Raiders

The moment I got home, I threw up a post.

"Kyaaaaah!"

Even Geom-hui betrayed me. The shock was absolute.

Just as I was starting to lose the will to go on living—

"Wow."

I'd been faking a sulk and brushing her off—and she actually tried to bait me a second time?

There were genuine monsters, and then there was this woman.

Honestly, I was a little mad—but not actually that annoyed.

Learning swordsmanship from them was a favor they were doing me, not some right I was entitled to. And getting hit with a few slash attacks in exchange for actual instruction?

That's a free win, honestly.

I settled in with a bright mood and focused on Paddak's explanation.

That made sense.

"Let's go."

I closed my eyes and worked my Aura.

—Ssshhh…

Black mist gathered around my heart, then gently coiled along its surface.

And then—

Oh… oh…!

A strange space began to reveal itself, little by little. Something sticky filled that place.

—Crrrk…

It never actually touched my body, and yet it clung to my skin all the same. From skin into muscle, from muscle into bone, from bone into blood vessels.

Ugh, ah…

That pitch-black something eroded every last corner of me.

—Thud.

A sensation like a hard blow to the head slammed down, and my consciousness went out.

When I came to, I was lying in a vast expanse of space.

I can't see a thing.

I saw something. And yet I couldn't tell exactly what it looked like. After that, I touched something. But I couldn't feel what the texture of it was.

Weird.

The space was filled with something. I just couldn't figure out what that something was. In the middle of that alien situation, even fear started to creep in—

—Creak, creeeak!

A sensation like my whole body was being crushed rolled through me.

Ghk, aaah…!

I couldn't breathe at all. It hurt. My abdomen, my lungs, my heart, my head—everything was being smashed as if it would burst. I was going to die. If this kept up, I was going to die.

I have to get out—now…!

There was no exit to be found, but I moved my body anyway, desperate to escape this place.

—Thud.

In a single instant the world flipped, and I was back in the real one.

"Haaaah!"

I snapped my eyes open in a full-body seizure.

What the hell just happened.

I hurriedly checked myself over, but nothing was wrong. Don't tell me that grotesque space was my Inner World?

…I'd rather not, honestly.

First things first—ask the gallery.

"Haaah…"

Honestly this felt a little off, but it was the word of my godlike master, so I decided to trust it. It would work out somehow.

"Hoo."

I focused my mind on my heart once more.

—Thud.

And just like that, I was sucked into the pitch-black space.

This time the pain came crashing in from the start.

Ghhk, aaaah…!

A sensation like my whole body was being pulverized. I wanted to bolt out of there that second, but I decided to hold on somehow, just like Paddak said.

…Let's try to feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the surroundings.

Writhing through the pain, I began to understand the Inner World.

Ghk…

The first thing I felt was that unidentifiable force crushing my body. A sensation that called black mist to mind.

It's similar to my Aura.

Except the mist here carried no sensation of any kind. It hurt when it touched my skin—but I couldn't feel the sensation itself?

…It was completely contradictory. The mist was pressing down on my body, and I still had no idea what that force felt like.

Weird.

My head couldn't make sense of it. But my body accepted it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

…Emptiness.

This place was emptiness. A world packed full of something that had no substance.

…

And yet, precisely because it had no substance, it was a contradictory world filled more completely than any other place.

Gyaah, ah…!

The more I thought, the more I had to thrash through even greater pain. If I tried to understand this world any further, it felt like my mind would cave in.

But—

Just a little more…

I kept trying to feel the emptiness. It was a strange thing. That someone who'd been an ordinary person until a few days ago would try to endure this kind of pain.

Why, though? Was it because I was afraid the gallery members would kill me if I quit here? Sure, that thought had crossed my mind at first.

No.

I liked it. Understanding this world felt genuinely good. Taking that sensation I couldn't put into language and learning it directly with my own body—that was fun.

So I didn't leave the Inner World.

