1.
The Cruel Girl
“Hey!
Stop pretending.
Get up!”
The girl’s cold voice rang in my ears.
I slowly stood up with both hands raised.
Before I could say anything—
Slash!
A flash of silver light streaked across my vision.
In the next instant—
“AAAAAH!”
My scream shattered the silence of the night.
My left arm…
My left arm was no longer attached to my body!
Unbearable pain surged through me, making my entire body tremble.
It felt as though someone were ripping every nerve out of my body.
Before I could even understand what had happened, the girl struck the back of my neck with the hilt of her sword.
My vision blurred.
The world around me sank into darkness.
Then—
I lost consciousness.
I had no idea how much time had passed.
Suddenly, cold water splashed across my face, slowly bringing me back to consciousness.
I opened my eyes.
The first thing I felt was pain.
Intense, unbearable pain.
My left arm…
I tried to move it.
But I couldn’t feel anything.
Confused, I looked down.
The next moment, my eyes widened.
My left arm was gone!
For several seconds, I couldn’t think at all.
Then—
The anger that had been building inside my chest erupted like molten lava from a volcano.
How dare she?
She cut off my arm without even giving me a chance to explain myself!
I clenched my teeth.
If that girl were standing in front of me right now…
But the next moment, reality reminded me of how helpless I was.
I was alone.
They were two.
On top of that, I didn’t even know where in this damned desert I had been brought.
Trying to fight them now would be the same as inviting death.
So I swallowed my anger.
For now…
enduring this is my only option.
Just then, the boy asked,
“What is your name?”
I immediately frowned and looked at him.
“That’s rude.”
The boy looked confused.
“What?”
“You’re supposed to introduce yourself before asking someone else their name.
Don’t you even know that?”
Before he could respond, the girl stepped forward.
The edge of her sword stopped near my throat.
“You’re not in a position to complain right now.”
There wasn’t the slightest warmth in her voice.
“Answer our questions.
Otherwise, things will get worse for you.”
I slowly raised my head.
“I don’t have a name.”
The girl narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t try to play games with us.”
She moved her sword even closer to my throat.
“If you’re lying, you’ll lose your life.”
“I’m telling the truth.”
After a moment, I continued,
“No one ever gave me a name when I was born.
I grew up in a slum.
My parents died when I was young, and after that, no one thought it was necessary to give me a name.”
The girl stared at me for a few moments.
Then she murmured,
“Oh…”
But the suspicion in her eyes didn’t diminish.
“What did you do in the slum?”
“I wandered the streets.
I stole things when I had to.”
“Couldn’t you do anything better than that?”
I looked away.
“I could.”
After a brief pause, I continued,
“But no one would give me a job.
So I did whatever I had to do to survive.”
Both of them remained silent for a while.
I watched their faces, trying to figure out whether they believed me.
But their expressions revealed nothing.
Eventually, I was the one who broke the silence.
“Can I ask a question?”
“What?”
“What is my role here?”
The girl answered without hesitation.
“You’ll carry our equipment.”
Hearing that, my anger flared up again.
“Then why did you cut off my arm?”
The girl answered as though she were discussing something completely ordinary.
“We were injured and couldn’t afford to take any risks.
So I cut it off.”
I stared at her in disbelief.
“You’re saying that as if it’s completely normal!”
Then I looked at my severed arm.
“How am I supposed to carry your equipment when I don’t even have one of my arms?”
“Everything can be done with one hand.”
I was trembling with anger.
But I couldn’t do anything.
I was completely at their mercy.
Even if I tried to escape, where would I go?
I was trapped in the middle of a desert.
And now I had only one arm.
What kind of crazy woman cuts off someone’s arm just because she’s afraid of taking a risk?
I wanted to curse her.
I wanted revenge.
But before that, I had to survive.
So, against my will, I said,
“Fine.
I’ll carry your equipment.”
Although I said those words aloud, I was already searching for a way to take revenge.
One day, I’ll make you pay for this.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come up with a plan.
Gradually, a strange calmness settled over my mind.
My left arm was still hurting.
It felt as though the girl hadn’t even properly treated the wound.
I sighed.
For now, I’ll stay calm.
First, I’ll observe them.
Trying to do something out of anger would be foolish.
Gathering as much information about them as possible was far more sensible.
Then I could decide what to do when the right opportunity presented itself.
2.
A Sleepless Night
After a while, I noticed something else about their behavior.
The boy was quiet most of the time.
He barely spoke and rarely opened his mouth unless necessary.
The girl, on the other hand, was always alert.
Her eyes constantly moved around, observing her surroundings.
It seemed that even the slightest movement wouldn’t escape her attention.
Despite their completely different personalities, their coordination was surprisingly good.
Before one of them did something, the other seemed to understand what was needed.
Have they been together for a long time?
The question crossed my mind, but I didn’t ask either of them.
Making quick judgments about strangers was foolish.
And with these two, even a small mistake could cost me my life.
That night, the boy stayed awake first to keep watch.
Later, the girl took his place.
And me?
I stayed awake the entire night.
Neither of them paid much attention to me.
Perhaps they thought someone as weak as me wasn’t worth worrying about.
I didn’t say anything either.
