Chapter 16: About Life (3)

“Hoyt. Honorable warrior Hoyt,” Derek laughed. “I’m so glad you are here.”

“Let them go,” replied Hoyt.

“Hmm... Let’s see.”

Derek’s subordinate dragged Ray and brought him to Derek’s side. Derek hummed a tune while walking around Yi-An and Ray.

Derek asked, “Hoyt, what is your relationship with this young orc?”

“He’s a colleague who helps me,” Hoyt answered.

“Is this orc a warrior as well?”

“He’s an apprentice, but I can guarantee that he will become a warrior one day.”

Derek nodded. “Orc warriors are unique... I have met many orc warriors, and there’s one thing in common with all of them.”

He gave Yi-An a hard kick.

“Ugh!” Yi-An groaned.

“...It’s that I can’t understand them,” finished Derek.

Yi-An trembled on the ground. His wounds split open further due to the impact of the kick, and blood gushed out. His whole body was a mess, and he didn’t have the energy to get up.

“You... protecting Thompson’s family...” Derek tapped on Yi-An’s head with the tip of his toes. “...And this orc risking his life to fight for your insignificant principles.”

Yi-An groaned.

“To be honest... the money Thompson borrowed from me means nothing to me,” Derek said.

His knife headed toward the throat of Ray, who was still being held by one of Derek’s subordinates.

“Derek!” yelled Hoyt.

“But things started getting fun after you two became involved. Warriors who protect the faith their friends have in them... Isn’t that funny?”

“If you hurt those two, I bet on my honor that I will make you pay.”

“Calm down. I haven't done anything yet, and I don’t intend to do so.”

Derek’s subordinates grabbed Ray by the hair and pulled his head back. The boy’s delicate neck almost glowed under the bright midday sun.

“Hoyt, it’s you who has to do something, not me.”

“What are you trying to pull here?”

“People like you always evoke the curiosity of those like me. How long will those principles persist? At what point do they break?”

Derek’s blade grazed over Ray’s neck, drawing a line of red. Blood began to drip down.

“First, kneel, Hoyt.”

“Derek...!”

“Unless you get on your knees and bow down, this kid dies.”

Ray trembled. Yi-An clenched his teeth as he tried to stand, but the subordinate on standby kicked him back down. Yi-An collapsed on the ground with a groan.

“Now, get down, Hoyt. Bend your honor.” Derek’s voice was laced with laughter.

Yi-An clenched his fist even while he was sprawled on the ground. His head was clouded by anger. Hoyt wasn’t an orc who should take insult from a mere loan shark. He didn’t deserve to be laughed at by those who made people into slaves and sold people to brothels for money. Hoyt was an honorable warrior, and he had proved it. A man like Derek didn’t have the right to ridicule Hoyt.

[Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon) has been activated.]

[You are an orc who doesn’t give up.]

[Your spirit will raise the limits of your body.]

Yi-An raised his head and saw that Hoyt was about to kneel. Hoyt’s gaze was peaceful, but Yi-An’s eyes trembled with anger. Something hot surged within his body.

[Your spirit is climbing rapidly.]

[Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon) has exploded.]

[Warrior’s Fighting Spirit (Uncommon) has been temporarily upgraded to Indomitable Will (Special).]

[Indomitable Will (Special) has been temporarily upgraded to Indomitable Fighting Spirit (Rare).]

[Your flesh has exceeded its limits.]

The status window flickered.

Yi-An could hear Derek’s voice say, “Get down on your knees and bow with your head on the ground.”

Derek was smiling. “Make sure you bang your head loud enough against the ground that we can hear it, then I will safely return them to you.”

Yi-An’s hand moved and grabbed Derek’s ankle.

[Your assimilation is increasing. It is currently 57%.]

[Assimilation 58%.]

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

[Assimilation 59%.]

...

[Assimilation 65%]

[Assimilation 66%]

...

[Your assimilation is increasing. Currently...]

Yi-An pulled Derek’s ankle toward himself, and Derek stumbled at the unexpected force. Meanwhile, Yi-An mustered all of his strength and managed to stand up. The subordinate who had been resting his leg on Yi-An’s back lost his balance and fell.

Yi-An exploded with power as he swung his left fist at Derek. However, Derek dodged it and attempted to stab Yi-An. Yi-An avoided the attack by leaning forward. His body felt light, and he could see the trajectory of Derek’s sword. All of the wounds in Yi-An’s body screamed in agony, but the pain helped clear his mind. He desperately burned his dying strength and slammed his body against Derek’s.

“A last-ditch struggle...!” Derek uttered.

He managed to avoid Yi-An’s blow by shifting diagonally and successfully stabbed Yi-An in the side. Yi-An almost dropped to his knees, but he put pressure on his legs to remain standing. He clenched his teeth and moved forward.

His target wasn’t Derek. Yi-An saw the frantic face of the subordinate who was holding onto Ray and threw his fist into the subordinate’s face. It was a powerful blow charged with the strength of his spirit! The subordinate flew into the air, and Yi-An pulled Ray down from midair when the subordinate’s grip on him loosened. Weapons came flying at Yi-An’s back, but he didn’t mind them and threw Ray at Hoyt.

“Ruuuuunnnnnn!”

Ray flew into the air again and rolled on the ground. He got up in a hurry and ran toward Hoyt, who safely buried him in his arms. Yi-An grinned when he saw that. This was it. He had done what he was supposed to do.

The next moment, Derek’s kick knocked Yi-An to the ground, and Derek and his subordinates began stomping on Yi-An relentlessly. Derek’s attacks were charged with the force of anger, so Yi-An gasped for breath at every kick. He began to cough blood onto the ground.

Yi-An writhed in pain as Derek continued to kick his head into the ground. Eventually, Derek stopped the beating and calmed his breathing.

