The Silver Witch's Challenge
“Terrified?”
“You must be Cog 7.”
Her gaze swept over the identification number on my shoulder.
The surrounding murmurs had completely faded. In the suffocating silence, only her voice rang out.
She looked me up and down for a moment, then declared with absolute certainty.
“Given that panicked expression, it seems you’re correct. Drillr.”
Damn it. Already calling me that? How did they know? Had the Icarus bastards already issued reports with my codename?
Or was it her intuition? Either way, it was the worst possible outcome.
Being noticed by a mega-corp like Icarus was basically a death sentence.
I had to deny it at all costs. Exposure would do nothing but harm.
I forced a calm expression and shot back.
“Drillr? Who’s that? I’ve never heard the name. Maybe you’ve got the wrong person?”
I shrugged and glanced around.
“As you can see, there’s nothing here that a giant like you would find worth targeting.”
Her eyebrows rose a fraction at my retort and demand for evidence.
A faint, icy smile curled her lips again.
It seemed to say, As expected.
“Evidence, you say?”
She asked quietly.
The tone carried a teasing lilt, almost as if she was pleased it had turned out this way.
“Fine. Since that’s what you want…”
She lightly tapped the slim device on her wrist, matched perfectly to her silver-white suit.
Blue light immediately streamed out, forming a three-meter-tall holographic image right in front of me.
Once the video began to play, I swallowed hard.
My blood ran cold.
The very evidence I had denied appeared before my eyes.
It was my combat footage from Sector Gamma-7, inside the abandoned mining base.
The Icarus surveillance drone had captured it from every angle—complete with slow-motion and zoomed-in shots—showing my Bugbear in action.
The Bugbear in the video moved like a demon.
Its massive drill bit swung like a light sword, carving through pirate lines.
It twisted the machine in impossible angles to dodge point-blank laser fire by a hair’s breadth.
And those brutal moments when the drill bit crushed, pierced, and shattered enemy armor.
Even I knew this wasn’t normal Bugbear behavior.
“Want to see more?”
She gestured again, and complex numbers and graphs overlaid the footage.
G-force fluctuations, actuator torque load, reactor output changes—right down to the pilot’s biometric stress predictions.
Every single one of those readings was tagged with blazing red warnings: ABNORMAL or OVER LIMIT.
“This is the evidence you wanted. Cog 7.”
Her voice was calm, but the meaning behind it was a blade.
“Now then… care to explain yourself?”
I could only stare in stunned silence at the impossible battle I had waged.
It felt like being stripped bare.
The evidence I had demanded had returned as the most irrefutable proof that shattered my excuses.
Yuna waited for my answer, her cold smile never wavering.
Her mercenary teammates were also swapping shocked and suspicious glances between me and the hologram.
Their whispers drifted back.
“That really is Cog 7?”
“The data looks that bad?”
“What the hell is that rookie? A monster?”
I was cornered.
What in the world should I say now? Temporary machine overload? Or…
“Hah! What’s all this commotion?”
Just as I desperately tried to conjure another excuse, a familiar yet unpleasant voice rang out.
I turned my head—and sure enough, Bulldog stormed into the hangar entrance, sweating bullets.
His face wore a mix of panic and a greasy, opportunistic smirk, like he’d been waiting for this golden opportunity.
“Oh my, oh my! The honored guest has arrived, and I was late to greet you properly!”
Bulldog rushed straight to Yuna, dropping into a near-ninety-degree bow and laying on the sycophancy.
“I am Bulldog, commander of the Kronos Mercenary Group, Miss Yuna! What brings you all the way out to this dreary place? Could it be that you have a mission for us to carry out? Or perhaps you wish to give this reckless rookie a proper welcome and—”
Bulldog continued groveling, subtly steering the blame toward me as he tried to smooth everything over.
At the same time, it was clear he was hoping for some crumbs of glory by impressing the ace pilot.
It disgusted me, yet a sliver of hope lingered that he might somehow resolve this mess.
But Yuna didn’t even glance at him.
She heard his flattery with the face of someone chewing on a bug and cut him off coldly.
“Commander.”
Her voice was ice-cold.
That single word erased the sycophantic smile from his face.
“I know you’re extending your hospitality, but my business has nothing to do with you or Kronos.”
She pointed at me with her chin.
“This concerns only him. So step aside.”
