TEOCH 89

[This is the Labyrinth Outskirts. After entering the 1st Zone of the Labyrinth, you cannot return to the outskirts, so please make sufficient preparations here.]

[You are provided with a basic 24-hour supply of oxygen. Please secure an oxygen source before the oxygen runs out.]

It was as if all the light and sound in the world had held its breath at once.

Outside the passage was only darkness. Above my head, a pitch-black sea that looked like it would devour me just by looking at it stretched out endlessly, and the sun that had been shining on us until just a little while ago had long since vanished. If not for the light flowing from the surrounding plants, it would have been impossible to distinguish even one meter ahead, to the point where it felt like being trapped in a prison even though the surroundings were wide open.

A silence so profound that it made me suspect something was wrong with my hearing pressed down on the surroundings. Of course, the sound had not actually disappeared; the protective barrier put up to avoid contact with the seawater was simply blocking the outside sounds. Perhaps even if I shouted loudly, it would be heard only faintly outside the barrier, barely audible.

The giant bird, which had now become a fish, swam away with a slither, leaving us behind, and now only we were left in this sea. But right now, I could not pay any attention to such things, because…….

“Hh, ugh……!”

Tristan’s condition had worsened. A reddish energy, as if it were burning, began to swirl in the tattoo that had taken over the right half of his body, and Tristan, unable to suppress the pain, grimaced horribly and gripped my arm tightly. His tightly bitten lips had burst and were bleeding.

We hastily took Tristan and went to find a cave. After confirming that there were no particular demonic beasts inside the cave, I hurriedly drew the magic circle for ‘Establish Camp.’ As soon as the magic circle was completed, the water that had been inside the cave was instantly pushed out.

I sat down heavily, holding Tristan. What on earth should I do? While I was getting anxious like that, the message ‘A skill has been created’ finally appeared. I hastily opened the skill window.

[Special Skill Activated!]

[Active Skill – Curse of the Right Half of the Body: The newborn Human Centipede’s right eye was not complete. Under normal circumstances, the vision in his right eye would have naturally stabilized over time, but because of the attack he suffered from a human he considered to be an insignificant being, he has now lost his right eye forever. Yes, that’s right. It’s thanks to Tristan.

That much was fine, but the enraged Human Centipede cast a terrible curse on Tristan to get his revenge. Now Tristan will feel a terrible pain in the right half of his body for three hours a day. Exactly three hours, no more, no less. There is no way to cure it, and anesthesia magic does not work either. The poor king is moaning and groaning in pain right now.

But there is one good thing! No one knows why God’s protection was bestowed in such a way, but anyway, Tristan has become able to spread the curse that was cast on him to other demonic beasts as well. As long as Tristan’s attack is successful, the attacked demonic beast will feel extreme pain in the right half of its body for 20 minutes. Even if it has the willpower to overcome the pain, the right half of its body, encroached upon by the curse, will be completely paralyzed and unable to even move.

You can transfer the curse to one demonic beast each time you use the skill, and it is impossible to cast the curse on two or more demonic beasts at the same time. Please be careful, as you can only transfer a new curse to another demonic beast after killing the demonic beast that is under the curse, or when the skill’s duration ends!]

Most of the text did not register in my eyes. My mouth was dry and my hands were trembling, so my focus kept blurring and I would lose the flow of the sentences while reading the skill window. Only after reading the skill window over and over again was I able to accurately understand Tristan’s current state.

That the reason this person was in agony was because of a ‘curse,’ that for the next few hours there was no way to eliminate or reduce this person’s pain, and that in the future, this person would suffer from excruciating pain for several hours a day…….

‘Why.’

Why of all people, this person. Just as I was about to burst out in anger, I barely realized that Tristan had received this curse because he had dealt a direct blow to the Human Centipede. Of course, I had also wounded that demonic beast, but there was a big difference between one eye going blind and the skin of the stomach being slightly cut.

So, in the end, the conclusion is that Tristan becoming like this is my fault for setting up the strategy in this way.

‘Because of me.’

Of course, at the time, it could not be helped. It would be safer for me to draw the creature’s attention and for Tristan to land the finishing blow, so to prevent Tristan from getting into danger, I had no choice but to do it that way.

But as a result, Tristan ended up in greater pain because of it. If I had landed the finishing blow on the demonic beast back then, I could have taken the curse that had now fallen upon this person, and if I had, this person would not have ended up in this state……!

“Ro, Rohan? Why are you not saying anything? Is his hyung-nim okay?”

“Because of me. Because I, made the strategy that way……”

“What are you talking about, you! Damian, can you not cast some kind of anesthesia magic?!”

“Anesthesia magic is already cast on all of us! It’s just not working on His Majesty!”

Tristan just let out pained groans while in my arms. Clearly, only this person should be in agony, but instead, my insides felt like they were turning over and I felt like I was going to stop breathing.

What right do I have to feel that way? If I had just made a slightly better judgment, this person would not be in so much pain, would he? I am not actually in pain, I do not have a single injury, so it was absurd to be clumsily pretending to be in agony. I, this person, because of me…….

“Step aside for a moment, Rohan!”

