Chapter 151
Chapter 151. Accident (3)
Fifteen minutes had passed since Yoo Ji-han’s party began their full-speed dash.
The thread writhing in midair continued to extend forward.
“Yu-ri!”
“Yes!”
Min Yu-ri shot a Magic Arrow at the creeping monster, the Goya Ziziphus, they encountered along the way.
[Shape Change – Cube]
The arrow transformed into a cubical shape mid-flight, wrapping around the Goya Ziziphus’s head.
She had progressed from merely creating thin surfaces to now being able to manifest three-dimensional shapes.
“I’ll keep moving forward.”
Yoo Ji-han’s party was temporarily holding the monsters in place without hunting them.
This was to conserve their stamina and magic for the moment.
That was also why only Min Yu-ri, who had the most magic among them, was attacking.
“Ho-yeol, are you uncomfortable?”
“No! Not at all.”
“Chilla!”
“I’m sorry for being the only one being carried….”
Chilla was running while carrying Nam Ho-yeol on its back.
Nam Ho-yeol, flattened out on the shield he was being carried on, felt sorry for the others running alongside.
Min Yu-ri, who was running next to them, remarked.
“I really can’t see the end.”
“How on earth did they bring all these Goya Ziziphus here…?”
They were in a space composed of a vast, unblocked sky and grassland that one could step on.
The only thing visible on the ground was verdant grass, almost overly lush, but its expanse was unfathomable.
Even with Min Yu-ri continuously using [Eagle Eye], which enhances vision and tracking ability, the end of the grassland remained out of sight.
Whoosh!
The trajectory of the staff swung by Kim Si-hu caused magical energy to spread out in a fan shape.
Initially, it looked intensely blue, but as the distance from Kim Si-hu and the fan-shaped magic increased, the color gradually faded.
Once the magic became transparent to the point of being invisible, Kim Si-hu tilted his head in confusion.
“Something’s off.”
“What is it?”
“It seems like the terrain continues in almost the same shape as the ground we’re standing on.”
What raised Kim Si-hu’s suspicion was that the same terrain was repeating to an unsettling degree as they moved forward.
It was like looking out of a train window and seeing the same scenery pass by.
“The undulations of the ground are nearly identical too. The only difference is our footprints that we’ve been leaving behind.”
“Could it be that there is magic cast even on the distorted space?”
“That might be it. It seems that People from Another World excel at mental and spatial magic.”
Yoo Ji-han nodded.
He had harbored such suspicions since witnessing the People from Another World forcibly relocate Yoon Do-ha and Baek Kang-cheon against their will.
Given the magnitude of the magic being implemented, it seemed like undeniable information.
“There’s a chance that space distortion specialists are indeed People from Another World.”
“That’s true.”
“Wait, then that rock during the promotion exam….”
“…!”
Min Yu-ri brought up the gigantic rock they had encountered in the dungeon.
That trap, which was recognized as a design flaw by the Hero Department and even resulted in compensation, could be the work of those from another world.
“Hmmm, that makes quite a bit of sense.”
Just as Kim Si-hu was fostering that suspicion.
Boom!
A sound like fireworks suddenly burst forth from somewhere.
From the direction the sound came, a reddish pillar of light shot up into the sky.
Yoo Ji-han’s party looked up at the pillar, their eyes wide in surprise.
“That’s….”
“Someone must have used that flare.”
Yoo Ji-han alternated his gaze between the pillar of light and the thread floating in the air.
The path visible only to his eyes through sampling pointed in a completely different direction from where the pillar had risen.
‘The direction toward the exit is this way?’
Even if they went toward where that pillar was visible, there wouldn’t be an exit.
In contrast, simply following the thread a bit longer would lead them to the exit.
It was not merely a vague guess but a thought closer to certainty.
“Let’s go for now.”
Yoo Ji-han’s party dashed toward the direction where someone had shot up the flare.
And, as expected, when they arrived at the location, there was no exit.
