Chapter 170
Outside the underwater cave was a land cave. When we lit the torch, shadows appeared everywhere.
The shadows also seemed to notice our presence and gathered around us, murmuring.
I was flustered at first, but I was surprised when I looked closely at the shadows.
"Dahee, look. This shadow. Doesn't it look just like Kwon Sua?"
"Why do you think so?"
Crease—
Dahee, who usually doesn't frown, wrinkled her brow.
I knew because the shadow was very voluptuous, and such a size was rare among Koreans except for Kwon Sua.
Of course, if I said that honestly, Dahee might leave me here alone and go back into the water, so I just mumbled vaguely.
"Just... it feels like Kwon Sua. But why is Kwon Sua's shadow here? Looking closely, these shadows... they feel familiar. Could they be shadows of people we know?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure."
Dahee was a survival expert who could light a torch by striking flint, but it seemed she didn't have the talent to recognize shadows.
The shadows maintained a distance, neither approaching us rashly nor moving away. It felt like they were observing us.
Dahee observed them, and I observed Dahee.
Drip—
Drip drip—
The water dripping from Dahee's wet clothes looked very cold.
Maybe because the thin fabric clung to her body, her pale skin seemed to show through. Come to think of it, I kissed Dahee underwater.
I didn't think much of it at the time because it was urgent, but suddenly remembering it made me very embarrassed.
Am I the only one feeling embarrassed?
Dahee seemed unaffected. Is it just artificial respiration to her?
Dahee said.
"If there are shadows, it means there must be actual forms somewhere. I wonder where these shadows are being cast from? If this is really Kwon Sua's shadow, does it mean Kwon Sua is nearby?"
"I don't know about that either. For now, this seems to be Level 3.5. Let's go where the compass is pointing. We need to find Juhee and get out of here quickly."
The needle of the compass I received from Yang Dohee noona was pointing to a certain place. I walked with Dahee following the compass needle, but the inside of the cave was so winding and complex that it was dizzying.
Also, the number and variety of shadows cast by the torch captivated my attention. This cave was like a world of shadows.
"Look at that, doesn't it look like they're attending a class?"
As Dahee said, there were shadows that looked like they were sitting at desks and chairs, attending a class. There were also shadows that seemed to be riding cars, digging with shovels, or hammering.
A world where shadows formed their own society and lived freely. That's what Level 3.5 was like.
Tick-tock—
Just then, I heard a clock sound in my head. I decided to use the advice function, just in case.
"Advice. What time is it now?"
『《Sloppy Clock》's advice. The current time is 4.30 AM.』
4.30 AM.
If it wasn't just my feeling, time seemed to be flowing in this world of shadows. It meant that as we spent time in this place, time was also passing in reality.
...What if we end up spending too much time in this place?
We might end up in a coma like Yang Juhee, having to be taken to the hospital by ambulance.
To prevent that from happening, it would be best to leave this place as quickly as possible.
"Yang Juhee!"
I called out for Yang Juhee loudly enough to make the cave echo.
A world where only shadows exist.
It felt like nothing would harm us even if we made loud noises, but that seemed to be the problem.
...Growl—
The sound of a hungry beast growling came from somewhere.
When I turned my head, a four-legged beast-like shadow was approaching us. Judging by its car-sized bulk, it looked like the shadow of a predator like a tiger or lion.
Pop!
Before I could react, the shadow leaped towards me.
It pounced from the wall to the floor and raised its front paw to slash at me. Shockingly and horrifyingly, the moment its shadow paw touched my arm, my skin split and blood spurted out.
"Aaagh!"
"Young-won!"
"These bastards aren't ordinary shadows!"
I let my guard down because they were shadows. I never expected a shadow to attack me.
The problem was that this tiger cub didn't know when to give up.
A second and third attack would surely come.
What should I do?
As I was extremely tense, Dahee dipped the torch into the water flowing gently on the cave floor. Hiss—
The cave was plunged back into darkness, and the shadows completely disappeared. The tiger's roar could no longer be heard either.
"The shadows appeared when we lit the torch. I thought maybe if we put out the torch, the shadows would disappear, and it was true. How's your injury?"
"It's just a scratch."
In fact, it wasn't just a scratch. My arm was bleeding as if cut by a sharp knife.
It hurt. but I felt fortunate just to be alive.
"Dahee, thanks to you, I survived. Status window."
Since we couldn't light the torch anymore, the only light we could rely on was the faint glow of the status window.
『《Sloppy Clock》's advice. The current time is 4.31 AM.』
Time really is flowing.
