1.
Back in my past life, when I used to play online games.
( Press the ↑ key to move to the next area~ )
ZㅣUltimate Warrior: How the hell does this thing even work?
MㅐMagic Healer: Huh???
ZㅣUltimate Warrior: The portal, I mean.
All I did was step into a portal sitting at the edge of a flat grassland, and suddenly a vast, barren wasteland appeared.
The weather was different, there wasn’t a single blade of grass, and even the monsters were completely different.
ZㅣUltimate Warrior: So is there just a desert right next to the grassland? That makes no sense, scientifically or magically.
MㅐMagic Healer: Idiot, just treat the game as a game.
ZㅣUltimate Warrior: Screw you.
I had plenty of other questions too.
Who made the portals, why monsters never crossed through them, wouldn’t it be way more convenient to install one inside a village, and so on.
Honestly, none of it mattered much for playing the game.
Anyway, among all of that, what I envied the most was something else.
“People in this world must have it so easy.”
Wherever you wanted to go, just step through a portal and bam, you’re there.
No need for exhausting long-distance travel.
No worries about getting stuck in traffic on the way back home for the holidays.
Could there possibly be a more perfect mode of transportation?
“I do want to try one someday.”
2.
Right after passing through the portal.
“Ugh… gag…”
I clamped my hand over my mouth.
It felt like my body had been sucked into water and then spat out whole on the other side.
The world spun before my eyes, and the bread I’d crammed down that morning crept back up my throat.
Still hasn’t digested, huh.
If I’d known this would happen, I should have run around a bit like the others.
I still need to eat dinner later.
[Stomach contents are flowing back up the esophagus.]
“I know.”
So don’t bother explaining.
“Are you alright?”
The instructor standing up ahead asked.
“Yes. I’m still getting used to it.”
“Everyone’s like that on their first day through a portal. You’ll feel better soon.”
Shouldn’t you have told me that before we entered the Tower, though?
I only found out after stuffing myself full of bread this morning that we’d get meals on the 10th and 20th floors.
Why do people always deliver important information only after something’s already happened?
Anyway, the advice about eating a light breakfast was right.
Damn Ratman.
I took a few deep breaths and looked around.
The 30th Floor was a massive underground canyon.
Black cliffs stretched endlessly on both sides,
and between them yawned a pit so deep the bottom wasn’t even visible.
The only way across the rock pillars was a series of narrow stone paths, connected precariously.
Some sections were so thin that two people could barely stand side by side.
And in the far distance.
There was an altar glowing with a blue light.
“That’s our objective for this operation.”
The instructor pointed at the altar.
“Once you activate the Central Teleportation Altar, you’ll be moved to the safe zone, Irotia. Avoid unnecessary combat and maintain formation.”
If you just listen to the explanation, it sounds easy enough.
Walk over there and activate the altar.
Then today’s schedule is done.
Granted, there were some treacherous paths and Monsters mixed in along the way.
Well, it didn’t look all that dangerous.
“Iris. Take the lead.”
“Yes.”
Iris stepped forward, staff in hand.
+
The Monsters on the 30th Floor were a bit more troublesome than the lower floors.
From Winged Lizards as big as a person to Shell Beetles that scurried up walls.
And Scorpions that hid in rock crevices, shooting poison stingers.
After dealing with those annoying bastards a few times,
the central altar, which had only glowed faintly blue in the distance, was now clearly visible.
Just get there, and it’s over.
The name “Floor 30.5” still struck me as odd, but since it was a place we’d leave right after arriving, there was no need to dwell on it.
Crack.
A strange sound came from above my head.
‘What was that?’
At first, I thought a crack had formed somewhere in the cliff.
But there was nothing where the sound had come from.
“What is that?”
Someone muttered, pointing at the empty air.
A thin black line was floating there.
Soon, the scenery around the black line rippled like water, and stone dust scattered on the ground was being sucked into it.
[Spatial Vibration is rising rapidly.]
[Localized Spatial Collapse is in progress.]
“Everyone, halt!”
At the instructor’s shout, the formation stopped.
Creeeak!
The black line split open to both sides.
The force pulling in the stone dust grew stronger.
“It’s a Spatial Rift!”
Iris raised her staff.
She quickly scanned the size of the rift and the Mana flowing around it.
“The structure is the same as a small rift. If we destroy the core, it can be closed.”
“First, confirm the number and locations of the cores.”
Following the instructor’s order, Iris began to spread her Detection Formula.
Just as blue Mana was about to radiate from the tip of her staff.
Crunch!
A large chunk of the stone path was torn away.
The recruits standing in front screamed and scrambled back.
The rift didn’t seem inclined to wait.
“…We don’t have time.”
Iris withdrew her Detection Formula.
“I’ll destroy the visible core first!”
Iris planted her staff.
Moisture in the surroundings gathered to a single point, forming a blue spear.
“Ice Spear!”
A flash of blue shot across the air.
Shatter!
The red crystal burst into pieces.
The force that had been sucking in stone and Mana stopped, and the wide black gap began to slowly close in from both sides.
Voices of relief came from behind.
“W-we did it!”
“As expected of Iris.”
The instructor lowered his own staff as well.
“Quick judgment. Well done, Iris.”
“Thank you.”
Iris let out a cold breath and turned to look at me.
