I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 105: Jade

Vale’s fingers hovered just above the flame, soaking in what little warmth it offered. The ruin was cold, far colder than it should’ve been. It wasn’t the kind of chill born of mere weather, but something older, something buried. It felt as if a long-dead god still exhaled frost through the cracks in the stone, its breath lingering in every corner of the crumbling chamber.

He stared into the fire, but his gaze kept drifting, drawn to the girl seated across from him.

Jade.

She hadn’t said a word since she’d introduced herself. Just sat there, perfectly still, save for the occasional glance in his direction. Like a statue that occasionally remembered it was alive.

Vale’s body ached. Every muscle felt as if it had been stretched and wrung dry. His limbs were stiff from exertion and cold, but his mind was clear—dangerously clear. He couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Not here. Not in a realm where death wore so many masks. And definitely not in the presence of a stranger with no reason to help him.

"You said you found me at the entrance," he began, his voice low, barely above the crackle of the flames. "Why’d you bring me inside?"

Jade looked up, the firelight painting flickering shadows across her face. Her expression remained unreadable. "Would you have preferred I left you there for the carrion birds?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t think kindness still existed in the Demon Realm."

"It doesn’t," she said flatly.

Her bluntness gave him pause. No denial. No explanation. Just the truth, delivered like a dagger to the chest.

"Not much of a talker, is she?" he thought.

Oddly enough, that would normally be his role in a conversation. He usually wasn’t one to pry or chat. But something about her silence pulled the questions right out of him.

He shifted closer to the fire and sat down, studying the small branches as they burned relentlessly and stubbornly, resisting the call of ash for just a while longer.

"You haven’t been here long, have you?" Jade asked, her eyes narrowing as they followed his gaze. "That wood only grows in the Demon Realm. It feeds on mana, thrives in corrupted soil. Makes it burn longer... harder. It’s why it hasn’t turned to ash."

Vale blinked. "I see." His voice held surprise, not at the explanation, but at how readily she’d given it.

"Sounds like you’ve been here a while," he added, watching her carefully.

"That’s right," she replied, her voice softening just a touch. "It’s been two years since I started my Fourth Trial."

His head snapped up. "Two years?" He echoed. "Wait... Fourth Trial?"

Jade raised a brow, clearly waiting for him to catch up. "Yes?"

The fire popped, a piece of wood cracking under the heat, mirroring the silence that stretched between them.

Then, realisation struck her. Her posture stiffened, and her expression shifted from vague curiosity to disbelief.

"This isn’t your Fourth Trial?" she asked, eyes narrowing with sudden intensity.

"No," Vale said, shaking his head. "This is only my Third."

She stared at him, her mouth slightly parted, as if trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Then, with a huff of incredulous laughter, she leaned back.

"You’re really lucky to be alive," she muttered, though it sounded more like an accusation than a compliment.

He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but she didn’t give him the chance.

"This place..." she began, voice gaining momentum, "It’s beyond even me. The weakest creatures here? Unhallowed. The flying beasts? Cursed. Those growls you’ve probably been hearing all night? Cursed too. And you’re telling me someone sent you here for a Third Trial?"

She let out a breathless chuckle, shaking her head as if the thought alone were madness.

"Maybe you’re more cursed than the monsters."

Vale arched an eyebrow. "You’re not much of an optimist, are you?"

"No," she said. "Optimists die first. If you want to survive, you expect the worst. Anticipate pain. Prepare for betrayal. That’s how you last longer than a week in this place."

She paused, then gave him a withering look.

"Although... in your case, expecting it might not even help. What can an Awakened do against a Cursed? Hell, what could you possibly do against an Unhallowed?"

Vale shrugged, unbothered. "I’ve killed a couple of Unhallowed on the way here."

She stared at him for a beat, then scoffed. "In the living world, maybe bragging about imaginary victories gets you some clout. But here? Lies don’t protect you. They get you killed."

Vale frowned. "What the hell is she talking about?"

Then it hit him.

