Chapter 3.4

“It’s better than leaving them trapped.”

I couldn’t argue.

These days, medical standards were advanced enough that as long as the cut was clean, it could be reattached easily.

Recovery would take time, but it was better than dying here.

When I stepped back, Seo Rana cut away the stone around the survivor without hesitation.

The jellyfish circling me occasionally pushed a tentacle into the survivor’s mouth to supply oxygen.

“It’s done. The rest of the stone can be removed once we’re out… Now, shall we wake them?”

Seo Rana mercilessly slapped the survivor’s cheek.

Even underwater, despite the buoyancy, the unconscious person’s head shook violently as if it had been struck.

Still they didn’t regain consciousness, and Seo Rana clicked her tongue and passed the person to me.

“Looks like there’s only one survivor. Which means there’s only one story to bring outside… the reporters will swarm.”

Though it was hard to steady the body that wouldn’t move as I wanted, I managed to heave them onto my shoulder.

“Isn’t it fortunate we saved even one?”

I waited, but no answer came.

Seo Rana, unlike me, who could not swim freely, subtly widened the distance between us.
She spoke so clearly I could hear, though it was as if she were talking to herself.

Now, truly, she would move her way, and I would move mine.

Carrying the survivor on my back, I flailed my legs that would not move properly.

Compared to Seo Rana, who could move easily underwater, my movements were restricted, so there weren’t many places I could check. But because of that, I was able to examine one place more closely.

It wasn’t inside the sphere but completely underwater, so my vision wasn’t clear. As I narrowed my eyes to look closer, a jellyfish poked my cheek.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head, and the jellyfish pointed at the remaining debris of the stone.

Is there something there?

Inside was a stone with a small breathing hole. Since no sound came, it must have been stuck to the floor.

The jellyfish pointed at my hand and the stone in turn, as if telling me to remove it.

But the stone wasn’t a lifeform, so I couldn’t do anything•••••·

 

Ding—!

 

You have acquired a new skill.

[ Defense Equals Offense (S) ]

 

Suddenly?

They just give out S-rank skills like this?

The surprise was brief. Either way, since I’d obtained it, I had to use it well.

Judging from the straightforward name, and from the timing, like when I gained a skill in the last dungeon, it had to be something I could use right now.

If they gave me this skill at this moment, what else could it be for?

Obviously, to break that stone.

Without hesitation, I slammed my fist down.

“Ah!”

Despite the force, the stone stayed intact, and only my hand ached as if it would bruise.

As I clutched my throbbing hand, the system sent another window after the fact.

 

The name of Defense Equals Offense (S) has been changed.

[ Defense Equals Offense (S) >>> Bunker (S) ]

Would you like to run the tutorial?

[ Yes / No ]

 

If you were going to do it, you could have done it earlier.

 

[ Yes ]

Running tutorial.

Stretch out your arms and draw a circle.

 

Like this?

 

Wider.

 

I spread my arms wide enough to tear, and yet how much wider did they want?

Even as I grumbled inside, I obediently spread my arms and drew the circle, and a small sphere appeared.

 

Grab the sphere.

 

As I grabbed the ordinary-looking sphere,

 

Beware of vibration.

 

What?

Kuuung-

“Ack! Ms. Seo Rana!”

Suddenly, it grew as if to swallow me whole.

In a hurry I called Ms. Seo Rana, and she, a little distance away, ran over and tried to cut the sphere with a ring of her hand, but not a single crack appeared.

Without either of us being able to do anything, we were drawn inside the sphere.

My tightly shut eyes opened only when I realized I had entered another space.

The sensation, both similar to and different from the sphere Ms. Seo Rana had made, was at once strange and familiar.

When I gently placed my hand on the surface, it slipped outside.

Startled, I pulled it back, and it returned inside.

“What is this?”

Seo Rana looked at me with curious eyes, but I didn’t know either.

Hadn’t she just seen me panic?

“I got a skill, so I tried using it.”

“You got a skill?”

“Yes. It suddenly appeared.”

“The system never just gives skills suddenly. It happens only out of necessity, or because you had to obtain one right away. Otherwise, a skill would never appear. What happened?”

