Episode 2
#2
When I came to my senses, the very first thing I saw was clouds.
The clouds looked close enough to touch if I reached out my hand. Next, I saw the ground beneath my feet, blades of grass sprouting here and there around me, and right beside me, I saw a fountain. Of course, while it was a fountain, no water was coming out of it, and four brick paths extending in each of the cardinal directions. At the end of those four paths came into view old, worn white buildings.
With a dazed expression, I looked around my surroundings for a moment before opening my mouth.
“Where the hell is this?”
I had been at home just moments ago, but the instant I accepted the skill, I ended up in an unknown location. Compared to the situation from earlier, it was so quiet that the tension left my body, but I moved without letting my guard down. You never know, right? Whether there might be monsters here like before.
So I stood before what looked like a cliff at the edge of this island and looked around, and the moment I saw that sight, my pupils dilated greatly.
“…….”
It was the sky. Literally, the sky.
Do you know the sky island, LaputX?
I was standing on a slightly smaller, simplified version of the island from there.
“Sky Island…….”
The notification window I had accepted right before coming here.
[You can move to the unique skill ‘Sky Island’.]
[Would you like to move? (YES/NO)]
Just as the skill name said, it was the Sky Island.
“Ha…….”
A sigh escaped me unconsciously. The relief of having survived, Sky Island or not, and at the same time, facing reality, left me with no choice but to let out a sigh. Because there was no way I couldn’t roughly know how the current situation was unfolding.
The first notification window that came to mind was none other than the official notification window of The Regressor in the Ruins. Recalling it, whether I wanted to or not, I couldn’t help but roughly understand the current situation. The genre of the world had changed. Because this damned paywall transition meant that reality was changing into a world like inside a game.
“F*ck, seriously…….”
A curse resembling a complaint burst from my mouth. How could this happen…….
For a game to become reality…… No, did a novel become reality? No matter what it was, the fact that this was a completely shitty situation remained unchanged. I turned back around and decided to examine the four buildings. The forms of the buildings were simple, but their designs were each different. A building soaring upward like a tower, a building formed in a semicircle like an igloo, a rectangular building, and a pyramid-shaped building. Perhaps because the buildings themselves were old, grass and vines were wrapped around the gaps between them. I approached the rectangular building, which was the closest one.
It was a two-story structure with a large rectangle and a smaller rectangle stacked vertically. The building itself had an entrance, but no door. Before entering cautiously, I stuck only my head inside and surveyed the interior.
“…….”
The interior was silent and dark. Only the faint sound of wind flowing through the entrance echoed. However, in the center of the dark interior, there was a blue light faintly illuminating its surroundings. With a gulp, I headed toward the center where that blue light was. It wasn’t like staying still here would solve anything anyway.
“This is…….”
In the center where the blue light was, there was a circular blue gemstone floating gently in the air. A small circular gemstone floating in midair, emitting a blue light. Right below the gemstone floating in the air, a small hole was drilled in the floor, and through that hole, tiny white particles floated gently upward. I didn’t know what principle was at work, but I could tell that these small particles were supporting the gemstone. I looked around for a moment, then reached my hand toward the gemstone.
At that moment.
Zing!
Clang!
“!?”
Cylindrical pillars sprouted from above and below. Those pillars pressed down together with my hand and the gemstone.
“Wh-what!?”
Fortunately, perhaps because there was a round groove on the surface of the cylindrical pillar, my hand didn’t seem to be crushed, but it was stuck tightly in the groove and wouldn’t come out. My hand was wedged tightly into the pillar along with the gemstone.
It was then.
“Aaack!!”
A dizzying pain was felt on the back of my hand. Groaning at the pain that felt like something was digging in, I collapsed to the ground with a thud. But the pain lasted only a moment. As I was breaking out in a cold sweat and breathing roughly, the cylindrical pillars that had descended returned to their original positions.
“What the hell……?”
I immediately examined the hand I had pulled out. But when I examined it, there didn’t seem to be anything seriously wrong. I had been terrified, thinking a gemstone might have been embedded in the back of my hand.
It was then.
[Welcome, Master.]
“Wh-what?”
What I heard was a mechanical female voice. A voice that seemed to resonate inside my head. The moment I panicked, the voice resonating in my head continued.
[Please calm down.]
“Uh, uh?”
[I am the artificial intelligence of this Sky Island and the assistant in charge of aiding you, Master. My name is Noah.]
“Noah?”
[That is correct.]
Han Cheol stood blankly for a moment, then asked again.
“What did you say?”
[I am the artificial intelligence of this Sky Island and the assistant in charge of aiding you, Master. My name is Noah.]
The artificial intelligence of Sky Island? So what the hell is that…….
As if reading my thoughts, Noah repeated the same words.
[I am the artificial intelligence of this Sky Island and the assistant in charge of aiding you, Mas-.]
“Yes, I get it, stop.”
I let out a sigh. What the hell is this situation…….
No, actually, I think I roughly knew how the current situation was unfolding. That the world had changed into the same world as the game I played and was destroyed, and that I had activated a skill to come here. I stopped denying reality and asked Noah.
“Where the hell is this?”
[It is the Sky Island.]
“Don’t you have a clearer explanation?”
[It is the Sky Island created by the Master’s EX-grade unique skill. It is a place made to assist the Master’s survival and convenience.]
“My convenience and survival?”
[That is correct.]
At those words, I thought for a moment. Sky Island……. Anyway, I could say I was lucky in this desperate situation. To think that a skill called Sky Island would actually create an entire island. Now that safety was secured, other things started to bother me.
