A Moth to Salvation
Salvation. A faint glow rising in the crushing dark. A black moth, flying toward it on pure instinct. And then—the moment they met.
Turn the Novice Survivor 'Yuri Alcast' into a True Survivor
⏳ Time Remaining: 8782:11:14
🎁 Reward: Return of 'Yuri Alcast', Deletion of 'Cheongju Gomoku Ghost' Data
“....”
A reality so bitter it burned.
“Data deletion… So now they’re just openly treating me like an NPC?”
At first, all I felt was rage. This garbage world that had locked me up, used me, and now wanted to cut me out—I hated it. Then came the jealousy.
“Yuri Alcast? Who the hell is that kid that they get to go home while I get benched? Did she whale harder than me? Or is the god of this world a damn pedophile? I’m not a child, so you’re just going to kill me off? Hey? Why aren’t you answering? Bring up that fancy System UI again, I dare you.”
I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t even want to.
I survived decades in that hell, day after day, with what kind of heart?
And now what? Data deletion? Make that black-magic newbie into a proper survivor? Within a year?
“Why the hell should I?”
I’m not some volunteer sherpa. Definitely not a babysitter or a teacher.
“You think I’d happily agree just because you’re offering to let me die now?”
After starving me for decades, you toss me a single bean and expect the dog locked in the barn to bark ‘Thank you!’ and roll over? To every last piece of trash involved with the operators, the gods, the System, and Terraforming—did you really believe you could control my free will? With just a few decades in hell?
“How amusing.”
The observers who’d watched my pathetic struggles must have had a great time. But here’s the thing. If that child you’re so eager to send home dies, will you still be able to smile like always?
Click.
I leveled the grenade launcher at the building where the girl called Yuri Alcast had hidden. Six rounds would be enough to turn her into paste. It was the first and last chance to land a real blow on this cursed world called Terraforming.
But.
“…Fuck. I really am a hopeless, disqualified piece of human trash, aren’t I?”
I couldn’t pull the trigger on a child I’d never even met. Not on a kid who looked no older than a middle-schooler. Even after I thought my conscience had rotted away, something was still left. Something utterly useless for survival.
That was all.
The only reason I ended up taking that girl’s hand—
Hmm… Understood, Master. I’ll be in your care once more.
Yes. I’ll be counting on you too. Heh heh.
—was that. It should have been nothing more.
Master!
Ohh. What an interesting flavor…
Master, I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion…
Master, good mor—actually, never mind. This is an exceptionally bad morning.
When exactly had it started? The moment she became my salvation.
And.
“My dear disciple Yuri, it’s time to wake up. Training awaits.”
“…I want to die.”
“That’s not allowed.”
The moment I genuinely began to wish for her salvation.
Five words were enough to describe Yuri’s daily life.
Training. Rest. Meal. Sleep. Repeat.
That was it. A life as simple and repetitive as a squirrel on a wheel. Yet that suffocatingly monotonous routine was exactly what kept Yuri sane. It preserved the mind that had been slowly crumbling inside a ruined world. Because a monotonous daily life can only exist when there is peace and stability.
Of course, Yuri herself, who found every single day agonizing, would never agree. But that was the truth.
“Die!!!”
“You really have no filter when speaking to your master.”
The moment she finished eating, washed up, and collapsed from exhaustion, it began again without fail. The instant she opened her eyes, Yuri hurled a dagger at the damned master wearing Raven’s form. Whether it was a refreshing morning, afternoon, or evening didn’t matter; beating her master was simply part of Yuri’s daily schedule.
“It hurts, please stop hitting me, spare me.”
“Yuri, dear. This is the difference in our heights. There’s at least a 1.7-meter gap. It means stop acting so cheeky.”
Of course, in practice it was less ‘beating’ and more ‘being slammed into the training ground and trampled,’ but still.
“Run.”
Once her muscles had been thoroughly tenderized by the beating and stomping, the next stage was the so-called ‘morning jog’—a death run. The terrifying modifier “death” existed for two reasons. First, she really did run until she was on the verge of collapsing. Second…
Bang!
“Ugh, uwaaaah!”
“If you don’t want to die, pick up the pace, Yuri. I know your limit is higher than this.”
Because real death chased right behind her.
Unlike Raven, who guided her with warm encouragement and gentle praise, he acted like a rider whipping a horse. Every time Yuri’s pace slowed, he fired at her heels, forcing her forward. Living things display transcendent power when their lives are threatened. Of course, if it continued too long even transcendent power would fail and her muscles would melt like ice cream. But thanks to the regeneration shots he possessed, Yuri could grow at a cheat-like pace every single day without torn muscles or accumulated fatigue.
