Chapter 7: Chapter 6: The Other Side (4)

A/N There's a religious reference from www.lignoma.com so if anyone's uncomfortable I'll remove it.

The truck was crowded when three people squeezed into the front, but it was still doable. Only a little awkward because I tried to shrink myself as much as possible while kneeling in the leg-space of the passenger seat.

[Some constellations are yawning with boredom.]

[Some constellations are interested in the next events.]

When we exited, I felt the cut supply of blood to my legs resume, causing me to stumble a little. 

Looking at the cheery Na Bori who plucked the truck keys out, it then changed into a different shape. This must have been how Na Bori got the keys to the truck in the first place.

[The Maritime War God is paying close attention.]

[Lily Blooming in Aquarius is surprised at the events happening.]

[Lily Blooming in Aquarius is asking for a breakdown of what happened when she dozed off] 

A little dumbfounded, I watched as Na Bori climbed her way up the ladder of the large crane into its cockpit.

Lee Jihye looked at me teasingly, "Never imagined Bori had such a thing, eh? Our raiding was not for nothing."

And then Lee Jihye took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. Taping the edge of the side, she began to speak into space.

"Copy, can you read me?"

"Affirmative." I thought I heard that coming from the sunglasses having a walkie-talkie feel to it.

And then I continued to watch dumbfoundedly as the two communicated in dragging the truck upwards.

"No, what are you doing? You almost hit the wall you idiot. Other way, other way!" Lee Jihye exclaimed.

"Why don't you try operating it then, crybaby." Came the disgruntled reply, but the crane faithfully swung slowly the other way around.

"Ok, let's go. What are you standing around for and staring into space?" Lee Jihye turned around, feeling pretty cool in the sunglasses as she tapped my shoulder.

"Okay." I found my voice.

Just as we ascended the last steps to the very top of the building, the timer ran out.

[Stage transformation will now begin.]

And all of a suddenly, the already gloomy sky became even darker as thunder rumbled and light flashed up in the clouds.

I could only hope that no more mishaps, such as lightning, to occur.

And like a bathtub was being filled up, so did the entirety of Seoul, for as far as the eye could see. Soon enough, it almost reached the platform we were on, and then stopped.

We all looked on in wonder at the feat that could only be achieved when one was dreaming a dream.

[Restrictions on ghosts have decreased.]

And like that was a trigger, shadows began to show themselves. They were silhouettes of people - although it was hard to confirm, as their forms wavered in a 2-D fashion. 

[New people] They all chanted.

The calls of voices formed a cacophony that drowned my ears, making me feel uncomfortable. It seemed their mental attacks had already started.

"Lee Jihye, the truck!" I shouted.

 Lee Jihye immediately slashed at the truck, the metal parting with her strike as oil splashed out. Trying to ignore the pungent smell, Lee Jihye used some sort of herculean strength to drag the truck around the platform until the whole place was surrounded by oil, trying to be careful and not spill it onto her clothes or the place we were standing on.

When the tank emptied out, Lee Jihye kicked the truck off the platform.

But we didn't have the luxury to watch it sink away into oblivion.

Quickly, we tossed the open oil lamps into all different directions. The oil combusted, its flames erupting in a towering fashion. The intense heat swept across my skin as I backed away instantly.

Above, the approaching ghosts shrieked at the fire and also backed away.

[Fire! Fire! Fire!]

The more unfortunate ones were enveloped with the rolling flames, screaming as they were extinguished.

All the sounds made me feel sick.

 However, this stalemate didn't last long either. After another ten minutes, another notification rang out.

[Restriction on ghosts has decreased.]

[Oh, ohh]

[Fire is not scary.]

"Lee Jihye, Na Bori! Your stigmas!" I cried out, enduring the dizziness brewing in my mind.

"On it!" Na Bori breathed in, pinching her thigh to offset her fear at seeing actual ghosts and then began speaking with an unknown power seeping through her words,

[AFTER these things, God commanded the angel Gabriel to go down to the garden, and say to the cherub who kept it, "Behold, God has commanded me to come into the garden, and to take thence sweet smelling incense, and give it to Adam."]

A pure, untainted lily unfurled itself in Na Bori's hair, swaying in the wind gently with an ethereal glow.

 [Stigma, "Inspiration lv. 1" has activated!]

Suddenly, I could understand what Na Bori was saying before. It felt like my mind had opened up, inspiration on ideas easily stirred. The mental attacks eased.

 At the same time, the presence of an Archangel's incarnation was a bane to the ghosts.  

Like there was an invisible barrier, the ghosts did not dare to come close.

Next, a voice I thought I would never hear in real life shouted out. It felt like fiction and reality were bizarrely mashed together in a hotpot.

"Load the cannons!"

[Stigma, "Ghost Fleet lv. 1" has activated!]

"Fire!"

The sounds of cannons rumbled out as the cannon balls pierced through the ghosts who gained semi-physical bodies. The whistling of the air continued along with the fading ghosts.

