SSEI | Chapter 2.9

The headless body crumpled to the ground. Without even a second glance, the Red Man kicked it aside and stepped toward the giant clam.

With a nudge of his foot, he pried open the upper shell.

Then, as if confirming a hunch, he tore off the paper bag hiding Yuan’s face and let out a small sigh.

“So you’re still clinging to that stubborn life of yours, huh, White One?”

His narrow eyes gleamed with an odd mixture of curiosity and amusement.

A moment ago, Yuan had been terrified, thinking he was about to die—again. But now, standing face-to-face with this man, frustration slowly began boiling inside him.

Why the hell did he keep running into this guy? Why did his life keep getting threatened like this?

If it was about punishment, hadn’t he already paid the price by getting his head chopped off once?

The first time he was killed, he was terrified. The second time, it was just baffling.

But by the third time?

He was getting pissed off.

No matter what it was, once you got used to something, it wasn’t as scary anymore.

Even getting killed.

Fine, if you’re gonna do it again, then just do it! It’s not like dying again is going to make a difference!

With that attitude, Yuan pursed his lips and shot back defiantly.

“Why are you talking like we have some kind of lifelong grudge? Maybe I’m just alive because I got lucky.”

“…Even after getting your head chopped off?”

“Have you never seen someone survive a beheading before? At least for me, this is the second time, counting when I saw Lork last time.”

The Red Man clicked his tongue in mild irritation, then let out a sigh as he straightened up. He casually lifted his axe and, without hesitation, brought it down once more on Malli’s rolling head, ensuring it would never move again.

Yuan muttered with a disgruntled tone.

“It’s not that I’m feeling “lively.” I’m just starting to understand your personality. You’re going to kill me again, aren’t you? No matter if I apologize, beg, or whatever. And honestly, it’s not even like I did something wrong to deserve it…”

The biggest reason Yuan had decided to stop cowering before this man was simple: The Red Man made his own decisions, regardless of how others acted.

If he felt like being kind, he would be, even if Yuan had done something wrong.

If he decided Yuan should die, he would kill him, even if Yuan had done nothing at all.

So, if things were going to be arbitrary anyway, Yuan figured he might as well act however he wanted. At least then, it wouldn’t feel so frustrating.

“Hah. You’ve got a solid grasp of the situation.” The Red Man narrowed his eyes slightly. “So this Neurotoxic Mist… was that meant for me?”

“No, actually, this mist was…”

“If it was, then those idiots didn’t even teach you properly,” he scoffed. “In most cases, whatever attack you use, your partner isn’t affected. If you actually want to attack your own partner during a game, you need a special method.”

“Yeah, I already got that explanation. But…”

“Then I guess you’re just an idiot.”

His voice was dripping with amusement, but his eyes were cold.

“In short, instead of incapacitating me, all you did was make it easier for me to finish them off. Though I suppose you did earn cooperation points in the process, so congrats?”

“I told you, I didn’t activate the mist on purpose. I’m not that stupid. Look, if you’re gonna talk to me, at least pretend to listen to what I’m saying. I get it, you’ve already made up your mind, but I’m telling you—you’re wrong. Even if I don’t have my memories, isn’t it just basic courtesy to listen to someone when they speak? Even if I’m a beginner, treating me like an idiot to my face is kinda rude, don’t you think?”

What happened earlier was entirely because Malli, clueless and desperate, had pulled a reckless stunt that amounted to suicide.

But the Red Man had absolutely no interest in listening. He gave a tired sigh, clearly fed up with Yuan’s constant talking, and raised his axe again.

“You’re really noisy, you know that?” he muttered. “At first, you were so scared you barely spoke, but now, it’s like even if I drowned you, your mouth would still be the only thing floating.”

“It wouldn’t. Last time, when you cut my head off and threw me into the poison lake, I sank straight down.”

“…Ah. So that’s why you ended up inside the giant clam?” The Red Man let out a short chuckle. “You really are needlessly lucky.”

“I thought so too at first. But then I ran into you again, so now I’m not so sure. I’m starting to think all the luck I had in this round was just setting me up to meet you and get killed. Hey, you didn’t follow me here, did you? Are you, like, my personal stalker or something?”

“Me? Follow you?” He scoffed. “I didn’t even know you were alive.”

“Then can you just… keep not knowing? Like, pretend you didn’t see me and just go? Maybe let Sael and the others go too?”

“…Why would I— No, wait.” He paused, as if suddenly realizing how absurd this conversation was. “Why am I even engaging with your meaningless questions?”

Shaking his head as if Yuan wasn’t worth the effort, the Red Man turned away.

He walked straight toward Sael.

