How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game

“Don’t kill him! Subdue him!”

Even as the sword entered my abdomen, I gritted my teeth and shouted.

Denif’s sword was already behind Demit’s neck.

Damn it. Was I a beat too late?

However, Denif swiftly displayed his agility and twisted his wrist. Instead of the blade, the flat side of the sword struck Demit’s head.

Thunk!

Demit’s neck snapped, and his face tilted to the side. But Denif didn’t stop there.

After executing a forearm strike to Demit’s temple, Denif threw the sword aside and struck the back of Demit’s head with the heel of his hand.

“Guh…”

Demit groaned and collapsed. It was certainly intended to knock him out, but…

There was quite a bit of emotion behind that action.

In any case, as Demit fell, the sword lodged in my abdomen was pulled out.

As I leaned over, the wound widened slightly. I placed my hand on my abdomen, grimacing.

It was the first time I had been stabbed with a blade. The pierced area throbbed with a searing pain. It felt like my head was spinning.

Think calmly. It was not an immediate life-threatening situation.

“Carlyn!”

Orhen grabbed hold of me, shouting in alarm. Concern was evident in her widened eyes.

But there was a more pressing issue than that now.

“I’m fine, just a moment.”

I lightly patted Orhen’s hand, passing by her with her mouth agape.

Did I bleed more than I thought? My steps felt heavy.

Denif, who had been observing Demit with a determined gaze, turned his attention to me.

“Why not kill him… Wait, are you okay?”

Slightly belatedly, Denif rushed towards me in surprise. I touched my abdomen, grimacing.

I nodded lightly and leaned on Denif’s shoulder, exerting some strength.

“But more importantly, there’s something about this guy.”

And then, I knelt beside Demit’s face, putting my hand over his mouth.

I had learned the basic methods of capturing prisoners in our line of work. First, the oral cavity needed to be examined.

“Just as I suspected.”

Something was caught on my fingertips. There was a pill inside his gums that needed to be chewed to be broken.

I took it out and handed it to Denif.

“Look at this.”

“What is this? Wow, how did you know?”

“I’ll explain later.”

I roughly tore open Demit’s clothing with a dagger and forcefully placed the pill into his mouth to prevent him from committing suicide.

Contrary to the widespread misconception, biting the tongue wouldn’t lead to death, but interrogation was necessary.

Afterward, I instructed Denif to tie up his hands and feet.

After dealing with it haphazardly, I felt a sudden release of tension, or perhaps the injuries were more severe than I thought, and my body lost its strength.

“Are you okay?”

Denif supported my collapsing back.

“I’m still alive.”

“You better be. Don’t you dare die on me.”

Did I lose too much blood?

Orhen ran over to me with bandages she had prepared in advance. Her eyes were wide, and her hands trembled.

“Are y-you okay? W-why on earth… I’m sorry, it’s because of me…”

Orhen rambled, clearly not in her right mind. She seemed off earlier too, not in a good state.

Well, what should I say?

After a moment of contemplation, I simply smiled.

“We’re siblings.”

At my casual remark, Orhen’s eyes widened even further. Glancing at Denif, he had the same expression.

Their faces were filled with genuine emotion directed toward me.

I pressed the bandage tightly against my abdomen with the one Orhen handed me. It needed to be wrapped around to stop the bleeding.

It was a difficult task to do alone.

“Can you help me a bit?”

“Ye-yes!”

Orhen quickly applied a hemostatic agent to the wound and placed a bandage on it. It was a scene of focused concentration.

However, as I watched that scene, a sense of discomfort pricked at my inner self, like a thorn.

Why did I save her, risking my life?

That question came to mind. I had vowed to survive, so why did I throw myself into danger?

Could it be the influence of the host’s will or the Devil’s Blood? I had been experiencing changes since the first day I arrived here.

Well, I don’t know.

Well, it wasn’t solely driven by a holy sacrifice mentality. Of course, that element was present, but…

It seemed to be a combination of factors.

In fact, I first started suspecting Demit when his demeanor changed.

‘In the end, my deduction was correct.’

He moved quickly as if hiding his strength, and Denif got injured. At that moment, my mind became oddly calm.

And then, I started noticing strange things.

Demit never showed any signs of panic from the beginning till the end. He didn’t even express anger when his subordinates died.

He didn’t seem surprised by the abilities of thirteen-year-old kids.

It was also odd that he immediately recognized our true identities.

I thought they might be hiding something. After all, it was a mission given by the Chief of Intelligence.

‘Could there be an intention to target spies from other places?’

That’s what I thought. That we were given the mission without deliberately revealing his true identity.

Discovering that could earn me some points.

And that line of thinking led me to believe that capturing him alive was better than killing him.

Although he seemed quite formidable, it was uncertain if we could capture him.

That was when the idea of using a decoy came to mind. Suicide attack^[1]TLN: This is, 동귀어진, I’m not sure what to put here. It has a meaning of ‘to attack or die with an opponent with the intention of dying together.’ . It was the best strategy in a failed mission scenario.

Of course, I had no intention of dying. I was willing to sacrifice my flesh and bones for this.

‘But should I be the decoy and Defin would be the one to take the hit instead?’

If I were to be the decoy, it wouldn’t be a problem if Denif got injured during a dangerous moment.

The closer the friendship between Denif and me, the better.

With that thought in mind, Demit made his move.

In an instant, he leaped over Denif and me. It was clear that Orhen was his target, not me.

There wasn’t much time for contemplation.

I realized that I was the second line of defense in protecting Orhen, and I remembered the image of Orhen holding a dagger, trembling.

And my previous thoughts coincided, and my body moved on its own.

I used Winds to bind Demit, and at that moment, I leaped in between them.

