Chapter 130

Two more days passed, and Taewoon and Biryeong stepped back onto the edge of the lake region they had reached previously.

Unlike before when they were accompanied by Rembrando, they didn’t need to worry about other party members, and thanks to being familiar with the path from their previous journey, they arrived at their destination much faster.

“For now… it doesn’t seem much different from before.”

From the point where the lake ended, a lush forest stretched out. The two of them had previously experienced stepping into that forest only to find themselves unknowingly returned to the entrance of the lake region.

In other words, moving forward recklessly here was dangerous.

It meant they had to avoid moving forward as much as possible and instead search for clues or hints to uncover the secret of this Magic Forest.

“Is there anything that catches your eye?”

“Hmm… no. At least not on the surface.”

Since Biryeong was an Expert in Martial Arts with a keen eye, Taewoon hoped she might find a clue, but it seemed things would not be that simple.

Taewoon also scanned the surroundings, utilizing Thousand-League Perception and his Martial Arts, but the result was the same.

He could find no abnormalities in the scenery unfolding before him.

However, if he were to step foot in there again, it was certain that he would face the same result as before.

‘…Could some supernatural element, like Magic, be at work here?’

Thinking this, Taewoon summoned the Remegethon from the void, infused it with a large amount of Magical Power, and awakened the sleeping soul of Reje.

[Ugh, waking me up so roughly… what is going on all of a sudden?]

“Reje, can you observe the anomalies here?”

[Anomalies?]

After Taewoon gave a brief summary of what he had experienced, Reje nodded as if she understood and continued.

[So, young master, you want to know if the influence of Magic exists here. Unfortunately, it seems not. I can tell something is strange… but I cannot detect any specific abnormality.]

It could not be explained by Martial Arts, nor by Magic. Then how on earth could this mysterious harmony be explained?

Taewoon then summoned Aquila and asked her. Aquila’s body flickered for a moment as if performing some calculations before delivering the answer to Taewoon.

• I cannot provide a definitive answer, but judging based on the events experienced so far, it may be related to the environment of this island itself.

“The environment…?”

• As a result of collecting voice data from the Exploration Team members, the creatures of this island are among the most alien, even within the world inside the Theater. If so, there must be a reason why such creatures were born, and it is highly likely that this is linked to the environment of the island itself.

In other words, Aquila was suggesting that the island itself was a special space incomparable to ordinary ones, and that the secret of the lake region was likely a type of natural phenomenon occurring within the island.

‘That makes sense. But…’

Then how on earth were they to break through it? To that, Aquila began to speak to Taewoon once more.

• If it is a natural phenomenon of the island, there should be a way to move beyond it without necessarily using special methods. I recommend observing the surroundings and collecting more data first.

In conclusion, what they had to do was similar to the beginning, but Taewoon felt as if a clue was almost within his grasp.

‘If Aquila’s hypothesis is correct, there must be a natural entrance to move beyond the lake region…’

Taewoon had the means to find it immediately, but in truth, if he shifted his perspective slightly, there was a method worth trying.

‘Creatures are also part of nature; they would naturally know far more than I, who am merely an unwelcome guest on this island.’

That is, a creature born and living on this island might be able to find that entrance without much difficulty.

When he conveyed this to Biryeong, she seemed to catch onto Taewoon’s thought immediately.

“Aha, so… in short, you want to bring that fox here?”

“Yes. A hunter of its caliber must have survived here for a long time, so it might know the way to cross the lake region.”

No, perhaps the reason the creature possessed such mysterious and powerful strength was because it was a creature from beyond the lake region.

Once the goal was decided, taking action was not difficult.

Taewoon and Biryeong immediately scoured the lake for the creature’s traces, and soon they found it munching away on a giant rattlesnake it had hunted.

‘The creature didn’t show much hostility toward me before. However…’

Leading it to the place Taewoon wanted was a completely different matter.

While Taewoon was lost in thought, Biryeong approached the creature without hesitation and slid a grilled fish wrapped in a leaf toward it.

“I-is that alright?”

“There’s no harm in trying.”

Taewoon, knowing the creature’s aggressive combat instincts and strength, was appalled, but contrary to his concerns, the white fox trotted over and began eating the grilled fish without a second thought.

