Ch.56How to Cross the Desert (3)

# Hidden Episode

It was an event that could be found quite often while playing the game.

Think of it as an Easter egg chapter hidden here and there by the developers.

While it didn’t significantly impact the official storyline, it was possible to gain new information about the world or additional narratives about the characters.

Sometimes powerful items would appear as rewards.

‘These were contents I studied pretty hard.’

Since I had uploaded multiple walkthrough videos.

I think I personally discovered over 20 episodes.

This one was no different.

[EP???. How to Cross the Desert]

-A Door Opening in the Sky, A Boy Watching the Stars-

It was an event triggered when touching a specific object in a specific location.

An event you could participate in only once during gameplay.

The stage difficulty was quite high, but considering the quality of the rewards, it was definitely worth the challenge.

There were items that could only be obtained here.

“Wh-where is this…?”

A soft voice was heard.

It was none other than Lezia.

The girl who had been confused until just now seemed to have regained her senses and was looking around.

Her green eyes appeared to be assessing the situation.

“A desert all of a sudden… I was definitely browsing an old shop just a moment ago.”

The scenery before her eyes was entirely golden.

An endless expanse of sand desert.

The scene transitions with a surreal gap.

While leisurely appreciating the scenery, the dazed pilot mutters.

“Are we perhaps having hallucinations…?”

“Well… I don’t feel anything particularly out of place. It seems likely that this is reality.”

“Th-that’s impossible.”

“This is quite a strange situation.”

“If we’re not hallucinating, h-how do we explain this scenery…”

“Hmm.”

I casually say.

“It seems we’ve gotten caught up in an accident.”

“Wh-what?”

“It appears there was some issue with the book we touched… though I’m not sure of the details.”

“R-right. It all happened so suddenly…”

“Perhaps there was magic cast on the pages.”

“Ugh.”

First, we needed to acknowledge the fact that we had been in an accident.

Just moments ago we were walking through the academy, then briefly lost consciousness, and when we opened our eyes, we were stranded in the middle of a desert.

It was understandably confusing.

I waited a moment for Lezia to calm down.

After seeming lost in thought, the girl suddenly realized something else and stood up.

“Huh?”

Lezia reached her hand into the air.

After waving her hand in front of her for a moment, she spoke with a frozen expression.

“M-master… I can’t gather mana at my fingertips.”

“What?”

“The air flow is strange. I can clearly sense mana, but when I try to manifest magic, it immediately disperses.”

“I see.”

This was the core aspect of this field.

A space where magic is completely neutralized. In this desert, the use of mana for manifesting magic is not permitted at all.

It was truly poison for magicians.

Some travelers called it the ‘Land Without Light.’

Unless one was exceptionally skilled, it was difficult to overcome this restriction.

That’s why the roles of other positions were important.

Swordsmen, priests, shamans, summoners, and others… cards that could replace the firepower of magicians were needed.

This was the role Lezia would take on this time.

“It feels like my abilities are being suppressed.”

“How much…?”

“I don’t think I can use shadows as usual. At most, I could probably create just one sword.”

“N-no way.”

Of course, this was a lie on my part.

Such temporary constraints could be easily overcome by exerting just a bit of my power.

But I deliberately pretended to be unable to use my abilities.

The person who needed to shine in this field wasn’t me.

We came here for Lezia’s growth, and if I did everything myself, it would defeat the purpose.

So I smoothly told the lie.

“After all, I’m a magician too.”

“What should we do? We don’t even know where we are, and now we can’t use communication magic…”

“That is indeed troubling.”

It should be about time for it to appear.

I casually scan the surroundings.

After looking around the desert with a troubled expression for a while, we suddenly heard a faint voice.

It was an old, sickly echo.

-Get out of my way, you things! I cannot die yet…!

It wasn’t far.

It sounded like someone shouting nearby.

“M-master! Did you just hear something from over there…?”

“I heard it too.”

We immediately ran toward the source.

As we crossed a hill that had been blocking our view, the owner of the desperate cry came into sight.

An old man sitting on the ground in a hunched posture.

He seemed to have an injury on his arm.

The old man was waving his arm and shouting.

“Get away…!”

Screech-!

A monstrous sound followed.

Five black scorpions were slowly approaching the old man.

We instinctively furrowed our brows.

“Oh no.”

“Wh-what are those…?”

Could those even be called scorpions?

They were larger than small cars.

Each of them emanated a dangerous aura, with their venomous tails raised sharply.

Like predators hunting their prey.

