Speed was everything.
Every time I touched the golden Threading Needle, it pulled away a chunk of my life thread—fast. If I hesitated, I could drop dead before even declaring a single fate.
And one more thing...
In a moment like this, with time so tight... the wish had to count. I wouldn't get many chances.
The first thing I had to do was take control of the Argo—this wild beast of a ship that was bucking us to our deaths.
"Atalanta!"
She flinched. "What the hell? Are you crazy—don't just shout out of nowhere like that! You scared me!"
"Lend me one of your arrows," I said, holding my hand out to her.
"What for?" she asked, squinting at me suspiciously.
"Just give it to me—quickly! There's no time!" I urged.
Even though she clearly had no idea what I was doing, she passed me an arrow. I snatched it and rushed to the prow.
I slipped the arrow into the crack in the wood, poking at the golden needle wedged deep inside. Thanks to its bent shape, I managed to pull it free without much trouble.
A golden aura spilled from the needle—this cursed thing that had been draining the life out of anyone who got too close. I tore off part of my sleeve and wrapped it around the needle, trying to stop the deadly aura from leaking out any more than it already had.
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves… then whispered my first declaration:
"Golden needle… grant me the fate of being the greatest helmsman alive."
And the needle obeyed.
A torrent of seafaring knowledge slammed into my brain all at once. It felt like my skull was about to explode. Numbers, equations, nautical terms, constellations—they swarmed my head like bees in a hurricane. Suddenly, I knew everything. I could navigate by starlight, steer through a hurricane, read the sea like a book.
Just like that, I had become the second coming of Tiphys.
"Everyone—set sail now! Turn the ship to the left!" I shouted.
"..."
Silence. Not a soul moved.
"I said—turn the ship to the left! Now! Hurry!"
Still nothing.
No one responded. It was as if my words evaporated the moment they left my mouth.
"Why the hell should we listen to you?"
"Are you insane? Who the hell are you to order us around?"
"You've lost it, haven't you?"
"What's wrong with him now, the idiot...?"
And so on.
The insults came flying before I could even react. Not a single one of them believed me. And that's when it hit me—
No matter how skilled I had become, I was still just a background character. No one would ever trust someone like me. They couldn't see my value. To them, only true heroes—Achilles, Heracles, Theseus, those kinds of men—were worth listening to. That was the unshakable truth of this world. And it would never change.
But… gods damn it! I risked my life to save them! Why wouldn't they just listen!?
All I'd done—completely wasted. My good intentions weren't even worth the sea foam beneath our feet. My time was running out. I could feel it—like a needle pricking my heart.
Death was creeping closer.
What now…?
They won't believe me. Not even a little.
But these people—they can't die here. If they do, the whole myth will collapse. The world of this story will crumble.
Think… think! What do I do?
Wait…
Yes.
There's one way.