Roman's eyes went wide.
It was shocking to see that this was what she had wanted to tell him all along, and to Roman it was...
"Are you... Crazy?"
He genuinely didn't know when those words left his mouth, but they came out before he could stop them, a pure reflex of the stun that had hit him square in the chest.
Rena's cheeks flushed and a flicker of embarrassment crossed her face, but the boldness behind her eyes never wavered.
She didn't flinch. She didn't pull back or give any of the small telltale signs that she had changed her mind. Even with the less than ideal reaction from Roman, Rena held her ground without blinking.
"I don't think I'm crazy, Roman. I think I've just fallen for you," she said softly, her voice steady and her eyes sharper than ever.
Roman's mouth closed. His mind went somewhere between blank and overloaded, and for a long moment all he could do was stare at her.
It had all started with a harsh approach and a string of mockeries, and now somehow, at the edge of Blood Trail Valley in the middle of the night, she was standing here asking him out.
He would be lying if he said he had a clean response ready, but it wasn't as if Rena was a bad option either. If anything, she was the most striking girl he had laid eyes on since Tessa. The face, the build, and the moderately packaged figure that filled out her combat robe were not exactly easy to ignore.
But he had to think twice.
'Is this really how it's going to happen?'
Noticing his hesitation, the brightness on Rena's face began to dim. Not because she was losing hope, but because she could see that she had moved too fast. Her feelings had gotten ahead of her, and the part of her that was always reaching for what she wanted without waiting had pushed this out before the timing was right.
Roman filed that away quietly. A person like that was not ordinary, and it gave him one more reason to doubt that her background was as simple as she had described it.
"I'm sorry. I know that was uncalled for. My bad, I messed up," she said, dropping her gaze for just a moment before bringing it back up.
"You know what, I'll just let you think about it. Maybe we'll get the chance to talk again soon," she added.
Roman nodded slowly.
"Yeah, sure. Hopefully."
They stepped through the gates together, and every set of eyes in the vicinity found them immediately. Roman had expected that. They had been out far too long, long enough to worry people, which was clearly why the seniors had come looking for them in the first place.
Rena said her goodbye before they went their separate ways, and Roman returned it without hesitation before turning away.
"Eleven hours," he muttered to himself, shaking his head slowly as he walked. "Eleven freaking hours in Blood Trail Valley."
There could never be a crazier hunting debut.
...
Roman was completely drained by the time he reached his room, and the only thing his body was asking for was sleep.
However, just as he was settling in, his BSP interface lit up with a flood of notifications that refused to be ignored.
[You have 99+ Unread Messages.]
Almost every single one had come from the Dominion Legion group chat.
[Entrant #42201444: Who's the new guy? We finally have another male? I hope this one isn't a softhead unlike Nightmare.]
[Nightmare: If he is, I'll be disappointed.]
[Lyra: Not everyone wants to be a nonchalant stonehead like you, Nightmare. Try not to intimidate this guy. I mean it.]
[Nightmare: And if I do?]
[Entrant #42201444: Snap out of it. Don't get too ahead of yourself. Let's just wait until he comes online. I'm going to tell him exactly what being nonchalant costs a person.]
[Lyra: Right, Sapphire! Things like not having a girlfriend and all that.]
[Entrant #42201444: Absolutely!]
Roman found himself drawn into the exchange without meaning to. He had already saved three contacts, so Lyra and Nightmare were familiar, but the new name caught his attention.
The running topic was clearly Nightmare's particular brand of detachment, and the others weren't letting it go. But what struck Roman more than the banter was the implication sitting underneath it.
If they all knew Nightmare well enough to call him out this consistently, they had to be meeting in person. And if the Reach was as vast as he knew it to be, burning hundreds of miles to gather in one place said something serious about the bond holding this group together.
He was still processing that when a new message cut through the scroll.
[Entrant #43000800: Yo, everyone! The new guy is online!]
[Entrant #43000800: Our noble admin North Rockbridge too! The chaos bringer!]
