Terraforming: Racing to the Temple

Terraforming. I bolted anyway. Whether that thing was really chasing me or not, it was dangerous either way.

But Lee Kangin's words weren't a misunderstanding. The monster's one remaining eye was locked squarely on my back.

Not on Lee Kangin or the passed-out Kaya.

'Fuck... why the hell...?'

In the original story, Victor chased only Lee Kangin no matter who interfered.

...Was this thing even the real Victor from the original?

The Victor in the story wasn't a one-eyed Baekwonhu. Just an old, cunning one.

But it was ambiguous to say this bastard wasn't Victor either.

"Argh!! I don't get it at all!!"

This was the first time I'd been so completely in the dark. I couldn't piece together the situation at all.

I resented my brain, which I'd prided myself on being sharp, for grinding to a halt.

I ran. I poured mana into my legs and sprinted at my top speed.

Normally, it should've caught me by now. Against a 4-meter giant that could climb trees and wield mana.

But Chris had latched onto it.

"You!! Fucking!! Dieeee!!!"

She was stabbing with her blade, but the sound effects were like scooping out flesh with a shovel. Chris was hacking away at its right leg to halt Victor's movement.

Thanks to her, its speed dropped enough for me to escape without being caught.

"Guhk!"

Roll... roll...

Chris kept stabbing its leg, which must've annoyed Victor to no end. While running, it slammed its right leg into a tree trunk—right where Chris was clinging.

She got flung off and tumbled to the ground.

"Damn it! Instructor! You okay?!"

"Ptooey—. Chase him first! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'll catch up right behind!"

Spring!

Thankfully, not a fatal wound. Glancing back, I saw Chris spit blood-mixed saliva from her mouth and limp after us.

'Fuck!'

Boom—!

Until now, I'd been heading straight for the 11th Sector Combat Lodge as much as possible.

But after shaking off Chris and regaining a bit of speed, it started interfering with me. It couldn't catch up, but it seemed intent on blocking my desired path.

'Smart bastard!'

If it predicted my path while being just a tad faster, it could catch me. Running in a straight line like this was no good.

I had no choice but to veer off. Away from the lodge a bit.

Boom—!

Lee Kangin inevitably pulled away from me. He had an injured comrade on his back whose wounds needed checking.

And since I was heading away from the lodge, he had no option.

Lee Kangin nodded once toward me, then vanished from sight.

Bang—!!

I was starting to get anxious. I was drifting away from the training camp as the monkey bastard intended.

And I had no idea where this place was. Mahal was following, but he was way slower than Chris from the start.

No... Chris was just too fast. She'd been here for a whopping seven years!

'Damn... if only like the original Lee Kangin, I... No, that's not gonna go how I want!...'

In the original, Lee Kangin—chased by Victor just like me—stumbled into his opportunity.

But I couldn't pinpoint the exact location. It wasn't something I could aim for deliberately; he just wandered into it like I was doing.

The hint was a pile of rocks midway up the mountain, but in this dense forest, no way I'd spot that easily...

"Huh? Isn't that a rock hill?"

Coincidence? Fate? A commonplace rock hill loomed in the distance, but I felt an inexplicable strong pull from it.

Maybe my brain conjuring an illusion from my subconscious hope.

If I headed there and it was a dead end I hadn't spotted, I could die.

But my feet were already carrying me that way.

The rock hill closed in fast. Rock crevices. I needed to find one.

A gap humans could slip through... but too small for that massive monkey bastard.

Obviously, dozens of such gaps dotted the rocks.

But I wasn't looking for a simple dead-end crack.

"One with space behind it... please... please...!"

Whoosh—

In an instant, my sharp hearing caught the howl of wind whipping through a crevice.

Without hesitation, I twisted my body toward it.

Thud—!

Its palm grazed past me by a hair's breadth. But I didn't look back, launching myself into the crevice I'd found.

Whoosh—!

"Huff! Huff!"

Victor pounded fists toward the narrowed rock gap. Trying to smash the entrance wider.

But I stared straight ahead, trembling with awe.

It was right. This was the place.

