I Became the Younger Sister of the Game's Villain - Chapter 10.1
The sunlight was so dazzling it was almost stinging as it pricked my skin.
2F, Rat Monster, Rats.
3F, Lesser Stone Golem.
Finally, 4F.
【You have entered 4F.】
【Remaining time in Eunkyung Building 4F… 01:29:59】
I frowned and used my hand to shield my eyes from the sun.
I couldn’t believe the sight before me and looked back at the iron door we had just exited and the sand underfoot several times.
A bright blue and vast sky.
The dry sand felt beneath my feet.
The air was so dry it was hard to breathe and…
‘Sandstorm.’
Whooosh―.
Blinded by the wind, both Kang Min Hyung and I were busy spitting out the sand that got into our mouths for a while.
An endless sea of sand without even a staircase in sight.
We stood in the middle of a desert that stretched endlessly to the horizon.
The setting was unimaginable compared to the dim building we were trapped in just moments ago.
‘In the end, we’re completely swallowed up.’
Portalization.
I knew that as time went on, the interference from the channel would worsen and connect to other dimensions, but the speed of change was faster than expected.
Until the third floor, I was relieved it still resembled the study café.
“Here, it’s really, a desert…”
I pressed the space between my brows looking at Kang Min Hyung who was panicking again.
Though I didn’t show it, Lee Moa’s frail body was starting to scream here and there.
It’s been 1 hour and 40 minutes since we entered the portal.
‘When are they coming?’
There was no sign of the rescue team arriving.
‘Even so, to clear the safety zone of the 5th floor and get out, by now… no, even if they had arrived a while ago, it would hardly be enough time.’
Even this was after holding out as long as possible on each floor…
If everything had gone as expected, we should have met the rescue team near the third floor and been enjoying a happy, rewarded life.
No way….
‘Because I changed the intended narrative, the entry of the rescue team has also changed.’
As I mulled over, my expression gradually hardened.
Struggling to walk, I extricated my feet from the deep, sinking sand.
Above the quiet and scorching sandbed,
the corpses of desert bats ceaselessly fell at our feet with soft thuds.
“…The rescue team is quite delayed.”
Kang Min Hyung, too, seemed to be thinking the same, muttering in an increasingly dark tone.
It was understandable.
Typically, when a portal burst, the rescue team would arrive within at most 30 minutes.
We had somehow managed to survive until here, gritting our teeth, but suddenly the reality of being inside a portal seemed to hit.
Even if I could endure, knowing what was about to happen…
Tch. I clicked my tongue and scratched my cheek.
“They will come.”
That was all I could really say.
Kang Min Hyung didn’t respond but grabbed the tied sleeves of his shirt, which he had hastily rolled up during the move.
It seemed a frail trust had been built from the many times I’d saved our lives.
My mind became cluttered.
‘It must come from this floor.’
It’s natural for each ascending floor to become progressively harder to break through, but the difficulty spike, especially for the safety floor, was almost a universal rule.
Even with known beasts and missions, the chances of being overwhelmed were high.
By then, I would be too busy trying to survive myself, let alone protect Kang Min Hyung.
There might be another opportunity to earn the diamonds, but…
‘I.’
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.
Our eyes met, and he forced a slight smile, lifting the corners of his mouth.
He just turned away.
And so, the silent traverse resumed.
Ssshh. Ssshhh.
How many minutes more had we walked like this?
‘So hot.’
I rubbed my sweaty hands on my pants.
Walking under the relentless sun without a shade in sight, I started to breathe heavily, and dizziness washed over me.
The path I walked was swiftly buried back into the sand, leaving me unsure if I was actually making progress or just circling the same spot.
All I could hear was the tedious sound of sand sweeping.
‘It’s unnerving.’
