The Other Side (3)
The Other Side (3)
I resumed my grueling march, pushing on as I had for a while now.
I passed several ruined cities, much like the one at the start, and crossed mountains and rivers.
- Huff... hoo...
But as time relentlessly wore on, the hardship intensified.
I shook my head lightly, my closed eyelids quivering.
A cold sweat trickled down from my eyelids. My lips were parched, as if I'd collapsed face-down in a desert, and my breathing grew ragged.
The Reverse Side functioned like a dungeon. It provided boosts to the monsters it spawned, and suppression to intruders.
I was, without a doubt, an intruder.
'This suppression is stronger than I imagined... I can't endure it for long.'
My attempts to extend Observation outward were crushed. The Observation I'd gradually mastered, able to expand and contract at will, was now constrained.
It was the same for Space.
Especially Space, which I couldn't claim to have mastered like my other skills. Just maintaining it was becoming overwhelming.
Therefore, I used Observation only sparingly, and invested all my remaining Heart Power into Space.
'I'm glad I trained my senses diligently. It lets me close Observation and conserve as much Heart Power as possible.'
When I closed Observation, I became practically blind, but with my senses sharpened, I could manage to fight.
You could call it a power-saving mode.
Of course, I was pushing forward while conserving as much Heart Power as I could, but even that was proving difficult.
But I couldn't retreat now.
I'd thought that before entering the Reverse Side, but my resolve hardened even more after coming inside.
'Just how many are there?'
The only life forms I'd met so far were countless monsters.
Most were born at a high rank, and bolstered by the Reverse Side's correction, they radiated a terrifying ferocity.
Low-rank monsters teemed like insects, but there were also high-ranking ones that fought amongst themselves, carving out their own territories.
Occasionally, I even encountered 4th-Rank monsters.
'Just as I thought, I have to blow this open from the inside.'
It felt like a jar swarming with venomous insects, but there was one place similar to this.
The Demon Realm.
A landmass lost to humanity. The masters of that land were not humans but countless monsters.
It wasn't an exaggeration at all.
I'd already confirmed the catastrophe the Reverse Side could cause in the original story. It seemed less severe than that now, but the danger was very real.
I was aware of the danger. It was massive, but I could still stop it.
I was in a position to reach out, and I had the strength to act.
If I let fear drive me back now, I'd never trust myself again.
I couldn't claim to be someone truly worthy of love.
- Bzzzt—
"?"
Suddenly, something resonated inside. It was the resonance of my Innate Talent.
'What's this? All-Rounder? Did I think of something close to enlightenment?'
A faint smile touched my lips amidst the severe hardship. Whatever it was, any change in my Innate Talent was welcome.
Especially a change in All-Rounder, whose training method had always been vague.
I wanted to delve deep and ponder that omen, but given the location, serious contemplation would have to wait.
'Looks like I'm catching up.'
The traces I'd been following. The old, worn-down tracks were gradually becoming fresher.
I was getting closer to the one who'd left them.
.
.
.
By my count, about three more days had passed.
I'd passed through dozens of cities and crossed various terrains, all in the same bleak palette.
'With monsters crammed into this kind of space, all tangled together... it feels like a real 3rd-Rank is around here.'
I wasn't sprinting to gauge the core's location, but even at a walking pace, my speed was considerable.
Yet the terrain stretched on endlessly, making me acutely aware of the Reverse Side's vastness.
'Has it been rooted here for years?'
In the midst of this, as I steadily followed the trail, I sensed several oddities.
The older traces, which were hard to make out even with Observation, were clumsy and precarious.
The gait was unsteady, the stride uneven, and the tracks were left blatantly obvious.
But over time, they gradually improved.
Traces of numerous battles overlapped, and the tracks grew fainter. It was as if they'd started erasing their tracks, mindful of being followed.
Either way, I'd reached the first destination I'd set in this vast Reverse Side.
A ruined city.
It was much like the others I'd passed, but there were traces of a human presence.
They weren't obvious. The traces had been erased by someone with practiced skill and experience.
But Observation could simply uncover them all.
First, I headed toward one of the city's few high-rise buildings, where the traces were most concentrated and numerous.
The top had been completely blown off by something, so I kicked up the walls to an upper level near where the peak used to be.
- Thud
I landed on the concrete floor, which looked solid enough on the surface.
I controlled my traces, leaving no footprint, but right next to me was one made just a few hours ago.
'Guess someone's guard drops a little in their living quarters.'
Of course, even that was hidden exceptionally well. It's probably just that the Authority of Observation is too effective.
I licked my dry lips and scanned the surroundings.
The walls had all crumbled, leaving the floor plan wide open, yet the floor was cleaner than expected. Various scraps of hide were strewn about.
It was monster hide.
'Are they using processed hides? The workmanship isn't great.'
I picked up a piece of hide and rubbed it. It was rough, but it clearly had some work put into it.
Though it was still full of an amateur's awkwardness.
