GVRS 5

Chapter : 05

Bang, bang, bang!

“Hey, Flamel! Come out!”

I went straight to Flamel’s room and started knocking on the door. But there was no sign of anyone inside. Where on earth could he have gone?

“This is…”

That’s when I noticed a letter lying on the floor beside his door. It was crumpled, but as I carefully unfolded it, I saw it was written like this:

“Lowly commoner, Flamel, listen.
I, Russell Blair, can no longer tolerate your vulgar behavior. I will deal with you today, so come to the Lake of Tranquility by midnight.
― Russell Blair”

“R-Russell Blair?!”

Who the hell are these guys impersonating now? Flamel’s going to think I’m the one who called him out!

“And that tone… what is this?”

Lowly commoner, whatever. Did they really imitate Russell Blair’s way of speaking? I must be losing it.

“No… wait. Maybe it’s fine? That means I don’t have to drag him along—this is the original scenario coming to life, right?”

Maybe I can just stand back and watch.

“…That Flamel guy isn’t going to kill everyone and then come for me too, right?”

Our hero never avoids a fight once it starts. So it wasn’t impossible.

“This is insane…”

I ruffled my hair in frustration and ran toward the Lake of Tranquility.

Not far ahead, I saw a tuft of black hair. Among the dazzling colors of hair, black was rare, so it was easy to tell whose head it was.

“Hey, Fla—!”

I tried waving to greet him, but the moment I did, he lunged and grabbed me by the collar.

Thwack!

“Kuh!”

“Are you here alone? Where’s the group you always drag around?”

“Huh?”

Weren’t they supposed to be here first? I had stopped by Flamel’s room, which made me thirty minutes late past the promised 12 o’clock.

“Planning to face me alone? Foolish.”

Flamel’s eyes glinted sharply. So that Tom guy had called only Flamel and me and sneaked off himself!

“No, wait—”

I tried to explain I didn’t call him, but he wouldn’t give me the chance.

Whoosh!

“…ugh.”

A punch whizzed past my ear, tossing my hair around. The sound of the wind was insane.

If I’d taken that full on, I’d probably have lost a tooth or two. Why does Flamel, of all people, have such good physicality despite being an alchemist?

“Grit your teeth.”

“Wait, wait! Time—out!”

I shouted for a timeout, and Flamel’s fist finally stopped just short of hitting me.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Woah, calm down. I think there’s a misunderstanding. I didn’t come here to fight you.”

Flamel raised an eyebrow, signaling me to go on.

“I-I got this too. See.”

I showed him the duel notice I had received. Flamel scanned it quickly.

Thud.

Once he released my collar, I could breathe again. Huff, huff. As I gasped for air, Flamel looked down at me and asked coldly:

“Was this your gang’s doing?”

“Probably.”

“Abandoned, I see.”

“I abandoned it.”

I was the one who cut ties first.

Flamel smirked for some reason and spun around without so much as an apology after almost hitting me. Sigh, what a character.

Well, he was probably just confused that my gang and I got caught up in his business.

Still, I couldn’t resist giving him the middle finger as he turned away.

Shhhh…

Ripples spread across the calm lake. At first, I thought it was an earthquake.

Something felt off. I sensed it instinctively.

Splash!

From the lake, tentacle-like appendages shot out toward Flamel. He raised his arms to block them but ended up tangled further in the writhing tentacles.

“Flamel!”

“Ugh…! Call the professors!”

Even dangling midair, caught by the tentacles, he commanded me calmly.

“Hurry!”

“Okay… hey!”

I thought I could ignore it, but once Flamel was dragged into the lake, my mind changed.

Even the protagonist can’t breathe underwater unless they have gills!

“Hey, Flamel! Flaamel!”

I called out his name, but there was no answer. The lake fell eerily silent again.

If it weren’t for the tiny air bubbles rising, I’d have thought it was all a dream.

‘It takes at least ten minutes to run from the lake to the professor’s research building!’

Damn.

‘If this goes wrong, he could really die.’

A chill ran down my spine at the thought. If the protagonist dies this early… that’s a catastrophe.

I adjusted the necklace hidden under my clothes.

‘I’m counting on you.’

It was a magic tool with a deep blue gem, known as Shard of Thunder.

‘I never thought I’d use the one I snatched from Duke like this…!’

Its effect was simple: when the owner spoke its activation word, it sends a single electric strike to the enemy.

‘Not impressive for such a grand name… but enough to stop movement briefly.’

And that wasn’t all I was counting on.

‘That monster… definitely appeared in the original story.’

Not in the Lake of Tranquility part, but in a later episode. Back then, the protagonist’s party had leveled up enough to handle it with ease, partly due to exploiting its weakness.

‘Tentacles. If you cut the tentacles, the monster can’t do anything.’

