Kitty, What on Earth Is This Guy #3
Kitty, What on Earth Is This Guy #3
What did I just hear?
"Hey, jackass! If you don't go, what am I supposed to do?! What the hell can I do alone?!"
I immediately hoisted Kitty up and shook her hard.
—Shake shake!
"Ah. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh."
Kitty made noises as she shook.
"Quit it. Sis said no, you knoww."
And yet she showed absolutely no sign of giving in!
Which meant I really did have to go alone. This is seriously dangerous. Something even the mighty Kim Geun-cheol finds daunting...!
"Hey, can't you just go, man? Please?"
"Kitty can't go."
"Come on! Hurry up!"
"Kitty can't go."
"The hell are you, an NPC?!"
"Kitty can't go."
She'd apparently learned some gamer humor in the meantime, turning her head to the side and spitting out nothing but scripted lines.
"What's the damn reason?"
"Mm... I actually don't know the reason. Sis told me not to go, you see. Her orders are absolute."
So that's it.
"What gives, seriously. Hey. Kitty. You wanna see Geun-cheol die?"
"Don't worry. If it's Geun-cheol, you'll manage."
"What the hell are you saying... Hey. I'm seriously gonna die."
The Fragment World's progression was pretty simple.
Where the Fragment appears, everything around it gets sucked into another world.
Once you get dropped on-site like that, you find the Fragment somewhere in that world, break the barrier, get your hands on it, and then you just come right back. That's the structure.
Simple, but on the way there you run into all sorts of hostile species.
From what I've heard, this Fragment thing is apparently a kind of rift. Based on examples so far, the Fragment is something that generates gates. I've been to the world of the tentacle monsters, the Antazora, and the world of the ant monsterkin, the Antillery.
And now I'm supposed to get dropped into a place like that alone?
It's seriously dangerous.
"Geun-cheol. Still, I don't think Sis would make you do something you can't handle. Right?"
"Hm."
Well as for that... judging strictly by what's happened so far, VP has used me however she liked, but she hasn't exactly caused me harm.
"Tch."
It's true that just as I need VP's info, she also seems to need me. If so, I guess she wouldn't chuck me into a guaranteed death trap.
"If she planned to put Geun-cheol in danger, she wouldn't have prepared something like this for you."
Kitty said that while waving an old-fashioned envelope.
"Yeah. That's true."
"Geun-cheol understands? So you don't hate Kitty, right?"
"I'm hating you to an extreme degree right now."
"Don't be like that. Geun-cheol."
Kitty started rubbing her head against me again. She's completely hooked on acting cute, but honestly, what can you do about Kitty in this state. She's just VP's servant.
—Pat.
I placed my hand on top of Kitty's head and stroked it while taking the envelope. She'd said I should open it after crossing over into that world.
"..."
I have the goal of recovering my past memories.
Whenever I acquire a Fragment, memories I lost from the old world flow into me. I don't know the principle behind it... but recovering those memories is important.
As a bonus, my skills also seem to rise to match 'that time.' And apart from that, information is crucial. It'll be useful later.
"Yeah."
Let's charge ahead like a lone rhinoceros.
I grabbed the letter.
If she were simply planning to shove me into a pit of death, she wouldn't have given me something like this. This is definitely a kind of item for me to use, since Kitty can't come along.
"Okay. Then let's go, Kitty."
"Okay."
—Bzzzt.
Kitty immediately opened a gate, and I was transported somewhere in the mountains of South Korea.
"This is the place. It'll appear soon, so be careful."
"You gonna come pick me up when it's over?"
"I'll call you a Starex."
"What am I, going to a construction job? Actually, how does a little squirt like Kitty know to say she'll call a Starex? Where'd you learn that?"
"I've been learning so many things on the internet lately. I should've been using it properly ages ago."
"Don't go on weird sites."
The moment I said that.
—Fwip.
Kitty surrounded herself with a barrier for protection.
"Geun-cheol. This is as far as I can help. Make sure you keep the letter safe. Go and accomplish the objective."
"It's about to show up, huh... Alright. Will do."
—Crumple.
I shoved the envelope into my pocket and readied my stance.
"Come on, Fragment."
—Flash!
Soon, a brilliantly shining red octahedron appeared before me. The thing, emitting a yellow radiance through all manner of geometric patterns engraved on its red surface, assailed me with a formless energy.
"Tsu-oooh-tt!"
I was sucked into the otherworld once again.
* * *
Distance to the ground, about five meters.
"Hup!"
Reflexively assuming a breakfall posture, I emitted mana to protect my body as I landed.
—Fwaht!
The instant I landed I drew my sword and scanned the surroundings. This is a battlefield. I need to act faster than anyone. I immediately threw myself into a roll, moving to cover behind a pillar up ahead.
"This place is?"
Back against the pillar.
Holding my sword, I checked the front once and then poked my head out slightly to check behind the pillar.