A rough hand snatched Tristan away. It was Rehas. I hastily reached out my arms to get Tristan back, but Rehas was much faster. He brought some roughly crushed herbs, their juices extracted, to Tristan’s nose and mouth, and Tristan, who had been writhing in pain, went limp shortly after.

“You, what are you doing right now!”

“I just knocked him out for a bit! We can’t just let him continue to suffer, can we!”

I, who was about to grab him by the collar, was only able to come to my senses after hearing those words. Rehas passed the unconscious Tristan to Rikiel, and Rikiel laid Tristan on the ground and then looked at me for a long time. Only then was I able to remember that my companions were also anxious.

“……Ahem. Is everyone all right?”

“I do not think now is the time to be asking us if we are all right. Are you all right yourself?”

“I have no problem at all. I was just a little surprised……. I am sorry for suddenly shouting, Rehas.”

“No, it’s fine. I am sure you did it because you were surprised too. By the way, do you happen to know anything about His Majesty’s condition?”

I quietly nodded my head and then explained to my companions about the ‘curse’ that had been placed on Tristan. While explaining about the curse, I kept the skill window open in my right field of vision and read it from time to time. Before, I had been in such a state of shock that I had not been able to properly read the specific effects of the skill.

“So, in the end, it is as if he has gained a new ability in exchange for the curse.”

“When you think about it, that is the case. Though he will have to suffer from pain for three hours a day…….”

“Do not make that face. It is not your fault. If you think about it, it is not necessarily all bad, is it? Since His Majesty has gained such an ability, we will be able to survive a little more safely when fighting demonic beasts from now on.”

I nodded my head weakly at Rehas’s words. He was certainly right. Tristan’s new skill, which could bind the opponent’s right half of the body for 20 minutes, would be of great help to us. In fact, the skill he had obtained was so effective that it would rank among the top of all the skills in this game.

Not 5 minutes, not 10 minutes, but a whole 20 minutes. If you could immobilize the right half of the body for that amount of time, you could somehow defeat the opponent even if it was a guardian. Of course, it was a skill that was not very useful for escaping from hundreds of demonic beasts, but if it could be effective against a small number of strong demonic beasts or bosses, that was enough. I tried to calm my mind by thinking that way.

Yes, it is not like the situation has become a complete mess. In the end, as long as this person’s life can be sustained for longer, that is all that matters. I tried to soothe my aching heart by thinking that, but looking at Tristan, who was sleeping in a cold sweat, and the tattoo that had encroached upon even the right side of his face, my mind could not calm down at all. Perhaps this person was feeling pain even in his unconscious state? Seeing as he was sweating so much…….

What allowed me to escape from my gloomy thoughts, at least for a little while, was Damian, who was cautiously asking a question while observing the outside.

“By the way, Mister Rohan.”

“Yes?”

“Are we in the sea right now? It seems like we are in a very deep part of the sea.”

“Ah, yes. That is the case. It is so deep in the sea that you cannot even enter by normal means, so even sunlight does not reach here. Perhaps around 5,000 or 6,000 meters deep……”

“But, you see.”

“Yes?”

“How are we breathing right now? No matter how I look at it, this is not an environment where there would be oxygen.”

Ah, right. Come to think of it, I had forgotten something important. With Damian’s bewildered expression behind me, I immediately brought up the map window. Of course, since it had not been long since we arrived in this zone, most of it was blacked out, but I had not opened this window to look at the map in the first place. Seeing the familiar message written at the bottom of the map, I let out a sigh of relief.

“We still have time.”

“Time, you say?”

“Time to breathe. We should be able to last for a day thanks to the air we brought from the surface.”

In reality, it was more like the game system gave it to us rather than air we brought from the surface……. The message ‘Remaining Time 23:55:31’ was clearly written in the map window. Is that a relief, at least? That they did not reduce the time we can endure, even when we had collected the maximum amount of air.

The second stage, the ‘Undersea Labyrinth,’ was a place where even just breathing was impossible without effort, so if you did not collect enough air periodically, you would suffocate and die. Still, perhaps to prevent the situation of dying immediately upon entering the next stage, a day’s worth of oxygen was always provided at the beginning of the stage. I was worried that they might reduce the time we could endure, using the excuse that we needed more oxygen because there were five of us. Fortunately, it seemed that such a situation had not occurred.

‘Ah, that’s right. The ‘Luck of the Gallows’ that has been useless until now will be used here.’

Realizing that fact made me feel a little better. Of course, I was the only one who could survive with that skill, and my other companions still could not survive without oxygen……. But still, it would be helpful for conserving oxygen in an emergency.

If I had my way, I would want to go and collect oxygen right this instant, but right now, not only Tristan but all of my companions were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. In a situation where our condition was this bad, if we went outside needlessly, we could be annihilated by an attack from demonic beasts. So…….

“For now, let us all rest. After getting a few hours of sleep, let us moderately satisfy our hunger and then go outside.”

My companions silently nodded their heads. They wrapped themselves in their tattered blankets and fell asleep, and I leaned my body against the cave wall and stared blankly at Tristan’s curled back.

From now on, that person will be in pain for three hours every day. For now, we somehow managed with herbs that have a stunning effect, but what should we do after the herbs run out? I, I…….

Even though I felt like I would not be able to fall asleep at all, my exhausted mind collapsed into unconsciousness in an instant.