I Die to Rise: Resurrection System-Chapter 83: Vacation: The Insider’s Bluff!

"What do you mean by plot?" Kurt asked.

Zaza blinked. "Huh?"

"Plot, Zaza," Kurt repeated patiently. "You said you think there might be a plot against Bangrock Island?"

"Oh. Right." Zaza combed her fingers through her hair, staring at the guild with that same flat expression. "What?"

Emma dragged a hand down her face. "For fuck’s sake."

Kurt stepped closer, keeping his tone calm and encouraging despite the growing tension radiating from the rest of the group. "So? You gonna tell us what you overheard or saw?"

"Three people," Zaza said after a moment. "They looked fishy and suspicious. By a huge boulder near the ocean."

Kurt nodded slowly. "You’re doing great, love. And? What did the three bad men say?"

Zaza tilted her head, that blank look never wavering. "Don’t patronize me."

"Me? Never." Kurt tugged at his collar quickly, forcing an innocent smile.

Zaza continued, unperturbed. "They were talking about placing black swans on geothermal points in the volcano. Something about activating the charge in a few days."

Rook’s eyes narrowed immediately, and Emma’s entire posture went rigid. The atmosphere shifted, vacation mode evaporating like water on hot stone.

Kurt glanced between them. "I’m guessing black swan isn’t code for a ballet recital?"

"No," Rook said flatly. "Black swans are highly illegal explosives. They generate destructive energy by tapping directly into the Earth’s core, or in this case, the volcanic core at the center of this island."

He crossed his arms, expression grim. "You know how people complain about fracking or pollution being bad for the planet? Black swans are worse. Exponentially worse. That’s why they were outlawed internationally."

He took a breath and continued, "When one detonates, it doesn’t just blow things up, it kills all life in the blast radius. Fauna, flora, everything. The ground itself becomes toxic for decades."

Then Lizzie chimed in with her hands doing a theatrical wave. "And it’s said that a black swan can RIP A HOLE! through space-time!" She shrugged afterwards. "Meh, just poppycock though..."

Kurt exhaled smoke slowly, processing. "So anti-green and reality, got it. But Zaza said it hasn’t been activated yet. That’s a good thing, yeah?"

"It means we still have time to pack our shit and get out of here," Rook said, already turning toward the resort.

Sam’s voice cut through, small but insistent. "We’re not going to help?"

Rook stopped, looked back at her, and his expression was hard. "Not our problem. If the island authority submitted a quest, then sure, we can stick our necks out. But we’re not heroes, Sam. We’re hunters. We take contracts, we get paid, we go home."

The guild members around them lowered their heads, the weight of Rook’s words heavy. Sam clutched Kurt’s arm, squeezing her eyes shut, and Kurt felt her trembling slightly.

He looked down at her, then back at Rook. "A quest, you say?"

Emma’s gaze moved toward him. "I know that look. Don’t do anything stupid, Kurt."

Kurt grinned. "Now when have I ever done something stupid?" He paused. "Don’t answer that."

They kept moving, eventually returning to the resort in silence, the bonfire’s warmth long gone, replaced by the cold reality of what Zaza had overheard, and everyone dispersed to their quarters.

At 6AM Kurt waited until Rook’s breathing deepened into sleep, then slipped out of bed. He grabbed his coat, swiped the keycard from the nightstand, and eased the door open inch by inch.

The hallway was empty, lit only by dim emergency lighting. Then he stepped out and closed the door with agonizing slowness.

Kurt turned around in a crouching posture and walked directly into something soft yet firm. He pulled back to see Cassandra. He’d face-planted into Cassandra’s chest.

"What the—"

Cassandra grinned down at him, arms crossed beneath her chest, blocking his path. She was still in her evening clothes from the bonfire, hadn’t even tried to sleep. "I figured you’d be this stupid."

Kurt recovered quickly, matching her grin and standing up straight. "Says the one with a limp she’s been trying to hide from everyone."

Cassandra’s expression went serious for one second before sliding back into her usual cold amusement. "So what exactly is your plan?"

"Winging it," Kurt said simply.

"Naturally." She fell into step beside him. "Then I suppose I’m coming with you."

They slipped out of the resort villa, moving through moonlit paths toward the geothermal vents connected to the volcano. The island was quiet at this hour, just the distant crash of waves and the occasional call of nocturnal birds.

Kurt led them to a vent marked on the resort map, steam rising lazily from its grated opening. He stopped a few feet away, studying the structure.

"Right," Kurt said, lighting a cigarette. "Here’s the play. We stage a small, controlled incident. Perhaps you can use this vent that connects to the rest to freeze them all, causing a build up."

"And then what?" Cassandra asked, eyebrow raised. Her tone suggested she knew exactly how much planning had gone into this: none.

