Chapter 191: Otherworld (4)
Chapter 191: Otherworld (4)
Slap. Slap.
The sound of flesh being struck echoed in my ears.
“Wake up, Ha-ram-nim. Poyo.”
“Hmm. Perhaps you should try hitting him a bit harder. There is a possibility he has lost himself, after all.”
My consciousness was clear enough to hear their voices perfectly, yet for some reason, I couldn't open my eyes.
It was as if something was holding me down.
“Um. But won't that hurt?”
“This is an emergency, so it cannot be helped.”
…What are these two idiots trying to do?
“Then it can’t be helped!”
Wuuuung.
I felt a faint flow of power.
“Wake!”
Crackle.
A sudden chill filled the air.
“Up!”
Thud.
I felt something cold embed itself into my forehead.
At the same time.
“You crazy bastards!”
As if breaking free from a curse, I was finally able to move my body.
My eyes snapped open. With an ice pillar still hanging off my face and occupying most of my vision, I immediately screamed and bolted upright.
“Wow! You really woke up! Poyo.”
Culprit No. 1.
The white trash.
“What did I tell you? When something is broken, hitting it is the best way to fix it.”
Culprit No. 2.
The bald trash.
Culprits 1 and 2 looked at me—with an ice pillar stuck to my head—and spoke nonchalantly.
They were floating inside a fairly large white sphere that surrounded us.
“You damn bastards. Was this really the only way to wake me up?”
Venting my rage at the culprits, I pulled the ice pillar off my head.
Fortunately, it hadn't actually pierced me; it seemed the cold had just made it stick to my skin. With a slight tug, the ice came off easily.
“I didn't want to waste mana in the Otherworld. Besides, if I used magic without Otherworldly Power, there was a chance we’d be detected by some unpleasant entities.”
As he spoke, Culprit No. 2 turned his gaze outside the sphere.
“I tried my best! I slapped your cheeks hundreds of times!”
Culprit No. 1 confessed his crimes as if he were proud of his actions.
“Just die, you prick.”
I handed down my verdict to the two of them.
Sentence: Death.
The method of execution: throwing the ice pillar in my hand. You bastards.
The freezing cold of the ice pillar made the skin on my palm feel like it was being torn off, but the pillar flew forward rapidly, propelled by my immense strength.
Just as the two pieces of trash who had been beating me senseless were about to be struck by the ice—
“Isn't that dangerous, Lee Ha-ram?”
I had hoped the two idiots would be crushed by the ice pillar as usual.
However, a black Magic Circle appeared along with a flow of mana, and the ice pillar was caught by the circle in mid-air, shattering into pieces.
Infuriated, I stood up and barked at them.
“Hey, you damn jerks. What gives you the right to block that?”
“Poyo? Did something happen?”
Infuriatingly, our great ferret didn't even seem to realize what had just occurred.
“Have you forgotten, Lee Ha-ram?”
Al’shel’s demeanor shifted instantly. He looked at me and spoke in a low, heavy voice.
“We are currently in the Otherworld. If you had been hit by that and knocked outside the range of the Reality Anchor, we might never have seen you again.”
Hearing those words, I realized how careless I had been.
I had momentarily forgotten because of the noisy bickering, but this was the Otherworld.
A place where anything could happen.
What would have happened if Un-ho or Al’shel had actually been hit by that ice pillar?
They would have been pushed back by the sheer force, flung out of the Reality Anchor’s range, and left to drift forever in the endless Otherworld beyond the white veil.
“Fine. My bad. I just lost my temper for a second.”
“As long as you understand.”
“But you know.”
I clenched my fist and moved toward the octopus.
“Do you have something to say?”
The stoic Al’shel simply tilted his head slightly, seemingly unable to predict what I was about to do next.
“This only happened because you bastards weren't being serious! You said magic wouldn't work, but you're using it just fine!”
Pouring out my rage, I slammed a controlled punch into Al’shel.
Of course, I made sure to grab the octopus's body with my other hand so he wouldn't be sent flying.
“Guh!”
Along with the octopus's groan, a disgusting sensation was transmitted to my hand.
A sticky, slimy, clinging texture.
It was a deeply unpleasant feeling.
But my heart felt refreshed.
* * *
After the verdict and the cleanup of all the bickering were finished.
“Explain the situation.”
“There is nothing in particular to explain.”
“What do you mean there’s nothing to explain? You have to tell me how you guys grouped up and what happened while I was out.”
Do you have any idea what I went through in the Otherworld while I was waiting for you? Some weird woman appeared, halos were flashing, it was total chaos. Though, looking around now, the halos are gone.
Despite my demand for an explanation, the two of them just stared at each other.
“…Even if you ask us to explain…”
“…There really isn't anything to explain. Poyo?”
Al’shel and Un-ho exchanged looks as they spoke.
“…Try anyway.”
Something was going weirdly.
With that thought, I sat cross-legged and rested my chin on my hand.
I was signaling that I was ready to listen.
Because of that, my vision tilted as I floated in the air looking at them, but whatever.
“…Since you insist, I will tell you. Nothing much happened. Perhaps we were lucky, but we confirmed everyone was in the same spot immediately after passing through The Hole, and we activated the Reality Anchor right away.”
