Suddenly, the sight of her approaching me with a blank expression was terrifyingly frightening.

She grabbed my chin with a look of disbelief.

“Cali, what are you doing! Let go right now!”

“Dan, are your eyes buttonholes? Can’t you see the state of ‘that’?”

“I see it, I do. I don’t know what you’re doing, but my eyesight is fine! Stop harassing civilians!”

“If your eyesight is fine, look properly. Park Ha Young, what is your true identity?”

Her burning golden eyes shone fiercely like those of a beast. It was hard to breathe under the naked pressure directed at me.

A chill ran down my spine. At the same time, my mind became calm.

“Even if you ask about my identity, what I can answer is……”

“Don’t lie! You bastard, what’s your true identity? If you don’t speak honestly, I’ll break your neck right here.”

“Ack, kek!”

Cali, who had pushed away the man, Dan, grabbed my neck with the same motion. It was a much stronger force compared to when she had held my chin.

“Hey Cali, you! Have you forgotten the guidelines!”

“Shut up, does this look like an ‘ordinary person’ to you!?”

Dan approached once again. As Cali stomped her foot once, the cement floor caved in. The sensation of my neck being strangled was chillingly eerie.

“What do you mean, not an ordinary person! The investigation clearly……”

“Ha, haha. You’re saying an ordinary person, not even an awakened one, ‘broke’ the brainwashing? And with an S-class item at that?”

“What?”

“‘This’ is pretending to be an ordinary person.”

This is the limit now. The sensation of my neck being strangled was slowly making me lose consciousness. I desperately tried to remove Cali’s hand from my neck, but it was useless.

Now I’m really going to die. Unable to breathe, like this…

Just as everything was about to fade to white, the hand was removed. Red hair like the sunset and deep golden eyes like the burning sun. The gaze shooting at me was fiercely savage.

“Huu, uh. Ugh, kuhk. Huhk, huuh. Uh.”

As I gasped for the air that finally came through, tears flowed endlessly from my eyes.

Dan seemed flustered but again pressed Cali. What are you doing, why are you making such a fuss when that person is lying, it’s too much when they can’t even resist, and so on. Because I was in a daze, I couldn’t fully understand what they were saying.

Words spilled out of my mouth involuntarily.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please spare, me. Please spare me. Please spare me……”

The words I could say were this weak and powerless.

I don’t want to die. It hurts. Only those thoughts consumed me. The questions that had been arising until just now disappeared without leaving even a speck of ash, and only words begging for forgiveness came out of my mouth.

“Cut the crap. There’s no way you could resist the Red Meteor without an S-class mental barrier. Are you trying to appeal to sympathy in this situation?”

“I, I really don’t know anything. I, I’m really an unawakened person. I’ve never awakened, really……”

Due to the lingering sensation of being strangled, the words I uttered came out severely stuttered. Even at these unclear words, Cali just looked dumbfounded.

“Now you’re blatantly lying. An unawakened person? You?”

“Cali, seeing her cry like that, maybe we should…”

“It’s, true. I, I’m, an unawakened returnee, so, I don’t know about anything else, but really. I’ve never even seen a system window……”

I’m not sure if what’s coming out of my mouth is words or just sounds. My head is ringing. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth. Tears blur my vision.

And at the same time, I felt angry.

Why? Why do I have to suffer like this?

Because I’m unawakened? Because I’m weaker than that person? Or because I’m involved with Cheon Sin Woo?

None of these are my will, they’re all things I can’t control.

Why?

“Still spouting nonsense. Do you need to die to come to your senses?”

Two selves collided, and I heard the voice urging me again.

“Cali! Stop it already!”

The man shouted loudly. I unconsciously shrank back.

Cali’s gaze moved from me to Dan.

“I understand you’re angry because of the lies. But it really exists! In Korea, in this country, there was a special case called an unawakened returnee! You’ve just bullied a powerless young girl. So please stop!”

“……”

At the man’s rapidly spoken words, tears burst forth and flowed again. It was hard to breathe. Not because my neck was being strangled, but just breathing was difficult.

“……Ha. You’re saying such a special case really exists.”

“Yes. There were stories of people who couldn’t awaken for unknown reasons.”

“But there was no such information in the investigated data! Silence didn’t say anything either. Damn it, what’s going on here!”

“That’s not what you should be saying right now. ……I’m sorry, little miss. Are you alright?”

“……”

Do I look alright to you right now? I wasn’t grateful even though he had helped me. Even then, only a whimpering sound escaped due to my choked-up throat.

Dan untied the ropes binding my hands and feet.

“Dan!”

“Even if she’s untied, what could this child do? It’s right to untie her now.”

“You, have you forgotten? She didn’t react at all to the Red Meteor. Even if she hasn’t awakened now, she’s at least S-rank!”

