Abyssal Wanderer.

"How should I put it..."

Looking at the task description on the data panel, Jim couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose.

"This is what they call 'finishing this job and then quitting'... It seems the company never intended to let us off the hook in the end."

Hanel added from the side.

This was their last mission before their six-year contract expired—to travel to the Kish Island resettlement area in the Middle East and thwart a separatist plot by the head of a branch of Apollo Bio.

The Counterintelligence Department and the Intelligence Department joined forces to dispatch a tactical squad of twelve pure Coordinators, including him and Hanel, to carry out the mission.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated in the mission, anyone with a normal IQ could figure it out: if a branch manager of a company dares to publicly declare independence, it must mean that there are other Olympus companies backing him up, rather than him suddenly going crazy.

Furthermore, the Middle East has always been a mercenary war zone where major companies engage in "sustainable warfare," and Coordinators below Depth 7 are allowed to display their power without limit there... It's hard to imagine that they can return unscathed after completing their missions.

"So, in fact, we earn our own lives; only by surviving can we be qualified to leave the company."

Jim sighed, turned off the data panel, and went back to his room to start organizing the equipment.

"We will definitely survive!"

He packed several tactical memory chips into a storage box and said with sudden seriousness.

Hanel, who was standing nearby, looked at him at the sound of the voice and then chuckled.

This prompted Jim, who was speaking in a very serious tone, to cast a disapproving glance at her.

"Hey you, can't you read the room when you speak?"

"Sorry, sorry, I just suddenly remembered what you looked like when I first met you."

Hanel waved his hands repeatedly and said:

"You couldn't have said such emotional things back then. I think you probably just nodded blankly and said, 'So what if I die? I don't care...' I must say, that nonchalant attitude towards life and death was pretty cool."

Hearing her recount that seemingly distant past, Jim subconsciously placed his hand lightly on his chest.

That must be because... this place is almost full now.

he thought.

Jim then decided that he would never say such cheesy things out loud.

He looked up at Hanel, then said in a relaxed tone:
"Let's have curry again tonight."

…………

Before the mission began, the tactical team conducted an extremely comprehensive simulation—they carefully analyzed the Olympus Corporation, the company most likely to join the defector, and the assistance that corporation might provide.

Based on comprehensive analysis and deduction, combined with information from intelligence agents and counterintelligence, they devised a flawless operational plan.

Then, the plan was ruined by that most basic premise.

In reality, no other Olympus company was backing this division head who intended to become publicly independent; this person had truly gone mad on his own.

And it wasn't just him who went mad; he dragged the entire branch's employees down with him.

Informants, collaborators, local bullies, local supporters... all of them were supporters of that madman.

Surrounded by enemies they thought were teammates, the squad's annihilation was imminent.

Fortunately, Jim and Hanel, lacking outstanding direct combat abilities, were assigned tasks outside of direct combat. During this time, Jim, through his abilities and vigilance, discovered that the entire mission was actually a meticulously planned trap.

He, along with Hanel and a Depth 2 Paris Pathfinder responsible for long-range sniping, survived a series of life-or-death battles.

Braving a hail of bullets, they scrambled and stumbled onto the Fahrenheit-class fighter jet they had come from.

Although he had never handled a real aircraft before, Jim, relying on his experience from simulation training and the assistance of a tactical memory device, managed to start this fighter jet, which required "synesthesia" with the machine to pilot. He took off amidst the shrill roar of countless pulse and electromagnetic weapons, completely escaping that insane hell.

Good morning, I have some good news and some bad news to tell you.

Hearing the rustling sound behind him, Jim, who was struggling to maintain the balance of his fighter jet, didn't turn around and said.

They are currently 500 meters in the air and are still steadily ascending.

The fighter jet had been hit by multiple pulse beams and electromagnetic cannons, and was now basically out of control. Jim felt as if he were trying in vain to control a mad warhorse and prevent it from dragging everyone on its back off a cliff.

But it was bound to happen sooner or later.

"The bad news is obvious, let's talk about the good news."

As Hanel spoke, he struggled to get up, but his hand slipped with a whoosh.

She fell into a pool of blood, her uniform stained red.

Just as she was climbing onto the plane, a Gauss bullet pierced her side—the intense pain caused her to lose consciousness for a few minutes, and it was during those few minutes that Jim realized the plane was about to crash.

