R1 Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 

When I opened my eyes while being held in the classic “princess carry” position, I flailed around for a while before finally managing to get down from Shin Yeoul’s arms.

Huff Huff. We were both so flustered that I almost face-planted into the ground.

“I-I’m sorry. You were sleeping uncomfortably, so I tried to move you to the bed…”

No, I should be the one apologizing.

Hearing Shin Yeoul’s apology, I knelt on the floor in shame. What is with today? What on earth had I been grabbing?

“A-ah, no. Why are you kneeling again?”

“I should be the one apologizing!”

Startled, Shin Yeoul quickly grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet.

With the debuff easing up just a little, his strength was incredible. I was yanked up like a radish being pulled from the ground.

“It’s not necessary. I’m the one at fault for acting without permission. You don’t need to apologize.”

“…Huh?”

“…What?”

What is this guy even saying?

Why is Shin Yeoul being so nice?

“What do you mean, I don’t need to apologize? I was apologizing for accidentally touching you.”

“T-that’s….”

“Shin Yeoul-ssi didn’t do anything wrong, so please accept my apology.”

With that, I plopped back down onto my knees.

“I’m so sorry for touching you!”

Shin Yeoul, looking flustered, froze in place, caught between his awkward stance and not knowing what to do.

“…What, what did you touch?”

And then Baek Hwan appeared, freezing on the spot as well.

Uh-oh.

✦✦✦

The sudden incident ended with me being on the receiving end of Baek Hwan’s sharp glare. Naturally, it came with a lecture about not getting too close to Shin Yeoul.

“The cleaning is all done. Let’s go.”

Surprisingly, Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan had finished cleaning the entire place in no time while I was asleep.

Wow. They must’ve cleaned like their lives depended on it because both the kitchen and the living room were practically sparkling.

I couldn’t help but applaud.

I was tempted to ask for their help during the next cabin upgrade.

And now that the cleaning was done, Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan were back to their original outfits.

The quest was neatly wrapped up.

This left about 80% of the debuff remaining.

If we worked hard, we might be able to leave before an entire day passed in outside time.

“Are we leaving now?”

“Yeah. I was thinking we’d leave tomorrow, but now that you’re awake….”

Baek Hwan waved me off, saying that a quest to leave had appeared and urging me to hurry up.

“We should reduce the debuff as much as possible while we can.”

At his words, I gathered my wits and checked the system window that had woken me earlier.

Another quest had started.

 

[<Quest> “We’re bored, shall we go for a walk?'”

: There is a recommended route. Would you like guidance?

Yes | No]

 

A walk?

That was an unexpected suggestion.

 

[*Exploring unfamiliar areas is particularly effective in reducing debuffs!]

 

Debuff reduction? Well, I couldn’t exactly say no.

Seeing Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan all ready to go, I hurriedly accepted the recommended route on the quest.

And when we opened the door and stepped outside—

“Wow.”

So this was the recommended route?

Under the dark night sky, a softly glowing path stretched out before us.

The sight was magical. I couldn’t help but let out a gasp of admiration.

As I stepped onto the path, the glow shimmered faintly beneath my feet, like fairy dust scattered with each step.

“Shall we?”

I turned to the others with a smile, marking the start of our moonlit walk.

Leading the way, I followed the glowing path while Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan walked behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I savored the cool scent of grass in the air.

The crisp night breeze, the occasional chirp of crickets, and the vast starry sky above when I tilted my head back.

Even the large moon peeking through the trees.

It was pure serenity.

But…

“Um, everyone?”

Apparently, I was the only one feeling this way.

What… what are you both doing?

Behind me, the two hulking rankers crouched, huddled together as if hiding. Their eyes darted around warily.

Shin Yeoul even had his weapon drawn.

“Hey. This might be a familiar place for you, but not for us.”

Tension flowed through Baek Hwan’s voice.

“We need to be careful. You never know what might jump out in the forest.”

Shin Yeoul’s tone was completely serious.

