Survival (1)

“Ughhh! Ugh, blergh!!”

As soon as the support magic Water Walking ended, my body sank into the lake as if plunging straight down.

Having never learned to swim in either my previous life or this one, my body began quietly sinking to the lake’s depths.

‘Aaaah! Fuck! Fucking hell!!’

I desperately flailed my limbs trying to survive, but my arms and legs only uselessly thrashed through the water like someone flailing in midair.

The horrifying sensation of my body slowly sinking sent chills crawling up my spine.

Just moments ago, I’d already given up on life once.

Perhaps because the relief of survival had just registered in my mind, my attachment to living grew even more desperate.

‘S-save me…’

But regardless of my wishes, the shaft of light leading to the surface from underwater only grew narrower.

Having already exhausted all my mana with that single Mana Blast earlier, I had no way to return to the surface.

Just as my consciousness began fading while I pointlessly reached toward the surface-

-Thump!

A dark shadow obscured my vision as a strangely familiar hand grabbed my wrist.

That was my last memory before blacking out underwater.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Somewhere along the lakeside promenade of Knowledge Island.

-Splash!

“Hah, haah, cough, gah…!”

A man emerged from the deep waters of Lake Knowledge, coughing up painful, watery coughs.

His soaked hair clung to parts of his face and eyes, while his drenched clothes stuck to his body like a drowned rat.

Slung over his shoulder was a black-haired woman in a red dress.

After first lifting the woman onto land, the man collapsed to the ground and desperately called out the unconscious girl’s name.

“Lilith! Wake up! Lilith!!”

“……”

Despite shaking her shoulders and slapping her cheeks, Lilith showed no signs of waking.

As Ethan Blackwood desperately called her name, his mind burned with despair like a fork stabbing through his brain.

Shortly after the pair emerged from the water, a group of people began approaching their location.

“Over here! They’re here!”

“There, we found them!!”

“Prince Ethan! Miss Lilith! Are you alright?!”

The Saintess of the Aurelia Church, the Hero, and even the Empire’s Third Princess.

Some of the most distinguished figures in the academy were hastily making their way toward Ethan and Lilith.

Seeing the Saintess’s face among them, Ethan’s expression momentarily relaxed.

‘Thank goodness…’

He didn’t know how the Hero and Saintess had coincidentally arrived here, but right now he couldn’t care less about questioning such details.

As the two reached the unconscious Lilith, Ethan pleaded with Saintess Celista as if begging for his life.

“A-are you alright?! Were either of you injured by the kraken…?”

“Saintess!”

“Y-yes!”

“Lilith won’t open her eyes! Please, do whatever it takes to save her!”

“O-okay! I’ll heal her right away!”

Though technically a “fake saintess” created by the church, she’d been chosen for that position precisely because she was the most capable young priestess.

Her divine power could essentially save anyone whose heart hadn’t stopped.

…Conversely, even her powers couldn’t restart a stopped heart.

“Huh, uh…?”

“What’s wrong, Saintess? Hurry and help Lilith-“

“It’s no use…”

“What?”

“Her…her heart. It’s already stopped…”

At Celista’s despairing answer, Ethan felt like his own heart had momentarily stopped.

Why did these things keep happening to him?

Just when he’d finally begun overcoming the despair of losing his mother in childhood.

Why did Lilith have to leave his side like this too?

For the first time, Ethan felt true despair at the seemingly tragic fate that kept befalling him alone.

“Wait! Did you say Miss Lilith’s heart stopped?!”

“Y-yes…! Normally I could heal her if her heart was still beating, but my divine power won’t take effect at all…”

“It hasn’t been long, CPR should be enough to-“

If only he hadn’t asked Lilith out today.

If they’d gone on a date but hadn’t walked by the lakeside.

If he hadn’t created that confession atmosphere that flustered her.

Then maybe he wouldn’t have lost Lilith so meaninglessly.

Filled with guilt and despair, Ethan’s mind burned with agony as if someone were stirring his brain with a fork.

…Then, a man’s hand reached toward Lilith’s body, catching his eye.

-Swish.

“……!!!”

“We can’t just stand here! We need to act fast-“

-Thump!

“What exactly do you think you’re doing.”

“…What?”

“…You dare defile Lilith’s body before my very eyes, even in her final moments?”

“What are you talking about? I said it’s CPR! She can still be saved!”

“…R-resuscitation?”

Right, the Hero.

Come to think of it, the Saintess wasn’t the only one here with miraculous powers.

As the Hero blessed by the Goddess Aurelia Church, he must have some extraordinary abilities.

It wouldn’t be strange if one of them could revive the dead.

“How will you save her? Is that one of the Hero’s powers?”

“Not the Hero’s power, it’s CPR…ah, damn. You people don’t know what CPR is…”

“…Not the Hero’s power?”

“You apply pressure to the chest area where the heart is to make it beat again. If you can force it to beat even artificially, then Celista’s divine power can heal her from there.”

“……”

So he’d moved toward Lilith’s chest to save her.

While the explanation made sense, Ethan still couldn’t shake his suspicion at another man’s hands touching Lilith’s chest.

