Ch.248[Chapter 248] Escape

Sir Dominic lay flat on the ground, slightly raising his head to look around.

Though not as severe as the earlier tremor, aftershocks still lingered.

“Is it over?”

Sir Dominic muttered as he slowly got to his feet.

Dry soil crumbled down onto Sir Dominic. It seemed to be dirt that had been dislodged from the rocks above by the vibrations.

“Sir Dominic, are you alright?”

Unryu Hime, who had somehow maintained her balance without falling during the tremors, immediately approached Sir Dominic.

As he dusted off the dirt from his clothes, Sir Dominic casually responded to her concern.

“I’m fine except for feeling slightly dizzy. By the way, Lady Hime… hmm?”

Sir Dominic turned his head to ask if Hime was alright.

However, his words trailed off as he noticed something strange behind her.

“Excuse me, Lady Hime?”

“Yes?”

“Was that rock always there?”

Sir Dominic pointed to a rock behind Hime.

It seemed to have been at shoulder height before the tremor, but now it was around her solar plexus.

The rock appeared too stable to have merely shifted temporarily due to the vibration.

“The rock has always been there… wait? Why is it lower now?”

Hime looked at the rock Sir Dominic was pointing at and also noticed it had indeed lowered.

Convinced by Hime’s reaction that the rock’s position had indeed changed, Sir Dominic looked down the path they had climbed, which was now noticeably closer than before.

“Could the entire map have sunk?”

Sir Dominic looked up again with a serious expression.

If the entire map had descended, they might not be able to reach the exit.

However, Sir Dominic’s worry was unfounded.

“The exit… it’s closer.”

Sir Dominic murmured in disbelief.

The exit, which had previously appeared as a distant twinkling star, was now close enough to vaguely make out as a door.

“What are you looking at? Oh?”

When Sir Dominic kept staring blankly at the sky, Hime followed his gaze toward the exit and also realized it had drawn nearer.

“Is everyone alright?”

Just then, Ohohnewdo, who had been crossing the stepping stones ahead of them, quickly descended.

Though he seemed a bit unsteady compared to when they were climbing up, Ohohnewdo immediately checked on Sir Dominic and Hime’s condition after reaching them.

“Phew. That’s a relief. I was worried another bug or error might have occurred due to this sudden variable.”

“The exit is closer. Has the path been broken anywhere?”

Sir Dominic seized the opportunity to ask Ohohnewdo about the situation above.

“The exit is intact. However, the positions of the rocks have changed slightly. I’ll have to take note of this for my next speed run.”

Ohohnewdo smiled broadly as he mentioned that he would need to compare this with the standard route since the terrain had changed.

“This is fortunate for you, Sir Dominic. I was concerned that it might be too difficult for you since it gets harder as you climb higher.”

After saying this, Ohohnewdo glanced upward.

“At this level, rather than being extremely challenging, it’s more like difficult but doabl-“

Before Ohohnewdo could finish saying the difficulty had been lowered, another tremor occurred.

This time, however, it wasn’t as strong as before—Sir Dominic could easily remain standing by bracing his legs.

“Another tremor.”

Sir Dominic glanced downward.

Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt they were even closer to the starting point than before.

“How strange. I’ve been here hundreds of times over several decades, but I’ve never experienced such sudden variables.”

Ohohnewdo tilted his head in confusion.

“Well, it’s fortunate that these variables are working in our favor. Sir Dominic, you’re quite lucky.”

Ohohnewdo remarked that it was as if someone was trying to help Sir Dominic, then staggered slightly as another tremor hit.

The tremors continued but grew progressively weaker, and with each one, the gaps between the rocks narrowed further.

“Now we could just stroll up like we’re taking a walk.”

Sir Dominic observed the stepping stones, which had transformed into something resembling stairs.

The void-corrupted monkeys were still a problem, but as the tremors continued, their projectiles became more clearly visible, making them easier to dodge.