“This jellyfish pointed me to that part, and when I struck it, the skill appeared.”

Wouldn’t Seo Rana, who had a similar skill, know better than me?

I quickly passed the information to her, and she examined it more carefully than I did.

“It’s not quite the same as mine, but… can you move this sphere?”

How do I move the sphere?

“If it’s a skill that can move, it will move according to your will. Think of the whole thing as your body.”

Even while thinking it made no sense, I followed Seo Rana’s words and imagined spreading my senses through the entire sphere.

This sphere is my body.

So I should be able to move it however I want.

Slowly. Like rolling. Yes. Very slowly.

As I stepped forward, the sphere began to roll.

“Yes. Just like that. Slowly.”

Using Seo Rana’s words as signposts, I lifted my heavy foot.

“One more step. Yes, right there.”

Tak-

Woom!!

Barely steadying my swaying body against the shallow tremor, the sphere swallowed the stone the jellyfish had pointed to.

As the rock disappeared, a small hole was revealed, and a vast space whose depth could not be measured faintly came into view.

Before I could even look inside, the ground crumbled down in a rush.

The sphere began to roll along with the collapsing ground.

As I tried to stop the sphere somehow, a huge cavern appeared beyond the crumbling earth.

A clean emerald-lit cavern, without a trace of moisture.

While my eyes were caught by it, the sphere landed softly before the cave.

With a pop, the sphere vanished like a bursting soap bubble.

At the same time, it was only natural that Seo Rana’s and my body pitched forward.

As my body folded like a flip phone, the survivor who had been slung over my shoulder toppled forward.

On top of that survivor, my body, and Seo Rana’s body piled up.

As if it had finished its task of making this place known, the jellyfish swam leisurely away.

“Uugh••…..”

Because Seo Rana’s weight was felt in full, I couldn’t breathe.

I tapped her arm urgently, and she very slowly stood, lifting me and the survivor together.

“Are you alright?”

“Would you be alright if it were you?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you for helping me get up…”

“Is that so? Then treat me to a meal sometime.”

“Sorry, what?”

Now she was saying nonsense like it was second nature.

There’s no reason I should be buying her a meal, and even if someone had to, shouldn’t she be the one paying for mine?

“Just kidding.”

She tacked it on like it was nothing, then casually left the survivor with me and headed into the cave.

She really never runs out of material for teasing people.

Are we just going our separate ways now?

But with basically no combat skills to speak of, I didn’t have much of a choice. She was the better bet by far.

With no other choice, I followed after Seo Rana.

Telling myself it was all for the sake of saving lives, I stepped inside, and the cave was filled with stones that glowed even brighter than what we’d seen at the entrance.

Among them, some stones churned strangely from within, and I felt certain I must never touch them, not even by mistake.

There weren’t any sharp edges, but the path was uneven enough that I nearly stumbled several times, and my body cried out with fatigue all too easily.

“W-Wait a second!”

“Something wrong?”

“Could we just… rest for a moment?”

Trying to speak while forcing down my ragged breath only made it worse.

“Sure. If your stamina’s poor, it can’t be helped.”

People my age who never had time to exercise probably have stamina about the same as mine.

Not poor. Average.

Barely securing a break, I sprawled flat on the ground as my body loosened.

The cool stone against my cheek cooled my overheated body and felt pleasant.

After about 5 minutes, Seo Rana rose to her feet.

“All rested?”

She must have been a fitness trainer in her past life.

Otherwise, how could anyone tell a person lying flat in exhaustion to get moving again in under ten minutes?

I really just wanted a little more rest…

But it was only a thought. With a dying body, I dragged myself up as Seo Rana slung the unconscious survivor over her shoulders.

“I didn’t realize your stamina would be this bad. At S-Rank, most people receive stamina enhancement.”

“I guess… I didn’t get it…”

“Then you’ll just have to build it through training yourself. We don’t know how much more you’ll need to move, so conserve energy as much as possible. Walk with your core engaged.”

Wasn’t she moonlighting as a trainer on the side?

But when I walked with my core engaged as she said, I felt slightly better, yet at the same time, like my whole body was being wrung dry.

The deeper we went into the cave, the more of those radiant, uncanny stones there were, and the path grew narrower.