Given its hearty appetite, the fish vanished in an instant, and the creature, seemingly in a good mood, quickly climbed a tree and gazed down at Taewoon and Biryeong from a branch.

“Shall we try moving slowly and see if it follows us?”

“…Yes. Let’s do that.”

For some reason, he felt drained, as if he had wasted energy on useless worries, but a good result was a good result.

The two moved at a slow pace, checking to see if the fox continued to follow, and before long, they managed to lead it to the edge of the lake.

Looking at the fox, which stared at Taewoon with the same attitude as before, Taewoon let out a troubled, reluctant chuckle.

“Well… this is where the problem starts.”

They had brought the creature to the edge of the lake, but it showed no sign of taking any particular action.

Even when Taewoon made gestures as if to walk into the forest or move forward, the fox simply sat there blankly, watching Taewoon’s back.

“Pfft. At this rate, I don’t think we’ll see any results even if a hundred days pass.”

Unable to watch any longer, Biryeong took out another grilled fish wrapped in a leaf and threw it beyond the forest. The fox, intoxicated by the scent, hopped toward it, but then suddenly stopped and trotted back to Taewoon.

Watching this closely, Biryeong spoke.

“It seems… we’ve found the answer. Doesn’t it seem like it knows the way better than we do?”

“It seems so. It definitely knows something.”

The creature was certainly aware of the anomalies here.

If so, as originally hypothesized, it might be able to find the correct path.

“Don’t worry. I still have plenty of fish.”

Biryeong continued to throw fish at the entrance of the forest while gradually increasing the distance, but the creature didn’t react properly to any of them.

Instead, it let out a grumpy cry, as if asking what she was doing with the food.

Finally, the creature, now thoroughly annoyed, hopped up to stop Biryeong and began tugging on Taewoon’s sleeve, pulling him somewhere.

Following its lead, they moved for a while until the creature finally stopped and gave Taewoon a steady look.

Looking ahead, there was a thicket filled with thorny brambles.

One could force their way through, but it was clearly not a path a human would normally take.

“You want me to go through here?”

As if demonstrating, the fox wagged its tail and vanished into the brambles first, and soon, silence fell.

“…I’ll go first.”

Judging by the ominous color, the thorns likely contained a lethal poison.

Having made up his mind, Taewoon coated his entire body in Magical Power and began pushing through the brambles. After passing through the dense thicket for a while, he strangely felt a peculiar sensation of buoyancy, as if he were swimming through water.

‘This is…’

Finally convinced, Taewoon hurried his pace, and soon a flash of light occurred, and a landscape he had never seen before blurred his vision.

‘…It’s as if I’m looking at an island within an island.’

There were forests and lakes, but the scenery unfolding before him was definitely different from before.

And above all, despite such a bountiful environment, he couldn’t feel the Presence of a single living creature.

It felt like an empty model garden—a stark contrast to the ecosystem outside, which was saturated to an excessive degree.

The white fox that had led Taewoon there reappeared by his side and let out a satisfied cry, and Biryeong, who had followed behind, gave the creature all the remaining fish she had.

Leaving the creature to munch on the fish, Biryeong spoke with a look of curiosity.

“It’s a beautiful view. Could this be the ‘Sanctuary’?”

“I don’t know. However… I think it wouldn’t be strange to give a place like this such a name.”

There were no ferocious creatures lurking to take his life, and unlike the outside, appetizing fruits and herbs could be found without difficulty.

It was a space that felt as if it had been prepared specifically for Taewoon; here, it wouldn’t be impossible to hide from the eyes of the Empire until the next Exploration Team arrived.

‘But… at the same time, it’s true that many questions arise.’

Was this place truly an absolutely safe space from the reach of the Empire?

And why was there such an extreme difference from the ecosystem outside, and why did such a space exist in the first place?

As he was now, there was no way for Taewoon to know.

‘For now… I have no choice but to move.’

Whether there truly were no creatures here, and what secrets were hidden—all of these were things Taewoon had to uncover starting now.

Having renewed his resolve, Taewoon let out a small sigh and began to take his first steps.