Chapter 35

A sharp pain pierced straight through my bones, exploding up into my skull.

“Urgh— damn it…”

Lee Haewon. Age 28.
Died by an arrow in the 21st century…

Yeah right.

[⁕ Due to the ‘Merchant’s Mark’ effect, Administrator is currently in an Untouchable State :)]

Of course I didn’t die.

The arrow probably wasn’t even aimed at me.

The impact was strong enough to make me stagger backward, but I managed to stay on my feet.
And most importantly—I didn’t drop Echo.

Echo, who saw me get shot point-blank, gasped so hard it looked painful.

“U-unnie, are you okay!?”

“No, it hurts like hell! How much farther!?”

I wanted to speak nicely in front of the kid, but I didn’t have the capacity for that.

I’ve never been hit by an arrow in my life—this kind of agony was brand new.

“Normally it’s a 10-minute run, but at this speed… it’ll take at least 30 minutes.”

Her voice was full of quiet despair.

Thirty minutes?

That sounds like “keep running until you die,” not “30 minutes.”

Also: does she just assume I can run for 10 minutes? What optimism.

Still, I kept running while silently blaming Echo for being too tiny to carry herself.

Unfortunately, the disgusting shouts behind us didn’t fade.

“Filthy beasts! Where do you think you’re running?!”

“Impurities of the continent, die here!”

Hearing insults thrown like candy, I couldn’t hold back.

I snapped back without thinking:

“Watch your damn mouth, you son of a—!”

“Unnieee, yelling makes you run slower…!”

…She’s right.

No wonder I was out of breath after only five minutes.

I shut my mouth and sprinted like my life depended on it.

Horseshoe thuds, metal clashes, and desperate shouting filled the air.

My thighs were burning as I struggled to keep running and keep thinking.

Should I tell Echo to run on her own?

Echo wasn’t injured—she was just panicked.

She might be able to flee if I let her go, and I wouldn’t die anyway thanks to the buff.

Maybe I should buy her time.

Just then—
An arrow whizzed past my ear and buried itself in the ground.

Echo whispered faintly against my neck:

“Mom… Dad… thank you…”

She was saying her last words.

This kid, in my arms, thanking her dead parents before dying—
I felt something inside me crack.

Thank you?

A name struck my brain like lightning.

I stopped running completely.

“W-why are you stopping!?”

Ignoring Echo’s panic, I quickly set her on the ground and opened my Inventory.

The one human I had always thanked.

Whose face and personality I didn’t know—
But whose name I remembered clearly.

Nocturn Gart!

My beautiful magic vehicle from Floor 49—
fresh and shiny straight from my Inventory—
stood before us like a divine miracle.

“Echo, get on!”

“W-what IS this!? Why are we stopping!? You should EXPLAIN—!”

“Explain? No time for that!”

I grabbed Echo, plopped her onto the back seat, made her hug my waist—
and slammed the pedal down.

Nocturn Gart, the unnamed dimensional genius, had built pure perfection.

As the wind sliced past us, the chaotic sounds behind us shrank like magic.

“They’ll never catch us…! We might reach it in five minutes!”

“Right? I ride this all the time. Which direction?”

“Straight! Then turn right where the tree has a yellow ribbon!”

Echo’s voice trembled, tired and sad.

I glanced back.

I expected awe at the magic bike, but instead—

Echo’s face was covered in sorrow.

And the scenery behind her…

Ah.

The village was falling.

Thick black smoke was rising, covering the sky.
It hadn’t even taken long.

We were running from the center of war, after all.
Echo wasn’t in any state to marvel at gadgets.

I asked softly:

“…Are you okay?”

“…Yes.”

The smile was faint. A lie.
I didn’t point it out.

*** * ***

Echo tapped my shoulder to signal me to stop.

We were in a dense forest—trees everywhere, no openings, no obvious shelter.

But Echo walked ahead confidently.

“This place is safe from humans.”

Safe? There’s no one here at all…

Still, I followed her.

After five minutes, voices began to echo in the distance.

“This is our real village.”

“…We could’ve just ridden the bike all the way here, you know?”

“If we came too fast, an arrow might’ve hit us.”

Fair enough.

If this was their last safe zone, guards would be heavily posted outside.

Stopping early had saved us.

I put the magic bike away and stepped through the foliage.

Then—

“Whoa…”

Echo wasn’t lying.

The sight made my jaw drop.