Her shoulders were slightly squared, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Nothing to say?”
“……”
What now.
Is she asking for praise again, like last time?
But I refuse.
Last time I said something with good intentions, and she twisted it however she wanted and got angry.
In times like this, keeping quiet is half the battle.
Iris stared at my face for a while.
“……”
Silent, just continuing.
Haha. Look at that.
They say there’s no falsehood in proverbs.
“…I see. So this much still isn’t enough to even be seen as a rival.”
I swear, she’s driving me insane.
Now she interprets things on her own even when I say nothing.
“No, I didn’t say anyth—”
[Additional Rift Core detected.]
I stopped mid-sentence.
A red line appeared where the destroyed core had just been.
The line didn’t linger in the air—it ran straight down beneath the stone path we were standing on.
“…Wait.”
Iris’s expression hardened.
[Multiple rift structure confirmed.]
[Lower Rift Core is entering an overload state.]
The hidden core was embedded right beneath the stone path where Iris was standing.
It seemed that when the upper core was destroyed, all the power gathered around it flowed downward.
“There’s one more below!”
Iris shouted loudly.
The instructor immediately turned his staff toward the ground.
“Everyone, fall back!”
Iris spun around too.
But.
Thud.
A heavy vibration came from beneath her feet first.
[Floor collapse in 1.3 seconds.]
Black cracks spread from beneath Iris’s feet.
Before she could take a single step, the ground gave way.
“Ahhh!“
“Miss Iris!”
There was no time to think.
I leaped in and grabbed Iris’s arm.
“Le-Leon!”
“I didn’t say anything earlier, I swear!”
“Is that really what you should be saying right now?!”
Just as I tried to pull her back, the remaining stone path collapsed entirely.
CRRRRRUMBLE!
We plunged downward.
Above, the instructor was frantically casting a barrier.
The other recruits reached out toward us, but they were already too far away.
“Leon!”
Iris called my name.
“What!!!”
“My arm! My arm!!!”
The arm I was holding was slipping through my grip.
I gathered what strength I had left and pulled Iris into my arms.
“Hang on tight!!!”
The black rock face rushed up fast, blocking the view above.
After that, my memory cut out.
+
“-eon!”
Someone was calling me.
“Leon!”
“…Huh?”
When I opened my eyes, Iris’s face was right in front of mine.
Her light blonde hair was caked with stone dust, and shallow cuts marked her cheeks and arms.
“Are you conscious?”
“…Yes.”
As I tried to sit up, a dull ache shot through my lower back.
“Ugh…“
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Iris immediately grabbed my shoulders.
“My back hurts a bit, but.”
[Bruising confirmed on the right shoulder and lower back.]
[No fatal damage.]
“Nothing too serious, I think.”
“…That’s a relief.”
I looked around.
Where we’d fallen was a wide Cavity beneath the canyon.
The upper area was hidden behind black mist and protruding rock formations.
On one side, an Ice Wall jutted out at an angle, shattered from the middle down.
Long marks from where we’d slid down were etched across its surface.
“You made that while we were falling?”
“It was a bit difficult, but yes.”
“Impressive.”
Iris looked at me with an odd expression.
I immediately shut my mouth.
If I added anything more, she might twist it into something strange again.
She pulled a Communication Magic Tool from her belt.
“Instructor, can you hear me?”
Static.
When only noise came back, she channeled a little more Mana into it.
“Instructor, this is Iris. Leon and I are both safe.”
A sharp crackling continued for a while.
Then a broken voice came through faintly.
{…Iris…… Leon…… their survival status……}
“We’re both alive.”
{……Don’t move…… The Rescue Team will……}
That phrasing reminds me of some so-called ultimate being on the surface.
Zzt. Zzzzt!
Static burst from the Communication Magic Tool, and the voice cut out.
She channeled Mana into it several more times after that, but no response came.
[High-density Death Mana is interfering with the communication signal.]
“Death Mana?”
“…Death Mana?”
Iris looked up from the Communication Magic Tool.
“You can sense Death Mana right now?”
“Yes. What is it, though?”
“You’re pretending not to know again……”
“No, I genuinely don’t know.”
Iris stared at my face for a long moment, then let out a short sigh.
“Death Mana is Mana that accumulates around dead creatures or Undead. When the concentration thickens, it disrupts the flow of other magic. The communication cutting out is probably because of that too.”
So the more dead things there are, the noisier the surrounding Mana gets.
In phone terms, it’s like a bad signal.
[Correct.]
[Communication with the Rescue Team is impossible from your current location.]
BAM!
A rock that fell from above struck the exact spot where I’d been lying moments before.
“Wow. Thanks for waking me up. If I’d stayed lying there, I’d be dead.”
“……”
Iris didn’t answer and surveyed the area.
Thin cracks were spreading across the walls of the Cavity, and stone dust kept pouring from the ceiling.
She pointed to a cave opening on one side.
“We need to take shelter in there.”
“The instructor told us to wait.”
THUD!
This time, a rock the size of a person landed right next to us.
“A person can’t just wait around all the time.”
“You’re cracking jokes at a time like this……?”
GRRRROAN—!
Another cracking sound rang out above our heads.
“U-up there! Danger!”
“Quick! Get inside, now!”
Before more rocks could fall, we dashed into the cave.