I should’ve never left Shio-ram.

That thought struck me as soon as I arrived at the place that once echoed with the sounds of the Gorge.

So much time had been consumed just getting here. Precious time wasted. The terrible outcome made it impossible to arrest such thoughts.

I had spent nearly a whole day trapped on a train. I wasn’t just playing around. In the time I could have lain idle, I studied for written subjects and jotted down theories of magic.

I couldn’t engage in physical training. Regardless of the train facilities being adequate, they were not conducive to rigorous physical training.

I transferred from train to train, searching for Hidden Pieces.

Applying the knowledge from the original work here wasn’t accurate. So, I had to compensate for the lack of information with my own body.

At the end of all that wasted time, I found the site of a dungeon that someone else had conquered and a severely weathered, exhausted stele.

I stood there dumbfounded for a while. My head was spinning. I even felt an irrational urge to destroy the innocent stele.

I turned and fled. If I had stayed there any longer, I felt like my head would have gone strange.

The journey back was anything but smooth. As I was now in a region beyond the city, there were monsters wandering around.

Surrounded by these dangers, I kept my spatial perception fully open, guarding in all directions as I trudged on. Occasionally, I fended off monsters that charged at me.

Entering the city after completing the outer inspections, my legs failed me before I could even reach my lodging.

I slumped onto a bench arranged in a nearby park.

‘Ah…’

The thoughts from earlier continued in my head.

I shouldn’t have come here. I should’ve just stayed in Shio-ram. All for what? Wasting time and assuming unnecessary risks. What was I attempting to confirm by going out on my own? I should’ve just been crying like a baby, staying in Shio-ram…

The regret was overwhelming, but this was all hindsight. Doesn’t everyone regret things this way?

Oh, back then, I should have done this.

The reason for my regret about this trip was that it yielded no significant gain.

If I had even found one Hidden Piece, the time spent wouldn’t have felt wasted. In fact, the trip would have been incredibly fruitful compared to the effort.

‘To be honest, it’s not like I hadn’t anticipated this…’

Reality, not a game.

I keep repeating this to myself. It’s something I certainly need to know, but because I’m so incompetent, I might think wrongly at any moment.

Therefore, I had predicted that the elements known as Hidden Pieces might have vanished, and indeed, that was the case.

This situation was different from that of the Origin Egg in several ways.

The Origin Egg was inside The Tower of Growth, a place with restricted access, and even if someone found it, they couldn’t claim it without the special admission status.

The Hidden Pieces I had searched for this time… no restrictions, no conditions. They were up for grabs by whoever found them first.

They weren’t in particularly hard-to-reach places, nor were they associated with special acquisition conditions or high difficulty levels.

That’s mainly why I had even attempted to touch these Hidden Pieces. I hadn’t mustered the courage to approach the others yet.

I would love to resolve the Curse of Short Lifespan immediately, but as far as I know, there were only two methods for dealing with it on the side of Ip-ha.

One was through a consumable artifact, the Pearl of Ip-ha.

The problem is that the dungeon that spews out the Pearls of Ip-ha is of the first grade.

The standard hierarchy of the monsters that roam there is fifth-tier. And if an alpha creature were to emerge, the hierarchy would jump to the third tier.

If such a creature landed in the interior, not the borderlands, it would trigger alerts even in neighboring countries, and the association would immediately assemble analysis and extermination squads.

To actually set foot in there… honestly, I wonder if it would ever be possible.

At present, I’m not even in a position to make an introduction. While there’s a possibility it’s been left untouched due to its remote location, whether it has already been conquered is unknown.

The second method would be to conquer a tower to obtain a wish permit.

Specifically, to conquer a tower that has not yet been conquered to earn the authority to bestow a wish to dispel the curse…

‘That’s madness…’

That method is crazier than obtaining the Pearl of Ip-ha.

I once tried to conquer the tower during the 8th iteration, as the Thunder Strike, and ran away, thoroughly disheartened.

The difficulty was abysmal. Unlike dungeons, it seemed determined to showcase the difference, raining down traps and waves of monsters, leaving me immediately seeking escape.

Even in the 8th loop, where I could solo up to a third-tier monster, that’s how difficult it was.

Of course, had I continued to bash my head against it, maybe it would have been possible, but with the main base (Earth) being compromised at the time, I had no choice but to withdraw.

I had planned to conquer it later, but I got utterly defeated by Baek Ahrin’s betrayal.

After all, the only iteration where I actually attempted to conquer the tower was the 11th as the Diamond Warrior.

At least the 8th loop’s Thunder Strike, if not the 11th loop’s Diamond Warrior level, was necessary to even consider attempting such a feat…

‘……’

I became depressed. The possibility of an actual premature death loomed suddenly closer. My hands and feet trembled.

As if resonating with my feelings, the feathers of the wings in the sky trembled too.

I took a deep breath and covered my face.

I didn’t want to die. I hated the thought of struggling to death, but my very nature abhorred death even more…

-Click.

‘?’

I was in the middle of calming myself.

Through my real-time spatial perception, I felt something steadily approaching me.

It was a young child.

The child, who had tied their hair neatly over one shoulder, walked toward me, then tugged at the tips of the wings in the sky.

‘What’s this.’

There was no malice.

Involuntarily, my head tilted. Curious, I turned towards the child.

The child tilted their head to match mine.

