Chapter 26

Chapter 26

It's over. It's really... over.

I bit down hard on my trembling lips. My vision blurred with tears. At this moment, the strongest emotion filling my heart wasn't excitement, thrill, or joy.

It was simply relief.

I didn't have to fight anymore. I didn't have to be afraid of dying anymore. It was such a simple feeling, yet one I had desperately wanted, and more than anything, it was precious.

"The sky...."

At Han Siwoo's murmur, I slowly raised my head toward the sky.

The darkness that had covered the world was gradually clearing away, revealing the bright sun.

Was the sun always this bright?

The sunlight shining down made my eyes sting.

But I didn't look away. I was afraid that if I took my eyes off that sun and looked to the side, I might find myself still trapped in despair.

So I kept my eyes fixed on the sky and stared at the brilliantly shining sun.

Well, it doesn't seem like we... can't enter anymore.

The crackling sound unique to a radio faintly reached my ears. Soon, accompanied by the sound of whirrrrr, several helicopters that had been hovering far away in the sky began approaching us.

I simply stared blankly at the scene without thinking much.

It's gone! The black dome is gone!

Someone's excited shout rang clearly in my ears.

Rope ladders dropped down in front of us, and people wearing military uniforms climbed down from the helicopters. After looking around the area, they approached us, who were standing there in a daze.

"Are you all right?"

That unfamiliar voice finally pulled me back into reality.

We had won.

We had survived.

That was all.

Ding.

[Congratulations! 'Forgotten Quest' completed successfully.]

[You have proven that you possess the qualifications to become the owner of the 'Forgotten Quest'.]

[From now on, the Forgotten Quest will serve you as its master and help you grow.]

[The temporary Balance Adjustment Buff applied for the quest has been reset.]

At the same time, the power that had filled my body drained away.

Before I even had time to feel disappointed, another system window appeared.

[Quest rewards will now be given.]

[Quest Reward: Survival, 1,000 Skill Proficiency obtained.]

[Due to the obtained proficiency, the levels of all skills have been adjusted to Lv.3.]

[Your maximum mana has increased due to the level increase. 100 → 300]

As soon as I finished reading, some of the power that had just disappeared returned.

My gaze moved toward a new skill sitting in one corner of my Skill Window.

"Excuse me, are you all right?"

I had been so lost in thought that I had briefly forgotten there was a soldier standing in front of me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but,

Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeep.

The phone in my pocket suddenly began ringing loudly.

Startled by the sudden noise, I told the soldier to wait a moment and pulled out my phone.

When I unlocked the screen, dozens of emergency alerts appeared one after another.

[Emergency Disaster Alert] 1:45 PM

[Seoul City Hall] An unidentified 'extraterrestrial substance' has appeared at Songpa University, located in Songpa-dong, Songpa-gu. It is believed to be a Level 1 hazardous substance. Those nearby are advised to evacuate immediately.]

[Emergency Disaster Alert] 2:35 PM

[Seoul City Hall] An unidentified 'extraterrestrial substance' has appeared at Songpa University, located in Songpa-dong, Songpa-gu. It is believed to be a Level 1 hazardous substance. Those nearby are advised to evacuate immediately. An additional 15 injuries and 5 deaths have occurred. Do not approach the area around Songpa University under any circumstances.]

[Emergency Disaster Alert] 2:50 PM

[Seoul City Hall] An unidentified 'extraterrestrial substance' has appeared at Songpa University, located in Songpa-dong, Songpa-gu. It is believed to be a Level 1 hazardous substance. Those nearby are advised to evacuate immediately. An additional 40 injuries and 17 deaths have occurred. This is a real emergency. Please evacuate immediately.]

Looking at the countless disaster alerts, I felt a little bitter.

The realization that I had finally returned to reality, and the feeling that everything I had experienced hadn't been a dream.

I already knew that, of course.

But somehow, seeing these messages made it feel real all over again.

"B, blood...!"

The soldier jumped in shock when he noticed the blood covering my clothes.

Thanks to the Elixir, I had nothing more than a few small wounds, but my clothes were still stained with blood.

I lightly covered the bloody part of my clothes with my hand.

"Ah... I'm fine. More importantly, those people...."

The enormous spiderwebs and cocoons hanging in the sky had disappeared the moment Arachne was defeated.

The people who had been trapped inside the cocoons were now lying scattered across the ground.

Since Arachne was gone, their life force wouldn't be drained anymore, but they still didn't look very well.

Then again, considering their life force had been sucked away, it would be stranger if they looked fine.

I raised my hand to point toward them, but several soldiers had already gone over there.

Feeling embarrassed, I quietly moved my raised hand to the back of my neck.

"First, we need to evacuate you immediately. We don't know when the black dome might appear again,"

"You don't have to worry about that anymore."

