“Because of the time?”
At Rohan’s question, Sion looked once at Clara who remained silent, and then cautiously nodded her head.
“It might be too early to worry about this already, but it’s true that it will be troublesome after we escape.”
“How much leeway did you have? If you left from Academy City, I mean.”
“…About five hours.”
Sion’s voice and expression weren’t very good as she gave her answer.
Didn’t Rohan just say it could take days? Five hours was not just tight; it was so insufficient that it practically forced her to give up.
“Sion.”
“Mhmm, sorry for bringing up such a gloomy topic. Since things turned out this way, maybe we should worry about the aftermath later.”
“No. That’s not what I was going to say.”
Rohan spun the dagger around between his fingers and lifted the corners of his mouth.
“There’s a slightly hopeful part to all this.”
“Are you talking about finding the Monolith in a short time?”
“That would be best if possible. But there’s something a bit special about this place.”
“What is it?”
The moment Rohan regained use of his body, he looked at the smartphone he had turned on. The displayed time had frozen, claiming it was “configuring location”.
However, the timer was faithfully working. Eight minutes and thirty-six seconds had passed.
He had turned it on remembering this dungeon never loses daylight and thus never has a night, but there was another reason as well.
“There’s a high possibility that time here flows differently from outside.”
“!”
The eyes of the two girls were filled with shock at Rohan’s revelation.
Of course, there was still a chance that one second passed the same way as in the original world.
But in Rohan’s memory, it was different. As far as the protagonist experienced, in the first dungeon, one day inside equated to somewhere between fifty minutes and one hour outside.
After all, there were little side stories among the characters that arose because of that.
“It might be passing more quickly here, or on the other hand, more slowly.”
“So in the end, we have to rely on luck for this part.”
“That’s right.”
Differences like this were common, but there had never been a dungeon with such a hopeless gap that there was no solution.
In other words, there’s never been a case in Abyss City where one second in a dungeon amounted to ten years in the original world.
“That’s valuable information. I feel a bit more at ease.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Rohan brushed it off by saying any Orion Academy student who pays attention in class would know,
And Sion and Clara accepted it without doubt.
If I had fallen inside with Ichinose or Noah… Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
It was only because it was these two that Rohan could skim over things like this.
From this angle, having Clara and Sion as his companions for the first dungeon is truly good fortune.
These two girls received training solely focused on efficiently taking human lives, not on hunting monsters.
“They teach some impressive stuff at the Academy…”
“Clara, do you want to attend too?”
Strictly speaking, the source of this information was Rohan’s personal experience.
If Rohan, after escaping a dungeon, were to share what he learned with Joo-yeon, by next year, the newly appearing dungeons and that information would be compiled into the curriculum.
“I… I would if you were there, but… on my own it’s a bit…”
“Is that so? Then I’ll teach you, Clara.”
“Hehe…”
With that remark, Rohan placed his hand on the door.
Seeing that Sion remained quiet without saying anything, it seemed safe to open it now.
Creak! Crack-crack!
The door that was neglected for so long screeched under Rohan’s strength and began to let in the blazing sunlight.
Coming into view straight ahead were buildings that were precariously tilted or collapsed flat, with piles of rubble.
Guardrails, cars, and utility poles filled the street, but none were intact.
It was a scene reminiscent of a world abandoned by humanity.
Sion shielded her eyes from the searing sunlight with her goggles, then pulled a spare weapon from inside her clothes and grabbed it. It was a folding baton.
“It’s hot. Might be over forty degrees.”
Just as Sion calmly observed, the heat was intense.
But you never know what kind of attack might come, so they couldn’t just strip off their clothes.
Even if they sweat, they must keep their current attire. Rohan has a way to prevent dehydration anyway.
“If you feel dizzy or think you’re dehydrated, you must say so. Keeping it to yourself can really lead to serious problems.”
“Okay!”
“Where should we head? I don’t sense any significant magic anywhere.”
“First, let’s see if we can get a better view.”
Rohan stepped onto large chunks of debris and climbed onto a fallen building.
Sion and Clara followed lightly behind him.
Now, let’s see…
Standing at a higher vantage point, Rohan turned his head this way and that. He was searching for a building that didn’t belong in his memory.
There it is!
At the end of the row of ruined buildings and far enough that it was barely visible to the naked eye, he pointed out a structure.
Unlike all the others, it stood tall on its own without leaning.
“See that? The tallest one over there that doesn’t seem to have any problems.”
“Hmm… I don’t see any objection to making that our target. I don’t see any other special building.”
Lastly, the two of them turned their gaze toward Clara.
She seemed startled that they would even ask for her opinion, then nodded, saying she was fine with it as well.
Tap!
Rohan jumped down to the ground and naturally took the lead.
Because, while Clara and Sion were quick and had good attack power, they weren’t sturdy enough to be at the forefront.
Holding his dagger, Rohan walked along a shaded path.
“Even if monsters appear, let’s refrain from using guns if possible. The loud noise might attract a horde.”
Sion nodded in agreement and looked at Clara, who was clinging to Rohan’s side.
Feeling Sion’s intent gaze, Clara flinched, and Sion spoke up.
“Clara. Aside from what’s already loaded, do you have extra ammo?”
“I-I only have one magazine.”
“That’s not a lot. Do you use subsonic rounds?”
“….…!”
It was a deduction based on her silencer and certain behaviors characteristic of it.
Judging from Clara’s startled face, Sion’s guess was right. Clara nodded her head slowly.
“Unfortunately, my pistol has a different caliber, and it can’t attach a silencer. If you had another pistol, I could share some ammo.”
