Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

Episode 685 Butterfly (5)

When the flash subsided and vision returned,

Well, I’m not sure if I can say that my vision has returned, but anyways·

When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry and hazy.

However, let’s first synthesize all the information that can be obtained through the body’s senses:

Swaaaaaaaaaaaa-

Sinking under water

And at a very fast speed too.

Kuung-!

Before I could come to my senses, my body reached its maximum depth and created a heavy vibration.

Also at the same time·

‘Oh, hot’

A sharp pain radiates from my shoulder.

It felt like I was stabbed by something sharp.

I was startled and quickly turned my head to check the side, and I saw a monster that looked like a goby clinging to my shoulder with a firm bite.

‘···Hey this guy····’

5th grade fish species monster hopfish

The moment I realized the identity of the guy biting my shoulder, even through my blurry vision, I was able to naturally realize my current location.

Well, this monster only appears in two places.

About the 6th floor

And the dream waterfall of the 9th floor star tomb.

There was no need to worry about which of the two to choose.

“The character has entered a special area”

「Field Effect – Dream Waterfall is granted.」

Additional information is given and a rough causal relationship is drawn in the mind.

Teleport was successful even with the Bone Dragon’s ‘Dispel’.

It’s just that it was a bit imperfect.

‘Looking at me being the only one left here, I guess everyone teleported to a random location…’

Suddenly I’m worried about whether the rest of the group is okay.

That would be the case, except for the occupations that can be solo-played like Baekho Lee. It is almost impossible for a magician or priest to survive alone on the 9th floor.

but····

‘The distance has come to this point.’

For now, it would be right to worry about my own survival first.

In that sense, I first swung my arm and kicked away the hop fish that was biting my shoulder.

and····

‘Let’s go·’

He walks forward with his heavy body that does not float on the water.

Finding the right direction wasn’t difficult.

The current of the Dream Falls always heads towards the center of the field, so if you just float a boat on the water, the boat will always head towards the waterfall.

That means, if you just walk in the opposite direction, you will eventually reach land.

Even judging by the hop fish, it wasn’t that far from land.

thus····

Phew phew·

With every step, I step on the ground that reaches up to my ankles and steadily move forward.

Unfortunately, however, the troublemakers kept appearing.

‘I’m really going to die’

With every step I take, nearby monsters that were sleeping under the water wake up and draw aggro towards me.

Hoooooooow-!

I tried swinging the Demon Crusher because it was so annoying, but it didn’t have much effect.

It was very difficult to hit a monster living in water with an attack speed slowed down by water resistance.

Phew-!

When I swing my weapon, they quickly step back, and when I finish the movement, they come back as if nothing happened and bite my body.

‘Fucking bastards····’

Eventually I gave up on taking them off and just focused on moving.

A few of them were clinging to my body, biting and chewing and enjoying it, but I just ignored them and started walking away····

“Puhaaaaat!!”

However, since it was the beginning where hopfish appeared, I was able to get out on land quickly.

Hmm… not soon?

‘Wow, I really thought it was going to happen.’

At the end, I really thought I was going to die because I couldn’t breathe, but luckily I was able to get out in time.

So now it’s time for revenge.

Kwajik-! Kwajik-! Kwajik-!

He hung on to his body and beat up the men who dared to follow him to the shore with a hammer before falling to the ground.

“Haa haa haa······”

After a fierce battle with the bone dragon and falling into the water, I had a really hard time and didn’t even have the strength to move a single finger.

So I laid down on the floor and rested, trying to organize things in my head.

As always, the most important thing in a crisis is:

What to do next

The answer came without much thought.

‘I guess I’ll have to start by joining.’

As I was alone, I explored the 9th floor with the utmost care and joined up with my scattered companions.

For now, that is the top priority.

If it’s a secondary goal, it would be to find a way or clue to escape from the Star Tomb during the process.

“after····”

Therefore, I suppress my desire to lie down and rest more and get up.

I have a relatively easy time surviving on the 9th floor, but that’s not the case for everyone else except for Baekho Lee.

I, who am relatively easy to get around, should work harder—·

“···huh?”

I was trying to force myself to walk with that kind of mind, but I was frozen in that state.

I don’t know how this happened, but····

“···Jaina?”

I’ve already found my first group.

***

The location of discovery was less than 5 meters away from where I was lying down.

‘Why didn’t I see this before?’

On the one hand, I think that way, but on the other hand, I can understand not having seen it.

To be honest, I didn’t have the presence of mind to do that.

Anyway, this isn’t what’s important…

“Jaina!”

Hurry up and run to check the condition.

From a distance, it looked like a corpse, but fortunately, it was still alive.

As of now·

Chook·

When I took off the thick coat that I always wore tightly, I could see the blue-green inner armor I was wearing underneath.

No. 2578 Sky Armor

It is not an item that increases stats, abilities, or regeneration, but it is one of the top items in terms of defense.

That’s what I usually call a ‘life jacket’.

‘I survived thanks to this’

But ironically, I was dying because of this now.

That’s because the part of the sky armor that was in the sky was sunken in and was pressing on the lungs.

It looks like all the ribs are gone.

‘Mr. Ha… How do I take this off?’

It couldn’t have been a more difficult situation.

First of all, in order to treat it, you have to take off the armor, but in this state, you can’t take it off.

thus····

“Understand, it’s to save you.”