Instead, a man was bowing repeatedly to the gathering crowd.
“I’m really, really sorry, everyone!”
“…….”
“Ah, what on earth have I done….”
It seemed that someone had accidentally used the artifact, which was a new type provided by Red Hole.
Due to that mistake, the heroes, who had scattered in various directions, began to gather back in one place one by one.
“I’m sorry, Vice Guild Master….”
“Your apologies are sufficient.”
The hero who committed the blunder was a member of the Dice Guild.
Park Jae-kyung, who appeared to have a slight headache, pressed his temples and looked around.
“Since we’ve gathered, could the leaders of each party give a brief situation report? If you have anything to say, please do.”
“Lee Ji-yeon’s party has no special findings.”
“Dong Soo-cheol’s party echoing the same sentiment.”
“Jung Young-wook’s party echoing the same sentiment…”
A brief situation report was delivered centered around the leaders of each party.
However, all they reported was that nothing had been discovered at this location.
“We will need at least 1 or 2 more hours for a thorough search.”
“Do weather conditions change in distorted space?”
“If the sun sets, finding the exit might be challenging…”
“How much longer must we stay here?”
As most of the heroes finished their reports and let out sighs, Yoo Ji-han, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
“I believe our party has found the exit.”
“Pardon?!”
“What did you say?”
“…!”
All the heroes in the vicinity turned their gazes toward Yoo Ji-han’s face.
The party members right next to him did the same.
Jung Gi-jun, one of the leaders leading the expedition, hurriedly approached him and inquired.
“You’ve found the exit?”
“To be precise, I think we are very close to the exit.”
“Is that reliable information?”
“I can’t say it’s ‘certain’ since I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, but I have a ‘strong conviction’ about it.”
This meant he had not found the exit entirely.
Jung Gi-jun gazed into Yoo Ji-han’s eyes for a moment.
Yoo Ji-han’s eyes were calm, without a hint of tremor.
Facing one of Korea’s top heroes, there was no sign of anxiety from him.
‘Not bad.’
His demeanor, which had been revealed since the first battle, evoked a sense of trust in Jung Gi-jun.
Then Park Jae-kyung asked him.
“What’s the estimated time to reach the exit?”
“If we run with all our might, it should take approximately 25 minutes.”
“In that case, let’s all follow Yoo Ji-han’s party. If we can’t find the exit in 30 minutes, we’ll disperse again.”
“Those who can, please carry one support team member each!”
Receiving everyone’s agreement, Park Jae-kyung put Yoo Ji-han’s party at the forefront.
Yoo Ji-han soon began leading them forward.
Kim Si-hu quietly said beside him.
“Did you really find it?”
“Just follow along. Didn’t you say to trust me earlier?”
“No, I’m just worried that if we can’t find it, the atmosphere will become really awkward…”
Kim Si-hu glanced back.
He was already in a position where many heroes were watching them, so it was easy to imagine how they would react if they made a mistake here.
‘This is it.’
When they crossed over the area where they had stopped earlier.
Finally, Yoo Ji-han reached the point where the thread of light ended.
The thread that had been floating in the air seemed to have accomplished its purpose and disappeared silently.
“We’ve arrived.”
“Arrived?”
“This is the exit?”
“Yes. There should definitely be an exit around here.”
The people looked around.
The place they had been moving through for several minutes was indistinguishable from the lush grassland they had just left.
There wasn’t even a wall or building, let alone an exit for humans to enter or exit.
‘What the…? There’s nothing here.’
‘They called it a Spirit Master, and I had some expectations….’
‘What a waste of time.’
Although the feelings of disappointment towards Yoo Ji-han were unexpressed, they lingered on.
Meanwhile, Yoo Ji-han was too busy examining his surroundings to care about those reactions.
But then.
“Chirp! Chirp chirp!”
“Uh-oh? There’s something here!”
With Chilla’s sharp cry, Nam Ho-yeol, who was being carried on its back, sent out a signal around.
Park Jae-kyung, who was closest, dashed over toward it.
