Chapter 135: Chapter 135

"Yes. It ran off somewhere earlier. I was too busy fighting to keep track of it..."

Rena's voice, muffled behind the gas mask, was becoming easier to understand. I could almost imagine what her real voice sounded like now.

However, there was nothing to search or to use my Detection skill on. The passage where the fierce sword fight had taken place was now silent. From one side, a faint clattering noise echoed in succession.

It seemed like Acorn had been checking the entire passage while making its way through.

Acorn scurried over, curling up and shaking its head from side to side. It lifted its head like a dog about to bark and made a clicking noise.

Its body language didn't reveal much emotion. However, our high Affection level automatically conveyed Acorn's psychological state.

[Empathy: Acorn is worried!]

[All exits are blocked!]

I reached over and pet Acorn's head.

"It seems like it was looking for a way out."

Acorn's head was small and warm beneath my hand, but that was it. Even when I first summoned it and brought it here, I had never expected anything from it. Yet, it had tried to help in its own way, even while the others were busy fighting among themselves.

A wave of gratitude washed over me.

I pulled Acorn into a tight embrace. It wagged its tail, pleased to be acknowledged for its efforts. Meanwhile, Rena had started thoroughly examining every corner of the surroundings.

Various tools emerged one by one from her bag. But with every tool she used and every step she took to inspect the area, the atmosphere grew heavier.

I approached her and asked, "Is it blocked?"

Rena let out a small sigh. "For now, yes. I've checked all the edges, but there's no way out. There's not even a gap to squeeze through."

I also didn't find any cracks in the stone walls. Even my Detection skill yielded no results. I could easily detect moving or living things. However, my skills weren't as effective when it came to understanding inanimate dungeon structures.

Maybe my level is still too low.

I glanced back at Chandler and Christina, who started to stir once more. The sight made my chest feel heavier. They had survived, but there was no telling when they would regain their senses.

Rena was still scanning the stone walls.

Feeling guilty that I couldn't help, I ended up stating the obvious. "What if we wait until the smoke clears?"

"Three hours," Rena answered while continuing her search.

Her voice, distorted by the gas mask, carried a faint tremor of emotion.

"Three hours?" I repeated.

"Three hours until I go insane, but since I've been using it, I now have about two and a half hours left. That's how long the gas mask will last."

A cold chill crawled up my spine. The smoke was thick and every exit was blocked. If we didn't find a way out quickly, I would have to witness Rena losing her mind and dying.

If we can't find an exit…

There were only two futures for her. She would either go insane or starve to death. Or, if I recklessly tried to break the tomb apart with my Sword Energy, she would be buried alive under the falling rubble.

Even if I somehow managed to escape, Rena would die again because of me.

After making another round of inspections, Rena spoke slowly, "If I go insane, just cut my throat and kill me. I don't want to starve to death. Even in a crazed state, starving would still be unbearable."

"Is there no spare gas mask?"

"There isn't. There was only one. Besides, I don't think this was made with Grassmere's technology."

I clenched my empty fist tightly. Once again, Rena had told me she was uneasy. She had warned me that we weren't properly prepared. For the third time, I had ignored her instincts and put her on the brink of death.

I swore to myself, over and over, that from now on, I would always listen to her. Was there really no way out this time?

Rena pressed her ear against the stone wall and glanced at my clenched fist.

"Can you lightly punch here?"

I did as she asked, tapping the wall with my fist. She seemed to be gauging its thickness by the sound that came back.

"Hah. At least ten meters thick."

"Now there's one hour left."

I sank down into the enclosed space. The furious growls of Chandler and Christina echoed through the passage again and again. Their bloodshot eyes glinted in the dim light.

I had desperately wanted to save her—to help her. If Rena were to die before me again in this life, it would be the worst nightmare imaginable. It felt as if something was relentlessly whipping at my mind.

Rena let out a forced laugh. "Haha… Maybe this is really the end."

It was sadder than silence. Would I end up owing her another debt? This might be the last moment for this version of her. But for me, it would not be the last. Even if I died… I would return to this same place and see her again.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Why… are you so kind to me?"

It was something I had wanted to ask at least once. No matter how I thought about it, her kindness toward me wasn't an illusion.

Startled, Rena let out an awkward laugh. But perhaps thinking she was about to die made it easier to talk. Slowly running her fingers along her sword's spine, she answered, "It's nice that the gas mask hides my face. Haha… My face is probably red right now."

Red? What does she mean?

For me, it was an endlessly repeating encounter. But for this Rena, it could be her last conscious moment. Guilt pricked at me for forcing my curiosity upon her. I was just about to tell her that she didn't have to answer.

"It was the first time someone ever gave me something. Since my mother."

Her voice, distorted by the long beak of the mask, reverberated through the air. She caught her breath. The crow mask slowly inhaled and exhaled.

It felt as though the rhythm of her breath carried fragments of memories and the essence of her life. Even though she wore a pitch-black mask, she somehow appeared more transparent.