Massive houses built on top of giant trees, bridges connecting the trunks—
A fantasy village straight out of a game.

Beastfolk walked along the high platforms and pathways everywhere.

A few glanced at me, confused, but no one bothered me—probably thanks to Echo.

“Cool, right?”

“Where exactly is this?”

“Hmmm… this is the real Kona.”

“So the first one was fake?”

“We call that place ‘the Fence.’ Like… um… a front… post? Ground-front?”

“…You mean front line. The war front?”

Echo flinched and nodded.

She knew she’d done something dangerous going there.

I sighed.

“Why did you even go to such a dangerous place?”

But before she could answer—

“ECHO!”

A thunderous voice shook the ground.

I jumped as a huge figure stomped toward us.

Almost two meters tall, thick beard from temple to jawline, sharp eyes—

He looked like a violent bandit.

His red eyes glared like burning coal.

His muscles rivaled even Alexander’s.

And on top of that terrifying body…

Floppy rabbit ears.

A rabbit beastfolk stomped up and yanked Echo’s cat ears.

“Do you know how long I was looking for you?! Where were you!?”

“Ow ow ow! It hurts!”

“That’s the point!”

“S-sorry! I w-was looking at trees at the Fence!”

Watching him pinch Echo’s ears with fingers the size of sausages made me hurt.

Even though I didn’t do anything wrong, I felt like I was being scolded too.

“I told you not to go there! Do you know how dangerous it is!?”

“But…! Unnie helped me!”

Technically she saved me, but sure.

Echo’s words made the giant rabbit finally look at me.

His eyes were sharp—full of hostility.

Here we go again…

I bowed politely.

“Hello. I’m Haewon, a traveling merchant. Echo seemed to be in danger.”

“She brought me back on a super fast wagon!”

It’s a “magic bicycle,” thank you.

But close enough.

“…A human saved you?”

The bunny warrior blinked in disbelief.

The hostility didn’t disappear, but it softened.

“Thank you. Saving Echo in times like these…”

“I was angry too. At the humans.”

“Yeah! Unnie yelled ‘you son of a—’”

I quickly covered Echo’s mouth.

But that seemed to win the rabbit’s approval.

“I am Onak, warrior of the Rabbit Tribe.”

He gave me a scary—but approving—smile.

Echo proudly added:

“Onak is the strongest warrior in the village!”

“A… rabbit warrior?”

“Is that strange?”

“No! Rabbits are super strong!”

With legs that could probably kick me off the continent, I had no intention of insulting him.

The flattery pleased Onak.

“Do you know why rabbits are strong?”

His face was dead serious.

I shook my head cautiously.

He stomped the ground lightly and declared with gravity:

“Because we have guts… and guns.”

“…Guts… and guns…”

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

But Onak seemed utterly sincere.

“It is my ancestor’s teaching.”

Wow… rabbit ancestors really taught that?

“A-amazing. Rabbits truly are the best.”

“A human who understands. Impressive.”

Onak smiled again—terrifying.

Even so, it was only the second time a beastfolk treated me kindly.
Progress.

Time to gather intel.

I politely asked:

“May I take Echo home? Where are her parents?”

At that, Onak’s expression hardened.

He glanced around, then pointed Echo toward a nearby stall.

After she walked away, he spoke quietly.

“Echo’s parents were consumed by the Black Fog. She lost her whole family.”

“What…?”

So when Echo whispered “Mom, Dad, thank you”…
She meant she would join them soon.

The realization made my stomach twist.

Onak sighed deeply.

“It took less than 30 minutes for the fog to swallow the entire village. Echo escaped, but she watched her parents die. The entire Cat Tribe was wiped out.”

“….”

“The land is dying too. Once the fog touches it, the soil becomes corrupted. I hear it’s the same in human territory. That is why we fight for Prorolvel, the land of the gods. If the gods have not forsaken us, that land will remain safe.”

“The fog kills everything… but the ‘holy land’ is safe because… it’s holy?”

“We have no choice. Without that belief, we have no hope.”

Hearing it from Echo was sad.

Hearing it from a grown warrior… was devastating.

A world collapsing into despair, still held up only by fragile hope.

Then Onak murmured:

“When the Tower appeared, we thought it was a sign from the gods.
But since then… the whole continent has been dying.”

Wait.

He said something we cannot ignore.

“Tower?”

“Yes. The Tower. You humans saw it too, didn’t you? A Tower rose on human land.”

A cold chill crept up my spine.