Chapter 240
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 240
Chapter Title: Kukuru Island and Special Survival Training (7)
Over the blaring sirens and countless screams coming from all directions.
I took Ren's hand and ran toward a place I'd already picked out.
What I wanted was a wide-open space, large enough to spot the Invader easily from a distance.
Fortunately, there was a combat laboratory nearby that met those conditions.
But to Ren, who had just been dragged along, this place must have seemed like nothing more than a sealed room with no escape.
She calmed her ragged breaths from our frantic run and looked at me with anxious eyes.
"Pant, pant... B-Baek-ah... This looks like... a dead end...?"
"Yes. We'll fight here."
"F-Fight?! W-We should hide! We don't have to do anything; the researchers will handle it somehow...!"
It seemed Ren had no idea that the cause of this commotion was an Invader.
That's why she thought if we just hid quietly, the researchers would take care of everything.
But perhaps because I already knew that most of the researchers had been turned to ash by this point...
I looked at the anxious Ren and spoke in a rather cold voice.
"No. The one attacking the lab is an Invader, a monster that destroyed another world. It's not something mere researchers can defeat."
"Th-Then shouldn't we run away...?"
"It has already seized the exits. It probably intends to devour every living thing inside. There is... I'm sorry, but there's no way out."
"N-No...!"
Her face turned pale at my firm declaration that there was no escape.
If an absurd monster appeared and even escape was impossible, then there was no choice but death.
It's no wonder I couldn't find a solution even after repeating the same situation ten times.
At least, it was certain that under the current conditions, there was no way to overcome this ordeal.
So, what could I do? The conclusion was simple.
If I couldn't win with the hand I was dealt... I just had to flip the whole board, right?
"Hmph, Ren. Just trust me. I have a plan; that's why I brought us here. We can survive."
"...Really?"
"Yes. So... that thing you did earlier, make it when I give the signal. It has to be that."
"O-Okay... I'll try to focus!"
I took Ren's trembling hand and met her eyes.
*You can do it.* I hoped my strong trust in her would be conveyed.
Fortunately, it seemed she managed to shake off her fear somehow.
Looking much calmer, Ren grasped my hand with a serious expression.
Good. With this, the preparations were almost complete.
Now, all I could do was pray that things would go as planned.
As I thought this and stared at the distant entrance.
Suddenly, with a noise like the world itself was distorting, the Invader appeared.
"...It's here."
"Eek...!"
The Invader was indeed an unreal being, capable of inducing fear just by being seen.
Perhaps because it unnaturally warped even the light that touched its body, the space around it was bizarrely distorted.
With no legs and only arms, it moved by crawling on the floor with its hands.
It gave the impression less of a living creature and more of a monster created by a game bug.
'...Come to think of it, the feeling is similar. Invaders are lumps that have escaped from a gap in a world where matter and laws have gone haywire.'
Of course, maybe it was because this was an illusion created by the World Reflector Mirror.
Its presence definitely seemed weaker than the original, whose mere existence meant the end of the world.
But for my current self, who had no powers, let alone psychokinesis, it was a monster I couldn't even resist.
If my gamble failed, I'd probably die in the blink of an eye and have to move on to the next loop.
So, feeling a bit tense, I pulled Ren's hand and looked at her before it could notice us.
*Now is the moment I told you about.* I didn't speak, but my gaze said it all.
"...O-Okay, I'll do it!"
Ren held my hand from above and below, enveloping it with both of hers.
She squeezed her eyes shut and focused, as if trying to draw out that small light from before.
At this rate, the light would appear right inside my hand, but...
That was part of my plan, so there was no problem.
"..."
And as Ren held my palm, grunting with concentration.
The distant Invader seemed to notice us immediately and slowly extended a hand.
It was a monster that attacked what it saw on instinct, without any thought.
It seemed ready to turn Ren and me to ash without a second thought.
Thanks to the distance, we had a few seconds of leeway.
But in this frail body, the moment its attack landed would be the end. It was truly a life-or-death situation.
