It was an unfamiliar ceiling.
Normally, the color of the ceiling I should be looking at would have been green.
But why, was there an orange ceiling in front of my eyes now?
There was another strange point.
My tent was originally a one-person tent after all.
It was impossible to share a tent with girls.
“Hmph~”
There shouldn’t have been any sound of someone whistling from the side.
Yet, despite my thoughts, the whistling continued incessantly, tickling my ears.
Looks like they’re having quite a blast.
“Noah, is it that good?”
“Of course.”
“Ah…I should’ve brought the Demon King…”
There’s a reason I didn’t bring the Demon King.
Absolutely not because I had some sinister intention to share a tent with a female student, but purely because there wasn’t enough space.
Even if the other tent was large, it was difficult to accommodate three female students and one adult.
Thus, this situation arose.
A very dangerous situation of sharing a tent with a female student!
Unaware of my feelings, the female student crawled closer to me.
“What are you doing…”
“You’re already out since we’ve shared a bed before.”
“At that time, it couldn’t be helped, and besides, the Demon King was there too.”
This situation is entirely different.
Damn, I should’ve taken care of the tent myself.
“Sigh… It’s too late anyway…”
What’s the point of regretting now?
I accepted my fate and opened the tent flap.
As a cold breeze rushed in, a massive lake came into view along with the frozen bones of an ancient dragon.
“It’s really big. Even when I see it again.”
“It’s a dragon.”
Noah nodded and turned his gaze.
A few minutes of light silence followed.
Still, I couldn’t keep quiet forever, so I spoke up.
“Let’s go take a look before eating dinner.”
“Before eating?”
“Yeah, shall we cross over there?”
Nod.
We moved to the opposite tent.
Everyone was gathered in their spots, waiting for my explanation.
I began.
“We’re going through the ancient dragon’s bones.”
“Through the ancient dragon’s bones?”
“Um, because that’s the dungeon.”
Everyone tilted their heads in disbelief.
I decided to send one representative first to check it out personally.
“Yoo Yul, let’s go.”
“Me first?”
“Yeah. There’s a set order: Yoo Yul, Jin, Taehwa, Noah. We’ll go in this order, one person every two days just in case.”
The reason is simple.
‘If things go wrong, we need to stop Blackheart. Once everyone gets stronger, we’ll send Noah last. Noah will require all of us together.’
In case of an uncontrollable magical girl, we’d need to stop her.
We’ll test Blackheart first since they’re the second strongest.
Stella and Natalia are in the middle.
Iris is last.
If there’s an outbreak, we’ll all step in together.
“You need to stay alert. If something goes wrong, it might fail.”
“What happens if it fails?”
“Instead, we might lose our mana.”
In short, it’s like getting caught while stealing. Naturally, punishment follows.
Instead of a fine, we’d lose our mana.
Still,
“Don’t be too tense. Like trying to steal from an empty house.”
It probably won’t be much of an issue.
After all, everyone has ample experience.
“Today, Yoo Yul goes first. We’ll wait and move on if everything’s okay.”
“Can’t we all go together?”
“The maximum number of living beings allowed inside is three: me, Kkomkmu, and Yoo Yul. That’s all.”
Yoo Yul nodded silently in agreement.
“Alright. Let’s try.”
She agreed to go first.
I stood up with her and headed outside, leaving behind a warning to be prepared just in case.
Once outside, we briefly walked on the frozen lake. We reached right in front of the ancient dragon’s bones.
Up close, they looked even more colossal.
“Alright, let’s climb up to the top of the skull.”
+++++
“Yoo Yul, if you’re scared, you can stop.”
“No, I’ll try.”
Yoo Yul transformed into Blackheart and followed Shin Hyun, who similarly transformed into Kraken and led the way.
Step by step.
An eerie experience of stepping on another creature’s spine.
Kraken’s gaze shifted forward as he looked down.
Upon reaching the top of the skull and sitting down, he closed his eyes. As he slowly inhaled, the residual traces of mana teased his nostrils.
He took a deep breath.
Focusing his mind, he guided the floating traces of mana into his body.
Although the act of absorbing essence was similar…
“This feels strange…”
Suddenly, Yoo Yul muttered.
Kraken, who was looking around in his transformed state, showed signs of doubt in his eyes.
“What’s suddenly wrong? Yoo Yul?”
“I don’t know… Ever since a while ago, I’ve felt… strange…”
As she spoke, her heart suddenly raced.
Feeling it, she clamped her mouth shut.
It felt like something would surge up if she opened her mouth.
“Ugh…”
“Has it already started?”
This is faster than expected.
