Ch.100100. Absurd

I was the first one to step inside the Rift.

There was no particular reason. I just happened to be in front, a few steps ahead of her.

But… the moment my vision changed, I realized something had gone terribly wrong.

As soon as I entered, something massive came flying toward me.

Reflexively looking up, I saw a giant fish with legs charging at me.

Its gaping mouth revealed rows of sharp teeth.

I immediately recognized what it was. The quadrupedal fish that roams on land: “Aquadra.”

I wonder why it’s called “Aqua” when it barely goes into water, but I suppose the name comes from its fish-like form.

Whatever the case, the most important thing right now was that this creature was charging straight at me.

“Oh shit.”

This is absurd.

Sometimes in games, there are patterns that people describe as “die to learn” mechanics.

That’s exactly what this was. An entrance ambush—how unfair.

Nothing kills motivation faster than getting a game over right when you’re about to start.

Maybe that’s why in the game, you never got ambushed immediately upon entering a Rift.

I hadn’t even considered this possibility.

I’d forgotten that this wasn’t a game—it just resembled one. This was reality.

Suddenly, the opening line of a novel flashed through my mind:

‘I’m definitely screwed.’

That was my conclusion after careful consideration… Wait, this isn’t the time for such thoughts.

To be honest, I had enough time to dodge. I’m not so dull that I couldn’t avoid an ambush like this.

The problem was… Alkine hadn’t entered the Rift yet.

If I dodged alone, Alkine would soon enter the Rift and get caught in the attack without knowing what was happening.

So I had to hold off this monster until Alkine entered and assessed the situation.

Parrying was clearly impossible, so I skipped that option. That left me with direct confrontation… and since I only had one attack method, there wasn’t much choice.

The purple gem I’d stolen from the Imperial Palace’s treasure vault.

[When you receive an attack while holding this item, “Grudge” accumulates. You can consume all accumulated Grudge to activate “Revenge,” dealing fixed damage equal to the accumulated Grudge value.]

[Current Grudge: 37/500]

Time for this thing to shine again.

Thanks to the Ring of Exploration, I could now see exactly how many stacks had accumulated, unlike before.

I hadn’t been attacked much recently, so there weren’t many stacks… but since fixed damage penetrates defenses, this was my only option right now.

I activated “Revenge” against the charging maw.

A purple beam shot out and pierced the roof of the fish’s mouth.

Crack—

The impact was visibly minimal. But the special power of fixed damage was enough to diminish the fish’s momentum.

Though its momentum was reduced, it was still flying toward me.

Now I really had nothing left. What should I do? Just as I thought this, Alkine finally appeared.

I wanted to ask why she was so late, but… from her perspective, she had only been a few steps behind me when this situation unfolded.

Complaining would only highlight my carelessness in rushing ahead.

As expected, Alkine showed confusion, as if she hadn’t expected this to happen in the few seconds it took her to enter.

“Huh?! Ludion?!”

By the time she assessed the situation… I had already pulled her into an embrace and thrown myself aside.

Seriously, what’s with this spawn point? Appearing right where teeth are about to reach you? I was genuinely terrified.

But Alkine wasn’t one to freeze in such moments.

She immediately created a mana sword and began swinging, resulting in the Aquadra being sliced beyond recognition.

Aquadra. Though it was a boss… it wasn’t strong enough to resist Alkine’s attacks after she’d broken through her wall.

Thanks to her, the situation ended in an instant.

It seemed like a clean resolution, but… unfortunately, it wasn’t such a happy ending.

In my panic to throw myself aside, I’d gotten badly scraped by the teeth.

I couldn’t see it, but my back must have been terribly wounded.

Otherwise, this level of pain wouldn’t be possible.

“AAAAARGH!!”

“Ludion?!”

This pain was so intense that I couldn’t hold back my screams.

I wanted to leave immediately and receive Professor Reina’s healing magic, but as I mentioned, boss Rifts are hardcore challenge content.

There’s no feature that allows you to exit and return in the middle of it.

You can’t leave until you clear it. That’s how it works.

When I cried out in pain, Alkine, belatedly realizing my condition, rushed over.

She began checking my wounds with extreme panic.

“Ah, aah…”

I was about to ask how it looked but stopped. Alkine’s expression was on the verge of tears.

