Chapter 117
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Change of Mind (1)
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Mangru Shelter.
Elise Petra got to her feet the moment she received Sion's note. She paused just as she was about to head out. Staring out the glass window of the shelter at the thick blizzard beyond, she hesitated.
"Haa..."
Should I go?
No, is going even the right choice?
Sion's coordinates were far behind this shelter. To be precise, they marked a spot from six hours ago—much farther back than that.
What was she supposed to do by going to someone who was lagging so far behind?
What could she even do?
It wasn't just about grades anymore.
...Though her grades were a problem too, there was something far more important at stake.
A chain of nagging doubts.
Could her actions—born from this mere sympathy—fix this "relationship"? Was something like that even possible in life?
The reason was simple.
No matter what she did for him now, wherever or however she did it, they had been mismatched from the start. Twisted beyond repair since birth. Tangled up like an umbilical cord.
Helping Sion here wouldn't suddenly make things right just because she played the good guy alone.
If it did straighten out, that would be even weirder.
What if.
What if, by some miracle, her efforts actually changed things between them, even a little.
But if, at the very last moment, Sion ever found out. If he ever learned the truth about his mother's cause of death.
He'd see her efforts as betrayal all over again. Hate Petra even more. Loathe her even deeper.
"..."
No matter how much she racked her brains until they felt torn apart, there was no answer.
In the end, Elise silently packed her backpack. She put on her coat.
"What? Elise, did you find the way?"
"The blizzard's at its peak right now. Let's rest a bit before we go."
Kain and Esher turned to look at her.
"Kuaaaah... Kuheum..."
Amid Rae's snoring, Elise shook her head.
"I've got something to take care of real quick. Be right back."
"Something? In this maze?"
"..."
"Kraaa—Keh."
Even she thought it was a pathetic excuse.
"Hng... Heh... Kuaaaah—"
Fidgeting with her collar, Elise corrected herself.
"Bathroom. Gotta go."
"Ah."
"Sorry."
She brushed back the hair near her ear and added,
"If I'm taking too long, just go on ahead."
"...No way it's that bad. How long have you been holding it?"
Esher asked in a teasing tone. Kain lightly smacked the side of his head.
"Hey, could be."
"..."
Elise pressed a hand to her forehead.
"No, it's not that... Actually, it's not the bathroom."
She couldn't tell these guys anyway.
They hated Sion as much as she did, all because of her.
"...Figure it out yourselves. It's personal. If I can't make it back, I'll send a note. Don't wait."
"Sure... whatever. See ya~"
"We'll rest up."
The two leaned back against the floor like it was no big deal. Exhausted, they fell asleep in no time.
Elise left the shelter alone.
Whiiiii───!
The blizzard felt like iron bars. Snow piled thick on her shoulders in seconds.
Elise pried off a wooden panel from the shelter and stepped onto it. With a hum, she levitated it slightly with mana.
Shoooaa─!
Propelled by psychokinesis like a snowboarder, she shot forward.
She adjusted her direction by comparing coordinates. She ignored packs of hyena-like monsters and senior parties she occasionally crossed paths with.
Racing at breakneck speed.
Sfshhh──!
Then, at one point, she swept up snow and came to a stop.
A bit dazed, she looked up at the trail she'd carved on her way down.
"He climbed for six hours searching for the path..."
And she'd spat it all out in just thirty minutes.
Life's the same: climbing's hard, but falling's a breeze.
Elise checked the coordinates on her smartwatch.
It was around here. Just a few footsteps from where she stood.
Whiiiiiing—!
The raging blizzard was annoying. Elise radiated psychokinesis in a circle. A transparent barrier formed, blocking the snow, and the area cleared up for a moment.
"..."
She scanned around silently. Walking while checking high and low, something lumpy crunched underfoot—squish.
She glanced down casually.
"!!!"
Her heart nearly stopped.
A human face, almost buried in snow, with just the nose poking out.
It was Sion.
"Haa, haa."
Hand on her chest, panting, Elise tried to lift him with psychokinesis again...
"?"
It didn't work.
"What the... now."
Why? No matter how much psychokinesis she applied, his body wouldn't budge. Some natural resistance or what?
