I’m Really Screwed!

“……!”

What I see before me is a pure white sky, and I’m in free fall right in the middle of it.

I’m going to die. I’m definitely going to die.

Sensing the threat to my life, my brain, which usually works at a sluggish pace, began thinking at incredible speed.

‘Think. Just think.’

First, let’s assess the situation.

It seems I’ve fallen into a dimensional rift connected to the high sky and I’m plummeting toward the ground at a terrifying speed.

If I collide with the ground like this, there’s no way to survive.

We’re not talking about minimum injury here—we’re talking about minimum death. I need to somehow reduce my speed and avoid collision with the ground.

Right now, the only power I can freely use is Dolyeok. If I use Dolyeok, couldn’t I overcome this hopeless situation of falling from the sky?

My deliberation didn’t last long. I immediately moved my Dolyeok to form an invisible cushion beneath me.

“Urgh!”

Although I made it as soft as possible, the impact on my body was significant, not small at all.

If I had been even a little slower, some part of my body would have broken due to gravitational acceleration.

After sighing in relief, I looked down and saw a dense forest that had gotten quite close.

Right now, I’m probably floating about 30 meters above ground, roughly estimating.

“…I should go down, right? Oh, this won’t work.”

I tried to move the Dolyeok cushion supporting me to land directly on the ground, but it wouldn’t move.

It seems I can’t fly around on Dolyeok like riding a magic carpet.

Having no choice, I swallowed hard and used Dolyeok to create platforms one by one beneath me, slowly descending.

Finally landing in the dense forest, I took a moment to sigh and temporarily deactivated Natural Mirror. My head felt like it was about to split from using Natural Mirror for so long.

“…This is frustrating.”

The situation is hopeless.

It seems Charlotte really intends to kill me.

Well, once she became convinced I was a Ma’in, she has no reason to keep me alive.

The situation has become too complicated. I have no idea where to start solving this problem…

• Bang!

At that moment, a familiar loud noise erupted from behind me, and simultaneously, a burning pain shot through my left arm.

“Urgh…!”

Instinctively lowering my posture, I clenched my teeth and checked the wound on my arm. It appears I’ve been penetrated by something small at high speed.

This familiar sound, this mind-numbing pain.

It’s a gun. Not some magical engineering firearm, but a real modern gunpowder-based gun.

I didn’t question how a modern gun could exist in a fantasy world.

If it’s Charlotte, who uses the unique spatial magic called Dimensional Rift, she could certainly use a gun.

Dimensional Rift.

Her magic doesn’t just connect space to space; it can also connect this world to other worlds.

She used that ability to cross over to another world in that short time, seize a firearm, return, and fire it at me.

Of course, her magic has limitations, so she can’t stay in another world for too long or freely bring overpowered items from other worlds, but it’s still broken.

• Step, step.

  Someone’s footsteps are getting closer. I don’t need to check whose they are; it’s obvious.

Quickly thinking about what I need right now, I opened the Achievement Shop and spent my points.

[Common Iron Sword (300 points) Purchase Complete]

[Intermediate Healing Potion (200 points) Purchase Complete]

What I need right now is a potion to heal my wounds and a sword to protect myself.

I can’t buy anything more because I don’t have enough points.

There’s no time to apply the potion to my wound, so I quickly gulp it down, and with my relatively intact right hand, I grasp the sword I just purchased.

Then, activating Natural Mirror again, I slowly stand up and speak.

“We need to talk. Lady Cervantes, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t think we do. Now that it’s been revealed you’re a Ma’in, conversation is meaningless. You must know how Ma’in and demons are treated in the Fraun Kingdom, so why did you make such a choice?”

“This is what they call frustrating. What evidence do you have to claim I’m a Ma’in?”

Charlotte, pointing her pistol at me, snorted at my question and answered.

“That stone I was holding earlier? It has the ability to purify evil beings nearby. You just reacted to that ability and showed pain, so you must be either a demon or a Ma’in.”

The hand pointing the gun at me doesn’t tremble at all.

“Well, either way, to me, you’re just another target that needs to be eliminated.”

“Really, how many times do I have to tell you? This is a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

Charlotte snorted and then glared at me with eyes colder than frost.

“If you’re really innocent, explain it. Why did you show a pained expression earlier? Did you suddenly recall a sad memory?”

“…..”

I couldn’t answer her question. Even I myself don’t know why I felt pain reacting to the Proof of Innocence earlier.

“See, you can’t answer either. How about admitting it already? You know better than anyone that continuing to lie is meaningless.”

