Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: How Dare They Eye Dokdo
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No matter how much I yelled or chased them away, the creatures kept coming back.
There was a wide variety of them, too.
Owls, barn owls, crows, yellow birds, blue birds, bats, and so on.
"Seems like they're coming because of me."
Before, there hadn't been a single bird or insect—not even a trace.
"This isn't some bird sanctuary. Where did all these damn birds come from?"
But the fact that they'd started showing up after I got trapped here meant either they had some purpose, or my presence had changed the conditions of the sanctuary, making it suitable for them to live in.
This place was a deep rock cave near the summit of the tallest peak in Negaf Arron, the northern barrier.
A lonely island, the birds' homeland.
I carved those words boldly into the top of the altar with a stone fragment.
Dok
do
Heh heh.
Those two big letters, known only to me in this world, filled the top of the altar.
Silver Star was gone, so things were a bit boring, but I'd always been fine entertaining myself alone anyway.
Still, I hoped Silver Star would wake up soon.
"Silver Star... I won't tease you anymore, so get up and read me some wuxia novels."
I stroked my chest pocket and prayed to the star.
It was a few days later, while I was rubbing my palms together in prayer.
Thump-.
Thump, thump!
My heart pounded hard, like it was clogged.
For a moment, I thought it was Silver Star responding to my earnest prayers, waking up as a sign.
But the star just flickered-, flickered-.
'Huh? That's weird.'
That wasn't the star blinking.
It was eyes blinking as they peered into the sanctuary from the far end of the hole.
An eyeball the size of half the hole's diameter—which was wider than my torso—was glaring at me.
The reason my heart was racing so hard was probably because Silver Star had unconsciously reacted to its creator.
That aside.
'Luke, you bastard. You didn't mention the Frost Queen was a giant.'
If her eyes were that huge, her body must be... whoa.
If not for Luke's temperament, I'd have fainted on the spot.
The light faded, and darkness fell.
Blue Eye
It was too far to see clearly, but I could make a rough guess.
'That must be her mouth...'
The queen pressed her lips to the hole and pursed them.
Then she mumbled something.
The hole hummed as the queen's icy breath poured in.
Shaaaaaa-.
It was cold, but the chill was familiar, so I brushed off the snowstorm covering my body like it was nothing.
Then her cracked, gravelly voice arrived.
"Roko Seido! Hand over my gon-nong-ollo-!"
What?
Why did she suddenly show up babbling nonsense?
I lay down on the altar with my arms behind my head.
I'd wrapped my cloak around me like a blanket. It was our first meeting, and she was a queen—no need to chat without proper etiquette. As a holy knight with ethics training, I knew basic manners.
"Teacher, I can't hear youuu~."
Curious about my mumbling, the queen pressed her ear to the hole.
Then she asked back.
Hummm-.
"Moro-go? On doro-ndo-!"
Yeah, she couldn't hear that.
I'd muttered it super quietly.
'Ha-. I'd only been thinking about escaping, but flip that around—this sanctuary is protecting me.'
No matter how giant she was, she couldn't break through dozens of meters of solid rock to drag me out.
My guess was spot on.
"Dosi opdo-!"
The queen babbled all night before retreating.
"Oh man, what an idiot. Some Frost Queen—really living up to the name."
I snickered at the frost coating the hole.
Bathing in starlight, wiggling my toes, I analyzed the queen's behavior.
After Luke left and my weakened body could no longer hide Silver Star, the queen sensed the Insight Ability and came all this way.
'Yeah. That's the only explanation.'
That witch wasn't human—she was a thoughtform condensed from chill over thousands of years. Basically a divine being of sorts.
The season was transitioning from winter to spring.
Daytime warmth would limit her movements.
So she only visited at night, probably hunkering down in the shady north during the day to avoid the sun.
'Kinda pitiful.'
She was a massive monster attacking caravans and adventurers crossing the Frost Continent, but imagining her curled up tugged at my heartstrings.
It was like when Silver Star yelped after I scolded it, or seeing the baby birds huddled in the corner to avoid the fire.
'I'm crazy, but not a psychopath.'
Still, I couldn't just hand over my heart.
The next night, when the queen came looking for me, I said,
"I'm not Luke Seid! Someday, when the time comes! I'll return your ability to you!"
"Don't know! I don't know!"
It was the truth, but she didn't believe me.
The queen didn't buy that I wasn't Luke Seid either. Probably because I had the ability to discern truth from lies inside me.
"I'm not coming out!"
"No-wa!"
"Nooooo!"
Even so, the babbling queen kept me company at night, easing my loneliness a bit.
"I'm not Luke Seid!"
"Don't know!"
It wasn't just long-distance chats with the queen.
I couldn't sleep, and dozing off might mean freezing to death anytime, so I didn't slack on training.
Sweat it out, bathe in the cold water, drink some too.
Brrr-.
I even took care of business in the water.
"Ugh, feels refreshing."
The water from the arm-sized hole in the wall came up to my waist, and the outflow hole was narrow and long.
So escaping by swimming was impossible.
'Good thing the gap's small. Otherwise, I'd have planned to swim out if things got dicey. Not like I know how long it is.'
Back in my old world, I'd been obsessed with working out.
