Chapter 23: Falling!
“Ah, huh!?”
The mont I touched the golden glyph, it was sucked straight into the tip of my finger. The light from the glyph overflowed around my body. Golden currents surged across before slowly subsiding.
“…Is it over?”
I blinked my eyes.
The fear that had gripped passed quickly. When I felt no noticeable changes, I inspected my body. That’s when I noticed sothing different. I rolled up my right sleeve slightly, revealing a mysterious tattoo on the back of my hand—one that resembled a magical circle.
The mark of an imprint.
Had I beco the master of an ancient glyph?
“For real...?”
It seed absurdly easy compared to the events described in Donecolint’s novel, leaving dumbfounded.
[‘After overcoming hallucinations that made every day feel like hell, only then was I recognized as the master of the glyph, and the power of those hallucinations awakened.’]
The dialogue where Donecolint explained the origin of Siren’s Scream to his lord, the Mad Butcher, Kal Blazer, ca to mind.
Overco relentless hallucinations?
I looked down at the floor where I was standing.
Still within the barrier.
Here, I felt a soothing warmth and an overwhelming sense of comfort, the kind that made want to stay forever. It was as though the Curse of the Razor Wind, which had clouded my mind, had been purified.
My thoughts were clearer than ever.
I gently traced the ancient glyph etched on the back of my hand.
It seed I had truly beco the master of the glyph, though the process was entirely different from how it was described in the novel.
“Siren’s Scream, my ass.”
I couldn’t awaken hallucination abilities, nor could I wield anything remotely similar to such powers.
A thought occurred to .
“Does the glyph’s power change depending on its master?”
It was possible.
Ancient glyphs summoned power through their masters as conduits. Just as every person’s voice is unique, perhaps the abilities of an ancient glyph vary with each master.
If Donecolint’s glyph could induce hallucinations and summon the Siren’s Scream, then—
“What’s my ability?”
The knowledge imprinted in the glyph didn’t explain the powers; it only provided instructions on how to use it.
I had intended to head outside to figure it out, but then the ground beneath began to ripple.
Kwoong—!
“......!”
What’s going on?
I whipped my head around just as ropes began writhing in midair.
Donecolint’s enchanted ropes.
The black ropes, as if alive, twisted violently like a raging snake, emitting eerie noises.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeee—!
“Gah! Don’t scare like that, you bastard!”
The eerie wail was unsettling, as though the ropes mourned the death of their master.
The ropes coiled around the entire altar were thick and long, exuding streams of black energy.
A sinister aura.
The mont the aura touched the ground, the floor began to distort.
“...Damn it! No way!?”
It seed that with Donecolint dead, the magical energy imbued in the ropes had lost control and started running wild.
The ropes contained enormous power, accumulated over the span of a fortnight.
“Is this whole place about to collapse?”
If it did, I’d be buried alive.
After finally escaping Kal’s grasp and tasting freedom, this was an unexpected and unwelco twist.
My grand plan to shout "Freedom!" upon escape had hit a massive snag.
I sprinted toward the hole I originally ca through like a madman.
Kwaa-za-zak—! Kwa-ja-ja-jajak!
“Uwaaah!!!”
The mont I stepped forward, the ground cracked apart like an earthquake spell straight out of a fantasy ga. It was fun when I cast that spell, but experiencing it firsthand was pure hell.
“D-damn it!!!”
Hanging precariously from the edge of a split floor, I glanced down.
Below was a pitch-black abyss—a void so deep it felt like staring into endless oblivion.
If I fell, I was dead for sure.
Desperately clambering back up, I cursed under my breath as I scanned the altar.
The floor near the entrance I used had completely collapsed, making it impossible to return that way.
That left only the other side.
Turning to look in the opposite direction, I gave a bitter chuckle. A series of holes stretched before , but I had no idea which one led to the outside.
The black smoke that had once stread through the glyph was gone.
I had to choose one.
“Well... better odds than winning the lottery.”
