The giant monster’s hand shot up high towards the sky before crashing down. Chi-Woo’s mouth hung open as the hand’s shadow swallow his entire body.
‘I have to—’ He had to escape. However, the range of the monster’s attack was enormous and extended beyond his senses. In other words, he would be caught by the impact of the attack no matter where he ran. All he could do was to avoid a direct hit and minimize the damage. After all, getting flung by the impact was preferable to being flattened under its palm. Chi-Woo relied on his instincts and twisted his body in the opposite direction after throwing Eshnunna away from danger. At the same time, he propelled himself up with a kick to the ground as the giant hand landed.
Baaaam!
The ground trembled and let out a thunderous roar. As if an earthquake had occurred, the Evalaya Mountain shook.
Bbiii—! A high-pitch ringing pierced Chi-Woo’s ears as a great force hurled him away. Eshnunna shot upward like a fountain, while Chi-Woo flew in the opposite direction while drawing a long parabola in the air. Chi-Woo lost his senses as a violent tremor swept across his entire body, shaking him to the very core. His vision spun like mad for a brief, dizzying moment, making his vision all blurry like a fuzzy and broken TV screen. The next thing he knew, he was rolling uncontrollably.
Intense pain shot through his body again and again as the hostile landscape scratched him all over. Only after seeing dirt surge up all around him did Chi-Woo realize that he had fallen onto the ground. Then the pain stopped altogether, abruptly replaced by a strange sensation. It felt different from when he was thrown into the air a moment ago. It felt as if he was flying through the air where nothing existed.
“!” The sense of foreboding prompted Chi-Woo to reach out, flailing his arms around hoping to grab something, anything. When his fingertips felt something tangible, he clutched onto it hard.
Ziiip!
“Ugggh!” He seemed to have scraped his hand hard against a rough surface, causing heat to be generated by the friction. Burning pain burst in his hand, so excruciating that he felt like his palm was shredding. Then his body jerked to a stop, and a sharp pain shot through his shoulder like it was falling off. His body had felt light as a feather, but now he was feeling its weight. His feet aimlessly moved in the air like he was riding a bicycle in an attempt to find solid ground, but it turned out futile no matter how hard he tried.
‘Why…!’ Glancing down, Chi-Woo finally realized the situation he was in. There was nothing below him but empty space. He looked upwards and saw a cliff; his bloody hands were barely clinging to the protruding edge. No wonder his body was dangling so much. If he hadn’t stretched out his hands at the last moment, he would have fallen just like that. However, even the hand holding onto the cliff’s edge was beginning to slide bit by bit, unable to overcome the gravity pulling him down. He couldn’t stop his gradual fall even though he tried to put more strength into his grasp.
“Ah…!” Chi-Woo’s face darkened as he watched his thumb and pinky lose their grip. His three remaining fingers were about to fall off as well when a figure swiftly dashed out from between the trees and landed on the edge of the cliff. Then a hand reached out to Chi-Woo and grabbed him, pulling him up.
“Focus!”
Having given up on all hope, Chi-Woo blinked at the silver-haired girl soaked in sweat, dazed. It was Hawa, who had separated from the group after receiving an attack from a spider monster.
“Your right hand!”
Chi-Woo quickly raised his right hand. After clutching onto the cliff with both hands, his body felt much more stable. Then Hawa pulled him up with all her might, and Chi-Woo pitched in with his own strength to pull himself up to the best of his ability.
“Hah!” After much trouble, Chi-Woo managed to crawl to the top of the cliff’s edge and sprawled on the ground. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t fallen off.
“Please get up. It’s not over yet.” Hawa grabbed Chi-Woo from the back as he heaved and forced him to stand up again. It would have been nice if he could celebrate his survival and cry in joy, but the reality was harsh. After getting onto his feet, Chi-Woo looked ahead in stunned silence. They were already surrounded by the monsters that had been chasing after them. Stuck between the monsters and the edge of the cliff, they were completely cornered. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Chi-Woo let out a humorless laugh. He realized then why there hadn’t been many monsters in this direction.
‘We got played.’ The monsters knew that there was a cliff and funneled them here. Chi-Woo had no confidence in penetrating through the group of monsters again, but he couldn’t back away either. There was no way out. As soon as he met one of the monster’s eyes, the corner of its lips lifted. Chi-Woo let out a deep sigh and said, “Why…did you come for me…?”
There was no reason for Hawa to be here. It would have been better for her to escape when the monsters’ attention was drawn to Chi-Woo. How could she have been so foolish?
