Chapter 123

“A world where the Labyrinth Tower has collapsed...?”

Woojin repeated her words in a trembling voice.

“Yes. Isn't that strange? It felt so bizarre.”

She told him about the things she had seen: a ruined world where the last floor of the Labyrinth Tower floated in the air and the kingdoms had fallen.

The scenery she described seeing during her quest was far too similar to the other world Woojin had visited.

'Surely... No, it can't be.'

After all, it was common for quests and events to automatically play scenes showing flashbacks or hints of the future. A game could show all sorts of scenes of the future, too.

“What were you like in the dream, Lady Ruen?”

“Hmm... I'm not sure. More mature, perhaps? And I was fighting monsters I'd never seen before. There was an elven army behind me, too...”

“Wow...! An elven army?! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

At Setsuna's words, Ruen smiled, as though merely imagining it delighted her.

“Yes, it was amazing. I commanded countless spirits and even fired arrows that scattered arcane power!”

“Woooow...!!”

Unlike Ruen, who spoke excitedly with sparkling eyes, Woojin's expression remained stiff.

'You fired Arcane Arrows in the other world, too.'

Besides, she had drunk Camilla's blood and cured her Mana Vessel Disease, so naturally she would have been able to form contracts with spirits...

'No. No. Let's not go making connections for no reason.'

Woojin shook his head.

'A game is a game. Keep it simple. It's just part of a quest the great spirit gave her.'

See your future self and awaken a new power. Just another ordinary, unremarkable event.

'... '

But even as his mind tried to dismiss it, he couldn't easily shake his unease.

“Seeing myself like that made me feel I could do it, too. Thanks to that, I formed contracts with intermediate spirits.”

WHOOOOSH!!

As soon as she finished speaking, the spirits he had seen inside Kelduan appeared. With long spears tucked under their arms, they saluted Woojin.

“Intermediate spirits... That's impressive.”

“^#$^ ($^#$%...!!”

One of the spirits began saying something unintelligible.

Woojin couldn't help being startled. Lesser spirits merely followed the orders they were given, without any particular capacity for thought. But although he couldn't understand these spirits, they were clearly expressing themselves.

“They say she can now form contracts with spirits of other elements, too.”

“!^&$% !$*$#!&#”

“They're asking you to hurry up and buy a spirit contract.”

“... So they wanted me to spend money.”

Woojin chuckled at Setsuna's interpretation.

“Wait, could you always understand the spirits' language?”

“No. It's thanks to the great spirit's sacred treasure.”

[Setsuna uses Ancient Wisdom.]

[Retrieving memories absorbed from the divine relic 'Naiad's Water Blossom Crown (SS-grade).']

As a golden book appeared in Setsuna's hands, the petal ornament in her hair shone.

“I got this when I absorbed memories from Lady Naiad's sacred treasure.”

She tapped her ornament as she spoke.

'SS-grade... That explains how she gained so many levels at once. She absorbed memories from an absurdly powerful item.'

On the other hand, if an SS-grade item had only brought her to level 23, leveling her up from here wouldn't be easy.

'Well... she's already learned nine skills.'

In terms of the number of skills alone, she was probably on par with someone who had completed their class advancement at level 50.

Name: Water Petal Crown

Grade: B

Description: A replica of Naiad's Water Blossom Crown. Though a replica, it contains the power of a great spirit, allowing the use of some of the Water Blossom Crown's abilities.

▶ Grants knowledge of various languages of the natural world.

▶ Allows the use of Lesser Healing.

“Healing?”

“Yes. It's nothing special. Just treating minor wounds, I suppose? I can't reattach anything that's been cut off.”

Woojin nodded. Reattaching severed body parts required at least intermediate healing.

'Still, that's something.'

Having a healer in the party made an enormous difference to their safety.

Woojin shook his head as he recalled fighting the golems inside Kelduan. He had truly despaired when he used up all his potions.

“You two accomplished more than I did,” he told them. “We have to go to town to meet up with the others anyway. Hopefully we can buy a spirit tome there.”

“Thank you.”

[Fensir has fully recovered from its injuries.]

▶ You may now use Skill: Primordial Descent.

▶ Your contracted Sacred Spirit is waiting for you.

▶ Making it wait too long may weaken your bond with the Sacred Spirit.

The notification sounded as he was talking with Ruen.

'Fensir's all better now.'

The timing was perfect. Woojin took the ring out of his pocket and examined it.

'Right, I still have a reward to collect at the den, too.'

He decided he should take this opportunity to deal with the things he had been putting off.

[WOOOOOO...]

Kelduan raised its head above the lake.

“Take care. And don't swallow any more people.”

[WOOOOOO...]

True to its status as a mystical beast, it nodded, apparently understanding Woojin's words.

THUNK.

Just then, Kelduan set something it had been holding in its mouth down in front of Woojin.

It was a round egg.

“... What's this?”

Name: Kelduan's Egg

Grade: S

Description: An egg of the Azure Turtle Kelduan, one of the Primordial Sacred Spirits. Extremely rare, as the Azure Turtle broods only a single egg once every 200 years.

▶ Takes 100 years to hatch.

▶ Time remaining: 85 years.

In contrast to the enormous turtle, its egg was only about the size of a handball. That was certainly not small, but it was remarkable that such a gigantic mystical beast could hatch from an egg this size.

'Though taking a hundred years to hatch is even more surprising...'

Woojin looked at Kelduan, his eyes asking why it was giving this to him.