I must’ve lost my mind to be making jokes at a ti like this.
I ran toward the holes before the floor collapsed entirely.
Kwa-kwa-kwaang—!
“......!”
The altar sank into the ground, dragging along both Donecolint’s corpse and the sentinels into the darkness below.
The ground was crumbling fast.
I slapped my cheeks hard to keep myself from freezing up.
Fortunately, despite the tension, my mind stayed sharp.
How was I going to find the way out?
The new ability I obtained didn’t seem useful in this situation.
In fact, I hadn’t even figured out what it was yet.
As I stared hopelessly at the countless holes, a brilliant idea suddenly struck .
I frantically ran around the holes, rubbing my fingers against their edges.
“Please, please!”
And as if in answer to my desperate plea, I found a trace of soot clinging to my fingertip.
Without hesitation, I dove into that hole and sprinted.
Even though the black smoke no longer flowed, I was able to trace its remnants backward to find the path out.
Kwoong—!
A mont later, the entire space shook violently, and darkness swallowed my vision. It seed that the light filtering in had been cut off as the center of the space caved in.
Even in pitch-black darkness, I didn’t stop running. Wasting ti in a collapsing space was suicide.
I thrust my right hand forward.
Paaaat—!
Golden light rippled.
The glyph on the back of my hand glowed, filling the surroundings with a soft radiance.
Woong. Woong. Woong.
The glyph pulsed steadily, like a heartbeat, spilling light into the darkness. I still didn’t know what this light could do, but it was good enough for visibility.
Focusing on the acrid scent in the air, I followed the trail.
Though the fear of being trapped in the dark or crushed at any mont lood, I stayed rational and kept moving.
Was this clarity a result of my ntal barrier?
The sense of detachnt was strange, but I ignored it. Rational thought was essential to survival right now.
“Where is it? Where!?”
The tremors beneath my feet were growing more intense. The collapsing center seed to be triggering the surrounding ground to give way as well.
I gritted my teeth and sprinted forward.
“L-light!”
At last, I spotted a faint glow through one of the holes—light seeping through from the outside.
The mont I deactivated the glyph’s light, the glow from the hole beca more distinct.
It was the entrance.
The light of salvation.
Without hesitation, I flung myself into the hole, sliding down as if on a chute.
Zzeo-jeo-jeok—!
The outer wall began to crack apart.
Was the entire mountain about to collapse?
Faster! I had to move faster!
Cold moisture suddenly struck my face as I reached the hole’s exit.
Rain!
A torrential downpour pelted my skin. It reminded of that scene from The Shawshank Redemption—the protagonist standing in the rain, arms raised, celebrating his freedom.
Overwheld with joy, I couldn’t help but shout the word aloud.
Yes, freedom!
I shot out of the hole, sliding out just as the tunnel collapsed behind .
The entire rocky mountain gave way in a thunderous cascade.
Barely escaping with my life, I managed to survive.
But I never got to shout “Freedom.”
Instead—
“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
Only a scream burst from my lips.
There was nothing beneath .
I was falling straight into the void, pulled rcilessly by gravity.
Falling!
My expression paled as I glimpsed the wild, overflowing river between the jagged cliffs below. The torrential current swirled with deadly whirlpools, as if ready to swallow whole.
In this situation, I had only two options:
Thrash in midair.
And—
“FUUUUUCK!!!!!!”
Curse all the way down.
Splash—!
I plunged straight into the raging waters.
The freezing water engulfed in an instant. The impact hit like a wall, slamming the air out of my lungs.
Splash! Splash!
I struggled to keep my head above the surface, kicking and thrashing wildly. The currents were brutal, tossing around like a rag doll. It felt as if an invisible hand was dragging down to the bottom.
I managed to catch a breath between the crashing waves. Water burned down my throat as I coughed violently, barely staying afloat. No matter how hard I fought, the river had no rcy. It pulled, twisted, and shoved deeper into its turbulent embrace.
“Agh! Soone, help! I’m gonna drown!”
