SSEI | Chapter 3.6

The man carried the limp young man on his back and slowly crossed the coast. For a man who always insisted on acting alone, the warm body heating his back was something he could never get used to.

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Yuan, who regained consciousness with the warmth of a cozy campfire, initially thought he had already died and returned to the sanctuary. If this were the sanctuary, Yuan would have taken a bit more rest. However, the unsettling air that touched the tip of his nose chilled his consciousness. There was something different about this place compared to the usual sanctuary. Unlike the soft sofas of the sanctuary, the place where Yuan lay now was hard, making his back ache. A chilling coldness crept up from behind, beyond the range of warmth. The air was unusually humid and smelled like rotting fish.

‘The sound outside seems to echo strangely… Could it be a cave or something?’

Yuan squinted his eyes in a daze and looked around. As he vaguely guessed, it looked like a dim cave. Around the campfire, there seemed to be no moisture, but there was a sound like water droplets dripping here and there. This is not the sanctuary. The game isn’t over yet.

And decisively, what completely woke Yuan up was the damp and slimy feel of the floor. This was more bewildering and incomprehensible than any other sensation. The feel of the floor was directly touching his skin without any clothes in between, which means…

‘W-why am I naked?!’

He slightly lowered his head to look at himself and realized that for some reason, he was completely naked, covered only by a blanket. It was the first time Yuan himself saw the skin beneath the tightly belted restraint suit. Even considering the dim surroundings, his skin was so pale that it made him wonder if he was alive. He hadn’t noticed when he was covered in thick clothes, but his limbs were almost devoid of muscle, looking quite unimpressive. He could now understand why the Blue Dot hesitated to hand him a melee weapon last time.

The problem, however, was why he was naked in the first place. Surely, his clothes didn’t grow legs and run away on their own. Then someone else must have taken them off.

“Wh-who…?”

“Awake, are you?”

The moment he heard that voice, Yuan snapped to full alertness. No matter how dazed he was, he couldn’t not recognize the owner of that voice. He thought there would be no chance of getting involved with him in this game!

“Ahhh!”

“My ears hurt. I thought you just talked a lot, but you have an unnecessarily loud voice too.”

As soon as he screamed, an annoyed voice came from right beside him. Startled, he turned his head to see the Red Man, who was rummaging through his belongings with a frown, leaning against the wall and looking at him. Fortunately, the man’s gaze wasn’t as terrifying as it was at first. After seeing his face so many times, it seemed Yuan had developed some immunity.

But there’s no immunity to this situation. He’s used to threats to his life, but threats to his chastity are something he’s never experienced. What happened? No, what on earth happened to him? Yuan hastily pulled the blanket up to his neck and opened his mouth, stammering.

“Uh, uh, uh. Ahhh.”

“Did you suddenly lose the ability to speak human language? I’ve heard rumors that you often make strange noises, but if you have complaints, say them with words.”

“Wh-where did you hear such rumors?”

“Is it important?”

“It’s not important! It’s not important, but there’s something else that’s important. So…”

He should be asking why he’s naked, but somehow something in his head feels tangled. He doesn’t want to hear the answer to that question. Even though Yuan has lost his memory and lacks common sense, he knows what it means to be naked and alone with someone.

Maybe this guy still holds a grudge from that eunuch incident last time. He said it didn’t matter, but who knows if his pride as a man was deeply wounded? Thinking that way, the throbbing pain vibrating throughout his body suddenly took on a different meaning.

Moreover, some of the past memories he recalled through the calamity earlier further tangled his thoughts. The problem was that it was a conversation with a lover. In the past, he definitely had a lover, and for some reason, seeing this man kept reminding him of that lover.

Thus, Yuan, unable to integrate the myriad of thoughts sprouting in his mind, ended up blurting out the last thing that came to mind with vigor.

“I-I have a lover!”

It was a disastrously tangled utterance in terms of context.

“…Suddenly, what? I didn’t ask, though.”

“You didn’t ask, but it’s a situation where I have to tell you! Anyway, I have a boyfriend. Don’t mess with me!”

Yuan shouted desperately, flailing his arms. However, instead of getting angry or yelling, the man just stared at Yuan with a still puzzled expression. His gaze was filled with a sense of pity and disbelief, as if he was looking at a fool.

“What kind of answer are you expecting with that… uh, congratulations? Considering the context, is it the Blue Dot? A bit reckless, but not a bad guy.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? It’s not that person! Seriously, it’s not, so don’t misunderstand!”

“Then what does that bizarre declaration mean?”

