Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Questions and Collapse (2)

“How have we not met a single one? Until yesterday, we were running into them like mad... Did they go extinct?”

Ishmir grumbled while chewing on a piece of dried meat in front of the campfire.

After encountering the humanoid otherworld species last night, we had not met even a single otherworld species.

Was it because of the order I had given?

I could not know the exact reason.

In any case, what was happening now was a continuation of the “abnormal phenomenon.”

“Could they have all gotten scared of Miss Eisel and run away...?!”

“Do they even get scared in the first place?”

At Lucia’s bright cry, Yuri answered in an indifferent voice without even looking at her.

Yuri was sitting with her chin propped in one hand, staring blankly at the campfire.

Since no otherworld species appeared, our march through the barren desert had been nothing but tedious.

A brief silence flowed, and soon Lucia carefully opened her mouth toward Ishmir.

“Instructor Ishmir, would it not be better for us to go back now? We do not see any otherworld species... and we need to report that a flying otherworld species appeared...”

“Other than Eisel and Zeto, there was not much you could call combat, was there? As for the otherworld species, I already sent a ‘hawk’ earlier, so you kids do not need to worry. And...”

Ishmir trailed off, then turned her head back and looked at the ancient ruins over there.

“...If we have come this close, something should appear. I think even I have never come this far. Since we are here, should we go inside the ruins? They are ruins, so there should at least be treasure, no?”

“You want to go into the ruins...?”

“Why, scared? Uhnghngh...”

Ishmir grinned as she looked at Lucia, who had grown frightened preemptively.

“I-I am not scared...! But I know we are not supposed to carelessly set foot inside the ruins...”

“That is because otherworld species swarm around the ruins. At one time, archaeologists who came here recklessly saying they would investigate the ruins often lost their lives to the otherworld species. Things have calmed down a little now, though.”

“...But how did they come to be called ruins in the first place?”

Yuri, who had been quietly listening to Ishmir, asked.

“They are merely guessed to be ruins because of the ancient patterns carved into the outer wall. Since no one has gone inside, no one knows whether they truly are ruins or not. What do you think, interesting, right? Makes you want to go in, right?”

“No. It looks dangerous.”

At Yuri’s firmness, Ishmir showed disappointment.

The ancient ruins were located quite close. Since we had not been meeting otherworld species, it seemed we had managed to approach much closer than expected.

A mysterious structure whose time, method, and purpose of construction were all unknown.

According to the information I had gained through the game, these ancient ruins were related to otherworld species, and otherworld species could be encountered more often around the ruins.

And even if one approached while defeating every otherworld species and attempted to enter, one would be sent back to the entrance and prevented from setting foot inside. That was about it.

I did not know whether the ruins truly had some technology that rejected human entry, but perhaps I could enter now.

No, this was a “certainty.”

I sat by the campfire and quietly listened to their conversation, then decided the time had come and opened my mouth.

“...I will go into the tent first. I am a little tired.”

“Really? Well, since something like that happened while you were standing watch yesterday, and you could not sleep, I suppose it makes sense...”

Yuri nodded faintly as she said that.

Amon, who had stood watch with me, had entered the tent and gone to sleep long ago.

“...I will stand watch twice today, including Zeto’s shift.”

Eisel, who had been staring at me, said that.

“Truly? Then... I will not refuse. Thank you, Miss Eisel.”

I smiled at her kindness.

This would make things a little easier.

Soon, Yuri turned her head away from us and murmured softly.

“I could stand watch too...”

Ishmir, who somehow heard it, pointed at Yuri.

“Then Yuri will take Amon’s watch.”

“Yes? Why should I do it in Amon’s place...”

“Why? You said you could stand watch. Did I hear wrong?”

“Th-that was... Understood, Instructor.”

At Yuri’s reluctant answer, question marks appeared on Ishmir’s face. Her expression seemed to ask what the problem was.

Like that, I exchanged suitable farewells and rose from the campfire, stepping into the tent.

Inside the tent was an earlier guest named Amon, but he was snoring loudly.

“He is completely asleep.”

There was no need to worry about Amon.

How could I, who was inside the tent, head to the ruins without others discovering me?

There was a simple method.

Using Shady’s power, “Shadow Hide-and-Seek,” I could move secretly as much as I wished.

