Chapter 50:
Abel wanted to explore his surroundings right away, even if it was just a small area, but he couldn’t even walk properly, so he had to sit back down because his physical condition was at its worst.
“Arg…..”
May looked at Abel as he sat down groaning before speaking,
“Don’t overwork yourself. Are you worried about the other kids?”
“Huh?”
“I heard Gigant approaching In the distance just before we got swept away.”
“Oh…..”
May guessed that Abel was overdoing it because he was worried about the other kids. When, in fact, it was Abel who confirmed through the message that the behemoth was defeated, but it was a misunderstanding that did not need to be corrected, so he nodded.
“Really? That’s a relief.”
“Yes.”
May answered briefly and didn’t speak again. An awkward atmosphere lingered in the air. No, to be exact, it was only Abel who felt that way. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a close relationship with May. He saw her more often than the other kids in the class. But this was the first time they were together like this.
‘To begin with, May is the kind of person who doesn’t talk much.’
Even in the game, May didn’t talk much. She found everything annoying and dozed off a lot, so there’s nothing much for her to say.
‘That’s because she has her own story.’
While he was lost in thought, May spoke to him again.
“What are you going to do?”
“Huh?”
“We can’t keep staying here .”
True to her word, the place they were in was too open. They could be easily spotted.
“I see. We don’t know how long we’ll have to wait, so let’s get to a safe place.”
“I think we should leave the gigants behind. They’re both too damaged to maneuver.”
Both Abel and May’s gigant were in bad shape. Their cores had been damaged in the sudden movement, and exposure to the powerful surge of energy seemed to have caused an overload.
“Alright. Let’s see if we can hide in caves or other places nearby.”
“Yeah.”
May nodded in agreement. Just like Abel, she needed to rest.
‘It would have been better to rest after finding the artifact.’
Abel thought he could at least rest since he had been moved closer to the artifact. After all, the original goal was to find the artifact by the end of the day.
“Then….. Alright .”
Abel staggered as he stood up. He’d been thinking so hard that he’d momentarily forgotten that he wasn’t in the best shape. He lost his balance and stumbled badly, but fortunately, he didn’t fall, thanks to May, who came over and grabbed his arm.
“Oh, thank you.”
“Can you walk?”
“I think I’ll be fine if I walk slowly.”
With that, Abel cautiously took a step. But he quickly grimaced at the stabbing pain. May looked at him and suddenly tugged on his arm. As Abel looked at her in confusion, May spoke calmly.
“I can help you.”
“You don’t have to–”
“It’s best to find a safe place to rest as soon as possible.”
At that, Abel fell silent. Even in his mind, it would be much faster to be helped than just walking alone and slowing them down.
“…… I accept your help.”
“Alright .”
Abel began to walk with May’s support. It was uncomfortable because of the slight height difference, but it was much better than walking alone.
‘Smooth,’
Abel thought to himself without realizing it, then looked down at May and made eye contact with her.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“Huh, no.”
Abel quickly looked away and began to scan his surroundings. He diverted his attention by looking around, hoping to get a clue as to where they were, but unfortunately, he couldn’t figure it out.
‘It all looks the same.’
The only thing around them was a giant tree. Nothing special. As they continued walking, his heartbeat began to beat faster. Abel ignored it and just concentrated on walking. He wondered how much time had passed. At this point, he thought of climbing a tree to rest if they continued like this.
“Abel.”
“Huh?”
“Look.”
May pointed off to one side, where there was a tiny hole they could barely fit through by lying on their stomach.
“Hmm. Let’s check it out .”
It would be difficult to rest if the interior was that size, but things may differ from what they seem on the outside. May nodded at Abel’s words.
“I’ll go in first.”
“Okay.”
May carefully placed Abel on one side and then went inside. Abel thought to himself, leaning his back against the hard stone wall.
‘Magic exhaustion… It’s scarier than I thought.’
He knew that exhaustion would make him physically weak, but it was much more than that. He might have lost his life on the spot if he had failed to land a fatal blow to the behemoth. He reflected on himself.
‘I’ll have to act more carefully next time.’
Given the situation, he thought it was the best choice, but he still had to reflect.
“Abel.”
Infamous Scans
His self-reflection was almost over when May called out to him, sticking her face out from the hole.
“It’s bigger inside than I thought. Can you come in?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine .”
May nodded her head slightly and went back inside. Abel waited for a moment, then bent over and crawled inside.
‘At this rate, I’m going to die.’
His physical condition was already bad, and he was crawling. He felt like he would die, but he couldn’t help it. He had no choice. If he stayed outside and encountered even a gigant fragment, he could die. Fortunately, within a few minutes, the passage became wide enough to squat down. Abel started duck-walking again, and it wasn’t long before he could stretch to his waist.
‘I made it.’
May was in sight. Abel spoke, walking slowly.
“It’s wider than I thought.”
“Yes.”
He wondered how wide it would be, but when he reached the end, he saw it was very wide. Inside, there was a space larger than the living room of most houses. The floor was flat, and the ceiling was quite high, so there was no problem at all with resting here.
