[?]
[????]
[Failure?]
[Oh, what the hell!]
[??????]
[Chills!]
[Huh?]
With the sudden change in the letter, as the failure message obscured my vision, the chat window buzzed.
And I was just as buzzed.
“Failure?”
My soul shifted from Young Lily and into a dark space.
Putting aside the sorcerer’s involvement in the letter, why did I fail?
Young Lily completely recognized the existence of the disaster and managed to suppress it.
Moreover, the sorcerer, Geo, the jewel—and the ‘clock,’ which could be considered the sorcerer’s greatest power—were all well aware of their abilities through me.
There would be no reason to suddenly reveal the sorcerer’s identity and fail here.
“……”
My failure happened in my first attempt when I first entered the dungeon.
Initially, I didn’t know anything, spent the first day, and got sent back to square one saying I failed.
Only after getting some hints could I progress to the next day.
So, the failure right after reading the letter this time…
[Was I lacking hints?]
[This is a total fail.]
[Did I miss something? I noticed a slot had a +? earlier.]
[It seems like there were previous hints?]
“…Well, I dunno.”
It’s true that my slots increased by ?, ever since I became the Dreamland Fairy.
However, when I searched the entire village through the holy power, those two letters were all that came out, and even if there were others, there seemed to be no reason for failure.
As I said earlier, Young Lily now knows most of the facts.
‘Most.’
“…Is the plausibility lacking?”
If the earlier letters were messages from Geo to a random person taking his place, the last letter was entirely different.
It was a letter written solely by the sorcerer to communicate with Geo.
The very act of finding this letter could have been seen as lacking plausibility.
‘But the moment the sorcerer intervened, it failed right away. It’s not wrong to find the letter itself.’
Problems arise when you ‘open’ the letter.
“To sum it up, it boils down to three things.”
1. Reading the last letter results in failure alongside the sorcerer’s intervention.
2. Finding the letter itself isn’t a reason to fail, and as long as the letter isn’t opened, it won’t lead to failure.
3. The contents are something even the ‘Dreamland Fairy’ cannot access.
“Whether it’s not allowed to ‘dream’ or if the sorcerer is something on par with a weakened Kraken, I won’t know until I check.”
I looked at the five portals floating in the dark space.
Each had its own defined time slot.
[Where to go?]
[Where should I go?]
[Number 5?]
[Guess I need to go back before I got the letter?]
[Number 4]
[Feels like I should go back after I caught the Kraken]
[Isn’t it fine if I just don’t read the letter?]
After a brief moment of hesitation, I chose number 5.
Going back before catching the Kraken is unrealistic.
So, the remaining choices are 3, 4, and 5, but even if I choose 5, as long as I don’t read the last letter, I’m not going to fail.
[You have selected slot number 5.]
[Moving to ‘Day 3, 15:35’]
■
Day 3
15:35
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1WE83WnhqbmRkVmFBelZMWWxOUi9nRitZVjk4TnVubDh6WStRbjZDTjk3Wg
The light flickers, and my once dark vision becomes eternally bright.
I’m holding two letters again.
Holding a letter made of a different material from the original, I neatly fold it and tuck it into my pocket.
I want to tear open the letter, but “opening” it might actually be a trigger for the Sorcerer’s involvement.
Of course, I can keep retrying over here, so it wouldn’t hurt to try, but there’s something I need to check right away.
I teleport straight to the port.
The villagers are still working hard to restore the village.
Avoiding their eyes, I arrive at the place where the broken ship once was.
The Fruit Store Lady clearly said that someone was living on the broken ship.
Young Lily felt guilty for not being able to save that person, but that ship doesn’t exist in the first place.
‘A ship that disappeared by using time as a refuge. She said someone had been living on this ship for about 5 days.’
I mostly skipped meeting the villagers, but I listened to all the conversations related to the Fruit Store Lady without skipping.
The Fruit Store Lady was saddened that she couldn’t save that person, but she assured Young Lily that it was okay, patting her on the back.
Though their appearance wasn’t that of a villager, there’s also the possibility that they changed their image with some disguise or magical something.
[Are they here?]
[Is the Sorcerer the mastermind?]
[But there wasn’t anything, right?]
[?]
[Would Awakening Lily be able to open it?]
[Seems like it would open if I smash it with a hammer, lol]
[Isn’t 4th-over Lily possible?]
“It won’t open by force. There’s no guarantee that failing to open it won’t happen.”