Yet, Hawa replied calmly, “I wanted to repay the debt I owed you.”
A debt? Chi-Woo pointed at the cluster of monsters and turned back to Hawa. “Well, if you are going to repay me, can you also do something about those guys?”
“…If you are asking for interest, I’ll repay that later. I was actually hoping to become indebted to you again.” Hawa didn’t have a way out, either.
Chi-Woo opened his mouth again as he watched the monsters flutter around.
“I suppose we will…die this time.”
“Probably.”
As Chi-Woo helplessly waited for the impending doom while licking his lips, he saw something passing through his vision and sensed a presence. Glancing at it, Chi-Woo recognized the familiar figure: the one who had made a sudden appearance was no one other than Ru Amuh. It seemed he had defeated or escaped the monsters he had been dealing with and chased after Chi-Woo. However, Ru Amuh’s condition didn’t look that great. He seemed to have been hit a couple of times, and blood was pouring down his head. Ru Amuh opened his eyes wide as he saw Chi-Woo and Hawa completely cornered.
Watching the man running toward them, Chi-Woo asked, “Do you think we’ll survive with Mr. Ru Amuh’s help?”
“No,” Hawa replied immediately, “The fact that they were able to trick and corner their prey means that they possess intelligence.” Hawa was right; the monsters in front of them knew how to use their brain. Thus, it seemed impossible for him and Hawa to run past these monsters even if Ru Amuh managed to deal with the majority of them. Moreover, seeing how the monsters had behaved earlier, it looked like they were planning to kill them this time.
“There’s probably a better chance for Mr. Ru Amuh to survive if he runs away by himself,” Hawa suggested, and Chi-Woo agreed. It was true. The two of them wouldn’t be able to escape even with Ru Amuh’s help. They also had the giant monster to think about.
“Then—“ After collecting his thoughts, Chi-Woo spoke again, “If we do something about the monsters, at least the ones right in front of us, I suppose the possibility of Mr. Ru Amuh and other people surviving would increase further.”
Hawa turned to look at Chi-Woo; she seemed perplexed.
Chi-Woo continued, “We only have two options left. We could wait for Mr. Ru Amuh to come to our aid before charging forward and hoping for a miracle. Or we could walk backward together and fall down the cliff before Mr. Ru Amuh arrives.”
Hawa tilted her head because it sounded as if Chi-Woo was asking her how she would prefer to die. However, Chi-Woo had mentioned dealing with the monsters in front of them.
“If we pick the latter, we might survive.”
Hawa wasn’t sure if she had heard him properly.
“No, we might survive if we’re lucky.” Chi-Woo quickly amended. “The probability is 50 percent…no, around 42.9 percent? Of course, it’s not a definite estimation.”
Hawa’s eyes became big as saucers. If they faced the monsters head-on like this, their chance of survival was definitely 0%. However, according to Chi-Woo, if they fell from the cliff, their chance of survival would increase to an astounding 42.9%. Moreover, Chi-Woo said that if they took care of the monsters in front of them, their survival rate would increase even further. Hawa had no idea what Chi-Woo was planning, but she knew he wasn’t making empty promises. His past achievements were sufficient evidence for her to believe him. Anyway, if Hawa had to choose, her choice was clear.
“It doesn’t matter.” Rather than asking him to explain, Hawa decided to do what she could. “It’s better to fall to my death than get eaten.”
The decision was thus made. Chi-Woo said, “Hold on tight.” Then immediately, he turned on the device and sent a message.
Ru Amuh paused when he heard the notification. The message he received confused him. ‘He’s telling me to stay away?’
As he stared at Chi-Woo, he heard another notification. [Like last time, can you call forth the wind again?]
Even though Ru Amuh couldn’t understand why Chi-Woo had suddenly brought that up, Chi-Woo was a great hero who he admired. Ru Amuh thought Chi-Woo must have a plan in mind and immediately replied. [If I use up all the divinity I have left, I think it’ll be possible.]
[Good. Please call forth the wind when all the monsters are about to attack me.]
[What?]
[Please make a wind big enough to at least sweep all the monsters here down the cliff.]
Ru Amuh figured out Chi-Woo’s plan. A great number of monsters were gathered around the edge of the cliff to catch Chi-Woo. If his timing was right, Ru Amuh would be able to push all the monsters off the cliff at once. At this height, even the monsters would be completely crushed when they landed. Moreover, even if they survived the fall, it’d take them a long time to recover, and the rest of the party would be able to put some distance between them and the monsters. Ru Amuh could read Chi-Woo’s intentions, but…
[But then Teacher, you would also…]
[Please don’t worry about me or Ms. Hawa.]
