episode_0149

‘So the reason why my emotions are heightened is probably… .’

I didn’t really trust this guy called the Collector. Wasn’t he a sneaky guy to begin with?

Even if what he says is right, he is the one who stabbed his master in the back in the first place. It’s hard to think that there wasn’t a thief there.

It would be too naive to dismiss Alexstras’s plan simply as a cause, as it has a low probability of success.

“… .”

I kept hearing hesitation coming from in front of me, so I looked again.

He lost his parents during the Seoul Gate incident, which is where it all started, and caused a lot of commotion with the sole intention of finding me.

That kid who got into accidents for ridiculous reasons would have clicked his tongue and laughed if anyone had heard it.

Or perhaps, it can be seen as an environment where everything in this world was given to me, like the movie “The Truman Show”.

Now that I think about it again, I guess that’s not the case.

In The Truman Show, the truth is something that only Truman, the main character of the work, did not know, and the people of this world also do not know the truth, except for a very few, so it is not a good analogy.

No, if you look at it that way, if the memories of the previous world are fake, then the content of the movie in my memory is also just an artificial memory created.

The more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes.

“Because I know that feeling… .”

As I was looking at her intently, she smiled faintly and said that.

What do you know? As brief thoughts and questions were passing through my mind for a moment, Sia suddenly changed her smile to a bitter one and added softly:

“I know very well how painful it is to suddenly have everything around you change.”

“What are you talking about earlier? What on earth do you want to say?”

Do you want to give me some comfort because my condition is not good?

She may have misunderstood me and think that I am trying to force her to act strong and change her mind.

And he may still be thinking that he is not opening up his true feelings to himself.

As if my prediction was correct, the face of the girl with long black hair became a little darker.

“Didn’t you say it wasn’t a big deal? I don’t care at all.”

Surely she means it when she says this.

I was a little proud that he wanted to do something for me, so I nodded and patted my shoulder lightly.

And those worries are unfounded, I really don’t care.

Whether that guy’s story is true or whether I’m really someone who crossed over from another dimension, things like that are fine. It doesn’t matter what.

Whichever of the two is true, isn’t it inevitable that it’s the reason for coming here in the first place?

Whatever is true in that easy choice, it won’t make any difference to how I am acting now.

In other words, if two parallel dimensions exist, I will be advancing toward Alexstras’ fortress in both dimensions.

Aren’t I a fairly simple and adaptable character?

“I am the strongest. It may sound crazy, but it’s true. So no matter what the situation around me is, I will never fall. So, I guess you can say that your worries are for nothing.”

“Ah… .”

“No matter how hurt a person is or how difficult the surroundings seem, it is completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The most important thing is to be able to laugh at the end. Moreover, the situation seen by the person concerned and the situation seen by others are different. Even if something seems difficult to you, it is just a trivial thing to me.”

“… .”

“If you don’t care about me at all, then you’re the only one who keeps worrying. Well, you could say that’s just you.”

Swishing, I hoisted the greatsword over my shoulder and laughed as if I was teasing someone.

Then the response comes immediately. It seemed true that she could feel emotions. It’s a bit embarrassing.

After stroking her head for a moment, I caught her off guard when I lightly flicked her horn with my finger! I hear a voice saying:

“Let’s go back. We’ve been standing here alone since a while ago.”

“Yes Elm.”

I laughed lightly and walked towards the place where I was setting up camp.

As we step on the ground, we talk about various trivial things.

Oh, of course, it was true that Sia had been told by the brown-haired woman, who was sweating profusely with her unit and setting up camp, to stop fooling around alone.

*

“We have now reached the deepest part of the fog. There is more resistance than expected. High-level monsters that are rare outside of the fog are appearing frequently.”

“What is the condition of the casualties?”

“As the battle gets longer, inevitable sacrifices are being made. However, it is lower than what we predicted, Professor. The casualties from today’s battle are the same as reported earlier.”

If someone who knows nothing were to see this scene, they might think that some secret society was carrying out a special ritual.

First of all, the sight that caught my eye was ominous. Could this be the ritual of the circular bridge? There is a possibility that you may think so.

It’s a funny story for us, the people involved, but it’s true.

The sight that comes into view with open eyes will be that they are gathered in front of a table and talking, relying on the light shining from each weapon in the pitch-black darkness.

“The most difficult thing right now is the amount of mana. This fog itself is stealing our mana, so we are always short of mana.”

“Aren’t there still supplies left? I heard that there are still many boxes full of magic stones.”

“Ha… That’s it.”

A young, red-haired Latino man who looked quite strong and temperamental scratched his forehead with his hand and hesitated for a moment.

A flame was burning in his other hand, as if it were a torch. In some ways, the man himself looked like a giant match, so it felt a little comical.

“New students who do not have high mana proficiency are a big problem. Some students had an imbalance between the mana they replenish and the mana they consume.”

When Jimmy Ramirez hesitated to answer, a large, angular man spoke instead.

It’s a bit strange to call a person angular, but should I say it’s an impression or an atmosphere? No, it’s just that the man who seems to be both angled changes the angle of the shining great sword.

The light coming from the large sword body seemed to push away the dull atmosphere a little.

“That’s a shame. How is the morale of the unit members?”

“To be honest, it’s not good. Personnel who are close to the danger level are excluded from battle and are excluded from missions that produce light with mana weapons… .”

“The big problem is that the fog gets thicker as you go into the deepest part. Among the people who know that they are terminally ill, there are people who are scared and want to escape. Although it was handled according to the rules.”