“Chirp!”
Chilla pressed its paws against the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound it made by hitting the dirt was impossible to produce simply by tapping.
When Chilla moved aside, Park Jae-kyung swung his sword and cut through the long weeds covering the ground.
“Oh!”
“What’s that…?”
“It’s a door!”
From the area where the weeds had been sliced, a green door that seemed to lead to a basement appeared.
The entire door was painted the same color as the weeds on the ground, making it difficult to distinguish unless one looked closely from a close distance.
“Well done, Chilla!”
“Chirp chirp!”
Min Yu-ri affectionately patted Chilla’s side as it beamed with pride.
In the meantime, the others moved to open the heavy door.
“It’s definitely an exit leading outside.”
“Yoo Ji-han was right!”
“But how on earth…?”
The heroes gathered around the door looked at Yoo Ji-han with questioning gazes.
Then Yoo Ji-han casually turned his head toward the Sylph.
“Good job, Sylph.”
Huh?
The sudden compliment caused the green being to express its confusion, but to the others, it appeared as if the Sylph had guided them to the exit.
“Indeed, the powers of spirits are extraordinary.”
“I can see why Spirit Masters are given special privileges.”
“Is the Wind Spirit outstanding at searching?”
“Aqua! Can’t you do something like this?”
—Can’t! She’s the weird one!
Heroes expressed their admiration and envy toward the Sylph.
The other spirits present were also compared unfavorably to the Sylph, which couldn’t even communicate.
“Let’s hurry and get out of here.”
“What should we do about the train left inside?”
“If the Mages outside break the spatial distortion, the train will return to normal.”
“I don’t want to ride that train again…”
The heroes, including Park Jae-kyung, discussed their course of action after leaving this place.
Yoo Ji-han, who hadn’t joined in the conversation, was looking up at the Sylph and thinking.
‘So convenient.’
Spirits made for perfect scapegoats for any situation.
From now on, whenever he used sampling, he intended to deflect all the credit for any results onto the Sylph.
‘Sampling is being a tremendous help.’
It showed them the situations that had occurred before the heroes went missing.
It shattered the illusions that had deceived hundreds of heroes.
And it guided them to an exit, allowing them to escape from an unfamiliar space.
While they all seemed unrelated, there was no doubt that everything stemmed from his Unique Skill.
‘Nirochi said this is a power connected to the truths of the world.’
Every time there was a needed situation, sampling provided the required help.
If one considered that standard, Nirochi’s grand explanation was certainly not exaggerated.
‘I almost lived my life unaware.’
Even if one had a precious treasure, it held no significance to those unable to recognize its value.
But if that value was recognized…
It would bring enormous benefits to the owner of that treasure.
*
“Damn….”
“…….”
The People from Another World were astonished at the map of the Korean Peninsula hanging on the wall.
Thanks to many heroes who had been missing due to the spatial distortion coming back to reality, not an insignificant number of them had returned.
“You mean to say they could barely last a day?”
“They should have been stuck at least four days at the minimum.”
“That spot was even one that the captain personally reviewed!”
The plan to push up toward Seoul while the main heroes of Korea were missing, even after eliminating the first-class heroes who would be the biggest obstacle.
It seemed that things were not going to unfold as easily as they had hoped.
“The magic they invested so much effort into broke after just a few hours….”
“It seems there are still useful heroes left in Korea.”
“We underestimated them too much.”
“Stop! Don’t make the atmosphere worse than it is.”
“Our captain is recovering, so we can’t waver.”
As the clamor caused by the destruction of the spatial distortion magic settled down, they continued discussing their next plan.
They still had many cards to play to seize control of Korea.
“Cane! Highlight the heroes who have just escaped the distortion.”
“I’ll change the markers.”
Some of the sparkling round dots on the map transformed into star shapes.
These were the heroes centered around the Dice and Red Hole guilds.
“Don’t let those slip through your fingers. They might be the ones who pose the greatest obstacle to us.”