I simply sat beneath a tree and stared at the night sky.
There was nothing around us that we could use to start a fire.
Even if there had been, lighting one wouldn’t have been a wise decision.
A monster might spot the light from a distance and come here.
So we didn’t light a fire.
The night slowly passed.
I watched the sun rise beyond the horizon.
The sight was strangely beautiful.
It looked as though the sun were emerging from the heart of an endless sea of sand.
But I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate that beauty.
I hadn’t slept even once throughout the night.
From time to time, my left arm hurt.
Perhaps that was why I couldn’t fall asleep.
After a while, Arthur and Alice woke up as well.
They went to the pond and thoroughly washed their faces.
After staying there for a while, they returned to me.
Alice looked at me.
“Get ready.
We’re leaving soon.”
Hearing that, my irritation immediately increased.
“The wound on my arm hasn’t even dried yet.”
I looked at my injured arm.
“How am I supposed to walk with you in this condition?”
The boy stepped forward.
“Let me see the wound.”
He extended his hand toward me.
“Give me your arm.”
I looked at him suspiciously.
“What are you going to do with my severed arm?”
“Just do what I tell you.”
I had no other choice.
So I walked over to him.
Then I handed him my severed arm.
The moment I saw it, my body trembled.
Seeing my own arm detached from my body was difficult to describe.
The anger inside me flared up again.
That girl is responsible for all of this.
Arthur told me to sit down.
I obeyed.
He picked up my severed arm and carefully placed it against the spot where it had been cut off.
Then he held it in place with his hand.
For the first few moments, nothing happened.
I stared at him with a frown.
Then—
A green light spread around my arm.
Suddenly, I felt a warm current flowing through my body.
The pain slowly began to fade.
An unbelievable scene was unfolding before my eyes.
Five minutes later…
I stared at my arm in complete disbelief.
My arm—
It had been reattached!
Even the wound seemed to have healed completely.
I couldn’t hide my happiness.
“How did you do that?”
Arthur answered as though he had done something completely ordinary.
“It’s a basic healing spell.”
“A healing spell?”
“Yes.
It’s used to treat ordinary injuries.”
I was stunned.
I had never seen anything like this in my life.
“If it’s so simple, how did you do it?”
Then another question escaped my mouth.
“Can I learn it too?”
Arthur shook his head.
“Everyone receives different skills.
The methods of obtaining them can also vary.”
I looked at him suspiciously.
“Then where did you get yours?”
“From the System.
I received this skill after completing a simple mission.”
He looked at me.
“Don’t you know about these things?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
After a moment, I continued,
“People living in the slums know nothing about these things.
So I never had the opportunity to learn about them either.”
Arthur looked surprised.
“You didn’t even go to school?”
“I did.”
I paused before continuing.
“I went to school before my parents died.”
“Oh…”
Arthur nodded.
“If you want to know anything later, you can ask me.”
“Okay.”
Just then, Alice’s voice rang out.
“Stop wasting time.
Get ready.
We need to leave.”
Arthur nodded.
“Okay.”
Then he looked at me and said,
“Get ready quickly.
We’re leaving this desert.”
3.
Arthur and Alice
I was curious about what came next.
“What should I take?”
“The bags.”
I walked toward one of the backpacks.
But before I could pick it up, Alice stopped me.
“Wait.”
She opened the bag and removed all the sharp weapons and tools.
Then she placed them inside another smaller bag and carried it herself.
After that, they filled several bottles with water.
They also collected dates from the nearby trees and packed them into their bags.
None of us knew how long it would take to cross the desert.
So they decided to take as much food and water as possible.
I tried to lift the backpack.
But—
It was unbelievably heavy!
My first attempt failed.
The second wasn’t much better.
Eventually, after considerable effort, I managed to hoist it onto my shoulder.
I looked at them.
“So, which direction are we going?”
Alice pointed toward the horizon.
“East.”
A little while later, we began our journey.
We walked across the sand.
The backpack on my shoulder felt increasingly heavy, but I didn’t complain.
I still knew almost nothing about these two.
I didn’t know how powerful they were, where they had come from, or what abilities the System had granted them.
So, for now, my job was to observe them.
As we walked, I looked at Alice.
“When you cut off my arm, did you know it could be reattached?”
Alice didn’t even look at me.
She answered indifferently.
“No.”
Just two words.
Yet those two words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
What a terrifying girl!
She had cut off my arm without even knowing whether it could be restored!
In other words, if Arthur hadn’t been able to heal me, I might have been crippled for the rest of my life.
And Alice wouldn’t have cared in the slightest.
I clenched my teeth silently.
One day…
I’ll take revenge on you.
For now, however, I kept that thought to myself.
I turned toward Arthur.
“I have a few questions.”
He looked at me.
I had already realized that asking Arthur was better than asking Alice.
At least he hadn’t greeted me with a sword.
Arthur said,
“Don’t ask anything that could get you into trouble.”
“Okay.”
I hesitated for a few moments.
Then I finally asked,
“I just want to know your names.”
Arthur looked at me.
After a brief pause, he answered,
“Arthur.”
Then he gestured toward the girl walking beside him.
“And her name is Alice.”