Chapter 10- Encounter with Crimson Shadow

Crimson Shadow circled Liam like a vulture, his scarlet robes whispering against the dirt. "Three questions. Answer correctly, and I'll let you leave." His smirk sharpened. "Lie, and I'll peel your skin inch by inch."

Liam clenched his jaw. 'Options: Die now or die later. Great.'

[Bullshit Your Way Out (D-Rank) Recommended.]

'Fuck off.'

The commander stopped, his ice-chip eyes drilling into Liam. "First question. Those guards were trained killers. Yet you—a nameless maggot—slew them. How?"

Liam's mind raced. 'Truth? Lie? Does it matter?'

[Panic Mode (S-Rank) Activated!]

Crimson Shadow leaned closer. "Three reasons. Now."

Liam met his gaze, voice flat. "One: They underestimated me. Thought I was harmless."

The commander's eyebrow twitched. "Go on."

"Two: They were tired. Been dragging kids to that well all day."

A flicker of irritation crossed Crimson Shadow's face. "And three?"

Liam shrugged. "Three: All the hostages are purposely being kept hungry and thirsty— weak. The guards thought I wouldn't be able to do anything to them"

Silence hung thick.

[Bullshit Mastery (B-Rank) Unlocked!]

Crimson Shadow's lips curled. "Wrong."

'Shit.'

The commander's blade materialized at Liam's throat. "Try again."

Liam swallowed, but with a resolute expression on his face, he responded. "Three: the first reason."

[Death Wish (SS-Rank) Achieved!]

'Let's be real here. He can kill me before I even react. Since he didn't do that, it's obvious that he has no plans to kill me.'

A flicker of irritation crossed Crimson Shadow's face. "And three?"

Liam shrugged. "Three: All the hostages are purposely being kept hungry and thirsty— weak. The guards thought I wouldn't be able to do anything to them"

Silence hung thick.

[Bullshit Mastery (B-Rank) Unlocked!]

Crimson Shadow's lips curled. "Wrong."

'Shit.'

The commander's blade materialized at Liam's throat. "Try again."

Liam swallowed, but with a resolute expression on his face, he responded. "Three: the first reason."

[Death Wish (SS-Rank) Achieved!]

'Let's be real here. He can kill me before I even react. Since he didn't do that, it's obvious that he has no plans to kill me. And I think I know what one of his questions will be…'

The commander's lips twitched. Then he laughed—a low, grating sound like rusted hinges. "Clever maggot."

The blade vanished, but Liam didn't relax.

"Second question." Crimson Shadow circled him, aura thickening the air. "Did you not expect to get caught? Did you think you'd escape? Did you think no one would find their killer?"

Liam raised a brow. "That's three questions."

The commander's aura slammed into Liam, crushing him to his knees. Dirt bit into his palms, his ribs creaking under the pressure.

"Answer."

Liam gritted his teeth. "Didn't think that far. Killed them 'cause they pissed me off."

The aura eased slightly. "And if more guards come?"

"I'll kill them too. It's self-defense. Even if I die, I won't die without killing a bunch."

Crimson Shadow crouched, his face inches from Liam's. "Self-defense? How many will you kill to save yourself?"

"As many as I can."

The commander studied him, then stood. "Interesting."

Crimson Shadow's gaze sharpened. "Third question. Why do you think I chose you for my squad?"

Liam stared. 'Hell if I know. You tell me. But oh, well, I expected this question.'

[Cold-Blooded (C-Rank) deactivated. Bluffing(F-Rank) engaged.]

'Wow. Helpful.'

He shrugged. "Maybe I have unique energy in my body, and you want to hand me to that corpse-eating old man for brownie points."

The commander's mask of calm cracked. His aura flickered, then vanished entirely. "How did you…?"

"Saw him at the well. Sucking the life out of your 'failures.'" Liam smirked. "What, the others didn't tell you?"

Crimson Shadow's eyes narrowed. "Others?"

