Save the World, Reward: A Husband

Chapter 2

The man stared at me, his expression even more bewildered than when I had pulled out the earring. Finally, he spoke.

“Are you out of your mind?”

I blinked, then tapped the earring. It seemed the translation function was malfunctioning. Realizing the translator wasn’t working properly, I decided to stay silent.

It’s better to avoid misunderstandings.

Given that I had exhausted every ounce of energy fighting the evil dragon, it would take some time for my mana to regenerate. Once it did, I wouldn’t need the faulty translator to communicate. For now, patience was my only choice, even if it meant enduring some frustration.

Instead of trying to communicate further, I rummaged through my inventory and retrieved my highest-grade item: an S-tier ring. As expected, the man looked surprised once again. I reached out and carefully took hold of his fingertips. His calloused hands suggested he was a swordsman, which was a good sign. However, as I attempted to slide the ring onto his finger, he jerked his hand back.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

The ring clattered to the ground, and I watched it roll away. I nodded approvingly.

It’s good to be cautious.

After all, the more cautious he was, the better our chances of survival. I reached out again to pick up the ring, but before I could grasp it, my legs gave out, and I collapsed forward.

“Erk!” I cried out.

I realized I had no strength left. It was no surprise given my severe injuries and the prolonged period without food. Honestly, it was a miracle I was even alive. The fact that none of my limbs had succumbed to necrosis and were still functioning was almost miraculous. Perhaps I had unconsciously drawn on some mana while I slept. However, my immediate priority was to retrieve the S-tier ring I intended to give him. It was a reward for being the top contributor to a mission, an item that had caused a disaster that claimed tens of thousands of lives. Its functions were top-class, to say the least.

I need to pick it up…

I strained to move my fingers toward the ring but only managed a feeble twitch, like a worm struggling on the ground. After a moment of silence, I felt a large, thick piece of fabric drape over me. The man wrapped it around my body like a shroud and lifted me into his arms.

“The ring…!” I blurted out without thinking.

A sigh came from above. Fortunately, the man bent down, picked up the ring, and handed it back to me. It seemed the translator had worked at that moment. I hesitated before accepting the ring. However, it was probably better to have a proper conversation before offering it as a gift. That way, the cautious man might be more inclined to accept it.

But what am I supposed to do now?

The only remotely edible thing left in this world was the dragon’s corpse. To keep my pair from starving to death, I needed to find a way to make it edible or find an alternative. However, when I glanced back at the dragon, I realized that it was gone. It could have provided us with a year’s worth of jerky, but somehow, it had disappeared without a trace.

Could it have… come back to life? No, that can’t happen. I completed the quest to kill it and even received a reward. Then, where did it go?

“What are you looking for? Did you lose something else?”

The man’s smooth voice broke through my thoughts, and I instinctively responded, forgetting the translator was broken.

“The dragon’s gone.”

The man’s body went rigid at my words.

“Was there really a dragon here? Have you been with it all this time?”

As I tilted my head at the man’s rapid questions, our eyes met. I found myself staring into his eyes, which were much closer now. He didn’t look away, and neither did I. We held each other’s gaze for some time. His piercing blue eyes, which had seemed cold and distant at first, now seemed to burn intensely. I felt as if I could glimpse the man’s true nature through them. When I didn’t respond, he seemed to draw his own conclusions.

“Perhaps that was a pointless question,” he muttered.

Just before he broke eye contact, I caught a fleeting expression that was all too familiar: a mix of anger, disgust, unease, and perhaps a hint of pity. It was the same look I had seen countless times before when people learned I had come from a lab. And then it hit me.

He’s not interested in becoming my pair yet.

As I wrestled with this realization, the man turned and began walking away.

Where’s he going?

My gaze followed him, and for the first time, I took in the space around us—an area I had barely noticed during the chaos of my fight with the dragon. I spotted a metal door, far across from the entrance I had come through.

Was that door there before? Maybe I missed it because it was hidden by the dragon’s massive body.

The man headed straight for it. When he reached the door and pushed it open, I was stunned by what I saw beyond it: people. There wasn’t just one or two but a whole crowd.

How’s this possible? I thought all humans were dead…

Moreover, these people looked so fragile—far too weak to have survived in the harsh world I knew.

What’s going on?

As I stared in a daze, a strange feeling washed over me. The ground beneath my feet, the breeze on my skin, the lush green field stretching out before me… None of it was artificial. Even the blinding light that filled the space came from a dazzling sun too bright to look at directly, and the clean, crisp air seemed to clear the toxins from my lungs.

What is this place?

This wasn’t the world I had known. As if to confirm my thoughts, another translucent screen appeared before me.

⌈You have discovered a new world, E-17ACEM. You have earned the title “Pioneer.”⌋

A new world…?

⌈The level difference between you and the highest-ranked species in World E-17ACEM exceeds the standard threshold. Balancing adjustments are in progress.⌋

While I was distracted by the series of absurd messages flashing before me, someone from the crowd stepped forward. He had bulging eyes and a wide mouth, resembling the venomous toads that once infested an F-11 type dungeon.

“Elias, you made it out alive,” he said.

So, the man I had thought was my quest reward—my supposed “pair”—was named Elias.

“But who’s that next to you? And where’s the dragon?”

“It seems she was a victim, kidnapped and imprisoned by the dragon. I discovered her when she was unconscious. There were no others.”

“Is that so? Then we might be able to learn more about the dragon by questioning her. Hand her over. I’ll take it from here.”

The toad man extended his hand toward Elias. The man raised his eyebrow when the latter hesitated.

“She needs treatment first,” Elias said.

“We won’t learn anything if she dies.”

Even I could tell his words were a flimsy excuse. The toad man’s flat face twisted further in displeasure.

“Fine, but make sure she survives. If anything happens to her, you’ll be held responsible.”

“All right.”

As the toad man turned and walked away, I glared at the back of his head. It infuriated me to see someone who appeared much weaker than Elias acting so arrogantly. And from what I had gathered—assuming the translator was working correctly—it seemed this place was the dragon’s lair, and that man had knowingly sent Elias in alone.