Fishing for The Truth

Right... There's no way I would've acted like that if I were sane. Such a drastic change in my behavior must be due to some sort of skill. "And the one who used it on me is probably..."

I shook my head immediately. Although I'm 90% sure it was her doing, there's no "charm" skill among the skills she declared before.

"Did she hide it intentionally?"

Well, unlike me, who only had one skill, she had three skills on hand. Adding that one charm skill she didn't disclose, that means she had four skills? "There could be even more..." I muttered before switching on my camera.

I can't keep on speculating, after all. It's better to just ask the person herself.

After checking that the video feed was alright, I quickly started the stream. As I did, ten people quickly entered and started chatting.

"Uh? Where did I go? Why is there no stream yesterday? Right, sorry about that. Due to my skill, I ended up sleeping for 36 hours."

I started interacting with the viewers as I checked their names. There were Heartu66, KillMeBibi, and xXSerenityXx present, but Garuda has yet to enter. Well, seeing that she wasn't present yet, I started with my usual spiel, telling everyone about my ability, before starting to explain to Selen about her ability and that she should hurry.

"... Without the weapons made with your skill, the Military Camp would have a hard time surviving the first few days."

From what I heard from the person herself, her weapon was the only thing that managed to hold the camp in one piece. Without that, they would've fallen after getting attacked by the red-ranked monster that passed by them during the second day.

"Ah! Right!" As I was talking with Selen through the chat, I suddenly recalled the message she wanted to pass to herself. "You told me to pass this message, but I'm not privy to its meaning: <The shell and core as one.>"

"The shell and core... I see... Thanks, Hvir! This'll help me skip a few steps!"

Although I wasn't sure what she got from the message, I'm happy that I managed to recall it successfully. Just as our conversation was about to end, finally, the name I had been waiting for entered the stream.

"Garuda! Finally, you're here!" I cheered as soon as she entered.

"What? What? What? Did I miss something?"

She was acting as usual, like the viewer and friend I had been long acquainted with. No matter how I wanted to deny it, I still can't fully accept that she pulled that sort of stunt on me.

"It's nothing, just trying to spread information from the next few days to everyone." I quickly tried to act natural, but deep inside, I was trying to plan how to get her skills straight out of her mouth.

After all, I just couldn't understand why she would risk losing my trust, knowing that I get revived after death. I tried thinking of reasons, but in the end, only one possibility remained. And to confirm that possibility, I'm going to be asking her a leading question.

"Ah, right. It looks like your charm skills get undone after I revive. It looks like we need to redo our plan. What do you think? Shall we try your skill on me one more time?"

"..."

Garuda, after hearing my question, went quiet for a while... before logging off. She refused to answer?

"Oops, Hvir made him leave in seconds. Bully~!"

"Wait, Bro, I don't get it. Why'd Garuda log off so suddenly?"

"Guilty! Hvir, Guilty!"

I tried to maintain a neutral expression, but the fact that Garuda didn't answer my question made me sad. As I expected, she must be intentionally hiding her skills from me and that she used some sort of "charm" skill on me, expecting it to remain even after I respawn.

I gently shook my head, dispelling all the grim thoughts circling in my mind.

After all, she's still a friend to me, and one that gave me such a precious experience. I shouldn't persecute her without knowing the truth behind it.

"I should ask her face-to-face later..."

I muttered as I continued to pass the information for the next three days after the apocalypse started to the curious viewers. After that, I switched from PC to my phone and GoBro again before riding my bike and heading toward the Military Camp. However, the scene at the city exit was worse than I expected.

Cars were bumper to bumper, not moving an inch, with motorcyclists trying to bypass the traffic by passing through sidewalks. Seeing this state, I quickly gave up on driving. At this rate, I'd be stuck here until midnight.

I left my bike and started to run along a narrow alley, running up roofs and jumping from building to building.

It was an act that I wouldn't have even dared to try before, but since I'm level 11 right now, a level lower compared to before I died, I believed that my stats were enough for me to do parkour safely.

"... The Sunrise Hills Camp? It was attacked by the black-rank dragon during midnight of day 1, so you better escape before then."

Of course, the stream was still continuing. I couldn't read the chats as I was running and jumping around, so I turned on the text-to-speech function as I limited the chat speed to about 1 chat every 10 seconds.

Using that, I managed to answer most of the questions that were asked, making efficient use of the time I had.

"..."

As I was running along an empty alley, I finally caught sight of the Military Camp. Just like before, a few soldiers were manning the gates, keeping watch over them with guns in their hands.

I took a deep breath, calming my wildly beating heart. Of course, it was beating fast because I had been running up until a few seconds earlier and not because I was nervous.

I walked toward the gate, where the soldiers quickly saw me. As per protocol, one of them raised a hand, ordering me to stop.

"Halt! Sorry, but the camp is already full! Please turn back and return to where you came from!"

To not agitate them, I followed their words and stood in place. I raised my hand to show that I'm empty-handed before shouting. "I'm Hvir! I'm here for Miss Selen and Major Lucas. Please notify them that I've come!"