“Can you tell me the situation below right now?”
The last scene I saw before coming here came to mind. The sight of countless monsters pouring out like a flood through the gate. That’s why I was curious about the situation below.
However.
[The scouting function cannot be activated due to insufficient points, so the situation is unknown.]
“Points?”
[That is correct.]
Right, points. That was one of the settings of The Regressor in the Ruins. A concept similar to a kind of currency obtained by defeating demonic beasts that came through gates. But the absurd thing here was that points were consumed by one’s unique skill. It was EX-grade in a truly different sense. I had never seen a skill that consumed points even in the game……. Of course, as if my bewildered expression didn’t matter, Noah’s words continued indifferently.
[I shall begin the guidance for the Sky Island.]
“Huh? Ah, okay.”
[The place where the Master currently is is the Sky Island’s control room. From here, it is possible to control and move the Sky Island.]
“The control room? Then I can move the Sky Island?”
[It is currently impossible as the power source is not activated due to insufficient points. I shall begin the next guidance. Could you please step outside the building for a moment?]
At those words, I came outside the building with a disgruntled face. Noah’s guidance continued.
[The tower-shaped building visible in the front is the Tower of Enhancement. Some functions are currently unavailable due to insufficient points.]
[The semicircular building to your left is the cafeteria, which will handle the Master’s meals. It is currently unavailable due to insufficient points.]
[The triangular building to your right is the Master’s workshop. It is currently unavailable due to insufficient points.]
Listening to Noah’s guidance, I was dumbfounded.
“What the hell works?”
[Currently, except for me, all functions are unavailable due to insufficient points.]
“…….”
In the end, it meant I had to earn points. That meant I had to kill even one of the monsters below by any means. In the early stages of The Regressor in the Ruins, there was no other way to earn points besides killing demonic beasts.
‘Does that mean I have to go back down eventually?’
But even I knew that was the worst possible move. Going back down to the ground right now without any weapons? I could only imagine getting mauled by monsters with my bare hands. In the end, unable to do this or that, I decided to remain on the Sky Island.
* * *
“I’m going crazy.”
Three days had passed in this place that was warm during the day but terribly cold at night. I was lying on the grass of the Sky Island, basking in the warm sunlight. I had no strength in my body.
“Ha…….”
Having been unable to eat anything for three days, I was sprawled out on the grass field. The scenery was wondrous, but the space was utterly barren. An island with nothing to eat, no water, nothing needed for survival—just a few buildings. Of course, I was told I needed points to use the functions of those buildings, but there was no way to earn points in this space. It was a place where only despairing thoughts came to mind.
‘Am I going to die?’
My body trembled at the sudden thought. Chilllingly anxious thoughts began to eat away at my body. Soon, my haggard pupils turned toward the grass.
Can I eat this grass? I hadn’t eaten anything for so long that all sorts of thoughts were coming to me now.
It was then.
-Kieeeek!!
-Kyaaack!!
A horrifying roar was heard from somewhere. My body stiffened instantly. My head turned in the direction of the roar. Soon, numerous black spots entered my vision. Those spots grew larger as they gradually approached.
“Holy shit…….”
I knew those monsters. The monsters that had broken onto my house’s veranda before I came here. I hadn’t been able to recognize them then because of the chaos, but now I could. That’s right, they were definitely the monsters from The Regressor in the Ruins. Flying beasts, rank 8 demonic beasts—Predatons.
That multitude of monsters was flying in a straight line toward the Sky Island.
Their roars echoed through the sky. Soon, at the second roar from them, my body reacted immediately. I shot up from the ground and immediately ran toward the building. Hiding myself inside the control room just like that, I watched the monsters approaching the Sky Island with an anxious face.
“I thought this place was safe…….”
I thought starving to death would be better than being devoured by those monsters. What should I do now? If they landed on the Sky Island, there would no longer be any safe zone. But even so, there was nothing I could do. The Sky Island, which was supposedly EX-grade, was not very useful in the current situation.
‘I’m going crazy.’
In the end, even as they came within close range of the Sky Island, I could do nothing but watch with my eyes open.
It was then.
Thud! Thump! Thump! Crack!
-Kiek!
-Kak!
-Kehk!
“……?”
My expression blanked out for a moment. Of the seven flying toward the Sky Island, the three in the lead crashed headfirst into something transparent, their necks snapping, and began falling. Of course, the remaining four watching from behind stopped urgently and survived, then soon began flapping their wings and viciously throwing themselves against that transparent something.
-Kyaaaack!!!
-Kieeeek!!
“Wh-what?”
I could only stare at that scene with a bewildered expression. What the hell just happened? When I was puzzling over it, Noah spoke.
[It is the Sky Island’s protective barrier.]
“Protective barrier?”
[That is correct. Entry and exit from Sky Island is prohibited without the Master’s permission, so the protective barrier is always active.]
So there was such a thing……. At the thought of having survived anyway, a sigh of relief escaped me unconsciously.
It was then.
Ding-.
[You have slain a Predaton.]
[You have slain a Predaton.]
[You have slain a Predaton.]
[Converting slain demonic beasts into points.]
[6,000 points have been accumulated.]
“Huh?”
My pupils dilated greatly in an instant.
Points. The points I needed most at this moment had come in due to the demonic beasts’ deaths. At the same time.
[Some functions are activated due to point accumulation.]
At Noah’s words, my pupils dilated greatly.