TEOCH 9

A violent earthquake, as if the ground itself were overturning, stole the balance from beneath my feet. Of course, it wasn’t a real earthquake. The ground shook wildly each time a massive caterpillar with hundreds of legs burst through the earth, destabilizing the terrain.

We ran without even a moment to look back. We were fleeing from the countless winged insects filling the air, the giant caterpillars tearing through the ground to chase us, and the beast-like monsters charging with grotesque roars from behind.

“This is just the entrance to the Demon Realm, and yet such abnormal monsters are appearing…!”

“Abnormal? Don’t make me laugh! Those things are relatively normal! This place is the closest to the human world, so most of the monsters resemble those from our world! They’re just a bit bigger!”

“…But isn’t that one a bit too big?!”

Damian, gasping in pain, retorted as he launched dozens of fireballs into the air. The winged insects, which hated fire, scattered in panic, but not a single one died. A few with burning wings staggered and fell to the ground, only to regenerate their wings in an instant and fly back up with terrifying speed.

Damian’s face turned ashen, but it gave the other companions a moment to catch their breath. The fact that the child-sized winged insects, which had been lunging at us from the air, retreated even briefly was a significant achievement.

As Damian coughed and gasped for air, I infused him with purification energy. Breathing the Demon Realm’s air for too long allowed its toxic substances to damage the body. Only by infusing purification energy into the lungs and heart could those toxins be neutralized.

At my current low level, the best I could do was infuse purification energy into one struggling companion at a time. With a higher level, I could naturally extend it to everyone, but in the early stages, it was difficult.

“Hey, Rohan! Where exactly are we running to?”

“We need to head to a bright place! Somewhere open, without obstacles!”

“Are you in your right mind saying that? To go to a bright, open place while facing so many enemies?!”

“The monsters can see just fine in the dark anyway! And with those caterpillars around, cover is useless! It’s better to have enough space to escape!”

“…!”

“And you’re misunderstanding something—we’re not fighting them, we’re fleeing! If our escape route gets blocked, it’s over!”

Rikiel and Rehas fell silent, their expressions showing exasperation. I knew it too. We couldn’t keep running like this forever. We’d only been running for about an hour, but everyone’s speed was already slowing.

Damian, physically weak and constantly using fire magic, looked like he might collapse at any moment. I wasn’t much better off, my stamina far from exceptional.

Tristan, who had been slung over my shoulder like a sack for the first few minutes but was now running beside me, locked eyes with me as he panted. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

“But we can’t run forever, Rohan! Is there no way to shake off those monsters?”

“I’m looking for one right now, Your Majesty! There are places in the Demon Realm that monsters absolutely avoid. If we can just find one of those…!”

“Rohan, look at that! Why is the sky a different color over there?!”

I immediately looked up at Rehas’s words. A few hundred meters ahead of where we were running, the sky was different, as if marking the boundary of the world.

The Demon Realm’s sky was filled with heavy, gloomy purple clouds, but for some reason, that area had a bright, blue hue like the human world’s sky. Feeling my tension ease slightly, I shouted.

“That’s where we need to go! If we can pass through there, the monsters won’t follow!”

“Is that true?!”

“Yes! Even the boldest monsters won’t approach that place easily! It’s where the sky’s wound is!”

“…The sky’s wound?”

“I’ll explain later, so just shut up for now! Damn it, do whatever it takes to reach that spot!”

I shouted as I ran. The shaking of the ground began to subside, and the loud noises behind us gradually faded. The monsters seemed to realize there was no point in pursuing us further. After running desperately for about a minute, we finally reached the boundary where the sky’s color changed.

[You have entered the ‘Sky’s Wound’ area. You are unaffected by the Demon Realm’s atmosphere. Monsters cannot approach.]

The monsters vanished completely, leaving no trace, and the acrid purple fog that had filled our lungs no longer tormented us. We stared blankly at the sky.

The sky here wasn’t as bright and clear as the human world’s; if anything, it resembled a cloudy sky just before rain. But compared to the Demon Realm’s purple sky, this was far better.

My companions and I let out sighs of relief and collapsed onto the ground.

We had finally found a safe zone.

[In Hard difficulty, there is only one safe zone in the tutorial stage.]

[In Hard difficulty, the duration in the safe zone is fixed at 10 days. Please take note.]

Damn it. I tried my hardest not to scowl as I glared at the message before me. There were supposed to be three safe zones, each lasting 20 days. Since safe zones only existed in the tutorial, they could’ve been a bit more generous, but the moment the difficulty increased, they ruthlessly cut it down.