But then, from the hand Ren was holding, I felt a powerful presence, like a bolt of lightning.
Like an anchor cast into the depths of the sea, its intensity pierced through the illusion and reached reality.
'...It worked!'
The moment the Invader's attack distorted the air and instantly closed in on Ren and me.
I felt a familiar, overwhelming sense of omnipotence welling up from deep within my body.
It was the sensation of psychic power, an absence I had felt so keenly during the two days trapped in the illusion.
"Haaah!"
*Kiiing!*
I swung my free hand wide, enveloping Ren and myself in a thick layer of psychokinesis.
The moment the psychokinesis formed a barrier, a sharp clash echoed through the air.
But the force was so strong that it pushed my protected body backward.
I had managed to summon my power just in time, but as expected, my opponent was worthy of the name Invader, even as an illusion.
Sensing this wouldn't be an easy fight, I stared at the Invader with sharp eyes.
"Wh-Wha?! B-Baek-ah! You, you look...!"
"...?"
I kept my eyes fixed on the Invader, quietly observing the situation.
But suddenly, I heard Ren's startled voice right beside me.
Wondering what was wrong, I shifted my gaze slightly to the side.
I saw that she, who had been about my height just moments ago, now seemed much smaller.
No, to be precise... it wasn't that Ren had gotten smaller, but that I had gotten bigger.
'Yes, I knew this would happen.'
Before I knew it, I had returned to the form I had before touching the World Reflector Mirror.
How was this possible? The method lay in the light Ren had created.
The true nature of the light Ren created was none other than a crack.
So... should I describe it as being the same as the thing in Raven's closet that continuously generates energy?
If you asked me how Ren managed to create it, I wouldn't know either.
But the moment I saw the crack she made, I instantly realized it was the answer to the trial.
'A crack isn't just a passage for energy and matter. To be precise, it's a wound in the fabric of a dimension. So, using this as a guide, I can summon my real self... Is that roughly how it works?'
*Klaaang! Klang!*
I muttered these thoughts in my head as if to convince myself.
I just had a gut feeling that this would work. The theoretical reasoning came later.
However, even as I was organizing my thoughts, the Invader showed no sign of stopping its attack.
It relentlessly threw invisible blades at me as I maintained my defensive stance with the barrier.
Of course, my psychokinesis, which I had focused and drawn out more, seemed to be a good match for its attacks.
The deflected attacks flew off in odd directions, merely reducing the walls and ceiling to dust.
"Wh-What in the world..."
"..."
But perhaps she was surprised by my sudden growth from an eight-year-old to a twelve-year-old.
Ren, still maintaining the crack with both hands, looked utterly bewildered by what was happening.
Unfortunately, returning to my original body meant I couldn't speak again.
I simply maintained my psychokinesis and gently patted her head, as if asking for her understanding.
Suddenly being treated like a younger sister, her eyes widened.
The rather perceptive Ren seemed to realize that I had simply grown up.
'Cute. ...Still, it's time to clear this trial. I can't stay trapped here forever.'
Tightly holding Ren's small hand, I glared at the distant Invader.
And when the air distorted and my thickly layered barrier shook once more.
I grabbed fragments of the ruined laboratory and shot them at the Invader at high speed.
Perhaps it was because I had been focusing on fine control of my power for the past few days.
The sensation of pouring out all my power without reservation was so thrilling it felt like liberation.
"W-Waaah!"
"...!"
"Th-Thank you, Baek-ah..."
"...Mm."
*Thank you? I should be the one thanking you.*
I supported the stumbling Ren with an arm and gave her a small smile.
Then I pressed my assault even more fiercely against the Invader, which was beginning to take hits.
I've fought countless enemies until now.
As if I'd lose to something that just swings its power around recklessly like a child!
"Haaaaah!"
"...!"
A mere fake created in an illusion... just disappear.
Under the firepower of my immense psychokinesis, the Invader began to crack and shatter from its edges, its form gradually scattering.