Chi-Woo sent a message and took out a talisman he had prepared beforehand, showing it to Ru Amuh. Ru Amuh let out a small exclamation as he recalled the strange abilities Chi-Woo had displayed with talismans like that.
[I’ll take care of myself, so just focus on bringing forth the biggest wind you can.]
Ru Amuh didn’t know exactly what Chi-Woo was planning to do, but it seemed that Chi-Woo was going to use the talisman to break free from the wind.
[Will you really be alright?]
[We don’t have time to waste. Do it now!]
The monsters had stopped eyeing Chi-Woo and Hawa like mice in a trap and started to move.
‘Trust him. I’m going to trust Teacher.’ Ru Amuh began squeezing out all the divinity he had left. The wind started blowing.
Once it got windy enough that the front of Ru Amuh’s hair was swept to one side, Chi-Woo said, “It’s done.”
Hawa stood right next to Chi-Woo and hugged him tightly with both arms. Chi-Woo typed with one hand while holding her with the other. “Ms. Hawa.” He looked at the incoming monsters with anxious eyes and continued, “You’re single, right?”
“Yes? Yeah.”
“Do you want to marry me?”
“?”
“Let’s have a simple covenant while we’re falling.”
Hawa looked up at him, silently asking him what nonsense he was spouting.
“I don’t want to die single.”
“…”
Hawa’s eyes fluttered. “That…” She looked down as if she was feeling shy and carefully said, “I know that we’re about to die, but can you stop with the bullshit…”
Chi-Woo felt a little bit more relaxed by Hawa’s blunt reply. He gave her a small smile. “They’re coming. Let’s go!”
Chi-Woo suddenly let out a cry and acted as if he was going to run straight ahead. The monsters moved simultaneously in response, scattering to both sides to circle them like they were determined to not lose Chi-Woo this time. The next moment, Chi-Woo and Hawa tipped their bodies backward at the same time like they had rehearsed it.
Whoooooosh!
And as if it had been waiting for this very moment, a gale burst behind the monsters. The monsters’ balance was already skewed towards the front as they were all trying to catch Chi-Woo, so when the gale pushed them from behind, they tumbled forward helplessly. Since even huge monsters were losing their balance, it was impossible for Chi-Woo and Hawa to endure the gale’s force; their already shifted center of gravity was pushed further backward. The world tilted, and their feet left solid ground. Chi-Woo sent out a message he had already typed for Ru Amuh and soon felt a familiar lightness.
As the cliff moved quickly away from him, he saw the monsters fall after him while swinging their arms.
‘I did it.’ Even while falling, Chi-Woo smiled as he saw the monster flail around in the air. There was nothing he could do about the monsters that could fly, but he could at least bring down a large number of monsters with him. But of course, he had no intentions of joining them in their deaths; he was going to try his best to survive till the very end.
[The die…!]
Among the cacophony of wind swishing around him and monsters crying out, he faintly heard Mimi’s voice.
‘I know.’ Even though his whole world was upside down, Chi-Woo fumbled through his pocket with one hand. He barely managed to put his hand in his pocket and tightly clutched the World’s Milestone. Chi-Woo had never rolled this die even once since leaving the forest. He was terrified of what the results would be if he used it carelessly. After experiencing bitter failure, he resolved to never rely on the die ever again.
‘But even then…’ He had done everything he could this time, and there was no alternative. Luck was truly all he had left to rely on. ‘Please.’ Chi-Woo tightly clenched his fist. ‘Please!’
He threw the die as hard as he could below.
[You have rolled the World’s Milestone.]
The die had been thrown, and the only thing he could do was wait. There were instances where people who fell from high places died of heart attacks due to the extraordinary fear brought about by falling. Chi-Woo was afraid as well, but he decided to close his eyes instead. He felt even his ribs shiver, so he tightly held onto Hawa and buried his face in her silver hair. They seemed to fall endlessly.
On the other hand, the die had fallen earlier than them and roughly bounced off the ground. It bounced up and down like a spring and then slowed down until finally it stopped bouncing and began rolling quickly across the ground.
At the same time, the volume of clouds around them slowly decreased, and when Chi-Woo’s head was quickly rushing towards a bumpy rock—
Ding!
He heard a notification.
[Result.]
The die had finally stopped rolling.