Hanel's side wound could be fatal if not treated quickly, but compared to her colleague next to her who had been pierced through the head while covering their boarding, she was relatively lucky—right next to her, the headless corpse of the Paris Path Depth 2 Coordinator lay lifeless.

The out-of-control fighter jet continued to climb, and under the leaden sky, Jim cherished every moment to take in the not-so-beautiful scenery outside the cockpit.

Now, the emptiness in my chest is almost completely filled.

To be able to die as a human being is probably the greatest fortune of my life.

For no reason at all, he thought.

"Hey... tell me your good news."

A cold hand landed on his shoulder, and the sensation of some sticky liquid soaking into his uniform slowly spread.

Jim turned around and saw Hanel, his long silver hair stained with blood, looking exhausted.

"The good news is that Paris Path Adjuster has a modification that enhances his mobility. It's located between his two lungs. If we dig it out and activate it with a brain-computer interface, it can be used as an anti-gravity parachute."

Jim replied, recalling the information he had previously gathered.

"Tch~ I thought you were going to say something like 'we'll die together in the end,' something that gives me goosebumps."

Hanel rolled his eyes at him, and then said.

"If you want to hear it, I'm not unwilling to tell you."

Perhaps because the situation on the plane's instrument panel was so bad that it made one want to burst out laughing, Jim was unusually inspired to tell a joke.

Hanel seemed hesitant to speak about Jim's unusual attitude. After a long pause, she finally said:

"An anti-gravity parachute should only be able to support the weight of one person."

"It's enough for two people. Go and dig it out first."

Jim answered without hesitation.

Do you think I'm easy to fool?

Hanel slapped him on the head without hesitation, exposing his clumsy lie.

"It's better than both of us dying together."

After being exposed, Jim was not angry; he calmly said...

Then, he continued looking out the window at the not-so-beautiful scenery, and said:
"As for me, I feel from the bottom of my heart that this is the end of my life and that's enough for me."

Hanel seemed about to say something more, but Jim spoke first:

“In a world like this, it takes more courage to live than to die. No matter who survives in the end, we will have to carry the weight of the other’s life for the rest of our lives… This is too tiring for me, so it’s better to leave this burden to you.”

Hanel's expression shifted between light and shadow, and after a long while, she finally said indignantly:

"That's exactly what I wanted to say! How dare you steal someone else's lines!"

Jim smiled helplessly, and then said:
"Perhaps this is the curse of the Orpheus Path Adjuster. Even if I can't see through what you're thinking, I always feel that this is what you want to say."

He then straightened his expression and continued:
"There's something else I've never had a chance to say before... Hanell, before you handed over your memories, you actually preserved some past memories through certain means, right?"

Hanel's expression instantly turned like that of a child caught doing something wrong, and seeing her reaction, Jim sighed and said:
"You approached me so familiarly the first time we met. Anyone with a brain could tell."

"Um...this..."

Seeing her hesitant demeanor, Jim didn't continue to expose the inappropriate intimacy they had displayed while living together. Instead, he asked the question he had never been able to bring himself to ask.
"What kind of person was I before I turned eighteen?"

Upon hearing this question, Hanel's gaze drifted out the window.

"If I had to describe her, she would be a perfect person in every way... but because she is too perfect, she always gives people a feeling of loneliness."

After saying that, she looked at Jim again, her eyes as clear as cat's eye. "But compared to the perfect you of the past, I definitely prefer the somewhat clumsy Jimmy of today."

The hole in his chest was filled.

It was an incomparably clear feeling of being alive.

And... I want to keep living.

I want to live forever.

I want to live on and on with Hanel.

The unpleasant scenery outside the window could no longer offer him solace in facing death. Jim used all his willpower to barely suppress the outpouring of his emotions.

"Hurry up, the ambient temperature outside the plane is almost too high to suppress the engine's overheating."

Jim swallowed hard, managing to suppress a sob, and spoke calmly to Hanel.

This ending is enough; we can't ask for anything more.

"Well then, goodbye."

Jim felt the strands of hair brush against his cheek. Hanel lowered his head and gently placed a bloodstained kiss on his face before pulling out his dagger and standing up.

That's enough.

then……

"Jimmy! I still want to stay and be with you until the end."

Before Hanel had taken two steps, he immediately turned back and said to him.

"I'm telling you, the atmosphere was really tense just now. If you don't get rescued, I'll die with my eyes open in disgrace. Can't we do something more meaningful?"

Jim said helplessly, "I never expected them to pull this stunt."

"Are you kidding me? The first thing you ask me when I come back to keep you company is this... You really have no sense of atmosphere, Jimmy."