By the time the walls and floor were a mess, exposing the inner conduits as if a storm had passed.
The Invader had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed in the first place.
'I did it... This damn trial is finally over.'
I don't even know how many days I've been trapped in this past, repeating my death.
The seemingly unsolvable trial of the World Reflector Mirror had finally come to an end.
But perhaps the unstable crack that Ren had been maintaining had also reached its limit.
I blinked once, and the sense of omnipotence that filled my body vanished.
Before I knew it, I was back in the small body of the illusion created by the World Reflector Mirror.
N-No way... If I had been even a few seconds slower in defeating the Invader, would I have failed?
A chill ran down my spine, and I turned to look at Ren, whose hand I was still holding.
"O-Oh."
"Hmph."
But the person standing there was not the terrified Ren from moments ago.
She had the same face, but her aura felt somewhat more mature.
She smiled brightly and spoke in a voice that seemed to lack a human touch.
"Congratulations. You finally figured it out. It was a little difficult, wasn't it? I'm sorry. The rules say I can't tell you the method beforehand, so I couldn't help it. Ah, do you know who I am?"
"...Don't tell me, the World Reflector Mirror?"
"Haha, correct. Ah, don't get too attached to this child named Ren. She's just an illusion created from your memories, after all. It's best to think of it as, 'Oh, there was a child like this,' and move on."
The World Reflector Mirror, in the form of Ren, said this as it gently let go of my hand and walked forward with light steps.
And when it was far enough away for me to see its entire body.
It snapped its fingers lightly, changing the surroundings into a blank white space.
So... this really was an illusion created by the World Reflector Mirror itself.
The sight of the ruined laboratory disappearing in an instant felt so unreal.
As I looked around, I noticed from the World Reflector Mirror's expression that it still had more to say.
"...Is there something you want to say?"
"Hmph. I was hoping you'd ask. First... yes. You may not remember, but you and I have a connection of sorts. I really wanted to give you some advice."
"Advice... you say?"
*Come to think of it, could the World Reflector Mirror even talk in the original story?*
*No, this is the first time I've even learned it has a consciousness...*
*Why is the World Reflector Mirror trying to talk to me like this?*
*Come to think of it, it was the one that led me to take on the trial in the first place.*
Perhaps, just as the World Reflector Mirror said, I did have some special connection with it.
However, it seemed the World Reflector Mirror was short on time.
It frowned slightly as if annoyed and opened its mouth to grumble.
"Ah, there's not much time. Baek... no, Yuria. Just remember this. When a truly important moment of choice arrives, trust the intuition you feel from within."
"T-Trust my intuition?"
I blinked blankly at the baffling advice, not knowing what to make of it.
*Trust my intuition in an important moment...*
I had no real idea what it was referring to.
But just as it said, was there really not much time to talk?
This space, including me, began to slowly collapse as if its power to sustain itself was running out.
"Your intuition is not a simple feeling. So if something ever troubles you deeply, follow your heart. I just really wanted to tell you that."
*Then, I wish you luck, my old friend.*
The World Reflector Mirror's voice scattered faintly along with the collapsing world.
And my consciousness, which had been in the body of a small child, also sank slowly, as if falling into deep water.
The moment my consciousness was forcibly dragged back up from the depths to the surface.
I found myself still standing, with my hand on the World Reflector Mirror, fully conscious.
"Yuria, you..."
"Lady Yuria!"
*She's maintaining her consciousness even after touching the World Reflector Mirror.*
Did Raven and Jellin, who were watching, understand what that meant?
Realizing I had overcome the trial, they both seemed even happier than I was.
*If they're this happy, I guess I have no choice but to show them something cool.*
I took my hand off the World Reflector Mirror and, instead of answering, brought my hands together as if to show off what I had gained through the trial.
Then, after intricately weaving my psychokinesis, I pulled hard, as if tearing a wound in the space beyond...
And a distinct point of light manifested its presence in the empty space between my palms.
It was a proper crack—much larger and more stable than the one Ren had made.