Beyond the crevice I'd leaped into yawned a vast space. And in its center stood a massive temple.

A grand structure bearing traces of human—or some other civilization's—touch.

I just had to say it.

"Huff... huff... lucky... huff... damn lucky."

Before Victor could shatter the crevice, I hurried into the temple.

Ignoring the dazzling statues and murals, I rushed to my target.

Found it quick. An altar smack in the building's center.

"This... the 'orb'..."

The altar, carved from solid stone, had three round holes punched in it. Perfect fit for fist-sized orbs.

Two orbs sat in two holes. One was missing.

"The one Lee Kangin stumbled on and used must've been from here... Roughly, the Regression Orb ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or something?"

I picked up the two remaining orbs and opened the info window.

"No info, as expected."

Sucks that it can't go in the shop. If it performed like in the original, it might've been useful in another world.

Right now, though, it seems kinda lame.

I knew Jeongcheon's Orb's effect, even without info. It was the yellow one used first in the story.

Yellow orb = Jeongcheon's Orb, the only one whose effect I knew.

"If I can only use it in this world... might as well?"

"Honestly, doesn't seem super useful to me..."

Boom—!

Boom—!

Rumble—!!

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Something collapsing outside the building. And Victor charging this way.

It spotted me. The Baekwonhu grinned wide, gums bared, seeing me trapped against the temple wall, unable to flee.

And as it smashed the crevice, Chris and Mahal—who'd caught up—arrived right after.

Limp... limp...

Look around.

"What the fuck is this building... No! Park Chanyoung! You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Finally, my audience arrived.

The moment I saw Chris, I channeled mana into Jeongcheon's Orb and activated it. Since Victor looked ready to lunge.

"Hup!"

"Kuhk...!"

"What... is this..."

Blinding light engulfed our vision.

But the light wasn't the issue.

'...Fuck... way more intense than expected...!'

Didn't I say before I had no way to gauge mana density?

Still, no way I could've missed this concentration. It wasn't mana floating ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the air—it was like being submerged in liquid mana.

A buoyant floatiness, with unknown resistance clinging to my fingers and toes, restricting free movement.

Chris and Mahal were stunned, and even Victor Baekwonhu eyed it warily.

...That bastard really creeps me out looking almost human instead of a monster.

Soon, the light faded, and the world stopped.

Not figuratively. Jeongcheon—Stopped Heaven—time truly halted.

Jeongcheon's Orb stopped time. Usable anytime by the user, up to a max of one year.

No need to eat or drink; time stopped, but breathing worked.

But I deemed it useless. So I used it without hesitation.

"Can't exert physical force on anything, and for a year, not a speck of mana accumulates in your body..."

Even physical training efficiency dropped to 1/10. Stat growth at 10%.

The biggest gain? Practicing mana-free swordsmanship for a year.

And Lee Kangin pulled off that insane feat.

But even that wasn't enough against Victor. The gap in stats, height, and mana was too vast for one year of sword practice to bridge.

I had no plans for sword training. I had the system—a perfect superior to Jeongcheon's Orb.

Better to hop to another world, build mana, raise stats fast, and train three months for dozens of times the gain than waste a year here.

No use for this orb, no matter how I thought.

So why did I use it?

...To change my appearance without suspicion.

Lee Kangin trained here a year, hair growing past his shoulders, skin paling from no sunlight indoors, completely altering his look.

People who saw it thought, "An artifact filling this mana density? No wonder his appearance changed."

That's what I aimed for.

Unlike the original, only Chris and Mahal were here now... but sufficient.

Even if I suddenly became handsome, they'd buy it.

I'm tall now, skin issues faded, but still no beauty. College friends seem to have forgotten me entirely—perfect timing.

'Selfish thought mid-life-or-death, but... I won't actually die? And I've got something to rely on.'

I decided to gamble.

The blue orb in my hand. Unknown effect—I'd trust it once, skip investing karma in stats.

I opened the system, dumped all karma into flipping my face.

About 12,000 karma on hand. Limiting to face? More than enough.

"Status Window!"