Those days when I'd push myself for over two hours, desperately wishing for just a bit of sleep. When my breath reached my chin and sweat poured like a bath—it felt so damn good.
Each time, I'd overcome the limits of my endurance.
Those positive experiences fueled me to endure here too.
Twenty days trapped in the sanctuary.
I was moving my body along the inscriptions on the stone wall, staving off hunger with Toolsep.
Kuuung-.
The violent pulse hammering my heart meant one thing.
'I've... become a stone.'
The phrasing's a bit odd, but yeah, that's it.
At this level, I could apprentice as a holy knight or trainee upon entering Hellite.
'Feels like becoming a probationary firefighter.'
Silver Star would've congratulated me if it were here.
But the thing just stole my body heat without calling out in a baby voice or reading wuxia novels.
"Silver Star, enough sleeping..."
I had no idea how long I'd have to keep this up.
I'd suppressed my appetite and rationed it, but the Toolsep was running low.
I tried jumping as hard as I could from Dokdo trusting my newfound strength, but I couldn't reach the hole's end.
Crack-!
Stones make that sound.
"Ow-!"
I clutched my head where it smacked the altar on the way down. It hurt too much to even speak.
If I could dig in my nails, I'd climb somehow.
"Is anyone thereeeee?!"
It was around the time sitting on Dokdo hugging my knees and moping had become routine.
After a workout session, in the afternoon.
Dododododo-. Thunk-. Thunk, thunk-.
What was that dododo and thunking sound?
I looked up toward the noise.
Something was plummeting fast.
"Eek-!"
I quickly dodged off Dokdo.
Thud-!
"A torch?"
Fire after so long!
With that, I could catch a bird and roast it—oh, no firewood.
Hope and despair hit almost simultaneously.
Swish-.
A fairly thick rope descended from the hole.
'What the?'
The rope was long enough to reach Dokdo and the floor.
Hummm-.
An unfamiliar aura struck the hole as it came down.
I twisted to eye the suspicious presence.
Something was slowly rappelling down the rope dangling in the hole.
Soon, voices echoed.
"Andre! See anything?"
"Quit nagging, you punk! It's too dark—I can't see shit!"
It was Andre and some guy calling him "you."
"Bong! You sure this is the spot?"
"Positive! Only passage we found after days of searching!"
The two men's voices battered the hole.
One held a torch in hand—his grip strength must've been solid, since he descended fast gripping the rope with just one hand.
"What if there's some monster down here?"
"Then we kill it."
At first, I thought they were a rescue team from the saintess.
The birds must've spread word of me.
"That guy's got a nose like a ghost for expensive abilities, even if he's clueless about everything else."
That guy. Expensive ability.
Sent by the Frost Queen?
"Might show up at night and cut the rope. Gotta find it quick and bounce."
Nope.
'Ability hunters or collectors?'
Thwump-!
The lead guy finally set foot on Dokdo.
I quietly backed into the shadows.
The sanctuary's darkness was thick.
Heavy blackness that could swallow even the light of Luke's divinity—crude torches like theirs couldn't illuminate the vast space at once.
Hidden in the dark, I glared at the two men descending the rope.
They were short and agile, swords at their waists, wooden poles slung diagonally across their backs.
Swords for self-defense, poles probably levers.
"Bong, where's this ability or whatever? Too dark—can't see jack."
"Sigh-. At this rate... Hey, Andre, send the signal. Tell 'em to lower that guy."
The man called Andre tugged the rope a few times.
Probably summoning their ability-sniffer.
'My heart's Silver Star got exposed because I weakened? Just like how the queen sensed me.'
Andre groped the letters carved on Dokdo's top.
"Bong, think this is a coffin? Something's engraved up top."
Bong shone the torch around Dokdo. He punched it, climbed up and stomped.
Thud thud-!
"Too big for a coffin, no gaps either. If it were hollow, it wouldn't sound like this."
Andre nodded at Bong's explanation.
I nodded too—it sounded plausible.
Creeeak-.
Something was coming down the rope.
Hummm-.
Too far for voices, but someone was yelling as they descended.
Andre looked up and said,
"Here comes the guy. Looks like Charles is bringing him."
Their chatter sealed my resolve.
Decide coldly, act swiftly.
Their blabbing was a warning.
They weren't friendly.
Plus, they'd tossed a torch on my bed and trampled it. Clear invasion.
"Damn spacious. Long as it's not a pain to climb, we could settle here."
"Why not? No owner, just a few birds—might as well plant a flag and claim it."
They snickered, stroking Dokdo.
I spat curses without thinking.
"These motherfucking bastards dare eye Dokdo...?"
I ducked before finishing.
Shing-!
A ghostlike strike.
Andre whipped out his sword lightning-fast and lunged, aiming for my throat.
'A monster of a master!'
Not just pinpointing my spot from the voice behind him—Andre targeted a vital that could end me in one slash.
Time slowed, severed hair fluttered past like feathers.
No panic—in that split second, my mind cooled razor-sharp.
If not for Luke's temperament, if the Insight Ability hadn't shown me his moves a half-beat early.
'I'd have died without knowing what hit me.'
No time to breathe.
A sword that could split rock plummeted like lightning from above.
Sweeeee-!