“Huh? what? Did you kill him? Really?”

When Jimmy asked Jang A-hyun with a surprised face, Jang A-hyun said, “That’s not true.” He smiled slightly and shook his head.

“We are solving the problem by creating a mana chamber as a temporary solution. Actually, that’s not very effective either. Oh, of course, we are distributing the remaining magic stones taking into account the amount, so it is not a big problem.”

“Ho… That’s pretty generous. Did Jang, who only focused on extreme efficiency, have this side?”

Jang A-hyeon narrowed her eyes and answered, “I’m annoyed by Jimmy’s jokes.”

It was a hard voice that seemed to block something that was trying to slip into a faint sentiment.

Then Jimmy chuckled and stood up from the chair he was sitting on.

“Well, first of all, I’m more curious about what to do next. What are your plans, Dean?”

Han Sejun, who had been quietly listening in the background, suddenly joined the conversation.

Normally, he seemed a bit soft-hearted, but after coming into the fog, he seemed to have a lot of thorns in some places. In a good way, of course. Because the thorn was not directed at his colleagues.

Instead of his usual laid-back personality, he became someone with a well-trained, sharp-edged personality, and it was only now that I learned that Sejun also had this side.

No, it’s not that I realized it now, but to be exact, Sejun has changed in this damned place in this extreme situation.

Well, either way was welcome.

“What I want is a quick resolution. Since there wasn’t much time left, we had to march quite harshly, and the situation will be similar or even worse in the future. Is everyone okay?”

The world is gradually collapsing. It’s hard to say that fact itself, but anyway, that was the reason I pushed for the African expedition.

Of course, I think that I have adjusted and marched in my own way so that my students can follow, but that will always be my own opinion.

As proof, didn’t my best disciples talk about it earlier? There are already quite a few people who have fallen behind and are struggling.

Mana users can move around within this fog without any special protective equipment, but that is only within the limit that their mana can support.

In other words, it is not that you are immune to fog, but that you are consuming your own mana and creating a protective shield around your body.

In other words, the fog is continuously losing mana, and the moment the mana that protected it disappears, it becomes no different from an ordinary person.

When ordinary people without mana touch the fog, their entire bodies literally melt. That is the reason why the organization’s troops, except for a very small portion, could not enter the fog.

‘That’s terrible.’

In this situation, how do the parties who are gradually losing mana feel? It will feel as if you have encountered a major natural disaster.

It is difficult for people to maintain their sanity when death is right in front of them. It must feel like you are trapped in a submarine with a welded entrance and are sinking into the deep, deep sea.

The fact that the unit is being managed well in a situation where a riot could break out if not careful. This means that the master disciples right in front of me are controlling their troops well. I felt proud inside.

As I was thinking that, Gideon nodded.

“I also agree with what the professor said. In the current situation, I don’t think there is any benefit in waiting too long.”

“Yes, it’s the same for me too. In fact, the longer the advance is delayed, the higher the troop consumption rate will be. It would be better to break through at a fast pace.”

“That’s right, there is no other way in this extreme situation. Yes.”

“It’s good that it’s clear.”

Everyone’s opinions clearly agreed, without any disagreement.

After giving everyone a glance, I was turning my attention to the map spread out on the table when someone suddenly burst into my command barracks.

“That… uh… Uh… .”

“What is it? What’s going on?”

It was a man wearing a special protective suit, as if he would be dispatched to a disaster area.

Personnel of the organization. He was a man whose role was to follow our advance and relay our location to headquarters.

A man wearing a thick protective suit to protect the interior from the fog was walking towards me with a strange gait.

When I felt something strange and was about to react, a light flashed from the man’s hand and a gunshot suddenly rang out.

Bang, bang, bang.

“Ugh!”

A gunshot rang out and a blade was struck at him almost simultaneously, but a moment later, the sound of someone falling down with blood gushing from their chest was heard.

“Grey!”

I jumped up from the chair and cut the man in the hazmat suit diagonally from the shoulder, but the upper part of his torn body crawled with my free hand and turned the muzzle of the pistol in my hand at someone else.

“Damn it! Be careful!”

I exploded at him.

I wonder if I can unleash proper firepower from a gun raised with one hand, even with a trembling hand because my body doesn’t obey, but it’s different if it’s at such a close range that aiming is meaningless.

Right now, the distance between this man and my students is at most 12 meters. If only the man pulled the trigger… .

Taaaang!

“Pfft!”

With a loud sound, the man’s entire head disappeared as it was trampled by my foot.

Fortunately, the bullet fired at the same time did not pierce Yongin’s scales. Was it fortunate that it was a regular lead bullet that had not been treated with magical power?

It just burst into flames and disappeared, leaving behind only the sound of metal.

“Professor!”

“Gideon Gray! Are you okay?”

“Yes… Yes, it’s okay. Fortunately, it was a regular bullet, so it didn’t pierce my abilities. There was only a slight wound to the skin.”

“Call a person capable of healing. Still, getting treatment once is… No, wait.”

At that moment, something passed through my mind.

There was something strange about the man just now. Like a person with brain damage who can’t speak the proper language… uh… It was just repeating things like that.

It’s not that the fog broke inside. If so, maybe.

‘It’s the devil’s work. A guy with abilities like mind control… ‘

Damn it. You don’t give me any time to rest.

“It’s an attack!”

I shouted loudly and grabbed my sword.

At the same time, screams and gunshots began to be heard outside the barracks.