< Chapter 164: System Error (3) >
Upon waking up, the first thing I saw was Lust’s face.
“Are you awake?”
While wiping the dust and scabs off my face with a handkerchief, she smiled refreshingly.
“…Where is this?”
I raised my upper body. Sitting up, I looked around. It was just an ordinary forest. Just a while ago, we were in the heart of the dragon’s resting place, inside a cave.
What on earth is going on?
“I’m not sure either. But it seems certain that we are in Korea…”
Lust smiled awkwardly, pointing in one direction. Through the countless leaves, a gigantic tree, the World Tree, stood tall. The presence of the World Tree implied that this place was Korea.
But why were we here? No, there was something more important.
“What about the others? Did you find anyone?”
Unknown, Hermit, Maiden. What happened to those three?
“No. I checked with a skill, but there was no one nearby.”
“No one?”
“Yes.”
“I see…”
The mystery deepened. I recalled the last situation before losing consciousness.
‘While space was collapsing, Unknown rushed to devour me as a last resort…’
At the end of the fierce battle, Unknown succeeded in placing a hand on my head. The devour skill was activated.
‘Right after that, the system message started to update anew.’
At the same time, Hermit severed Unknown’s arms, and Lust rescued me.
‘And finally…’
My eyes slowly widened. I remembered.
[Expelling the ‘impurity’.]
‘Yes, they definitely said they were expelling me.’
Expulsion. Does that mean that I was expelled from the dragon’s lair to Korea?
I tried to stand up, putting strength into my muscles.
“Ugh!”
“Seo-yul!”
But my body wouldn’t obey. Trying to get up, I staggered and fell.
“Don’t overdo it. Your physical condition is not good.”
Lust, who caught my falling body, looked at me with a worried expression. I couldn’t muster any strength in my body. It was a feeling of powerlessness I had never experienced before.
“You’re drained of both physical strength and mana… Even your life force and vital energy are faint like a dying lamp. You need to rest.”
“…Is it that bad?”
“Yes. It’s serious.”
It seemed I had indeed overexerted myself. It was bearable to have low mana, but being drained of physical strength was another matter.
It was my first time experiencing this since acquiring ‘Boiling Pure Blood’.
“Then I’m sorry, but can you support me?”
I wanted to heal the wounds with holy power, but whether due to lack of mana or something else, I couldn’t manifest the holy power.
“Yes! Of course!”
The child lifted my arm over her shoulder.
“Thank you.”
The height difference made it a bit uncomfortable, but I felt like I could walk at this pace.
“Let’s move first. We can’t stay here forever, and Maiden or Hermit might be nearby.”
“Yes. Gathering information.”
As Lust took a step, she suddenly shook her shoulder.
“Ah, right. Shouldn’t we take this with us?”
Lust looked down at the ground. I followed her gaze.
“Ah. Cheonbyeon.”
During the fight with Unknown, after using up all the usage limit of the ancient relic, I had drawn Cheonbyeon as a last resort.
Probably after being ‘expelled’ to this place, I lost strength and dropped Cheonbyeon.
“I tried to keep it, but I couldn’t grab it because the wear restriction was too high… I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? If you hadn’t told me, I would have left it behind. Thanks, actually.”
With Lust’s help, I picked up Cheonbyeon. It changed from its dagger form to its original longsword form.
“Shape-shifting weapon… So that’s why it’s called Cheonbyeon.”
“Right. It means a thousand changes.”
I changed the shape of Cheonbyeon into several forms afterward.
“Wow. It’s an amazing weapon.”
“It’s an excellent weapon, to the point of not suiting me.”
Fortunately, it looked fine. It didn’t seem to be damaged. It was a relief.
If there had been a problem with Cheonbyeon in this situation, it would have been quite a headache.
“Are you going to carry it in that state? Wouldn’t it be better to change it to a dagger or a smaller form?”
Lust asked, looking at Cheonbyeon, which had transformed into its original form, a longsword.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll put it in my subspace.”
“Subspace?”
Lust opened her eyes wide.
“You even have such a skill?”
“Somehow.”
I put Cheonbyeon into the subspace.
“Huh?”
No, I tried to.
I looked down at my chest quickly.
My clothes were all torn, exposing my chest clearly.
Of course, it’s not a big issue that my bare skin is seen.
It’s not a body to be embarrassed to show to someone; honestly, it doesn’t matter much.
‘…This is driving me crazy.’
The problem is that Adam’s Mark (Angel) seen through the torn clothes has also become strange.
‘Why is this one white too…?’
Just like Adam’s Mark (Fire Spirit), it has turned white, and its shape has changed.
The wings of the angel depicted in the tattoo have increased from one pair to two pairs.
A single pair of wings symbolizes a lower-class angel, and two pairs symbolize a middle-class angel.
‘…It’s very similar to the changes in the Fire Spirit’s Mark.’
Both have turned white and have become more splendid.
‘Has Adam’s Mark evolved or something?’
I was pondering with a furrowed brow when it happened.
Ssssshhhhhh!
A sound of something piercing through the air and rushing forward echoed.
“Mr. Seo-yul!”
Along with Lust’s urgent shout,
Bang!
A sound resonated as something was repelled.
“…An arrow?”
An arrow was stuck in the ground. Lust must have deflected it.
“Could it be…Unknown?”
In this situation, the only person who would ambush us is Unknown.
“…No, it doesn’t seem to be the boss.”
Lust, who was highly tensed, stood blocking my front.
“It’s not Unknown…?”
“Yes. Not only is the energy they carry different, but…”
At that moment, five shadowy figures landed in front of us.
“There are five assailants.”
“…It seems so.”
It doesn’t appear to be a surprise attack from an Unknown, as Lust said.