"And then nothing. That’s what winging it is all about, you think in the moment. Something’s definitely going to come to me." Kurt assured her.

Cassandra sighed. "So you want me to sabotage a geothermal vent."

"All of them through this one. Small and controlled," Kurt emphasized. "We’re not actually trying to blow anything up. Just enough to set off alarms."

Cassandra’s lips curved into a wicked smile. Whatever Kurt was planning, she’d play along. "I’ll make it look good."

She approached the vent, placed her palm against the grate, and ice spread from her fingers. Frost crept into the vent’s opening, freezing moisture rapidly, building pressure in the superheated channels below.

"Remember," Kurt called out. "Small and controlled."

"I heard you the first time," Cassandra snarled.

"Sorry," Kurt whispered.

The frost built thicker, pressure mounting with a low, ominous rumble. Then... crack. A geyser of superheated steam erupted violently into the night sky, hissing like a thousand angry snakes.

Alarms blared almost instantly, resort sensors detecting the anomaly.

Kurt and Cassandra melted into the shadows, watching as lights flicked on in nearby buildings. Within minutes, a security team arrived, led by a burly man in a resort uniform and followed by the island manager, a slim woman in a silk robe, hair tousled from sleep.

"What the hell was that?!" the manager shouted, staring at the venting steam.

The security head scanned readings on his datapad. "Geothermal surge. Could be sabotage. If this escalates—"

Kurt melted the ice, the alarms stopped ringing, then he stepped out of the shadows, Cassandra at his side, and approached with a casual confidence. "Already handled."

The manager whirled. "You—I don’t know what you did, but thank you." She collected herself, adjusting her robe, then narrowed her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Kurt Manchester. Raven’s Crow guild. On vacation." He gestured at the calming steam. "Nasty business, that. This is no ordinary sabotage."

"Sabotage?!" The manager’s voice pitched higher. "That’s—"

"I’ll stop you right there," Kurt interjected smoothly. "You smell that? The sulfuric tang? And see that texture in the steam? That’s earthcore smoke."

The manager blinked. "Earthcore smoke?"

It was no surprise that the manager had no idea what that was. Why would she? Kurt had just made that up right on the spot, but he delivered it with complete confidence.

"Indeed. I’ve seen this before. Black swan testing. Not active yet, but that was a warning sign of its presence."

The security head squeezed his datapad harder. "That’s impossible. Black swans have been outlawed for decades. And from what I know about them, there are no ’warning signs.’"

Kurt shrugged. "I’m sorry, have you dealt with black swans before?"

The security head stuttered. "N-no, but—"

"That’s what I thought," Kurt said, smiling pleasantly. "Perhaps you should leave this to professionals. Like the Raven’s Crow guild."

Cassandra stepped forward, catching on, her voice measured. "If the threat is real, your perfect island becomes a crater in days. Do you really want to risk that?"

The manager’s face drained of color. "We can’t have that. We can’t even have rumors of this spreading—"

"Exactly," Kurt cut in gently. "But you need professionals. Discreet ones." He flashed that charming grin.

The security head hesitated, clearly still suspicious of them. "We could call Authority enforcers—"

"And wait days while they argue jurisdiction?" Cassandra’s tone was sharp. "While your volcano ticks down?"

Kurt leaned in. "And that’s not discreet at all. Plus, like you said, this is outlawed. Are you gonna explain how you let black swans get past your security?" He paused. "And as you’ve seen, we know a lot about this."

The manager exchanged frantic glances with her security head. The man looked uncertain, but she was already calculating: reputation damage, lawsuits, evacuations, Authority investigations... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"How much?" she asked tightly.

Kurt shrugged. "Standard B-rank quest rates. Plus hazard pay for, you know, illegal explosives."

"Fine," she said through gritted teeth. "Quest issued. Exclusive to Raven’s Crow. Priority payout." Her voice cracked slightly. "Please make this go away."

Kurt pretended to consider, then moved closer to Cassandra, whispering. "Look at you, improvising like a pro. You catch on quickly."

Cassandra grinned. "I must say, this is a different kind of thrill I haven’t felt before."

While they whispered, the manager’s voice rose desperately. "Fine! We’ll double your asking fee! Triple it! Just make this go away!"

Kurt turned back to her, grin widening. "Well, in that case, you’ve got yourself a deal." He gestured to Cassandra. "I’ll leave my beautiful guild member here to iron out the details. Let the rest of the guild know about the new quest."

Cassandra’s expression shifted to a cool, calculating one, with just a hint of amusement. "And where are you going?"

"The volcano, of course," Kurt said, already backing away.

In a blink, he was gone, teleporting directly into the dormant structure’s outer tunnels.

Cassandra watched the empty space where he’d been standing, then turned to the manager with a smile that could freeze blood.

"Now," she said pleasantly. "Let’s discuss terms."