Ch.1818. Random Pattern. But Actually Not Random

At some point, Alkine had fallen silent. Of course, I was the same.

The jokes and exaggerated reactions we’d been making to forget the serious situation were now gone.

As the silence lengthened, I could feel Alkine’s expression darkening, but I didn’t know what to say anymore, so I just focused on running and looking around.

I was still carrying Alkine in my arms.

At first, she disliked it, but now she seemed used to it and showed little reaction.

The funny thing was, even though she seemed to have recovered enough to move on her own, she didn’t ask to be put down.

I thought it might be faster if she ran on her own, but then again, if she needed to conserve her strength for any unexpected situations, this probably made sense.

It wasn’t much of a burden for me with my unlimited stamina anyway… According to my calculations, splitting up wouldn’t make any difference, so I decided to just keep carrying her as we ran.

While looking around again, I became certain of something and asked Alkine.

“President, have you seen this unusually protruding cliff before?”

“I used it as a reference point during exploration.”

“Do you remember which direction the rift stone was from this cliff?”

“That way.”

Alkine pointed in a direction without a moment’s hesitation.

Her immediate answer showed how much effort she had put into exploration.

However, at the end of the direction she pointed… there was an identical cliff.

This was why most of the Student Council’s investigation had become meaningless.

The repetition of identical terrain due to distortion.

For skilled individuals like the Student Council members, finding the rift stone would be more difficult than fighting monsters in the rift.

They must have put effort into exploration but let their guard down on the day of the actual rift operation, leading to this situation.

But that didn’t completely invalidate their exploration efforts.

Now I could calculate where the rift stone was based on the direction Alkine had indicated.

I hadn’t been running around aimlessly all this time.

Didn’t I promise to guide her through the rift strategy? When a veteran player mentions “strategy,” it’s never something trivial.

I’d already realized that many original game concepts were being applied to the rift.

It was strange that specific terrain features kept repeating even though we were clearly moving forward.

In games, this might be explained away as a memory limitation issue, but reality shouldn’t have such limitations, right?

This confirmed that the game system was being directly applied here.

And… there’s no true randomness in games. There are only rules disguised as randomness.

The rift’s distortion was no different.

We were definitely making progress, even though we kept encountering the same terrain.

It just felt like we were going in circles because the same terrain features were mixed up in a specific pattern.

And I had just figured out that pattern.

“Hmm… so…”

If the original direction was this way… then from the last cliff, it should be this way.

I’d seen the same cliff formations dozens of times on our way here.

And I’d figured out the pattern of how these cliffs were arranged.

The two cliffs we just confirmed were the final sequence that determined the pattern.

Rift distortion pattern analysis.

This method, possible because the terrain shifts around the rift stone, is a field that only speedrunners bother with.

There weren’t many opportunities to encounter rift distortions in the game, and the difficulty wasn’t so high that you needed to memorize patterns.

But I had memorized them. I’d studied them extensively when I tried speedrunning before.

“Hmm? Where are we suddenly going?”

“I just have a feeling.”

When I suddenly changed direction, Alkine questioned it, but I couldn’t explain everything so I just brushed it off.

After a short while, a red aura like a line began to appear at the edge of my vision.

A very familiar effect.

It was the effect that helped pinpoint the location of the rift stone.

I excitedly called out to Alkine.

“President, look over there.”

“Hmm? What’s there?”

“What?”

She can’t see it? That’s impossible.

While I was puzzled, she stared intently in the direction I was pointing and suddenly startled.

“Wait… this energy…”

Then she quickly freed herself from my arms and started running.

But seeing her head in a slightly off direction, it seemed she really couldn’t see the rift stone effect.

Could this also be due to the system applying to me because of my characteristics?

I made a mental note to look into it later and decided to follow Alkine.

“Ludion. Hurry up and follow me!”

Even if you say that, I can’t keep up with your speed, President.

I was running as hard as I could, but… I’d be lucky just to keep her in sight, let alone catch up.

I ended up using dash cancel, which I couldn’t use while carrying her. Even so, she was still pulling away.

She’s incredibly fast despite not specializing in agility. The prestige of being the academy’s strongest is no joke.