Then who are they?
Why did they suddenly attack us?
Their faces are not visible as they have their hoods deeply pulled over their heads.
I raised both hands, indicating no intention of fighting.
Considering they shot only one arrow before standing in front of us, they seem to be willing to talk.
“Did we perhaps commit any discourtesy?”
Furthermore, judging from the World Tree visible in the distance, it is certain that this place is Korea.
And Korea is a safe country with almost no terrorist activities by villains.
In other words, the likelihood of them being villains is very low.
“If we have trespassed onto your private property without permission, we apologize.”
I initiated a conversation to resolve the matter as calmly as possible.
Now is not the time to bicker with them.
“I am Kang Seo-yul, affiliated with the Korean superhero academy. I will apologize for this incident later, but first, could you allow us to contact the Bihon Guild…?”
That was when I was speaking softly and tenderly.
—What is the intruder saying, Robin? Do you understand the language?
A female voice was heard.
A very fine and beautiful voice.
The voice alone was enough to assure that under that hood was a beautiful face, a beauty with a graceful voice.
However, the important thing wasn’t the beauty of the voice.
— I’m sorry, it’s a language I am hearing for the first time.
The important thing was that the language they were using was neither Korean, English, nor Chinese, but ‘Elvish.’
—Hmm, if Robin doesn’t know the language, we can assume that no one in ‘Alfheim’ can understand the language the intruder is using.
The astonishing thing wasn’t just that.
—Did you… say Alfheim just now?
I asked in fluent Elvish, and the five men and women were noticeably startled. Their mouths were half-open under their hoods.
—You could use the language of the Elves? Then why didn’t you use it from the beginning…
—More importantly, I asked if you said Alfheim.
I asked again with a serious expression.
—You brat! How dare an intruder like you assume who this person is…
A gigantic man, who was guarding the woman, yelled as he stepped forward.
—Stand down, Robin.
—But!
The woman stopped the man.
—Robin, did you not hear me telling you to stay still?
—…Yes, I apologize.
At the woman’s short restraint, the man quietly retreated. I could roughly see their relationship.
—Based on what you are saying, it seems you entered here without knowing that this land is our ‘Alfheim’ territory… is that correct?
—Is this place really Alfheim?
My eyes trembled in astonishment and confusion.
“…Seo-yul, what on earth are you talking about?”
Lust asked me.
“Wait a moment. I’ll explain everything at once later. Please be quiet for now.”
“Ah… okay.”
I quieted Lust and pondered.
That woman said this place was Alfheim.
And Alfheim is the land of the elves.
That means, in other words…
—Looking at your expression, it seems like you really didn’t know.
The woman, whose voice became a bit softer, took a few steps forward and took off the hood she was wearing.
—Let’s start with my introduction first.
Bright golden hair and green eyes.
A face that seemed to have all the beauties of this world packed into it.
And long ears that harmonized perfectly with her appearance.
A woman who resembled Jia smiled faintly.
—My name is Illyna Alfheim.
—Il…lyna?
Moreover, if her surname is Alfheim…
—The queen of Alfheim…?
—Yes.
Looking at my astonished face, Illyna smiled gently.
A smile that was soft, yet carried a peculiar pressure.
—Ah.
That’s a smile waiting for my introduction.
—I’m sorry for the late introduction. My name is Kang Seo-yul. My surname is Kang, and my first name is Seo-yul.
—Kang…Seo-yul? It’s a difficult name to pronounce.
Illyna kept murmuring my name with my inexperienced pronunciation.
It seems very difficult to pronounce my name in Elvish.
As I watched Illyna continuously murmuring my name, I lost myself in thought.
‘The place I’m in right now most likely represents the world from ten thousand years ago.’
Perhaps it’s what they call time slip.
It feels like such a phenomenon might have occurred.
The elf queen standing before me, Illyna Alfheim, was the evidence.
‘Could it be that the expulsion meant being banished to the past?’
It doesn’t seem to be such a big penalty given the fuss the system made.
‘No, it can’t be.’
Why would the system banish me to the past?
There would be no reason to send me to the past if they wanted to banish me permanently.
‘Then what is it?’
Why has this happened?
Time slip.
Time travel.
This means…
‘…Regression?’
A luster flowed from my eyes.
‘That’s right! The penalty of the Time Dragon’s Essence!’
An ancient relic created from the stone of creation.
It allows the user to harness a powerful regression ability that manipulates time backward but incurs a penalty as a consequence.
‘Temporal dislocation.’
The penalty is called temporal dislocation, which has the effect of warping the user’s timeline abnormally.
I was planning to deal with the unknown first and then solve the penalty…
‘What if that penalty and the system’s banishment somehow intertwined?’
Being banished in a state of time dislocation. Then traveling back to the past wouldn’t be impossible.
It was then.
―Seo-yul.
At Illyina’s words, I snapped out of my deep thoughts.
―How is it? Is the pronunciation a bit better now? Seo-yul. Seo-yul.
―Yes. It’s perfect.
In the meantime, her pronunciation had improved significantly.
―I’m glad.
Illyina smiled faintly.
“So, why did you come all the way here, Seo-yul? Seeing that you came without knowing about Alfheim, it seems like you ran away in a hurry…
Illyina examined various parts of my body. Seeing my body full of wounds, it seems she judged that I was a fugitive.
―Yes. Before I realized it, I found myself here.
―I see.
Illyina wore a serious expression and fell into deep thought for about 10 seconds.
―Hmm. How about taking a short break in Alfheim? You can heal your wounds and take some rest.
―Would that be alright?
It was an unexpected proposal, but I wondered if it would be okay.
―Of course. Our Alfheim is not a heartless nation that neglects those in distress.
< Chapter 164: System Error (3) > End
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