Once our eyes finally adjusted to the bright daylight, we cautiously left the hall, scouting the surroundings as we went. This place is enormous. I feel like I've stepped into an entirely different universe. We had exited halfway up the mountain, but there was no clear path down. With no other choice, we carefully jumped from ledge to ledge, aiming for small landings to support each descent.
"Honestly, who designed this place? Placing a hall exit in the middle of nowhere… I nearly slipped a few times," Kim Seong-Hoon grumbled non-stop as we made our way down. His black warrior hanbok made him look powerful and intimidating, which, at the moment, felt completely ironic. I rolled my eyes, enduring his endless rambling.
"Look at that!" As we approached ground level, Jieun pointed at a pillar of ethereal light that suddenly shot up into the sky, shaking the earth beneath us and triggering a minor quake. In the next instant, rocks tumbled down from the mountain's peak.
"Look out!" I shouted, rushing to shield Kim Seong-Hoon from the massive boulder barreling his way. But before I could reach him, a dragon's roar shook the ground, and a blue beam of light burst from his mouth. In an instant, the boulder shattered into millions of tiny pieces.
"You're not the only one who's gotten stronger, big sis." He smiled teasingly, his face beaming with happiness—maybe because I'd rushed in to save him, or perhaps because, for once, he'd done something cool.
"Does that mean you've forgiven me? Judging by the way you panicked just now." His smug smile made me feel sick.
"Enough bullying Gaon, Brother Seong-Hoon. We have more important matters at hand." Eun-Woo intervened, jumping down from the last ledge. His massive frame and armor hit the ground with a force that made it tremble.
"I didn't like that beam of light..." he muttered, looking grim as his eyes darted around, scanning the surroundings for any lurking beasts.
"Do you think it was a monster? Or just a natural disaster?" Jieun asked playfully, her mood much lighter now. She twirled around, enjoying the vibrant colors of this new world. She was still just a kid, after all.
Malrang leapt down from my shoulder and sniffed the ground, her expression showing she hadn't detected anything wrong with this place yet. Still, her fur had been standing on ends ever since that ethereal beam.
"Anyway, we must move on to the second trial... that beam might have been a signal for us." I couldn't shake a lingering unease—the Fallen King, these vast, boundless lands... it made me wonder: was this place merely a temporary creation for the trial or a real world? I wasn't certain, but I knew one thing: to escape this place, we had to follow the system's orders.
"Follow behind me; I'll take the lead!" Eun-Woo commanded, taking charge of the party. "Malrang, scout the area ahead, but be cautious. Little sister Jieun, you'll stay at the back—your long-range attacks are our best defense against flying monsters. Seong-Hoon, you'll position yourself in front of Jieun to protect her, and Gaon, you should walk in the middle. We'll keep a bit of distance from you so you have room to wield your long weapon freely." He took on the role of the group's mom, planning everything out and preparing for whatever might come our way.
"Yes, captain!" Kim Seong-Hoon joked, as usual, lightening the party's mood while staying alert for anything unexpected.
As we walked, I could feel the soft, crystal-blue grass tickling my legs. It felt like ordinary grass, but slightly sharper; without my latest power ups, I'd probably be covered in scratches by now. So far, we hadn't encountered any monsters. This world was silent—too silent, as if every living thing had vanished. Is this world exactly what I think it is...?
"Woo!" Malrang rushed back hurriedly, covered in silver leaves and dirt, clearly having gotten into a scuffle with something. A small hole pierced her left ear, but she was already beginning to recover.
"What happened?" My heart raced as fast as lightning as I moved swiftly, inspecting her injuries. "Was it a beast? A person—?" Suddenly, another ethereal beam shot into the sky, now only a hundred or so meters ahead of us.
Malrang turned toward the beam, baring her teeth and growling, her ears flattened and fur standing on end, signaling that the culprit was right there.
"Let's go!" Eun-Woo barked, summoning his shield and hammer as he prepared for an all-out fight.
The beams intensified, shooting to the sky faster and faster as we approached. Once we were only a small distance away, Eun-Woo raised his shield, stopping us. The entire area was now filled with the golden trees that were dressed in silver leaves. I touched one of the golden tree trunks and felt a soft, but hard material. Whoah! These things are actually made out of gold? If people from my world ever found this place, the entire forest would be gone in an hour. I laughed to myself, trying to lift my own mood.
