'…Damn it.'
After telling Min Ha-yeon about my concerns regarding the blessing, I tried writing a blessing targeting Han Yeo-reum.
The act of writing a blessing was like conversing with the entities in the channel, and it wasn't leaked to the outside.
But that wasn't the most important thing right now.
-If the target (Han Yeo-reum)'s death is confirmed, time stops for 10 seconds.-
-If the target (Han Yeo-reum)'s death is confirmed, time stops for 9 seconds.-
-If the target (Han Yeo-reum)'s death is confirmed, time stops for 5 seconds.-
..
..
-If the target (Han Yeo-reum)'s death is confirmed, time stops for 1 second.-
-Notifies me 10 seconds before the target (Han Yeo-reum) dies.-
-Notifies me 9 seconds before the target (Han Yeo-reum) dies.-
-Notifies me 5 seconds before the target (Han Yeo-reum) dies.-
..
..
-Notifies me 2 seconds before the target (Han Yeo-reum) dies.-
'Wow… The blessing that notifies me 1 second before death seems somewhat possible.'
[…It's too risky.]
-Notifies me 1 second before the target (Han Yeo-reum) dies.-
The cost for this blessing is 300,000 points.
That's 30,000 Enels.
I currently have about 90,000 Enels….
At first, I tried to solve the problem using the concept of time stop.
Since the word "regression" wasn't included, it didn't require billions or tens of billions of points.
But even so, it still cost an enormous amount of Enels.
Even if it seemed like a useless blessing, stopping time or foreseeing the future seemed to be considered beyond the scope of ordinary abilities.
Armonia looked at the blessing and said.
[I'm sorry. Even if my reflexes are good, that's impossible. Warp requires at least 1 second of calculation to activate.]
'…And now that I think about it, even if it works, it seems like a problem.'
[What part?]
'When regressing… wouldn't the blessing also reset?'
There was a high possibility that the blessing would reset.
Even if that blessing worked, I would have to spend 30,000 Enels every time I regressed.
Moreover, if the warp is delayed and fails, it would just evaporate meaninglessly…
No, if it doesn't reset, it would put me in an even more serious situation.
What if there's a fatal error in the blessing I wrote thinking it was possible?
That would be an even bigger problem.
It's much better to keep resetting and be able to rewrite it, even if it means spending Enels like a fool.
After that, I tried all sorts of combinations.
And the best result I came up with was…
'Is this the best option?'
[…That seems somewhat possible.]
-If the target (Han Yeo-reum)'s death is confirmed, time stops for 5 seconds within a 1-kilometre radius centered on the target. And notifies me of the fact.
It was a blessing created by combining future foresight (death confirmation) and time stop (limited range) as much as possible.
But the required points were 1,000,000….
'100,000 Enels… I'm just short of about 10,000, right?'
[That's correct, but in 10 hours, a week will have passed, and you can receive 30,000 Enels.]
'Hmm…'
It seemed like a decent blessing.
But it only seemed that way.
The foresight only activates when death is confirmed, so it was a blessing within the possible range.
The time stop was also narrowed down to a 1-kilometer radius.
But there were too many uncertain factors.
What if Han Yeo-reum dies because of an entity outside the 1-kilometre radius?
What if such a situation keeps happening and it becomes a disadvantageous factor for me?
I needed a blessing that could completely resolve the "what if" factor.
'For now, let's think more about the blessing after receiving Enel support once more.'
[Understood.]
Armonia agreed with my words and moved on to discussing the next plan.
[Now, there are only 5 minutes left in the safe zone. You should start planning your move.]
'First…'
I explained my plan to Armonia.
..
..
"…Are you crazy?"
"…."
Min Ha-yeon, who had never shown anger before, expressed her fury after hearing my plan.
My plan was simple.
First, I would write a blessing for Min Ha-yeon that would make her safe when the target (Seong Suho) is not in sight.
Then, I, with my intact legs, would lure the Shock Bees and run away, while Min Ha-yeon would run in the opposite direction.
This absurd plan might not seem like much of a plan, but it was based on survival rates.
As long as I wasn't killed in one hit, I could heal with Enels.
Most importantly, I had a stealth skill.
Even though it was only level 8, this was a forest covered with trees.
If I hid well, I thought the chances of survival were high.
In contrast, Min Ha-yeon's legs were still not fully healed.
