novelraw Chapter 79
Chapter 79
Ch.79 As You Command
“Freeze! Where do you think you’re cheating?”
—Hic!
Nekhuf hiccupped in surprise.
“Brother… I… I mean…”
His flustered tone confirmed my suspicion.
“Did you cheat or not?!”
“Well… it’s just… how do I explain this…”
Cheating at Go-Stop was a game of luck and psychological warfare—and I was certain Nekhuf had pulled something shady.
“Hans! Can’t you just drop it?!”
Selena’s angry voice made me freeze.
“Huh?”
“Oh, come on! Couldn’t you just let her win one round?”
“But I’m telling you—he really did cheat! Right? You cheated, didn’t you?”
Pressed hard, Nekhuf finally gave a tiny, reluctant nod.
“Well… yeah, but…”
Seeing him trail off, Selena sighed in exasperation.
“I get it! I already agreed separately that you wanted to let Nephert win. I approved it myself.”
“What? So everyone was in on it except me?”
At Selena’s defense, Nekhuf could only offer an awkward, embarrassed smile.
“This is unbelievable. Seriously? You had to win this badly? Nephert?!”
When I confronted Nephert with a stunned look, she flapped both hands frantically, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“No! I didn’t tell him to do it!”
“So it was just you and Selena conspiring, then?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Hans, stop it! It was only me and Nekhuf.”
Selena scowled deeply, clearly annoyed, and pressed me.
“What’s so bad about losing one silly game? It’s not like the country collapses if you lose once!”
“Ugh…”
Her words hit home one by one. I rolled my eyes, scrambling for an excuse to escape her scolding.
“You’ve known each other for a while, right? Nephert was that upset—you should’ve gracefully let her win. Did you really have to fight so hard to win?”
“But… my people… we just can’t lose at games…”
What kind of nation was my homeland, after all? The birthplace of e-sports! Even if it was just a card game, I couldn’t lose so easily.
This wasn’t just about pride—it was tied to my very identity as a Korean.
Nostalgia for home suddenly washed over me.
I remembered those days in the PC bang with friends—where every win and loss brought wild swings of joy and despair…
—What the hell?! Why didn’t you block top properly?!
—Seriously, what’s our jungler even doing?!
—Ugh, it’s all about bot lane difference!
For some reason, I felt the Taegeukgi fluttering in my chest—and I grew solemn without realizing it.
Perhaps sensing my mood, Selena asked with a puzzled look,
“Huh? Are there really people like that?”
Seeing her disbelief, I nodded wistfully.
“Yeah.”
“I… I guess… but still…”
She looked skeptical, rolling her eyes—but when she saw how genuinely nostalgic I was, she couldn’t bring herself to argue and just looked flustered instead.
“To my homeland and my people, losing a game is simply unacceptable.”
Even if it was just a card game, this was practically e-sports here, wasn’t it?
As someone from the birthplace of e-sports, I could never half-heartedly throw a match.
“I… I see… I guess that makes sense…”
“Well… if your people are even more competitive than Sand Elves…”
Selena and Nekhuf wanted to protest—but since they knew nothing about my homeland or my people, they held their tongues. And honestly, that satisfied me quite a bit.
“But Hans… what’s your ethnicity, anyway? Where are you actually from?”
Selena’s suspicious question made me stiffen for a moment.
Nekhuf and Nephert knew the New Continent well—both were from here.
Selena, from the Old Continent, knew that world inside out.
If I said the wrong thing now, the situation would become extremely awkward.
After all, the only race in this world known to be obsessed with games was the Sand Elves.
“Uh… well…”
My troubled expression and faltering words made her eyebrows furrow in frustration.
“Again! Another lie! Honestly—where in the world are there people crazy about card games like that?”
“Brother, you really lied?!”
“Humans really never stop lying, do they?”
All three ganged up on me, scolding me relentlessly all day.
Seriously… there are people obsessed with games! This is so unfair.
***
Onboard the luxury passenger liner, in the navigation room.
A sailor peered at the sun through a brass instrument resembling a telescope and muttered to himself.
“That’s strange…”
He kept adjusting the sextant’s angle beneath the lens, frowning.
“It’s not broken…”
The oddly shaped telescope was a sextant—a navigational tool that used the sun’s angle to determine latitude and pinpoint their location in the open ocean.
Rubbing his eyes, the sailor observed again, then wrote the coordinates on the chart with a stunned expression. He checked the magically crafted precision chronometer and marked another point.
“This can’t be right…”
Seeing him mutter to himself, a shadow approached.
The man was burly, with snow-white hair and a neatly trimmed beard—appearing to be in his sixties.
“What’s wrong, Johnson?”
