Chapter 192. A Rift in Time (3)
The gunfire exploded like bombs, and Jae-Hyuk shouted while covering his ears, “Hyungnim!”
“Huh?!” Eun-Ho said.
“... is ... going...”
“I can’t hear you! What did you say?!”
“Noonim! It seems like she’s been under a lot of stress!”
Watching Ji-Eun blow apart the heads of those massive statues without a shred of hesitation, Eun-Ho nodded in agreement.
“But was Noonim always that good of a shot?” asked Jae-Hyuk.
“Seriously. She fires, and it hits.”
Despite their enormous frames, the giants’ heads burst apart with ease. Those golden bullets showed no mercy.
Figuring there was no need for him to keep moving around, Eun-Ho whispered as he twisted the Razor-Beaked Bird’s crest, “Set me down.”
“Kaaah!”
The bird shook its head and landed gently.
[Soft Landing has been successful!]
“Good job. I’ll be counting on you on the way back too,” Eun-Ho said as he softly brushed its jet-black feathers.
Apparently liking the touch, it rubbed its head against his palm.
[It was a satisfying flight.]
[The Taming skill proficiency has increased from five percent to ten percent!]
“Hm?”
So does the skill level go up based on the bird’s satisfaction? Eun-Ho thought.
“Check the Taming skill.”
[Taming(Lv. 1)]
- Monsters recognize the caster as their master.
- Commands issued by the caster are carried out with a fifty percent probability.
Fifty percent? It’s lower than I expected, Eun-Ho thought.
Still, the odds should get better the higher the skill level. At least, as long as it recognized Eun-Ho as its master, it wouldn’t run away. Eun-Ho checked for any messages he could’ve missed with a satisfied expression.
Just then, an announcement rang out.
[Defense system has collapsed.]
[Stairs have opened.]
One of the fallen Guardians twitched, its debris resonating with itself. It rolled and quaked as it gathered together, looking like a single massive boulder from a distance.
Craaaack—!
Right after, the rock mass cracked straight down the middle like a cake cleanly split in half. The stairs opened, revealing smooth steps almost untouched by time. It had a pitch-dark interior with the earthy smell rising from below.
“Hyungnim! Isn’t that the staircase we saw in the memories?”
“Looks like it, yeah.”
“Yes! But I can’t see anything down there, sir.” Jae-Hyuk craned his neck, peering down the dirt steps that vanished into darkness, his expression growing grim. After a moment, he nodded solemnly. “I’ll go first!”
“Wait,” Eun-Ho said to stop him.
We should go together because we don’t know what’s down there.
Besides, since everything here had been wrapped up, it was time to move on.
“Ji-Eun! We found the stairs!” Eun-Ho called out to Ji-Eun.
However, there was no answer. After firing nonstop for so long, she was now staring ahead with a serious expression, murmuring to herself.
Thinking she hadn’t heard him, Eun-Ho walked closer and called again, “Ji-Eun.”
She tilted her head, muttering something unintelligible, “Prophetic Shooting?”
Eun-Ho, who was about to ask what was wrong, closed his mouth. That single murmur told him everything.
It’s a new skill, Eun-Ho thought.
What would it be this time?
He waited quietly, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
“Hyungnim? Noonim? Aren’t we going do—” Jae-Hyuk asked bravely, only for Eun-Ho to clamp his mouth shut.
Swish—
Ji-Eun raised her gun. It was a gold-plated, medieval-style pistol, with ornate patterns and stag engraving. The length was longer than a normal handgun, but shorter than a rifle. The weapon somehow Ji-Eun’s delicate features perfectly, adding an air of refinement.
From her bobbed hair brushing her shoulders to the index finger resting on the trigger, her posture formed a straight, unwavering line. Then, with impeccable form, she aimed at a half-collapsed stone statue.
Bang—!
But it looks the same, Eun-Ho thought.
He checked again, but couldn’t see any obvious difference. Her brows were knit tightly, just like the first time she’d used psychokinesis. It was obvious that she was concentrating hard. A moment later, the Desert Guardian was pierced through the side.
“Huh?”
Another Guardian on the opposite side, which she hadn’t aimed at, had its jaw blown apart.
“What the...”
“H-Hyungnim! Did she just fire two shots at once just now?”
No, there had been only a single gunshot.
That meant one golden bullet had pierced two targets.
“Haaa.”
After letting out a short breath, Ji-Eun leveled her gun at another giant.
“What just—”
Just as she tightened her grip and began to pull the trigger, Eun-Ho twisted the axis of time. “Acceleration.”
“haaaaa—”
Baaaaang—
Within the slowed world, the gunshot stretched on endlessly. With it, Ji-Eun’s arm twisted and bent as well, like cracking a whip. That never happened before. The bullet pierced straight through one giant’s solid chest. Then, curving as if cornering on a racetrack, it looped around and blew out the next giant’s heart.
Curved fire?
There was no doubt that she had intentionally bent the shot to hit both targets.
The bullet was wobbling like a drunk staggering down the street. It’s probably because she was directly manipulating the path.
