Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Witness Your Deepest Fears
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Due to the recoil of the powerful force, Adelrian and Zero's bodies tangled together and plunged into the water.
Caught in the strong currents, Adelrian slipped from Zero's arms, and the two were flung apart like billiard balls, pushed to the farthest points.
Soon, Zero saw Adelrian get sucked straight into the heart of the whirlpool. Wrapping mana around her body, she swam downward, slicing through the vortex like a drill, but the swirling waters yanked her back.
‘Lady Adelrian!’
Even Zero could no longer see Adelrian.
In that brief moment, had she been swept to the bottom by the vortex? Or had she gotten tangled in another whirlpool in this swirling zone?
Or perhaps...
Zero's gem-like eyes scanned all directions through the dark water and countless bubbles.
She let the currents carry her without forcing through them with mana, sinking deeper and deeper.
As she descended rapidly, she vaguely glimpsed pink and red hair fluttering below, and within a round, bubble-like shield, a golden shimmer flickered.
Just a little more. Just a little more.
Luna's voice seemed to echo through the water. But the closest was Leaf.
In the murky depths, her light green hair was hard to spot, but the moment Leaf moved to grab Adelrian, she got caught in another vortex and was swept far away again.
At that moment, Kane seized the raging whirlpool's water mana, controlling it as if reining in a wild beast.
In this massive vortex where tangled mana spun wildly, it all bent to Kane's will, creating a brief gap in the water flow right then.
While Luna, Rachel, and Zero had to tightly control their mana just to hold their breath, Leaf—who didn't need to breathe—seized Kane's opening without hesitation, channeling all her mana to chase after Adelrian.
As if a subspace had opened, a long rope whipped out like a serpent.
Grabbing its midpoint, Leaf finally caught Adelrian, whose body was limp as if she'd lost consciousness.
“Gah!”
And Rachel was the first to break the surface.
Countless air bubbles scattered near her mouth.
Clutching her throat with a pained expression from lack of air, Luna grabbed the rope with one hand and Rachel with the other. Zero gripped the undulating rope in the water, then turned to look behind.
A fleeting glimpse of a dark silhouette and golden eyes.
Zero flung the rope with all her might toward Kane, who was swimming back up rapidly from the end of the current, pushed away while controlling the mana.
And just as Kane's fingertips brushed the trembling rope and finally grasped it.
The entire group was hurled not into the water, but into a cold cave.
“Urk! Hack!”
“Rachel, you okay? Leaf! The young master?”
Luna pounded Rachel's back as she vomited water and turned her head. In the cave's depths, where a blue glow flickered, Adelrian lay collapsed, holding Levi.
Leaf, beside her, tried to stand but staggered and thudded to the ground. Seeing this, Luna—who had been rushing to Adelrian—also collapsed face-first.
“Damn it. Where...!”
Rachel, a short distance away inside, looked around frantically and tried to draw up mana, but she was exhausted!
From the statue of a mermaid woman with two tails carved into the cave wall came a voice.
—You will witness what you fear most.
Exhausted of mana, Rachel spat curses but couldn't resist as her body toppled backward.
Sensing the ominous presence, Zero—who was separated from the group—shed her robe, shook off the water with mana, and stepped toward Adelrian.
One step, then another.
As she walked deeper into the cave, the woman's voice echoed repeatedly.
—You will witness what you fear most. Resist. Escape. Or abandon everything and flee.
The spell was far too powerful to resist with her scant remaining mana. As Zero was about to lose consciousness and collapse, Kane grabbed her clothes and dragged her deeper.
After drying all the water from the robe, he draped the now-warm-with-mana garment over Adelrian and Levi. Then even Kane squeezed his golden eyes shut and dropped to his knees.
* * *
“Thirsty...”
This is ridiculous...
I remember getting caught in the vortex, for sure.
But when I woke up, I was in the middle of a desert.
The scorching sunlight stabbed my skin like needles. More than just hot, it felt like I was being roasted, making it hard to breathe. I pulled my robe over my head and wrapped a towel around my nose and mouth.
When the wind blew, fine sand like dust forced its way into my nose and mouth, which was even more agonizing than the suffocation.
‘I never wanted to learn firsthand why desert dwellers wear long clothes to cover their bodies and veil their faces despite the heat...’
No matter how far I walked, there was no end.
Every breath felt like hot air sucking the moisture out of my body.
I could feel every cell drying up bit by bit.
But I couldn't stop—Levi had to be somewhere in this place.
Even if the others were scattered, I'd held onto Levi until the end, so she must have fallen with me.
If I'm struggling this much... Levi, being merfolk...
I shook off the grim thoughts for a moment.
“Levi... Levi...”
Damn it. I'm too weak; my voice won't come out loud.
I wanted to drink water, but for some reason, Krueger's ring only produced one bottle before refusing to work.
I was tempted to down it all right then.
‘But I'm not at death's door yet.’
It felt like I'd walked for about thirty minutes, but the desert stretched endlessly. Not knowing how much farther I had to go, I couldn't waste a single bottle.
But... something felt off.
‘The floaty sense didn't trigger right away, so I thought it was real.’