Sael, half-resigned to his fate, put on a lopsided, nervous smile, as if trying to laugh off a bad joke.

But Yuan couldn’t laugh.

He didn’t need to see what would happen next—he already knew.

Reflexively, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Thud.

A heavy impact.

And then, the sound of the axe striking flesh.

Once.

A barrier breaking—shattering into pieces.

Three times.

And then, another dull thud.

Even with his eyes closed, Yuan could see exactly what was happening.

A creeping horror settled over him as the truth became undeniable.

The others were dead.

Which meant…

That axe was now coming for his head.

‘This is it. It’s over.’

There were no regrets. If things had gone the way they were supposed to, he wouldn’t have even been able to participate in the game and would have just died. Considering that, he’d lasted quite a while. He’d met kind people, learned what kind of world this was, and figured out how this game worked. That alone might have been a huge gain.

But still, there were plenty of questions swirling in his head. And, of course, the biggest question was about the Red Man.

He was impossible to read, yet oddly verbose when explaining certain things. A shadowy figure who busily moved around out of Yuan’s sight, setting unknown plans into motion.

Sure, he was scary. But that only made Yuan want to know more. That’s why, in the final moments of this life, he resolved to ask a question. At the very least, it wouldn’t be a meaningless one.

“H-Hey! Why the hell did you try to activate the windmill?”

No answer came.

Yuan squeezed his eyes shut and waited. After a while, he started wondering if the man had left. Cautiously, he cracked one eye open—only to regret it immediately.

The Red Man, covered in blood splatters, was crouched right in front of him, staring down at him with his head slightly tilted.

‘Ugh… Uwaaaaah…!’

The blood on his face made him look even more terrifying, but at this point, closing his eyes again wasn’t an option. Mustering up his courage, Yuan pressed on.

“That guy, what was his name? Blue Dot, was it? Anyway, I heard he tried to activate the windmill on your orders. What exactly are you plotting?”

“So it was you who stopped the windmill from running. Of course, I doubt you did it alone.”

“Why did you make him do that? What were you trying to find out?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not important to you, anyway. It only matters to me and to them.”

Normally, he was unnecessarily generous with explanations, but now he was refusing to say anything? Yuan narrowed his eyes at the man, who let out a long sigh before speaking again.

“That’s not the real issue here. If you really did stop Esanok and Blue Dot, then that means you interfered with what I was trying to do.”

“Didn’t you just say it didn’t matter? Were you bluffing?”

“It doesn’t matter. But that doesn’t mean you didn’t get in my way. Didn’t you learn anything from having your throat cut earlier? I warned you not to interfere.”

The Red Man glared at Yuan with cold, sharp eyes. The message was clear—stop poking around, or else. Honestly, it was pretty terrifying. But this time, Yuan actually had a counterargument.

“…Uh, technically speaking, you never actually said that to me.”

“What?”

“You said you’d get rid of me because I might get in your way, but you never told me not to be a nuisance or not to interfere or anything like that.”

Okay, maybe he was nitpicking, but still! Yuan straightened up, speaking confidently. If that guy was going to unfairly clam up, then wasn’t it only fair for Yuan to latch onto whatever little thing he could? And it wasn’t even a lie!

“Insisting that someone said something they didn’t is a bad habit, you know. If you keep doing that, people won’t believe you anymore. You might end up like the boy who cried wolf. That’s why you should always be precise and honest with your words.”

”…….”

“I’ve heard from here and there that people don’t really like you. No matter how strong you are, is it really a good idea to keep isolating yourself like that? I mean, from what I can tell, you seem pretty diligent, and your basic social skills don’t seem terrible either.”

”…….”

“If you could just fix a few small things, like… uh, for example, not lying like this and maybe not cutting your partner’s throat without a word, I think you could actually get along with people pretty well. Oh, and you shouldn’t blame others so carelessly either. Got it?”

The Red Man was silent for quite a while. Yuan figured it had to be one of two things—either his bold little lecture had somehow left an impression, or…

He was so dumbfounded that he missed the right moment to get angry.

”……Normally, when someone gets their head chopped off, they learn something from the experience.”

“Uh, well, I did learn something. Like, how terrible your personality is? And that no matter how much I get upset or intimidated, you’re still going to be consistently awful to me.”

“You really are dumber than I initially assumed. Or maybe… you’re just exceptionally talented at getting under people’s skin.”

Judging by his reaction, it was definitely the latter.

The Red Man shot Yuan a contemptuous glare before standing up. His tightly shut lips and utterly motionless expression made him seem indifferent at first glance, but somehow, Yuan could tell.

That guy was really pissed off right now.