“Aaaaaagh!!!”
“Does it hurt…? It hurts me too.”
“Liar…! What could possibly hurt you, Master?!”
“Seeing my disciple in pain… hurts my heart.”
“Ughhhhh…!”
Of course, there was a side effect—about ten minutes of full-body cramps that felt like her entire nervous system was on fire—but growth has always come with pain.
And exercise wasn’t the only important part of growth.
“Today’s menu is…”
Gulp.
“Finely minced beef with barbecue sauce, and for dessert, X-Carisweet!”
“Ooh… X-Carisweet…”
After training came the meal. A vast staff cafeteria that could seat over three hundred people. Two figures monopolized the enormous space as if they had reserved the entire hall. Only one of them—Yuri—was actually chewing.
Yum yum.
She or he would simply wait, sipping water and scratching her stomach, and before long a mysterious dish from the demon realm would appear to fill her empty belly. It wasn’t the Korean food Yuri preferred, but the sweet powdered drink called X-Carisweet that came for dessert was one of her favorites. So today’s breakfast—or lunch, or dinner—was quite satisfying.
But these peculiar meals in the demon realm would end today.
…It’s almost time to go back.
It was time to return to the Dungeon City of Bastion, where her precious comrades waited.
Morning, noon, or evening—sleep came not by the clock but by the exhaustion of the body. Inside a windowless room with the lights off, Yuri sat leaning against the door where a thin sliver of light leaked through. Having finished adjusting to the darkness, she or he stared blankly at the object in their hands.
Master… what is this?
Well, it probably won’t happen, but… if you ever find yourself alone in pain. If one day life and the world begin to frighten you.
Press this against your head and pull the trigger. Eternal rest and salvation will find you.
“Nidarr.”
A tool for ending one’s own life, usable only by those without fear.
“But, Master.”
Anyone brave enough to end their own life would instead use that courage to illuminate a world full of fear.
“There’s no way someone like that would ever use something like this.”
Heh heh… I didn’t think of that.
A quiet laugh drifted from behind, sounding amused. The faint vibration transmitted through the cold door against her back. Feeling that familiar, reassuring sensation, Yuri lowered her gaze from the small revolver that fit perfectly in her hand and quietly rested her head against the door.
“Haa…”
Even in the thick darkness of the deep underground, time flowed clearly. The moment she had longed for, prayed for, and wished for day after day had finally arrived.
But.
Why?
She couldn’t understand why her chest felt so tight. Had she grown attached to the old Raven? She wasn’t sure.
“….”
It was the last time. She wanted to say something—thank you, take care, convey these feelings—but his usual indifferent appearance made the words stick in her throat. The thought of him looking sad, angry, or flustered kept flashing through her mind. Her half-open mouth simply dried up, unable to produce an answer.
…I have to say something.
Otherwise she felt she would regret it for the rest of her life. In that narrow, single-room basement where she had first met Raven, the inexplicable certainty she had felt back then forced Yuri’s mouth open.
“M… Master.”
Yuri squeezed the words out as if wringing her own heart.
Yes. You called?
The same low, dry voice as always answered.
“Hoo…”
Yuri calmed her heart that threatened to burst from her chest and spoke with genuine feeling.
“Thank you… for everything until now.”
But.
……No answer came back.
She wished he would say anything.
Even as time raced toward its end.
No voice came from beyond the door. Only a faint tremor passed through the place where they touched. An unfamiliar trembling that ached in one corner of her chest.
. . .
Ding!
Congratulations! You have succeeded in surviving!
Depending on the degree of growth, a portion of the contract target’s power and experience will be borrowed.
Calculating…
[Unbelievable Achievement.]
Congratulations! You have borrowed 7% of the contract target’s power and experience.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have successfully raised the novice survivor ‘Yuri Alcast.’
Rewards will now be distributed.
1. Return of novice survivor ‘Yuri Alcast’ (Complete)
2. After backing up and deleting survivor ‘Cheongju Gomoku Ghost’ data, integration with Yuri Alcast’s familiar ‘Raven’ (Complete)
“…YuriYuri? No, Contractor… Hm? What?”
“…Rave—huh? M-Master!? Wait, why… Eh?”
“What are these two suddenly doing, meow?”
“Did something go wrong with the skill?!”
“Hmm…?”
What is this? These unnecessarily wistful and sorrowful memories?