Al’shel, seemingly having a dry throat, took a canteen from his waist, moistened his mouth, and continued.
“Un-ho-nim seemed a bit dazed and was out of it for about a minute, but he woke up soon after. That is based on my internal clock, of course. As I have mentioned several times, time is strange out here. You, Lee Ha-ram, suddenly collapsed, and we spent about thirty minutes trying to wake you up.”
That’s strange.
“So I didn't go anywhere?”
“Yes.”
This situation felt strangely familiar.
“Did I say any nonsense like ‘I found it’ or anything?”
“No, you were just sleeping like the dead.”
Hmm.
Is that so?
As we talked, I felt a bit peckish and reached into the pouch hanging at my waist.
“No signs of illusions or mental manipulation?”
“None. If such a thing had been deployed, I would have noticed it much sooner.”
I see. And here I thought those ‘End’ bastards had flung me into some weird world or put me under mind control.
Thinking that, I fumbled around inside the pouch.
“…?”
I couldn't feel anything.
All my hand felt inside the pouch was the smooth texture of polyester.
“Is something the matter?”
“Where are my dates?”
“Why are you suddenly obsessing over dates? They should be in your pouch.”
Then there was only one culprit.
“Un-hooo?”
I raised my voice toward the obvious Culprit No. 1.
“Hic. I hear an ominous voice.”
As if sensing an ill omen, Un-ho looked around restlessly, all while proving his guilt by munching on a date—Evidence No. 1.
Un-ho’s thick nerves, which allowed him to crave food even in this situation, were truly impressive, but that wasn't enough to keep me calm.
“Does it make sense for you to steal and eat all those dates in the middle of this chaos, you damn white rag?”
“Kuaaaaack!”
I grabbed Un-ho and twisted him like I was wringing out a wet mop.
Throwing or striking him carried the risk of him drifting away, as Al’shel had warned.
By the time I had twisted Un-ho’s body into something resembling a pretzel—
“Hmm. Lee Ha-ram. May I say one thing?”
“What? I’m busy torturing this parasite.”
Next, I’d twist him the other way to balance it out.
I wondered if repeating this a few times would turn him into something like hand-pulled noodles.
“To be honest, watching another race being tortured is quite an enjoyable sight, but since it is a waste of time, I shall speak. I was the one who gave him those dates.”
What?
I was so stunned by the absurdity of his words that I dropped Un-ho.
As soon as he fell from my hands, the pretzel-shaped Un-ho scurried through the air like a cockroach and hid behind Al’shel.
Of course, he managed to snatch another floating date in the process.
“Then who took my dates?”
“How should I know? Perhaps they were caught in the Otherworld and vanished during the brief moment before the Reality Anchor was activated?”
No. That couldn't be it.
In fact, Al’shel’s words made one thing certain. What I had experienced was absolutely not a dream.
No matter how ambiguous it was, or how much the circumstances suggested it couldn't have happened, it was all real.
That shadow creature.
The warning she gave me.
All of it. It wasn't a lie.
Which meant…
“Al’shel.”
“What is it? Calling me by my name… have you suddenly matured?”
This prick is still joking around. But that didn't matter.
“We have to get out of here, fast.”
I moved behind Al’shel, grabbed the pretzel-fied Un-ho, and plopped him onto my neck as I spoke rapidly.
“Could you explain to this ignorant person what you mean by that all of a sudden?”
I didn't have time to beat the sarcasm out of him or give a long explanation, so I kept it brief.
“You’re free to believe me or not, but during the short time I was unconscious, I met a strange being and spoke with it.”
“…What did it look like?”
I expected him not to believe me, but as soon as he heard my words, Al’shel lowered his voice and began to listen intently.
“It was made of shadows, looked somewhat human… oh, and it was leading around these creatures that looked like geometric shapes.”
“A Shadow Keeper, then. I am curious as to how you returned alive, but it seems that is not the point.”
What’s with that name? More importantly, how does Al’shel know about such a thing?
No, it didn't matter.
“I gave that thing my dates as a gift.”
“Hmm. Wait. You didn't run away? You actually communicated? It didn't bare its teeth to devour you?”
What? Was it something you couldn't even talk to? It did try to eat me, but I didn't feel like it was that dangerous.
Anyway. That wasn't the important part.
“That thing… well… it warned me to run away from here. It said a Demon Train would be coming to this location soon.”
I didn't know what a Demon Train was, but Al’shel surely would.
To be honest, the words alone didn't sound particularly dangerous, so I hadn't felt an immediate urge to flee.
But my encounter with her had been enough to convey the sheer shittiness of the Otherworld.
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if that Demon Train was crawling with entities equivalent to O-Ranks.
“Did you just say the Demon Train?”
“Yeah. I don't know what it is, but that thing told me to run.”
Her tone and emotions had felt strangely sincere.
So let’s get the hell out of here.
I looked at Al’shel urgently, but—
“Rejoice, Lee Ha-ram.”
Instead, Al’shel looked up, spreading his arms as if he were incredibly joyful.
“Our journey has finally begun to show signs of feasibility.”
“Hahaha! What incredible luck! To think I wouldn't have to die in some corner of the Otherworld with a damn suicidal volunteer! The Demon Train! The Demon Train!”
Like a madman. Laughing.
He let out a cheer.
While insulting me as a bonus.