If she were caught by the Shock Bees, she would definitely die on the spot.
Running away with Min Ha-yeon in that state would only put both of us in danger.
So I planned.
I would go out first and lure the Shock Bees, while Min Ha-yeon would run in the opposite direction…
"It's for both of us."
"No."
"…."
Min Ha-yeon didn't care about the meaning of the plan.
"Then I'll lure them. You run away."
"Hey… that's ridiculous…"
"…Didn't you just say something ridiculous to me?"
"…."
I couldn't say anything.
If our positions were reversed, I would have been furious too.
Trying to persuade someone you love to run away because you're going to be the bait wouldn't work.
But now, there really was no time left.
Only about 2 minutes remained…
Min Ha-yeon seemed to have no intention of understanding my persuasion and kept talking.
"Anyway, my legs are in bad shape. To ensure at least one of us survives…"
"Hey…"
I almost slapped Min Ha-yeon in the face in a moment of anger.
Even though I said I would lure them, what Min Ha-yeon said was completely different.
I had a high chance of surviving, while Min Ha-yeon's chances were close to zero.
"Don't ever say that again."
"But you did!!"
"That's a completely different story."
I spoke calmly without raising my voice.
Min Ha-yeon cried and made a fuss, and I had to persuade her in a short amount of time.
Not because of my eloquence, but because she understood the situation, Min Ha-yeon bowed her head, tears streaming down her face, and said.
"…Is this really the only way?"
"Yeah, this is the way for both of us to survive."
"…."
Now, less than a minute remained.
Min Ha-yeon suddenly stood up and kissed me.
After a brief kiss where our lips touched, Min Ha-yeon pulled away, tears streaming down her face, and said.
"…You have to survive. This isn't a request."
"I'll survive so we can kiss again next time we meet."
"…Haha."
Min Ha-yeon's tension seemed to ease a bit at my words, and she laughed weakly.
Now, there really was no time left.
"If I successfully lure two of them, run in the opposite direction."
"…Okay."
What if only one chases me and the other stays to guard Min Ha-yeon?
Of course, I had a plan.
I'm sure. If I hit them with a bang, they'll probably go crazy and chase after me.
[Seeing how they've been guarding the two of you meaninglessly for an hour, they're likely instinct-driven creatures rather than calculated ones.]
As Armonia said, they seemed like monsters created simply to eliminate their targets.
In fact, I had considered making a potion for Min Ha-yeon with the remaining mana.
I wanted her to run away with fully healed legs.
But I also needed to make an anti-magic potion, and to escape, a bang was essential.
If she just ran away with her legs as they were, she might be caught immediately.
Most importantly…
'If I give her a potion and fully heal her legs, she'll probably make a fuss about going together…'
[That's a wise decision. To save Min Ha-yeon, her current state is actually more helpful.]
I made up my mind and shouted as I left the safe zone.
"Ha-yeon! Be careful!"
"You too!"
I didn't hear Min Ha-yeon's last words and fired a bang at the Shock Bees.
"One shot each!"
Bang! Bang!
Perhaps because it was a weak bang, the superconductor bullet shattered as soon as it touched the Shock Bee's exoskeleton.
But…
Bzzzzzz!!!
It seemed to have an effect as they writhed in pain.
For the first time, I could feel anger on the bees' faces.
I confirmed that two of them were flying towards me and quickly ran into the forest.
..
..
"...…."
Bzzzz…
The fierce flapping of the Shock Bees' wings grew distant and eventually faded away.
"Phew…."
[That's a relief. They seem like monsters specialized only in direct combat.]
As Armonia said.
They had overwhelming performance in combat, but their intelligence was lacking, and even with stealth level 8, I could hide without any issues.
This information might be helpful even after regression.
After catching my breath and calming down, I thought of Min Ha-yeon.
'Phew… Ha-yeon should be fine for now.'
[No entities passed through the safe zone where you two were. If it's the opposite side of Suho, the safe zone should still be comfortably set up.]
'Right…'
The direction I ran was the place where we were first summoned.
When we were first summoned, Han Yeo-reum ran west from the center, and I ran east.
And now I returned to the center, sending Min Ha-yeon deeper east.
Now, there's about 1 hour and 50 minutes left…
'This is troublesome. I need to find Han Yeo-reum quickly.'
