Chapter 155
Chapter 155
The white rabbit was staring straight at me.
Standing upright on its small hind legs, ears perked up, it looked strangely cute.
‘But why is this thing here?’
This place was where I was forcibly transported when I got eaten by Lapin in the game.
A blue tree stood alone, and around it was an empty field.
It was exactly the same as I remembered.
‘But a rabbit?’
This was a first.
To be precise, it wasn’t even a ‘normal rabbit’.
‘……Is it a spirit beast?’
The rabbit was wearing a silk hat and a golden necklace with a clock hanging from it.
That extraordinary appearance seemed to prove that the rabbit was a spirit beast from <Animal Farm>.
And yet, strangely, I couldn’t be certain.
‘It feels a bit different.’
I soon realized the source of that discomfort.
‘……The system isn’t appearing?’
Up until now, whenever I detected a spirit beast, the system would properly inform me of the distance to it. Even when the spirit beast was right in front of me, there had been no exceptions.
But now, there was no response at all.
Instead, a different message appeared belatedly.
It was the moment the rabbit stretched out its front and hind legs and lay flat on the ground.
‘Time Leap’ Rate Friend got bored after waiting for XXX for such a long time!
‘……What?’
It was a system message I’d never seen before.
The XXX part was noise-filtered and unreadable.
Rate Friend is very happy to see you! Let’s play together!
“……Play? No, this isn’t really the situation for that.”
I raised my head and looked at the blue tree.
It was roughly a few hundred meters away. At full speed, it was a distance I could reach quickly.
But…….
‘There’s a transparent wall blocking me.’
It was a strange phenomenon.
Whether I walked or ran, I stayed in place. I couldn’t get any closer to the tree.
Just in case, I tried moving backward instead.
Naturally, I moved exactly as much as I stepped back.
‘I can move backward and sideways, though?’
But no matter which direction I walked, the distance between me and the tree never decreased.
It felt as if a gigantic transparent dome was wrapped around the tree, forcing me to circle endlessly along its outer orbit.
‘……What is this? Is the space twisted?’
It was identical to a bug from the game.
Players knew they couldn’t move in this area and would forcibly exit the game.
‘But it’s not like I can press a force quit button.’
Right. This wasn’t a game—it was reality.
Still, there was one difference from the game…….
The presence of this rabbit, lying lazily in front of me.
Maybe this guy could be the hint that revealed the true nature of this space.
When I looked down at the rabbit—no, Rate—the system message sparkled.
Let’s play together! Let’s have a running race!
“What kind of race is that…….”
A rabbit I’d never seen before suddenly wanted to race.
It was a bit random, but…….
‘This is the only thing I can do right now.’
It was better than doing nothing.
And if by some chance I won, I might get a hint.
I lightly rolled my shoulders and rotated my ankles.
“Hey, rabbit. I’m pretty fast, you know?”
You won’t know until you try! Rate Friend is confident it won’t lose either~!
The previously prone Rate hopped up energetically.
Its movements were as light as a feather.
“Fine. How far are we running?”
When I asked, the system sparkled in response.
A competition course against Rate Friend has been prepared!
In the blink of an eye, a pink flower path covered the ground.
The path stretched all the way to the end of the horizon, across the empty field.
‘So I just run straight along this path.’
As I stared at the flower road, the system flashed before my eyes.
Now, get ready for the race!
After seeing that message, I took a stance like a track athlete.
Rate came over beside me and finished preparing to run.
I was regulating my breathing, waiting for the system message to reappear.
Then—
The race begins!
The moment the notification appeared, I kicked off the ground.
Even though it was a contest against a spirit beast and the outcome seemed obvious, I still took it seriously.
I was confident in running. My body was light, and I was tall. Physically, I was at a significant advantage.
Of course, the rabbit was probably twice as fast as an adult man, but it was wearing a huge golden clock necklace.
Its body was small, too. Running while carrying a clock that weighed about half its body mass would surely be a considerable penalty.
As expected, I took the lead.
……However, that didn’t last long.
Tick, tick, tick…….
The clock hanging around Rate’s neck—the one I thought was a penalty.
But every time I heard the sound of its hands turning, Rate gained explosive acceleration.
‘So you really can’t beat a spirit beast.’
Rate instantly overtook me and widened the gap beyond anything I could catch up to.
‘What kind of speed is that…….’
Still, it was too early to give up. I clenched my hand in midair.
A card gleaming like obsidian appeared in my hand.
“Shurk, lend me your power.”
A black mask covered my face, and darkness enveloped my entire body.
The race continued for about two more minutes, and then the outcome was decided.
“……You’re pretty good.”
When I sat down on the ground, the black mask and the darkness clinging to my body completely vanished.
I looked at Rate and continued.
“I almost lost.”
……I won by a razor-thin margin.
If I’d used Shurk’s power even a few seconds later, my defeat would’ve been guaranteed.
Rate Friend lost the match against XXX, but it’s very happy because we played together!
Rate hopped toward me.
When I held out my hand, it licked it.
It was something rabbits did when they were in a good mood and trusted the other party.
“Was it really that fun?”
As I smiled and looked at Rate, the system appeared as if answering in its place.
Rate Friend, who waited for an eternity, is grateful that you finally kept your promise!
“……A promise?”
But the system didn’t answer my question.
If there’s a chance, let’s play again next time~!
The moment that message appeared, Rate disappeared like the wind.
I looked around again, but the rabbit was nowhere to be seen.
“……What, did it pass on or something.”
