Rumble!
When the massive stone door first opened, my party and I were slightly elated.
After all, what we thought would be a difficult obstacle, the Path of Death, had become nothing more than a trivial matter thanks to my outstanding abilities.
We thought we could move on to the next stage as easily as eating a cake.
But before we could rejoice at the opening of the door we thought was the exit, something was hurled at us—a boulder so enormous it made us think that getting crushed by it would mean certain death.
Actually, I was dubious whether it was even a stone. Its surface was exceptionally smooth, too smooth to be called rock.
But that wasn’t particularly important at the moment. Whether it was stone or iron, whatever it was, it emerged with its mouth-wide-open stance and dropped with a thunderous thud just outside the gaping stone gate.
And it began to roll slowly toward us.
Regardless of what it was made of, it didn’t seem like anyone would survive getting flattened by it.
With an overwhelming mass that seemed like it could literally turn us into pancakes, it showed no signs of stopping despite our desperate wishes.
It kept rolling.
It was only then that my petrified companions snapped out of their stupor.
“Back, back away! No, run!”
Park Jin-soo yelled, turned around, and the nameless coward was already running. That lowlife always runs first, selfishly prioritizing his survival—it’s nothing new anymore.
I too had been momentarily frozen, but snapped out of it and quickly turned around with Lee Yoo-jin.
As I ran alongside her and looked back, I witnessed a bizarre sight. The massive sphere, which had begun rolling down the straight-cut space, crushed the lever that had set it loose with a loud crack, then started rolling along the groove on the floor.
The tiny step I had noticed earlier turned out to be a mechanism designed specifically for the sphere.
Why was it designed this way? It seems it wasn’t meant as a hint at all, or perhaps the design itself was a trap.
…Could it be that even I fell into this trap?
No, no… It’s thanks to me that we got this far safely.
But still…
Now what?
As I ran furiously, I soon realized that the point where we started was sealed off.
It felt like no matter how hard we kept running, we would end up being smashed into bloody pancakes like rice cakes stuck in a mortar.
Of course, I might… be okay, but the others seemed like they’d really become pancakes if this continued.
The despicable one leading ahead—I honestly didn’t care if he turned into one, but Yoo-jin running alongside me and Park Jin-soo shouting warnings filled me with unease.
Caught up in thought while running with heavy footsteps, I caught sight of the exit tunnel ahead of me.
At the sight of the tunnel, I realized we had arrived at this place through a fork in the path.
Ah!
A good idea came to me.
Since there’s only one sphere, all we need to do is temporarily hide in another pathway, right?
It’s absurd that the surface is so smooth, but aside from that, it seemed like its physical limitations wouldn’t go beyond that.
So it wouldn’t, for instance, suddenly split in two and roll backward, or break apart and turn into some kind of monster.
Praising myself for thinking of such a brilliant idea under pressure, I grabbed Lee Yoo-jin’s wrist and started flailing Daesik around.
Without the ability to speak, I had to somehow communicate this eccentric idea to her through gestures.
“Huh, hahaha… huh, huh, why are… hahaha… you doing this?”
Having successfully caught her attention, I flailed Daesik some more to explain the concept, but she seemed too focused on catching her breath, glancing at me briefly while panting heavily.
There were no answers, only increasing confusion. Body language wasn’t effective enough in such a dire situation.
I hadn’t realized how inconvenient not being able to speak could be.
…Hmm, guess I’ll have to do it the hard way.
Even if it’s a bit violent, there’s no choice but to drag her along.
But… can I control my strength properly?
I felt unnecessarily nervous from stumbling over her earlier. If I accidentally break something, it’d create problems on multiple levels.
Still, it’d be better than dying, right?
I don’t know what Lee Yoo-jin thinks about it, but surviving is more important, isn’t it? Despite not knowing why, I managed to stay alive so far.
As long as you’re alive, you adapt and manage somehow, right?
Ultimately, survival is key.
With that determination, I prepared to put more effort into my legs and body—but soon realized my thoughts were unnecessary.
The men ahead didn’t turn back and rushed toward the next tunnel. It was clear they never considered taking a different fork like I did.
Foolish humans, I thought, shaking my head.
That thought lasted only briefly as the moment we exited the tunnel, I immediately understood that the other choice was sealed. The paths we hadn’t taken were now blocked off by stone walls that had descended with malicious intent.
It was a cruel reminder that obsessing about it now was futile.
Since there was no way to open those walls, I grabbed Yoo-jin’s wrist and continued running with the others.
After passing through the tunnel, the boulder rolled past the blocked path with a heavy thud and came for us again.
…Isn’t this physically impossible?
Even as I marveled at the absurdity, the boulder approached with increasing speed, ready to pancake us under its mass.
Though the irrationality stung, I couldn’t complain, given how irrational I was myself.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel irked.
As I grumbled internally, Yoo-jin suddenly lifted me up and held me in her arms.
