Chapter 9
The system had never once mentioned death as a failure penalty. It had merely threatened me with a ‘game reset’.
For that system… to mention death. That meant if I died to ‘that thing’, it was really the end.
“Heok, heok─”
I have to survive that thing? Is that even possible? Despair felt like it was creeping up my ankles, ready to consume me.
I had to get a grip. Only after slapping my cheek hard enough to make a jjak! sound was I barely able to pull myself together.
I promised my father I would live. I absolutely cannot die so futilely.
What on earth could I do to survive?
I roughly wiped away the tears of blood with my sleeve, and my eyes stung.
It was an unwelcome pain, as if to remind me that this situation was not a dream but a harsh reality.
But, thanks to it, a pretty good idea came to mind.
“Lucian!”
Lucian was looking at me with trembling eyes. He seemed flustered by my coughing up blood and shedding tears of blood.
“We have two choices.”
I knew the identity of that monster.
It was a demon that had existed since ancient times. A primeval demon, of a different class even among demons.
There wasn’t much time. Contrary to my anxious heart, I began to explain as calmly as possible.
“First, we wait for Senior Laurel to hold out for as long as possible, and we run away blindly.”
This wasn't a very good plan.
This abandoned mine had all paths blocked except for the one leading to the gate, to prevent monsters from hiding and ambushing people.
However, that ‘safe judgment’ had become a threat to our lives.
No matter how fast we ran, the demon would quickly catch up and kill us. The only hope we could bank on was Laurel holding out for as long as possible, but─
“But if that happens, Senior Laurel will definitely die.”
Because the compatibility between a hero and a demon was terribly bad.
“Second, we have the senior escape and somehow hold out until reinforcements arrive.”
“The senior? Not you?”
“Yes. Not me, but Senior Laurel.”
I knew best how weak and slow I was. Moreover, the most important problem was something else.
“In the first place, we didn’t even come here with official permission.”
If I used the writer skill to instantly move and explain the whole situation to the professor, who and how much would they be able to trust?
Well, I’d be lucky if they didn’t just tell me I’d had a nightmare while taking a long nap.
But Laurel was different. No matter how mischievous and playful a senior she was, she wasn't the type to lie about something like this, so they would believe her words.
“Hey, do you trust me?”
“I do.”
Lucian answered without a second of hesitation.
…How long have you even known this kid that you already trust me? You won't snap out of it until you've been betrayed until the back of your head is flat, will you?
Well, I guess that’s why he could be the protagonist in a world like this.
As I used the skill again, parchment and a silver quill pen appeared before my eyes.
“I have a way.”
A way to hold out until Laurel brings reinforcements.
I didn’t know if it was possible or not. But I had to make it work.
The number of characters given to me was a mere thirteen. I folded my fingers as I crafted a sentence.
『Laurel comes out of the gate』
The sentence I wrote was a total of 11 characters.
At that moment, a pure white light flickered.
Laurel, who had clenched her fists and looked ready to charge out at any moment, appeared before us.
Though the gate was still ominously colored a deep red.
It would have been better if the gate had remained closed until someone else arrived.
I quickly gave instructions to Laurel, who was looking around, unable to grasp the situation.
“Senior, run to the Academy right now.”
“What?”
Laurel looked back and forth between the gate and me, then asked.
“Did you do this? No, the gate is still red─”
“Explanations later! Please bring my father as quickly as possible!”
At my shout, Laurel let out a short “Ah!” and started running without looking back.
If it takes Laurel 5 minutes to run out of the dungeon at full speed, 10 minutes from the dungeon to the Academy, and 10 minutes to find my father─ the total time I have to hold out is 30 minutes.
I clenched and unclenched my fingers a few times, desperately crafting a sentence.
No, this is fourteen characters. This is fifteen characters─ the thirteen-character limit was quite annoying.
“Theo!”
At the voice that suddenly called me, I took a ragged breath and looked at Lucian.
Trust was reflected in his emerald eyes. It was too heavy a thing for someone he had known for only three days.
I wanted to just run away.
If I betrayed him like this and ran away, would the demon spare me?
‘No. That’s a stupid thing to do.’
I need Lucian’s power to overcome the difficulties ahead.
More than anything, the world wouldn’t leave alone a human who returned after killing the heir of the Hero, who had returned after 1,000 years.
So I have to hold on for 30 minutes, maybe even longer, without abandoning Lucian.
“Hey, Lucian.”
To live in a crazy world, I have to be crazy too.
I smiled brightly and said to Lucian.
“When using magic like sealing or binding, you absolutely need a target.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Lucian asked, bewildered.
What do you mean, what? It's just an extension of yesterday's lesson.
“The most important thing is the name.”
A name originally held that much power. Magic that sanctioned a specific opponent, like sealing or binding, lost its effectiveness.
“The effect of binding magic increases when the target is right in front of you, and the more information you know about the target, the stronger the binding power becomes.”
That would probably… also apply to skills similar to magic.
Kung, kung, the space began to shake and distort crazily.