I slowly turned my gaze toward the blue tree. Just in case, I tried walking toward it.
……Just a little, but I was able to get closer to the tree.
It was when I felt that strange sensation.
Once again, the system appeared.
Dark Sky Mole Morg is passionately welcoming you! It waited for XXX for far too long! Morg wants to show XXX the underground fortress it built during that time!
When I looked down, a mole wearing sunglasses was clinging to my leg.
“……Alright. So this is how it works.”
Each time I fulfilled the wishes of the spirit beasts here, I was able to get closer to the tree.
Follow me! Morg Friend wants to introduce the underground fortress!
Seeing that message, I smiled and nodded.
“Alright. Whatever you all want to do. I’ll do it all.”
The monster opened its mouth and slammed its head into the ground where Villed had been standing.
Villed had vanished as if by magic.
Ren and Elined could only stare at the scene with their mouths agape.
“Mr. Villed……!”
Ren was so shocked that he couldn’t continue speaking.
Villed had said he knew a way to turn that monster back into Lapin.
He said that to do so, he had to be eaten by the monster—and then he really got eaten.
Elined ground her teeth and replied.
“There’s no bloodstain on the ground. That’s a relief, at least. It doesn’t seem like he was chewed up by those huge teeth.”
Holding her sabre, Elined approached the monster.
“It’s not too late. We can cut open that monster’s stomach right n—.”
“Wait a moment.”
The Princess, who had been silent all this time, carefully opened her mouth.
“……I believe him.”
An utterly unexpected statement came from her lips.
Elined couldn’t hide her shock and looked at the Princess resentfully, but…… the Princess had her own grounds.
The reason the Astrid family had been reborn as the imperial royal family was because of their unique ‘peculiarity’.
People from the Astrid family could vaguely sense the other party’s true intentions just by looking into their eyes.
Royal blood flowed in the Princess as well, allowing her to perceive Villed’s heart.
“I don’t know what method he’ll use, but there’s one thing I do know.”
Villed hadn’t made a foolish decision—he was acting with conviction.
“It really seemed like…… he found a way.”
The Princess steadied her breathing and answered calmly.
“Villed asked us not to attack Lapin. Let’s trust him.”
“…….”
Elined suppressed her anger and had no choice but to follow the Princess’s words.
……However, she resolved that if there was no sign of improvement at all, she would defy the Princess and cut open the monster’s stomach.
Bang—!
The monster’s green eyes flashed as it slammed its fist toward Ren.
Ren evacuated swiftly but never took his eyes off the monster.
“……?”
Ren blinked.
“Didn’t it just change?”
“What do you mean changed?!”
Elined shouted as she dodged the monster’s tail attack.
“The eyes…… Weren’t that monster’s eyes originally red?”
“I don’t know! And what does that matter right now?! Just focus on evading!”
“…….”
Ren nodded and continued narrowly avoiding the monster’s attacks.
……But after some time had passed.
“Look!”
Ren shouted.
They could clearly perceive the change happening to the monster.
The fact that the monster’s once-bright red eyes had turned green wasn’t an illusion.
……They were gradually fading.
The monster’s massive claws had shrunk before they knew it.
And this time, the large ‘wings’ attached to the monster’s back disappeared.
“The wings just now……?”
Elined blinked.
They were the biggest and most prominent wings, so everyone noticed the change this time.
“……It’s Mr. Villed!”
Ren shouted.
“Mr. Villed is definitely doing something!”
Along with the relief that he was alive, hope arose that Lapin, who had turned into a monster, could be restored to normal.
“Let’s hold on just a little longer. We might be able to bring Lapin back from her monster form!”
When Ren shouted, everyone present nodded.
……They had no choice but to trust Villed, who was inside the monster, and wait.
Ever since I fell into the world of <Yggdrasil>, I had only seen five spirit beasts at most.
But…….
“It feels like I’ve seen years’ worth of spirit beasts here.”
In this paradise-like place alone, I was able to see dozens of spirit beasts.
A rabbit, a mole, a cat, an elephant, an eagle, a raccoon…….
‘There are even creatures from the water.’
I looked at a dolphin wearing a red scarf.
Prince of the Sea Currents Bumble Friend is satisfied after taking a walk together with XXX!
Bumble Friend expresses its gratitude!
The dolphin swam through the sky, then slowly disappeared.
“……Good work.”
I muttered those words.
That was the last one.
I had fulfilled all the wishes of the spirit beasts in this place.
They weren’t grand or extraordinary wishes.
They just wanted to play, pick and eat fruit together, go on short trips—simple things that pure children would think of.
‘And as I met the spirit beasts, I gradually realized something.’
This place wasn’t just a simple bug location.
I climbed a small hill.
Before I knew it, blue light filled my vision.
A gigantic tree soaring as if to tear through the sky.
Swaaah—.
As the wind blew, the blue leaves seemed to whisper to me.
“So I finally made it here.”
I had finally reached this place that had always felt so distant.
When I first saw this location in the game, the silhouette of a person standing beside the massive tree strangely lingered in my mind.
Just who could be under that blue tree?
Clinging to that single thought, I moved my character countless times, but I was never able to see who it was.
……And now.
I was looking at the truth that had been hidden back then, from this close.
“Yeah. It was you.”
A blonde girl, Lapin, was sleeping peacefully with her back against the tree.
Her white dress and the flower crown resting on her head swayed gently.
That calm motion seemed to tell me the answer that had long been buried deep in my heart.