Fuming at the utterly unfair difficulty, I felt the need to drastically revise the strategies I’d been using.

While my insides burned, my companions, relieved to find a safe zone in the Demon Realm, chatted among themselves. Less than a day in the Demon Realm, and they already looked like defeated soldiers.

Damian was in the worst shape. As a wizard with poor stamina, running while constantly casting magic had taken its toll. I decided to let them rest for a bit.

“So this is the Sky’s Wound… It’s my first time seeing it in person.”

“Damian, do you know what this place is?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ve read about it in ancient texts. To put it simply… you know that this world is structured like layered disks, right?”

“I know. The gods’ world is at the top, the human world is below it, and the Demon Realm is at the bottom.”

“Exactly. The human world exists just above the Demon Realm. This place is where the human world’s sky is visible because of a wound in the Demon Realm’s sky.”

“So that’s the human world’s sky?”

“Yes. The sunlight of the human world carries the gods’ grace, and even its faint influence reaches the Demon Realm, so monsters are reluctant to approach this place.”

“Wait. Does that mean we could return to the human world through that hole? Like sending His Majesty up through it…”

“That’s impossible, Sir Rikiel. That hole doesn’t serve as a passage between the two worlds. If it did, the human world would be in ruins by now. Imagine the Demon Realm’s winged insects entering the human world through that hole.”

“…That’s a horrifying thought.”

“Besides, from what I know, that hole in the sky is an intermittent phenomenon. It’s said to appear for about 10 to 20 days a year before naturally disappearing. I don’t know how ancient people studied it, though.”

Leaving Damian to his scholarly enthusiasm despite our dire situation, I nudged Rehas, who seemed in relatively better shape, in the side.

Rikiel looked the most composed, but he was busy talking with Damian, and more importantly, his cooking was atrocious—so bad I’d rather not ask him to cook at all.

Rehas, looking puzzled at first, soon caught on and nodded. We quietly stood up, started a fire, and began preparing a meal. Meal preparation was just boiling soup and unpacking the travel rations we’d brought, but still.

As he tended to the simmering soup, Rehas spoke to me in a low voice.

“We’ve only got about two weeks’ worth of food, so what’s the plan after that? Since we calculated for four people, it might only last ten days in reality.”

“Most of our food will come from local procurement. That’s why your role is crucial.”

“Are there monsters worth hunting in the Demon Realm?”

“No, not for a while. We’d be lucky not to get hunted ourselves.”

“Then what?”

“Have you ever heard about the habits of vultures in the grasslands?”

“…For a clean-cut hero, that’s a pretty grim idea.”

So we’d have to eat rotten meat. Rehas muttered this, tilting his head. He was right. Eating truly rotten meat would make us sick, but meat from recently dead monsters, if well-cooked, was edible.

The idea of scavenging from corpses others had eaten was undeniably dirty, but it was essential for survival. How many thousands of times had I met a meaningless death because I clung to the naive notion of hunting monsters for food and equipment?

Hunting regular monsters wasn’t entirely impossible, but it required a lot of time and carried risks far outweighing the rewards. One wrong move, and a companion could die just to secure a single meal.

So in the early stages, when equipment was scarce, scavenging the remains of lesser monsters left by others was far more efficient for gathering food and materials.

Fortunately, Rehas nodded silently without much complaint. Though he reacted with disbelief, he didn’t object to the idea itself, which reassured me. Our dispositions seemed to align fairly well. For a first-time companion, he wasn’t bad.

“But those people are nobles. Can they eat that kind of thing?”

“Hunger will become routine later on. They’ll eat when the time comes… Wait a second.”

“…?”

“No, it’s nothing. The food’s about ready, so let’s call the others.”

I glanced at Tristan as I spoke. He was tending to an utterly exhausted Damian, his angelic face oblivious to the hardships ahead. Could someone like him really eat Demon Realm food?

I decided we needed to conserve food a bit more. Or maybe gather hunting equipment sooner. With the safe zone’s duration shortened due to the increased difficulty, we had to act quickly anyway.

“Hey, gentlemen! How about eating something?”

At Rehas’s shout, the companions struggled to their feet and approached. Tristan managed to walk on shaky legs, but Damian, too exhausted to move properly, was practically dragged over, carried by Rikiel.