When I answered the worried soldier, he tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

"It won't appear again."

At least, not here.

"...How can you be so certain?"

Instead of feeling reassured, the soldier looked at me suspiciously.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

I gave him an awkward smile.

"You don't appear to be in good condition, so we'll transport you to a hospital immediately. However, once your condition improves, there will be an investigation to determine what happened here."

Because of what I had said, the soldier seemed to have become suspicious of me.

I was wondering what to do when,

"Suspicious object discovered!"

A soldier shouted loudly into his radio.

Every soldier immediately turned their attention toward the same place.

It was the corpse of Arachne that we had defeated.

The soldier who had been looking at me suspiciously also raised his radio to his mouth and ran toward it.

"Do not approach carelessly! It may be a hazardous substance! Requesting backup!"

I watched the soldier run away, then suddenly noticed the ruined state of the rooftop.

Parts of the building had been cracked and damaged by Arachne's attacks.

I looked around, then quietly turned my head away.

...Hmm.

Did we cause some of that damage too?

If we keep our mouths shut, no one will know.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Oppa suddenly grabbed my hand.

Only then did I notice its condition.

My entire hand had turned bluish, as though it were badly bruised, and it was trembling uncontrollably like I had developed a severe tremor.

It was a side effect of Mana Exhaustion.

Mana Exhaustion.

As I stared at my trembling hand, my gaze suddenly fell on Oppa's battered arms.

All I had was trembling and paralysis, but Oppa's arms were torn apart by deep wounds where Arachne's spikes had scraped into him.

"...Oppa, shouldn't I be asking if you're okay?"

"Well, it stings a little, but it doesn't hurt as much as I expected."

Oppa spoke as though it were nothing, but there was no way it didn't hurt.

I only regretted that I had used up all my mana and couldn't heal him.

If I'd known this would happen, I would've saved a little.

One of our arms was purple from poison, while the other was blue from Mana Exhaustion.

Suddenly, I laughed.

"What? Why are you laughing?"

"No reason."

Both Oppa and I were really stubborn idiots.

"Good work."

I turned my head.

Han Siwoo and Lee Dohyun were looking at me.

Their skin was scraped up, and after being thrown around so many times, both their clothes and faces were covered in wounds.

"You guys too."

Ah, right!

I suddenly remembered something and turned toward Arachne.

"...It looks like a spider."

"Do you really think a spider this large could exist?"

The soldiers had gathered around Arachne's corpse and were examining it with serious expressions.

It was obvious, but defeating monsters gave you items.

Until now, I had been too busy to pick up any of the items.

But that wasn't the case anymore.

And this was a boss monster.

Most importantly, if it was Arachne, then it should definitely have that item.

The item that played an important role in the novel.

I hurried toward the corpse, and the others followed me without knowing why.

Just like I had done back in the lecture room, I was about to search Arachne's body when Han Siwoo suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"What are you trying to do?"

"It's dangerous!"

Even the soldiers blocked my path, so I couldn't exactly tell them that I wanted to search the corpse.

There's an item inside there. Why can't I just pick it up...?

But I also wasn't confident that I could explain everything we had experienced in a way that would convince the soldiers.

Well, the item wouldn't disappear just because some time passed.

I would have to find another chance later.

"Do you happen to know what this thing is? Anything is fine, so we'd appreciate it if you told us honestly. Is today's incident connected to that strange creature?"

I thought for a moment.

If my memories were correct, the strange phenomenon hadn't happened only at Songpa University.

Which meant that even while we were standing here, the same phenomenon was probably happening somewhere else in Korea, or even in other countries.

By now, there were probably at least a few people like us who had defeated the monsters and escaped outside.

There was no need for me to step forward and make these soldiers understand everything first.

I could barely stand as it was, and I wasn't exactly overflowing with a sense of justice.

Just thinking about how to recover the item inside Arachne was already enough to fill my head.

What happened in the novel again?

Maybe I had completely exhausted my stamina, because whenever I tried to remember anything beyond this point, my head began throbbing.

That was when,

Creeeak, bang!

"We have injured people!"

The rooftop door burst open, and several soldiers carrying stretchers appeared.

There had been soldiers who went downstairs immediately after getting off the helicopters.

It seemed these were the same people.

When I looked at the people being carried on the stretchers, I could feel their life forces.

Some were unconscious, while others were seriously injured.

Among them was one person whose injuries were especially severe.

Even if they received treatment right away, it didn't look like they would survive.

That person is going to die soon....

Even if I used Healing on them, I couldn't be certain I would be able to save them.

Of course, I didn't even have enough mana left to heal anyone right now.

I just wanted to rest.

As I continued thinking, I suddenly became a little startled.

Why am I so calm about this?