Chapter 19
‘Technically, it’s 2 hours and 1 minute.’
Maybe I can just ignore that extra minute after the 120 minutes.
[Constellation, The Hearth of the Cosmos sighs.]
[Constellation, The Sage of Death doubts the judgment of their avatar.]
The indirect messages from the constellations flooded my mind.
Even my own constellation…
—mukxxx: “Wendy, who’s twice as weak as Eden… It’s a miracle she can even walk around.”
ㄴlulxxx: “No wonder her punches are weak and pitiful, lol.”
—dopxxx: “She’s as frail as a paper doll. Surviving those hits is a miracle in itself.”
ㄴtinxxx: “Our Wendy is so weak and pitiful, she needs protection.”
These weren’t even indirect; they were directly mocking me.
“…”
And then there were my teammates, staring at me with astonished faces after hearing my survival time.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not dead yet.”
I appreciated their concern, but I didn’t want their pity.
I forced a smile, pretending to be okay, and stood up straight.
“I’ll survive. So you don’t have to look at me like that.”
“R-right. I’ll stay behind to support too.”
“Yeah, I’ll protect you till the end.”
“That’s right, sis, you won’t die. Never!”
I wasn’t going to die here, not in a place like this.
So what if I have an hour more than the others?
What does that matter?
I’ll just have to hide a bit better, that’s all.
Those darn constellations—I’ll show them by surviving and wiping those smug looks off their faces.
[All participants have entered.]
[The first trial: Forest of Spirits begins.]
As soon as I made my resolve, a notification popped up.
A sinister, eerie mist began to spread throughout the entire forest.
It was the starting point of the brutal and desperate survival game known as the Forest of Spirits.
***
The Forest of Spirits, despite its name, was eerily quiet.
Silent and still.
There wasn’t even the sound of birds, only the dense gray mist that filled the forest.
[Concealment: The Forest’s Mist is active.]
[While active, the Rulers’ vision is restricted, and the Spirits’ presence is diminished.]
Unlike the Spirits, who could only run, the Rulers had a clear advantage.
The Forest’s Mist was a mechanism designed to increase the survival rate of the Spirits and served as their sole means of survival.
It was the Spirits’ lifeline, their only chance to escape.
Of course, the mist could be removed too.
Various artifacts with different effects were scattered throughout the forest.
Among them were artifacts that could clear the mist for a set duration.
That’s why it was crucial to take advantage of the mist before those artifacts were discovered.
Moreover, since our team was the last to arrive, the game had just begun.
‘In the early stages, most people hesitate to kill other survivors….’
If luck was on our side, even if we encountered a Ruler up close, we wouldn’t die right away.
There was a subconscious reluctance to harm fellow survivors.
As I crept forward, holding my breath in case we encountered another team…
“Ow!”
Lyria tripped over a protruding rock and stumbled.
Just as she was about to fall…
“Watch out.”
Eden, who was nearby, grabbed Lyria’s arm.
“No matter how much mist there is, it doesn’t hide the sound.”
Lyria’s cheeks turned a little pink.
“…Yeah.”
It seemed she was embarrassed to accept help from someone she had been bickering with.
After a moment’s hesitation, Eden decided it was safer and pulled Lyria closer by the wrist.
“Just hold my hand.”
“What? Why should I hold your hand?”
Lyria’s expression stiffened at Eden’s surprising suggestion.
“If you don’t, you might trip again and get caught by a Ruler.”
“…”
“No, not just you—everyone here could get caught.”
Eden widened his mouth, pretending to be a monster.
“Rawr.”
Lyria looked at him blankly for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“Just this once.”
She didn’t seem keen on the idea, but reluctantly, she reached out and took his hand.
With awkward expressions, they walked side by side, holding hands but looking in opposite directions.
“Could you keep your distance?”
“You’re the one…”
Watching the two of them, bickering but holding hands, brought a small smile to my face.
With that little problem solved, I prepared to resume walking.
Rustle.
A faint noise came from a nearby bush.
