episode_0056

“Because of time?”

At Rohan’s question, Zion looked at Clara, who remained silent, and nodded cautiously.

“You may be full of thoughts already thinking about this part, but it is true that it will be difficult after escaping.”

“How much free time did you have? When you left Academy City.”

“···About 5 hours.”

Zion’s voice and expression as he gave the answer were not very good.

Didn’t Rohan just say that it could take several days? It’s not just a short amount of time, it’s an incredibly short amount of time to force someone to give up.

“Zion.”

“Um, sorry for bringing up such a gloomy topic. Now that it’s come to this, I guess I’ll have to think about the aftermath later.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

Rohan twirled the dagger between his fingers and raised the corners of his mouth.

“There is at least some hope.”

“Are you looking for a monolith in a short period of time?”

“If possible, that would be best. But this space is a little special.”

“What is that?”

As soon as Rohan regained physical freedom, he looked at his turned-on smartphone. The time displayed on the screen was frozen, indicating that the location was being set.

But the timer is still ticking. Eight minutes and 36 seconds are ticking away.

This dungeon was turned on to remember the characteristic that the sun never sets and night never comes, but there are other reasons as well.

“There is a high possibility that time flows differently here than outside.”

“!”

The two girls’ eyes widened in shock at the information Rohan brought out.

Of course, there is a possibility that the original world had the same 1 second flowing.

However, Rohan’s memory is different. The first dungeon, based on the protagonist’s experience, was remembered as a day in the dungeon lasting between 50 minutes and 1 hour outside.

Because there were little side stories between the characters that arose there.

“It could be passing by quickly, or it could be passing by slowly.”

“Is this ultimately an area where you have to rely on luck?”

“That’s right.”

Although this is the case in most cases, there has never been a dungeon that showed such a gap that there was no answer.

This means that the numerical value of 1 second in the dungeon being equal to 10 years in the original world has never appeared in Abyss City.

“Valuable information. My mind is at ease.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Rohan brushed it off as something any Orion Academy cadet who pays attention in class would know.

Zion and Clara accepted those words without question.

‘If I had broken up with Ichinose or Noah… it hurts just thinking about it.’

Rohan can also pass over this matter so easily because of these two.

Looking at this alone, it was a stroke of luck that my first dungeon experience was with Clara and Sion.

The two girls were not trained to catch monsters, but rather to effectively cut off people’s lives.

“You learn great things at the Academy···.”

“Does Clara want to go too?”

In fact, if we look at the source of the information, it is Rohan’s own experience.

If Rohan escapes the dungeon and tells the protagonist about his experiences, the dungeons that appear next year and this information will be summarized and included in the curriculum.

“I, I wish I had an older brother··· but I’m a bit alone···.”

“Really? Then I’ll tell Clara.”

“Hehe···.”

With those words, Rohan closed the door.

Seeing Zion sitting still without saying much, I think it’s okay to open it now.

Hot! Crackle!

The long-neglected door began to scream at Rohan’s strength and let in the hot sunlight.

What began to appear straight ahead were buildings leaning precariously or lying on their sides, and piles of stone debris.

The streets were filled with guardrails, cars, and utility poles, but none of them were in good condition.

A place that reminds one of a world where humanity has disappeared.

Zion lowered his goggles in the hot sunlight and took out a spare weapon from his bosom, a folding trident.

“The temperature is high. It might go over 40 degrees.”

The heat was intense, as was Zion’s dull sentiment.

However, you should not take off your clothes as you never know what kind of attack you might receive.

Even if you sweat, you should keep your clothes on for now. Rohan has a solution to prevent dehydration.

“If you feel dizzy or dehydrated, tell me immediately. Not saying anything can lead to serious problems.”

“Yeah!”

“Where are you going to move to? There isn’t a place that I can feel the magic.”

“Let’s first secure some visibility.”

Rohan climbed up onto the building that was lying on the ground, stepping on large pieces of debris.

Zion and Clara followed behind with light steps.

‘Where should I look···.’

Rohan, standing on a high place, moved his head around to find the alien building that existed in his memory.

‘Found it!’

At the end of a long line of abandoned buildings. He pointed to a building that was so far away that it could be seen with the naked eye.

Unlike other buildings, it stands tall without leaning on its own.

“See over there? It’s the highest one and it looks fine.”

“Hmm··· There is no disagreement about making that the destination. I don’t see any special buildings.”

Finally, the two people turned their gaze to Clara.

The girl looked startled as if she hadn’t heard of her doctor, but then nodded, saying that she would be fine too.

widely!

Rohan, who had come down to the floor, naturally took the lead.

Clara and Sion are quick and have good attack power, but they are not physically strong enough to be in the lead.

Rohan walked along the path under the shadows, dagger in hand.

“If a monster appears, try to refrain from using your gun if possible. They might get cornered if they hear loud noises.”

Zion looked at Clara, who was sticking to Rohan like a piece of gum, as if agreeing.

When Clara flinched at the blind gaze, Zion brought up the matter.

“Clara. Do you have any spare bullets besides the ones you’ve combined?”

“I, I have one magazine.”

“It’s not very leisurely. Are you using subsonic bullets?”

“···!”

Zion’s reasoning comes from the noisemaker and his unique behavior.

Clara nodded slowly, unable to hide her surprised expression as if it had hit the mark.