That was the outcome of my actions.

So, it was somewhat complex. It was like moving with both intentions in mind.

Well, to be honest, I relied on Death Avoidance, which allowed me to take such action.

If I truly faced a life-or-death situation, I felt that I could somehow avoid it.

‘Anyway, I gained a lot.’

First of all, I gained the trust of Orhen and Denif. Building a relationship that puts one’s life on the line was not easy.

Especially when considering the future, having a good relationship with Denif was important.

And I saved a person’s life.

Come to think of it, Orhen wasn’t in my memory. I couldn’t be certain, but perhaps in the game where I didn’t exist, this mission would have killed her.

‘That’s why Denif became a bit more pragmatic.’

I had no regrets about my actions. It was purely rational. It wasn’t bad at all.

Despite contemplating it for a long time, there was still some lingering discomfort.

Whether it was due to the Devil’s Blood or the influence of the host’s will, I didn’t know.

‘Well, what can I do?’

I am who I am. I might be influenced, but I would do what I wanted to do.

In the end, there were no problems. Even if there were, I would continue to make my own choices.

“Sigh.”

Amidst exhaustion, a deep sigh escaped my lips, perhaps due to mental fatigue. In that moment, the faces of Orhen and Denif appeared before me.

“Carlyn!”

“Hey! Snap out of it!”

The words of the two children echoed in my ears, their faces filled with worry.

Well, it was natural since I got stabbed in the abdomen. It was probably their first time witnessing something like this from their perspective.

I had never been injured to this extent even during intense sword duels, let alone in a real battle.

However, I wasn’t going to die from this. I had applied for first aid, and I didn’t make any sudden movements after being stabbed.

“I’m not going to die. You both know that.”

“Still…”

“Anyway, what should we do now? Should we make our way back to the carriage on our own?”

All we had received were orders to assassinate. There were no instructions on what to do afterward, so it seemed appropriate to return.

The problem was that I had captured Demit alive.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this was intended or not.

Haisen could be raising the children harshly, or it could be an unexpected turn of events.

There was no need to go through the trouble of disposing of the body. It would only draw attention.

Wild animals would take care of it.

No one came this deep into the woods. That was why these guys used it as a hideout.

The problem was whether we could move Demit while I was injured…

Should I rely on Orhen for support and move, with Denif guarding Demit? Was that the best option?

As I pondered, I heard a rustling sound from the other side. It was Marhan.

“You’ve done well.”

Seeing his rather serious expression, I could tell that there was something hidden in this mission.

Perhaps even Marhan hadn’t anticipated it.

Marhan sat in front of me and inspected my wounds. He took out bandages and antiseptics to reexamine the injuries.

Marhan sighed deeply and looked around at all of us.

“I’m sorry for all of you. There were some flaws in the mission.”

* * *

With Marhan’s help, we were able to descend comfortably to the carriage.

Although it was a mountainous path, Denif and Orhen supported me on either side, practically carrying me.

We had tucked Demit into the cargo compartment, and Marhan had given him some medicine, so we didn’t have to worry too much.

Anyway, Marhan sincerely apologized to us.

“I’m sorry.”

He said there was a mistake in the mission planning. Demit wasn’t just a criminal.

Judging from the poison he had in his mouth, it was clear that he was a spy from another intelligence agency.

Marhan said it seemed more like an unfortunate accident than someone from our side intentionally using him.

I felt the same way.

There was no one who would specifically target us, and if that were the case, there wouldn’t have been just one of them.

If information leaked from our side, they would have come to capture Marhan as well.

Anyway, since it had already happened, there was nothing we could do but accept it. It wasn’t Marhan’s fault either.

I told Marhan that I was tired and he told us to rest.

Since Marhan played the role of a coachman, there was no one else in the carriage except us.

While Denif snored, I closed my eyes and got lost in my thoughts.

‘It’s a job well done for now.’

Even though it wasn’t intentional, it was important that I had successfully completed a more challenging mission than the previous ones.

Despite my injury, I had captured a prisoner, and my evaluation would surely improve in identifying him.

Then I heard the sound of the system message being updated. I opened my eyes wide.

Come to think of it, this mission was also one of the Stratagem actions.

[You have gained Stratagem experience. You have reached Stratagem Level 2. You have acquired the trait ‘Inexperienced but Calm Novice Assassin.’]

Seeing that my level had increased and I had gained a trait, it seemed that there was an additional reward for capturing an unknown spy during the assassination mission.

Reading the description, it said that I would be able to maintain more composure during assassination missions and gain slightly increased experience from assassinations.

‘Not bad.’

I realized how important composure was. It would surely be helpful.

And I would continue to develop my minor traits.

Lost in these thoughts, I felt someone’s gaze from the opposite side. It was Orhen.

When our eyes met, Orhen quickly turned her head.

She had been watching me closely since we descended from the mountain. Denif had even fallen asleep with his snoring…

Her face was a mixture of apology and gratitude.

“It’s okay.”

“I-I didn’t say anything.”

Orhen couldn’t hide her confusion and started babbling.

Seeing her surprised by her own words, it seemed like she had just blurted out something in her confusion.

“Is that so? Alright then. Get some rest. I’ll sleep too.”

I closed my eyes. It wasn’t an exaggeration—I was really exhausted.

It had been a while since I had a proper sleep, and on top of that, I had been stabbed. Even without that, my eyelids felt heavy.

“…Thank you.”

In the stillness, Orhen whispered urgently with a soft voice.

Without realizing it, the corners of my mouth curled up slightly.

• 1. TLN: This is, 동귀어진, I’m not sure what to put here. It has a meaning of ‘to attack or die with an opponent with the intention of dying together.’