Chapter 54
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: After the Strange Experience
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After the strange experience.
Abel had to lean against the wall for a while.
Because the memory was too intense to regain his senses in a short time.
Abel stared blankly into space, thinking.
‘Normally, when a character with a Sync Rate of A-grade or higher touches the switch, a passage opens, and that’s it.’
But he had never experienced, or even heard of, anything like what just happened.
Of course, Abel didn’t know everything about the game.
No matter how immersed he had been like a total shut-in, unless he was the creator, it was impossible to know it all.
‘Maybe there was a hidden condition.’
If so, what could that condition be?
Abel pondered deeply.
First off, he didn’t think it was skills or anything like that.
He had come here before with characters who had similar skill sets during his playthroughs.
For the same reason, Sync Rate was off the list too.
Sync Rate was basically the basic requirement for passing the ruins to begin with.
Abel eliminated various possibilities like that, until only one remained.
‘The true identity of this body.’
It was a question he had set aside for lack of a clear answer, but this body was a mystery unto itself.
When he first encountered the Gigadeus Fragment, he had understood its ‘words,’ and then an unidentified pattern had been engraved upon him.
After that, he had even fought the Gigadeus Fragment and absorbed its power.
Naturally, none of it had ever happened in the game.
‘I thought it was just possessing some random nobody.’
But the more time passed, the more he began to doubt that.
What exactly was the true identity of this body?
Was entering this body mere coincidence?
As those thoughts swirled, Abel swept a hand over his face.
“Phew.”
His head throbbed.
As always, the problem was the lack of clues.
‘Gigadeus. Gigadeus Fragment. And the ruins.’
One more thing to investigate.
‘If something similar happens in other ruins, it’ll be clearer then.’
Abel came to that conclusion.
“……You okay?”
At that moment, May spoke up.
“Your color doesn’t look good.”
She must have been worried seeing him lost in thought.
Frowning, rubbing his face, sighing up a storm.
“Ah, yeah. It’s nothing.”
“Okay.”
May gave a slight nod, seemingly back to her usual rhythm.
After resting a little longer until his mind settled, Abel spoke up.
“I saw something earlier.”
“What?”
“For a split second, I could see the whole interior of the ruins clearly. But…… there were other people inside besides us.”
Unable to reveal everything, Abel filtered his words and told the story.
Once she heard it all, May replied with a grave expression.
“We might bump into them.”
“Looks that way. Better brace ourselves.”
They were still some distance apart for now, but if those were ‘Pilgrims,’ they couldn’t afford to relax.
‘They’ve nearly cleared Section 1, the longest stretch, so they’ll steamroll from here on out.’
Abel chatted a bit more with May before brushing off his seat and standing.
“Ready to get going?”
“Yeah.”
Right after Abel had snapped out of it, the wall holding the orb—similar to the core—had vanished.
In its place stretched a straight path.
The two proceeded cautiously, just as before.
This area had a different vibe from the previous sections.
It was bright all around, and strangely, the tension kept melting away.
It just felt safe here, somehow.
‘Once you make it this far, there’s really no danger.’
Section 1 was the deadliest, Section 2 the trickiest.
By contrast, Section 3 here had no major threats.
Other ruins might greet you with a dungeon boss at the end, but this one was different by nature.
In the game, thanks to that trait and its early-game placement, it was often treated like a half-beginner dungeon.
Of course, that was from a veteran’s standpoint. The passing conditions were pretty strict.
But flip that around, and fulfilling those conditions meant it wasn’t all that tough.
Like now—the two of them, young cadets practically bare-handed, had made it to the end without a single serious injury.
Lost in such thoughts as they walked along, May suddenly pointed ahead.
“There.”
“Hm?”
“Something’s up ahead.”
Abel focused and peered forward.
Sure enough, the passage ended, opening into a wide space.
The two locked eyes, nodded, gripped their weapons, and advanced carefully.
Before long, the passage ended, and they stepped into the vast chamber.
May glanced around and murmured,
“Something…… feels off.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.”
Abel agreed.
The space beyond the passage evoked the interior of a temple.
But not quite.
No typical temple symbols or statues in sight.
Instead, what stood out was the tall altar deeper in.
Abel and May swept their eyes over the interior before finally reaching the altar.
“Those stairs are insane.”