Her initially off-target direction had corrected itself to aim precisely at the center of the red aura.

But Alkine, who had been running at an incredible speed, gradually slowed down and eventually stopped.

Thanks to that, I was able to catch up to her side, but I couldn’t help wondering why.

“What’s wrong?”

Right now, Alkine should be the most urgent about dealing with the rift.

I expected her to rush in and cut down whatever appeared, so why did she stop?

Curious, I looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anything making the rift stone difficult to handle.

‘A Twin-Headed Wolf?’

Rift stones are usually either hidden or inside a monster’s body.

This was the latter case, where the monster is enhanced by absorbing the rift stone’s energy.

Roughly speaking, it’s like a goblin gaining an ogre’s strength? The enhancement is significant enough that the difficulty fluctuates wildly depending on what monster appears.

But well… with Alkine here, monster enhancements don’t mean much.

Krumple earlier was a special case, but her attacks had enough cutting power to pierce demon skin.

She might not be able to win before hitting the wall, but that’s how powerful her attacks were.

For someone like her, enhanced monsters? Unless it was an exceptionally high-tier monster, it was just meat with a bit more resistance to cutting.

Moreover, the monster currently holding the rift stone was a Twin-Headed Wolf.

This beast, whose only feature was having two heads, was a low-tier monster that Alkine could crush with a casual gesture.

So why did she stop?

Alkine countered my question with another.

“Can you keep what happens here a secret?”

As soon as I heard that, I understood why she had stopped.

Once the rift stone is dealt with, there’s no time for conversation. We’d immediately be ejected from the rift as it collapses.

Knowing this, she wanted to align our stories before leaving…

“We can talk about this after we get out. Let’s put out the urgent fire first.”

“…Right. I was overthinking.”

She seems to be too conscious of me, to the point of confusing priorities.

I’m not that special a person. Don’t feel pressured.

“Once we’re outside, I’ll immediately go request support. You… just join the others and wait.”

“I’ll do that.”

As soon as I answered, Alkine who had been standing in front of me disappeared.

Looking around, I saw her already at the Twin-Headed Wolf’s nose, swinging her mana sword.

Slash-

The red energy emanating from the Twin-Headed Wolf was split in half.

The moment the rift stone’s destruction was confirmed, the rift began to collapse.

The surrounding scenery melted away and changed back to the forest where we had entered the rift.

“Ugh, keuup, huuk.”

“Aaaagh!! Aaaagh!!!”

“Just hold on a little longer. Just a little…”

And chaos unfolded.

People with crushed arms, legs, or both were moaning and screaming in pain.

Unlike them, some were quiet, which startled me for a moment, but fortunately, everyone was still breathing.

‘Thank goodness. They’re all alive.’

My fist clenched involuntarily at the thought of accomplishment. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this kind of satisfaction before.

It’s natural since I’d never experienced saving people’s lives before.

Meanwhile, the uninjured members were using potions on the wounded.

They weren’t using them all at once but applying them sparingly, suggesting their goal was to help the injured endure rather than fully heal them.

It was the most appropriate measure for the current situation, but from the injured’s perspective, it must have been like torture with endless pain.

Had they been doing this believing Alkine would conquer the rift? I was impressed by their trust in their president.

“…Huh?”

At that moment, someone who first noticed the change in surroundings began to cheer.

“Everyone, look! We’re outside! The president must have conquered the rift!”

With that, everyone realized the situation…

“We’re alive!”

“Keuuuk!! Huh! Haaak!!”

“Hey! Calm down!!”

From those who were unharmed to those who were holding onto consciousness despite their injuries, everyone began to express their emotions.

Some laughed, some cried.

Others simultaneously let out screams of pain and cheers of joy.

Amidst all this, only one person remained expressionless, staring intently at something.

“…”

Shaggy green hair. Fashion horn-rimmed glasses. Black eyes with a chilling lack of vitality.

To add more detail… a man who harbored all sorts of dirty emotions toward Alkine—possessiveness, desire to dominate—yet firmly believed it was love.

Student Council Vice President Diggers Zivchak. The direction of his gaze was… surprisingly, toward where Alkine had run off to request support.

Wow… even with his limbs in that state, that’s what he cares about? He’s truly obsessed.