I tossed the hide I was fiddling with back on the floor and turned away.
Still, this floor showed signs of habitation.
There were remains of a fire on one side of the floor. Nearby, hides that had been worked with a bit more effort were piled up like a sleeping bag.
'Huh?'
As I methodically assessed the hides, I tilted my head at the data from one specific piece.
It was a piece that had been separated. I picked it up and ran a more detailed analysis.
'Secretions.'
The analysis showed that the foreign substance on the hide was a secretion. This was probably leather used as clothing.
'I'll analyze this, compile it as data, and use it for tracking later.'
Data is data. If they slip away during a fight, this will make tracking them down much easier.
It was right as I nodded to myself.
"This damn copycat monster is now going off, sniffing around people's underwear."
The voice came from behind me. It was the presence I'd been waiting for, letting them come up deliberately.
- Craaackle!
A short, muffled boom shook the air, like a silenced gunshot.
Bam! A blueish fist punched through the space where my head had been an instant ago.
"Huh? You dodged..."
I dodged and turned my body simultaneously.
The woman who'd thrown the punch from behind saw my mask and twisted her lips.
"The fuck? What the hell did this asshole copy this time?"
Her face, smudged with charcoal ash and dust and bearing fine scars, crumpled.
Her blue hair, grown just past her shoulders, was a tangled mess, clearly uncared for.
Her clothes were roughly thrown together from the hides scattered around.
Her appearance was no different from a wild woman's.
But her natural features gave her a sort of wild beauty rather than a filthy look. Superhumans generally had good looks, so it wasn't unusual.
If there was one thing that might surprise anyone, it was the empty space where her right arm should have been.
But I'd predicted even that from the pressure of the footprints, so it wasn't a shock.
After that brief moment of mutual recognition, the woman twisted her waist.
Crackle! The sound of compressed energy being released was unmistakable.
Currents flickered and coiled around her leg.
Her foot shot upward. The pointed toes sliced through the air like a blade, cleanly severing a part of the floor some distance away.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped back a few paces.
The lightning attribute was commonly known for its destructive power and speed. Its trajectory tended to be simple, but it was powerful and fast enough to make up for it.
'She's way too fast.'
Even taking that into account, she was absurdly fast.
Crackle! The current that had been lingering in her legs spread across her entire body.
Lightning flared for an instant, and what little distance remained disappeared.
Fists and legs wreathed in current rained down in a single moment.
Truly blistering speed. I raised both arms as well. The Blood Cloud I'd kept compressed beneath my clothing unfurled.
Limbs wreathed in Blood Cloud met her attacks head-on.
'What is this?'
I had already roughly guessed the woman's mana properties and unique ability through Observation.
Ever since then, I'd been puzzled and had deliberately waited for her to close in.
Now that I was confirming it firsthand, it was stranger than I'd expected.
I'd anticipated speed, but this was far beyond it.
I deflected a straight-line punch with the back of my hand.
Bzzzt! In that instant, the current that surged through the Blood Cloud made my arm sting.
'It's penetrating the Blood Cloud?'
While I was rigid for a split second, the woman pressed the attack relentlessly.
I countered, dodged. It was a bit overwhelming.
Her movements were too fast. I was avoiding and responding by reading her trajectories since they were mostly straightforward, but...
Boom! Blood Cloud and current clashed midair and scattered.
The woman withdrew to avoid the Blood Cloud that sprayed out like spikes and grimaced.
"The hell is this bastard so strong for?"
The woman, who kept muttering to herself, unleashed a vast surge of mana from her core.
From her body, where mana was circulating once more, lightning burst outward violently. Right around when it seemed ready to engulf her entirely—
"Just fucking die."
Snap! The woman flicked her fingers, and bolts of lightning coalesced in the air.
Lightning also coalesced on both of my arms, which had sustained her successive attacks.
'Target designation.'
I already knew of a unique ability similar to this, so I grasped its function before I even analyzed it.
'Expansion Ability.'
In that instant, the woman's innate talent swelled, and lightning linked the space between her and me.
— CRACK-A-BOOM!
The dreary world flashed white for a single moment. A long while later, an enormous thunderclap shook the ground.
It didn't end there. The mana that had been silently gathering in the sky also transformed into lightning and slammed into the designated target.
The black sky flashed dozens of times.
The upper floors of the high-rise building, where the torrent of lightning struck, burst apart entirely.
Debris big and small, not yet disintegrated, rained down across the city.
Amid that, the woman landed nimbly on the ground and scowled up at the destroyed residence as if she'd just bitten into something foul.
"Ah, shit... all my clothes I worked so hard on, my underwear, it's all in there."
[Can you really tell the difference between underwear and clothes?]
"You think I can't? Face-blind...?"
The woman, who'd been mumbling blankly, suddenly flinched and put a wide distance between us like a bolt of lightning.
"You're alive? No, not even a scratch, you crazy bastard."