“How is it... Derek...?” asked Yi-An weakly.

“I misjudged you. I will apologize, but nothing will change.” Derek smiled forcefully as if suppressing his anger and turned toward Hoyt. “Because my offer still stands.”

“...”

“Hoyt, get down on your knees. If you don’t, I will violently kill this orc. I’m very angry right now, so I have very little patience. Get down immediately.” Derek raised his knife. “I said, kneel.”

Yi-An let out a laugh, but his cackling was interrupted by the coughing of blood.

“What’s so funny?” asked Derek.

“Hoyt... you no longer have to listen to this cowardly person.”

“Do you want to die?” asked Derek.

“Derek, I won’t really die even if you kill me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean what I say.” Yi-An spat out the blood accumulating in his mouth. “I have been cursed by the stars.”

“...!”

“Even if I die, I will come alive again. I can’t let someone like you insult Hoyt.” Yi-An laughed.

Derek looked at Hoyt. “Is this true, Hoyt?”

“...”

“Curse of the stars... That’s why you aren’t afraid of death.” Derek nodded. “I can find out the truth if I kill him.”

He raised his knife.

Yi-An closed his eyes with a grin. Even though it was his first encounter with death in

Elder Lord

, he didn’t regret it because it was to protect the honor of a warrior he respected. For that, he was more than willing to die.

However, the moment Derek’s knife was about to stab him, Yi-An heard Hoyt’s voice say, “Derek, stop.”

Yi-An opened his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“I will accept your offer,” interjected Hoyt.

“I see,” replied Derek.

Turning his head to look at Hoyt, Yi-An shrieked, “Hoyt, what...?!”

Hoyt looked into Yi-An’s eyes; his stern gaze seemed to urge him to stop talking.

“Hoyt...!” Yi-An’s face crumbled.

Despite Yi-An’s earnest expression, Hoyt’s knees began to slowly bend.

***

Hoyt raised his fist at Yi-An, but he put it down after seeing what a bloody mess Yi-An’s face was. Instead, he slapped Yi-An with a loud smack.

“Ugh...” Yi-An groaned.

“I’m disappointed in you,” Hoyt said.

Yi-An refused to accept it. “I did what I wanted to do.”

“Suicide?”

“Hoyt, I have the curse of the stars!”

“I know.”

“I’m not afraid of death...”

A fist came flying at Yi-An, and he collapsed onto the ground.

“Ughh...” Yi-An groaned again.

“Keep this in mind.” Hoyt grabbed Yi-An by the neck and lifted him.

Yi-An felt Hoyt’s tremendous strength.

One-eyed Hoyt pushed his threatening face right up to Yi-An’s. “An orc unafraid of death cannot become a warrior.”

“...”

“Remember, young orc. Death cannot win over life. The person who survives is the strong one.”

“But...”

“Do you know why orcs always ask each other if they are alive?”

“...”

“Honor, freedom, and fighting are only possible if you are alive. It means nothing to endure a moment’s humiliation if you can stay alive.”

Yi-An lowered his head.

Elder Lord

was just a game to him, but Hoyt was a resident of

Elder Lord

. To Hoyt, matters of life and death here were real.

The hand that grasped Yi-An began to tremble.

“My knees have no value in the face of survival,” Hoyt said.

“...I’m sorry.”

“Think about what true honor is. Pride is not true honor.”

“Understood, sir.”

“We need to survive no matter what.”

Yi-An slowly nodded as he could feel Hoyt’s sincerity.

The evening sun that had set the sky ablaze began to go down. The image of Hoyt’s threatening face against the sunset was embedded in Yi-An’s mind. Hoyt’s rough breathing, his solemn eyes, and his voice speaking about life—it all made this world indistinguishable from real life. The sky in

Elder Lord

wasn’t much different from the sky in real life.

Hoyt said, “Thank you.”

“...!”

“Even though I spoke the way I did, I might have done the same thing if I had been in your place.” Hoyt smiled quietly.

“No, sir.” Yi-An forced a grin even though he felt a lump in his throat. He didn’t like sentimental scenes. “Anyway, what did you think about my skills? Derek must have been surprised.”

“Hahaha, you should have seen his face. You were quite good.”

The two orcs erupted in laughter. They talked about trivial matters for a while.

However, Hoyt collected himself again soon after and pleaded with a serious look, “For the last time, I want you to know that death doesn’t evade you just because you have been cursed by the stars. Rather, it means you will have to struggle to survive more than others.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to accumulate accomplishments to receive God’s forgiveness, but death eliminates that possibility. If you can’t receive forgiveness, then you face pain and extinction crueler than death. There were those cursed by the stars who didn’t fear death and died repeatedly, but they were eventually taken to the star of the abyss and received eternal punishment. You could become like that too.”

Yi-An listened closely. He could understand how NPCs perceived the curse of the stars. If the story were true, it would really be a terrible curse.

“Always keep in mind that the curse of the stars is truly a curse.”

“I will bear that in mind.”

“I hope you escape the cycle.”

A delicious smell wafted from Thompson’s house.

Thompson’s wife, who had heard about the encounter with Derek, teared up as she profusely thanked and apologized to them. Yi-An and Hoyt worked up a sweat trying to calm her down.

After the ordeal, they were excited for the meal she had prepared for them.

“I’m looking forward to the meal.”

“Yeah.”

As Yi-An and Hoyt were about to enter the house, a long shadow cast on them. It had the form of a human. Yi-An and Hoyt turned around to look at the same time.

A man was standing there.

The owner of the shadow spoke, “Why are two vicious orcs standing in front of my house?”

Hoyt’s eyes widened.

The man who wore dirty clothes grinned ear to ear. “I’m back, Hoyt.”

“Thompson!”

Thompson was back.