Timid guy was pacing back and forth like a squirrel on something strong, muttering to himself, breathing sharp and panicked. Fire girl was crouched, digging through her supplies, her brows furrowed in a sort of determined calm. Meanwhile, the supposed leader of this trainwreck, Leroy, sat still with his eyes glued to the stone floor like it had the answers to life.
Ronin watched them all with a cracked smile threatening to split his face.
This is it, huh? This is how I die.
He actually chuckled under his breath. No, not bitterly—more like... amused. Because this? This was comedy gold.
He'd walked into this dimensional gate like a fool thinking this would be his moment. His time to do something. Prove something. And now? Yeah, it actually might be his last. Hilarious, really. What was that monster even doing here? A thing like that showing up just as they arrived? Too perfect. Too convenient. Almost like the universe personally wanted to give him the middle finger.
A light, cracked grin crept up on his face. Maybe he was losing his mind.
Fire girl's voice cut through the air, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts.
"I'm Kara," she said, out of nowhere.
The hell?
Ronin blinked at her. Okay? Random as hell. Who asked?
Even he could tell his brain wasn't running on all cylinders anymore.
Timid guy blinked, startled by the sudden formality, then awkwardly followed up. "I'm, uh… Jonah."
Then both of them turned and stared at him like it was his turn now.
He looked back at them with all the enthusiasm of a corpse. "E-Rank."
"…That your name?" Kara asked with a raised brow.
"Close enough," Ronin said, leaning back against the wall. They didn't need to know his name. Not out of pity or self-loathing—just didn't feel worth sharing. What the hell would they do with it anyway? Damn, he thought, this cave's really changing me, huh?
But really, it wasn't the cave. The dungeons, the drinking, the constant ass-beatings—they'd chipped away at him for a while. But it was her—Lyra. And that smug bastard Kai. That humiliation? That's what finished the job. That's what broke him and rebuilt him into the bitter husk he was now.
Kara and Jonah kept staring like they expected something more, but when he stayed quiet, they gave up and turned to Leroy.
Leroy blinked back at them like he'd just returned to reality. "Didn't I already introduce myself when we entered this hellhole?"
Kara shook her head. "We're not looking for your name, dumbass. We want a plan. You're supposed to be the leader, remember?"
Ronin snorted silently. One near-death experience and suddenly we're a little family. How cute.
Leroy finally sat up straighter, a new fire in his eyes. "Right. First things first. I need to know your abilities and ranks."
Kara went first. "D-rank magical, fire affinity. D-rank physical."
Ronin's eye twitched. D and D? That's broken as hell.
Jonah followed nervously. "Uh… C-rank physical. E-rank magical."
Ronin raised an eyebrow. This squirrel-looking guy is a C-rank? Damn.
Leroy chimed in next. "C-rank physical and magical. Wind affinity."
Alright, screw this guy too, Ronin thought. Wind? Dual C? What the hell was the gods' problem when they made me?
They all turned to him again.
He shrugged. "E-rank. All across."
Leroy didn't even blink. Just nodded and moved on. "Okay. Formation is me and Jonah at the front, Kara at the rear. Ronin—you're in the middle."
"Oh sweet, meat shield duty," Ronin muttered to himself.
"We're not fighting that thing," Leroy continued. "The goal is escape. Pure survival. We'll wait a few hours first in case it's still nearby."
Everyone nodded and split off into their corners.
Ronin sat down, back resting against cold rock. So what now?
He glanced at the small bag by his side. His fingers itched.
The truth was… he wasn't always this guy. Before the rankings, before Lyra—people called him a prodigy. Not in fighting or weapons, but in the brainy shit. Science, logic, theory—all that jazz. Top 1 in his school, top 1 in college. He was smart—as arrogant as that sounded. But when the rankings came and he got slapped with an E, and then met Lyra… he dropped it all. Thought maybe he could become a "better" man. Whatever that meant.
Now she was gone. Torn out of his life in a blaze of glory. S-rank glory.
Did he go back to studies? Professorship? Sit behind a desk and scribble formulas?
No.
He knew himself better than that.
He was petty. Deep down, always had been. That pettiness drove him to be the best before. And now? That same spite would fuel him again.
It wasn't about protecting people. It wasn't about heroism.
It was about one thing—showing them. Showing Lyra. Showing Kai. Showing everyone.
He would get stronger. Strong enough to crush S-ranks beneath his damn boots. No—stronger than that. Beyond S. Beyond this stupid ranking system.
Even if he had to become a monster.
He pulled out the crystal from his bag—the one he ripped out of the goblin. It gleamed faintly in the cave's low light. He stared at it, fire reflecting in his eyes.
Being with Lyra made him try to bury this side of him. The schemer. The obsessive. The arrogant little nerd who dismantled problems like puzzles.
No more burying.
He opened his bag, yanked out whatever random scraps he had inside—metal bits, thread, some junk he probably forgot was even there.
Time to work.
His fingers moved fast, brain firing. It didn't matter if the pieces made no sense together. He'd make them fit.
Because if there was one thing he had?
It was this damn brain.
—
On the other side of the cave, Kara watched.
She glanced at each member of their team. Leroy sat cross-legged, eyes closed. Probably still wrestling with Paul's death. Jonah was fidgeting, fingers twisting around each other like knots. He caught her eye and quickly looked away.
Her gaze landed on the strange one—Ronin. He was hunched over, deep in some kind of tinkering. She couldn't tell what exactly. He moved with purpose, fiddling with the crystal he retrieved from the goblin. He seemed… excited.
Odd guy, she thought.
Quiet. Detached. Refused to give a name. But undeniably effective. No one said it aloud, but they'd all seen it—he'd taken down a crystal-powered goblin alone. As an E-rank.
She could do the same, of course. But not if she had his stats.
It was impressive.
A sudden clang snapped her out of her thoughts. He was hammering something with his dagger now. Not violently—just focused. Methodical. Then, he paused, smirked, and leaned back, slipping something into his bag.
From where she sat, it looked vaguely like a glove. The crystal seemed embedded in it. But she couldn't be sure.
What are you doing, Ronin?
Her thoughts broke as Leroy stood up and spoke.
"It's time to move out."