Volume Two –
Chapter 44 : "The World of Survival 2"
Niko moved his head slightly, then fixed his gaze on Sami and said in a calm tone:
"Alright… as you know, there was an attack on the clan. I don't have all the details, but all I remember is sitting on the rooftop watching the central district collapse before my eyes. After everything calmed down, a yellow beam shot out from the clan's center, and in a fraction of a second, it covered the entire place… that's how it happened for almost everyone."
He raised his hand and summoned his control device, which gradually formed in his palm. Then he continued:
"When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the middle of a giant nest, or something resembling one. Beside me were eggs nearly the size of a building, and I immediately understood I'd been transported elsewhere. At first, I tried to analyze what had happened and had several theories… but it seems the nest's owner returned at that exact moment."
He paused for a moment, slowly moving the device in his hands as if vividly recalling the scene.
"I started trying to escape, and due to my small size compared to the nest's enormity, I fell into one of the holes. I kept falling until I reached the bottom of the nest… Luckily, I have an ability to see in the dark, thanks to a device I won from my first ordeal. When I emerged from under the nest, I found myself walking on damp, cracked, enormous ground… I later discovered it wasn't real ground, but the trunk of a colossal tree."
He paused briefly, then said with a smile:
"That's where I met Viva. It seems she was also transported to a place near me, and she was hiding in one of the cracks after hearing the sound of a giant creature. After talking a bit, we realized this wasn't our world… so we guessed it was a new ordeal, and that we'd been unwillingly transported to this world."
Niko raised his finger, pointing upward:
"We came out together and began searching for others who might have been transported with us. And that's when… I met Young Eagle. He was flying randomly in the sky, lost like us. After the three of us gathered, we started cooperating, and it seems our luck was good; we landed near something resembling an ancient temple."
Sami remained silent throughout Niko's talk, listening with intense attention without interrupting, content with the occasional slight nod.
"When we entered that place… we discovered it was a strange site with an ancient civilization's style, but it was completely safe. And in the middle of that temple, we found the others. There were a large number of Bound Ones from the Colosseum, and it seemed they had lived through the same experience… waking up here without warning."
Niko sighed and continued:
"We started proposing theories and exchanging information. We discovered this place served as a sanctuary; monsters couldn't enter it. To ensure complete safety, Viva and I placed a protective system on all entrances, consisting of strange game-like rules; no one can enter unless we allow it."
Then he gestured with his hand as if drawing the map in the air:
"We decided to stay in this temple. At first, some tried to go out and explore the area… but after the first trip, they returned terrified and all agreed not to go out again. Since then, the permanent scouts have been: me, Young Eagle, Viva, and three others… the ones sitting by the fire."
"Sometimes we find new survivors, sometimes we discover strange and useful information. As for resources… survival isn't easy, but we agreed on a simple system: whoever has water shares it with everyone, and whoever has food does the same. A system like socialism… but it works, at least for now. We just don't know how long it will last."
His last words awakened an important thought in Sami's mind… something he had completely forgotten.
The System.
The System provided two main benefits, which he'd forgotten amidst all the chaos:
First: Displaying stats and translating information that the ordeal implanted in your mind, which you could only understand through it.
Second: An interdimensional storage space, which allowed you to keep your ordeal spoils and summon them when needed.
And since he had his [Unfailing Well], which provided him with an endless supply of water, it was certain that others also possessed similar abilities or tools that helped them survive… but how had this not occurred to him before?
Niko continued in a serious tone, signs of tension appearing on his face:
"Well… that's the basic idea of this gathering. As for the rest, we discovered this is the World of Survival, which is considered the most dangerous of the four worlds the ordeal usually drops people into: the World of Survival, the World of War, the World of Iron, and the World of Dragons.
Believe me, the World of Survival is truly terrifying. First, it seems we fell into a giant forest… its trees are so tall that their trunks block the sky and shield the ground from light. Thousands of strange, unknown, and terrifying creatures live here. We haven't been able to venture far from our base. In fact, the furthest distance we reached was today… when we found you. And that happened by pure chance, because we were on a rescue mission for someone who sent us a risky signal asking to be saved.
But… when we arrived, we found him dead; it seems he was poisoned. We were about to help him, but Young Eagle spotted the light you released, so we realized another person needed rescuing. We made you the priority. After that… I swapped my place with two from the base who have an instant teleportation ability and returned immediately."
Niko finished his speech, then relaxed his body. The device in his hand vanished, and he stood up to summon something resembling a fancy gaming chair. He sat on it comfortably, let out a long sigh, then looked at Sami and asked:
"So… what's your side of the story?"
Sami breathed slowly, then summoned his [Unfailing Well] and put it to his mouth. The moment he drank, he felt his exhausted body screaming from extreme thirst. He kept drinking until he ran out of breath, then coughed randomly before recomposing himself, placing the flask beside him, and said:
"It seems you guys have been through a lot indeed. As for me… I woke up under the sky."
Niko froze in place. Then he fell off his chair to the floor, staring at Sami in shocked astonishment:
"…What did you say?! You woke up under the sky?!!"
He hurriedly returned to his chair, raised his head, and stared at Sami with wide eyes:
"You… are utterly unpredictable. If you don't know, the treetops here are more than fifty kilometers away from our location – or more, according to one Bound One in the hall's estimate. And the worst part? According to what we inferred from the hall's murals, it seems that whoever sees the sky… dies. Or something like that."
Sami's eyes widened, as if missing pieces were beginning to form in his mind:
"…So I was actually about to die… the sky attacked me."
Niko chuckled, laughing with both sarcasm and amusement simultaneously:
"You are truly lucky! You say it as if it's normal… you survived an attack from the sky?!"
Sami gave him a confident look and said jokingly:
"Heh, I'm not lucky at all… I got a free ride on the back of a giant creature down here!"
They both burst out laughing. The situation wasn't that funny; it was closer to absurdity, but the laughter eased their hearts. It wasn't laughter born from humor, but from the rare feeling that you're not alone in this madness… that there's someone beside you, whom you don't fear, and don't fear for.
Sami stopped laughing, then looked at Niko and asked him:
"So… in your opinion, what should we do now?"
Niko replied, leaning back further into the chair:
"Honestly? I don't know. What do you say we think about that… together."
He took a deep breath, then raised his voice:
"Oy, kid, come over here… come into the rooms."
Young Eagle entered quietly, his eyes filled with curiosity and wariness:
"Yes, brother Niko? What's up?"
Sami stood up and approached the boy, gently placing his hand on his head, and said with a smile:
"Yes, let's do it together. And also… let's go find that sword maniac. We need to get the whole team back together. I'm confident she's still alive!"
Niko looked at him with enthusiasm and smiled broadly:
"Yes! Let's do that!"
Young Eagle's face lit up in turn, and he smiled at them… a warm smile, full of hope, as if a small light had ignited anew in this gloomy forest.
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