For him and his group, taking down powerful monsters had become routine. They’d continuously operated alone or in pairs, tackling dangers others wouldn’t dare face. But outside their circle, that wasn’t normal. Most trial-goers had to form teams, share burdens, and strategise every encounter just to survive.

He’d forgotten just how strong his companions were—how strong he had become in their company. Compared to the average Awakened, they were monsters in human skin. What Jade saw as absurd was, to him, just another day.

He looked at her again.

Two years...

The words echoed in his head like a dropped stone sinking through deep water. He studied her face, the way exhaustion clung to her features like a second skin. It wasn’t just physical fatigue—there was something older in her expression. Worn. Weathered. As if she had lived a dozen lives inside the Demon Realm and still carried each one on her back.

"That must’ve been tough," he thought, though the words remained unspoken.

The fire cracked softly between them, the only sound in the silence that stretched thin as a blade. But Vale’s mind wouldn’t settle. One question had begun to rise from the shadows of his thoughts, something he didn’t want to ask—because deep down, he didn’t want to answer it himself. But if he was going to survive here, he needed to know.

"What about your quest?" he asked at last, his voice flat, emotionless—but something stirred behind his eyes. A flicker of intensity. The memory of his quest ignited a quiet flame inside him, one he couldn’t allow to burn too brightly.

Jade didn’t answer immediately. She stared at the fire as if she could draw courage from it.

"I need to kill ten thousand monsters," she said, her voice soft but firm.

A pause. Then she added, "I’m at almost three thousand."

Vale’s eyes widened slightly. He hadn’t expected such a brutal number. And from the way her gaze dimmed, he could tell it weighed on her.

In the Snowveil Mountains—or any region not infected by cursed energy—that quest might’ve been survivable. Awakened monsters there, though strong, weren’t beyond reason. You could plan, scout, or set up traps. You could even hunt in the open.

But here? In a place where the weakest monsters were Unhallowed?

Jade would have to stalk the edge of danger constantly—strike only when her odds were perfect and vanish before the next breath. One mistake, one misstep, and she’d be torn apart.

Three thousand kills in such a place... it wasn’t impressive. It was insane.

Before he could say anything, she turned to him.

"What about you?" she asked. "What’s your quest?"

Vale hesitated.

He felt the words build in his throat—the truth, that twisted, unforgiving truth. That he’d been tasked with killing those he cared for. That every heartbeat he cherished was a name on his death list.

But he swallowed it. Trust was fragile in the Demon Realm. A single crack could turn companionship into betrayal. He didn’t know this girl. Didn’t know if she would stay at his side or vanish the moment it suited her. And in this world, losing someone’s trust was as dangerous as losing a limb.

So he gave her something else.

"Kill three thousand opponents," he said quietly.

It wasn’t a lie. Not exactly. Just a smoothed-over version of the horror he carried.

Jade nodded slowly, perhaps buying the lie or simply choosing not to dig deeper. "I see," she murmured. "Then I guess we’re both in luck."

Vale forced a smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"Yeah..." he said. "I guess we are."

The fire crackled between them, and for a brief moment, it felt like they weren’t just two strangers in a cursed ruin. They were survivors. Temporary allies. Shadows clinging to the same fragile flame, hoping it would last one more night.

They spent the next two hours in silence, the fire crackling between them like a fragile barrier against the cold. Vale didn’t mind the quiet. In fact, he welcomed it. It gave him space to focus on the slow, steady restoration of his mana, on the subtle aches in his limbs, on the tension that still lingered in his chest like smoke after a battle. Every minute that passed let him breathe a little easier, his strength inching back toward something usable.

Jade didn’t speak once, nor did she fidget or pace. She sat composed, watching the fire with the kind of calm that only came from routine... or resignation.

Then, almost exactly two hours later, she rose to her feet in one smooth motion, as if a switch had flipped inside her.

"It’s time to move," she said, her voice quiet but firm, like the words were meant for him and the darkness beyond the fire.

Vale blinked, surprised by the precision. It was as though she had an internal clock wired into her instincts, ticking down to the second.

He gave a small nod, already pushing himself up, joints groaning in protest. The quiet moment was over.

And the Demon Realm waited.