PMEVBO 18

Thud.

The wild asparagus slipped from my limp fingers. The precious shoots rolled across the ground, but I didn’t even notice. I was frozen in shock, like the raccoon that’d dipped cotton candy in water.

I had the Discernment skill. And now it’s gone.

…And with only about 6 days left on its 15-day cooldown.

“You bastard…!”

Inventory space shortage, my ass! If there was a capacity limit, you should’ve warned me beforehand! If not, at least ask me what to delete!

Ha… How am I supposed to get Iser out of here now…

I felt so infuriated, I unconsciously scooped up a handful of dirt from the ground and flung it at the status window.

Then.

────【 Help 】────

Try expanding your inventory by leveling up!

────────────────

The help window popped open.

“Who the hell are you kidding…”

How the hell do I even level up? I let out a sigh, or maybe a hollow laugh, and gave myself a mental face wash.

─────【 Inventory 】─────

Skill ‘Guidance’ has been successfully stored in your inventory.

As a reward,

The skill ‘Guidance’ will be automatically cast once in 5 seconds.

────────────────

“…Don’t you have a human heart?”

I didn’t expect the System to show mercy. But this crossed the line.

Those 5 seconds passed annoyingly fast.

──────【 Skill 】──────

Skill ‘Guidance’ cast!

────────────────

──────【 Guidance 】──────

Guiding ‘???’ to ‘???’.

────────────────

The moment the question mark vanished from the status window.

I was suspended in midair, still in the same crouched position on the ground.

Below my hips, an emerald valley stream stretched out endlessly.

“…Huh?”

Along with the wind slapping my face, the rippling water surface filled my vision in the blink of an eye.

“Damn it, what the hell… Ugh!”

Splash!

The bone-chilling cold water engulfed my entire body.

That’s how I enjoyed an unexpected dip. Nearly drowning was just a bonus.

“Agh, ha… Cough!”

This damn game really is trying to kill someone…!

As I frantically swam against the current, the water gradually grew shallower.

“Ha, I really thought I was going to die…”

Even if Lucariel was an iron man with iron limbs, his lungs weren’t made of steel. If luck hadn’t been on my side, I would’ve met a gurgling, drowned ending.

After slapping the surface once, I flopped flat onto the shore.

It said it’d cast the Guidance skill, but what the hell was that sudden bolt out of the blue…

Come to think of it, I hadn’t properly seen the question mark vanishing when I unexpectedly entered the water.

I frowned as I checked my status window.

──────【 Guidance 】──────

Player successfully guided to Gayae Forest!

────────────────

──────【 Skill 】──────

Skill ‘Guidance’ cast successfully.

────────────────

“…Is this… navigation?”

“Destination reached. Route guidance terminated.”

Well, it didn’t exactly say that.

“Uh…”

This Guidance skill… could it actually be like real navigation…? I quickly opened the inventory window and clicked the Guide skill.

──────【 Skill 】──────

Do you wish to cast the ‘Guidance’ skill?

Yes/No

────────────────

Pressing ‘Yes’ brought up the following window.

──────【 Guidance 】──────

Guiding from ‘❘’ to ‘❘’.

────────────────

“Ah, right…”

So this skill guides you when you select a target and destination.

Strictly speaking, it was closer to teleportation than navigation. It didn’t show the route to the destination; it instantly transported you there.

Just now, the target was me and the destination was Gayae Forest. So this must be that Gayae Forest. Looking around, a shallow stream flowed through the dense forest. It was the perfect scenery for a summer vacation spot…

There’s a place like this inside Hayut Castle…?

No matter how I looked at it, this place seemed outside the castle.

What…? Didn’t they say my location was fixed inside the castle?

The player’s location is fixed to ‘Hayut Castle’ by ‘████’.

That damn pop-up window on the first day of possession had kept me locked inside the castle all this time. I’d checked in at the castle walls every morning like scratching a lottery ticket, but the colorless, transparent barrier was unchanged.

But what the hell is going on now?

Could using the Guidance skill actually break this location lock?

Come to think of it, even in hero movies, those teleportation guys always manage to escape no matter how tightly they’re bound. Maybe it’s the same principle.

“This is actually good.”

Seeing the cursor at both the target and destination spots, it seemed the second cast wasn’t random like the Discernment skill.

I was already feeling uncomfortable about using Discernment to help Iser escape, but a teleportation skill that nullifies positional lockdown? That’s actually reassuring. Perfect.

But there was a problem my positive thinking couldn’t cover.