“Captain… something’s off. I took a reading of our current position… and the coordinates don’t make sense.”
“What do you mean?”
The captain glanced at the chart—and his eyes widened.
“What is this? Are we already entering the Adriatic Sea?!”
The ship’s speed defied all reason.
An experienced captain like him couldn’t believe they’d reached the Adriatic Sea so soon.
The Adriatic lay ten full days’ sail from Portland Harbor, their departure point.
Arriving in just three days was physically impossible.
Naturally, the captain assumed either the instrument was faulty or Johnson had misread it—and his expression soured.
‘Good grief… He’s been sailing for years. How could he make such a mistake?’
Frustrated—and seeing Johnson still unaware of his error—the captain snapped,
“Hand me the sextant. Now.”
At his command, Johnson reached to pass it—but the captain snatched it abruptly, inspecting it for bent parts or misaligned components.
Finding nothing wrong, he took his own reading.
A moment later, after confirming both latitude and longitude, his face went pale—as if possessed.
“How is this possible? How are we here already?”
In all his decades at sea, he’d never seen a ship this fast.
And this wasn’t just any vessel—it was a massive luxury liner, far larger and heavier than ordinary ships.
Such a ship should be slower, not faster!
He didn’t know the reason—Hans’s Trident of the Sea God—but as captain, he could only stare in grim disbelief.
Arriving far ahead of schedule could cause serious problems.
Passenger tickets clearly stated expected arrival times.
Being a day or two early wasn’t a big deal—but at this rate, they’d face furious complaints.
After deep thought, the captain spoke with heavy resolve.
“Our schedule is moving too fast, Johnson. We’ll have to slow down.”
Thus, the crew suffered unintended consequences from Hans’s use of the Trident of the Sea God.
Ironically, the captain’s decision might just become a sliver of hope for the Hero Party.
***
Late at night, in a grand mansion.
The estate lay shrouded in darkness—except for one brightly lit room on the third floor.
Through the window, a young man with black hair sat at a large desk, surrounded by bookshelves—clearly his study.
The young man—Cardinal Davinus—sat listening to a report from Alex, Selena’s butler.
Davinus had sent Selena to the New Continent to kill Baron Hans and reclaim divine power—but now…
“What do you mean, you still haven’t found her?”
Frustration flared—he hadn’t received the news he’d hoped for.
Sensing Davinus’s anger, Alex shifted uncomfortably.
“Well… as you know, Lady Selena hasn’t told us her destination…”
“Kgh!”
Davinus had always cherished Selena, knowing she was chosen by their god.
That’s why he hadn’t stopped her from going to the New Continent—to reclaim the stolen divine power and fulfill her sacred mission.
But he never expected it to complicate things this much.
The soul of Roy, King of the Dead, had awakened.
Davinus needed to retrieve him immediately—but without contact from Selena, who carried the King’s vessel…
Their entire plan was slipping further behind schedule.
‘Where are you, Selena…?’
For a fleeting moment, he wondered if she’d abandoned her mission and fled—but quickly shook his head.
Selena would never betray the promise of their Death God: to grant all souls equality in death and eternal peace in paradise.
Davinus had watched over her for years.
He was certain she’d never make such a choice.
If Cecilia was the saint of the false gods, then Selena was the saint of their god.
Her gift had been bestowed directly by the God of Death Himself—
and Davinus firmly believed her faith was unshakable.
[I feel your unease.]
The King’s voice echoed daily in his mind.
Davinus replied inwardly,
‘I am not uneasy. She will return.’
[Then what is this trembling I sense? Are you lying to yourself while repeating that you trust her?]
Davinus fell silent.
He was human, after all—fear was inevitable.
For centuries, the cult had yearned for this moment.
If Selena—the linchpin of their plan—fled now, everything would vanish like mist.
How could he ever face the hundreds, thousands of brothers and sisters who’d sacrificed their lives for this very hour?
Frowning, Davinus ordered Alex,
“Keep searching for Selena. Tell her—Baron Hans may be our enemy, but right now, she must return at once.”
“I obey, Your Eminence.”
As Alex bowed and closed the study door behind him, Davinus turned to the King.
“I trust her—with reason and with heart. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the weight of my duty. I fear… that I am too unworthy to bear such great honor.”
He didn’t want to admit—even to himself—that he doubted Selena.
[I feel your heart. Yes, you feel the burden of your mission—but what you truly fear is that my vessel might become corrupted.]
Davinus flinched inwardly at the King’s words.
[Do not fear. Be courageous and resolute. Our God has promised us—and that promise is now being fulfilled. Do not worry about the vessel. Slay the adversary.]
Davinus bowed his head before the King of the Dead.
“As you command.”
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