Chapter 2: Betrayed (2)

NOTE- We recently made a significant change in chapter 1, which was mistakenly replcaed by some other chapter, if you have already read the initial version, we recommend you to revisit the Chapter 1, before diving into this chapter. This will help you fully understand and enjoy the story.

My body moved. Once again, I stood up.

For the first time, I realized something.

No matter how many times I fell, I could always get back up—as long as I had something to protect behind me.

And there was one more thing.

If I got this angry, if I lost my mind like this…

I could stand again.

“This… this bastard.”

Ji Sehwa was flustered. Of course, she would be. Moments ago, I had been half-dead from the fight with Dark Arthur, with my left arm severed. There was no way I should be able to stand.

“Apologize.”

“What?”

“Apologize… to Somi!”

“Why should I apologize to a dead woman who can’t even hear me?”

Ji Sehwa shouted, charging at me. Her fist flew toward me.

“Uwoooaaaah!!”

I summoned the last of my remaining strength and swung my right arm at him. Our fists collided.

But…

BOOM!

Every bone in my right hand shattered. Every fiber of my muscles tore apart. The impact sent me flying, and I hit the ground.

Damn it.

This is so damn unfair.

Han Somi.

Pink Wings.

She was a member of the Dragon King Squadron, Draeoger.

And she was my lover.

But she was dead.

Just like Ji Sehwa said—she died because of me.

It was my poor judgment that killed her.

She didn’t have to die, yet she did.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Somi.”

Even though the person I wanted to kill for insulting you is right in front of me, I can’t even punish them.

How pathetic.

I felt a wave of self-loathing wash over me.

“Damn, that scared me. His bones are completely wrecked. How does he fight with this much power without transforming? What kind of freak is this guy…?”

I heard Ji Sehwa muttering.

“Honestly, I’ve always suspected he wasn’t human. Didn’t he look like some kind of monster before joining the squad?”

That’s because I chose the dragon’s traits. To grow stronger, I had no choice but to select the most overpowered ability in the game: the Crimson Dragon of the Apocalypse.

Before joining the team, I had the appearance of a dragon-human hybrid—a form that was closer to a monster than a human.

“He might actually be a former monster. Remember how he used to chomp down on the corpses of monsters he defeated? Ugh, it was so disgusting I almost threw up.”

That’s another trait of the Crimson Dragon. Being a dragon that inherently leans toward evil, it requires consuming evil to maintain its power.

It wasn’t something I wanted to do. I even vomited countless times because of how revolting it was to eat monsters.

It was agonizing.

But I endured it, convincing myself it was all for the sake of growing stronger and protecting the world.

I explained my abilities to them again and again.

I begged them to understand.

I thought they would.

“I think we’re done here. Apocamelot is destroyed, and we’ve secured the Switch. Let’s get out of here.”

“Hehe, yeah. Let’s blow up this ship. Our partner mechs are waiting outside; we’ll use those to return.”

“Wait, what about Jeong Eui-seok?”

The usually quiet Kang Yerin spoke up, objecting.

“Huh? That guy? He’s dying here with the ship, of course.”

“What did you just say?”

“Wh-what? I didn’t hear anything like that!”

Kang Yerin’s voice rose, her expression filled with disbelief. Choi Minseo also looked visibly shaken.

“What were you thinking, anyway? Did you really think Jeong Eui-seok was coming back with us?”

“Well, yeah, kind of… But then, what are we supposed to say when we get back? That Eui-seok oppa didn’t make it?”

“The story is that Jeong Eui-seok betrayed us and joined Dark Arthur’s side. We took him down along with the rest of them. The Association President already has it all planned out, hehe. All the rewards and glory for destroying Apocamelot will be ours.”

“Glory… I see… In that case, I guess there’s no helping it.”

Choi Minseo nodded, smiling innocently as if it all made perfect sense.

“That’s absurd! That’s murder!”

In contrast, Kang Yerin bared her teeth, her fury unmistakable.

“Why the hell is this murder, you damn bitch? Are you trying to frame an S-rank hero for murder? Want to fight?”

Ji Sehwa’s expression turned menacing.

“Fight? Do you think you can beat me?”

Yellow energy began to flare from Kang Yerin’s body. As soon as Ji Sehwa saw it, she reacted immediately. The Blue Dragon and Yellow Dragon were about to manifest.

Wham!

Shin Yookyung moved first. A swift ninja, she was already at Kang Yerin, pressing her hand over her nose and mouth. Kang Yerin briefly resisted but quickly lost consciousness due to the tranquilizer.

“Tsk, this is annoying.”

“Then, shall we head back?”

“Hmm.”

The three of them moved with the unconscious Kang Yerin, not even glancing at me.

I couldn’t move any further.

I couldn’t even make a sound.

All the blood had drained from me. My muscle fibers had dissolved.

My… my switch.

The Crimson Dragon’s switch. My severed left arm and transformation device were now so far away.

I couldn’t even bring myself to crawl toward them.

Is this really the end?

It hadn’t been long.

Maybe just three years.

For three years, I had fought, preaching justice and peace while battling evil in this world.

I ran all this time, hoping to bring even a small hope to the people.

Of course, there were times I wanted to give up.

The first woman I ever loved in this world.

