“He has nothing to do with me.”
His eyes were as dangerous as a snake preparing to devour its prey. Being stared at by that gaze, Irel tried to move her stone-hard tongue to respond.
She couldn't explain it properly, but she knew that for now she had to pretend she didn't know Mirdal. That's the only way they can both survive.
"Not familiar? Really?"
"… Yes."
Varkan's voice asked back with a friendly smile that had a strangely scary look. No, from the beginning, she didn't understand why he and she had a relationship that made him question her like an adulterous wife.
But Varkan was the Masaka, a tribe famous for its madmen, and he was the craziest of them all. Irel knew this clearly, so she tried to keep her spirits up so as not to get trapped.
“It's really someone I don't know.”
When she replied in a shaky but decisive tone, Varkan tilted his head in surprise.
“But that bastard clearly called me 'sister'…”
"No! What 'sister', I just met that person for the first time today."
Finally, the word 'bastard' was uttered. Feeling the danger about to explode, Irel shook her head in despair. Although she had seen Mirdal on screen before, this was the first time she had met him in real life, so what she said was not a lie.
“Hmm.”
Behind Varkan's smile flashed an unexpected look. Because Ire looked weak, denying her relationship with Mirdal in a surprisingly clear way.
What a pity. It wouldn't be bad if he could brutally strip the other man's flesh and bones, setting a good example to show off to the humans.
‘insect’
other.
"So that's it. Someone I don't know."
Varkan finally seemed to accept. She breathed a sigh of relief when he calmly blurted it out.
“Then it's okay to kill him.”
"What? What... kill?"
What kind of argument is this again? Varkan saw Irel's eyes widen in surprise, and he smiled awkwardly.
"Of course. That bastard was creeping closer to you."
He has an outstanding talent for uttering crazy words with a smile as bright as the August sun. This makes Irel Elorance, a completely normal person, extremely awkward.
‘No, I mean, what right do you have… What kind of relationship do we have…’
The words she wanted to say rose to her throat. But they immediately disappeared like a receding tide when she saw the fire
split cup
growing in Varkan's hands.
“Wait, wait a minute!”
Irel quickly grabbed his strong wrist. Being touched by her hand without any fear, Varkan narrowed his eyes and smiled gently as he asked.
"What's wrong? You said it had nothing to do with it."
He is indeed a man with an evil personality. His perfect face showed amusement at Irel's confusion and fear.
“If it's someone you don't know, it's okay to kill him.”
Really want to go crazy. Irel desperately racked her brain but couldn't find any words to resolve this situation.
Meanwhile, the swirling flames in Varkan's hand grew larger and larger. If he was hit by that thing, even if Mirdal was Masaka, it would be difficult for him to survive. No, it will definitely die.
‘Or just let Mirdal die?’
Even she herself is still in danger, why worry about saving others? Anyway, Mirdal is the bad guy who intends to kidnap her. Thinking of the hat store employees who were devoured by Keytan because of his plan, she even felt that he deserved to die.
But Irel still couldn't stand to see Mirdal die. The reason she tried to save him now was very simple. She knew that later, Mirdal would regret his actions and spend his whole life making amends.
‘This is Mirdal's hidden past.’
If Mirdal's sympathy increases to a certain level, he will kneel before the player and confess. He will say that he is a terrible monster, unworthy of love.
Mirdal's parents were vain people who only thought about family fame. They were extremely proud to give birth to a Masaka, the son of the Lord God.
Naturally, Mirdal can have anything he wants. Not only that, his parents kept whispering in his ear, poisoning him about how special Mirdal was, and how lowly and worthless everyone else was.
Growing up like that, Mirdal became an arrogant, selfish monster who only thought about himself. He made many mistakes, like a puppy not afraid of a tiger.
‘Perhaps leaving the store clerk to be eaten was also because of that.’
In Mirdal's eyes, people other than Masaka had lives as worthless as flies. To him, the fact that a few civilians died to make his plans more dramatic was nothing to worry about.