Kraken quickly extended his tentacles to restrain Blackheart’s arms and legs.
Ssssoo—
Goosebumps rose.
“Stay focused.”
“Ugh…Yes…”
“One mistake could lead to serious trouble.”
Yoo Yul felt like a giant reptile’s eyes were staring at her.
One that might swallow her whole if she made a wrong move.
Perhaps its name was Dragon.
An unpleasant voice spoke up.
“Interesting… Your mana seems useful for my resurrection…”
“QQQ!?”
“There’s no need to fear… Yes, hoho… Let’s be friends…”
“Stop… Please stop!!”
Unable to endure the sensation of being squeezed, Blackheart struggled.
Quietly observing the situation, Kraken extended his tentacle and gently shook Blackheart’s head.
“Aaah…!”
“…Stay focused.”
“But… But…”
“If you can’t overcome this, I’ll start over with you from scratch. Do you want to suffer for hours? Or relive that hell for months?”
“Ugh… Uuuuugh…!”
Hearing those words, Blackheart began to suffer in a different way.
Memories resurfaced.
Getting hit by Kraken, feeling slimy tentacles, being tied up in strange positions—
“Sh… Noooooooo!!!”
Screams tore through the air, and as Blackheart swung her sword, she could feel hands grabbing her.
Only then did she open her eyes.
“Are you alright!?”
“Yes… Yes… I’m fine…”
And what Blackheart saw next was—
Wrigglewrigglewrigglewrigglewrigglewrigglewriggle.
“QQQ… Hiiikkkk!!!”
A black tentacle resting on her shoulder.
+++++
“Yoo Yul, are you okay?”
“Yes, somehow.”
Noah placed his hand on Yoo Yul’s forehead as she lay in her sleeping bag.
“No fever. That’s good.”
“I’m just a bit tired.”
Yoo Yul turned her back, signaling her desire to rest.
“QQQ, Yoo Yul is taking care of you.”
“Yes, please leave it to me.”
“Just… I hate tentacles, hate tentacles… ugh… hate them…”
“Is she really okay…?”
“I’ll check, so please don’t worry.”
“Mm-hmm…”
Understanding this, Noah stood up without further ado and headed outside.
Outside, fishing was in full swing.
There was a reason related to growing stronger, but essentially, it was still a camp.
To fit the theme, Noah joined the scene.
However, cries of shock filled the area.
“It’s too cold, I tell you!”
“Just hang in there! I’ll make something delicious!”
“This is animal abuse! There’s an animal abuser here!”
“You’re a demon!”
“It’s demon abuseeee!!”
The commotion caught his attention.
For a few seconds, the unbelievable sight left him stunned.
“It’s too cold…”
“Hold on…! I’ve got a bite…!”
Chaaak!
A long, black tentacle emerged from the ice hole.
Its tip shaped like a fishing hook.
A fish wriggled helplessly on it.
“So… So… Now that we’ve caught it, can we stop?”
“No? We need to catch more. One isn’t enough, right?”
“Huh?”
“We need enough for spicy soup today and some dried fish. The food we brought won’t last.”
“This is survival, not camping…!”
Eight tentacles spread around the area.
Each tentacle was fishing through separate ice holes.
Others were also fishing with rods through their own holes.
“Ice fishing, huh…”
“Noah, how’s Yoo Yul?”
“She’s fine. She just wants to rest.”
“That’s good. Hey, do you want to try fishing?”
“Fishing…”
“Why? Is it your first time fishing?”
Noah nodded.
Not only was it his first time fishing…
“Actually, it’s my first time camping.”
It was his first time camping altogether.
Noah rarely went anywhere for fun.
Thinking back to his childhood, he assumed his dad was always busy, but reflecting now, there was probably no real reason.
Since he wasn’t his father’s biological child worth investing in.
Thinking about his father’s actions made him slightly melancholic, but he quickly shook it off.
He came here to have fun.
Not to dwell on unsolvable problems.
“Alright. Give me a fishing rod.”
“You can get one from Taehwa over there.”
“Okay.”
He carefully walked across the slippery ice.
When he reached Taehwa, she handed him a fishing rod.
“Just break the ice and start fishing.”
“Ice… break…?”
“Yeah, break the ice.”
Noah nodded.
Break the ice and fish.
“Transformation.”
Pfft—
“Noah, why the sudden transformation—”
Kaboom!
Crack.
Kwaang!!!
“No-no-no, Noah… Why are you doing this? Were you upset about something? Upset that Yoo Yul went first?”
“Eh?”
“Let’s talk! Okay!?”
“Isn’t a bigger hole better for catching more fish?”