Just when the fear struck me that we might get trapped, we found a wide, open space.

A lakeshore paved with emerald stones, and in its center, a massive tree.

For a moment, the sight was so beautiful I forgot where I was.

On top of that, a sweet fragrance pricked my nose and I sniffed unconsciously.

“…A person.”

Following Seo Rana’s voice, I saw it.

A huge cluster of fruit hanging from the tree.

Large enough for a grown adult to curl up inside.

Through the hazy shell of the fruit, I could faintly make out a human figure.

 

A lifeform has been detected nearby.

Calculating Affection Level

[ Seo Rana – Affection Level: -50 ]

[ ?????? – Affection Level: -1,000 ]

The closest entity is displayed first.

 

A new lifeform has been detected.

Lifeform Detection (A) skill is now active at all times.

[ Fairy Fruit Tree (A): A tree that grows by feeding on dead fairies as nourishment. It is said that eating its fruit grants eternal life. ]

 

Thoom-!!

The tremor shook the entire chamber, and Seo Rana rushed to steady me.

“Be careful. It’s coming.”

“Could it be that tree•••••!”

Even as I muttered in disbelief, its deeply buried roots writhed and tore up through the ground.

The tree shook its roots violently, aiming them straight at us.

A gasp scraped out of my throat at the instant terror, like it would swallow me whole.

When one root grazed my arm, my heart froze.

I couldn’t just sit here, worried only about myself.

I had to save the person trapped inside that fruit.

I reached to grab the root and cast [Silent Touch], but the moment my hand met it, the root coiled tight around my arm.

It hoisted me into the air with ease, then slammed me against the ground.

“Ugh!”

Pain exploded through me, my eyes snapping open wide. Not just my eyes, I couldn’t even breathe.

The agony tore through me from nowhere. I tried to claw at my chest, but my pinned arm wouldn’t move.

How… how do I get out of this?

Through my blurring vision, I saw the fruits thrashing about.

Inside, the people were pounding their fists against the walls, mouths open in silent screams, begging to be saved.

Only this close, caught in the roots, could I see them, and my face twisted in helplessness.

I couldn’t even endure this pain or keep from being flung around. How could I possibly save them?

Still gasping, still wracked with pain, I forced myself to think.

I had only one skill that could strike the tree.

Not the one I had just unlocked and barely understood, but my only true offensive skill.

“Who… would use something like this•••••!!”

Dodging the root that tried to grab my remaining arm, I wrapped both legs around the one that had my arm.

 

Silent Touch (S) has been activated.

Please maintain contact with the target for 10 seconds.

.

10

.

9

.

8

.

Even as the root writhed and thrashed, I did not let go.

.

7

.

Warning! Skill proficiency insufficient.

Skill rank temporarily downgraded.

[ Silent Touch (S) >>> Silent Touch (A) ]

 

I get it! I get it, just hurry…!!

.

6

.

5

.

4

.

“Ms. Baek Youngha! Let go!!”

.

3

.

2

.

Just a little more…!!

.

1

.

Silent Touch (S) has been activated.

 

A blue light I hadn’t noticed before brushed against my cheek and tickled.

As the light touched the root I was holding, it melted away with a soft hiss and a blue rain poured down.

When the roots vanished, my body was left in the air and fell helplessly.

“…Ms. Baek Youngha.”

Seo Rana caught me.

Beyond her lips, which were parting as if to speak a great deal, the fruits were dropping to the ground one by one with a thud thud.

Dark pulp splattered wetly across the floor.

“Cough cough!! Khh! I… I’m alive•••••!”

“M…Mom……”

As the survivors cried, Seo Rana’s face came close as she held me.

She brushed aside my bangs with her forehead and smiled as if to say I’d done well.

Though she could have helped but did not and merely stood by, her eyes shone like someone who had finally found what she had been looking for.

Wasn’t this X’d^[1] up?

I should have told her to put me down, but unable to even hold on to my fading consciousness, I let my body go defenselessly.

T/N:

^[1] ↩

The original text censors a profanity here. The “X” marks an obscured curse word, commonly used in Korean web novels when offensive language is automatically filtered.