I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City

55 – Monolith -3-

“Because of time?”

At Rohan’s question, Sion looked at the silent Clara once and then nodded cautiously.

“It might be a luxurious thought to worry about this part already, but it’s true that it will be troublesome after escaping.”

“How much time did we have? When we said we were leaving Academy City.”

“…About 5 hours.”

Sion’s voice and expression were not very good as he answered.

Didn’t Rohan just say it could take days? It’s an absurdly short time, enough to force abandonment beyond urgency.

“Sion.”

“Sorry for bringing up such a gloomy story. Given the situation, we should think about the aftermath later.”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

Rohan twirled the dagger between his fingers and raised the corners of his mouth.

“There is a hopeful part.”

“Finding the monolith in a short time?”

“If possible, that would be best. But this space has a bit of a special point.”

“What is that?”

As soon as Rohan regained his physical freedom, he looked at his smartphone. The time displayed on the screen was frozen, stuck on setting the location.

However, the timer was working diligently. 8 minutes and 36 seconds had passed.

He had turned it on, remembering that this dungeon never sees the sun set, and thus, night never comes. But there was another reason as well.

“There’s a high possibility that time flows differently here compared to the outside.”

“!”

The eyes of the two girls widened in shock at the information Rohan revealed.

Of course, there’s a chance that time in the original world is flowing at the same rate, second by second.

But Rohan’s memory tells him otherwise. From his experience, the first dungeon’s day was equivalent to 50 minutes to an hour in the outside world.

There were small side stories among the characters that arose from that.

“It could be passing quickly, or conversely, it could be passing slowly.”

“So, in the end, we have to rely on luck for this part.”

“That’s right.”

Most of the time, there were differences, but there had never been a dungeon with an insurmountable gap.

The idea that one second in the dungeon could be ten years in the real world had never appeared in Abyss City.

“That’s valuable information. I feel much more at ease.”

“That’s a relief.”

Rohan brushed it off lightly, saying that anyone who paid attention in Orion Academy would know this.

Sion and Clara accepted his words without doubt.

‘If I were separated from Ichinose or Noah… just thinking about it gives me a headache.’

Rohan could only get away with this because it was these two.

In this respect, having Clara and Sion as his first dungeon experience was a stroke of luck.

The two girls were trained not to hunt monsters, but to effectively end human lives.

“You’re learning amazing things at the academy…”

“Clara, do you want to attend too?”

In fact, the source of the information was Rohan’s own experience.

If Rohan shared what he experienced after escaping the dungeon with the main characters, the dungeons that would appear by next year and this information would be summarized and included in the curriculum.

“I, I would like it if my brother was there… but alone, it’s a bit…”

“Really? Then I’ll teach you, Clara.”

“Hehe…”

With those words, Rohan grabbed the door.

Seeing that Sion was standing still without saying anything, it seemed okay to open it now.

Creak! Creak!

The door, which had been left unattended for a long time, began to scream under Rohan’s strength as it let in the scorching sunlight.

What began to appear in front of them were buildings that were precariously tilted or lying flat, and piles of stone debris.

Guardrails, cars, and utility poles filled the streets, but none of them were intact.

It was a place that reminded one of a world where humanity had disappeared.

Sion lowered her goggles in the scorching sun and took out a spare weapon from her bosom, a folding truncheon.

“The temperature is high. It might exceed 40 degrees.”

As Sion calmly observed, the heat was indeed intense.

Still, you never know what kind of attack might come, so you shouldn’t just strip off the clothes you’re wearing.

Even if you sweat, you must keep your outfit as it is for now. Rohan has a solution to prevent dehydration.

“If you feel dizzy or think you’re getting dehydrated, tell me no matter what. Not saying anything can lead to serious trouble.”

“Okay!”

“Where should we move? There’s no place that particularly feels magical.”

“Let’s first secure some visibility.”

Rohan climbed up the building, stepping on large debris.

Sion and Clara followed lightly behind him.

‘Let’s see…’

Standing at a high place, Rohan moved his head around to find the alien building in his memory.

‘Found it!’

At the end of the row of abandoned buildings. He pointed to a building barely visible to the naked eye.

Unlike the other buildings, it stood tall without leaning.

“Do you see that? The tallest one that doesn’t seem to have any problems.”

“Hmm… I have no objections to making that our destination. I don’t see any other special buildings.”

Finally, the two turned their gaze to Clara.

The girl, surprised as if she didn’t expect to be asked her opinion, nodded, saying she was fine with it.

Thud!

Rohan naturally took the lead as he came down to the ground.

Clara and Sion were agile and had good attack power, but they weren’t sturdy enough to take the lead.

Rohan gripped his dagger and stepped into the shadows.

“Even if a monster appears, let’s try to avoid using guns if possible. The loud noise could attract more.”

Sion nodded in agreement and glanced at Clara, who was sticking to Rohan like glue.

Clara shivered under the intense gaze, and Sion spoke up.

“Clara. Besides the combined rounds, do you have any spare bullets?”

“I-I have one magazine.”

“That’s not much. Are you using subsonic rounds by any chance?”

“…!”