Her tone carried absolute authority that allowed no refusal.
Bulldog’s face flushed red, then drained of all color.
He trembled with rage and humiliation, but he didn’t dare challenge Icarus Technology’s ace pilot.
Finally, he could only stand there, shoved aside like an unwanted afterthought.
Her teammates glanced at him with thinly veiled laughter.
Yuna turned her gaze back to me.
Her eyes had grown even more probing.
The hologram still glowed ominously between us.
“Well, the interrupter has vanished. Cog 7. Let me ask again. Could I hear your explanation for that remarkable battle? Or perhaps…”
A mischievous spark—or something far more dangerous—flickered in her pupils.
“Do you prefer a method of verification more reliable than words?”
Reliable verification? What exactly was this woman thinking? Did she want to fight? Or test me?
Both options were dangerous here. But could I avoid it?
I swallowed hard and asked as calmly as possible.
“Reliable verification, you say. What do you mean?”
That strange smile returned to her lips.
She glanced at my ragged Bugbear behind me and then at her radiant Silvera.
“It’s simple. Words can lie, and data can contain errors. But combat always shows the truth.”
Her silver eyes sparkled with amusement.
“How about it? Want to settle this with a light sparring match?”
She added, her voice a clear challenge.
“Or are you afraid, Drillr?”
Yuna’s last words echoed coldly through the hangar.
Her teammates were watching the hologram, their excitement and tension building over whatever came next.
That was when, in the brief moment I waited for her answer, a familiar yet unfamiliar blue light flickered in the corner of my vision.
System window?
A semi-transparent panel appeared only to me.
[Sudden Quest Triggered!]
Quest: The Silver Witch’s Test
Description: Icarus Technology’s ace pilot, the Silver Witch Yuna, wishes to test your abilities. Accept her challenge! Here is your chance to prove your true worth!
Objective: Accept and complete the simulated battle with Yuna
Reward: 10,000 CR
Additional Conditions:
- Survive 3+ minutes: +5,000 CR
- Successful hit: +5,000 CR
- Victory: ??? (Unmeasurable)
Quest? Right now, in this situation?
I stared at the system window with wide eyes.
It wasn’t a hallucination.
The quest was clear: accept a spar with Yuna and carry it through.
And the reward? Ten thousand credits? She was joking, right? I had barely scraped three thousand after risking my life to take out six pirates.
One spar, and already ten thousand? With extra bonuses? Survive three minutes and land one solid hit, and I’d walk away with twenty? What the hell was that unmeasurable victory bonus supposed to mean?
My mind raced.
That much credit could completely overhaul the Bugbear—repairs plus new parts for the reactor booster and anything else I wanted. It might even give me a ticket out of this low-tier mercenary life.
But the opponent was Yuna, the Silver Witch.
And her machine was the cutting-edge custom Silvera.
My Bugbear was basically scrap metal that could barely move.
Sparring? This was more like one-sided slaughter.
As my silence stretched on, Yuna’s eyebrow twitched.
Waiting too long wasn’t smart.
The surrounding chatter was growing louder.
Bulldog was fidgeting, watching me for any sign.
If I refused here, I’d not only be branded a coward but also make Yuna and Icarus even more suspicious. They’d assume I was hiding something.
Damn it. No choice.
If I couldn’t run, I might as well jump in. After all, bottom of the barrel, what was there to lose?
Plus, that unmeasurable reward kept flashing in my mind.
I took a long breath, steadied my racing thoughts, and met Yuna’s eyes directly.
“An interesting proposal, Silver Witch. Rare indeed to get the chance to spar with a celebrity like you.”
My answer made her eyes flash for a split second.
Gasps rippled through the surrounding mercenaries.
Look at that crazy rookie—he actually accepted!
I continued.
At the same time, I threw in a condition.
“But as you can see…”
I pointed at the battered Bugbear behind me.
“My friend isn’t ready to fight right now. Just got back from nearly dying moments ago.”
My meaning was clear.
We’d spar, but only if you meet me at least halfway.
“And let me be blunt—there’s no backup mecha in this rundown Kronos hangar that can dance with your Silvera.”
Because I couldn’t fight a monster with my bare hands.
Now, how would she take that condition?
If she backed off, it would be my win.
But her gaze showed she had no intention of doing so.
Instead, the strange smile on her lips grew thicker, as if my conditional acceptance intrigued her even more.