The leaves barely moved, too subtle to be caused by the wind, and too loud for a small animal.
“Shh.”
Yeriel, leading the way, froze in place.
“You all heard that, right?”
Yeriel, unusually tense, scanned the surroundings.
Of all the places in this vast forest, we had to run into someone right as the game started.
“Let’s hurry and run…”
How did they get this close without me noticing?
I was frustrated with my own dull senses.
“Don’t worry.”
Just as I was about to yell for everyone to scatter, Eden stopped me.
In his eyes, a violet flame flickered.
“They seem to be in the same situation as us.”
At those words, a pair of kids emerged slowly from beyond the bushes.
A boy and a girl, with black hair and red eyes, their doll-like features strikingly similar.
“Oh, it’s you!”
Yeriel’s face lit up with a bright smile when he saw them.
“Mister!”
The boy, upon spotting Yeriel, dropped his wary expression and greeted him warmly.
“You’re alive, kind mister.”
Did Yeriel know them?
Now that I think about it, the boy looks somewhat familiar, though I don’t recognize the girl.
“Haha, I’m glad to see you’re well, Sylvester. These are my companions, Lyria, Eden, and Wendy.”
As Yeriel introduced us, the children’s eyes shifted to each of us, finally landing on me.
Oh, now I remember.
The boy was with Yeriel and Xenon when I was searching for potential allies.
Back then, he had mentioned finding his twin sister and leaving with her.
So, that must be the twin sister.
“You must be Mr. Yeriel.”
The girl, who had been observing quietly, hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and bowing slightly.
“My brother spoke a lot about you. He said you helped him out of a tough situation…”
“Yes, if it weren’t for the mister, we would’ve ended up with some shady people.”
‘Though this team doesn’t seem much better…’
The boy trailed off with a bitter expression.
It seemed that Yeriel had saved them when they were in trouble.
He must have prevented them from being forced into a team they didn’t want.
“Yeriel, are you good at throwing stones?”
“Pardon?”
“You know, hitting someone right on the head from far away!”
I mimed throwing a stone, and Yeriel gave me a puzzled look.
Hmm, I guess not.
Considering his personality, it wasn’t likely he’d hurt anyone.
Then who was the one who threw that stone back then?
“I’m Sylvester’s sister, Celestine.”
As the conversation veered off-topic, Sylvester’s sister, Celestine, introduced herself with a polite bow.
“It’s an honor to meet the person who helped us and their companions.”
“Haha, well… I was just in the background. The one who actually helped was Mr. Xenon.”
Yeriel awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
‘Oh?’
Xenon helped someone?
That self-centered guy who doesn’t even know the meaning of the word “help”?
‘Surprising.’
“Oh, by the way, where’s that scary guy? Are these people with you?”
Sylvester, who had been watching Yeriel curiously, asked with a puzzled look.
“Well, um…”
Yeriel glanced at me for guidance, clearly uncertain about how much to share.
I shook my head, indicating it wasn’t a good time to explain.
Under normal circumstances, I would have nodded without hesitation.
But right now, even a brief conversation felt like a luxury.
‘I’m sorry to cut this short, but there’s no other choice.’
“Given the situation, maybe we should save the chatting for later?” I suggested.
Yeriel understood and led the children ahead without protest.
At least we were lucky that our first encounter was with fellow Spirits in the same situation.
Had they been Rulers, we would have had to scatter and flee.
“Mr. Xenon left ahead of us, so he’s probably somewhere in this forest…”
Yeriel trailed off, looking concerned, before coming to a sudden stop.
“Oh, by the way, where are Sylvester’s companions?”
Yeriel’s question made me realize the oddity of their situation as well.
‘Come to think of it, where are their companions? Why are they alone?’
Could it be that their companions had already been killed?
I hoped it wasn’t something so tragic.
Yeriel seemed to share my concern and asked gently.
“Did something bad happen…?”
The twin siblings’ expressions darkened immediately.
“We’ll explain everything in detail once we’re in a safer place.”
Their grim expressions hinted that there was more to their story than they could share right now.
—
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