I thought I would give everything for her.

Somi.

When I ran my fingers through her pink hair, a soft scent would linger.

“Don’t despair. Fight for justice.”

She left those words behind before she departed.

Still, I kept those words.

I never gave up until my kick pierced the leader of evil. I fought to the end for justice.

The ending was trash, though.

Boom boom boom!!

Explosions rang out.

The blast drew nearer, and soon, it would consume my body along with the massive spaceship of the evil organization.

Red Dragon Jeong Eui-seok met his death along with the ship.

The first one.

[Achievement ‘All Challenge Collector’ effect activated! Reviving with a 400% stat boost from a fatal death!]

My body reformed amidst the fragments of the spaceship. Soon, I found myself drifting in space, fully restored.

“F*ck.”

I shouted, but in the vacuum of space, no sound could carry.

“Fck. Fck. F*ckkkk!!!”

A silent scream in the emptiness.

“You fcking bastards! You damn btches!! I’ll tear you apart!! Ji Sehwa! Shin Yookyung! Kang Yerin! Choi Minseo! You fcking pieces of sht!!!”

I flailed around in the weightless space like a madman for what felt like ages.

Eventually, I grew exhausted.

I looked toward Earth.

As messed up as it was, it was beautiful.

I knew about the resurrection perk.

I knew the perks I gained from achievements were powerful.

I still had items I hadn’t used yet, ones I’d been saving for upcoming scenarios.

As expected from a pay-to-win game, the difference between regular items and paid ones was incomprehensible.

I clenched my fist.

With the resurrection perk, my stats were now five times higher than usual.

I was already an S-rank hero.

Heroes get stronger the more they are pushed to their limits.

What would my power be now?

I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

I wanted to delay using this resurrection perk as much as possible.

The higher the stats, the more beneficial it would be when multiplied by five.

As the scenario progressed, the difficulty would increase exponentially, so I planned to save the stat boost for when it was truly necessary.

Well, for proof…

I had been in space for over 30 minutes without breathing, and I was still fine.

But even in this situation, I couldn’t defy the laws of science.

I couldn’t move, as I couldn’t generate any thrust.

If I could use my abilities, it would be simple.

Originally, this would have been possible, but now I’m a member of the S-Team.

The powers of heroes affiliated with the team are stored in their transformation devices. Without transforming, they can’t use their abilities.

In exchange for this drawback, their power increases when active as part of the team.

Right now, my power is contained in that damn switch.

I can return the power from the switch to my body, but to do that, I need the switch.

This is the worst.

Do I have to drift through space for a hundred years or a thousand, staring at Earth?

Still, there are fragments of the space battleship floating around.

If I’m lucky, I might be able to create some thrust by colliding with them.

Just a little more… just a little more.

Ora…

There’s no sense of day or night here.

I guess that’s normal.

How long has it been?

My senses are numbing.

My skin is cold, I can’t breathe, and the sunlight is painfully harsh.

What are those bastards doing?

Are they being welcomed on Earth after defeating the evil organization?

They’re probably just f*cking around.

Damn them.

The joy was short-lived.

There was a reason I rushed to gather the Festam.

The next scenario is starting soon.

It’s a movie scenario from the original content.

Looking at the difficulty of the ‘Galactic Empire,’ the Dark Kingdom Apocamelot will seem like a child’s game.

Those bastards probably can’t even control their switches, so Earth’s fate is sealed.

Ah, I remember now.

This is it.

[Team Red Achievement Skill] Superior
[Spirit] Ally’s
[Allies’ experience gained is increased by 300%]
[Team members’ skill ranks increase by two levels]
[Team members’ stats increase by 30%]

This is a skill I earned from the achievement when I possessed this body.

A skill given to the best Red, fitting for a leader.

“Deactivate.”

[Deactivating ally’s spirit.]
[Warning! The levels and stats gained by allies due to their spirits will be lost. Do you really want to deactivate?]

What’s with the extra questioning?

“Deactivate.”

[The ally’s spirit has been deactivated.]

Good luck with that.

You thought you became S-rank because you were strong, huh?

Let’s see how you handle it.

“Ha….”

I closed my eyes for a moment.

I couldn’t find peace of mind.

Only endless rage coursed through my body.

Ji Sehwa, Silvermirrored Shin Yookyung, Yellow Cloaker Kang Yerin, Green Nature Choi Minseo. The faces of the four flashed by. Rusabell, Hero Association President. That damn b*tch too.

I lost my composure, and the light in my vision flickered. My senses were shaking wildly.

Hmm? Light?

I opened my eyes.

A small aircraft was hovering nearby.

The black aircraft was approaching me.

I know that shape. It’s a spaceship from the Dark Kingdom Apocamelot.

The door opened, and someone in a spacesuit emerged. They slowly approached, grabbed my arm, and used the air to guide us back into the ship.

The hatch closed. Decompression.

“Who are you?”

I spoke in a low voice. The person in the spacesuit slowly removed their helmet.

Horns growing from the sides of their head. Seductive lips. Hollow eyes. Black hair sticking to their cheeks, slightly damp with sweat.

“Pain Queen Morgan.”

“…Long time no see, Red Dragon.”

The torturous high-ranking officer of Apocamelot, Morgan, greeted me.