"What the?"
It's a ruin.
Shit, what is this.
"A ruin?"
I felt a sense of strangeness.
This is definitely another world. A two-dimensional plane where monsters or monsterkin—or something equivalent to them—live. Naturally, you'd expect to see gloomy backdrops like jungles or outer space. That would be normal.
"..."
Looking around, this was a place like a ruin.
A very ancient one, at that.
"No threats around."
First, I stood up from my spot and rested my sword on my shoulder.
Looking again, it's a collapsed ruin.
Obviously it isn't a modern Earth-style building... if I had to say, maybe a slightly old architectural style? Buildings that looked like something out of the Renaissance era, stacked up with bricks, lay destroyed and scattered all around me.
The bricks, the foundation stones, even the wood that must have served as pillars—all lay shattered and toppled. On top of that, there were plenty of signs of corrosion and decay, which suggested that a considerable amount of time had passed since these buildings collapsed.
And a shitton of dust had settled everywhere.
"Monsterkin, then."
I don't know what kind of monsterkin species they are, but this place is definitely a two-dimensional plane. I'm not gonna get fooled just because the architecture looks a bit like Earth's.
I'll designate the enemy as monsterkin who possessed a civilization similar to humans. That makes it a little more dangerous. Judging by how they built these structures and lived in them, they likely possess not just a sense of cooperation, but an organizational culture as a matter of course.
"VP, that bitch..."
Sending me alone into a freaky place like this?
Anyway.
I thought about why this place became a ruin. War, earthquake, calamity... could be any number of things, but the most plausible one is probably a gate incident.
—Crunch crunch.
I walked through the ruin while thinking that.
"It's a ruined city."
That's exactly the sensation I get. The stones embedded in the ground were all shattered, but judging by how flat they were, they were clearly some kind of tile. Buildings lining both sides of a road like that... it really feels like some kind of historical site.
While having those impressions, I took out the letter Kitty had given me.
A very old-fashioned letter.
—Riiip.
The moment I opened the envelope.
—Whoosh!
"What the!"
The letter blazed up, and characters made of some kind of magical flame appeared!
[Find the item and return.]
[This shall aid you.]
"It's in Korean."
—Fwoop.
The letters coalesced into a single mass, then transformed into something like a tiny fireball. It fluttered over and parked itself next to my head. It felt like some kind of spirit.
"So this little bastard's a guide. But what am I supposed to find?"
Let's just start walking.
When I began moving again, the fireball followed me. When I changed direction while watching it, the little guy stopped in place. It seems like it'll only follow if I'm heading in the right direction.
Fussy little thing.
Anyway, it looks like I just need to find this 'item' together with this guy. So this mission is basically an errand to find and bring back some item. I strongly get the feeling it's something Void Princess needs.
"Let's go, Fireball."
—Fwoop.
"This punk, it's just like Kitty."
The way it flits along after me is totally Kitty-like. And so, with a small fireball at the side of my head, I journeyed through the ruin.
"Hm?"
But as I kept walking, I started to get my bearings.
I was currently climbing an uphill road. And beyond that uphill slope, I could see something like a totally wrecked palace.
"..."
It looked as if the nation itself had been destroyed. The palace was demolished, and all the other buildings around it were the same. I got the sense this place must have originally been a huge city jam-packed with all sorts of buildings.
"Just what is all this?"
No trace of life could be felt.
Apparently, the fireball was guiding me toward that palace.
"Let's go then."
I climbed the uphill road and, making the ruined castle in the distance my destination, was weaving through the streets and advancing when it happened.
"Grrrgle... grrgle."
"Grrgle grrgle."
Yeah.
As if there wouldn't be any.
Just as I expected, monsters appeared. The reason I called them monsters was because they absolutely did not look like the intelligent entities that built this city. If anything, calling them the very culprits who created this ruin would make far more sense.
"Grrrgle."
They were some kind of nastily grotesque monsters.
Pure white hide. Long limbs. Quadrupedal. The head shape was almost human, but the face had nothing on it except a maw full of jagged, protruding teeth like a deep-sea fish.
Creatures like that were crawling around on the far side of the ruin, their heads pressed to the ground as if searching for something.
"..."
Of course, I'd already taken cover.
"Hm."
Their weight class looked about on par with me. No. Specifically, the height is similar. The arms and legs are long, but overall they have a really gaunt look. If they don't have any superhuman strength, it seems like I could take them out without trouble.
—Whoosh.
Suddenly, the fireball at the side of my head formed some text.
[Shebla.]
Shebla?
Is that what these bastards are called?
[Feeble beings.]
"Death to the feeble!"
Then I'll go and deliver it to them!
My mind made up, I gripped my sword, kept up my presence concealment, and slowly approached the creatures. The ruin has plenty of hiding spots. There's no place better than this for a surprise attack.
Let's wipe 'em all out and push forward.