Chapter 215: Tomb of Stars (2)
Chapter 215: Tomb of Stars (2)
Damn it.
Spitting out a curse, I immediately focused my mind on summoning the Door.
The thought of finding Al’shel first crossed my mind, but we had already discussed this. We had agreed that if a problem arose, we wouldn't waste time looking for each other; we would immediately leave the room and regroup.
Thump.
As soon as I heard the sound of the Door landing behind me, I turned around to find it.
“…Huh?”
The Door wasn't there.
I definitely heard it land. Had something gone wrong because it wasn't in my line of sight?
This time, I concentrated even harder, adding the condition that it should land right in front of me.
Thump.
I clearly heard the sound of the Door landing before my eyes. I reached out to grab the handle.
Whoosh.
My hand only cut through the empty air. The Door that had clearly been right in front of me had vanished.
What the hell is this…?
I tried summoning the Door several more times, but the same thing kept happening.
By the time I summoned the eighth Door, I realized why.
…The shape of the grass is different.
I hadn't noticed because I was focused on the Door, but every time it vanished, the shape and arrangement of the grass around me changed.
No way.
To confirm the thought that had occurred to me, I stopped summoning the Door and looked around, committing everything I saw to memory in as much detail as possible.
I slowly turned my head, then looked back at the original spot.
…It changed.
It was a subtle difference, but the direction the grass was planted and its appearance were different. It was so slight that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been paying absolute attention.
“In other words, this is a different place…”
Thinking back, was there something related to coordinates among the spells Al’shel had been muttering?
If I followed that logic…
Does my location constantly change whenever my partner isn't around?
If this hypothesis was correct, the Door hadn't vanished; rather, I had left the Door behind and moved to a different location.
“Sigh.”
What do I do now?
Looking at this mess, it seemed the constraints placed on me had been growing stronger even when I was with Al’shel, but they hadn't manifested because we were aware of each other’s presence. The moment I lost sight of him, it all exploded at once.
This is a headache.
Seeing as I’m still maintaining my sense of self, I must have some resistance, just like Al’shel said.
“Hmm.”
I tried summoning the Door again just in case, but as expected, it vanished immediately.
Is there no other way out?
The Door seems out of the question for now.
What happens if I break the space with my hammer?
Didn't Deva enter other rooms that way?
Of course, Deva’s Spatial Destruction was something on a higher conceptual level compared to my ignorant brute force, but at least they should be similar in terms of classification.
With that thought, I summoned The Hammer.
“Heave-ho.”
Lightly, yet with a great deal of power, I swung at the empty air.
It’s been a while since I’ve done any Spatial Destruction.
I thought I’d only leave a small crack in the air since I swung it casually, but…
Crack.
The sound of something light shattering echoed in my ears.
“…What?”
A sight that made me doubt my eyes unfolded before me. The head of The Hammer had lodged itself in the air, punching a large, circular hole through it.
Startled, I quickly withdrew The Hammer and stared at the gaping hole for a moment, observing a peculiar phenomenon.
“The outside looks strangely familiar.”
A place that was pitch black, yet where I could feel a lingering will.
Is it a training hall?
Or just some empty void?
Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be the infinite void.
And on top of that…
The regeneration speed is way too slow.
Normally, my Spatial Destruction should be repaired within 0.01 seconds. But this circular hole in the air was recovering incredibly slowly. Based on my mental count, it would take about a minute.
And there was one more strange thing…
“Why is this hole just floating here?”
If my location was changing, shouldn't the place where space was destroyed change too?
In fact, after sticking my head through The Hole to observe the outside and pulling it back, I found myself surrounded by grass that looked different from what I had remembered before entering The Hole.
Uh… think, Lee Ha-ram.
The Door. It moves somewhere.
Me. I move somewhere.
The Hole in the air. It moves with me.
No. No. Space can't just move like that.
Then let’s think differently.
What if I’m not the one moving, but the surrounding meadow is?
If I think of it that way, the Door moving becomes a bit strange, but something suddenly flashed through my mind.
“…What if the coordinates of objects created through The System are changing?”
I had it wrong.
I am not the one moving. What’s moving is this room itself.
Of course, seeing as Al’shel vanished, it’s not entirely impossible for me to move, but at least it’s not something that happens frequently.
Then, what about a corpse?
Would it be treated as an entity like me, or as an object belonging to this room?
To confirm my prediction, I snapped my fingers.
Snap.
With a sharp pop that vibrated through the air, a metal marble fell from the void and landed on the grass.
After pinpointing its exact position and appearance, I looked away and then turned back.
“…It didn't move.”
Just like The Hole, the metal marble was sitting on a different patch of grass than I remembered.
Perhaps it was treated as part of myself because it was a sphere I created, but I didn't have any other objects to test with. It seemed like purchasing through The System was blocked as well.
For now, it seemed that as long as it wasn't an object belonging to the room, its coordinates wouldn't shift.
Let’s hope the same applies to the corpse.
Now, for the final problem…
What the hell was that illusion of Deva?
Why did an illusion suddenly strike after all that time when nothing was happening?
A trap that triggers at set intervals.