“I’ll go right away, Miss Lezia.”

“Y-yes…!”

It was a critical situation.

We didn’t even have time to hesitate before pushing off from the ground.

A blurry afterimage remained behind our rapidly moving bodies.

Screech! Grrrr-!

The monsters roared horrifyingly.

I compressed the shadow I had drawn out. Then I unsheathed it as a sword.

The jet-black blade cut through the sandy wind.

“Hup…!”

I exhaled briefly.

I leaped toward the nearest scorpion.

Screech-?!

Had it noticed our presence?

The creature belatedly turned around.

But the sword strike I had launched was already advancing, drawing a magnificent line.

I cut it down in an instant.

Slash-!

A clear cutting sound echoed.

The scorpion’s tail, which it had extended for defense, was severed.

‘I cut it.’

A tingling sensation colored my fingertips.

The creature backed away in confusion.

Not missing the opportunity, I slaughtered it with my sword.

Splat-!

The massive body was split in half.

Purple blood soaked the ground.

It took barely 10 seconds.

A life ended in a brief moment.

However, there was no time to pause.

Grrrr-!

The gazes of the other creatures were fixed on me.

Three scorpions charged.

I lightly flicked my wrist.

Whirl-.

The blade rotated following my elegant gesture.

The long shadow split into two, transforming into short daggers.

A dagger in each hand.

I bent my upper body and rushed toward the monsters.

Swish-!

A scorpion’s tail fell above my head.

I deflected it with a smooth movement. The missed attack grazed the back of my blade.

Clang…!

Sparks flew.

I passed through the intense bursting sound. I slashed horizontally with both daggers.

A series of strikes crushing the hard shell.

Crack-!

The scorpion’s head was crushed.

I briefly adjusted my distance, regaining my disrupted stance.

“Hmm.”

Although I claimed not to use magic, basic swordsmanship was enough for these minor monsters.

I methodically eliminated the creatures.

“G-get away!!”

Beside me, Lezia was also struggling against the remaining one.

I was worried about how she would fight without being able to use basic magic, but she just swung her bag at its head.

Thwack-!

I didn’t know what was in the bag, but the sound was impressive.

Perhaps it was because she was a student of Gallimar.

Her basic movements weren’t bad.

Thanks to that, the scorpion extermination was completed smoothly.

Screech-!

The last one collapsed with a single scream.

Blood pools seeping between the small grains of sand.

A brief moment of rest was granted.

“Haah…”

A gentle breath escaped.

It was indeed annoying to fight without using lies.

Perhaps because there was no stamina correction, hot breaths kept threatening to escape.

This feels nostalgic.

Of course, due to the [Smiling Mask] trait, no signs of fatigue showed on my face.

I simply looked relaxed with a smile.

I patted the exhausted Lezia’s head.

“Good job, Miss Lezia.”

“Huff, huff… what on earth are these huge scorpions?”

“I’m not sure either, as this is my first time seeing them.”

“They’re so strong, my arms are trembling…”

“They certainly don’t look like ordinary creatures.”

“Phew… Master, you’re r-really amazing. I was overwhelmed by just one, but you handled four of them, and so effortlessly too.”

“Thank you.”

The scorpion corpses lying on the ground.

We passed by those fragments and walked toward the old man sitting quietly to one side.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be seriously injured.

“Um… are you alright?”

Lezia approached cautiously.

The old man, who had been staring at us blankly, soon regained his senses. A rough cough escaped his wrinkled lips.

“Cough, cough! Thank you for saving me, young ones… I owe you my life.”

The old man was wearing a tattered robe.

White hair, a beard covering his lower face, and blinking blue eyes.

He had a dignified appearance of an elderly person.

“Are you perhaps injured on your left arm?”

“I just twisted it by mistake.”

“I’ll treat you! I always carry medical supplies in my bag!”

“I’m so grateful…”

Lezia rummaged through her bag.

She pulled out bandages.

Meanwhile, I was staring at the white hair visible over the girl’s shoulder.

The old man hunched over receiving treatment.

‘So this is how we meet.’

The key character of this episode.

The man who would be our goal for the next few days and the key to leaving this field.

The mission for players here was simple.

[Safely escort the character ‘Josh Clacker’ to his destination.]

It was about safely taking the old man before us to his destination.

And his destination was…

“Young ones… forgive my impudence, but I have one request.”

The clear blue eyes spoke while clutching his arm.

“Could you perhaps take this old man to the stars?”

A strange request in a single sentence.

Just like in the original work, the episode began that way.