Tick.
“...apened?”
“Is it a new skill? Controlling the bullet’s trajectory?”
Just like lifting and moving objects with psychokinesis, she was manipulating the bullet as well.
Unlike Jae-Hyuk, who was gawking with his jaw practically on the floor, Ji-Eun herself didn’t look very satisfied with the result. “Uh... I think so. Since it’s my first time, it’s really unstable.”
Eun-Ho could see why. The bullet that should’ve flown smoothly instead moved like a car with a learner sticker merging onto a highway.
“You’ll get used to it quickly. What’s the skill name and description?”
“It’s called Prophetic Shooting. I can see the route where I need to shoot for it to hit.”
That was even more absurd than he expected. “What?”
For guns or bows, the hardest part of ranged combat was hitting the target, but she could see the optimal route to land the hit.
“Sending it along that route is hard, though. I still have to control it myself.”
She was manually controlling it after all. Even taking that into account, it was still terrifying. If she just followed the routes and improved her control, she would become a flawless marksman—an actual demon sniper who could blow apart multiple enemies’ heads with a single shot.
Thank God she’s on our side.
Thinking that, he said gently, “It’ll get better with practice.”
“You think so?”
“Of course. You’ve gotten used to psychokinesis too, haven’t you? Your level’s high already.”
“Right! I really did work hard.”
Eun-Ho said a little softer than usual, “And thanks to that, traveling’s a lot easier. Fighting monsters too. We’re managing this situation because of you.”
Ji-Eun nodded firmly, like she’d made up her mind. “I’ll practice really hard.”
Just as he was about to suggest they head underground, Ji-Eun raised her gun again.
She was overflowing with fighting spirit for some reason. “This time, I’ll curve it from top to bottom. If I take out the head and the knee at the same time, it won’t be able to move, right?”
“Ah. Again?”
She focused intently, eyes blazing, then fired. “Yup! I think I can do it right now.”
Bang—!
The bullet passed cleanly through what little remained of a nearly collapsed giant’s head. Then it made a wide arc downward far above the knee, straight through the giant’s legs.
Thud—
“Ah. I missed it. One more try!”
This is insane. I should never get on her bad side, Eun-Ho thought.
***
“It’s dark.”
“I can’t see a thing, Hyungnim!”
The interior was pitch-black. Once the light pouring in from the entrance faded, even the stairs beneath their feet became hard to make out. One wrong step on a loose stone, and they’d be tumbling down.
Before heading down the earthen stairs, he took out the torch and lit it. “Summon. Activate.”
[Would you like to activate the Capital Beacon Torch?]
[Choose between Beacon Fire and Beacon Smoke.]
“Beacon Fire.”
Without any firewood, the flame flared up on its own, illuminating the darkness.
“Let’s go.”
Jae-Hyuk squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. He stared at the shadows of their group stretching all the way up to the domed ceiling. “Okay!”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Click—
When they finally reached the bottom of the surprisingly solid earthen staircase, a low crackling noise followed, along with the faint sound of something clicking into place.
[Restricti... on...]
“Hm?”
“What is it, Hyungnim?”
“Didn’t you hear something just now?”
“Uh... No, I didn’t.”
“Oh! Over there!”
That was when a corridor wide enough for three or four people abreast came into view.
“Eun-Ho, this hallway! It’s the same.”
“It is.”
It was the very corridor they had seen in their memory. Follow it, and it would branch into countless rooms and passageways, linked together like an anthill.
“Seeing it in person, it’s kind of overwhelming,” Ji-Eun said as she looked at the murals covering both walls.
They weren’t flashy, but every stroke was filled with care. Most of them depicted people, with eye-catching geometric patterns woven in here and there.
“It really feels like a dungeon, Noonim!”
“Right? There’s only one path for now, so shall we take it slowly?”
That said, places crafted so elaborately usually had traps.
“I’ll go first...”
“Commander, I’ll protect you with my shield...!”
Stopping the Skeleton Knights who were all volunteering to take the lead, he pulled an empty bottle from his inventory. “Wait.”
Then, he rolled the bottle forward.
Clack—!
Swoosh—!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Arrows rained down from both sides. If it had been a person instead of a bottle, they would’ve been reduced into a human pincushion.
“Eek!”
The startled group recoiled as if arrows had pierced their own arms.
“It’s a trap.”
Swoosh—!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
It was not a one-time trap, either.
“It automatically reloads, and there’s no poison. Looks like it fires infinite arrows, probably too much trouble to coat each one with venom.”
Still, the craftsmanship was impressive. Judging by the circumstances, this underground space had gone unused for centuries, yet the mechanical traps worked flawlessly.
It would've been nice if that brilliance were meant for us, Eun-Ho thought.
“T-then does that mean we can’t go through?”
“I’ll look for a way! What if I use psychokinesis to trigger the trap while we dash through?” Ji-Eun suggested.
“Oh! Or I could throw my mace and smash the walls to bits!” Jae-Hyuk suggested.
“Wouldn’t that make the whole place collapse?” Eun-Ho replied.