Oh…

Was it because they both had memories of being beaten up by Koko? The determination on their faces was no joke.

“W-well, it can’t be that bad, right?”

There’s no need to be this tense.

From my experience of living here for about a week, this place was pretty devoid of living creatures in general.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t good at noticing them, but aside from Koko, nothing had ever come close to me.

It wasn’t a forest with predators or anything—more like an exceptionally safe place.

“Don’t worry too much. Nothing dangerous has ever app–”

Rustle.

Before I could even finish my sentence, the bushes behind us rustled.

Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan flinched, immediately getting into a defensive stance.

W-Was something actually coming out?

Their tense reaction was contagious, making me nervous too. Something was definitely moving toward us.

Gasp.

And then, in the next moment, something glimmered in the shadows.

What emerged was—

Hop, hop!

A small, adorable rabbit.

I placed a hand on my forehead, overwhelmed by the anticlimax.

The creature wasn’t even as tall as my ankle. The unexpected appearance of the rabbit left me speechless.

“See? It’s just a rabbit.”

Anyone would’ve thought a tiger had jumped out from the way they were acting.

“…..”

“…..”

Faced with the surprisingly tiny rabbit, Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan said nothing, awkwardly scratching their cheeks.

“Well, let’s drop the tension and keep moving, shall we? You know we’re going way too slow right now, right?”

Their excessive caution had slowed our pace considerably.

We were still at the edge of the forest. At this rate, we’d never finish this walk.

Baek Hwan coughed awkwardly.

“Alright… fine. I suppose we should pick up the pace if it’s just a rabbit.”

And just as Baek Hwan was about to take a step forward—

The rabbit perked up its ears and suddenly charged at him. With a burst of strength, it leaped straight into the air.

“Urk!”

Thud!

The rabbit rammed its body directly into Baek Hwan’s stomach, causing him to stagger backward.

The rabbit didn’t miss a beat and followed up with a flurry of punches, landing a clean hit on his jaw.

Despite its cute and bouncy appearance, the sound it made was anything but adorable.

Pow, thwack, bam!

Oh… wow.

Baek Hwan had no way to defend himself against the relentless onslaught of the fluffy creature.

“I-I’ll help you!”

Caught off guard by the rabbit’s unexpected attack, Shin Yeoul quickly ran over to Baek Hwan—

Only to get punched as well.

Wham!

 

[The subspace rabbit is strong! (ノ*゜▽゜*)ノ]

 

The adorable rabbit completely overwhelmed the two of them. It was a ridiculous sight, almost too precious to watch alone.

Who would’ve thought? That a rabbit could be this powerful?

In this bizarre subspace world, I’d long since given up trying to make sense of anything.

I quietly snuck around the two ranking warriors who were getting thoroughly pummeled.

With a quick chop to the back of the rabbit’s neck, I struck.

 

[Title <Subspace Administrator> trait!

This area is a safe zone. Administrator’s attacks against <Monsters> result in critical hits!]

 

Nyip!

The rabbit let out an adorable sound but had no choice. The critical hit caused it to vanish with a poof.

At the same time, something fell to the ground, likely a drop from the rabbit.

 

[<Subspace Trait> You’ve defeated the subspace rabbit!

: The safe zone expands! New area ‘Clover Meadow’ has been unlocked!

*Try finding luck in the Clover Meadow!]

 

Huh?

Defeating the rabbit opened up a new area? That was unexpected.

The subspace map automatically appeared.

There were changes to the map. Clover Meadow—quite a spacious new area—had appeared.

What was this? In some ways, the subspace was utterly bizarre, but every now and then, it really spoiled you.

This was an unexpected reward. Although, for now, I had no idea what was so great about it.

And then, there was this as well.

 

[Appraisal Skill (E-rank)

Name | Unknown Fragment

▸ Due to low appraisal rank, accurate information cannot be confirmed!]

 

The item dropped by the rabbit. Was it junk? It was literally an unknown item.

I shoved the fragment into my inventory without much thought.

Ding!