I didn’t understand at first, but it was definitely faster than me running.
I realized that no matter how strong my legs were, my stride was inevitably limited. Plus, I was incredibly light, so carrying me this way seemed advantageous.
Yoo-jin must’ve found our synchronized running pace frustrating.
“All of a sudden… huff huff… sorry, but like this, I thought we might get crushed underneath.”
While gasping for breath, the explanation made me feel warm inside, but regardless of her intentions, my spirits sank a little.
So what if I’m short!
I didn’t know who made me this way, but I wanted to grab them by the collar and ask why.
Before I could, though, Yoo-jin’s rapid running quickly pulled us ahead of the others.
Meanwhile, the boulder seemed to be picking up speed as well, as if responding to their cries.
…Is there actually someone riding inside it? Maybe a hamster spinning the wheel?
Why don’t they just attach a machine gun to it?
Despite grumbling inwardly, the distance between us, Yoo-jin, and the others in front steadily shortened as we approached the wall.
Nothing but pancake endings came to mind.
Sharing the same thoughts, Yoo-jin’s trembling became palpable.
” Huff… Huff.”
Yoo-jin felt the burning sensation in her lungs as she continued running.
She needed to stop and rest, but doing so would ensure being flattened by the rock approaching from behind.
Thankfully, the small singularity cradled in her arms wasn’t heavy.
Her earlier thought to hastily pick it up and cradle it stemmed from the tight space it occupied while running, yet she hadn’t anticipated how light it would be.
It did have incredible strength, after all, as demonstrated when it had pushed her over.
Perhaps singularities really are singularities…
So utterly illogical. Just like the rock rolling behind her.
As they dodged its rolling advance, something continued to feel off.
Even the grooves in the floor couldn’t explain the perfect form of the rolling object.
Looking at the others ahead who frantically fled but lacked any brilliant strategies showed they were equally surprised by the situation, if not completely unaware.
“Cough…”
Whatever the case, their only option was to keep running, so Yoo-jin ran further.
In reaching her goal of meeting this peculiar singularity, she hadn’t planned on dying, so with all the milk-fed strength she had left, she pounded against the floor.
After running for what felt like ages, the familiar scenery started to come into view, but this wasn’t a comforting sign.
The familiar pattern on the ground signaled she had reached the platform they initially ascended from to enter this space. That meant a wall awaited them further ahead.
This was their fate of being squashed like sausage.
What to do?
Yoo-jin, glancing back as she ran, realized there was no other alternative but to keep moving forward.
She looked at the singularity cradled in her arms, but it appeared just as clueless, clinging to her like a doll while looking up at her.
Adorable as it was, its helplessness didn’t provide much assistance currently.
Still, Yoo-jin ran as she had no other choice.
That’s when the figures ahead—the men—waved and called out to her.
“Come over here!”
“Over here! Hurry!”
There’s always a way out, even if the sky falls.
In a gap that she hadn’t noticed when they first set out, the men waved her over, having probably discovered it only after the boulder started rolling.
…It does feel like a game, doesn’t it?
Though slightly irritated, she thought, “Well, there must not be a law against living,” and ran toward the opening.
However…
Had the tension loosened because of finding safety?
Yoo-jin felt her knees weaken and she tripped forward. Clutching the singularity tightly, she lost control of her momentum and tumbled across the floor with a loud thud.
Behind them echoed the sound of the enormous rock rolling closer.
With gritted teeth, she attempted to rise, but her exhausted body refused to comply.
She was physically spent.
The massive stone sphere, following the groove, rolled toward her without mercy.
“Damn it!”
“Hurry, get up!”
Yoo-jin heard the urgent voices of Park Jin-soo and Lee Sang-yong.
Are they worried about me? Or is it the singularity in my arms?
Without needing to ask, she felt a sense of abandonment as she bit her lip.
But regardless, with her body unresponsive, she focused on her one last attempt to save what she could. As she moved her arms—
“Huh?”
Yoo-jin let out a bewildered voice as she found herself lifting into the air.
The moment she realized she was airborne, her body was already flying toward Park Jin-soo and Lee Sang-yong.
She caught the glimpse of the diminutive singularity that had launched her with what seemed like a throwing action as it stood watching her.
…Did you… just throw me?
Eh? If you threw me, what about…
Just then, as Yoo-jin soared toward Park Jin-soo and Lee Sang-yong.
Crush!
The massive rock engulfed the small, blue silhouette.
“Ahhh! No!”
“Damn it!”
“A… Aaaah!”
The horrified cries of the barely evading humans were drowned out by the deafening sound.
BOOM!
As the boulder collided with the wall.
However, the moment for stunned horror hadn’t quite arrived yet.
The shockwave from the boulder slamming into the wall caused the space where they stood to violently shake.
Without time to verify the fate of the singularity, they hastily sprawled onto the ground and covered their heads.
Survival was the instinct of every living being.
