<Episode 24>

 

I took one last look at the remaining male leads.

“If the ‘darkness’ comes, stay close and remain in one place. If the terrain begins to shift, we all hold hands and brace ourselves.”

“Hold hands? Who knows who will be next to me?”

The Crown Prince shot a glare at Sien.

Sien tilted his head and gave me a vacant look. Whatever, it didn’t matter. I ignored it.

“Then you can just link arms.”

After explaining the route to the Dawn Forest, I rolled up the map and tucked it into the front pocket of my pouch.

I rummaged through the pouch to find what I was looking for.

‘Ah, found it.’

Fortunately, I quickly located it and distributed one to each of the male leads.

“I hope we won’t need to use these, but take them for now.”

When the men asked what it was, I told them to just hold onto it, and they looked at it with curious expressions before each tucked it away.

I adjusted my belt and checked my pouch.

After rolling up my shirt sleeves and fixing my boots, I turned to look at the male leads.

“Well then, let’s head over the border.”

* * *

The Dawn Forest felt cooler than the Sacred Forest and had a haunting atmosphere.

The air was heavy and breathing felt constricted.

‘It’s probably because the tombs of past Tower Masters are here.’

That sense of oppression made me feel subconsciously weighed down.

How long had it been since we entered the Dawn Forest? So far, we hadn’t seen any zombies.

Just then, the Crown Prince spoke while scanning the area cautiously.

“Still no sign of zombies or darkness.”

Whenever someone said something like that, it always seemed to show up.

Sure enough.

In an instant, the light flickered like a faulty bulb, and my vision started to blink.

It was a sign of the darkness.

“Back to back!”

At the sound of my command, the four of us quickly turned around and positioned ourselves back to back.

Wham—!

As soon as we formed our formation, darkness descended like a light going out. Simultaneously, the ground began to move uncontrollably.

“Link arms! Quickly!”

My shout triggered quick responses from everyone. I linked one arm with an unknown male lead and flailed my remaining arm.

The person next to me had their arms tightly pressed against their body, making it impossible to link arms.

Reluctantly, I slid my forearm down to grab their hand.

I felt a slight twitch in the hand I held, but I didn’t care.

‘It’s a big deal if the dragon balls I gathered scatter!’

Crack!

It was then.

Crack! Crunch! Crunch!

Suddenly, the sound of thick wood breaking echoed from all around us.

The transformation of the ground was intensifying. My body dipped down and then shot back up, making it hard to maintain my balance, as if I were on a sinking ship.

The ground I stepped on sprung up like a magic carpet.

“Ugh.”

Naturally, I lost hold of both arms and hands.

“Ria!”

“Redria!”

It was Sien and Jaeger’s voices.

It seemed I had been standing next to them.

As I flailed my arms in the air, all I grasped were leaves and dry branches.

Thwack—!

In that moment, a heavy branch flew in from behind and hit me on the back of the head.

Ugh, a sound escaped involuntarily as my vision blurred with pain.

I held my throbbing head with one hand and swayed.

I couldn’t distinguish whether the moving ground was my body or the terrain, and soon I lost consciousness.

“…Damn it.”

When I finally woke up, I found myself in front of a foggy and eerie graveyard.

* * *

“Ugh.”

I rubbed the bump on my head and sat up.

The pain hadn’t fully faded, so it hadn’t been long since I fainted.

I faced a dense forest that was completely shrouded in darkness.

‘In the end, I’ve been separated from the male leads.’

I couldn’t call out their names like a lost child in a supermarket for fear of attracting the zombies’ attention.

I sighed and pulled out a glowstone from my pouch.

Visibility was my top priority.

“Keeing!”

At that moment, something scratched my leg.

As I illuminated the ground with the glowstone, I saw the rabbit standing on its hind legs, scratching my leg and bouncing around.

“You followed me, huh?”

How admirable.

I held the rabbit and shone the glowstone around, taking a full turn.

In front of me, a straight path through the forest opened up, and behind me, a grave shrouded in light appeared.

The grave, surrounded by a fence, was covered in mist, making it all the more eerie.

