Chapter 97
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Chapter 97
Perhaps everyone thought I was dead and wouldn't bother searching for me.
In truth, the fact that I survived at all was nothing short of miraculous.
'Well, Kaiden and I did manage to survive falling off a Cliff.'
But when we fell from the Cliff, it was a deep spot with calm waters—nothing like the wide River that flowed through the center of the Island.
'This time, when the Suspension Bridge snapped and I fell, it was into a massive River with what seemed like a fierce current. How am I even alive?'
Then again, there were far more than one or two strange things about this Island. So many inexplicable events had unfolded that reasoning itself became impossible.
I found myself recalling that Jenath had lived for a thousand years. Surely I wasn't expected to endure another thousand years myself?
"You must have suffered tremendously, keeping your sanity for a thousand years."
I kept my gaze fixed on the Fireplace as I offered Jenath encouragement. His eyes shifted to my profile.
After staring at me in silence for a while, he asked me a question.
"...Does it look that way?"
I nodded.
"Yes. I can't speak to what's inside, but the fact that you appear that way is remarkable in itself, I think."
Even Kaiden, who looked mad at first glance, was here. I turned my head slightly and looked up at him lying in the hammock.
The beautiful boy with no discernible expression stared blankly back at me.
"What did you do during those thousand years on this Island?"
At my question, Jenath seemed to ponder, gazing up at the sky.
"There was no time to be bored."
He had no intention of saying what he'd done. I forcibly swallowed down the ominous suspicions about Jenath that kept surfacing in my mind.
"Did you discover anything about the Island? If you've been here for a thousand years, you must have learned something. Why we were kidnapped here, whether there's truly no way to escape."
"There isn't."
"What?"
I was startled by Jenath's firm answer and my brow furrowed sharply.
"There isn't? Not even one way?"
At my question, Jenath nodded calmly.
"There isn't. Don't hold onto hope."
I didn't quite understand what he meant. Wasn't there supposed to be an exit door that opened every year on this Island?
But I couldn't very well bring that up directly to this mysterious person.
I exhaled in frustration and spoke to him.
"There has to be a cause for every effect. If there was a way in, there must be a way out. We just haven't found it yet."
As I spoke, my emotions grew heated without my realizing it. So I began pressing Jenath on the matter, point by point.
"It's foolish to give up entirely without even knowing why you woke up on this Island, just because you can't find a way to escape. Did you really spend a thousand years being that complacent?"
My voice rose slightly as I spoke, emotion welling up inside me. Yet Jenath, watching me, remained composed. He spoke to me in a very calm voice.
"You don't know how I spent those thousand years."
I couldn't accept his words.
"You're right, I don't. I've never lived a thousand years, so how could I? It might sound ridiculous to you, but I won't give up."
As I said this, I clenched my teeth. And I spoke again to Jenath, who was looking at me as though I were some strange creature.
"I want to live."
At my words, Jenath tilted his head.
"You're still alive."
"As long as I'm trapped on this Island, I'm not living—I'm merely suspending my existence."
He widened his eyes in surprise, staring at me. Then, gradually, something resembling an expression crossed his face.
The corners of his eyes curved gracefully. He smiled at me with his eyes.
Perhaps because he was such a beautiful youth, his smile seemed to radiate light itself.
"That's an interesting thing to say."
Jenath murmured slowly, then smiled again. I stared blankly at his laughter before snapping back to my senses.
"I need to find my companions. I'm planning to leave tomorrow. They're all looking for me."
"Do you really have to go? You're hurt."
"Yes. I still have to go. Will you come with me?"
"No."
Jenath tilted his head back and gazed at the ceiling, then lay down leisurely. As I watched him, I suddenly recalled the Bunker map.
I hadn't mentioned the Bunker to Enoch's group because I wanted to keep it as a sort of Plan B in case the story unfolded like the original work.