After informing and asking for understanding from the unconscious Jaina, he inserted his finger into the small gap between the armor.

and····

“Euaaa …

I use all my strength to grab the armor on both sides.

If the armor was in its original condition, it would have been impossible, but is it because it was heavily crumpled before and its durability was reduced?

The armor that was slowly unfolding starts to shatter as if torn apart at some point.

‘Will it be repaired?’

I suddenly had that thought, but decided not to care.

If it can’t be repaired, I guess I’ll just buy a new one. It looks like you’ve saved up quite a bit of money.

Cheeeeeeeeek-!

After removing the armor that was clearly hindering recovery, he immediately sprayed the potion.

Just seeing the bubbles bubbling makes me sick, but I wonder if he was really on the verge of death, or if he was recovering without even moving an inch.

So, I sprayed another bottle of potion and continued to check the status from the side.

Cheeeeeeeeek-!

It was a time when only such creepy sounds continued.

“Ugh··· Ugh···”

As she regained consciousness, a faint moan escaped her lips and Jaina began to twist her body.

And then I saw this····

‘There’s a tattoo on your side.’

It’s not unusual for an explorer to have tattoos, but Jaina’s tattoo was a bit unusual.

That’s understandable, because the size was very small.

About the size of a thumb?

It was so small, the shape was rough as if it had been drawn by an amateur, and the colors were faded as if it had been drawn for a very long time.

‘···Are you by any chance from Noark?’

When I was living in Noark, which is considered the pinnacle of slums, I saw young children with crude tattoos like this.

It was not my own will, but someone else’s will… or to be exact, it was a tattoo that I got for a moment of pleasure.

Like the tattoo under Amelia’s eyes.

“Haa··· haa··· haa···”

After about 10 minutes, Jaina, who had been writhing and screaming the whole time, starts breathing heavily.

And he mutters to himself·

“·······”

His voice was so small and his pronunciation was so slurred that at first I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

It just sounded like he was speaking some dialect.

But I understand because I keep listening from the side.

I still can’t understand what you’re saying, though.

“uck···”

This is not the language of this world.

‘···I thought it was an evil spirit·’

There is also a possibility that the ‘evil language’ that Baekho Lee jokes about every day is deeply ingrained in his subconscious and then suddenly comes out.

But I have a feeling that it won’t be like that.

“Haa··· haa······”

As I continued to watch, the monologue gradually ended and my breathing gradually returned to normal.

From experience, now was the time to have a conversation.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

When I asked while shaking his shoulders slightly, his eyelids lifted weakly.

“What··· What happened···?”

Hey, this kid is trying to figure out the situation as soon as he comes to his senses.

Usually these kids survive for a long time.

Is it because you’re from [Dungeon and Stone]?

“How much do you remember?”

“I got hit in the stomach and passed out···”

“After you passed out, things went according to plan and I used the multi-teleportation magic. However, the magic was not activated properly due to the interference of the bone dragon.”

“Fire··· Perfect···?”

“I think everyone was teleported to random coordinates. I fell into the middle of the dream waterfall and barely managed to swim to land, where you were lying on the ground.”

“That kind of thing····”

“How are you feeling? Can you get up? I’ve been here too long, so I’m thinking about moving.”

“Please help me just a little bit”

After that, he supported Jaina’s body and lifted her up.

But even after that, I couldn’t stand up properly, so I just threw it away.

“Ouch···!”

“I think it would be more comfortable for both of us if we just carried each other.”

“······”

It was not advisable to stay in one place for too long, so we carried Jaina on our backs and talked while moving.

“Where are you going···?”

“We’re going to the Land of the Ancients. Since it’s located in the center, there’s a high chance that everyone will wake up and come here.”

In addition, since the primeval land is connected to any region, there is an advantage in that you can quickly reach your destination depending on the situation.

“Anyway, I plan to avoid combat if possible, so if you have the energy, just scout out.”

“···It seems like it could be some kind of tool·”

“If you don’t like it, recover quickly. Then I’ll be much more comfortable.”

“······”

That’s how the journey of just the two of us started.

But maybe because there are only two of them, their speech is much more formal than usual.

‘Is it because you know that if you are abandoned by me, it’s over?’

I couldn’t understand it, but I could hear a somewhat quiet expression of gratitude.

“···Thank you for saving me.·”

“If you’re grateful, heal me well when we fight later. If you look closely, even though they’re both injured, Aures gets more healing spells.”

“···It’s a mistake·”

Well, I don’t think that’s the case…

“By the way, were you an evil spirit too?”

When he asked the question at an unexpected time, he felt the strength in Jaina’s hand on his shoulder.

“I guess it was the right answer after all.”

Jaina was silent for a moment after hearing my continued muttering.

At this, I also ended up laughing out loud.

“Is there a reason to hide it? After all, just hanging out with Baekho Lee is already considered a high treason in the palace.”

Was this statement decisive?

Jaina, who seemed to be thinking about it a little more, coolly admitted it.

“···How did you know?”

“Because I was talking in my sleep while I was passed out.”

However, the response to the evidence I presented was unexpected.

“Me···? That can’t be···”

“Usually people who have sleeping habits don’t know they have such habits—·”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It just… doesn’t make sense.”

“···That doesn’t make sense?”

When I asked her again with the nuance of not understanding, Jaina hesitated for a long time again before opening her mouth.

“I am an evil spirit, but I have no memories of that world.”

···huh?

What is this?