The Rock That Fell
Another infected. Again.
Counting the one she'd run into on her very first day of school, this made the second time already. Sure, the Abyss was nearby, but was it really acceptable for infected creatures to be popping up this often at an Awakened academy?
Grrrrk….
Thud. The moment the creature took a single step toward them, the centipedes scattered across the ground were crushed flat like fallen leaves.
Come to think of it, why are there so many centipedes around here?
…No, that wasn't the point.
Jiwoo positioned herself in front of Lisa, shielding her from the infected.
"Ji, Jiwoo…?"
A flustered breath came from behind her.
Jiwoo met the eyes of the infected standing before her without looking away.
"She doesn't look like she's in great shape. I'll chase it off."
"No! What can you even do? It's too dangerous!"
Lisa cried out in desperation. She knew Jiwoo's Core was Regeneration. She also knew that ability wouldn't help much when it came to hunting down an infected.
"It's fine."
"…Huh?"
"I'll win."
The voice sounded soothing enough—until the infected lunged.
Krrrk, grrrk!
It snapped its limbs and charged at terrifying speed.
In that instant, Jiwoo's—no, Jiwoo's eyes changed. That speed. I can dodge it.
But….
Lim Lisa was standing directly behind her. If Jiwoo dodged, the infected would slam straight into Lisa. With that sprained ankle, there was no way she'd get out of the way in time.
In the end, Jiwoo chose to take the charge head-on.
"Lim Lisa! Get back!"
"Jiwoo!"
WHAM!
The infected's head, hard as stone, slammed into her. Jiwoo twisted her body on pure reflex, angling away from her vitals as much as she could—and perhaps because of that, the creature's skull buried itself squarely into her side.
"Ugh…!"
Her ribs shrieked and her breath caught in her throat. Getting hit by a flying soccer ball wouldn't have hurt this much.
Ugh, maybe I shouldn't have dodged after all….
Too-late regret flooded in, but it was already done. She'd wrapped both hands around the infected's head to minimize the damage—which was precisely why her left wrist had folded completely out of shape.
"Wh-what do I…."
The moment Lisa saw Jiwoo's wrist bent like a folded sheet of paper, she clapped a hand over her mouth.
Jiwoo put some distance between herself and the infected, then calmly cupped her left wrist with her right hand.
Crack!
She popped the displaced wristbone back into place—lightly, the way you'd turn the hands of a clock.
The infected, having bowled her over once, had drifted back a few paces and stood there scratching its throat with a low, guttural grrk grrk.
Staring at that oblivious face, Jiwoo thought: Using a Core would be the surest way to put it down for good.
With her second Core—telekinesis—she could tear the thing apart in the blink of an eye. The only problem was that she'd have to use it without Lisa noticing….
Just then, Jiwoo quietly closed her eyes.
"J-Jiwoo?"
Watching her stand frozen in place, Lisa's voice wavered with anxiety. But Jiwoo didn't stir, as if she were concentrating on something else entirely.
Naturally, there was nothing around them. Only the infected, Lisa, Jiwoo, and…
the wind, slowly gathering strength.
Yes. The wind.
The rustle of leaves grew steadily louder. With the forest this thick, the shifting of the wind was easier to read.
Shaaaaa—
In an instant, the strengthened gust swept Jiwoo's and Lisa's hair in a single direction.
Kieeeek!
The infected charged at Jiwoo once more—faster and more savage than before. But this time, it never reached her.
Grumble…!
The ground near the cliff began to shudder as if an earthquake had struck. The instant the sprinting infected lost its footing and stumbled—
Now!
A massive boulder came rolling off the top of the cliff.
CRACK—!!
It landed squarely on the crown of the infected's head.
"…."
"…."
Limbs splayed out from beneath the boulder like broken branches, and dark blood crept slowly across the dirt in its wake.
What just—
Lisa froze solid. Was that an earthquake? Could an earthquake really have that kind of timing? No, more than that—where did that boulder even come from…?
She tilted her head back and looked up at the cliff. The rock had been up there, that much was true—she'd seen it herself, right before she'd fallen.
But… wasn't it buried deep under that tree? Even if the wind had been howling, since when did boulders pull free as easily as sweet potato vines?
However she turned it over in her mind, none of it made sense.
"See?"
"…Huh?"
At the voice that broke in out of nowhere, Lisa turned with a dazed look on her face. Jiwoo, who had been examining the crushed infected beneath the boulder, glanced back with a grin.
"I told you I'd win."
Not a single breath out of place.
…Is this really something to smile about right now? The boulder had landed perfectly on the infected—but what if it had come down on Jiwoo instead? Just imagining it was horrifying.
"Wait, Jiwoo, you're bleeding—"
The moment Lisa spotted the blood running down Jiwoo's thigh, her face drained of color. She must have been hurt when the infected struck her earlier.
"Oh no! What do I do? Jiwoo, stay with me!"
"What are you talking about? Anyone would think I'd passed out."
Jiwoo waved a hand, looking annoyed. "There's no need to make a fuss. Something like this heals in no time."
…And it was true. She could see with her own eyes that the blood on her thigh was already stopping.
Regeneration Core indeed.
Lisa slowly drew back her flustered hands.
"Th-then your wrist?"
"I'm fine. Set the bone already."
"But it hit your side too. Is that okay? It sounded awful—"
"Ah, my side still hurts a bit, actually."
As Jiwoo gently prodded at her side, Lisa asked with the face of a guilty criminal, "Can't you do something about it with your Core?"
"Hmm, I could."
Jiwoo let her hand drift casually toward her side and murmured with a meaningful look on her face, "It's just… I have a feeling this pain might come in handy later."
Three Cores. That was what Jiwoo possessed.
The first was healing. The second, telekinesis. And the third, the last of them all…
With that Core, this pain could be put to some very interesting use.
"What do you mean, 'useful'? Pain?"
Lisa cocked her head. Apparently deciding against a further explanation, Jiwoo's gaze dropped to Lisa's swollen ankle instead.
…I should probably treat Lisa's ankle before we move.
With her Core, that would be easy enough.
But then wouldn't she finally figure out what my Core actually is?
Besides, using Cores back-to-back like that was dangerous. Jiwoo always carried the risk of going berserk.
Because she was a byproduct of forbidden experiments.
…So what do I do?
An injured Jiwoo. A Lisa with a wrenched ankle. They needed a way for the two of them to make it out of the forest in one piece.
Climbing the cliff was really the only option—and the fastest route, at that. It wasn't a dizzying height, but it was hardly something two injured people could scramble up like seasoned rock climbers.
Even with the Regeneration Core, a full recovery would take at least an hour.
And they had no time to sit around stretching their legs while they waited.
…Then there's only one way after all.
Having made up her mind, Jiwoo turned to face Lisa.