[First, carefully check your surroundings…]
While Armonia was speaking to me, a scream suddenly came from afar.
"Ahh!! What's that!! Why is it here!!"
"Kyaaah!!!"
"…I think I found him."
It seemed like the ones chasing me had encountered Han Yeo-reum's group.
I maintained stealth as much as possible and headed towards the direction of the sound.
The direction of the sound was chaotic, but as I kept narrowing it down, the sound eventually faded.
When I carefully arrived at the last place I heard the sound, I could understand why it had quieted down.
"Ha… ha… ha…"
"Huu… ha…"
Han Yeo-reum and a female party member named Park Jin-hee were lying down in the safe zone, gasping for breath.
Outside the safe zone, two Shock Bees were waiting.
'The other four… and where are the other two?'
The small number of people wasn't a big concern.
But the fact that four Shock Bees were missing was unavoidable to worry about.
They might be near Min Ha-yeon.
But after hearing their conversation, I could immediately feel relieved.
"Huu… Yeo-reum… you're too much… abandoning Hye-eun like that…"
"Damn it!! Are you kidding me? Should I have dragged the injured girl and run away!?"
"B-But… Hye-eun got hurt helping you…"
"Then you lure those four! Will you!? Huh?"
"T-That's…."
Han Yeo-reum, who was usually affectionate, showed his true colours when faced with death.
Even though there's regression, he doesn't want to die.
'…That's a relief. It seems like one person sacrificed themselves to make the four disappear.'
[I'm more amazed that they've survived this long.]
Surely, the girl named Sun-hee, who had her arm bitten off, must have died.
Surviving in that state would be more like hell…
It seemed that Han Yeo-reum unintentionally lured three of them and ran away, and then the girls also escaped after the time stop was lifted.
In other words, it was concluded that the Shock Bees landing and stopping time included the three that activated the skill.
'No, it seems like the monsters that activated the skill stop time for an even longer duration, right?'
[I think so. If the time stop of the girls and the Shock Bees in that place had been lifted at the same time, they would have died long ago.]
I learned another piece of information.
When entering this boss battle, I thought the number of helpful members was three.
Because if only three were created, there was a possibility they wouldn't use their skill.
[Given their low intelligence, the likelihood of them using their skill is probably not high.]
'Ah, that makes sense.'
They didn't seem like the type to calculate penalties and use skills…
While I was gathering all sorts of information, Han Yeo-reum shouted.
"Damn it! We only have 5 minutes here!"
"Huu…"
I felt relieved looking at the two.
'Let's rest for 5 minutes, then keep chasing.'
***
"…."
Min Ha-yeon arrived at a new safe zone, dragging her limping leg.
It was about 100 meters away from the safe zone where she was with Seong Suho.
Min Ha-yeon touched the sign in the center of the safe zone with a gloomy expression.
00:05[1/2]
It was only a 5-minute safe zone.
But her expression wasn't filled with regret.
Right now, only one man came to her mind, not her own safety.
"…What is this."
Min Ha-yeon keenly felt her own helplessness and hugged her knees, bowing her head.
She closed her eyes and thought of Seong Suho, who ran away leaving her behind.
And the magic he used to lure the monsters…
But at that moment, Min Ha-yeon was puzzled.
"Wait… if he had mana… couldn't he have made more potions?"
Surely, the green potion had a very minimal healing effect.
But she thought that if he had used mana to make more potions, her legs could have been sufficiently healed.
It was such an obvious fact, but she hadn't thought of it at all while being busy with Seong Suho.
"No way…."
Min Ha-yeon took out the blessing note from her inventory and remembered what Seong Suho had told her.
"Write something helpful in the blessing when I'm not in sight."
"Wait… it's not about the distance increasing, but about not being in sight…"
Seong Suho didn't heal her and told her to write something helpful in the blessing when he wasn't in sight.
As if the blessing would be maintained even without him…
"…You bastard!"
Min Ha-yeon concluded that Seong Suho had sacrificed himself.
She wanted to run over and slap his face without mercy right now.
But she wasn't sure if it would help even if she went now.
With her legs in this state, she might just be a burden.
"If I go now… wait… I have a lot of points, right?"
Min Ha-yeon remembered the points she had earned while hunting with Seong Suho.
And she thought of one blessing.
"…Just wait. Seong Suho…."
Min Ha-yeon wrote the blessing with a meaningful expression.
***
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