Instead, Elise brushed away the snowdrifts covering him with psychokinesis. With no choice, she propped up his body with both arms and hoisted him onto her back.
Whiiiii─!
Her focus slipped, and the psychokinesis barrier dropped. The blizzard rushed back in. Carrying him piggyback, Elise retraced her steps upward.
"..."
In that instant, every trace of her descent had vanished. The path was gone.
She'd expected it.
Expected it, but still.
Squish—squish—
Every step sank her feet in, and doubt suddenly crept in.
Why am I even doing this?
Not a servant or rickshaw puller—why carry someone like this?
When it was utterly useless and unhelpful.
Why on earth...
Elise gritted her teeth and kept walking. Forward or backward, she couldn't tell.
Wandering for hours amid the dangerous illusion of her freezing body warming up.
"...!"
She spotted a faint light ahead.
At first, she thought it was a trick of the eye, but—twinkle, twinkle—
Something kept flashing through the blizzard.
Elise gathered mana in her fist. Zzzt—! She fired it off, compressed enough to spark.
Shoooaaa...
Her psychokinesis carved open a "path." A straight line in that direction tunneled clear like a passageway.
There was someone there. A man wrapped in rope, headlamp on his head.
─Who... there...
Sion's head lolled over Elise's shoulder.
─Huh?!
Then, the man recognized him.
─That's Sion, the guy who beat Gerkken!
When he opened his eyes, it was to an unfamiliar ceiling. The air was warm. His back was cushy, his whole body toasty.
They gave up on me.
The thought came naturally.
Can't be helped—
"See!"
Suddenly, a man's face popped into the corner of his vision.
"Eek!"
He bolted upright. The man grinned ear to ear.
"See~ The man who beat Gerkken."
"You..."
A cute face, snow-white skin that looked like it couldn't grow a single hair. A familiar look and familiar lines.
Terence, holding a warm wet cloth in one hand.
"It's Terence. Forgot the name already?"
Terence, huh.
"...Where's this?"
He blankly looked around. It resembled a residential bedroom.
"My Spectrum."
Terence's words made him tilt his head.
"I'll tell you. I call it my House? Basically, I can store and carry a space around. Right now, max is about 150㎡."
"Oh?"
Of course. A space-type Spectrum. Pretty unique if he could pull out a pre-made space anytime, anywhere.
"But..."
He glanced at the bed next to him. Someone else was lying there.
Face flushed red like she'd caught a cold—Elise.
"What's with her?"
"Who else! It's Elise! This Lady Elise dug you out of the snow! Looks like she's got a cold now."
"...Oh, right."
The relic came back to him late. He hurriedly checked his inventory.
C-grade Relic
The relic was there. Good, not a dream. Hadn't lost it.
But appraising it right now was impossible. C-grade needed 900 exp.
"Phew... How long was I out?"
"About five hours?"
Five hours.
Considering it was the evaluation exam, that was a ton. Thanks to it, his condition was peak.
He got out of bed.
"I'm off."
"Huh, already? Wait for Elise to wake up and go together!"
Terence pointed at Elise.
Her cheeks were swollen red like pizza bao, breath coming in gasps.
"Why's she sick, though."
"Carried you a long way."
"..."
He placed a hand on her forehead. Pretty hot.
"Hm... Anyway, where's the rest? You guys had like forty people."
Terence was the leader of the stragglers.
A bit too mild and round-faced for a leader, though.
"Most gave up after climbing a bit. Now it's just me and three others."
"Yeah?"
He looked around the interior again.
Not just the bedroom—through the door crack, living room, bathroom, varied layout. At this Spectrum level, the inner reality was mid-tier or higher. A bit more growth, and it could qualify as a "stronghold."
Terence smiled faintly.
"I kept my Spectrum hidden on purpose. Wanted to team with persistent ones."
"Ah, makes sense."
You generally hid your Spectrum from fellow seniors.
"Teamed with the holdouts. Tied ropes to us and pushed forward, backtracked on paths, swapped house position, rested, went again—ran into Elise."
"..."
Impressive. Terence hadn't quit; he'd kept at it.
Not just him. The other seniors were pouring their all into the exam too.
Suddenly, he wondered why.
His reason for going all-out? To topple Libra.