Apparently, the rewards weren’t finished yet. A new system window popped up belatedly.

 

[<Achievement> You’ve defeated an SS-rank monster for the first time! Special privilege will be granted!]

 

SS-rank?

What?

How is a rabbit SS-rank?!

This subspace really was the best at surprising people.

 

[Special privilege: ®À½ºÆ®…]

 

However, something was wrong with the given special privilege. Broken text appeared.

 

[Error: ���’s abnormal access detected!]

 

What’s this now?

Abnormal access?

This was the first time I’d seen something like this. Could this be the error Shin Yeoul and Baek Hwan had mentioned seeing?

 

[Please wait! Recalculating special privilege!]

 

Why recalculate when you could just give it now?

 

[Reward waiting time: 200 minutes]

 

Making me wait again.

What kind of crappy system is this? I stared at the system window in disbelief.

What on earth are they planning to give me?

But…

I couldn’t help but lift my head as I felt a gaze coming from beyond the system window.

The two disheveled rankers, still bearing the marks of their encounter with the rabbit, were staring at me.

W-What?

“You.”

Baek Hwan had a serious expression. What’s he going to say now?

“…just how strong are you?”

Was it because they’d been defeated even after their debuffs had mostly worn off? Baek Hwan misunderstood again.

“That was amazing.”

Shin Yeoul, looking genuinely impressed, gave me a look full of admiration. He looked ready to start clapping.

I frantically waved my hands.

“N-no.”

No, that’s not it! Stop that misunderstanding right now!

Defeating the rabbit was because of the subspace administrator’s trait. It absolutely wasn’t because I was strong.

“Th-this is just my trait.”

“I see. To have such a powerful trait. That’s incredible.”

Huh?

“You looked like you had no power at all on the surface, but I suppose that’s because you’ve been hiding your strength all this time?”

No, this is just me being weak…

Shin Yeoul’s eyes sparkled as he continued his impressive misunderstanding.

“Wait! That’s really not it! I don’t have any hidden power. It’s just because this is a safe zone!”

I hurriedly explained.

It wouldn’t hurt to emphasize my harmlessness. It would be troublesome if they kept thinking I was strong even outside the subspace.

“Safe zone… you say?”

What’s with that slightly disappointed look, Shin Yeoul-ssi?

“Yes. At least within designated areas, I’m not in any danger. No matter how weak I am, I can land critical hits on monsters.”

“Wait a second. Doesn’t that mean we’re still in constant danger?”

“W-well, that’s true?”

I felt awkward under Baek Hwan’s pointed comment.

“Should we just go back then?”

Maybe a night walk was still too much for these rankers.

Look at them—how far have we even walked, and they’re already in tatters?

“No… we can’t turn back now.”

“Are you sure? You got absolutely thrashed by a rabbit?”

“I-I didn’t get beaten that badly!”

Baek Hwan shouted, his face flushing red. He was clearly embarrassed.

“Well, since we’ve confirmed that Seojin-ssi is strong within the safe zone… I think it’s okay to continue. It’d be a shame to give up now.”

Following Baek Hwan’s lead, Shin Yeoul also expressed his desire to keep going.

Well, if Shin Yeoul-ssi insists…

“Alright. Let’s go.”

I looked up at the two who were much taller than me and said.

“But this time, we’re walking faster, got it?”

Shin Yeoul-ssi and Baek Hwan-ssi nodded vigorously.

Good.

The walk resumed.

✦✦✦

But…

If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have just gone back to the cabin.

Gripping the back of my neck, I stared at the absurd scene before me.

Are you kidding me? Get up, now!

You rankers….!

🌱

I’ve picked up a new novel!

I Will Sacrifice Myself for the Disasters That Will Destroy the World [NEW]
If I could take their misfortunes, couldn’t I also change the future that leads to destruction?

🌱

A Villain, But Not a Villain [NEW]
(★𝙰 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘’𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎!★)
*𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚋𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚎-𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚏?

🌱

Thank you for reading! ♡