This dungeon isn’t one to be broken through with brute strength.
Of course, I managed to subdue the Kraken with force by creating the identity of the Dreamland Fairy, but there are restrictions that come from being the Dreamland Fairy.
‘A restriction of being weak in reality.’
While occupying Young Lily’s body provided some security, it seems like using all my strength isn’t permitted.
It seems I’m not allowed to draw upon all my power.
I recalled the contents of the last letter.
Geo, look. The time difference on the clock isn’t fully matched Who is it if not Geo?
It’s definitely certain that the sorcerer was involved at the back, but the message is directed to Geo.
The phrase ‘Don’t fully match the time difference’ usually leads to two things.
Either it means I couldn’t properly align the time, so do it right.
Creeeak—!
Or it’s a warning that if it isn’t matched, something strange will happen.
15:38
The current time is 15:38.
The clocks were all synchronized, and when I took out the letter, I aligned both my wristwatch and alarm clock.
I turned back the time on the large alarm clock that had produced the last letter.
Creeeak-!
The time is now three minutes before my arrival here, at 15:35.
The second hand points to 3:35.
“……”
[……]
[What’s missing?]
[Is it a real fan?]
The silent sea, the clock, and the letter.
Just as I was feeling a bit disappointed.
Click.
15:36
Whirr~!
Not just a three-minute rewind, but the time raced back a whole day, and the second hand spun like crazy, returning to point at 3:35 again.
Clunk!
The large wooden alarm clock cracked in half, and a strange energy spread as the shape of a ship gradually appeared in the calm sea.
It was all broken, yet still held some semblance of a ship.
I could definitely feel it now.
‘There’s something inside.’
[Oh?]
[What is it?]
[W-w-w-w-what?]
[Wow]
[Why is another letter coming out?]
[Seriously?]
[Why are there so many traps set up?]
“It’s something else indeed. I never expected it to be hidden this way…”
Although it’s neither my body nor at the fourth state, the power of this clock was deceiving me.
And it didn’t reveal itself until I unlocked the traps of this clock.
I looked around.
Even though a pretty large ship had appeared, everyone continued their tasks without noticing anything.
Creek!
Stepping onto the half-rotted wooden platform, I entered the ship.
The sorcerer must at least be a Lower Angel, or a Demon at the very least.
He must have some skills and the power of ‘the Sky’ to hold back a Kraken and also manipulate time.
But why is that?
‘It strangely doesn’t feel like an Angel or a Demon.’
The power being handled is definitely that of the Celestial or Demon Races.
The Sky is predominantly part of the Celestial and Demon Races, and in particular, time was one of the powers they manipulated very effectively.
The ancient beast belonged to the demon race, and time was one of the powers that both races handled very well.
But having met numerous celestial and demon races, I know this.
‘So different.’
The flow and structure of the power maintaining space are just too different.
The self-absorbed celestial and demon races wouldn’t use the spells of other races, so they must definitely be a different race.
‘Another ancient beast? Or a celestial race with knowledge on the level of a grand mage…’
“…….”
I don’t know.
There aren’t many beings that meet the conditions, but you can’t say it’s few either.
After all, there were a few ancient beasts I had captured, and it’s possible that there are strong beasts I’m unaware of, like the giants from Ertarn I saw last time.
Not to mention, the clan managing the system, the Huangcheong clan.
‘They seem related to the celestial race though.’
Before long, I discovered another letter placed on the table while rummaging through the ship.
It looked like it had already been half-opened by someone.
I picked up the letter.
“This seems to be a real letter.”
What’s in my pocket isn’t something Geo can read, it triggers self-involvement.
In other words, it’s a letter mixed with traps.
And this…
/ Geo, pay attention. If you do not completely adjust the time difference of the clock…
…you might get trapped in the rift of time.
Time is relative.
The slower the flow of time, the greater the gap with the outside world, and you could lose your sense of self, so be careful.
Thus, always periodically check the clock outside and the clock inside.
The clock given to you cannot fully block the power of disaster. So you must check it. /
“…Is that it?”
Is there nothing else aside from the greetings?
Considering the traps set here and there, this letter is quite lacking in substance.
I examined the letter a bit more and went up to the deck.
Not even Geo or a single rat could be seen.
After looking around the ship a few times, I took out the existing letter mixed with traps.
If I’ve found the real letter now…
Flap.
“Geo, listen…”
……
The broken ship began to move.
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