Every stroke felt useless. Swimming techniques? They were only good for swimming pools or calm beaches, not in this raging torrent where the very concept of control was a joke. Even the fad "Apgujeong Dolphin" — my elentary school nickna — was no match for this.
Glurp—!
I was yanked under again.
Water closed in over my head, and the world beca eerily quiet for a mont. My limbs flailed desperately, but the violent current spun in circles. It was like being stuck inside a whirlpool with no way out. I felt like a piece of straw swirling helplessly in a vortex.
Thud!
“Ggugh!”
A sharp jolt ran through my skull as my head smashed against an underwater rock. A crimson haze spread in the water around . I could feel the gash opening on my forehead as blood seeped out into the cold river.
Panic started to grip , but I bit down on it. Panic was death.
‘I need to grab sothing—anything!’
Blindly, I stretched out my hands, clawing at whatever I could find. My fingers brushed against the slimy surface of a clump of weeds lodged in the crevice of a subrged rock.
Got it!
I pulled with all the strength I had left, clinging to the weeds like a lifeline. The river fought back, trying to pry loose, but the weeds held. Slowly, I dragged myself up from the swirling current, gasping for air the mont my head broke the surface.
“Pwaaah!”
The breath I took was the sweetest thing I had ever experienced. Every gulp of air tasted like salvation.
With both hands still gripping the weeds, I looked down. My soaked leather bag and two daggers were sohow still strapped to . Relief flooded through , knowing I hadn’t lost my precious gear in the chaos.
But as I glanced around, my heart sank.
The river ran through a steep, jagged canyon. The cliffs on either side lood high and unforgiving, offering no easy escape.
Climbing out seed impossible—the rocks were slick with rain, and there were no obvious footholds.
Damn it.
Could I even survive this?
I didn’t have much ti to think.
“……!”
Sothing huge rushed toward through the water, riding the sa deadly currents.
A massive log.
It hurtled toward with terrifying speed, as if determined to crush .
“No, no—”
Wham!
“Kuhugh!”
The impact knocked the wind out of as the log collided with my side, sending spinning helplessly once more. My shoulder popped with an excruciating snap, and white-hot pain shot through my arm. My left shoulder was probably dislocated—or worse, broken.
As I drifted along with the log, half-conscious from the pain, a desperate thought struck .
Use the log!
I summoned what little strength I had left and stabbed one of my daggers into the log’s surface. The blade bit deep, lodging itself securely. With gritted teeth, I pulled myself up onto the log, clinging to it like a barnacle. My broken shoulder throbbed fiercely, but I forced myself to stay focused.
I tied my left wrist tightly to the dagger’s hilt with strips torn from my ruined clothes. It was the only way to keep my grip steady. My other dagger, I tucked securely into the waistband of my pants.
Now it was a battle of endurance.
Ssshhhhhhh—!
The river raged on, the downpour drumming relentlessly against the log and my body. Cold water splashed in my face as fierce winds howled through the canyon. And to make things worse, night was falling fast, robbing of what little visibility I had left.
All I could do was shut my eyes and cling to the log for dear life, enduring the freezing rain and the chaotic waters that carried deeper into the unknown.
How long had I drifted? I had no idea. Ti seed to stretch on forever as my strength ebbed away.
At so point, the rain began to ease, and the roaring current started to slow.
I cautiously opened my eyes, barely able to lift my head.
The jagged rocks and steep canyon walls were gone, replaced by lush green forest on either side of the riverbank.
I could see calr waters ahead—an area where the river widened and slowed into a gentle stream.
Thump—
The log drifted toward a shallow bank and floated lazily along the edge.
Finally, it ca to a rest near the soft mud of the riverbank, where it swayed gently in the water like a lifeboat.
“…Damn this shitty novel.”
Relief flooded through , but it didn’t last long.
Before I could celebrate surviving the ordeal, the exhaustion hit like a tidal wave. My battered body gave out, and the last of my consciousness slipped away.
Everything went black.
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