Oath looked at a notification window. He had already sent countless messages to Jisu since the moment she was taken away.
He often walked past the grassy fields where they used to hunt together. Jisu would be there and help him. The only person who ever cared for Oath and helped him. The villagers believed Oath didn't need help. And Oath didn't mind doing everything alone.
But now, how he regretted that decision. It turned out, in many things, he really needed others—especially Jisu.
Following Maxwell's advice, Oath had always restrained himself from going up there.
Even so, Oath felt something urgent pounding from deep within him. He wanted to launch himself upward—fly straight into the sky, then find a way to enter The Ring. He would fight whoever he met there. Find Jisu. Then come back home. At least the three of them could be together.
What if Jisu was already lifeless up there?What if something had happened to her?
"I'm going to fly," Oath resolved.
"I told you not to, Oath. You won't survive."
"I have to try at the very least."
Oath began preparing the gear to go.
"Besides, I can blast them with devastating energy. I have a weapon of mass destruction. Don't forget that."
"You could die."
"I won't die."
Oath could no longer be stopped. With a motion and closed eyes, Oath summoned a capsule craft—one that resembled the one he once owned.
Logos skill is activated: Akasha Breathing.
The vessel came to life. Oath gave it the command to fly.
"Oath! Enough with this madness!"
"I'll regret it more if I don't help her now, Maxwell!"
"You're too weak. You won't survive this."
"I have no choice. I'll sacrifice everything if I must."
Oath soared at high speed. The vast blue sky stretched wide. He pierced the clouds with ease. Raven couldn't stay still inside the capsule. Oath watched the bird, and oddly, it only made him more uneasy.
"Stop all of this. Come back."
"No, Maxwell. This is why I've learned so much. I have to go in."
Oath kept ascending, pushing through the atmosphere.
Then, something happened. His ship began to shake violently. The walls of the capsule started to crumble. Then the engine died. Raven grew even more restless.
"Oath!"
The ship slowed down. Then without warning, it plummeted back downward, suspended mid-air. Red warning messages appeared before Oath's eyes—alerts from the System Command.
Altitude: 80 km. External temperature: 1,300°C. Warning!
The ceramic heat shield started glowing red.
"Get out of there!"
Oath jumped out. His hands reached for the shattered controls. He floated, unprotected.
Behind him, the capsule broke apart .Glass shattered, metal fragments scattered.
Oath's body began to burn due to the friction with superheated air. His skin peeled away.
In that instant—all the air in his lungs was sucked out. Oath clamped his mouth shut, but air still escaped through his eyes, nose,and even his skin. The extreme external pressure caused his blood to start boiling—not from heat, but from vacuum.
He remained conscious. For about 10–15 seconds.
His skin turned blue. His eyeballs began to bulge slightly. Tiny blood vessels across his face burst one by one. He couldn't scream. Couldn't breathe.Only silence. Floating.
In the final seconds, his body began to freeze from the outside. Moisture on his skin turned into ice crystals, forming snowflake-like patterns across his cracked helmet. Blood inside his arteries froze. His heart stopped. His brain died slowly.
You died.
"Ahhh!"Oath jolted from the hallucination. He fell to the ground, overwhelmed by what he just saw.
"W-what... what was that?"
Maxwell answered, "a simulation. What would happen if you recklessly did everything without preparation? That is what would happen to you."
"You saw it too?"
"I initiated it. So you would fully see what's at stake. If you die, then Jisu cannot be saved, Oath."
Silence. Oath couldn't respond. His body still trembled violently from the sensation of death that felt too real.
"I know this is hard, but you have to be patient."
"At the very least, you need to study aerodynamics, general physics, rocket propulsion, orbital mechanics, materials science, control systems, astrophysics, computation, and space biology. All of that is necessary to understand how to build a spacecraft that can carry you into space."
Oath punched the ground. As Maxwell spoke, he had already buried his face in the dirt.
He had always seen himself as someone others could depend on. But now, all he felt was…
stupid.