"Stone Ox. Thunder Palm. They tried to kill me earlier. Guess they don't like you enough to inform you about all this, huh?"

A muscle twitched in the commander's jaw. For a heartbeat, Liam thought he'd snap. Instead, Crimson Shadow stepped back, shadows coiling around him like serpents.

"This isn't over."

He dissolved into the darkness, leaving Liam alone with the bloodstained dirt.

[Quest Completed: Survive the Encounter with crimson shadow!]

[Rewards: 1 RP.]

Liam stumbled back to the chambers, his legs buckling as he collapsed against the wall. Exhaustion dragged him under before he could curse.

The dream hit like a blade to the gut.

Real-world Liam, 15 years old, drenched in sweat as he swung a rusted sword at a dummy in a barren field. Instructor William's voice boomed: "Weak! Pathetic! You'll die before you ever touch a guild crest!"

Bloodied knuckles. Mocking laughter from classmates. A cafeteria tray slammed into his face: "Eat shit, failure."

Alone in his apartment, shoveling cold noodles into his mouth, hands shaking. Always shaking.

Liam jerked awake, his throat raw. The chambers buzzed with muted chatter. Hostages huddled in corners, chewing on stale bread and dried meat.

'Meal time. Great.'

He scanned the room. No guards in sight. No food left either.

'Fuck this shit. Bad dream. Worse reality.'

He slumped against the wall, closing his eyes—

"Hey."

Liam cracked one eye open and saw four figures looming over him:

One was a girl, maybe 16. Her glare sharp enough to skin a rabbit. Two were boys who seemed to be twins, lean and feral, their matching scowls etched into bony faces.

And the last was the 13-year-old girl he'd saved earlier, her eyes wide but steady.

The older girl tossed a hunk of bread at his lap. "Eat. You look like death."

Liam stared at the bread. "What's the catch?"

"No catch." She sat cross-legged beside him, the twins flanking her like guard dogs. "My Name is Hye Rin."

She then glanced at the twins and said, "He is Joon Ho. And the one on the right is Joon Seok. They may look like twins, but they aren't. Joon Seok is the older brother."

Liam then glanced at the girl he had saved.

"You have already met her. She is—" Before Hye Rin could speak further, the girl stepped forward and introduced herself.

"I'm Soo-Min." She bowed, her voice like a whisper. "Thank you… for before."

"Yeah. Thank you for saving her. She told me you killed three guards. They took her away when we were resting. If it weren't for you…. they you have already—"

"I didn't do that for her. I went for a quick piss and saw the guards. I would have killed the guards regardless of what they were doing." Liam responded, forcing the bite down his throat.

[Bluffing not working.]

'It's true though. The only reason I saved her was because of the quest. I don't care about anything else.'

"What's your name?" Hye Rin asked.

"My name is…" Lima paused for a moment. He truly didn't want to tell the lame name to anyone, but he had no choice. Sure, he could lie about it, but he couldn't be bothered. 

"My Name is Lee."

"Lee…?" Their faces seemed as though they were waiting for Liam to tell his full name. 

"Just Lee."

The four talked while Liam finished eating.

"So…? Why are you here? I doubt it's to thank me."

Hye Rin glanced around cautiously and leaned in closer. "We're planning to run away. We want you to join us."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Run away? You're kidding, right? Getting out of here is impossible."

Hye Rin's expression hardened. "We can't just sit and wait for our death. If we die, we want to die trying to run away."

Liam thought about it for a moment and found himself curious. "How do you plan to get out of here?"

The group fell silent. Liam realized they had no plan and didn't miss a chance to comment. "You don't have a plan, do you?"

Hye Rin's glare sharpened. "We're working on it."

Liam chuckled. "Working on it? You might as well be working on your graves."

Just then, a guard's voice boomed through the chambers. "All hostages, gather on the ground! Now!"

Everyone exchanged glances, wondering what was going to happen next. 

Liam stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Looks like we're about to find out what fresh hell awaits us."