Chapter 23. Rizenova
A planet brimming with light and energy.
On Lumina, a world ruled by the Orakan race, a fierce conflict between a corrupt government and the revolutionary forces had been raging for decades.
Today, that conflict came to an end.
The revolutionaries had lost.
The leader of the revolution, Rizenova, along with two of his core lieutenants, had been captured and brought to the execution platform.
The citizens, who had long lived under oppression and pain, gazed at the platform with despondent faces.
As the sentence was announced, the people clenched their fists and shut their eyes tightly.
The blade fell toward Rise’s neck.
At that moment—
*Zzzzzzt-!!!*
Without any warning, the space around them warped and twisted, and pitch-black darkness swallowed the five Orakans.
In the blink of an eye, the Orakans standing on the execution platform were dragged into the labyrinth.
Rise and the two executioners were dropped into the same place, while the remaining two lieutenants ended up elsewhere.
“Wh-What is this?! Where are we?!”
“Another one of the revolutionaries’ vile tricks?!”
The executioners were panicking, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
But unlike them, Rise calmly surveyed his surroundings.
Something was coming.
Sensing the killing intent, Rise swiftly got up and dodged the ambush, but the executioners weren’t as lucky.
They were devoured by a monster in an instant.
*What is that creature?*
*This is not the world I lived in.*
There was no time for such questions now. Keeping an eye on the monster, Rise carefully slipped away from the area.
As he wandered through the labyrinth, he encountered another monster.
It appeared weak at first glance.
Thinking he could handle it, he engaged in battle but quickly realized his mistake after a single exchange.
He couldn’t win.
This was a creature far beyond his level, a monster from a realm he couldn’t hope to touch.
Acknowledging its overwhelming strength, Rise made the wise choice to run.
He barely managed to escape.
The problem, however, was that he had suffered a severe wound to his side during his retreat.
Thanks to the Orakan race’s natural regenerative abilities, death wasn’t a concern.
But the wound was deep, leaving him barely able to move.
Unable to walk, and knowing that staying still would lead to death if discovered by another monster, Rise used all his remaining strength to crawl forward, inch by inch.
***
Smooth black skin.
Half of its head covered by a white bony structure resembling a helmet.
Its hair was thick and coarse, blending black and orange strands.
Its face lacked a visible nose or mouth.
Its body was otherwise humanoid, resembling the structure of a human.
This was the creature now crawling toward me—a Drifter.
【Pururu】─It’s a monster! Attack!!!
【Mysticism】─🫠!
【Yumi】─Is that monster wearing a robe?
The crawling Drifter lifted its head and looked up at me.
“Ahh…”
Its black skin split apart, revealing a hidden mouth.
It hadn’t lacked a mouth, it had just been concealed.
“Please… help…”
After uttering those words, the Drifter’s head slumped forward.
Had it fainted?
Looking closely, I noticed a large wound on its side.
Blue, not red, blood was oozing from the injury.
It seemed to have passed out from the injury.
【Pururu】─Whoa, wait! I understood what it said!
【Yumi】─Me too! Is it an intelligent monster?
【Pururu】─But how is a monster speaking Korean?
【Yumi】─I don’t think it’s Korean. It feels like a different language, but one we can understand. Maybe this broadcast has a built-in translation function?
【Pururu】─Is that so? It sounded like Korean to me.
【Pururu】─Anyway, now’s the perfect chance! Kill it! It might be dangerous if it wakes up!
【Yumi】─What do you mean, kill it? We should tame it and add it to our forces.
【Pururu】─Oh, right. Tame it quickly then!
【Mysticism】─😋
“Taming is impossible. This isn’t a labyrinth monster—it’s a Drifter.”
【Pururu】─?? A Drifter? How do you know that?
I crouched down beside the Drifter and pointed at the text floating above its head.
“I can see the label ‘Drifter’ above its head.”
【Pururu】─Ah, so that’s one of your status screen abilities. That status screen ability is so OP.
【Yumi】─So, it’s not a monster? But it doesn’t look human either.
【Mysticism】─😐
“Either way, it looks like this Drifter can communicate, so I’ll take him back to the hideout for now. I can’t just leave him here.”
【Pururu】─You’re going to help him? What if he turns out to be dangerous?
“Then I’ll just kill him.”
This Drifter wasn’t a threat to me.
His danger level felt like C-rank at most.
With Jellyfish’s protective barrier around me, he couldn’t harm me anyway.
“Jellyfish, float him for me. We’ll take him back.”
［Pii!］
Jellyfish cast its levitation magic, and the Drifter’s body floated gently into the air.
“Alright, everyone, let’s head back.”
［Sii!］
［Ssss!］
［Pii!］
We decided to put the exploration of Passage No. 8 on hold for now.