Locking eyes with the man who’d been about to perform this “resuscitation” on his Lilith, he spoke.

“Hurry! The longer we wait, the more dangerous-“

“…I’ll do it.”

“What?”

“From what you just said, this resuscitation technique can be used by anyone, not just the Hero.”

“…Yeah.”

“If it’s just applying pressure to Lilith’s chest to make it beat, then I’ll do it.”

Suspicion, possessiveness, jealousy.

In that brief moment, Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot could read many emotions in Ethan’s eyes.

Deciding it would be easier to teach Ethan than try to persuade him to hand Lilith over, the Hero began instructing the Blackwood Prince, starting with placing both hands vertically together.

“…Place your palm like this over the center of Lilith’s chest. Make sure the heel of your hand is positioned exactly at the center.”

“…Understood.”

“In that position, apply pressure using your body weight. Do it firmly, multiple times.”

“……”

-Thump, thump, thump.

“Harder! Broken ribs can be fixed, but a stopped heart can’t be restarted!”

“Hahk, hahk, hahk!!”

-Thud! Thud! Thud!!

Ethan’s body shook as he pressed down on Lilith’s sternum.

Though exhausted from pulling Lilith from the lake, he refused to stop, continuing CPR as Gyeotmwa Josyegigot instructed.

His desire to save Lilith burned more fiercely than anyone’s.

And if he collapsed from exhaustion here, that Hero might lay hands on Lilith’s chest.

Even in this situation, Ethan couldn’t bear to let another man touch Lilith.

“…Miss Agnes, could you use heating magic to prevent their wet clothes from chilling them further?”

“…I’ve been doing that already.”

After about five minutes of chest compressions to save Lilith, Celista delivered slightly hopeful news.

“J-just now! Her heart beat for a moment!”

“…What?”

“…R-really?”

“Y-yes, truly…”

“Ethan! Don’t stop! It’s not over yet!”

“S-sorry!”

Though a commoner Hero had just yelled at him, Ethan’s heart leaped with hope.

Seeing that Lilith might be saved, Ethan continued CPR for several more minutes, but her intermittent heartbeat still wasn’t strong enough for Celista’s divine power to take effect.

Ethan didn’t miss the Hero muttering about needing the next step.

“…Seems we’ll have to do mouth-to-mouth too.”

“Hahk, m-mouth-to…? W-what do I…?”

“Sometimes chest compressions alone aren’t enough. In these cases, you need to breathe directly into their lungs to get the circulatory system working.”

“Breathing into lungs… W-who here can use wind magic to-“

“It’s not magic. You have to do it yourself, and I’ll only explain once, so if you want to save Lilith, do as I say.”

“…O-okay.”

Having already seen hope through CPR, Ethan’s trust in the Hero had slightly increased.

With no other options apparent, the exhausted Ethan listened seriously to Gyeotmwa Josyegigot’s explanation of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

“First, hold Lilith’s chin and open her mouth wide.”

“Got it, what next?”

“Pinch her nose with one hand. So air can only go through her mouth.”

“…Okay, then what?”

“In that position, cover Lilith’s lips completely with your own.”

“Okay, cover Lilith’s lips with my…what?”

Thinking he might be joking, Ethan looked at the Hero in shock, but Gyeotmwa Josyegigot’s expression remained deadly serious.

Annoyed by Ethan’s hesitation, he explained mouth-to-mouth again.

“Don’t take this lightly. It’s a life-saving technique.”

“…Really?”

“If you can’t do it, hand her over. I’d have better chances of saving Lilith than you anyway.”

“…No, that won’t do.”

Thinking the Hero might steal Lilith’s lips if he hesitated, Ethan silently apologized to her before gently pressing his lips to hers.

Following instructions, he sealed their lips perfectly and waited for the next step.

‘Forgive me, Lilith.’

“Breathe in through your nose, then exhale into Lilith’s mouth. Imagine inflating a paper bag. No need to suck the air back out-just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth repeatedly.”

“Huuuh, phoo. Huuuh, phoo…”

“Good, keep going. Without stopping…”

He wanted to save her.

He couldn’t let her die here.

He didn’t need an answer to his confession, or anything else.

Please. Just stay alive by my side…

“Huuuh, phoo. Huuuh…”

“Ghk, ghk, gahk?!”

“…Huuuh?!”

Lilith suddenly coughed and moved while their lips were still connected.

Startled, Ethan hastily pulled away as she coughed up water she’d accidentally swallowed.

After several coughs, Lilith slowly opened her eyes and looked around.

“Ghk, cough hack… H-huh…?”

The last thing she remembered was the depths of the lake-now replaced by blue skies and multiple faces staring at her.

Only upon hearing Celista’s words did Lilith realize she’d died and come back to life.

“S-she’s alive! Her heart’s beating properly now!”

“She’s alive! A miracle from the Hero!!”

“Lilith, how do you feel? Are you too cold or anything…?”

Amid the commotion surrounding her, Lilith couldn’t easily guess what had happened while she was unconscious.

But realizing she’d died and been revived, she could only mutter one dazed phrase.

“…I bought it.”