And in my opinion, time here doesn't flow at the same rate as in reality. Time here moves much faster.
From my perception, about 30 minutes seemed to have passed since I last checked the time. But looking at the status window, only 1 minute had actually passed.
Considering that I have the 《Clock》 trait and can keep time incredibly accurately, this was surprising.
Time is almost 30 times slower.
1 minute in reality is 30 minutes here. 1 year in reality is 30 years here.
Wait, that means one day in reality is... a month here?
That means Yang Juhee has been here for a month.
***
Without a torch and relying only on the faint light of the status window, wandering through the cave was very eerie.
We walked for several minutes following the compass needle.
Uuuugh—
I heard someone groaning. Thinking it might be Yang Juhee, I hurried over to find a person in rags huddled on the floor.
It was a balding old person, but honestly, it was hard to tell their age, gender, or identity. Their appearance was slick and hideous, like a bar of soap.
"That's not a shadow...?"
Dahee whispered to me. But that was the problem.
"Aaaaargh!"
The old person on the floor lunged at us.
Startled by the sudden attack, I stumbled backward and fell. The old person straddled me and bit my shoulder hard with their nearly toothless mouth.
Crunch—
"Aaaagh! That fucking hurts!"
Clawed by a shadow tiger and bitten by a crazy old person. Today's really my day of suffering, huh?
As my vision blurred, Dahee struck the old person's head with Pastor Cheon Aesu's nameplate.
"Die!"
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack—
It was a merciless beating. Thanks to that, I survived.
"Young-won, are you okay?"
"No."
A chunk of flesh had been torn from my shoulder. That old person was completely insane.
"That crazy bastard tried to eat me."
Now that it wasn't moving anymore, I could see it was an incredibly emaciated old person. Their clothes were complete rags, but I noticed they were clutching something.
It was gold.
A golden disc. I thought it might be a gold coin, but it was covered in strange markings. There was also a nearly disintegrated scroll in their possession.
"I can't make out what's written on it at all."
It was in an unfamiliar language. I could only recognize numbers like "1522" and "1523, 10, 2". These numbers seemed to indicate dates.
Could this document be from 1523? If so, how old was this person? What era were they from?
Whatever the case, suddenly biting my shoulder like that...
The problem was that the compass was also smashed in the recent fight.
This was really bad. But there was an even bigger problem.
Thud, thud—
Heavy footsteps echoed from somewhere.
After what just happened, I figured anyone in this world probably wouldn't be friendly to me, so I thought it best to hide somewhere.
Rustle—
Luckily, there was a crevice nearby where Dahee and I could hide.
As we squeezed in, two men in greenish clothes appeared, with unkempt beards and carrying what looked like military swords.
They laughed when they saw the old person's corpse sprawled in front of us.
"━━──."
"━─━."
They spoke in a foreign language. Listening closely, it sounded like Japanese.
They hoisted the old person's corpse and disappeared. I had no idea what they planned to do with the body or who they even were.
However, they seemed to have spotted the bloodstains on the floor with their flashlights. It was blood from my bitten shoulder and scratched arm.
Their flashlights followed the blood trail until they finally discovered us hiding in the rock crevice. Shing—
The Japanese group drew their swords without hesitation.
As their eyes glinted with vicious killing intent, I shouted desperately.
"Wait! Chotto matte!"
Stop for a moment!
My plea seemed to reach them, and the Japanese soldiers paused. They looked at each other, then asked me.
"Are you outsiders?"
It was broken Korean, but understandable. I wasn't sure what they meant by "outsiders." Did they mean from the outside world?
"Yes, we're outsiders!"
"Then what year is it in the outside world?"
I decided to stall for time. It seemed best to play along with the conversation.
"It's past the year 2000 in the outside world."
"The war? Who won?"
War? What war?
Countless wars flashed through my mind. I wish I'd paid more attention in world history class. From their language and attire, these were clearly Japanese soldiers from the Pacific War era.
Japan lost that war, right? If I told them the truth, wouldn't those swords come flying at us? I racked my brain for a plausible answer.
"Well, you see. The world has moved past the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union, and now there's an ongoing power struggle between the US and China. Oil prices are skyrocketing, the economy is struggling. The world is caught in a low birth rate crisis, waging a war against declining populations..."
"Is that emblem on your uniforms the Tenshoin family crest?"
The emblem on our school uniforms? Did he mean the star-shaped school logo?
"I see now, you must be from Count Tenshoin's household."
The Japanese men's attitude softened noticeably.
It seemed the Cheon family's traitorous, pro-Japanese stance had just saved our lives.