***
After returning to the hideout, I laid the Drifter down and checked his wounds.
‘The injury has almost healed.’
It seemed his natural healing ability had kicked in during the trip back.
His body had impressive regenerative powers, likely due to his race or some individual ability.
I had considered asking my assistants to send bandages, but there was no need anymore.
I sat down, grabbed a pen, and opened a notebook.
Since waiting around doing nothing would be boring, I figured I might as well sketch while waiting for him to wake up.
Time passed.
By the time I had finished drawing a sketch,
“Ugh…”
The Drifter grabbed his head and slowly sat up.
“You’re awake?”
“Where is this…?”
“This is my place.”
“Ah… Were you the one who saved me?”
I hadn’t exactly saved him.
I’d just brought him here.
But I nodded anyway.
No harm in letting him feel indebted.
“Thank you. To help someone you don’t even know like this… I don’t know how I can repay this kindness.”
The Drifter stood up, speaking with a formal tone. Even though the language was different, it was naturally translated for me.
This was probably one of the Labyrinth Explorer’s abilities.
Or maybe the labyrinth itself lifted language barriers.
When I first arrived in the other world, I used a magical translation device.
Later, I slowly learned the local language.
‘Come to think of it, is the reason the monsters understand me also because of the translation function?’
I glanced at my monsters while receiving the Drifter’s thanks.
‘But then why can’t I understand their speech? The monsters seem to communicate well enough among themselves.’
*Sii, Pii, Ssss.*
Their noises seemed to be simple cries.
Perhaps they didn’t have a fully developed language?
That thought crossed my mind, but I shook it off.
Dog Spider, Jellyfish, and Black Magma Slime.
I had a feeling that these three were mentally immature.
In other words, they were like children who hadn’t yet learned their species’ language.
If my guess was wrong, then it just meant that the monsters in the labyrinth were particularly low in intelligence.
Either way, I put those thoughts aside and focused on the conversation with the Drifter.
“Truly, I am deeply grateful.”
The Drifter knelt and pressed his forehead to the ground, repeating his thanks.
【Pururu】─His speech is so cringey. ‘I am most grateful!’ Ugh.
【Yumi】─Huh? It sounded like ‘I am truly thankful’ to me.
【Pururu】─Does the translation differ for each person?
【Yumi】─Seems like there are slight variations.
“Thank you again for saving me from that monster’s pursuit.”
【Pururu】─Looks like he’s not a bad guy after all.
【Yumi】─If he’s showing gratitude, he must be alright.
“One thank you is enough. You can stop now.”
“Ah, understood.”
The Drifter scratched his head awkwardly, brushing off the dust on his clothes as he stood up.
He cautiously observed the monsters standing beside me, stealing nervous glances.
I had thought he didn’t have eyes, but it turned out they were just hard to see under his bony helmet-like structure.
“You don’t need to be scared of them. They’re my friends, and they won’t attack you.”
“…That is a relief.”
【Pururu】─His speech really makes me want to punch him.
【Yumi】─Now that I listen more, it is a bit annoying. He’s like someone trying too hard to stay in character.
【Mysticism】─😠
“Let’s sit down and exchange introductions, shall we?”
“Understood.”
The Drifter and I sat on the ground facing each other.
I introduced myself first, without divulging too much personal information. Then, I asked about his world, his race, and his name.
“My name is Rise Nova. I am an Orakan.”
【Pururu】─Oraa! Ora!!
【Mysticism】─🤭
“And by world, do you mean the name of your planet?”
I nodded as I jotted down the information in my notebook.
“Lumina. That is the name of my planet. I did not come here by choice—I was dragged here, as if consumed by an unknown darkness.”
Rise readily shared his information, even revealing that he was the supreme commander of a revolutionary army fighting against his planet’s government.
That gave me a good overview of who he was.
I decided not to pry into his abilities just yet.
Closing my notebook, I noticed Rise eyeing it curiously.
“What was the purpose of writing down my details?”
“Just a hobby. Don’t worry about it.”
I put the notebook back into the box and turned my attention back to Rise.
“Rise, if you could return to your original world, you’d want to go back, right?”
“Of course. I have unfinished business there.”
“If I wanted to, I could send you back to your world.”
“Truly?”
“Yes. I have the power to do that.”
【Pururu】─Tell him you won’t send him back unless he changes his speech. 😒
I *could* send Rise back to his home world.
I still had four **Transferable Return Tickets**.
But it wouldn’t be for free.
I looked him up and down.
“If you want to return, how about you hand over everything you’ve got?”
【Pururu】─?
【Yumi】─Gasp.
【Mysticism】─👍
It wasn’t a threat.
Just a polite business proposal.