The Devil’s Cage

The gunshots, explosions and bombing sounds in the distance caused Maggie’s face to turn pale. She unconsciously went near Colleen and clutched her arm tightly, seeking comfort.

“Don’t worry, it’s gonna be okay,” Colleen comforted her.

She kept her opinion of Maggie’s naivety to herself.

Her beliefs did not stop her from providing comfort to her peers when they needed it.

Or should it be comfort to herself instead?

The concentrated gunshots and explosions were a scene Colleen had forgotten for almost three months. She’d only experienced it during the occupation of the city by the rebels.

But now the terror was back once again.

Something very serious must have happened.

Colleen’s heart skipped a beat as she thought of Kieran.

His odds of getting into danger must have skyrocketed under the circumstances

“Such a worrisome fellow!” Colleen thought to herself silently.

A sudden knock on the door startled her. She held her gun tightly as she asked in alarm, ”Who is it?”

“It’s me, Colleen!”

The familiar voice filled Colleen with surprise and joy.

“Kieran!” she said loudly as she opened the underground storage door.

Kieran fell through the entrance under the weight of a big backpack.

Colleen rushed to hug him, but instead she was pushed to the ground by the immense weight of it too.

“What’s going on Kieran?”

With Maggie’s help, they lifted Kieran up and noticed the wound on his waist. There was blood all over his body. It was hard to look at.

“You’re hurt!” Colleen looked shocked as she yelled for Maggie loudly, “Maggie! Kieran needs your help!”

Colleen remembered that Maggie had been a nurse, or at least an apprentice.

“It’s okay, Colleen. Help me bring some cans and water over, will you?”

Kieran looked at the anxious Colleen. He smiled and tried to comfort her, but his smile looked weak.

As a matter of fact it was.

His full HP of 150 was now a little less than 30.

As the bleeding continued, it kept getting lower.

“Right away!”

The ever anxious, panicked Colleen answered Kieran’s request and quickly went over to the storage area and grabbed the supplies.

Kieran looked at Maggie again and said, “I need your nursing abilities. If you could fix me up and teach me at the same time, that would be perfect!”

“Oh… Of course!”

If Colleen was in panic, then Maggie had totally lost it.

She kept bandaging Kieran the wrong way and the way she explained her treatment method wasn’t making any sense. He could tell how terrified she was.

She still got the job done, though.

Kieran’s wound stopped bleeding, and after he ate the food Colleen had brought over, his HP started recovering at a steady pace.

Of course, Maggie’s mini lesson had helped as well with a little something extra.

[Name: Medical Treatment (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: None]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: Better use of bandages and gauze, increases recovery rate by 10%]

[Consumes: Stamina]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: Bandage; your best friend when you’re bleeding!]

…..

[Name: Medical and Medicinal Knowledge (Basic)]

[Related Attributes: None]

[Skill Type: Ancillary]

[Effects: Better understanding of how to differentiate, use and mix the medicine at hand, increases medicine effect by 10%]

[Consumes: Nothing]

[Prerequisites: None]

[Remarks: It’s either a healing potion or a killing poison!]

….

Kieran had not thought there would be two skills to learn from Maggie until he saw the system notification.

Although both skills were not attribute-related, and could not be upgraded to enhance his attributes, they were still useful.

The second one more so.

“Healing potion or killing poison, huh?”

It would be an idiot for Kieran not getting the idea of it.

Ideas started forming in Kieran’s mind.

When he noticed Colleen’s angry eyes, he pushed them away for a moment.

“I can explain!”

Colleen seemed worried about him, so Kieran put up his hands with a wry smile.

“I’m listening!”

Kieran grabbed her shoulders as she sat down in front of him.

Noticing the look she was giving him, Kieran chose to be honest with her.

The deal with Zarukhar, killing Rebellion General Zennings, getting back to Zarukhar’s base, getting ambushed by a half-dead soldier and getting hurt, Kieran told her everything. He frowned a little when he mentioned the incident that had resulted in his injury, because he could have avoided that.

He got a little cocky when he talked about raiding the armory in Zarukhar’s base though.

He did not think that anyone could have survived that blast.

He’d gotten his lesson, that was for sure.

If it was not for his F+ [Constitution], the 150 HP, and the handgun on his waist that had acted as a shield, he would have bitten the dust already.

Kieran spilled everything slowly.

He didn’t even hide the part where he’d gotten hurt, even though it made him embarrassed to admit it.

“You...”

When Kieran finished his story, Colleen stared at him with wide eyes. She could not have imagined that the war tonight had been caused by the guy in front of her.

Maggie looked lost as well. She was so shocked, she couldn’t even talk or think. She just sat there staring at Kieran blankly.

“The Government Forces will enter the city in the morning. Then there will be peace. Well, it’s long overdue anyway !” Kieran said while he struggled to pack everything including, but not limited to, the stuff he’d gotten from Zarukhar’s armory.

He had only five minutes left in the dungeon.

[Player will leave the Newbie Dungeon after 5 minutes...]

[Please carry any items that you wish to keep!]

[Remarks: Any items that exceed the inventory space will be automatically discarded!]

…..

“Carry what I wish to keep? Exceeding items will be discarded?”

Looking at the notification, Kieran could not help but curse.

His logic told him that he needed to hurry up.

If he could only bring what he could carry, then he had to mend his half-healed body fast.

He felt like cutting his own flesh again.

None of the items in his inventory had been given to him. He’d risked his life to get every single one of them.

“F*cking sh*t!”

He decided to bring the [Viper-M1] and two [Tekken-II] rocket launchers. He looked at all the equipment that he had to leave behind, including the [HK-20] light machine gun, which he’d carried back while he was wounded. He cursed quietly.

Kieran’s packing caught Colleen’s attention.

“Are you leaving?”

Colleen grabbed Kieran’s sleeve and stared deeply into Kieran’s eyes.

Her action made Kieran stop.

He had to say something, but he could not come up with anything.

He was grateful for Colleen’s help.

If it had not been for her, Kieran would have faced a much worse situation and certainly would not have collected as many rewards.

He could not reveal too much to her though.

Especially when Colleen’s action had expressed her feelings for him.

No matter how slow Kieran was, the moment Colleen had grabbed his sleeve, he knew how she felt about him.

Kieran could not return that feeling.

Their identities had already determined their fate.

He could not tell Colleen that this was just a high-realism game and that she was only an NPC, a Newbie Instructor type of character.

He could not say it.

“You might not be merciful, but please treat others with kindness and do not destroy their happiness.”

That was his life motto.

Kieran knew very well what happiness meant for Colleen, and he had not just been kind to her, he’d shown her a lot more empathy and mercy than he was prone to.

Still, he did not know what to do.

He remained silent. He could only reply with a stare of his own.

In the end, Colleen let go of him.

“What do you need? I’ll help you!” she said.

“Thank you,” Kieran replied.