Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 49: Turn around and get closer (2)

Eventually, I explained the situation as it was.

We’d gotten so far out of sight of a very tall tower, and I didn’t know how long it would take to get back.

“If you can’t see it because it’s so far away, why don’t I fly a drone and find the tower?”

“I can’t get up to where I can see the tower, I feel like I’m blocked by an invisible wall. The Unwritten Rules don’t like things to be easy.”

“You’re so mean…….”

“Then again, maybe it’s not the distance. Maybe I can go anywhere and not find the tower.”

Still, it’s not a bad situation.

We’re stuck in this shitty place, but we’re still the only ones who’ve gotten close to the truth of the world.

There’s a good chance we’ll be given another choice in the story.

We could escape and end the episode right there.

I don’t know how we’re going to do that.

“Still, as large as the Academy is, it has its limits. We can find the central tower in a day if we know where to look.”

“And if we don’t find it?”

“We’re screwed. We’ve been spotted, and they’ll be able to start the training earlier.”

We need to stop them.

The problem is that even real people in uniform are subject to cognitive filters.

If an Awakened outwardly recognizes a real civilian and attacks on the Academy’s side…….then it could be as if reality is self-destructing.

“So what do we do? Do we just shoot east, west, north, south, and go?”

“Yeah. I think we should just go for it.”

“……Really?”

Seol Do-yeon stared at me with slightly suspicious eyes.

Her pouty hair stood up even tighter, forming an exclamation point.

“You really don’t have any plans? You?”

“Me what?”

“You’re not the kind of person who decides where to go without thinking.”

“If you can’t come up with a plan, you have to do something.”

“Um…Okay. I told you that I don’t know everything.”

I made eye contact with Seol Do-yeon nonchalantly.

Is it so strange that I wander around without a plan?

Although I have an idea of how to turn this situation around.

“It’s still evening, so let’s move. You’ve had enough rest while hacking this school uniform, right?”

“No rest, let’s go!”

“Hurry up, I’m going to bed for the night, follow me.”

“Let’s go-”

And with that, we started moving toward the tower without any precaution.

……They would think so.

* * *

A day had passed since we were trapped in the academy.

I did some more searching by myself, relying on my cell phone light, but still no tower.

I’ve wasted my energy walking around in freezing weather.

I didn’t even find a heated or well-lit building, so I had to sleep in the cold.

Like her spare clothes, Professor Witch hid this on purpose.

Suddenly, I remembered the phrase ‘power of worldview’.

I had roughly assumed that it meant commanding the Academy, but now that I think about it, it was a bit too grandiose.

Maybe it really meant the power to manipulate everything in the world.

There was no such setting in Dreams game, but it wouldn’t be unnatural if there were.

…As my pessimistic speculations just keep getting worse, I texted Jang Ji-sang.

He was inside the academy, so I could reach him.

I didn’t ask for help. Nor did I hope for it.

I just hoped he’d hear from me and stop at least one person from going along with the ‘practice’.

Do-yeon had made a remote control, but I couldn’t turn off the cognitive filter if I couldn’t escape.

“……ha.”

I sighed as deeply as I could, as if I couldn’t see a way out.

Then I fell asleep, praying fervently that the story would not abandon me.

May the unwritten rules be graciously fooled by this pitiful pretense.

* * *

Twenty-four hours in Academy confinement, then 48 hours…and seventy-two hours.

By the third day, everyone had gotten used to traveling.

I fly on the wire to check the front, Do-yeon follows on a drone, and Seorin rides along.

If there’s a locked door or a security robot instead, she takes a pair of scissors and cuts it open.

When they find a shower, they clean themselves up and don’t share any disheartening words about when they’ll find their way back.

It’s become a routine to collect what we can and move on.

“Sister. When we were in the student union, weren’t there security robots? Don’t you think they’ll increase in number as time goes on?”

“…….”

She stared at me with wide eyes, then slowly tilted her head.

I told her to stop drinking in the morning, but she kept doing that.

She’s just pouting because I took away her drink.

“I feel bad when I wake up because you’re drunk every time I see you.”

“…I know it’s not a hangover.”

“Are you pouting or do you just want to drink?”

Seorin’s expression turned angry.

“No, no. Don’t drink.”

“Oh…….”

And then her eyes glazed over again.

I wondered what had happened to the person who used to drink so carefully.

It’s all because she has the excuse that it’s easier to use her traits when she drinks.

Dreams has ruined her.

-Ding!

My cell phone rang as I was searching for supplies in the building again.

It was a message from Jang Ji-sang.

“What’s wrong?”

“I sent a text to someone at the academy last night. I got a reply.”

He must have gotten into the academy and seen the text.

I was expecting the same response in the form of a text, but for some reason, I was sent a recording instead.

I pressed play, hoping to hear something that would help us.

—

Okay…Ah, hello.

First of all, I’ve confirmed the secret of the academy you texted me.

I was wondering what was going on, too, since the students have been asking the professor for three days now why he’s blocking the dorm windows again and he won’t tell them.