As he spoke, Hanel clutched his side and sat cross-legged on the ground.

Seeing her acting like a child throwing a tantrum, Jim took the opportunity to adopt an adult's attitude and reprimanded her sternly:

"Then tell me! When there was clearly hope of being rescued, why did you both choose to die together? In the end, didn't that just benefit the company? What's the point of your actions?"

Hanel, who was also on the verge of collapse, said:
"Please, for the sake of us being about to die, let's change the question, I'm begging you..."

Seeing the other person shake their head with a serious expression, Hanel could only sigh:
"I'm really at my wit's end... I mean, can't we do things that have no meaning?"

At that moment, she suddenly got up and crawled on her hands and feet toward the body of her colleague from Paris's path.

Realizing what the other party was about to do, Jim immediately disconnected his brain-computer interface from the aircraft pilot and rushed towards the corpse.

The other party planned to simply throw the corpse out, so that neither of them would have to make a choice.

How can this girl's thinking be so extreme...?

Jim, whose injuries were not as severe as hers, was a step ahead of Hanell and rushed over to scoop up his colleague's body—as he did so, he silently apologized to the colleague who had covered for them.

then……

"Hehe!"

Hanel, who previously needed to use both hands and feet to move, suddenly stood up steadily in the turbulent plane. Ignoring the bleeding wounds on her waist, she performed a standard roundhouse kick like a gymnast, kicking Jim, who was holding the corpse, and the corpse in his arms against the cabin door.

"You've been tricked, haven't you, Jimmy?"

Under Jim's horrified gaze, she pulled the switch on the airplane door.

"Hurry up, goodbye."

These were her last words before she pulled the switch.

The huge pressure difference didn't give Jim much time to react—he was lucky he could even hear the farewell clearly.

Jim fell with the body.

The howling wind at an altitude of 1,800 meters and the biting cold air scorched his lungs.

The leaden sky tilted before him, and he struggled to straighten up so that he could see the shattered aircraft in the corner of his vision.

The girl who had just kicked him out of the cabin was lying there, her hands cupped around her mouth like megaphones, shouting something at him.

But the wind was too strong, and he couldn't hear it.

That part of his body probably had the most balanced force, and Hanel's last kick, in his final burst of energy, landed right on his chest.

From that moment on, Jim's chest, which had been completely filled, was opened up again with a void.

…………

The moment the white oar's head flew off, countless past memories flashed before Jim's eyes like a tide.

Something overflowed, and he felt the emptiness in his chest grow even larger.

The memories were still flashing through his mind, but the murderer was right in front of him.

"enough."

Jim said softly.

For the first time, the flashback of memories stopped at his command.

Perhaps what is more despairing than the fact that a miracle has happened, but because one is afraid to confirm it, one only finds out when it ends.

But Jim didn't care about it at this point.

Impulsiveness, anger, sadness, despair... a variety of emotions flowed from him, once again exposing that deep emptiness.

With a calmness that even he himself found repulsive, he silently watched the grinning pharmacist before him.

"So, you've come to reclaim mine? The finished product of that secret project from back then."

He asked.

The pharmacist stuck out his forked tongue and licked his lips.

"You guessed right, you defective product."

Immediately, his eyes, like a chameleon, turned to Wang Ying, who was standing to the side, and Ji Mu, who was standing at the door of the safe house.

"Recycle you, and have some dessert while you're at it."

Jim nodded, then walked over to Bai Rao's body under the other's gaze.

He didn't look at her severed head, but instead held her hands.

"If possible, I would still like to capture you alive and extract some information about your former employer from your mind."

Jim spoke as if talking to himself.

The pharmacist burst into laughter at this.

Several more windows shattered, and a number of symbiotes rushed into the corridor—not the bred, degraded versions, but commercial-grade BOWs.

“Interesting. So I’d like to ask, what do you plan to do to achieve this?”

The pharmacist flashed his razor-sharp teeth.

Jim gently held Bai Rao's hand and shook his head.

"I must admit, capturing you alive is indeed a difficult task for me."

The pharmacist laughed even harder, but Jim spoke up before he could continue his taunts:

"So I'll settle for second best and just kill you."

After saying that, he directly broke Bai Rao's two arms, and with the force of his prosthetic hand, he crushed the bio-camouflage covering the outside, pulling out two rapiers with disintegration fields.

"Fight alongside me, Hanel."

He said softly. (End of Chapter)