Their neatly braided yellow hair slid off their shoulder. It was an oddly familiar color… like the fluff of a chick.

However, the eyes, unlike those of the person I knew, blinked impassively.

What was their intention? As I pondered this, the child in front of me tapped on their smartwatch.

It looked somewhat familiar.

[Are you okay? Do you need help?]

It was the familiar hologram. Like mine, the letters were displayed on the hologram.

The technology developed by the association that distributed smartwatches… yet, the true essence came from the Tower of Harmony’s power.

I mouthed words silently, then glanced over at the child.

People converse. Naturally, in most situations, speaking is the most convenient.

If they aren’t speaking? There must be a reason.

Like me.

[Hello. No need for help, thank you.]

The child stared at the hologram I had displayed, then nodded their head. There was no verbal response.

‘…Complicated.’

I made an odd expression at the sight of the child.

While I appreciated the kindness offered by the child, a sense of self-reproach washed over me. Did I seem so helpless to a child that I needed assistance?

…Thinking about it, maybe I shouldn’t feel this way. Am I overestimating myself?

It seemed my mental age was similar to this child’s. The things I could do on my own were as few as this child’s.

Considering the kindness they showed, perhaps this child is a better person than I am.

Suddenly, my thoughts spiraled into self-deprecation. I shook my head vehemently and tapped on my smartwatch.

[Thank you for your concern. But I am fine.]

The child nodded. Then, they lingered nearby, eventually plopping down on a nearby bench.

…Why aren’t they leaving?

‘Where are your parents…’

I was about to ask. I stopped midway through the thought. Just in case.

What if they don’t have parents? My current question would be rude…

After a brief pondering, I realized it was none of my business. The child didn’t seem lost and was quite composed.

They didn’t appear to be in any troublesome situation.

Just in case, I fiddled with a bracelet that hung next to my smartwatch.

It was a bracelet equipped with a perception-distortion feature.

The grade was top-notch, capable of perfectly maintaining one of the most difficult perception-distorting magics without recharging for an entire week.

It was the handiwork of the Vice-Principal. Besides, Shio-ram would have provided basic identity protection, so none here should recognize me.

I sighed inwardly at the sight of the child swinging their legs on the bench and leaned back against the backrest.

‘Let’s go back…’

I had booked a train for the afternoon return.

It was an unexpectedly early return. If I had proceeded with the Echoes of the Gorge conquest, the timing would have been tight.

Despite the quick return, the outcome was practically nil… A bitter result.

I lamented in vain. All I could gather was the information that easily accessible Hidden Pieces had already been claimed.

From now on, I should avoid venturing outside Shio-ram… if possible…

…

Suddenly, a shiver ran down the back of my neck. My sluggish senses snapped to attention.

It was a sensation I had felt once before. I raised my hand and stroked my nape.

Cold sweat seeped out. It was an action I had taken once in the past.

‘…This.’

The night before coming to this world. Just before creating my character for the 13th iteration. I had felt this premonition.

A dizzying dread swept over me.

-Boom!

“…?!”

I sprung up from the bench as if kicking it away. The child nearby jumped in surprise, but I could not afford to pay them any attention.

‘What’s going on, what is it, what’s happening?’

I felt in danger, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. Confused yet certain about the engulfing sensation, I felt like my chest would burst open.

I gritted my teeth.

My mind wasn’t working properly. Not knowing what to do, an idea suddenly came to mind, and I urgently tapped on my smartwatch.

Requesting help. I had no idea what was happening, so I thought of making a survival report and asking for help.

Even if I didn’t think it was likely, if this intuition turned out to be a false alarm, I could just explain it away as a sudden scare.

The hologram changed. I accessed the most recent contact.

[Professor Atra]

→ Me: Yes, I will return safely (Yesterday 18:21)

→ Me: Profess… (Now)

-Whoom!

‘Argh…!’

Before I could type out the chat, a sudden, massive shock struck my head. To be precise, it was a collision that affected my mind.

As my mind reeled, the hologram flickered and then, with a crackle, vanished.

My spatial perception shook wildly. It was like seeing through the eyes of someone hit by a dump truck.

‘Ugh…’

I held onto my dizzy senses. Compared to the first day when my head almost caught fire due to spatial perception, this was nothing.

As I managed to withstand the collision, an overwhelming sense of pressure came from all directions.

As if buried under a massive pile of dirt, my spatial perception shrunk bit by bit. It was a familiar sensation.

-Crash!

Before I could fully grasp the situation, a massive explosion resounded in my ears. The engine of the city roared with successive blasts.

-Ah, aaaah─!

-What’s going on, why is there a dungeon without any warning…?

-Protective spells!? Where did all the magic go?!

Various sounds soon filled my ears. Not a single positive thing could be heard.

Fear, pain, agony, chaos… a symphony of negative emotions.

‘……’

The sudden rise in the surrounding mana concentration, the smartwatch connection severed by the sealed-off space, monsters emerging from all around.

I couldn’t even swear.

My face went unprecedentedly pale.

* * *

[The “Curse of Vanishing Beauty” brings forth ill-fortune, and misfortune befalls you.]

[The “Curse of Vanishing Beauty” depletes your vitality.]

…

[Player Correction System: Pioneering]

[Adversity approaching the player is detected.]

…

[A “Dungeon Rampage” quest has been initiated.]

…

[The power of “■■ and □□” grows.]