[WOO! WOOOO!!]

“It says the lake is still polluted, so it might be dangerous for the baby.”

Setsuna listened to Kelduan's cries and relayed its words. Apparently, the languages of the natural world included not only those of spirits, but those of divine beasts as well.

An incredible ability, when he thought about it.

Pleased with Setsuna, Woojin gently stroked her head.

[WOOOOOO...]

“It wants you to move the egg somewhere suitable, if you find a place.”

“Hmm.”

▶ The time can be shortened through several methods.

The last line of the egg's description piqued Woojin's curiosity.

'The time can be shortened...'

“All right. I'll leave the egg somewhere suitable when I find a place. But what if I hatch it before then?”

[WOOOOOO...]

“It says it will leave that up to you, Master. Even if the baby hatched here, it would be too weak to survive anyway.”

“Understood.”

Woojin nodded to Kelduan.

[You have acquired Kelduan's Egg.]

He shouldn't have felt the weight of anything in his inventory, but thinking of it as a living thing made it feel strangely heavy.

'Come to think of it, using up all my potions freed up just enough inventory space to fit the egg.'

Woojin checked his inventory. The [Adventurer's Bag] he had bought in Hundred Flowers Valley, with its level-40 limit, had already been automatically unequipped and moved into his inventory after he exceeded the level restriction.

“Ruen, you can't use your bag anymore either, can you? Has anything else hit its level limit?”

“No. The [Belt of the Trinity] you gave me works up to level 55, so it's still fine... And the bow has no upper level limit, so I can keep using it.”

“Could you show it to me for a moment?”

“Of course.”

She showed Woojin the bow she was holding.

Name: Sigmund's 89th Bow

Grade: C

Description: A mass-produced item crafted by the master artisan Sigmund for beginners. Despite being mass-produced, dozens of improvements have made its performance superior to loot from most dungeons.

The best weapon for beginners—apart from its outrageous price.

▶ Attack Power +190

▶ Agility +3

▶ Accuracy +5%

▶ Rate of Fire +13%

▶ Usable at level 30 and above.

Its stats were certainly good. Considering that Woojin's [Raoul’s Dragon-Slaying Sword] was also C-grade but granted only +150 Attack Power, its performance was unimaginable for a level-30 weapon.

'I saw on the community forum that Sigmund will soon be taking orders for intermediate weapons for level 50 and above... '

Unlike the mass-produced items he regularly put up in the auction house, the weapons used on the central continent were custom-made. Their prices were truly beyond imagination.

But with so many ranked players waiting eagerly for the day he began taking orders, price clearly wasn't the issue.

“When we get to town, everyone needs to sort out their equipment. We'll buy new bags, too.”

“Sounds good.”

“Yes!!”

“Which town are you planning to visit?”

“For now, I plan to meet the others in the nineteenth town.”

[Brown Crow, the Labyrinth Tower's Nineteenth Town] in the Antarian Federation was also home to the [White Tavern], where he could make contact with the Ulda Alliance.

“There's the matter of the Kingdom of Esten... I need to check on the alchemist situation, and Weden wanted to meet the alliance, too.”

He also intended to look into treatment and accommodation for Mrs. Lea there once again.

'We can't keep wandering forever... Ideally, I'd like to find somewhere to establish a base.'

He had no intention of forming a clan, but his time on the central continent had made him keenly aware that they at least needed a home where they could rest.

'A home... '

The thought gave Woojin a strange feeling. It seemed like only yesterday that he had been struggling just to survive. Now, somehow, he was looking for a place where they could live together. It was astonishing.

'Things should be peaceful for a while.'

KABOOOOOOM!!!!!

It happened then.

A violent explosion erupted around Woojin.

[ROOOOOAR!!]

Kelduan let out a roar like a scream and hid beneath the lake.

BOOOOM!!

KABOOM!!!!!

Explosions came in such a dizzying succession that their surroundings became a sea of fire in an instant.

“Master...!!!!”

He heard Ruen cry out. She reached toward him.

KABOOOOM!!!

But the flames that instantly engulfed the area swallowed her from sight.

“... Ruen!!!!”

* * *

“Hah... Hah...”

Woojin opened his eyes to excruciating pain.

A dark red sky.

'... Huh?'

He hurriedly sat up.

“No way...”

He turned his head. A burned forest, and a lake turned to black, muddy water. The lake where Kelduan had been only moments ago reeked so badly it made him nauseous.

The scenery... had changed.

“What on earth...?”

Woojin ran his hands over his body.

The sensation beneath his hands.

It was different.

There was none of the faint sense of unreality that lingered in virtual reality, however perfectly it was made.

“... Again?”

His third time in the other world.

Woojin's face twisted.

What on earth had happened? Had the war started sooner than he expected? Or was this the alchemists' doing?

All sorts of possibilities came to mind, but all he remembered was the sudden explosion... and...

“... Ruen.”

Her face, engulfed in flames, flashed through his mind.

BANG!!

He slammed his fist into the ground in frustration.

“Why now, of all times...!!”

He had to get back quickly. One wrong turn, and she could die.

“Ugh... I'm dizzy. I think I'm going to throw up...”

Just then, his pocket stirred, and a voice came from inside.

“Master. I feel sick. What just happened? Did a war break out or something? Ugh...”

“... S-Setsuna?”

In that instant, Woojin was utterly stunned.

“How are you...?”

He stared at her, his eyes trembling.

This wasn't the game. This was the other world.