Chapter 94
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
Chapter 94
I exhaled a long sigh, spreading the wet items across the Gravel Beach to dry, then examined my notebook. The water had soaked through it, and all my written notes had bled into illegibility.
"Damn it! Nothing's working out!"
But fortunately, the cloth with the Bunker map drawn on it remained intact. Was it dyed and printed? Whether it was modern technology or magical technique, I couldn't say, but miraculously it survived the water unscathed.
"I need to move, at least."
I took a moment to breathe deeply, then slowly pushed myself to my feet. Since the wound was on my side rather than my lower abdomen, I thought I could manage movement if I was careful.
I looked around. Across the massive River—presumably where I'd fallen in—the Forest stood densely packed.
Of course, there was no sign of my companions. And since I had no idea whether I was on the North Island or the South Island, this was a serious problem.
I stood blankly on the Gravel Beach, my nose twitching. I felt tears threatening to spill again.
"Could I actually be dead?"
Dead and turned into a bound spirit haunting this Island. Bound spirits don't realize they're dead. That's why they endlessly repeat the same moments in the same place.
"No way. It can't be. The pain in my wound is too real."
Having experienced so many surreal events, my imagination had grown vivid while my reasoning and judgment had dulled.
"Maybe I'm just losing my mind."
I stared blankly at the flowing River. My head was spinning too much.
What had happened to the others? Especially Enoch.
'Enoch needs me.'
Then I remembered that Enoch had been left on the South Island with Asdal and Yuanna.
If Yuanna was with Enoch... maybe it would be all right. In the original story, Yuanna had resolved Enoch's episodes with her love.
As I thought this, my chest ached with a sharp pain. The image of the two of them together didn't sit well with me.
'I'm worried about Kaiden too.'
I hoped they were all safe.
Why did this have to happen to me? Despair and hopelessness swept through me like a broken dam.
'This is so hard.'
I swallowed the sob that had risen to my throat.
If God exists, what does He want from me? Why is He doing this to me?
'I've lived so hard.'
And even now I'm desperately clinging to survival.
My eyes burned hot. I forced back the tears, pressing my eyes shut with the back of my hand.
"Oh... I thought you were dead."
Then a young voice came from somewhere.
I spun around in shock to see a young boy, who looked about elementary school age, standing on the Hill with an armful of coconuts, staring at me.
I stared at the boy for a long, long moment. Was I hallucinating?
"Are you a person?"
Startled, I asked him an absurd question.
'Of course I'm a person—what, did you think I was a ghost?'
The silver-haired boy, who had been watching me with an expressionless face, widened his eyes in surprise. After a brief pause, he asked me quietly.
"...An idiot?"
"No, I'm not!"
My face burned with embarrassment.
I forgot about the depression that had driven me to dig at the earth just moments before, placing the back of my hand against my cheek to cool the burning heat. Then I looked at the boy again.
He had neat, shoulder-length hair that shimmered around his neck—an extraordinarily beautiful boy. He was staring at me intently as well.
His face remained expressionless throughout, making it impossible to discern what he was thinking.
"I thought you were dead."
After saying that, he paused for a long moment before adding,
"Because you weren't breathing before."
I nearly lost my breath. Seriously?
I regarded the boy more calmly than before. For someone alone on this harsh Island, he looked remarkably young and innocent.
"How old are you?"
At my question, the boy tilted his head in confusion, then wore an expression of deep contemplation. He looked down at the ground, then glanced up at the sky, thinking, before finally opening his mouth.
"...Twelve?"
"Why are you hesitating when talking about your own age?"
Puzzled, I asked, and the boy furrowed his brow, deliberating for a long time again.
"I don't know how much time has passed."
Not knowing how much time had passed—did that mean this boy had also been forcibly transported to this Island and didn't know how long ago it had been?
In the original story, there were no other people on the Uninhabited Island besides the protagonists.
'Nothing matches the original story.'
I pressed my temples firmly.
No matter how young the boy was, could I really trust this child who didn't appear in the original narrative?
'I definitely need to stay cautious.'
While I was deliberating this, the boy tilted his head gently and asked me,
"How old are you, older sister?"
"Twenty-two."
At my answer, the boy nodded. Then he responded calmly.
"That's old."
"That's still young at this age."
Twenty-two is the prime of youth, the prime of youth!
As I grumbled like that, I realized my mood had improved considerably from before.
It was thanks to this boy appearing. There was another survivor. Just moments ago, I had been drowning in despair at the thought of having to survive alone on this cruel Isolated Island, but now a glimmer of hope had emerged.
I suddenly lowered my head. One of the coconuts the boy had dropped had rolled to my feet.
The boy picked up the coconuts he had dropped and approached me. I wanted to pick up the coconut at my feet for him, but I couldn't bend my waist because of my wounds.
The boy finished picking up the coconut at my feet and looked up at me intently.
"Are your wounds okay?"
The boy asked in a matter-of-fact voice, pointing to the dress soaked with blood.
"No, they're not."
"Yeah. It looks painful."
The boy spoke to me with a face that seemed utterly unmoved.
I quietly faced the boy and carefully examined his appearance. His clothing was quite distinctive.
First, the boy was wearing sneakers—white high-top athletic shoes that came up to his ankles. Most surprisingly, the sneakers were pristinely white without a single stain.
I glanced down at my own sneakers. The ones I had picked up and worn from the Cabin were already covered in grime and filth.
The boy was wearing shorts and a neat short-sleeved hoodie.
What was strange was that over it, he wore an Empire-style mage's robe—the same kind issued from the Tower of Magic that Kaiden's came from.
'This is highly suspicious.'
Then again, like me, he could have picked up modern items like sneakers from somewhere.
The boy was definitely from the Empire. After all, no one on Earth had silver hair and crimson eyes.
"Who are you? How did you get here? Are you alone?"
I started with the most basic questions.
The boy stared intently at my face for a moment, then after a long pause, answered completely off-topic.
"You're pretty, sister."
"Can you answer my questions? And yes, I know I'm pretty."
At my response, the boy nodded slowly.
"Jenath Igran."
"Is that your name?"
He nodded slowly again at my question. Jenath Igran. Without a middle name, he didn't appear to be nobility.
"How did you get here?"
"I don't know."
The boy—Jenath—paused again before answering,
"I opened my eyes and I was here."
It seemed he had a habit of speaking in fragments.
'His movements and speech are all rather sluggish.'
Opening his eyes and finding himself here—it was similar to our situation. Even a child this young had been dragged to this perilous Island.
"Anyone else? Have you been alone the whole time?"
At my question, Jenath nodded slowly.
"I've been alone the whole time."
After answering, he hesitated for a moment, gauging my reaction. His expression showed he was deeply conflicted about whether to speak.
"Go ahead, what is it?"
"Everyone who came with me is dead. That's why I'm alone."
"...What?"
It was a shocking revelation after another.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org