“Unfortunately, my pistol is a different caliber model and cannot be equipped with a silencer. If you have another pistol, I can share the bullets with you.”

“Ah, there’s nothing else right now···.”

There’s nothing that can be done about it, since the pistol Clara has is a maniac model and the silencer is a matching model.

Zion quickly nodded and stepped back. That girl’s real weapon must be somewhere else.

As the conversation ended, Rohan placed his hand on Clara’s head.

“I’ll refill it when you run out, so don’t be stingy and use it when you need it. Got it?”

“Yeah···!”

Zion looked at Rohan and Clara from a step behind and chuckled in disbelief.

‘You are so pretty.’

What kind of relationship is that? Can I ask a question a little more deeply?

At that moment, I was contemplating whether or not to open my mouth.

Tsutsuji!

Rohan suddenly stopped walking.

The hand signal is given by raising one hand and making a fist.

Anyone can see that it means stop.

“There is.”

Zion’s pointed ears perked up at Rohan’s lowered voice.

It picked up some extraneous noise.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

‘clock?’

The gentle sound of the second and minute hands moving. Getting closer.

Behind the large sign lying flat on the ground.

An analog clock that looked good hanging on the wall walked out, making a strange footstep sound.

If you ask how it came to be like that.

Four green vines stretch out and move like limbs.

Tick, tick.

It seems like it has no eyes, but it has recognized it. It gives the feeling that the watch is looking this way.

I could see strength entering Rohan’s hand.

Pick!

The guy who had been sitting still suddenly started shooting the clock hands out like a memorization.

Rohan dodged lightly.

Then he took a step closer and stomped hard on the watch with his foot.

──Crash! The clock shattered with a sound.

The vines swayed and hung like human limbs.

[ +1P ]

Rohan noticed the points rising and warned the two.

“As you can see, it’s a monster that attacks first, so be careful.”

“···A very strange monster. I’ve never seen a monster like this in my life.”

For Zion, who had only pierced monsters with vital points such as blood and organs with bullets, there was no other way to describe it than to say that it was bizarre.

It seemed as if he saw without eyes, and as if he heard without ears.

“Because they don’t have the intelligence to pretend to be dead. You can tell if they’re dead or alive by looking at the plants sticking out like limbs.”

“Brother. Is that, is that a parasitic plant···?”

“As far as I know, it can’t parasitize on people. I know it’s a monster that parasitizes on machines or furniture.”

“Whew···.”

Clara let out a sigh of relief and took out the Bali Song.

All three heads turned in the direction they had heard the sound.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A clump of thicker vines appeared.

“Traffic light?”

As Zion said, it is a traffic light, but it is not a traffic light.

It walks on all fours like an animal, using the stems of plants as legs. It alternately lights up green and red without any power supply.

The red light was shining brightly, indicating that an attack was about to occur.

As Clara moved and passed by, the traffic light ── crackled! It split neatly into five equal parts.

Then the girl approached Rohan shyly.

“Oh, brother···! I’m sorry for moving without saying anything···.”

“No. Good job.”

Even the act of asking to be petted is now automatic.

Rohan carefully stroked the girl’s head as she slightly bowed her head.

And one more question is resolved.

[ +1P ]

Even though Clara took care of it, Rohan still got the points.

‘As expected… Even if a colleague catches it, you still get points.’

One thing I’ve been wondering about since the quest stated that they are companions has been resolved.

I even feel greedy about earning a lot of points on this occasion.

After briefly examining the dead monster by swinging it around,

Rohan’s party began to move again.

I walked for a little over an hour, killing three more monsters.

Clara tugged at Rohan’s collar.

“Brother···.”

“Huh?”

“That, that···!”

“Are you dizzy? Are you thirsty?”

Clara’s face is red as she shakes her head. It’s so hot that you wonder if she’s suffering from heatstroke.

The girl, who had been twisting her body without meeting my gaze, lowered her head and whispered.

“Toilet···.”

“Ah.”

Rohan straightened his back and looked around with understanding.

For safety, Zion must accompany you.

The moment Rohan was about to ask Zion a favor.

Zion lifted his goggles and looked as if he was pondering something.

“Rohan. Wait a minute.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t this a situation where you don’t know how long you’ll stay?”

“Right?”

Rohan nodded at the obvious story.

Zion opened his mouth and expressed his opinion, as if he was empowered by it.

“If the goal is to survive, it would be best to just reduce activity, but that’s not possible here, and we’re not in a position to wait for someone to rescue us.”

Zion continued his explanation, saying that he didn’t even know if there was any drinkable water or edible food anywhere around here.

He brought up the main topic with an extremely serious face.

“Of course I know that when you are isolated and there is no water, you shouldn’t drink urine. I read in the survival manual that it’s like drinking poison.”

“Hmm···.”

“However, if the urine comes from a healthy body that is not dehydrated, the body with magical power can easily endure it.”

The argument is that you should collect urine now that you are physically fit.

“Correct me if I’m wrong. I’m being very serious.”

Zion added one last word and looked at Rohan.

It seemed as though Rohan had already become the decision maker of the group.

So Rohan turned his head towards Clara.

“···.”

Clara’s face, which met Rohan’s gaze, turned from red to a color that looked like it would burst into flames at any moment.

The girl froze, stunned.