However, one problem arose here.

The issue was the others who would later enter the tent. I needed something to take my place and create an alibi.

“Krrng.”

I held out my hand toward Shady, who was looking around inside the tent, and used Shady’s power.

One of his techniques.

I used “Shadow Mimicry.”

Immediately, Shady’s form, from which black liquid and the like stirred, began growing little by little and forming the shape of a person.

Not long afterward, shedding the black liquid, Shady appeared as a man with ink-black hair and snow-white bandages wrapped around his eyes.

[ Oho... It seems to have succeeded. He truly looks exactly like you. ]

Watching this sight, Sierra let out an exclamation. I had discussed the plan with Sierra before even coming to the desert.

That was right.

Shady had now “transformed” into me, the man called Zeto.

“I wondered whether there would ever be a need to use this technique, and here I am using it like this...”

“Shadow Mimicry” could be considered a technique that, similar to “Manifestation,” allowed Shady’s appearance to be shown to others.

Judging by the effect, it seemed to have originally been made to confuse opponents.

It would indeed cause confusion, because Shady, transformed into me, truly seemed to have no problem at all on the outside.

A fellow who looked exactly like me was alive and moving.

“Krrng.”

...Only on the outside, that is.

Even his voice was the same, but because the contents were Shady, he was making the cry he spat out like a habit.

[ Pfft... Forgive me, Disciple... It is hard to hold back laughter at this. ]

Sierra burst into laughter as she looked at Shady, who wore my appearance and made that cry.

I scratched my head, approached Shady, laid him down in place, and covered him with a blanket.

Then I whispered softly to him.

“Shady, from now on, you must absolutely not make any cries. You simply need to lie still like this. You can do that, yes?”

“...”

At my warning, Shady grew quiet.

It was not that Shady could not understand words at all. No, he understood better than expected.

“If you do well, I will give you a delicious meal when I return.”

In truth, the “delicious meal” was just my life force, which he ate every day, but was that important?

A reward was necessary to draw out Shady’s good performance.

“Food. Tasty.”

At my following whisper, Shady answered in a loud voice. At this, Amon, who had been snoring, stirred slightly.

“...Let us simply agree that you will not make any sounds. Even if someone speaks to you, do not answer and just lie still. Understood?”

“...”

Shady grew quiet again.

“This should be enough...”

When I raised myself, the creature covered with the blanket followed me with his head.

Even though he had transformed into my appearance, the blindfold and other clothing were not actually being worn. They too could be seen as part of Shady’s body.

...Although he was not especially trustworthy, as long as he stayed still, he should look like he was asleep.

[ There seems to be no major problem. ]

At Sierra’s words, I nodded and immediately entered the shadow.

Like Sierra, Shady had the property of returning to my vicinity when he grew too far away from me, but while “Shadow Mimicry” was active, that was an exception.

This was a fact I had learned through knowledge gained from the status window.

If there was one penalty, it was that the farther I grew from Shady, the harder it became to use Shady’s power.

Still, it seemed possible to leave this area without being discovered by the others outside the tent.

“If I truly am the king, could I stop the slaughter of these ‘machines,’ whose reason I cannot understand?”

To confirm this, I walked into the darkness.

***

“Is this the entrance...?”

While discussing the connection between the otherworld species and the ruins with Sierra, I was able to arrive at the ruins quickly.

In the middle, I had to walk through the desert as I grew farther from Shady, but there was no major problem.

[ It seems that way, but... ]

Countless patterns that seemed to be ancient were carved into the ruins’ outer wall. The patterns showed traces of wear, as if they had been carved long ago.

The passage that looked like an entrance was so wide and tall that even humanoid otherworld species could come and go.

Because no light reached the passage, it should normally have shown darkness with no end, but thanks to “Night Vision,” the inside of the passage was clearly visible.

The passage was empty.

In the game, if one set foot here, the screen would black out, and text such as “In the end, you could not find the entrance” would appear before you were returned to the entrance.

I slowly set foot into the passage.

Fortunately, I was not being mysteriously kicked out like in the game.

On the outer walls of the passage, ancient patterns and letters could occasionally be seen, but I could not understand them.

Walking straight that way, I stopped before a dead-end wall. Sierra tilted her head as she looked at the wall.