The blonde girl points her gun at me and speaks chillingly.

A brief silence flows.

“…You know what?”

Charlotte asks in a low voice.

“I… I really shouldn’t have, but… I actually believed you a little. No, I wanted to believe you.”

A confession that makes my heart ache, one I never imagined I’d hear from someone colder than ice.

“I’m just… tired of living in suspicion. I thought maybe I could live trusting at least one person….”

The hand holding the gun trembles slightly.

“…Yeah. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. It was just a big dream for me.”

But soon her hand regains its composure.

“Well, I don’t particularly enjoy revealing my inner thoughts, but you’re going to die soon anyway. So a little is fine. It feels refreshing.”

I can feel the distance between Charlotte and me growing in real time.

In this frustratingly tangled situation.

“…Lady Cervantes, do you know?”

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair vigorously.

“I have a secret.”

Then I opened my eyes.

“A secret I don’t want to tell anyone. Especially not to you, Lady Cervantes.”

As my eyes, which usually maintained a frivolous atmosphere by remaining half-closed, suddenly opened wide, I could feel her breathing and magic fluctuate instantly through Natural Mirror.

“Please. Step back.”

“…..”

Her finger muscles move gradually.

So it ends like this after all.

Forcing a casual smile, I advised Charlotte.

“You’ll regret it.”

“…Shut up!”

• Bang!

The sound of gunfire echoed again. A bullet zooms toward me at incredible speed.

But this time, I won’t be helplessly struck like before.

With Natural Mirror activated, I can detect exactly when she’ll pull the trigger, which part of me the bullet is targeting, and when the bullet will reach me.

So all I need to do is.

• Clang!!

“I did warn you, didn’t I?”

Using Weak Strike, I deflected the bullet that I’d spotted clear as day with Natural Mirror.

Of course, the bullet I deflected just barely missed Charlotte, not directly wounding her.

That’s natural. I want to stop her, not kill her.

After deflecting the bullet, I immediately kicked off and dashed to the left to disrupt her aim. This was to buy the 2 seconds of cooldown for Weak Strike.

Her gun barrel wandered momentarily then aimed at me again in 1 second, and once more her finger showed signs of pulling the trigger.

In this dangerous situation, with Counter on cooldown and no objects to take cover behind, I decided to use the new trait I had acquired.

First, I reinforced my legs with my meager magic, gained acceleration by vigorously kicking the ground, then powerfully kicked off a tree in front of me to propel myself into the air.

Using that momentum to rotate my body.

• Bang!

I grabbed a thick branch of another tree with my left hand and climbed up like a monkey onto the tree.

Parkour, the trait that allows free movement across terrain, made my fancy evasion possible.

As I evaded her gunfire like performing an acrobatic feat, Charlotte’s expression hardened. This is one of her habits when things don’t go according to her plans.

Another shot followed.

• Bang!

I threw myself toward another tree, and a split second later, the branch that had been supporting me collided with a bullet, scattering fragments as it broke.

• Bang! Bang! Bang!

Multiple bullets rushed toward my body as it moved through the air.

• Swish!

Using Dolyeok to block the bullet’s path, the subtly deflected bullet grazed past me.

Landing on another tree, I didn’t just react to her attacks this time—I immediately kicked off the tree and lunged toward her. I planned to neutralize her actions with a body tackle.

She seemed a bit flustered as she pulled the trigger again, but no bullet was fired.

She had used up all her loaded ammunition.

With no bullets firing and the distance between Charlotte and me rapidly decreasing.

I sensed victory-.

“…..!”

Charlotte’s magic arranged rapidly, and a dimensional rift opened between us.

With my body in mid-air, I had no means to change direction, so I inevitably passed through the dimensional rift.

After passing through, what I saw was a vast field.

Landing on the ground by rolling to distribute the impact throughout my body, I quickly got up and surveyed my surroundings.

“This is…..”

All I could see was a blue sky and green fields, all I could feel was the fresh breeze brushing against my skin. There was no trace of Charlotte anywhere.

“….!”

Cancel what I just said, immediately her magic arranged in the air, and a new dimensional rift opened.

From that dimensional rift, which revealed nothing but darkness, Charlotte walked out calmly.

“I hadn’t heard you were skilled at climbing trees.”

“Haha, I didn’t know I had such an amazing talent either. As you know, I’ve lost my memories.”

“…You still won’t admit it? Fine, let’s see how long you can maintain that casual attitude.”

She pointed the gun at me again and pulled the trigger.