It was impossible to tell whether the corridor automatically distinguished residents from intruders, or whether there was some safe method to pass through. Also, there wasn’t time to find out, so he chose the simple solution.
“Skeleton Knight Order.”
“Yes sir!”
“Block it.”
Clack—!
Ten Skeleton Knights moved at once. They raised their shields, splitting into two lines of five, taking positions along either wall.
Swoosh—! Swoosh—! Swoosh—!
Arrows poured down again, striking the shields fixed to the Skeletons’ forearms before the arrowheads could even be seen.
Clang! Clang! Clang...
Any arrows that slipped through only scraped past shinbones or kneecaps. The Skeleton Knights were closer to death than anyone else, and therefore unafraid of it.
Undead soldiers... Not bad.
With that thought, Eun-Ho stepped forward onto the path they had opened. “Let’s keep moving. Don’t stop.”
“Yes sir!”
“Got it, Hyungnim!”
***
“Jae-Hyuk! Watch your footing!”
“Eek! I’m falling!”
“Got you! I’ve got you! I’m pulling you up!”
They rounded a corner filled with choking, acrid fog; passed through a corridor where a door suddenly opened in the floor; and walked on while using shields and sturdy wooden planks like umbrellas to fend off the volley of arrows. Gradually, the traps grew farther apart, and the corridor widened.
“There’s a door here!”
Click—
When they finally opened the first wooden door they’d encountered, a perfectly intact interior space appeared.
“A guard room?”
“Looks like a rest area, doesn’t it?”
It was a small resting space with a few beds and chairs. Blankets lay folded on top, giving the place a lived-in feel.
“There’s another door here!”
“Oh! There’s one here too!”
“It must be a storage room!”
The deeper they went, the larger and more numerous the rooms became. Storage spaces packed with construction materials, food supplies, and daily necessities appeared one after another.
“Looks like the people from the memories lived here,” Ji-Eun noted.
“Seems so.” Agreeing with Ji-Eun, Eun-Ho didn’t stop moving as he looked around.
In a place filled with signs of daily life like this, there was bound to be a room where useful items were gathered.
“If nothing else, there has to be a place where they stored and maintained weapons.”
“Weapons?”
“Yes. If they went to such lengths to hide this place from outsiders, they must’ve prepared means to deal with intruders.”
Ji-Eun nodded, clearly agreeing. “True. It looked like they fled in a hurry, without time to take their belongings.”
“Oh! Excellent! I’ll loot it with everything I’ve got!” said Jae-Hyuk.
“If you find something, call us. Don’t touch anything until we’re all together. We don’t know what kind of mechanisms might be hidden,” said Eun-Ho.
“Understood, Hyungnim!”
After calming Jae-Hyuk, who now looked thrilled to finally have a job, Eun-Ho continued opening the remaining doors.
Creeeak—
There was a food storage room.
Creeeak—
Judging by the round table and chairs, it was either a meeting room or a dining hall.
Creeeak—
[You have discovered the Underground Armory.]
“Found it.”
It was a space broader than any room they’d seen so far. Countless weapons lined the walls, completely obscuring the crude earthen surface behind them.
“Wow!”
“What on earth is all this?!”
Swords, spears, bows and arrows, maces, crescent blades and daggers...
Weapons for every range, from close combat to long-distance, hung neatly along the walls. Beneath them were display blocks one would expect to see in a museum, lined up in rows. On top of those lay countless sets of armor and stacks of potions.
“Let’s contact the team.”
“Huh? What should we say?”
“Tell them this is going to take a while.”
They would have to inspect everything here, sorting it by type, purpose, and performance.
“Okay! But Eun-Ho, do you think there might be traps hidden here too? You know, someone might get angry if someone steals the treasure.”
“Oh, that’s a very plausible scenario.”
“Eek! Then what should we do?”
Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk looked to him for an answer. Eun-Ho thought it would be better to finish checking the rest of the area first. No one was going to barge in and steal these weapons in the meantime. Hence, they’d come back for the items after they had wrapped up everything else, ready to run if something went wrong.
“For now—”
Before Eun-Ho could finish, he found himself being dragged backward.
[Allotted time has been exhausted.]
[Regression has been initiated.]
Tick—
“Eek! I-I think I’m going to fall!”
It felt as though an invisible hand was dragging them away. Without meaning to, they stumbled backward, closing the doors they had opened, retracing their steps down the corridor in reverse.
Tick—
The meeting room, the food stores, the stockpile of building materials, the guardroom—every door they had opened now swung shut again in reverse order. The rain of arrows from the ceiling, the corridor where Jae-Hyuk had nearly fallen, the corner where acrid fog had once stolen their breath—all of it unwound before them, scenes replaying backward as they retreated, step by step.
“Eek! M-my body’s moving on its own!”
“Aaah! Me too! How far is this taking us?!”
They backed all the way to the first corridor, still walking backward. As even the light of the blazing torch was swallowed up, an unsettling message appeared, along with the ticking of a clock’s second hand.
Tick—
[Regression has ended.]
“What was that?”