The celebration outside was deafening.
Flame Heart was bathing in victory, Shadow Reapers sulking in second, Black Vultures groaning in third. And me?
I locked myself in Leonhart's quarters, armor stripped off, cloak tossed aside, sword thrown against the wall.
And there I was. Hugging my knees in the corner, head buried, clutching at the exact spot where Kael's dagger had gone through me.
Even though there was no wound… my chest still burned. My body remembered the pain. My soul wouldn't forget it.
For the first time since falling into this world, I wasn't flailing or screaming.
I was empty.
Utterly, stupidly, hopelessly empty.
Like every tragic anime character who gives up on life after one fight.
Yep. That was me.
Then,
Tap. Tap.
I froze.
That wasn't the door.
The sound came from the window.
I hesitated, slowly lifting my head.
And my entire body went pale.
Because crouched outside, perched on the ledge like some smug bat, was Kael.
His assassin cloak fluttered. His hood low. His silver eyes glowing faintly in the moonlight.
WHY HIM?!
My body screamed to shut the window. To throw him off. To scream like the terrified fangirl I secretly was.
But my hands… betrayed me.
They pushed the latch. Opened the window.
And just like that, Kael slipped inside, moving with that assassin grace, silent, precise, lethal.
Like he owned the damn place. He didn't even look at me. He just strolled past and sat down on Leonhart's bed.
Like. He. Owned. It.
My chest hurt all over again. Not from trauma this time,
But from panic.
Because now, Kael was in my room.
And I remembered.
The dagger. The blood. The way I died.
I clutched at my chest harder, wishing I could curl myself into the wall.
Then his eyes flicked to me. Sharp. Knowing.
"Leonhart," Kael said, voice low, steady. "Something's wrong with you."
I choked. "W-What do you mean?"
He lifted his hand, a faint glow wrapping his palm. That same eerie aura as during the battle.
A soul-sensing skill.
And then he said it. The words that shattered me.
"This body's soul… isn't a man's."
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
Hope slammed into me so hard I nearly cried right there.
Finally.
Finally someone noticed.
I scrambled up from the corner, eyes wide, voice shaking. "Yes...yes, you're right! You're absolutely right!"
Kael didn't even flinch as I threw my hands out, almost lunging toward him.
"I'm not Leonhart! I'm a woman....trapped in here....I don't belong in this body, I don't...."
STATIC.
The moment I tried to explain, Leonhart's face distorted. My voice warped. My words… erased.
I could feel myself talking, spilling every secret about who I really was, where I came from, the truth about the "game"...but Kael's face told me everything.
He wasn't hearing a damn thing.
When I stopped, gasping for air, waiting for his answer, he only stared at me blankly.
"I didn't hear a word," he said.
My blood froze.
I tried again.
The words poured out, desperation flooding me, voice cracking as I begged him to understand,
And Kael shook his head.
"It's blocked," he said calmly. "Like something doesn't want you speaking the truth."
Blocked.
By what?
By WHO?
The thought made my skin crawl.
My breathing went ragged. "Then....then what about the game? Do you remember it? That this was supposed to be...."
Kael's gaze didn't waver.
"The only game here are the events," he said. "Respawns work there. But outside?"
He leaned forward, daggers gleaming faintly at his sides.
"When we raid bosses. When we do quests. When we adventure… it's all real. If we fall there, we don't come back."
I went cold.
So cold I thought my body might shatter.
The Demon Lord raid.
That boss. The moment I'd spammed every OP skill Leonhart had just to clutch victory.
If I hadn't…
If I'd slipped even once…
Everyone, every single one of them, would have died. For real.
My hands trembled. My lips trembled. My whole body trembled.
This wasn't just a game.
It never had been.
And yet.
Instead of sinking deeper into despair,
Something inside me hardened.
Resolve.
If this was real… then I couldn't afford to waste Leonhart's legacy. His skills. His weapons. His name.
I'd live with it.
I'd fight with it.
I'd survive with it.
Until I found a way home.
Kael's eyes studied me, sharp and unreadable.
Then, slowly, he smirked.
"You're interesting."
Excuse me?
"Leonhart," he continued, rising from the bed with that infuriating assassin swagger. "I want to form a party with you. Whatever you are… I'll help you navigate it."
Hope.
Again.
My chest burst with it, so much I nearly squealed like the idiot girl I was.
I wasn't alone anymore.
Someone saw me. Someone believed me.
Even if he couldn't hear my truths. Even if this stupid world was gagging me whenever I tried.
Kael saw me.
His soul-sensing eyes flickered again, softening just a little.
"I can see it," he murmured. "Leonhart's body. But your soul… a woman's silhouette. Resting inside."
My heart leapt.
He saw me.
Me.
Not Leonhart. Not the guild's pillar. Not the screaming madman everyone else saw.
Just… me.
I didn't even care if he thought this was some weird BL setup.
I nodded so fast my neck cracked. "Yes! Yes, I'll join your party! Absolutely! Please!"
Kael's smirk deepened. His hand extended, gloved and confident.
"Then it's settled."
And when I took it, gripping his hand like my life depended on it,
For the first time since being trapped here, I felt something I thought I'd lost forever.
Hope.