Once you think humanity might turn out okay after all, it really lifts your spirits.
Even if that hope is as thin as a single strand of hair.
First, I took the egg container out of my pouch.
I held the contents against the knife's blade. The wet knife gleamed a brilliant white.
Eight skeletons closing in. They've spotted me.
I stepped out from behind the tree and slashed at the nearest skeleton.
My blade connected with its arm bone. That was all it took.
The skeleton dissipated into mist.
"Huh!?"
What. What. No, this has to be some kind of mistake.
I dodged the thrust of the second skeleton—this one armed with a spear—aiming for my midsection, and sliced its arm off.
The dodge was barely in time.
These skeletons aren't ordinary skeletons.
But that strong spear-wielding skeleton went down in an instant.
With nothing more than a graze wound... I took out a skeleton.
No. I can't believe this.
This has to be some kind of mistake. I let my confusion and doubt swell.
And then I recklessly charged into the horde of skeletons.
I took down around a hundred of them.
It was pretty rough and I nearly died, but I still managed to pull it off.
"…As expected of an elixir…"
So this was the power of the ultimate legendary healing potion. Honestly, it was kind of intimidating.
I was completely blown away by the sheer potency.
This wasn't just "strong." That word didn't even come close.
It was straight-up cheating.
There had been this one tiny, razor-thin sliver of hope.
And in an instant it exploded outward and blazed like the sun.
At this point, I genuinely couldn't imagine losing.
The life-or-death tension was fading away. Wait, no — that was bad!
That was the most dangerous thing of all.
The critical situation hadn't changed.
Before me stretched an endless sea of skeletons as far as the eye could see.
A hundred of them had been nothing more than a ripple on the waves of this ocean.
There was no way I was making it home alive from this.
But — but.
The way I was now, I could swim through it.
I could even dive under, if I wanted.
I could surf if the mood struck me.
A California dream on a sea of bare white bones!
"...What am I even saying?"
My calm returns in an instant.
There's no way I can swim in a sea of skeletons.
And a California dream?
I was getting way too high on myself.
Come to think of it, this is my first real crisis.
Living carefully and cautiously, this is the biggest danger I've ever faced.
This world is harsh and unforgiving.
But that's not really what's happening right now.
It's a classic fantasy scenario, but this is entirely my own fault.
My lack of interest has backfired.
And now, the greatest thrill of my life arrives abruptly.
Right now, I'm probably unbeatable.
Just a moment ago, I was in the thick of a death game.
But now, while I might still die, it's turned into an action RPG designed for beginners.
I take a deep breath.
Calm down. Calm down.
"Inhale... exhale... Inhale... exhale..."
Repeating it brings my composure back.
Alright. Time to regroup. Now is the moment to strike.
[Wheel of Fortune]
I don't need to say it out loud, but I do anyway.
I'd had it wrong this whole time. No, I'd just completely forgotten.
The Relic [Wheel of Fortune] isn't a Relic that finds items.
It's a Relic that shows your luck through light.
That glow is my fortune.
Three colors of light. Green, yellow, blue.
Green light means rare. Yellow means super rare.
Blue is the almost nonexistent ultra super rare.
I saw the light.
Beyond the sea of skeletons. A definite blue glow.
I don't know what's over there.
I don't know what will happen.
But that light is my fortune.
Heading toward that light is the best move I've got.
I ready my knife — still gleaming bright despite having only been dipped.
This isn't a permanent enchantment, is it?
With a twinge of unease, I leapt into the sea of skeletons.
Toward the light. Toward the light. I think of nothing but reaching it.
I crossed the sea of skeletons.
It took longer than I expected.
With the elixir knife, any skeleton goes down in one hit.
Even so, the skeletons were tough.
There were times I thought I might die, and I was worn out.
But the fatigue goes away with an elixir.
Strangely enough, even though I still had quite a few left after crossing…
The skeletons didn't chase after me.
That's when I noticed. There was no forest.
All those trees and gravestones — not a single one remained.
Come to think of it, they weren't there when I was fighting the sea of skeletons, either.
Could this be what this place actually looks like?
"...A hallucination? Or some kind of illusion?"
I probably wouldn't figure it out even if I tried.
A narrow path continued ahead of me.
At the end of it, I could see a single light glowing blue.
I decided to try using my Relic, Danger Discernment.
Pitch black. Everything except the white path and the blue light was completely dark.
"...It's a bridge."
There was a crude wooden bridge. An arched one.
Halfway across it stood something like a knight clad head to toe in black armor.
About three heads taller than me. An adult.
The black, heavy armor was adorned with fine gold trim, and it held a drawn sword.
The helm had horns jutting upward.
Patches of eerie black-purple flame clung to it here and there.
Behind the skull-shaped faceplate of the helm glowed a pair of ominous red eyes.
It looked at me.
In that instant, I sensed it.
No point.
No amount of talking would get through to this mysterious armored knight.
To get past, I'd have to fight and win.