“I think spending a day here at this rate would be okay?”
“Yes.”
May nodded her head without much change in her expression. After that, the atmosphere became quiet again. Abel casually went to one side and sat down, and then she spoke to May.
“I’m going to meditate.”
“Okay.”
Part of him wanted to lie down, but in his current state, he had to focus on recovery through meditation. Since his mana is depleted, once he recovers even a little bit of it, his physical recovery will be accelerated. Abel held his cross-legged and closed his eyes. Usually, he was supposed to close his eyes and concentrate immediately, but the pain in his body made him think.
‘The spatial transition phenomenon should mean that no one entered the inside of the ruins right away.’
The artifact in this forest ‘summons’ those nearby who are eligible. Of course, the artifact does not have any intelligence to select qualified people, but those with special qualifications are teleported through space. And that qualification is the synchronization rate.
In the game, the same thing happens if the synchronization rate is A or higher. However, this does not happen if there is even a single person in the ruins. In other words, at least at the moment Abel was transported through space, there was no one inside the ruins.
‘Well, first of all, it means that there is still time.’
The ruins are not a space that can be overcome in just one or two hours. It takes at least 6 hours. This also applies to the user. In the game, the average time it took for a group called the Prophet to pass through the ruins was more than 12 hours.
‘If I subtract this and that time, I can say that I have at least 8 hours to spare.’
After completing the calculations in his head, Abel fought his impatience rising in his head. Now, he’ll have to focus on recovery. If he acts hastily, he’ll end up doing things wrong. Isn’t there a saying that impatience is a recipe for disaster?
“Phew.”
Abel took a long breath and tried to clear his mind and then began practicing a breathing technique he had recently learned. Slowly, very slowly, he fell into a state of deep meditation.
»————- ★ ————-«“……bel”
A voice from nowhere made him narrow his eyes as he slowly drifted out of his meditative state.
“Abel!”
And when he was sure he heard his name being called, he opened his eyes. The first thing that caught his eye was someone with gorgeous eyes with white skin, and long eyelashes.
“May?”
“Shh. Be quiet.”
Abel shuddered. This is because the distance from May was so close that he could feel her breath on his face. Abel asked her in a small voice.
“What’s the matter?”
“This place. It’s not an ordinary cave.”
“What do……..”
May pointed to one side. Abel tried to ask what she meant by that but then kept quiet. This is because there was an open passage where she pointed. It was a place blocked by a wall until he started meditating. It was definitely surprising. However, that didn’t explain why May was so close to him.
“But why.….’’
“Shh!”
Abel tried to ask her, but May put her finger to his mouth again and told him to be quiet. The warmth of May’s proximity to him reached Abel. But the cold sweat dripping from her forehead caught Abel’s attention more than anything. When he looked closely, he saw that May was stiff with tension. And the mystery of her closeness was quickly answered.
Kung-! Kung-! Kuung-!
With the sound of heavy steps, a huge figure appeared at the end of the passage. It walked on two feet like a human, covering its entire body in thick armor. There was nothing strange about it, but the problem was that it was over 2 meters tall.
Kung, Kung, Kung!
It left after looking around for a moment, and only then did May open her mouth.
“It’s a guardian. You know what it is, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Abel nodded his head. It looks like a human, but it is not a human. The Guardian is an ‘armament’ that is only occasionally found in these ruins. In other words, that passage was a road that led to the ruins. For Abel, this was an extremely happy moment.
Of course, he couldn’t show it. The ruins are an extremely dangerous place, and he just confirmed the existence of the guardian. It was a normal reaction to be as nervous as May. Trying to figure out how to enter the ruins, Abel asked a question.
“What do we do?”
“We can’t go outside.”
“Why?”
“I checked while you were meditating, and there were tons of gigant fragments around.”
May said as she wrinkled her eyebrows.
“I think it would be better to look for another exit here. What do you think?”
“That’s a wise decision. Of course, I agree.” Abel said, nodding in agreement.
May looked at Abel with a strange expression when he answered right away.”
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?”
“You said it’s more dangerous outside? Then, we have to go in there.”
“That’s… that’s true. How are you feeling now ?”
“Huh?”
Abel belatedly checked his physical condition and realized he felt much better than before meditating. Although the pain remained, it was not to the point where he needed support like before. Recovering mana through breathing techniques seemed to have an effect.
“It’s much better.”
“Alright. But just in case, I’ll take the lead for now.”
“Okay.”
May nodded and stood up. Abel stood up after her and thought to himself.
‘Now that I think about it, her personality seems completely different from usual.’
He’d noticed she had been acting differently lately. He wasn’t just talking about the fact that she was talking more. Despite the situation, she seemed to feel a strangely strong sense of responsibility. It was almost like she was a different person. As he thought up to that point, May’s past suddenly came to mind.
‘Maybe I’m overlapping with a memory from the past……’
“Abel.”
Abel, who had been lost in his thoughts, came to his senses at May’s call. She was gesturing to him as if she wanted him to come quickly. Abel put aside the thought he just had and followed after her. There were more important things to do right now.
It was time to explore the ruins.
[To be continued.]
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