What about the others?
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Random question, but why are you trying so hard?"
"Uh... To get into college? Mom and Dad struggle enough paying my tuition."
Plain and simple.
The most fitting motive for students not even twenty.
"I'm curious about you. How'd you train to beat Gerkken?"
Terence asked. He answered nonchalantly.
"Just. Wanted to win once, so I went all-in, life or death. No parents makes focusing easy."
Terence's mouth opened slightly, then closed.
"Uh... yeah. Wanna eat?"
"Eat?"
"Yeah. Stocked tons of food here just in case. Bunker-style, can last a month. We already ate."
"Sure? Then... with her."
He pointed at Elise. Terence tilted his head.
"Isn't she sleeping?"
"She's awake."
When he'd touched her forehead earlier, she'd definitely twitched.
Meant she'd been awake for a while.
"Hey, get up."
"..."
Elise shamelessly pretended to sleep.
"Looks like she's out."
He silently snatched Terence's wet cloth. Folded it square and—slap—slapped it over Elise's face whole.
"...Hweeeek──!"
Elise flailed, shredded the cloth with psychokinesis. Gasping, she sat up top half.
"You—you—crazy?! Nearly died!"
Elise fumed, face beet red.
"Who told you to fake sleep?"
"...Tch."
"Y-You two chat~ I'll set food."
Terence bolted from the bedroom.
Thud—
"..."
"..."
One gone, and it got awkward.
No, very awkward.
Elise scratched her cheek silently; he had nothing much to say either.
"Why'd you come?"
That was all he asked.
"...Unbelievable."
Elise narrowed her eyes, crossed her arms. He shrugged.
"Honestly didn't think you'd show."
"Seemed like you waited, though? Didn't give up."
"Didn't want to. You're forced back right before death anyway."
"...Yes. So brutish."
Elise sighed. He felt a bit warm. Looked away casually and said,
"Anyway, thanks. A bit grateful."
"..."
Elise didn't reply. Long silence, then she just shook her head slightly to herself.
"Don't say that."
"What. Why."
Poking the bed quilt with her nails, she retorted.
"Ghost hotel."
"..."
"Out of pity. Wasn't looking for you specifically; happened to be nearby."
"Hm... Sure."
He checked his smartwatch.
"50 hours left."
"What?!"
Elise jolted upright.
Her panicked watch-glance looked like a seven-year-old who'd lost a toy.
"Huge gap, yeah. Basically blew 24 hours for sure."
"Ah..."
Elise ruffled her hair, glared at him again. Lips twitching like she was wronged, resentful.
"But I figured out a way."
He raised a finger. Elise shot back skeptically.
"A way, huh."
"Ride the blizzard."
"...What?"
"Didn't feel it on your way?"
He pointed out the window at the blizzard.
"Wind's only blowing one way."
Elise pondered, eyes widening slowly.
"...Right. Only inward, toward the maze center."
"Exactly. Hot air balloon—make one right, we could fly there. Thoughts?"
"..."
Elise scanned the room.
Plenty of space and materials here to build one.
"Not... impossible."
"Then."
He extended his hand.
"Party up till we escape this snowy mountain?"
She stared at his hand. Her eyes shook faintly. Jaw clenched tight.
"What, not gonna?"
"No. I will. Just... we're not on handshake terms, right?"
Her tone was poignant. Unnecessarily quavery at the end.
He was dumbfounded.
"Hey, didn't I say I don't like you?"
"Yeah."
Elise nodded seriously. Looked him straight in the eye and said,
"Good."
—Knock knock
The door opened with the knock. Terence entered, arms full of trays.
Pork cutlet, spaghetti, soup—real food.
"...Whoa."
He swallowed hard at the sight. Elise wore a similar face, drool gleaming at her mouth corner.
"Hungry, right? Starving? Dig in."
They grabbed knives and forks. He shoved a whole cutlet in; Elise elegantly sliced first.
Terence, watching, ventured carefully,
"But... Elise and Sion who beat Gerkken. Got any plans?"
He chewed, glanced at Elise. She nodded.
"Yeah. We do."
Gulped it down and said,
"Your team wanna join?"
Terence qualified plenty.
Plus, they'd need his help to build the balloon.