I Will Surely Live

—

Click.

The sound of a revolver spinning echoed from behind.

“Are you celebrating too early?”

“Young Master Will Hysterm—”

Without a doubt, in this world, there was only one person he knew who used a “gun” as a weapon—

Reibel.

The “captain” of the Radiant Knights, the Adventurer’s Guild’s most prized party. His presence here confirmed the suspicion…

But…

Will heard no gunshot.

The moment he turned, he saw a black whip-like weapon lash out with such speed that even he couldn’t have predicted it, snatching the dangerous gun from his hand.

Click.

The second click of a revolver.

“You’re celebrating too early as well.”

“You…”

“…the Adventurer’s Guild’s lapdog, sent by Carver Hysterm?”

A gust of wind stirred the sand, and standing in the dissipating dust was Shuna, holding her shape-shifting shadow dagger. Now, the “shadow” in her hand had transformed into an identical “gun,” aimed directly at Reibel.

In her other hand, she casually toyed with Reibel’s firearm—a novel weapon, even for her.

“This is how you use it, right? If I just press here lightly, bang, your head will blossom?”

Shuna smiled, her tone laced with threat.

“Hah. Looks like the final insurance plan worked.”

Will slowly got to his feet. The last attack had a strong recoil, which had sent him to the ground. Now, he truly felt the toll of fighting this BOSS alone. The familiar feeling of being completely drained returned.

Shuna glanced at him, a hint of amusement in her eyes as she saw his “disheveled” state, and gave him a victorious wink.

That’s right.

He had prepared for everything. After “predicting a tough monster on the first floor of Dustbone Corridor,” he had also anticipated a potential “accident” afterward. Because, if he were to set a death trap for someone, he would want “someone to confirm if the target was still alive.”

The final step of his victory was Shuna, who had seemingly not entered the dungeon with him, but served as his “final trump card.”

Creating a “blind spot” for her to move freely.

Of course…

He would never let himself die.

He had promised to live and witness the future, and he would.

“Shu… Shuna Polroll.”

Reibel didn’t panic or become enraged. He slowly raised his hands in surrender, his eyes flicking from Shuna to Will.

“Did you two already figure it out? That Carver set this trap for you, Young Master Will, and that I would be the one to finish it?”

“You’re not going to die right away, but want to chat with us here?”

“Heh… If I’m not mistaken, didn’t you walk in here, Will, because… you wanted to know more ‘information’ about this, to understand the ‘truth of this world’… more thoroughly?”

Reibel’s relaxed demeanor felt off to Will.

“If I’m not mistaken, you’re not as ‘ready to die’ as you’ve let on these past few days. Quite the opposite, you’re exceptionally calm.”

He seemed… not particularly “enthusiastic” about killing him. And now, with his hands raised, dressed in his military uniform, he seemed to have many more cards and secrets to reveal, not at all like the “foolish Radiant Knight” he pretended to be.

“You’re right.”

Will twirled his staff, the black-and-white colors blurring into grey.

Then, he plunged it into the sand.

“After realizing Treya could change a history I thought was unchangeable, I considered many ways to avoid dying on this first floor—the simplest, which anyone could think of, was to have someone clear Dustbone Corridor, so I wouldn’t get the chance.”

“And that ‘someone,’ was me,” Shuna chimed in.

“But ‘my death,’ in turn, was also a trap. I wanted to use this trap to lure out more information—of course, I didn’t expect someone to show up in person.”

Will stated calmly.

“My, my, I must have been careless.”

But the other party seemed distracted.

“From my perspective, the underlying mechanics of this world are different from the unchangeable ‘fate’ I imagined. It even feels like… I’m not the only one who knows the direction of this world’s ‘fate’.”

He once thought that, as someone from a higher world who had created this one, he would know the most about its “information.” Now, it seemed that wasn’t the case. For example, Reibel, who was nodding frequently, might know even more than him.

More than his combat abilities, what he couldn’t accept was being at the bottom of the information hierarchy.

“For instance, a certain shrewd merchant who, over a decade of managing the Adventurer’s Guild, has made no mistakes. And after one of his children showed ‘great talent,’ he never gave him any ‘resources,’ as if ‘he wouldn’t live to inherit the family.’ The Adventurer’s Guild President, and… just by intuition, Carver, who seemed to never treat me like his son in a ‘normal father-son relationship’.”

Will circled Reibel, his footsteps leaving a trail in the sand.

“An interesting deduction. It seems you’re not the fool you were rumored to be.”

“Of course, what made me even more suspicious was, first, who had such accurate knowledge of my whereabouts? Even Treya, as a princess and later an empress, needed a missing person’s notice to track me… Who could so precisely know my location and relay it to Treya? It must be him.”

“Second, Eir met him before she came to rescue me and received his strange encouragement. The only possibility is that he needed me out of the ‘dead end’ that was the palace.”

“Finally, this list of dungeons with ‘abnormal phenomena’ from the Adventurer’s Guild. A dungeon name even I couldn’t remember, how could it so coincidentally appear, waiting for me to fall into the pit?”

“The only conclusion is… my father wanted me to fall into this pit, to be crushed by a slime in Dustbone Corridor, just as ‘fate’ dictated, right?”

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