But now that I'd met Jenath, I realized that strategy was pointless. If he'd lived on this Island for a thousand years, he would certainly know about the Bunker.
I wasn't the only one who knew of the Bunker's existence.
"You must know the geography of this Island quite well, then?"
At that, Jenath lifted his head again and looked at me. He nodded quietly.
"Yes."
"Then..."
I broached the subject carefully.
"Do you happen to know if there's something like a Bunker on this Island?"
Jenath nodded once more, as if he'd been asked a trivial question.
"Yes."
Of course he would know something like that. Good. At least I could extract some useful information from him.
I pulled the Bunker map from my wet crossbag. Then I recalled the date written on the edge of the map.
'Wait... now that I think about it...'
Ingram Kingdom Year 666.
I stared at the year marked on the edge of the Bunker map.
A Bunker map that appeared to have been created a thousand years ago. And a sorcerer of the Ingram Kingdom who claimed to have lived for a thousand years.
'What is this... this ominous feeling?'
Then Jenath glanced at the Bunker map in my hand and spoke.
"You found it. I hadn't seen that one."
'What?'
I swallowed the question that rose to my lips. I sensed that hearing his answer would be something I shouldn't know right now.
'The way he spoke... it was as if he'd been watching me all this time.'
My mind snapped alert as if I'd been doused with ice water. And then Kaiden's words came back to me.
"A few days ago when I went out on reconnaissance, I saw a Monster watching me."
"It looked like a wolf-type Monster. Usually those creatures attack us on sight, right? But this one just stared at me for a long time and then left. It was like it was monitoring what I was doing."
Could it be... that Jenath had been watching us?
I decided I should keep as much of my information hidden as possible. And I needed to extract as much information from him as I could.
Something felt off.
I pretended not to hear his words while concentrating, then asked him casually.
"I'm planning to go to the Bunker."
I spread the map out on the ground and looked up at Jenath.
"Do you know where this is on the Island?"
At my question, Jenath slowly climbed down from the hammock. It took quite a while, perhaps because of his small frame and sluggish movements.
Ah, right. Calling him a child was a misnomer.
Jenath knelt before the map and stared intently at it.
"Here."
Then he pointed to a specific location with his small finger. It was at the northwestern edge of the Island—a place that required crossing the Mountain to the west from the Bunker, traveling quite a distance.
"So I did cross over to the North Island."
It was also the location marked with a star that I'd seen on Yuanna's map.
I still don't actually know what the star marking on the map means.
So whether Jenath was the kidnapper, an accomplice, or truly a victim like us remained uncertain, but I had a premonition that he was connected to the Island's secrets.
"Yes. Here. North Island."
Jenath nodded and spoke to me. I lifted my head and looked up at him.
"Have you been to the Bunker?"
"I made that map."
I'd suspected as much to some degree. So I accepted the fact calmly without surprise.
I stared at the map with a somewhat frustrated feeling. He'd seemed suspicious from the moment we met, but he didn't appear to have any intention of doing anything to me...
I was about to ask him directly if he was the kidnapper, then I remembered that doing so might actually provoke him.
"What's in the Bunker?"
"Food and daily necessities...?"
"Are they still edible now? Wouldn't they have spoiled?"
"They should be edible. I don't need food, so I just left them."
At Jenath's words, I rested my chin on my hand and nodded. The original work had mentioned that the Bunker was full of food and supply boxes.
Jenath wasn't lying.
Since he said he didn't know about escape methods, there was no point in asking about that.
So what else should I ask? Something I could ask without giving the impression that I suspected him...
Grrrrrrowl.
Just then, my stomach announced its hunger with an enormous sound. I was so startled that I clutched my belly.
Jenath opened his red eyes wide and looked at me, then burst into loud laughter.
"Ahahaha! Grrrrowl! Haha!"
He laughed like a child with a bright face, as if it were the funniest thing—how embarrassing.
This was the first time since we met that he'd expressed his emotions so strongly.
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