• Clang!

“That was close.”

As I countered with Weak Strike, the bullet deflected far away.

Frowning, she lowered her gun and said.

“How are you deflecting these? Did you gain new abilities by becoming a Ma’in?”

“How about we stop this? Isn’t conversation a good way to resolve things? Haven’t you ever tried it?”

Charlotte pouted and fidgeted with her fingers.

“Are you really not a Ma’in? But clearly….”

Charlotte responded to my words but took no further action.

I slowly walked toward Charlotte who seemed to have half given up-.

‘……!’

At that moment, a dimensional rift rapidly opened behind me, and from it emerged the bullet I had deflected earlier.

The predicted impact point was my heart. I reflexively twisted my body.

Without Natural Mirror, I would have died instantly from this attack.

• Thud!

“Gah…..!”

The bullet penetrated my left shoulder blade.

For a moment, my head went blank and a burning pain engulfed my shoulder.

“So you’re not invincible after all.”

Charlotte gave a bitter smile as she looked at me clutching my gunshot wound.

“What now? There are no trees to climb, and you can’t use one of your arms. How about dying quietly?”

“Haha…. You’ve really restricted many of my strengths. But Lady Cervantes, my dear Lady Cervantes, let me give you one piece of advice.”

My body has been in tatters for a while, but I pick up the sword I dropped and lower my stance.

“You always seem to consider the worst-case scenario when acting.”

“That’s right. If I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to do anything when such a situation actually occurs.”

“Then I recommend you also consider the best-case scenario from now on.”

Ignoring the burning pain of my wound, I grinned.

“From now on, I’ll personally create that best-case scenario for you!”

I kicked the ground hard and approached her.

“…The best scenario for me is you dying quietly!”

• Bang!
• Clang!

Now like a practiced routine, the gunfire followed by Weak Strike. Right after, Charlotte controlled the recoil and aimed at me again, moving the trigger.

I need to make movements that defy her expectations to preserve my life from that terrifying bullet.

‘Just do what I did before.’

I recall the memory of when I was falling through the air.

That memory of instinctively gathering Dolyeok beneath me to save my life.

• Tat!

I compressed Dolyeok in front of me, stepped on it, and vigorously floated through the air.

But this isn’t enough. I need more erratic movements.

I quickly placed the Dolyeok I had just kicked in a new position to my side and compressed it. Kicking off that lump of Dolyeok, my body changed direction in mid-air as if defying the laws of physics.

No matter how many different opponents Charlotte has faced, it would be difficult to hit a target moving so erratically.

Charlotte took a step back and pulled the trigger, but as expected, she couldn’t hit me.

Good. Riding this momentum.

I approach while enduring the pain of my thighs that feel like they’ll burst, my head that feels like it’ll crack, and my shoulder overflowing with blood.

I form a platform to the left and kick off it.

I form a platform below before hitting the ground and kick off it.

Again, I form a platform to the right and kick off it.

This time I form a platform to the left and kick off it.

I form a platform behind me and kick off, propelling myself forward.

I perform all these moves in mid-air without a single piece of ground to step on.

These peculiar movements would have been impossible without the Parkour trait and Wanderer class, even if I died and was reborn.

Charlotte fired multiple shots, but all bullets went toward places far from my movement path, not even coming close to me.

She can’t predict my movements at all.

The distance between us narrowed. A vague look of bewilderment appeared on Charlotte’s face.

“…Sigh, I didn’t want to use this.”

Muttering with a sigh, she opened another dimensional rift and threw herself into it.

I also threw myself into that dimensional rift.

The place I arrived at after passing through the pitch-black dimensional rift was filled with darkness.

I can’t even tell if there’s a wall right in front of me or not.

“Huff… huff….”

Breathing heavily, I tried to detect my surroundings using Natural Mirror, but I couldn’t sense Charlotte’s presence.

“Where am I now? I didn’t want to travel the world in this way.”

I’m too exhausted to even make proper jokes now.

While catching my breath, I detect the environment around me with Natural Mirror.

This place is a building with a round structure that extends lengthwise—a tunnel.

“A tunnel all of a sudden…”

Just then, a bright light started approaching from far away.

It was too distant to accurately identify with Natural Mirror.

“Is it a person?”

No, it’s approaching too fast to be a person. And this rhythmic noise that’s getting louder…

“…..wow.”

I witnessed it and despaired.

A 1000-ton metal mass running at an average speed of 100 km/h.

• Ding ding ding!!

A subway train is charging toward me.