It might be too tough to fight directly, but that much seemed doable.

I pulled out a small dagger I had brought just in case. Who knew I’d use it now?

I kicked off my shoes and jumped straight into the lake.

Splash!

I plunged to the bottom and looked around. There were the tentacles, with Flamel caught at the ends.

When Flamel saw me, his face twisted. He looked like he was scolding me for not calling the professors and doing something reckless.

‘You’re no mermaid. Ten minutes underwater?’

I quickly followed and showed Flamel my dagger.

He seemed to gauge something and nodded.

I moved the Shard of Thunder to the monster’s tentacle.

‘…Strike, lightning.’

I muttered the activation word, and a bright light rose from the gem.

Crackle!

It worked! The tentacle shuddered as if electrocuted.

‘Now!’

I swam swiftly to the tentacle and grabbed it.

Slice.

― Kieeeek!

The monster twisted in pain, stirring the water violently. I almost got swept away but held onto the severed tentacle. Blue blood spread through the water.

Slurp.

‘Good. Success!’

The monster couldn’t resist the pain and relaxed its grip. Flamel seized the opportunity and freed himself.

I gave Flamel a thumbs-up.

‘Okay. Just need to get back…!’

Huh?

Something grabbed my waist.

Looking down, a tentacle had latched onto me. How is it still moving…?

‘Ah.’

The other, uncut tentacle was trembling and pointing at me.

No one said I had to cut both sides!

Thunk!

I stabbed at the monster’s tentacle with my dagger, but it didn’t budge.

Thunk! Thunk!

‘Let go!’

My breath began to be cut off. The monster tightened its grip as if responding to my inner plea.

Crack!

I heard a bone snap.

Every inhale only brought in water. Only bubbles floated to the surface.

I could do nothing but exhale.

My mind started to go hazy.

‘I can’t pass out… If I faint now, I could really die…’

I heard distant shouting, but it didn’t reach me. Just a buzzing noise.

Flamel was shouting something. Was it “Wake up” or “You idiot”? I couldn’t tell.

‘Am I gonna die like this?’

― Big bro!

Flash. My eyes opened.

I couldn’t die here. What about my little brother?

Chajun… that guy could easily get scammed if I wasn’t around.

If I didn’t come back, he could end up like me…

‘Damn it. If you drag someone to another world, at least give them some abilities!’

I cursed in my head.

I was gasping for air. My head spun, my heart pounding as if it would burst.

Thump, thump, thump.

My heartbeat roared like a drum in my ears.

A sharp pain stabbed my chest.

Gurgle.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, I could breathe.

Bubbles still rose, but I wasn’t suffocating.

‘W-what…?’

What was happening? Did I actually have hidden gills? Confused, I saw Flamel gesturing behind me.

Behind?

I reflexively turned my head.

‘…What is that.’

I couldn’t believe the sight. It was nothing like the lake I had first seen.

The lakebed was filled with sand and rocks, with corals sprouting everywhere. Tropical fish darted among them, and a sea turtle swam past me.

It looked like the middle of the ocean.

I remembered seeing something like this in a nature documentary. Maybe scuba diving in a famous tourist spot would be like this.

As I stared in awe, something shot toward me at incredible speed.

Whoosh!

It was a shark.

‘…Are you kidding me?’

A shark? Really?!

This wasn’t some movie; why a shark?

“Ugh!”

I struggled, but the tentacle wouldn’t let me go.

We were all going to die!

But fate’s time came anyway. The shark opened its jaws wide right in front of me.

‘So many teeth…’

Thwap!

“AAAAHHH!”

Splash!

I was dragged up to the surface by the shark. The impact threw me through the water.

“Huff, huff!”

Gasping on a lake-side bridge, Flamel emerged from the water and stood beside me.

The lake was calm again, as if nothing had happened.

But my soaked clothes and the dripping water proved it was real.

“That… was you, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know either.”

He replied hoarsely, exhausted. I felt drained, unable to lift even a finger.

“Why on earth did you jump back in? I told you to call the professors…!”

Flamel seemed to be yelling, but I couldn’t hear him. My ears were ringing.

“Hey, but I’m kinda sleepy…”

“What? Wait— … …!”

Through my blurry vision, I saw Flamel’s panicked expression.

Phew, he looked like a drenched little mouse. I thought fleetingly, how pathetic.

Then, I passed out.

Splash!

The massive shark hit the water, sending droplets flying everywhere.

Even the man lounging in a tall tree got splashed, showing how huge it was.

“Ahahaha…”

The man laughed, as if paying the price for merely watching someone else get soaked.

He wiped the water off his cheek and licked it.

“…Salty.”

The lake was supposed to be freshwater. Strangely, it tasted like saltwater.

His golden eyes twinkled with amusement. He seemed to have found something fun at last.