Or perhaps a type of trap that activates the moment I show a moment of weakness.
Both were plausible.
But, what if…
“What if The Tomb is nearby, and a trap was triggered to protect it?”
Isn't that a possibility?
The probability might be low enough that it’s not worth risking my life over, but I have another option.
“If all else fails, I’ll just break through space and leave.”
I didn't know where the broken space led, but if it was somewhere inside the Demon Train, I’d manage. At the very least, it would be a more normal place than this.
And if my guess was right… wouldn't it be a waste?
It would mean The Tomb is close.
Having finished my internal monologue, I slowly moved my legs.
“Did Deva come from this way?”
I headed in the general direction I thought he had appeared from.
Perhaps because I had been thinking so hard, a slight headache throbbed in my temples, but I brushed it off with a bitter smile.
If Al’shel heard my thoughts, he’d probably tease me, saying, “Aren't you a fake Lee Ha-ram? There’s no way the real Lee Ha-ram could think so logically.”
Heh.
Thinking of my companion who had vanished from this spot, I let out a short laugh and moved forward.
* * *
How long had I been walking?
At some point, my mind couldn't take it anymore, and I began to walk while half-asleep.
Twilight ended and night began.
The sun rose again, and by the time twilight returned…
“….”
My thoughts were becoming simpler.
Hallucinations and auditory illusions swirled around me, but I no longer had the energy to even react to them.
Even when I tried to recall the past, my memories were fragmented like a cut film.
Even so, I remembered exactly what I had to do.
Move forward and find The Tomb.
That was the only reason I remained here.
However, I hadn't given up on the idea of escaping.
As proof of that…
Drag, drag, drag.
I was gripping The Hammer in my hand so I could swing it at any moment.
It had become too tiresome to carry, so I was plowing the ground with it like a rake.
Because I was prepared to escape at any time, desires kept surging within me.
If you leave now, this foggy head of yours will clear up.
Since even a dummy like me thought of this plan, the smarter Al’shel must have figured it out and started moving before me.
So, shouldn't it be okay for me to swing The Hammer and get out of here now?
My brain kept arguing this, and I agreed with it, but my body didn't seem to think so. My legs kept moving.
And I threw the words back at the voice in my head.
You’re right.
It’s the logical choice, and there’s no reason for me to suffer like this.
In the first place, there’s no guarantee that what I thought of with my lacking brain is correct, right?
Yeah. So let’s go rest already.
It’s not like you can’t come back here. Now that you’ve experienced it once, you can handle it better next time. That octopus Al’shel said you wouldn't be able to withstand this trauma, but you’re the guy who went back to the Otherworld. You think you can’t come back to a place like this?
Yeah. That’s true.
In terms of pure pain, the Otherworld was worse.
At least here I remember my name, and my five senses are somewhat intact.
Then can’t we go back now?
You have The Hammer. Just swing it and throw yourself in. It’s simple, right? The outside probably isn't that dangerous anyway. It’ll be somewhere inside the Demon Train.
At those words, I felt The Hammer in my right hand.
My weapon was vibrating and humming subtly, as if pleading to be swung right this instant.
At that vibration, I steeled my heart.
Oh. You’re going to swing it? Good call.
“No, I’m going to keep going.”
Why? Even The Hammer is asking to be swung.
Heh.
At those words, a smile I had forgotten surfaced on my lips.
“Is that what it feels like to you? Like it wants to be swung?”
Why? Isn't it?
“To me, it feels like it’s telling me I’m not alone.”
So.
I’m going to keep going.
Once again, I moved my feet. Again, and again.
Stop joking. There’s no way a hammer could be like that. The joy of a tool is in being used.
At those words, I had an intuition.
These words were being whispered by someone other than myself.
“Oh, what. Was it just an auditory hallucination?”
The moment I realized that, my head cleared.
The whispering stopped, and my thoughts became so empty they felt like a void.
That wasn't necessarily a good thing.
Even the voice of temptation had been a form of stimulation that sustained me.
Still, I could still move forward.
However, that resolve…
Thud.
“Ah.”
With the sensation of my toe catching on something, it vanished ruthlessly.
I tripped and rolled across the ground.
Over the grass and soil.
With a slight dampness, my last bit of will evaporated.
Just as the hallucination had said earlier, the desire to go back welled up.
That I didn't need to go this far.
This was the Demon Train. A place I just happened to help out.
This was a pure thought stemming from my own heart, different from the auditory hallucinations.
And so, I gripped The Hammer tightly and used it as a staff to push myself up.
Then, I took another step forward.
Completely contrary to my thoughts. Just… forward.
Because I have no hobby of turning back.
My toe caught on another mound of dirt.
“Ah.”
I fell again.
Perhaps my strength had finally run out.
My body wouldn't move.
Haha. I should have just swung The Hammer.
It wasn't quite regret, but my voice was laced with self-mockery.
I looked up at the pitch-black night stretching above.
Staring at the sky embedded with the Milky Way.
Al’shel will do a good job.
I repeated that to myself.
He was an untrustworthy fellow, but I felt I could trust him regarding this matter.
Because he’s smarter than me.
And then, I closed my eyes.