A brief silence followed.

"I've been of no help to you, Master, yet you've given me so much—so much… without expecting anything in return."

I had taught her a little about swords, given her a few silver ingots, and shared bits of information.

"Was such a small kindness that unfamiliar to you?"

"Of course. To the point that it made me wary." She nodded. "But… I couldn't sense any ulterior motive. I could always tell. You were different from everyone else."

Through the transparent glass of the mask, I could see her eyes, gently smiling. I remained silent.

"Earlier, I told you I didn't want to starve to death, right?"

Rena continued her story.

"I was always starving."

She started telling me about her mother, who died early. Rena had thrown away the corpse that had collapsed over a chair. She ran away, carrying her younger sibling. Every day, she scavenged through garbage. After nearly dying from eating spoiled food, she changed her approach.

She asked herself, why should only she die?

At ten years old, she decided to kill the world instead. She pretended to be a prostitute and played the role of an easy target. She became a girl who would lend her lips for a strip of dried meat and sell herself for a few coins. The demand was overwhelming.

She always gave her clients the thrilling first experience they wanted—the experience of having their artery slit, their blood pouring out in a cold rush. Wasn't that always a first for everyone? Slashing the throats of dazed men in front of her was easier than expected.

Most importantly, she didn't feel bad about it. That was enough. She needed no grand justifications, no excuses. She stripped everything of value from the stiffening corpses. From that moment on, she was never hungry again. There had been times when she was almost caught, but with each encounter with death, her instincts sharpened further…

I gazed at Rena intently. It felt like the ten-year-old girl who had decided to destroy the world was standing before me. A child who had been exploited by the world. And now, standing in contrast to that world, was me, the only one who had ever shown her even a sliver of kindness.

"And then… I met you, master."

Rena's eyes shimmered with a faint red through the glass of the mask. I felt a sense of guilt, as though I was deceiving her.

Just as I was about to say something, she suddenly stopped talking.

"Oh… Master, doesn't it seem like the smoke is thinning?"

I looked around. I had been so absorbed in the story that I hadn't noticed. Rena was right. The thick, white smoke that had enveloped us was slowly dissipating.

Acorn, who had been huddled at my feet, also looked around in confusion.

After about ten minutes, the white smoke had completely vanished.

Chandler and Christina coughed weakly, groaning. Their blood-red eyes gradually returned to their natural color. The bulging veins on their faces had also receded.

"Are you coming to your senses?"

"I… I had a strange dream."

"Phew, that was suffocating. Do you think you can just brush it off as a dream? Things were serious on this end."

Rena yanked off the gas mask and took a deep breath. A red imprint from the mask was visible on her face.

So that's what happens when you wear it for too long…

Sweat-dampened strands of her hair clung to her face, neck, and collarbones. As I turned away, my gaze met Chandler's.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't expect there to be a trap ."

"No, it's fine. Now that the smoke has cleared, let's take a closer look around."

"I'll untie you, but if you go wild again, it'll be a problem. Is everyone okay?"

Christina nodded. She seemed to be trying hard not to show how sore she was. We each chose an area to search, and split up to look for any seams or mechanisms.

Chandler's voice rang out from the front of the passage. He lifted his sword and pointed to a spot about three meters high on the stone wall. A small, recessed opening was visible.

"There seems to be something here."

Rena pulled a collapsible ladder from her backpack.

She picked up a long rod and tapped the inside of the hole.

"There's nothing. But it's so deep that I can't see the end. I don't know where it leads."

At that moment, Acorn placed its front paws on the ladder.

It hopped up repeatedly, trying to climb higher.

"What's wrong with you?"

I quickly scooped Acorn up.

Just then, a system message popped up

[Acorn has found hope!

Trait: Keen Senses has been activated.

It desperately wants to go up.]

Rena blinked as she looked at Acorn. "Does it want to go inside that hole?"

"Hm… It might be fine."

"Isn't it dangerous?"

"It doesn't seem like a trap. It's just a ventilation shaft, and it suddenly opened. The smoke was sucked out through here."

"I didn't see it earlier, though… Strange. There weren't any external controls, and no one pressed anything."

I hesitated, but Acorn kept tapping insistently at my arms, pleading.

[Acorn wants to go up!]

Should I send it in or hold onto it?

It was a difficult decision.

A small stone fell from the ceiling. The impact suggested that the stone wall had shifted.

At this rate… There's no guarantee this place is safe either.

Acorn swiftly leaped inside. A heavy silence filled the confined passage. Chandler swallowed nervously.

Three minutes passed.

[The distance between you and Acorn is too great.

Connection with Acorn will be lost in 3 minutes.]

A dreadful thought echoed in my mind—I shouldn't have let it go.

A series of translucent messages suddenly flashed before my eyes.

[Acorn has deactivated a C++-grade mechanical device!

Experience points have increased significantly!]

With a thunderous roar, the stone wall began to open.