Roman's head snapped up slightly. A new member, one he hadn't encountered before.
[Lyra: Hey, Roman. Where have you been? We've been dying to meet you.]
[Nightmare: Speak for yourself. Say "you" and leave the rest of the dramatic ladies out of it.]
[Lyra: Watch your mouth, Night. You really don't want me to find you when we next meet. Trust me on that.]
[Nightmare: You can try.]
[Nightmare: Hey @Roman, don't be soft with these people. That would go badly for you very fast.]
[Lyra: @Roman ignore him completely. He's just a bitter piece of work.]
[Entrant #43000800: She's not wrong.]
Roman pressed his palm against his forehead and exhaled slowly.
'These people might be some of the most powerful Entrants in the entire Reach, and they are absolutely unhinged,' he thought.
Then the group went quiet in the way it only does when one person is about to speak.
[North is typing...]
Every active member seemed to hold their breath at once, and Roman was no different.
[North: Guess what me and my crew came across at Terror Lake last night?]
The guesses came flooding in immediately from profiles Roman hadn't even seen active before.
[Entrant #44577732: A Tyrant?]
[Entrant #44577733: An invisible Alpha Pale Serpent?]
[Lyra: A ghost?]
[Entrant #43000800: Two people having a very good time? We don't only think about monsters, right?]
Roman stared at the screen for a moment, then shrugged and typed.
[Roman: A Sea Dragon?]
He sent it before he had fully thought it through, and the moment it was gone he stared at it with immediate regret.
*What in the world did I just say? Is there even such a thing as a Sea Dragon?*
He was reaching for the delete option when North's reply landed.
[North: Correct, Roman. It's honestly embarrassing that the newest member just outguessed every single one of you.]
[North: You know what, Roman. I'm sending you a private message.]
Roman's eyes widened slightly, genuinely unsure what to make of that.
Before he could think it through, the private notification was already there. North Rockbridge. The S ranker. The admin of a Platinum Group. Messaging him directly.
His hands were not entirely steady as he typed back.
[Roman: Hello, Miss North. I'm honoured to be having a private conversation with you.]
[North: Oh, drop all that. You are a member of the Dominion Legion. That alone means you are worth it.]
Roman swallowed, then smiled quietly.
[North: Where is your community?]
His stomach tightened. It wasn't as if he was proud of the answer, but they had already accepted the worst of what he had to offer.
[Roman: Blood Trail Outpost.]
[North: Oh. That's roughly four hundred miles from here.]
[Roman: Where are you?]
[North: Strength City. I'm the Mayor.]
Roman blinked.
[Roman: You own an entire city?]
The weight of that took a moment to land properly. Communities in the Badlands climbed from Outpost to Refuge, from Refuge to City, and from City to Empire or Nation. For an Entrant to hold Mayoral rank over a City meant she had built or claimed something that met every benchmark required for that classification.
North Rockbridge wasn't just a strong S ranker. She was in an entirely different category, and Roman was only just beginning to understand that.
[North: It wouldn't be a problem though. I want to formally invite you to the Cross Operation. All I need is your approval, and I'll arrange transport to bring you here.]
Roman had caught a mention of the Cross Operation once before in the group chat and hadn't thought much of it at the time. He still didn't fully understand what it involved, though he suspected it had something to do with pushing into higher risk, less explored territory against stronger monsters.
Even so, turning this down was not something he was seriously considering. This was a chance to stand in the same space as S rankers and find out exactly why a group of that calibre had kept an F ranker on their list.
[Roman: Sure, I'm in.]
[North: Perfect. Maybe by then we'll be able to go on a good date.]
Roman went completely still.
He read it again. Then once more, contemplating if he had read wrong.
[Roman: Sorry, what?]
[North: Never mind, Roman. Have a great day.]
Her status went offline immediately after, and Roman was left sitting in the silence of his room staring at the screen with the particular expression of someone whose eyes were working fine but whose brain had quietly stopped cooperating.