I’d like to help you as much as I can, but since you said you don’t know your current location…

First of all, I will try to convince real people not to go to the practical training, even if the students don’t know about it.

Don’t hold your breath, though, because even if I show them the photos you sent me, they’ll just see it as competition.

Too many people see it as an opportunity to grow.

If it weren’t for you, I would be the same way.

……And why am I telling you this now.

The practical training was moved up to start at 1pm today. The students were not able to prepare because of the hasty schedule change, so it was delayed, but I think we will force ourselves to leave within 10 minutes.

So if you can make it back, please hurry before it’s too late.

But I’ll try to delay the departure somehow.

I’m also going to record the sounds around me, in case it helps.

—

As Jang Ji-sang finished speaking, the murmurs around him became clearer.

The voices looked forward to the exercise as if it were play. Voices expressing disbelief at the change in schedule. Voices urging their friends to hurry up and get it over with.

I never imagined that there was a terrible secret, but rather that they were just students in an academy world, and they were excited.

Ten minutes to go before they’re pulled back to reality.

To prevent a disaster, I had to go back now.

It’s become a necessity.

…The time has come for the insurance I bought yesterday to pay off.

I opened my mouth, spewing out my feelings about this cornered situation.

“We’re running out of time……and even if we find the right path, we’ll never get there in ten minutes to stop the students.”

Do-yeon was about to retort, but Seorin interrupted her.

Do-yeon held her breath as she remembered what I had said yesterday.

When the situation becomes urgent, whatever I do, I want you to stay still.

That request is for now.

“What to do? It can’t be too late, we have at least a few hours to figure out how to find our way back.”

There is no such thing. We know that because we’re lost.

I take a few steps in the unlit room and pick up the discarded wrapper with my hand.

It’s the wrapper we ate for dinner last night and threw away.

We’re not lost, we’re moving forward, but why have we ended up back in the room we came from without finding the tower?

The witch professor must have done it.

She’s the one with the power of the worldview, and she’s changing the structure of the Academy to sabotage us.

That was the only conclusion I could come to.

We are wandering through a labyrinth that has taken on the appearance of the Academy.

Under these circumstances, how could we ever get out of the labyrinth?

We can literally only hope for miracles and coincidences.

A small coincidence that turns the protagonist’s crisis around. A universal miracle.

I can only hope that the unwritten rules will come to our rescue.

“It doesn’t matter if this story doesn’t unfold for us.”

I gazed out the window into the distance, speaking to the formless phenomenon.

“But…we can’t just stay here and do nothing but wander.”

Even if I can’t be the main character, I want to be able to at least pretend to be one somewhere in order to get the attention of the unwritten rules.

As I had done so far, I spoke my desperation into the story.

-Tsk-tsk.

With the sound of electricity crackling, all the lights in the building suddenly flickered and went out.

The two of them watched everything that was happening, and I stared still under the extinguished lights.

A moment later, the lights came back on but we weren’t the only ones in the room.

Another figure had quietly made its appearance like a ghost that appeared out of nowhere after a moment of silence.

“Are you…….”

I recognized the visitor’s features.

Red eyes, hair that I thought was black, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was covered by a hat and a doll-like disembodiment that didn’t breathe or blink.

Her appearance was familiar, as if we had met before.

That exotic appearance triggered a memory.

I recognized her from the evening of the first episode.

She had appeared from nowhere under the flickering lights and disappeared just as suddenly.

I don’t know how the unwritten rules led me to see her again, but it was an opportunity.

Now that I’ve turned around and gotten closer, I must somehow get out of the Academy with her.

“…… I see you again, we ran into each other a month ago, do you remember?”

There was no answer but I have a hunch that she won’t disappear as quickly as she did last time.

“I was nervous when we first met, but you’re the kind of person who can write stories, aren’t you?”

“…….”

“If you are the right person, but you came to me unconscious and under the influence of the Unwritten Rules…is there a problem with your awakening story?”

“……!”

Her expression shifted slightly, going from expressionless to stagnant like a doll.

I hadn’t even recognized her when I saw her a month ago, but now that I was closer, I could tell.

This person is not in control of the story.

The unwritten rules guided her to appear in front of me, not her own will.

Normally, I would have been wandering through random locations according to a set of rules but now the chance encounter from the first episode has been seized by the unwritten rules and brought us back together.

“If that’s the case, I can help you. There are things to take care of first, and preparations are necessary… but for now, I’ll tell you how to calm the situation down.”

[Your story begins.]

I bent my knees so we were on the same level and made eye contact.

Without even thinking about using the traits, she pushed the output of the story to its maximum, and her eyes began to focus a little.

It was a stopgap measure that only bought me a few seconds, but it was enough for now.

“We’ll help you, just come with me outside.”

“Ah…….”

The woman opened her mouth.

She wiped her mouth as if to say something, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying.

At the same time, the lights in the building crackled and flickered again.

[You have moved the unwritten rules as you intended.]

[NEW GAME’s proficiency increased +25.0%]

The lights went out and a moment later, they came back on but there was no one left in the building.