"It stopped... so quiet... Malrang, where was the culprit before?" Eun-Woo muttered, standing still as he scanned the area, listening carefully for any sound. Kim Seong-Hoon and Jieun kept watch behind us, while I stood in place, waiting—either for a monster to appear or for the announcement of the second trial, which I'd have to sit out.
Whssst!
It all happened in an instant; a small bloody hole was left in Kim Seong-Hoon's shoulder as something black passed us at the speed of light. Malrang growled even louder in response, indicating it had happened to her as well.
"Aaaargh... That hurt! Who the hell?" Kim Seong-Hoon shouted, furious. His dragon sword coiled around his arm like a serpent, radiating a powerful draconic aura. "Come and fight if you dare! What are these puny tricks?" He roared, his voice shaking the entire forest as silver leaves fell in response.
Whssst!
Whssst!
Whssst!
A sudden barrage of tiny black beams darted around us, targeting every member of the party except me. Is this part of the second trial? Or should I be searching for the culprit?
"Celestial Guard!" A veil of celestial light surrounded us, shielding everyone from the attacks. Each time a small beam struck the veil, it bounced back instantly, leaving only a faint ripple in the shield.
"Good job little sister!" Eun-Woo praised her, which made the little girl blush with pride and happiness.
"[WELCOME TO THE SECOND TRIAL. IN THIS TRIAL, ALL PARTY MEMBERS EXCEPT LEE GAON MUST LOCATE AND SLAY THE ENEMY WITHIN FIVE HOURS]"
The system's voice echoed in our ears, but the barrage of attacks continued, relentlessly trying to shatter Jieun's defensive skill. Five hours is a long time; how hard could it be for them to find the enemy? I couldn't help but feel skeptical about this trial—something about it just didn't make sense.
"Five hours? That's plenty!" Kim Seong-Hoon sounded confident, perhaps still holding a grudge about the shoulder wound that had already healed. "Well... as long as we can get past these first..." His confidence wavered suddenly, leaving me wondering if he even knew what he wanted.
"I can handle this level of attacks easily. My mana's skyrocketed after my level-up. As long as we stay like this, the attacks can't hurt us, but..." Jieun held her hands forward, casting her ability, though a hint of doubt began to creep into her voice. If this continued, she might eventually run out of mana—and who knew how long they'd need to stay here…
I felt my body being dragged out of the veil gently, but this time my powers were not bound, I was only being pushed out to not interfere.
"Don't worry, big sis, you can count on us. I'll treat you to a delicious meal once I find and skin this thing! Haha!" Kim Seong-Hoon put on a brave face, his dragon sword enlarging as he cast a skill I hadn't seen before. Frost spread from the dragon's eye on his sword, covering what must have been a thousand-meter radius in tiny shards of ice. "Ice Spy!" he roared as loud as he could, unintentionally rendering his skill name pointless.
Once I stepped outside the protective veil, the oppressive energy vanished completely. "You could have just asked me to leave, you know—no need to be so pushy," I muttered, glancing up at the sky. I knew that thing was watching, probably laughing at our struggles...
"I found something!" Kim Seong-Hoon's face lit up. "I can sense a small creature dashing through my ice at insane speed... It's tough to pinpoint its exact location. But if we can somehow get it to stop for just a moment..."
"Woo!" Malrang barked, as if to say, "Leave it to me!" She unleashed a powerful hellfire that engulfed the southern part of the battlefield, melting every tree in its path and beyond.
"Nice thinking!" Eun-Woo quickly chimed in. "Earth Wall!" In the blink of an eye, a massive wall of earth rose from the ground, hidden within the fire.
Crash!
A powerful crash echoed as the culprit, unable to halt its lightning-fast movement, collided forcefully.
GRRRROAAAARGH!
A loud, furious, and pained roar shook the entire mountain range as the small creature revealed itself—a black as-night cat that suddenly grew into a monstrous fifty-meter beast, towering over my friends from above.
Inspect!
[The Nightswallow]
[Level 18]
[Legendary cat beast]
[Total Attack 820]
[Total Agility 1000]
[Total Magic 660]
[Total Strength 830]
[Total Defense 600]
[Total Mana 10300]