Sir Dominic couldn’t understand why this place was becoming easier, but mentally exhausted from his time in Glitchburg, he convinced himself to accept the good fortune.

…

After a short while, Sir Dominic was able to reach the exit with remarkable ease.

“Going through here will take you to the Story Mode lobby.”

Ohohnewdo pointed to an impressive stone portal.

“It looks different from what’s currently used in Gachaland.”

Sir Dominic commented, thinking of the portals and warp gates in Gachaland.

“Well, it’s an old style.”

Ohohnewdo replied matter-of-factly.

“Ah, what an exhausting day.”

Hime sighed tiredly, her tension releasing at the thought of finally being done.

“First we suddenly changed into retro pixel forms, then just when we thought we were out of that, we suddenly sank into the ground, then fell into Glitchburg and got attacked by strangers…”

Hime counted off the day’s events on her fingers.

“At least we can go back now. We could have been trapped here forever if things had gone wrong.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Hime’s words.

No matter how mentally strong Sir Dominic was, Glitchburg was no place for people.

To be trapped there for life?

Sir Dominic shuddered at the mere thought.

“I never want to come back here.”

After shivering, Sir Dominic turned to face Ohohnewdo.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, we’re able to escape from here.”

“It’s nothing. I only helped a little. If you’re grateful, please search for ‘The Fastest Man in the World OhohnewdoTV’ on GachaTube and give me a subscribe and like.”

“…You’re a GachaTuber?”

“These days, few people don’t use GachaTube.”

Ohohnewdo shrugged.

“Anyway, now that we’re here, let me check if the portal is working properly. I’m a bit worried because of the tremors—”

Ohohnewdo stopped mid-sentence and looked behind Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic wondered why Ohohnewdo’s expression had hardened and why his gaze was gradually moving upward, but soon understood when he heard a gurgling sound and turned around.

“…!”

There, a large black slime was looking down at Sir Dominic, Hime, and Ohohnewdo.

…

Inside Glitchburg.

“Ugh. What does ‘abnormal access detected’ even mean?”

“Probably those data miners again. Let’s resolve this quickly. I need to watch GachaCure tonight.”

Due to the detection of abnormal data access in Glitchburg, coders from System Industries were walking through Glitchburg’s interior, each carrying a lantern.

The system had pinpointed the coordinates, but since Glitchburg had no security facilities like surveillance cameras, the coders had to be dispatched.

“Ugh, this place gives me the creeps. It’s terrible.”

“Why? Too dark and scary?”

“No. Because it’s full of bugs.”

The short coder replied matter-of-factly to the tall coder.

“They used to say tigers and ghosts were the greatest calamities. But what’s the real calamity? It’s having to make incompatible old and new data work somehow, and the administrator crying for his mother when bugs emerge from forced compatibility. How can tigers and ghosts compare to bugs?”

“Hahaha! That’s so true. Ah, we’re here.”

The two coders arrived at the location where the illegal data access had occurred.

“Oh, it’s the map for the next update. We’re in trouble.”

The tall coder was the first to recognize the map.

This was inevitable since he was the one who had created it.

More precisely, it was created by the team he belonged to, but the tall coder instinctively realized that future information had been leaked.

“Nothing we can do about it now. They couldn’t have gone far, so if we follow them now… huh?”

The short coder sighed and tried to encourage the tall coder.

Having experienced a couple of future leaks himself, he could empathize with the tall coder’s feelings.

Just then, the short coder noticed something catching his foot.

At first, he thought he might have bumped into equipment for the next update, but soon realized the texture wasn’t hard but soft. He turned his head to identify what had caught his foot.

“…Hello. Good evening. Excuse me, but I’ve committed the crime of secretly viewing this data with the intention of selling it to others. If you don’t mind, could you take me to the police station? I want to turn myself in.”

There stood a woman with a bright smile.

For some reason, a miner with a refreshed expression and a head full of flowery thoughts.