The price for his accumulated sins should have been borne by Mirdal himself. But the Masaka are the only individuals who can capture Keytan, the children of the Godhead. Therefore, they are granted
‘immunity’
from human law.
And so, instead, his family and friends were all executed.
This caused a great shock to Mirdal. The first punishment came too late and was too harsh.
Mirdal was half crazy and half sane, wandering around the world for many years. During that process, he had the opportunity to look back at himself and deeply repent. The person who only knew how to live for himself for so long decided to use the rest of his life to save humanity, as an act of atonement.
Players in the game
‘Salvation’
Meeting Mirdal was after this period. Therefore, Yeon, the original player, felt completely alienated from the naivety and impulsiveness of the young Mirdal she had never known.
‘Anyway, I should give him a chance to redeem himself.’
During the short time she thought, the situation continued to get worse. The swirling fire in Varkan's hand had grown almost as large as the entire house.
“Let go.”
Varkan warned with a bright smile. His gaze as sharp as a blade glanced over Irel's slender fingers holding his wrist. Surely, as soon as she let go, Mirdal would be burned until there were no bones left.
“Please don't do that.”
“What if I don't want to?”
Varkan coldly responded to her difficult-to-utter plea. He didn't stop, but increased the fire in his hand menacingly, smiling brightly.
“You're not begging for that guy's life in front of me, are you?”
Did she hear wrong? It seemed like she had just heard the sound of Mirdal's death being aggravated from explosion to... a mausoleum of fire.
“It's not like that…”
“So?”
His cold eyes inquired closely. Seeing that, Irel, in a moment of urgency, blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I… I like the type of man who appreciates even a small life.”
An affirmation that seems a bit detailed, but is extremely urgent. After listening, Varkan looked slightly bewildered.
“Ha.”
The first breath let out in surprise, then turned into a loud laugh. Varkan began to laugh, as if he had never heard anything so interesting.
At the same time, a welcome system message appeared
ting
up.
[Varkan's favorability increased by 3.]
Feeling that her improvisation had worked, Irel nervously observed Varkan's face. Varkan met her pleading eyes, then held out the hand that wasn't holding the fire, still smiling.
“Really.”
She was almost startled back, but Irel closed her eyes tightly and tried to endure. She let that scary hand caress her hair freely.
"How adorable. You look at me with those eyes, it makes me hard."
The last whisper in his ear, he lowered his voice, so vague. Unable to pretend not to hear, Irel opened her eyes.
“Your wish is quite impressive…”
His hair was brighter than a burning fire, and his dark golden eyes attracted her gaze. Then his sensual, smiling lips moved closer and slowly kissed the corner of her eyes.
It was an extremely affectionate touch, not at all like Varkan's. A feeling of pity, as if pitying something foolish and weak. After kissing, he didn't leave his lips, whispering lazily.
"It's OK."
“What do you mean it's okay?”
“Because you will soon get used to my ways.”
Before he could fully understand the meaning of those words, the boiling fire in Varkan's other hand flared up again, expanding in a threatening manner.
Of course, that fire went straight to Mirdal who was lying on the floor.
"Are not!!"
Irel was horrified and instinctively reached out. But because the physical difference was too great, she couldn't grab him and could only struggle helplessly in the air.
Meanwhile, flames flew from Varkan's hand and rushed forward as if it wanted to explode Mirdal's head at any moment. In that moment, Irel saw it. Varkan's eyes were smiling lazily, as if this whole thing was just a trivial joke.
‘He is crazy.’
She hates it. She hated this man who killed people like killing an insect. And she hates her powerless position even more, unable to help but be manipulated by this man.
If she saw Mirdal die right before her eyes, she would definitely be haunted. And every time she saw Varkan, the cause of everything, she couldn't help but feel scared and cower.
‘And this man will definitely enjoy it.’
Dragging her around when she was scared was certainly easy for him. She will eventually be manipulated to his will, then thrown away when she no longer has any useful value.
That is the future that is destined for Irel Elorance.
Thinking of that, an inexplicable strength suddenly surged from deep within her chest.