“Anyway, you, uh, you were trying to do something bad to me! Trying to take off my clothes, uh, like, do something! But you can’t do that! Even if I don’t have a boyfriend, it’s still wrong, but since I have a boyfriend, it’s doubly wrong! Messing with someone who has a boyfriend is really bad! That’s why I said it!”

Even though it sounded like a strange explanation to himself, Yuan hurriedly filled in the gaps. The man finally covered his face and let out a long sigh. Whether he agreed with Yuan’s logic or not was unclear, but he seemed to understand the situation.

“…I wasn’t trying to do what you think.”

“Don’t lie. Then why did you strip me?”

“When I found you, your clothes were soaked. If I left you like that, you would’ve died from hypothermia.”

“My clothes were soaked? Why… Ah.”

Yuan finally grasped the situation. Of course, his clothes would be wet after being swept away by a flood. Yuan, who had just come out of the water, was relatively dry now. As he hesitated and looked around, he spotted his clothes drying a little distance away.

Did that person really try to save him? If so, he almost accused an innocent person… But Yuan had plenty of reasons to be suspicious. After all, considering what he had been through so far.

“Then why didn’t you kill me this time?”

“…”

“Last time, you took my head twice even though we were on the same team. But this time, you stripped me to save me… Believing that explanation makes me a fool, doesn’t it?”

That guy has no reason to keep him alive. This is a survival game where you have to kill others to earn points and escape this world, and that guy seems to enjoy separating heads from bodies, regardless of whether they’re enemies or allies.

Isn’t he alone even now without a partner? He probably got rid of his partner again, saying they were a hindrance, and threw them somewhere. It’s possible they died while passing through the evening zone, but Yuan didn’t want to interpret the man’s situation favorably.

“Seriously, don’t lie. If you’re upset about what happened last time, it’s okay to just say so honestly.”

“I wish you’d tell me exactly what you mean by ‘what happened last time.’ You’ve done unexpected things more than once.”

“So you were keeping track of everything you didn’t like! You were pretending not to care while counting every little thing I did that annoyed you, and then you pounced when you had a chance to vent your grudge!”

“Stop it. You have a habit of assuming I’m some kind of child and unraveling your logic. Talking to you makes me feel like I’m becoming a fool at your level…”

The man didn’t look angry, more like he was fed up, but Yuan still glared at him suspiciously, squirming around. He was planning to grab his clothes hanging by the entrance and make a run for it. Of course, he was blocked by the man before he could even reach it. The Red Man, who pinned Yuan to the ground by the scruff of his neck, whispered to him like a sigh.

“I wanted to confirm something with you.”

“Confirm what?”

“It seems like you got swept away here after getting caught in a downpour in Maze Village. Am I wrong?”

“How did you know…? No, wait. Wouldn’t most people just think I had an accident while crossing the lake?”

“Normally, yes, but if you got swept away after the windmill in Maze Village was activated, that’s a different story. When the windmill is activated, it affects the lake, making it impossible to cross by normal means. The disasters in the mist get agitated and become more ferocious.”

“Was that what happened?”

Turns out there were disasters in that mist. Thinking he might have been eaten if he was unlucky made Yuan feel scared for no reason. Of course, now that he’s safely crossed the lake, the Red Man glaring at him with an interrogative look is scarier.

“Besides, if it’s the Blue Dot, they would definitely try to defeat the disaster and find clues related to the past. You were partners with the Blue Dot, right? When the Blue Dot saw the windmill activated and headed to Maze Village, you probably panicked and followed along in confusion.”

“That’s not it. I’m not a kid who gets anxious without an adult.”

“Then what really happened?”

“I was just dragged along like a piece of luggage.”

“…I don’t see much difference in the end. It’s even worse in the sense that your will wasn’t involved.”

“The important thing is that I wasn’t as scared as you think! Don’t treat me like a kid! I don’t remember how old I am, but I’m definitely not a child!”

“At best, you’re twenty. Or you have a face that doesn’t match your age.”

“Do you know how rude it is to judge someone’s face like that? Just because you’re handsome doesn’t mean you can call others stupid-looking with a low mental age.”

“I have no idea since when you started caring about manners. And I didn’t say it like that…”

Somehow, arguing with this guy makes me nitpick over trivial issues. Is this what it means to feel like you’re becoming an idiot the more you talk?

The man seemed to realize something too, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, and continued speaking.

“Anyway, I saved you because I’m interested in the ‘clue’ you obtained. I’m also curious about how you managed to escape the lake.”