‘It feels like a ghost might come out.’

I swallowed hard.

Just to clarify, what scares me are spiders and ghosts.

Just those two.

And here I am, stuck in such a place.

Caw-caw-caw—!

The sound of a crow flying in from somewhere made me flinch.

Flap-flap—!

The crow landed softly on a gravestone, staring at me.

Was it because it was the gravestone of a former Tower Master? It felt unsettling to the core.

‘But this is an unexpected find.’

Having told Sien to look for the remains of the former Tower Master, I had been feeling lost.

I thought I might have to give up on finding the Tower Master’s grave due to the terrain changes from the ‘darkness,’ but here it was, right in front of me.

However…

I glanced around the dark surroundings.

‘You… are too scary…?’

As my pupils dilated, I shut my eyes tightly.

Huh, I took a deep breath.

‘Calm down and think rationally.’

Currently, Sien was being uncharacteristically friendly, enough for me to feel uneasy.

However, human emotions can easily be shattered by small factors. I didn’t know when they might suddenly decide to return to the Sacred Forest.

And keeping my promise and clearing my debt would definitely be beneficial when I returned to the Empire.

‘Right, here’s my chance to keep my promise.’

After weighing the situation in my mind, I resolved to dig at the grave and opened my eyes with determination.

I set the rabbit down and walked toward the grave, rummaging through my pouch.

‘Where’s the shovel?’

After finding a tiny shovel and enlarging it, I looked at the gravestone to find the name.

[Ashtalt Deon Maneger.]

Fortunately, I found it quickly.

With that, I squeezed my eyes shut and raised the shovel high.

“I apologize for this disrespectful act of digging up your grave. It’s for your adopted son.”

Thwack—!

Just as I swung the shovel down.

[You’ve lost your way.]

Startled by the sudden voice, I opened my eyes wide.

Creak, creak—! I turned around.

Only the trees and the pale mist greeted me.

‘Could it be…?’

I glanced down at the rabbit that had followed me, but it was just blinking its innocent eyes.

‘Then who…?’

[Shall I guide you?]

I flinched at the voice that rang out again.

I bit my lip and glared at my surroundings.

‘Please, whether it’s occult or apocalypse, just do one thing!’

I instinctively raised the shovel high and stepped back, ready to strike whatever might appear with the steel tool.

[Where are you going, child? Come here.]

I can’t hear it. I can’t hear anything. I’m not hearing anything at all.

[Come here.]

Hallelujah, Amen. Hallelujah, Amen.

[You have to come closer for me to help you… ]

I shut my eyes tightly.

‘I really didn’t want to go this far…’

I trembled and mumbled.

“Yay- glory hallelujah… Yay- glory hallelujah…”

I sang softly, just loud enough to be heard.

I wasn’t so shameless as to shout it out loud.

[Oh dear, you’re startled. That’s me.]

‘Ah, so who is “me”!’

I quickly glanced around with anxious eyes.

[Oh, it seems I’ve startled you. The one above is urging me to help you.]

‘The one above?’

[Well then, let’s skip the chit-chat. I’ll send you back.]

In an instant, the ground beneath me became as soft as jelly, and a reverse wave pulled me back.

“Ah!”

Thud! I couldn’t maintain my balance and fell, the ground feeling like a cradle beneath me.

[Come find the bright day. I’ll be waiting.]

Sssss—.

I regained my senses only after the tomb, now covered by trees, faded away into the distance.

I was confused, unable to grasp what had just happened to me.

There was no such scene in the original work.

In this moment, the intuition of the possessed person was telling me.

‘Somehow… it seems like the ghost is the former Tower Master? Then who is “the one above?”’

Whatever it was, the fact that it was a ghost sent chills down my spine, making my body shiver.

I had almost committed the sacrilege of digging a grave and getting caught by my ancestors.

I rubbed my arms and looked around.

‘But didn’t it say it would help me? Where am I?’

I picked up the shovel and illuminated my surroundings with the glowstone.

I was still in the middle of the forest.

Then, a creature I had temporarily forgotten came to mind.

“Oh right. The monster rabbit.”