“Doesn’t seem built for regular folks. Or maybe there’s more to it.”
Each step up to the altar came up to Abel’s waist.
‘Ruins crafted by some colossal giant…… that’s the vibe.’
Not just the stairs—everything about the place.
Passage widths. Ceiling heights. All way too excessive for human scale.
Sure, some build grand to intimidate, but even the side paths here were oversized.
That’s why folks in this world suspected the original builders might’ve been another race.
“Looks like the altar’s all that’s left?”
They’d checked everywhere, and nothing else stood out besides it.
May agreed, and the two helped each other up the stairs.
The height of each step slowed them down a bit, but they reached the altar’s summit.
The altar resembled a pyramid, topped by a broad flat expanse with a rectangular stone pillar jutting from the center.
“Hmm.”
Abel feigned contemplation as he drew near the pillar. Then he turned to May.
“Mind if I touch it?”
“……Go ahead.”
They had to try everything to find the exit, so May nodded.
“Be careful.”
“Yeah.”
Abel pressed his palm to the pillar and cautiously channeled mana into it.
Wuuung-.
The instant he did.
His palm’s mana flowed on its own, spreading across the pillar’s surface. The deep gray stone flushed blue in a heartbeat.
“Y-You okay?”
May startled at the eerie sight.
Abel tried to reply but realized his mouth wouldn’t budge.
It was as if his body had turned to stone.
Yet there was no fear.
Instead, a scorching longing welled up from deep inside, growing hotter with time.
Unsure of its source, Abel somehow knew exactly what to do.
Wuuuuung-!
Rather than pull back his mana, he poured in more.
The pillar shuddered violently, then erupted in brilliant light.
Paat-!
He squeezed his eyes shut on reflex, then opened them—realizing too late the paralysis had lifted.
Pasak-.
A odd crackle sounded from the pillar next, gray flakes crumbling off its surface.
Pasasak!
From there, as if its purpose fulfilled, the pillar shattered into fragments.
Abel gawked at the spectacle, dumbfounded.
Then May called out.
“Abel.”
“Huh?”
“What’s that on your arm?”
Abel glanced down and spotted a bracelet clasped around his arm.
“This…… what the hell?”
As one might expect, Abel had no clue.
The relic he remembered from the game wasn’t this.
Abel and May blinked in unison.
Kugugugung-!
But the moment didn’t last.
A thunderous roar shook the air as the wall behind the altar slid apart, revealing a new chamber.
“……Shall we?”
May nodded at Abel’s question.
‘Gotta check out this bracelet the second we’re back.’
They descended as they’d climbed and headed straight into the opened space.
There, they found it led to a small room—and another passage.
No furnishings in the room, but something did catch the eye.
Weapons.
“Swords.”
Three in total.
One claymore-style longsword, and two short blades about forearm-length.
“Let’s grab ’em.”
Abel said without a second thought.
May nodded in agreement, and they collected the weapons before heading down the room’s passage.
‘Passage. Passage. More passages.’
Having skipped most of the danger zones, it felt like endless corridor-walking.
Small comfort: this one likely led straight to the exit.
No traps. No guardians. Just a straight shot ahead.
And so Abel and May made quick time through it.
How long had they gone?
Bright light poured in from up ahead.
Gripping their weapons tight, Abel and May approached it.
Paaaaht-.
Abel squinted.
The glare had spiked to blinding levels.
Once his eyes adjusted, he could finally see clearly.
“Ah?”
May let out a dazed gasp beside him.
Abel got it completely.
A vast forest stretched before them.
As if synced, they both whipped around. Nothing but empty air behind.
‘Spatial transfer.’
They’d finally escaped the ruins.
Exact location unknown, but that alone sparked joy enough.
But the elation was fleeting.
“There! People!”
Before they could properly scout, a shout rang out from somewhere.
Abel spotted the source: a man standing there.
May brightened, assuming academy folk, but Abel clocked something else.
The moon emblem etched on the man’s chest.
Seeing it snapped the situation into focus. Abel raised his weapon.
“May! Enemies!”
The moon meant one thing: Pilgrim.
And not just a couple.
‘Surrounded.’
At least twenty, conservatively.
Way too many. Even flight was no sure bet.
The instant that grim outlook hit him.
Paat-!
Light blazed from Abel’s bracelet.