Raise your Strength.”
At the start, Strength was the best option.
Dexterity barely made a difference, and Endurance was meaningless when a sword or spear could still kill you in one hit.
Unless you were some kind of otherworldly mage blessed with skills from the get-go, nothing outperformed Strength in terms of efficiency.
—
Thunk!
“Oh…!”
The arrow struck the scarecrow’s torso dead center.
So-hye gasped in awe as she watched the shaft quiver from impact.
Raising Strength by just a single point had made a staggering difference.
So this is a C-rank trait…
Pinenes observed with a nod.
A normal modern person could never land their first shot perfectly on target.
That meant Dawn’s Archer had some kind of accuracy correction built into it.
If that was the case, she could afford to delay improving Dexterity for now.
“It’s better to aim for the head next time. Monsters and humans alike usually have their heads as their weak points.”
“I’ll give it a try…!”
While So-hye immersed herself in practicing alone, Pinenes turned back toward the spirit.
He had done enough for her for now.
It was time to spend his own credits.
As he reached out, the spirit responded, and a list of purchasable items unfolded before his eyes.