No one told me, but I could tell that the demon would reveal itself on this land within a minute.
“Here’s a question. If you know the name and information of the target right in front of you, how effective would it be?”
“……?”
And if you add a unique class’s exclusive skill to that?
“It means you can hold down any opponent!”
I will definitely survive.
I rather stretched the corners of my mouth into a smile and waited for the demon.
KWANG! KWANG!! KWANG!!!
After a few roars that seemed to flip the entire world, the gate, which had been slowly dimming its red light, cracked and then completely shattered.
Despite that grotesque sight, as if the world itself was being torn apart, I felt a strange sense of relief. Although there were some differences, ‘that appearance’ of it slowly revealing itself as the gate broke was an ‘entrance scene’ I had seen countless times.
Holding the quill pen, I slowly took a deep breath.
“We have to survive no matter what.”
“Yeah…!”
KWAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!
With the sound of the gate completely shattering, the boss revealed itself.
The bluish skin, the giant red horn sprouting from its head, the sight of it scattering a bright yellow light from its eyes was a sight I had seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of times.
《So you are the heir of the Hero.》
The demon that appeared in the world opened its mouth.
* * *
Laurel ran as if she had never run so much in her life, and then ran some more.
Her breath caught in her throat, and it was painful as if her lungs were being gouged with a knife, but her speed never slowed.
“Damn it! Damn it!!”
For some reason, there was no one in sight today.
Not the staff who always loitered in the hallways, not the students who laughed and giggled, not even the professor who looked at them with disapproval!!
Why is no one here? Is this all a nightmare created by the demon? No, it can’t be.
“Damn it all!!!!!”
Anxiety boiled up inside her.
What should I do? What if the two of them die because I’m too late…!
Laurel, who had been running down the hallway for a while, finally collided with someone.
Wadang-tang-tang!!!
What Laurel saw, after tumbling clumsily to the floor, were drops of blood falling to the ground.
Blood, there's blood!
There were few people in the Academy who were so great as to get a nosebleed from a collision with Laurel.
Hwik! When she lifted her head, the face she saw was that of someone who resembled the person Laurel had left behind in the dungeon. Though the atmosphere was incomparably colder.
“Professor Lisitoel!”
At the emotional fact that she had finally met Evan, tears squeezed out of Laurel’s eyes. Her anxiety melted away like snow, and a sense of relief spread.
“All classes are canceled today, aren’t they?”
Evan frowned at Laurel’s sudden appearance. There was no time to explain the details.
“Theo is in danger!”
It was only seven characters. But, as if some kind of magic was imbued in those seven characters, they instantly hardened the father’s face.
“Lead the way immediately.”
His expression alone was cold enough to tear someone to shreds right away.
* * *
<Lapis Academy> had a guild system like any other mobile game.
And what comes with a guild system? It was guild raids.
The users gathered in the guild formed their own best parties and challenged the raid.
One final boss and four gatekeeper-level mid-bosses. A total of five boss monsters.
Among them, this guy in front of me was a final boss with an insane difficulty that made even numerous veteran players and paying users sing songs of curses at the developers.
I even left a perfectly fine guild and created a one-person guild because I wanted to solo clear that guy.
There was no way a dumbass wouldn’t know the name of the vicious final boss that had made me try hundreds, thousands of times.
「Baal cannot move a single step」
A thirteen-character sentence that I had crafted by counting the characters over and over again.
It may have seemed insignificant, but its impact was huge.
For me, and for Baal, who had just appeared in the world─
Chwareureureuk.
With the sound of chains pouring out, Baal’s hands, feet, and entire body were bound.
This is really working? To think I could tie down a guy who was immune to all status ailments, this exclusive skill is awesome!!!
Just as I was about to let out a cheer of joy.
“Ugh.”
Along with a pain as if an elephant was stomping on my insides with all its might, my vision turned completely red. I hurriedly shut my mouth at the feeling of something refluxing, but it was a little too late.
“Theo!!!”
I was about to collapse on the spot, but I managed to hold on by grabbing Lucian.
It fucking hurts. I think I’m going to cry.
Ah, am I already crying?
The tears falling to the floor are bright red.
But all I could do was swallow the blood that kept trying to reflux. It felt as if my body was screaming at me, asking why I was doing this to it.
《A peculiar power.》
With just a single reverberation, my insides were shaken violently and turned into a mess.
At the same time, I knew.
The demon in front of me could break the restraints at any moment.
The power of the binding was sufficient. But Baal’s power was monstrous beyond that. If the demon were to ‘strongly’ exert its strength and shake its body, the chains would break.
But Baal didn’t do that.
He watched me as if he were watching a monkey in a zoo. He was just watching, even though he knew my struggle was futile.
“Hoo, heu….”
With trembling hands, I tightly gripped the protagonist’s shoulder.
Get a grip, Theo Lisitoel.
20 more minutes! Just endure for 20 more minutes.
“Ha, keol-leok. Fucking hell.”
Can I endure it? It’s taking a really damn long time.