This was the voice of the Admiral of the Sea, and the fleet of Lee Jihye, one of the main side characters of [Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World].

I looked on at the muttering Na Bori and the impervious ghost ships to the flames being led by Lee Jihye.

 This was a combo I had never read about before.

And then I wondered what I could do in this situation. I thought for a while even with the inspiration buff, but there was nothing.

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If there was nothing, I wouldn't be surprised if I was abandoned.

A sense of fear and relief swept through me at that thought.

Well, we were strangers after all. Perhaps it would be best if we separated, for their sakes. But then, where would I go? What would I do?

Damn, it wasn't the place to think about this.

Cranking up my alertness, I stared at the fire wall for any ghosts that could break through.

[Restrictions on ghosts have disappeared.]

This was the last stretch of the dungeon.

There they were. They burst through the flames that they had still been wary of a few moments before, and I ran forward to meet them.

I couldn't run away. I couldn't falter now.

As my heart pounded and rushed into my ears, I swung the dagger with all my might, tearing through the apparitions.

Their screams burst my eardrums, leaving them ringing. And as I stared at the faces of them, they began looking more and more human to me.

They were all children, maybe some similar to my age, but that fact did not change. Their eyes contained a despair I could not comprehend.

[Why?]

They seemed to ask, but I wasn't sure if they said it. Their feelings began to transmit to me.

A day where they laughed with their friends.

As they pranked the teacher.

An afternoon where they went to shop with their parents, buying some candy.

Going to the internet cafe, or the arcade to play games.

A voice began to question my purpose of swinging my dagger. Cuts piled up on my body, both from the ghost and myself, bleeding out in a burning pain in my inexperienced random swinging.

And then I feel like my throat began to constrict.

This was the graveyard of regrets of the ones who died in the scenarios. They, who were innocent and young, were never able to live their life to the fullest.

"Darn it, snap out of it!" Lee Jihye pushed me out of the way as she cut down a ghost who had sneaked in before it could get to me.

I fell onto the floor on the unexpected push.

Lee Jihye pulled on my collar, pulling me to my feet, "Is this really the place to daydream?"

"You told us to be alert, but what are you doing?" Lee Jihye looked really frustrated.

"I-I'm sorry." I whispered, my vision blurring out of focus.

Lee Jihye also noticed my mental state wasn't optimal and gritted her teeth, dragging me back to Na Bori. She slashed apart the ranks of the ghosts that made it in, clearing a path.

Falling weakly to my knees, I looked upwards past Na Bori to the horde of unsettled ghosts being shelled by cannons.

"What if we -" I started, but swallowed my words. It wouldn't do good to be an uncertain voice in this dangerous situation. But still, I wavered.

What if we were wrong? What if our method of surviving was wrong? Am I harming us all?

Oh, I felt so sick.

The world was spinning and I wanted to hurl. But there was nothing else to hurl out either anymore.

"Heal!" Na Bori invoked one of her skills, causing me to feel like my murky mind was being cleared up.

The world stopped spinning, and I regained my resolve. 

I slapped my cheeks with my stinging hands filled with cuts. It really was not the right time to fall into this sort of pit.

"Thanks." I curtly said, getting back up as I turned my attention back to the task at hand.

I could not afford to drag down my companions already more than I had.

Under the buffing effects of Na Bori, I felt like my vision had opened up.

A slash coming from my left, followed by one to my right.

And then, I counterattacked.

As time went on, the shelling was slowing down and Na Bori staggered on her feet.

We were all at the end of our rope, but we held on. 

In the end, Na Bori and Lee Jihye chugged down the magic replenishing potions and continued, even as they began to have nose bleeds.

And finally, we made it.

[Congratulations! You are the first to clear the hidden dungeon, 'The Other Side'! 1000 additional coins have been earned for the achievement.]

[You have obtained 2000 coins, Dispel Evil lv. 1 and Mental Fortitude lv. 1 as the clear reward]

I took one last look at our surroundings, my lungs ragged from the exertion of the fight. As Na Bori's buff ended, I weakly stumbled with sudden mental fatigue.

Na Bori and Lee Jihye supported each other, a relieved smile on their faces as they looked back at me.

In their eyes, I was probably roughed up pretty badly, as they were in mine.

But I could not smile like they had.

We had survived, hadn't we? It was an amazing achievement to have finished the scenario this way, with no one's death. It was an amazing fight that lit up the stars. Even now, their messages exploded beside my ears.

[Maritime War God has sponsored everyone 200 coins for this achievement!]

[Lily Blooming in Aquarius is pumping her hands in excitement. 100 coins have been sponsored.]

[All the constellations are satisfied with the scenario. 500 coins have been sponsored]

No, what was this feeling in my chest? Far from relief, excitement or happiness, what settled in my chest felt like weights grappling me down.

This was a good ending, was it not?

And yet...

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