I shook off the currents clinging to my body with a few flicks.
I'd endured that last attack by wrapping myself in a greatly expanded Blood Cloud.
'Why is her output like that?'
It had been close. I had nearly been roasted crisp even with the Blood Cloud. If I hadn't countered by causing a whirlpool, that really would've been it.
That woman's mana... the output of her unique ability is abnormal.
Blood Cloud is dense, tough, and resistant enough to substitute for Aura.
And yet she ignored that and applied an electric shock to me.
Of course, it wasn't completely beyond reason. Not quite that extreme.
But I can definitely sense the disparity between her output and effect. I've experienced this kind of disparity often.
Limitless potential. An output that differs from the sprout stage compared to other unique abilities...
[...Hm.]
"Ugh, goddamn my place... my clothes, my underwear... you have no idea how I made those."
While I was tracing that peculiar sensation, the woman ruffled her hair and muttered to herself. I tilted my head.
[Your place? That wasn't something you made. Besides, clothes or underwear, they all look the same─]
"Shut up, what would a monster know! Anyway, are you an Alpha? Or a whole different entity? Tch, whatever you are, why the hell is something like this in my place, damn it all."
A woman who kept muttering to herself like a lunatic. Listening to her, it seems she's mistaken me for a monster.
To be fair, if it were that monster with the copying ability, it would make sense.
Still, it didn't seem like she was in her right mind even so. I shook my head slowly and raised my arm.
[Muttering to yourself like that, you're a total nutjob.]
"Ha, a panty-thief monster bastard calling me a nutjob?"
The woman jeered and rushed in headlong. Kwarreung! A thunderous acceleration as if she no longer cared to hide the noise.
Her fist flew at me, fast enough to distort my vision.
The woman was terrifyingly fast and strong.
Her skill wasn't bad either. The lightning attribute was straightforward and easy to read, but the woman dynamically worked her long limbs to create variation.
Movements akin to an animal relying on instinct.
When you combine that with bizarrely powerful lightning and acceleration, it's no wonder an attack could strike a vital point in a single instant.
— Smack.
"...!"
But her weaknesses were also fairly clear. I held out my palm and caught her fist.
Though the surging current tried to overwhelm me, I entangled it in a whirlpool formed in my palm and dispersed it.
The woman's eyes flared wide as she extended a kick. I escaped its area of influence by a hair's breadth and instead lunged into her space.
A glaring opening. I deflected both her offense and defense, dove in, and drove my fist into her undefended head.
— Boom!
"Guh...!?"
Her raised Aura greatly dampened the impact. But her stance wavered, and I had no intention of letting that opening slip.
As I relentlessly exploited the gaps, the woman began to lose ground helplessly.
An accelerated body and strength. In this state, I could keep up with her well enough.
Her lightning was formidable, but she couldn't instantly produce enough output to strip away my Blood Cloud in a single burst.
Wild and dynamic movements.
There were some outstanding parts, but she hadn't built her foundation methodically from the ground up.
On top of that, her attacks themselves were skills built on the premise of fighting monsters, so when facing a human-sized body with intelligence, many openings appeared.
That's generally why superhumans specialized in Anti-Monster Combat don't engage in one-on-one duels against superhumans specialized in Anti-Personnel Combat.
Most of all, with one of her arms missing, it was only natural that gaps would exist to that extent.
'...Huh?'
Then it happened.
At some point, I sensed a subtle incongruity in the woman's movements.
Her legs were firmly planted on the ground, yet ready to shift her center of gravity and stance at any moment.
Her waist was aligned so that strength could freely flow between her upper and lower body.
She was barehanded, without any weapon, but every part of her body capable of attack—fingers, back of the hand, elbows, shoulders—was being utilized in its proper place.
In other words, it was a stance prepared to respond to any situation.
'Huh...?'
In words, it was an ideal combat method, but at the same time, it was a combat technique that felt familiar somehow.
The rough parts were many, and she was filling those gaps with intuition and wild movements.
But upon close Observation, her fundamental stance became vividly clear in my head.
That's...
'The foundation my master taught me—'
The moment my thoughts reached that point.
Reflexively, I deflected the woman's attack, and drove my fist—wreathed in a whirlpool—into her exposed flank.
— KWAANG!
"Gak...!"
The woman spat out a breathless gasp and folded at the waist. Kugugung! Soon, the whirlpool coiled around my forearm pulsed.
Startled, I twisted the whirlpool. Just before she was swept into it, the woman was violently flung away, skipping across the ground like a flat stone across water.
Boom! She finally stopped when she slammed into the wall, slumping limply.
"......"
I blinked as debris rained down and I Observed the woman embedded in the wall.
Something... something was strange...?
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[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul→?
●○○○○○○○○○(19/100)
｢Owner of the Traces｣
▼Change▼
●●●○○○○○○○(35/100)
｢Owner of the Traces｣ ｢Incongruity｣
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