──────【 SKILL 】──────

Skill ‘Guidance’ Casting Failed!

────────────────

──────【 Help 】──────

Time remaining until next cast

D-14 (359h 50m 49s)

────────────────

“Can’t you do something about this damn cooldown…?”

Iser must be waiting impatiently for the day he can escape the castle. How could I possibly suggest postponing it for half a month? Plus, now that the Guidance skill’s cooldown has started, I can’t teleport back like I did when I first arrived here.

..Guess I’ll have to walk there.

To avoid looking like an escaped convict, I had to get back before the duke noticed. More importantly, I hadn’t prepared Iser’s lunch yet.

Actually, I’d stashed quite a bit of food in the hideout’s storage for him to eat if he got hungry while I was gone. Just eating that would keep him well-fed until tomorrow at least, but…

…But he probably won’t eat it.

Our little young master only eats if it’s served to him. My heart raced with the anxiety of a mother who’d left her young child alone, unable to even feed himself.

“Gayae Forest…”

I don’t remember exactly, but it seems like a place from the original story. Well, even if it’s far, it should be somewhere attached to the Hayut Castle. That was a relief, at least.

Just standing here alone won’t get me anywhere. Let’s walk.

It was right then, as I was making my way through the thick forest.

Grrrr─!

Turning toward the sound, I saw a beast as big as a house.

“A bear…?”

Grrrr!

With a roar that felt like it would burst my eardrums, the bear charged forward.

Before its long snout, dripping saliva as if it hadn’t eaten in ten days, stood a man, his face drained of color. He trembled, clutching a branch that looked ready to snap in both hands. He was a paper doll before a candle flame.

The moment our eyes met, his tear-filled, green eyes, my body moved of its own accord. Darting out like an arrow, I drove a side kick into the bear’s midsection.

Grrr!

With a growl, the house-sized bear fell backward. But only for a moment. The beast stood up on its paws, its bloodshot eyes glaring at me.

“Tsk, I guess I went too easy on it.”

I hadn’t wanted to kill it, so I’d held back my strength when kicking. I hadn’t expected it to get up so quickly. Given I was currently possessing the extraordinary body of a budding final boss, controlling my strength was essential. One wrong move and I could genuinely kill it.

Guess I’ll have to give it a little more attention.

Brushing back the hair that kept sticking to my face from the water, I readied myself once more.

Then.

Grrrr…….

The bear, which had been backing away step by step, turned and vanished into the forest. Guess it didn’t want another hit.

It was then that a voice as warm as spring sunshine reached me.

“Thank you for saving me! I was gathering firewood when I encountered the bear and thought it was the end… You saved my life…!”

A man who looked barely over twenty smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling. The golden afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees shattered into fine fragments atop his high-ponytail.

Sun-kissed golden hair, gentle features, and lovely dimples that bloomed on both cheeks whenever he smiled. And… eyes that seemed unique, like there could be no other pair in the world.

From afar, the man’s irises appeared olive green, but up close, they resembled paint that had been mixed but not fully blended. The inner part of the iris was orange, while the outer rim was a dark ash gray.

In the original work, there was only one character with such unique eyes.

That character’s name was Seriha. He was the male protagonist of the original story.

I scanned the man, whom I assumed to be Seriha, from head to toe and asked.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m not. Thanks to you, my benefactor.”

The man, who had been smiling as sweetly as a puppy, suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Th-there’s blood…!?”

“Ah… right.”

Red blood seeped from a small cut on my right middle finger. Must have scratched it during the commotion in the valley earlier.

No wonder it’s been stinging since then.

Then, an electronic sound more terrifying than a bear’s roar rang out.

Ding!

────【 Sub Quest 】────

Praise ‘Seriha Kal Macelan Levana’!

(0/15)

D-20

Reward: Skill Draw Ticket (1 use)

────────────────

Ding-a-ling!

────【 Sub Quest 】────

‘Seriha Karl Macelan Levana’ has appeared!

Praise ‘Seriha Karl Macelan Levana’ to complete the mission.

────────────────

Oh, yeah. I knew you’d be the male protagonist.

But more importantly…

…If I clear this, does that mean the Guidance skill I just pulled will vanish too?

Since my level is still 0, I can’t expand my inventory…

No, damn it! Then how am I supposed to get Iser out of here…!

Tell the developers to come out here. If they run a real game like this, they’ll get cursed out and shut down the server.

Ha… I’m seriously going crazy.