“...There is nothing.”

The dead-end wall was one thing, but the Perception I had been spreading as I reached this place had not touched anything in particular.

I placed my hand against the wall.

This wall seemed to have the same material and traces of time as the other walls.

That meant it had been built like this from the beginning, and considering the enormous size of the ruins, it was a structure that made little sense.

It was excessive for a structure built simply to create one enormous passage.

“Display? Achievement?”

As I thought of modern pyramids and tried to grasp the intention of the design...

A voice leaked from the outer wall.

Yes, once again, it was “Korean.”

“Visit of the king confirmed. Prepare for descent.”

Along with a voice whose gender could not be known...

—Rumble...

The floor I was standing on cracked with lines and began to tremble.

Descent.

I felt I knew why Perception had not touched anything.

I quickly grabbed Sierra, and immediately, the floor dropped.

I had expected it to be rough, but the floor descended more smoothly than I had thought. Still, its speed was not slow, and we were rapidly descending deep underground.

[ Wh-what is happening...? ]

Sierra, held in my arms, looked at the ceiling continuing to grow distant and was flustered.

...Sierra would probably end up filled with nothing but questions. But I did not have the leisure to resolve that right now.

The presences of otherworld species were beginning to touch my Perception.

—Thud...!

Not long afterward, the floor that had been descending endlessly stopped moving with a roar.

—Hiss!

All four sides were sealed, but soon, one wall split in half while releasing smoke.

Another long passage was revealed.

Without even a single kind guide, I blindly walked forward. In the end, there was only one path.

There was still nothing at the end of the passage, but it was definitely lurking behind that wall.

One round sphere-like thing whose identity I could not guess... and humanoid otherworld species that were not moving.

The scale of the passage was just as enormous, but it was somewhat different.

Unlike the stone walls from earlier, where the passage of time was clearly evident, the walls were made of smooth metal without a single pattern.

[ Disciple, is it all right to go any farther? I feel only a bad premonition... ]

Sierra, looking around, asked me in a worried voice. Since there were no lights or anything of the sort, perhaps to her, it seemed as though we were walking recklessly into an invisible darkness.

“Still, since we have come this far... should we not see it through to the end? And I do not really know how to go back...”

[ If you return and kick off the wall while running, you can climb back up. ]

“...”

Was Sierra capable of such a thing?

For now, it seemed impossible for me.

Leaving Sierra’s absurd words behind, I approached the blocked wall.

—Hiss!

This time, the wall opened without delay.

The first thing that entered my sight when the wall opened was light. This place was lit.

Thus, Sierra could also take it into her eyes.

Humanoid otherworld species kneeling on one knee and lined up neatly on both sides. Among them was “X-05,” who had lost an arm to me.

In the center was a black sphere embedded in the wall, but I still could not identify it.

One throne beside the sphere stood out.

Perhaps it had been made to match human size, because compared to the creatures around it, the throne looked endlessly small.

[ A throne room...? ]

Just as Sierra muttered, this space looked like a king’s court or audience chamber.

Both in design and structure, it was a space that exuded such an atmosphere.

[ So they had a king too? A king of another world... Who on earth is such a dangerous... ]

Around the time Sierra was muttering that, the sphere before us cut off her words and spoke.

“We greet the king.”

““We greet the king.””

Following that voice, the humanoid otherworld species kneeling on one knee shouted in their respective voices.

[...being. ]

Sierra, who had been speaking, glanced at me with meaningful eyes.

“I am only being called king without my permission...”

Even if Sierra could not understand the “Korean” they were speaking, at this point she had no choice but to notice.

“...”

I kept my mouth shut and walked before the sphere.

In any case... I needed someone to explain to me what all this was.

The black sphere, which looked clearly different from the other otherworld species at a glance, seemed capable of such conversation.

As I approached, the sphere spoke to me first.

No, the sphere muttered to itself.

“Supernatural energy detected. Judged to interfere with conversation. Opening virtual space in order to exclude the energy.”

If it said supernatural energy, did it mean Sierra?

The sphere’s voice was strange, a voice whose gender and even age could not be guessed, neither female nor male.

Following its mutter, a cord attached to the sphere moved and inserted itself into the nearby floor.

Soon, light flashed, and in an instant, my vision was dyed pure white.