Rikiel, despite all the running, showed no signs of fatigue, supporting both Tristan and Damian effortlessly. I was quietly impressed by his stamina. His base stats were unmatched by any companion. The problem, if any, was that our personalities didn’t mesh.

“Thank you both. We were too exhausted to move, but you’re so diligent. I’m sorry.”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s nothing… It’s simple food, but it should fill your stomachs.”

“We’re all tired and hungry from the sudden escape, so let’s eat and regain our strength. After the meal, we’ll discuss our next steps.”

A quiet meal began. Everyone seemed lost in thought during the meal, but they hadn’t organized their thoughts enough to put them into words.

They must all be feeling complicated emotions. The worry of whether they could survive in the Demon Realm, which they’d entered for the first time, and the fear of facing monsters too powerful to confront without preparation likely filled their minds.

Add to that the concern for the king, who had unexpectedly joined us in the Demon Realm.

“But we can’t keep worrying forever. We have to figure out a way to survive.”

I steeled my resolve and began planning our survival strategy. With the difficulty increased and many elements changed, I needed to adopt a completely different strategy from what I’d used before.

The reduction of safe zones from three to one was a significant change, but the biggest variable I could identify was none other than Tristan.

Not only was Tristan a companion I’d never experienced before, but he was also the “fourth companion” who upended all the strategies I’d relied on. His presence was certain to be a decisive factor in clearing this game.

“Of course, I don’t want him to see anything ugly…”

If I could, I’d want to fight in his place, but that was obviously impossible. The game’s difficulty wasn’t lenient enough for me to bear the burden of other companions’ roles. No matter how much I cherished Tristan, if he didn’t fight as a companion, I couldn’t guarantee clearing the game or even his survival.

“Alright, let’s check his skills first. He must have some special ability.”

Comforting myself with that thought, I turned my gaze to Tristan. He looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I wasn’t staring at him out of affection—I was checking his abilities.

As I had done with Rehas yesterday, I stared at Tristan, and a translucent message window appeared beside his face. It was his skill information.

[Purification – Noble Blessing: The king’s authority is granted by the gods. Tristan, king of the Aidel Kingdom, was born with a noble blessing from the gods.

Originally, his blessing was merely ceremonial, meant to wish for good fortune and bless the kingdom. But his noble heart, which led him to throw himself into danger to save you, moved the gods, and they granted him a faint purification blessing for entering the Demon Realm to aid you. Now, Tristan can inflict meaningful damage on monsters and even kill them.

However, Tristan’s blessing is solely for himself. Thus, he cannot purify the Demon Realm’s air or turn contaminated water into clean water, as you can. Still, his divine blessing will undoubtedly aid in future battles.]

“Wait, purification?”

I stared at the skill message, mouth agape. I hadn’t even hoped for a survival skill, just something to protect himself, but Tristan’s skill was far beyond my expectations.

He could deal damage to monsters without me. Even if monsters attacked while I was absent, he could fend them off. In combat, we could coordinate attacks. This was an incredible advantage—so much so that if I’d had Tristan as a companion in the last playthrough, I might have reduced my deaths by ten thousand.

Filled with joy, I hurriedly checked the next skill. Honestly, the purification skill alone made Tristan a valuable companion, but with such a great first skill, I couldn’t wait to see the second.

But a bewildering message greeted me.

[??? : You do not have the qualifications to view this skill’s details. Unless you reveal the skill’s details, Tristan himself cannot become aware of it.]

Wait, what did that mean? As I tried to make sense of this strange message, puzzling over it, the message window suddenly vanished. Rehas had nudged me in the side.

“What’s wrong with you? Something up?”

I realized all my companions were looking at me oddly. I’d been staring at Tristan too long. It was a minor event triggered by checking a companion’s info for too long, but I was so flustered that my face turned red.

Even Tristan was looking at me strangely. Meeting his green eyes, which wavered with confusion and perhaps embarrassment, I quickly averted my gaze.

“No, it’s nothing. I just felt a familiar energy from His Majesty…”

With Tristan’s purification skill in mind, I stammered out a lie. I said I sensed some divine energy in him, asking if something had happened when he entered the Demon Realm. My companions looked at Tristan with puzzled expressions.

Explaining that a new divine blessing might have been bestowed upon him, I pondered his second skill in the back of my mind.

“Not qualified to know the skill?”

It was a message I’d never seen with any other companion. And if I didn’t reveal it, even Tristan himself wouldn’t know about it? What did that mean? If he didn’t know his own skill, what was the point of it?

A chill ran down my spine.

This was not a good sign.