I’m the one dying of pain, why is the council president crying…

“Bandages… do you have anything for bandages?”

At her careful question, I pulled out a bunch of clean cloth pieces from my inventory.

Having all sorts of things piled up in my inventory finally proved useful.

Seeing the cloth pieces, Alkine hastily tore my top and spread the cloths widely across my back.

Then she began pressing down hard.

“Guhk.”

I was prepared for something touching my wound, but when pressure was applied, I involuntarily gasped.

Please don’t press so hard…

That’s what I wanted to say, but saying it wouldn’t change anything. Alkine was quite desperate right now.

I just realized that the bleeding was more serious than I thought.

I thought the wetness on the floor was just moisture, but now I see it’s all my blood.

This is… quite dangerous.

“No… it won’t stop…”

I already knew from previous injuries that there doesn’t seem to be an automatic HP recovery function.

If there was, the bleeding wouldn’t continue like this.

Perhaps it’s because my body is fundamentally robust. I seemed okay for now, but if the bleeding continued, the outcome was obvious.

Am I going to die here like this? I was confident we’d finish quickly, but I didn’t expect it to end this fast.

At this rate, I could even make the speedrun rankings…

“Hey! Don’t close your eyes!!”

“Huh.”

Wow, I momentarily lost consciousness.

I thought I was fine, but I wasn’t. I almost died while thinking nonsense.

Thanks to Alkine waking me up, I regained consciousness, but the bleeding continued.

At this rate, I’ve only delayed the inevitable. I’m really screwed.

At that moment, Alkine threw all the blood-soaked cloths to the floor.

Had she given up? Thinking this, I turned around to see her looking at me with a determined expression.

“Ludion. I’m sorry. This is the only method I can think of.”

What is she trying to do? As I wondered, flames rose from Alkine’s hand.

Right. This woman could use magic too.

She wasn’t particularly skilled at it, so using her mana sword was overwhelmingly more efficient, which is why she didn’t use magic much.

But why fire suddenly… no way.

“I’m really sorry. Please bear with it for a moment.”

Alkine brought the flames to my back and… began cauterizing the wound.

Sizzle—

“AAAAAAAARGH!!!”

“I’m sorry!! I’m really sorry!!”

That day, I learned something.

When pain exceeds the threshold of what you can endure, you can’t even scream anymore.

No, forget screaming—I don’t even know if I was fully conscious. My memory literally vanished.

When I regained my senses, the bleeding had already stopped completely.

///

Celia’s eyes opened gently.

Having woken up very early as usual, she first removed the mana veil she had spread in her room, and simultaneously realized:

‘…Something’s wrong.’

The atmosphere in the academy was unusual.

The cause was obvious. She couldn’t help but notice what she felt outside.

To think she had slept through all this happening. She couldn’t help but laugh ironically.

‘I didn’t expect the mana veil I spread to block noise would be this effective.’

When competence becomes a disadvantage. What a funny situation.

But there was no time to dwell on what had already happened. The serious matter now wasn’t that.

‘It seems neither of them has returned yet.’

That was the important thing now. How she knew is a secret.

Whatever the case, it meant both of them were still inside the Rift… which was quite problematic.

Danger? Worry? That wasn’t the issue. Those two would manage well enough.

The problem, as she saw it, was that the two of them had been together the entire time she was asleep.

“I told them to date, but I didn’t tell them to stay together this long…!”

That was truly vexing.

But it couldn’t be helped. That’s just how the situation was.

Despite her words, she didn’t think the two would mess around while clearing the Rift, given their personalities.

So she was trying to let it go when… the Favorability System appeared before her eyes.

[The Favorability System cheers for you.]

[Cheering choice!]

-[Go find him right now.]

-[Go find him right now.]

…Huh?

Even so, forcibly searching for them in a dangerous place just because she didn’t like them being together seemed a bit much.

That’s what she thought, but she couldn’t help feeling concerned.

Although she didn’t fully understand the Favorability System yet, there must be a reason it gave her a choice with no alternatives.

So… she decided to follow the choice.

Rationally she had restrained herself, but truthfully, she wanted to go find them anyway.

Celia headed outside, toward where the Rift was located.