SOS CH 31: This is just sweat (Patreon)

Unlike what he anticipated, the torture session did not last particularly long, the two fessed up everything they knew before he even made them feel the slightest pain.

Noah was forced to realize once again that he was not facing true soldiers with loyalty to a country or anything equivalent. He was just facing a group of pirates.

Criminals with no morals who only cared about satisfying their greed even at the detriment of the weak and helpless.

Strong in front of the weak and weak in front of the strong.

This was their motto. Noah could accept this. This was why his motto was that one should be ready to die the first moment they took someone else's life.

At least as mercy, he swiftly killed them. This was a mercy he knew they certainly did not extend to their victims.

He only tortured people when it was necessary, never out of pleasure. It didn’t change what he was doing, but it was enough as long as he was good with his mind.

“This was interesting.”

The information he obtained was certainly interesting and now that he had dealt with the people attacking him, Noah could take a better look at his surroundings.

What he could say was that this was a cave. A semi-circular cave with not much to it. There was no decoration and nothing to enjoy.

As they said, the way behind him was closed and the only way to succeed was by passing through the test that was given.

There were two tests. The first test was Survivals. No details were given only that the test would last the same amount of time for everyone.

Once this was done, they could go to the second test but once again, they knew nothing about what this entailed.

“I don’t like it.”

Test. He hated this kind of situation where someone deemed themselves high enough to be able to test him.

Sadly, Noah was also a realist. He did not weigh this matter and certainly had no ability to fight back. No one forced him to enter and if he wished to get the answer he was searching for then he had to follow the rules of the games.

He started walking until he finally reached the first door.

“So, I only have to put a hand here, huh.”

He frowned under his helmet as the gauntlet covering his hand retracted and he placed where he was naked to.

Small light gathered as his hands was scanned and soon a large blue screen appeared in front of him.

[Choose your name]

Noah tilted his head, head and looked all around him. No matter how he shook his head, the blue screen would always follow his eyes.

This was quite uncanny.

“How do I write?”

[Name: How do I write?]

[Accept?]

[Y/N]

Noah had to fight the urge to facepalm. For a supposed super-civilization, it seemed like their AI was trash.

He clicked on No hurriedly and looked at the Blank Page. There were many things he wondered.

The smart thing to do here would be to hide his name and use an alias. He did not know what kind of use this list had after all. Better be safe than sorry, right?

This was the smart thing to do and Noah was certainly very smart and logical most of the time.

—Noah…

I am sorry. This may be pretty dumb. But you know…Sometimes one gotta go with his guts rather than pure logic.

He had already lived too long by following logic and reality, all that to survive, even when he was in the deepest pit.

But in moments like this. Noah had no wish nor reason to hide his name. This name was not something that should be hidden. It was the crystallization of a wish. The blessing of someone who gave up on everything but the tiniest bit of hope.

[Choose your name]

Noah smiled, his decision was made.

“Noah.”

Noah wished for his name to be recognized throughout the entire universe if it was necessary.

There could be no better first step than this. Displaying his name to an ancient civilization that once ruled this entire universe.

In a way…This was quite poetic was it not?

At least, this was what Noah thought initially. But, something surprising appeared.

[Refused.]

[Warning! This name should not be chosen! If you decide to continue, heavy penalties will be added to your trials. The level of reward will also increase.]

[Do you wish to change name?]

[Y/N]

Noah tilted his head, confusion evident in his eyes. Even the parasite Queen was silent this time as she was unable to make head or tail of what was happening.

Slowly, thoughts started accelerating in Noah’s mind and he could not let them go. His hands trembling, he clicked on the Yes this time and then muttered a new Name.

“Serpent.”

[Refused.]

“Ophiuchus.”

[Refused]

“13th Constellation]

[Refused]

By now, the rhythm of his breathing had been completely disturbed. For the very first time in a long while, Noah felt like his mind could not process what was happening.

He felt faint, the world was turning around him.

What did this mean?

What could this mean?

—Noah!

When Noah came to himself, he found that he was kneeling on the ground on all fours, his entire armor off, and wearing nothing more than the spandex suit that was given to him prior.

This body that did not even exert the slightest strength when dealing with a group of pirates was now bathed in cold sweat.

Taking a deep breath, Noah forced himself to calm down. He did not wish to show such an unsightly display of weakness to anyone. Even if the thing in front of him was nothing more than some artificial intelligence.

Sorry.

—What do you think is happening?

The Queen did not bother replying. She knew very well that doing so would only wound Noah’s pride further.

Noah understood what she was doing and simply sighed. This kind of blackout was not something he was foreign to. But it did not happen for so long that he thought he was cured.

Clearly, he was not.

I am going to need the best psy after I get out.

He laughed quietly and ruffled his hair as he looked at the floating blue screen.

There was something he wanted to try.

He was truly hesitant, as a kind of hope was slowly increasing inside of him.

Perhaps?

He wondered.

This was not impossible.

He thought…

A hope slowly started building inside him, a different kind of hope. Something much deeper and rawer.

He could feel his heart beating so fast in his chest that it felt like it would explode at any moment.

Finally…Gathering his courage, Noah muttered one name.

“Minerva.”

He waited as the tension rose, his palms were sweaty, he was fidgeting and a gentle trembling smile formed on his face.

Finally, a new blue screen appeared.

[Accepted]

[Do you wish to register this name?]

[Y/N?]

“Mars.”

[Accepted]

“Diana.”

[Accepted.]

As two more names were added and all of them similarly accepted, the light of hope that had been burning deep inside his pupils slowly died out until nothing more than his empty eyes were left.

Noah quietly lowered his face before covering it with his hands as reality settled in and his hopes were dashed in the simplest way possible.

He did not mind. He knew that this could not have been possible. This was why he was not disappointed. He simply needed to rest. Just for a short while.

As for the drop of water that fell on the ground…

They were nothing more than droplets of sweat.