“So, has this child attacked us now?”

“Have you really lost your mind?!”

“Please calm down. We need to assess the situation.”

My hands and feet felt numb. They seem to be fighting among themselves, but I’m not sure. I trembled as I held my phone. I should call anyone. So that I can let them know about my current situation.

……But, if the opponent is that Cali Brian, what difference would it make if I let someone know?

Ah, I don’t know. I just don’t understand why I’ve been thrown into this situation.

“I’m sorry, really. Our side was in a hurry too, so we had no choice. Let’s calm down and talk again.”

The man casually handled that military god and tried to soothe me. Was that person a ranker too? I don’t know. I can’t remember. Not wanting to think anymore, I closed my eyes for a moment.

After a brief moment passed, I calmed down and carefully examined the current situation.

Trying to escape from here would be useless anyway. So, I should think about ‘how to answer appropriately without getting on the wrong side of the world rankers’ here and now.

Cali merely tossed out a single “Sorry” as if she was apologizing or not. Her gaze was still sharp.

“I’ll ask again, you. What’s your relationship with Cheon Sin Woo?”

“…There really is no relationship. I wouldn’t lie in a situation where I might die.”

“For that, you two seemed quite close? That enemy of heaven wouldn’t keep just anyone by his side.”

It’s repeating again after all. I’m starting to get tired and don’t want to think about anything. I cleared my repeatedly breaking and misaligned voice several times, and spoke slowly.

“I don’t understand why you brought me here. Even if Cheon Sin Woo is great, he’s only ranked 13th in the world. I don’t know how he compares to you, but wouldn’t it be better to go and ask him directly……”

“It seems you really don’t know anything.”

An irritated voice flowed from Cali. I firmly closed my mouth.

Suddenly, Baek I Hyun came to mind.

Ah, right. I Hyun must be worried. I wonder if Baek I Hyun knows by now that something has happened to me.

“……Well. Anyway, what would a little kid like you know? Fine, it doesn’t matter. Your role won’t change.”

“Pardon?”

“Listen carefully. You need to persuade Cheon Sin Woo.”

“Pardon?”

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying? Persuade Cheon Sin Woo as I tell you to.”

“……Why?”

When I responded with an expression between defiance and bewilderment, veins popped up on Cali’s neck.

“Are you stupid? The world is going to end. The land you live on, your friends, your family, all of it will disappear. To prevent that, we need Cheon Sin Woo.”

“……”

What did I just hear? I turned my head to look at Dan sitting beside me, and he was covering his face with one hand.

Regardless, Cali just said what she wanted to say.

“The Second Destruction has already been foreseen. And as luck would have it, that damned enemy of heaven is needed to prevent that destruction. Although His Highness the enemy of heaven isn’t cooperating at all.”

“……I’ve never heard of such things.”

“Of course not? Imagine if people knew the world was ending. What would happen? This is a fact known only to a few among the rankers.”

“……I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”

“You’re making me repeat myself over and over. Where did you hear what I just said?”

“……”

I felt a sense of defiance growing the more I heard her unpleasant voice.

So what? I should persuade Cheon Sin Woo? Say something that makes sense. How could I possibly persuade that person?

Complaints I couldn’t voice out loud piled up in my throat. Cali looked at me like this and smiled enigmatically.

“You seem to have a lot of complaints.”

“……No, I don’t.”

“Haha, you look like you want to hit me right now. I thought you were an unawakened returnee, but are you just a coward? Most returnees have been through thick and thin in other worlds, so they’re fearless.”

I heard a mocking voice. Dan, who was next to me, said ‘Hey Cali, stop……’ but the willful woman only did what she wanted to do.

For instance, taking out a beautiful yet vicious spear.

“If you have complaints, come at me.”

“Pardon?”

A silver trajectory curved before my eyes. The momentary time felt impossibly long.

What just happened to me? All strength left my body.

If I hadn’t unconsciously stepped back, my head would have been separated from my body and fallen somewhere by now.

Cali, leaning the swung spear against her back, looked at me with a still expressionless face.

“Why that expression?”

“Cali!”

Dan jumped out to stop Cali. No, he tried to stop her.

“You said your name was Ha Young? Do you know the easiest way to awaken?”

“……Ah.”

My vision was dyed red. Like the sunset at dusk, or as if blood had spread everywhere.

Crimson things covered my sight and enveloped Cali. That red energy swirled, soaring into the sky and then plunging back to the ground.

The god of war. A woman also known by the alias Mars. Loving fights and battles, and called the god of fire because from afar it looks like flames are dancing……

“Don’t worry.”

I wonder why she’s doing this to me. Just as I couldn’t think of anything anymore, a softly settling voice crumbled like an illusion.

“I won’t really kill you.”