And time passed—

When I came to, I was at home.

"Ugh."

It felt like I'd had a particularly nasty dream.

Ow, my back hurts.

I had no idea how long I'd been collapsed. Figuring a few hours had probably gone by, I hopped into the Swordsmanship Forum—

"What is this."

The gallery had completely lost its mind.

Everyone seemed to think I was dead. Paddak in particular looked like she'd gone full mental—flooding the board with a regret-collapse-obsession triple combo of posts.

…Should I just keep watching?

The urge rose up pretty hard. Well—I wasn't actually going to do that.

After lightening the mood a bit, I moved into Q&A. What had happened in the meantime, what I'd gained, and so on… I spun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them the whole Inner World story.

I got the full flashy range of gallery reactions.

That made sense.

What kind of deranged nonsense was that.

I more or less understood the concept of a "Phenomenon." But there was still one part that left me wondering.

She'd told me to stop being a baby, so I'd figured this was normal—but it was actually weird?

I'm proud, but also kind of annoyed.

I sat with that odd feeling for a moment.

I immediately followed Paddak's instructions and pulled out my Aura. A unique ability. What kind of power was I about to have?

Carrying that expectation, I worked my Aura—

—Gwooom…

Before long, a strange sensation settled into it.

Hell yeah!

Black mist with no form of its own that crushed anything it touched.

Ability time~

Buzzing with excitement, I blasted my Aura out of my body.

And in that instant—

—Kuuuuung!

The black force erupted violently and punched straight through the ceiling of the house.

…Huh?

I was reading the gallery while moving house in the middle of the night. The gallers seemed worried about me, but—

Honestly, I don't really care.

That wasn't self-justification; it was the truth. The area around the house had been crawling with monsters, and the Tower had been far enough away to be a pain. Plus I'd just walked into some empty house and lived there for about three years—I'd already gotten my money's worth out of the place.

Time to find somewhere better.

Ideally somewhere close to the Tower, where monsters didn't show up much.

—Clomp clomp.

Loaded down with my bags, I wandered the streets. How long had I been hunting for an empty house?

—Creak.

I opened the door of a decent-looking place and walked in like I owned it.

"Anyone home?"

No signs of life—first checkpoint passed. After that I roughly poked around inside to see if it was livable.

Not bad?

The furniture was intact, and the running water and electricity both worked. On top of that it was a second floor, so it was a little safer from monster attacks!

You're the one.

I was just about to unpack in the living room and call the move finished when—

"What the. Feels like someone's here?"

"Uh, boss! There's some girl in the living room!"

Four rough-looking men came piling into the house.

Don't tell me they're the owners…?

Fair enough. A place this perfect was never going to be sitting free on the market. I was about to apologize as politely as I could—

When they started whispering among themselves in low voices.

"Looks like a middle schooler at a glance… how do we handle her?"

"Lucky. No mana on her."

"Yeah? Then just sell her off to China like the last owner of this place."

My Aura-sharpened hearing caught every word.

…Raiders, huh.

Then the one who looked like the leader smiled and slowly approached.

"Miss, what brings you here?"

"I got lost."

"Hmm. That so?"

He casually hid his right hand behind his back as he closed the distance. Hiding a weapon, was he.

—Ssshhh.

I worked my Aura as I asked a question.

"I have something to ask you gentlemen."

"What."

"Is it just the four of you living here?"

He looked startled, but answered casually enough.

"Yeah, it is… why?"

"Ah. Then that's fine."

—Shing.

I drew my sword and shouted at them.

"Get out of my house. Now."

"Miss, what are you talking about? You're the one who walked into our house."

"…?"

I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even speak.

"Could you leave already? I'm busy unpacking."

"Ha, fuck. We try to be nice and the brat just keeps climbing—"

—Clang!

"Guh, hhk…!"

I brought the flat of my blade down on the guy's skull and said,

"Why is this your house."

Raiders really were shameless, huh.