“I-I don’t have another one right now…”
The pistol Clara carried was a niche model, and the silencer was custom-fitted for it, so there was nothing to be done about it.
Sion quickly accepted this and stepped back. After all, that girl probably had another weapon that was her true specialty.
As their conversation came to an end, Rohan placed a hand on Clara’s head.
“When we get out of here, I’ll restock your ammo, so don’t hesitate to use it when you need to. Got it?”
“Mhm.…!”
Sion, watching Rohan and Clara from a step behind, let out a quiet chuckle in disbelief.
They’re so cute.
What exactly was the relationship between those two? Would it be okay to dig a little deeper and ask about it?
Just as he was debating whether or not to give voice to his ticklish curiosity—
Chhk!
Rohan suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
He raised one hand and made a fist, signaling for them to stop.
It was an unmistakable gesture that anyone could recognize.
“There’s something.”
At the sound of Rohan’s lowered voice, Sion’s pointed ears twitched. She was picking up an unusual noise.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
A clock?
It was the familiar sound of a second and minute hand moving, but it was drawing closer.
From behind a large, overturned signboard, something began to emerge.
An analog clock, the kind you’d hang on a wall, appeared. It was accompanied by the sound of unnatural footsteps.
If one were to ask how it was walking—
Four green vines extending like arms and legs moved the clock forward.
Tick. Tick.
Despite its lack of eyes, there was an undeniable sense that the clock had noticed them.
Rohan’s grip on his weapon tightened.
Flick!
Suddenly, the stationary clock fired its hands like throwing knives.
Rohan dodged them with ease, then closed the distance in a single stride and stomped down hard on the clock.
Smash!
The sound of shattering echoed as the clock was destroyed.
The vines that were flailing like human limbs twitched briefly before going limp.
[+1P]
Rohan checked the point increase and warned the others.
“It’s a monster that attacks first, as you can see, so be careful.”
“…It’s a pretty strange monster. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
For Sion, who had only ever shot through monsters with vital points like blood and organs, “strange” was the only word that could describe it.
It seemed to see despite having no eyes, and it seemed to hear despite having no ears.
“It doesn’t have the intelligence to play dead. You can tell if it’s dead or alive by looking at the plant-like limbs sticking out like this.”
“Oppa, is that… is that a parasitic plant?”
“As far as I know, it can’t parasitize humans. It’s a monster that I think parasitizes machines or furniture.”
“Phew…”
Clara let out a relieved sigh and pulled out her butterfly knife.
The three of them turned their heads toward the source of a noise they sensed.
Beep! Beep-beep! Beep!
A mass thicker than before and covered with vines appeared.
“A traffic light?”
As Sion said, it was a traffic light. But also something other than a traffic light.
It was walking on all fours like an animal, using plant stems as legs. Without any electrical supply, its green and red lights alternated, blinking on and off.
Its red light shone brightly, as though preparing to attack.
But as Clara moved past it….crack! The traffic light was neatly sliced into five parts.
Then, as if embarrassed, the girl shyly walked over to Rohan.
“O-Oppa…! I’m sorry for moving without saying anything…”
“No, you did well.”
Even her gesture of asking to be petted had become automatic now.
As she lowered her head slightly, Rohan carefully patted the girl’s head.
And with that, one question was resolved.
[+1P]
Even though Clara had taken care of the monster, the points went to Rohan.
As I thought… Points are awarded even when a teammate kills the monster.
One of the questions that had lingered since the quest described them as “teammates” was finally answered.
A bit of greed began to stir within him, thinking this was a good opportunity to earn a significant amount of points.
After quickly examining the dead monster, Rohan and his group resumed their journey.
After about an hour, during which they defeated three more monsters, Clara tugged at Rohan’s sleeve.
“Oppa…”
“Hmm?”
“Th-That…”
“Are you feeling dizzy? Thirsty?”
Clara shook her head with a flushed face. It was so red that Rohan wondered if she might be suffering from heatstroke.
Unable to meet his eyes, the girl turned nervously to avoid his gaze. Finally, she lowered her head and whispered softly.
“Bathroom…”
“Ah.”
Understanding immediately, Rohan straightened up and looked around.
For safety, it was clear that Sion would need to accompany her.
Just as Rohan was about to ask Sion for help, Sion raised his goggles and looked thoughtful.
“Rohan, wait a moment.”
“What’s up?”
“We don’t know how long we’ll be staying here, right?”
“That’s true.”
Rohan nodded his head at the obvious statement.
Sion, as if encouraged by the situation, opened her mouth to share her opinion.
“If survival were our only goal, the best course would simply be to minimize our activity. But that’s not an option here, and we’re not in a position to wait for someone to come rescue us.”
She continued to explain, saying that they didn’t even know if there was drinkable water or edible food anywhere in this place.
She finally got to the main point with an utterly serious expression.
“Of course, I’ve heard that drinking urine when isolated without water is a terrible idea. Survival manuals say it’s like ingesting poison.”
“Hmm…”
“However, if the urine comes from a body that isn’t dehydrated and is still in a healthy condition, then a body imbued with magical power should be able to endure it just fine.”
In other words, she was suggesting that, while their bodies were still in good condition, they should collect their urine.
“If I’m wrong about this, please correct me. I’m speaking with utmost seriousness.”
Sion added one final remark before turning to look at Rohan.
By now, Rohan had seemingly become the decision-maker for the group.
Rohan then turned his head in Clara’s direction.
“……”
Clara who met Rohan’s gaze flushed so deeply that her face looked like it might soon catch fire.
The girl stammered incoherently and was frozen in place.
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