Sion’s deduction, based on the silencer and her unique behavior, hit the mark. Clara couldn’t hide her surprise and slowly nodded.

“Unfortunately, my pistol has a different caliber and can’t be fitted with a silencer. If you have another gun, I can share some bullets.”

“Ah, I don’t have another one right now…”

Clara’s pistol was a rare model, and the silencer was custom-made for it, so there was no other option.

Sion quickly accepted this and stepped back. That girl’s real weapon must be something else.

As the conversation ended, Rohan placed his hand on Clara’s head.

“I’ll replenish your ammo when we get out, so don’t hesitate to use it when you need to. Got it?”

“Yes…”

Sion watched Rohan and Clara from a step behind, chuckling in disbelief.

‘They’re really adorable.’

What kind of relationship do they have? Should I ask a bit more deeply?

In the moment of hesitation, wondering whether to open his ticklish mouth or not.

Tsk!

Rohan abruptly stopped in his tracks.

He raised one hand and made a fist, signaling to stop.

Anyone could see what it meant.

There.

At Rohan’s lowered voice, Sion’s pointed ears perked up.

He caught an alien noise.

Tick. Tock. Tick.

‘A clock?’

The familiar sound of the second and minute hands moving. It was getting closer.

Behind the large signboard lying flat.

An analog clock, which looked perfect for hanging on a wall, walked out with strange footsteps.

If you ask how it walked out.

Four green vines stretched out like limbs, moving.

Tick. Tock.

Though it had no eyes, it seemed to recognize them. The clock gave the sensation of looking this way.

Rohan’s hand tightened.

Flick!

The creature, which had been still, suddenly shot the clock hands like darts.

Rohan dodged lightly.

Then, in one step, he approached and stomped on the clock with his foot.

Crunch! The sound echoed as the clock shattered.

The vines flailed like human limbs and then drooped.

[ +1P ]

Rohan confirmed the point increase and warned the two.

As you can see, it’s a monster that attacks first, so be careful.

…Quite a bizarre monster. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.

For Sion, who had only ever pierced monsters with vital points like blood and organs with bullets, there was no other way to describe it but bizarre.

It seemed to see without eyes and hear without ears.

It doesn’t have the intelligence to play dead. You can tell if it’s dead or alive by looking at the plants protruding like limbs here.

Brother, is that a parasitic plant…?

As far as I know, it can’t parasitize humans. It’s a monster that parasitizes machines or furniture.

Phew…

Clara sighed in relief and pulled out her balisong.

The three of them turned their heads in the direction of the sensed presence.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

A mass with thicker vines than before appeared.

Traffic light?

As Sion said, it was a traffic light, but also something else.

It was moving on all fours like a beast, using the plant’s stem as its legs. Without any power supply, it alternated between green and red lights.

The red light shone intensely, as if it was about to attack.

When Clara moved past it, the traffic light crack! split neatly into five parts.

Then, the girl shyly approached Rohan with quick steps.

“Oh, oppa…! I’m sorry for moving without saying anything…”

“No. You did well.”

The action of asking to be petted had become automatic by now.

Rohan gently patted the head of the girl who slightly bowed her head.

And one curiosity was resolved.

[ +1P ]

Even though Clara had dealt with it, Rohan received the point.

‘As expected… even if a companion takes it down, I still get the point.’

One of the questions he had since the quest mentioned companions was resolved.

A desire to earn a considerable amount of points this time arose.

After briefly examining the dead monster, Rohan’s party started moving again.

After taking down three more monsters and walking for a little over an hour, Clara tugged at Rohan’s sleeve.

“Oppa…”

“Yes?”

“Th-th…!”

“Dizzy? Thirsty?”

Clara’s face, shaking her head, is red. As if she might have developed a heat-related illness from the heat.

Unable to meet his gaze, the girl twisted her body and whispered with her head lowered.

“Bathroom…”

“Ah.”

Rohan straightened up and looked around in understanding.

For safety, Zion should accompany her.

Just as Rohan was about to ask Zion for help.

Zion lifted his goggles and showed a contemplative look.

“Rohan. Wait a moment.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We don’t know how long we’ll be staying here.”

“That’s right?”

Rohan nodded at the obvious statement.

Zion, as if gaining strength from that, opened his mouth and shared his opinion.

“If the goal is to endure, reducing activity is the best option, but we can’t do that here, and we’re not in a position to wait for someone to rescue us.”

Zion continued to explain, saying they didn’t even know if there was drinkable water or edible food here.

With an endlessly serious face, he got to the point.

“Of course, I know that when isolated, you shouldn’t drink urine even if there’s no water. I’ve seen survival manuals that say it’s like drinking poison.”

Hmm…

But if it’s urine from a healthy body that hasn’t dehydrated, they said a body with magic can easily withstand it.

In other words, shouldn’t we collect urine now while our bodies are still fine?

If I’m wrong about anything, please correct me. I’m being very serious.

After adding one last word, Sion looked at Rohan.

Rohan already seemed to have become the decision-maker of the group.

Then Rohan turned his head towards Clara.

…

Clara’s face, which met Rohan’s gaze, turned beyond red to a color that seemed like it would soon burst into flames.

The girl stammered and froze.