Is this really reality?
If it were an illusion, the floaty sense would have kicked in immediately. Plus, this parched pain felt so real that I'd kept walking anyway.
But no matter how I thought about it, something was wrong.
I'd clearly fallen into a whirlpool off the Southern Archipelago, dragged down by the merfolk.
Why was I in the middle of a desert?
‘...Think, Kang Suho. Think properly.’
Of course, think while walking, while walking. Don't slack off even a little. Levi's probably out there, wasting away, waiting for me.
Dragging my heavy legs, gasping dry breaths, my vision starting to blur, I kept thinking.
Various possibilities: the merfolk caught us and pulled some trick. Or maybe we'd dimension-shifted once already, and it happened again.
‘Feels like swearing, but... isn't this a dungeon?’
A very reasonable deduction.
‘I hope it's not, but damn, what if it is.’
With Kane's luck—swamp trolls in the labyrinth depths, dragons along the way—it was possible.
Kane says I bring the trouble, but no.
That's the protagonist's fate. I should check his fortune sometime.
‘This has to be it.’
I remembered something I'd heard and ripped off a button from my clothes, putting it in my mouth.
The irritation seemed to stimulate some saliva, which I swallowed, frowning.
‘Sea Witch's Grace.’
In the original story, after bulldozing the merfolk territory, Levi got revenge by shoving the mermaid royals into a dungeon.
Readers called it a chewy plot thread, saying at least one would pass the trials, get stronger, and come back for revenge—but it was never mentioned again, earning backlash for dropped foreshadowing.
‘Thinking about it now, it makes sense they were too dim-witted to pass.’
In the game Innocent Saga, it was a place to gamble mid-tier units you didn't want to trash but couldn't main: send them with mental buffs, and if lucky, they overcame trauma debuffs, emerging upgraded.
You'd toss in unused units, and they'd return as high-end ones...
‘Feels a bit like this is karma.’
Even the main party—only indomitable Kane—had low survival odds for the others, and even Kane avoided exploded dungeons.
‘We're screwed.’
The moment I realized, I knew I had to escape quickly.
The dungeon description said you had to overcome your deepest fear.
‘Desert, needle-like sunlight, loneliness.’
And.
—You're the most useless child I've ever seen.
—What a disappointment.
—Utterly worthless.
A majestic voice. But its words relentlessly tore down someone's self-esteem.
I walked toward the source.
My eyes felt like they were drying out, so I closed them and relied on sound alone, pressing on, clutching a water bottle inside my clothes.
—Worse than a sea snail.
—You're smearing mud on my reputation.
—To think you'd be my child—such a lamentable affair.
“I'm sorry... I did wrong... Don't abandon me... Don't go...”
Don't leave me alone here... Please stay by my side. Pet me just once more. You said you loved your daughter...
The dying, broken voice enveloped my body. My hands touched a rough, wrinkled shell of a body. Skin dried and cracked, oozing blood—I embraced it.
“Levi.”
I opened my eyes, but they were too dry to see clearly. Even with my floaty sense, it was agony.
Since it wasn't my nightmare, not my fear, but yours, the floaty sense didn't work properly.
Thank goodness. If it had fully applied and pulled me back to reality alone, I couldn't have comforted you.
With trembling hands, I opened the water bottle, draped my clothes over the parched body, and poured until the fabric was soaked.
Then I huddled over her, casting a shadow, and whispered.
“It wasn't your fault, Levi. You're not hot or thirsty anymore. Open your eyes. The Mermaid King wouldn't say that.”
That guy never woke from his long sleep in the original, but you once mentioned offhand that one reason he entered it was for you.
For you, even those idiots created all those collateral royals—he wouldn't say that.
“...Really?”
“Isn't it? That's why you held on in that island, waiting, right?”
“Yeah... you're right.”
I felt her shriveled body in my arms softening bit by bit.
Under the blazing sun that burned my back and nape, her embrace felt refreshingly cool.
No—suddenly my whole body felt cool, almost chilly. I thought my eyes were open, but they weren't; I lifted the lids again.
‘It's dark.’
A cave with a blue tint. Scanning around, no sign of the group.
As I sat up, a large robe—Zero's, probably—slid off.
Without it, my damp body felt even chillier. Shaking my head, I gazed at Levi, who breathed evenly in my arms, asleep. I gently pressed her cheek—it yielded softly.
Not as moist as usual, but not dried out, rough, or brittle.
Running my tongue over my mouth, the button was gone too.
‘An illusion as good as reality.’
Still, my throat was parched, my clothes dry, and touching my nape stung slightly—not a burn, but reddened skin.
Even illusions manifest physically if you believe them, huh.
“Ugh... thirsty.”
Levi stirred similarly, gasping from thirst as she woke. I opened subspace and pulled out two water bottles.
‘It only gave one before, though.’
First, I gave her water, then unpacked a magic tent, lit a fire inside, and laid her on the bed.
“Rest here. Don't go anywhere.”
“Yeah...”
Seeing her nod dazedly, still groggy from waking, I moved to search the cave—and suddenly, I was standing somewhere else entirely.