A Survival Guide for a Counselor in the Apocalypse Chapter 24.0

Chapter 24

 

“Tsk, tsk.”

The clicking of a tongue… short, unable to stretch long, came out in a stuttering, broken manner. Taking advantage of the brief silence that followed, the thing in front of my eyes disappeared.

The owner of that hand…

 

—

[TIP! Even a ‘Third Party’ that hasn’t manifested can look into a soul if there are certain mediums.]

—

 

Said that, and then vanished.

Which meant, annoyingly enough, that I really had received help.

“Riiight. I’ll corre-eect myself. You’re a huuman with… a somewhat ki-ind side.”

The ‘Eternal Pleasure Seeker’ let out a snort and shrugged its tiny shoulders, as if acknowledging that what was wrapped around this small body was indeed my consideration.

“So, whaaat did you saaay you waanted?”

“…I wanted to ask if that machine could be activated.”

The rabbit’s eyes narrowed.

“You, you…”

Then it suddenly burst into laughter.

My mouth went dry. Every nerve in my body screamed at me not to provoke it. That small lump of stuffing alone was more than enough to…

“It caaan be actiivated.”

Kill me.

“Then whaaat will youuu give? Giiive and! Taake. You knoow?”

We were almost there. It meant it would activate it “if I gave something appropriate.” At those words, I took out one lowest-grade mana stone from my pocket.

The rabbit quietly stared at the stone, then lifted its head to look at me. There was no strange light like before, just a simple gaze.

Even so, just meeting its eyes made my insides burn, and I swallowed.

“You knoow thaaat these are cuuurrency?”

“…It said they could be exchanged. If that’s wrong, then what I have is…”

As if to say that was enough, the rabbit waved its hand once. Then, with a hand that didn’t even have fingers, it snapped.

I didn’t care where the sound came from. I didn’t even want the thought to remain in my head.

“Get in.”

The rabbit gestured cynically toward the elevator, now lit up as if electricity had returned. I stopped Hoin, who was about to go first, and stepped inside the elevator myself.

There was nothing special. It was just an elevator.

Except for one thing.

 

—

[Where would you like to go?]

—

 

It wasn’t operated by buttons.

Its power source wasn’t electricity. Which meant the authority to press buttons was different.

 

—

[Would you like to move to the rooftop?]

※ To activate the confirmation button, 2 lowest-grade mana stones are required.

— 

 

I nodded once at Hoin, and he slowly stepped inside.

“Haah…”

He let out a slow breath, almost like a sigh, and stood beside me.

The rabbit remained outside the elevator, standing on its tiny feet, quietly looking up at me.

‘Two mana stones.’

Expensive, if you think about it. That thing was clearly interested in me. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this generous. When something as fickle as it shows kindness, it means I’m offering something beyond what it gives.

In the end, I knelt on one knee in front of it to meet its gaze.

“Whaaat? I did aaanything you waanted.”

I tried anyway. If I could get something more. If, by gambling two mana stones and my identity on its whim, I could gain something greater…

“Two is too expensive.”

For a moment, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop physically.

“Huuman… no braain?”

The rabbit stared at me. No, something beyond it stared through me.

 

—

[TIP! ‘Reverence’ means to bow respectfully with admiration.]

[TIP! ‘Respect’ means to honor and esteem another’s character, thoughts, or actions.]

[TIP! ‘Esteem’ means to serve with courtesy and devotion.]

—

 

Shut up. Dictionary.

Still, the atmosphere had clearly turned serious.

“Or do youu… waaant to diiie?”

But this was still a safe zone. It wasn’t the type to drag things out like this if it was intended to kill. Back in the waiting room, things had melted away without warning.

I clenched my fist and endured its killing intent. It felt like my body would collapse at any moment.

“…Then I’ll pay the two. But next time, could you tell me a way to meet you without using a medium like this?”

The ‘Eternal Pleasure Seeker.’ There was more to gain from it than one might think. That thing was rich. I didn’t know where it gathered everything, but it was one of the wealthier ‘Third Parties.’

And by “wealth,” I didn’t just mean currency.

‘Stories, weapons, everything.’

If you established a connection with it, it would eventually prove useful. Help, stories, weapons, money, anything, as long as it liked you.

And maybe… That wasn’t so hard.

I knew its preferences. Like all beings in power…

“I’d like to see you again.”

It liked those who challenged it.

The rabbit’s button eyes turned toward me.

“A huuman’s cooonfession? Woooow, disgusstiing.”

But the tension had clearly eased. The rabbit let out a small breath, touched its lips, then tossed something.

A small brooch. Finely crafted.

“If youu use thaat, you can cooome to my spaace. How to use it… figure it ouut yourself.”

The space of a ‘Third Party.’ Probably not its real domain. Reaching their true living space wasn’t possible in our current state.

Just as every emperor had an audience chamber, they too had one.

And this was the key to that ‘audience chamber.’

“Now, scram.”

The rabbit shut the door as if truly done with us.

I bowed my head lightly and paid the two mana stones.

 

—

[The door is closing.]

—

 

As the bright elevator contrasted with the pitch-black outside, and the darkness faded from view…

“See you again. Cunniing huuman.”

A rather unsettling farewell.

 

***

 

The rooftop.

‘Normally, the Parktel rooftop would require a different route.’

But since this space was created by the ‘Eternal Pleasure Seeker,’ this level of distortion wasn’t surprising.

“Hey, careful.”

Hoin, who had been slowly checking the surroundings, gestured that it was fine. The Parktel rooftop… if the top floor was 18, this was essentially the 19th.

A bright moonlit night. Probably adjusted this way because, with the dense trees, people would easily die if they couldn’t see at night.

Thanks to that, everything far away was clearly visible.

‘Ah…’

What I needed to find was the Gate of Peace. That location didn’t change.

Even if I could roughly grasp the terrain through the tourist booklet, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where we were dropped.

So I had to mark that first, then move toward the target.

Near the Parktel, I could see a round, low building, and far beyond it, the Gate of Peace.

Much larger than the original.

“…Was it always like that?”

“Don’t think so.”

From where we saw it earlier, it should’ve looked big, sure. But not so massive that it could be seen from every direction.

“Hoin, flashlight.”

I roughly sketched the tourist booklet, used the compass to adjust directions, and marked the visible locations.

“Nam Muyeong, that…”

While I focused on recording things, Hoin pointed toward the distance.

Beyond a space filled with thick fog.

“…We can get out of here, right?”

At that, I lifted my head and looked at him. Even in the darkness, his expression was clearly visible under the moonlight.

“Hoin.”

His wandering gaze locked onto me.

“I’m getting out. So you’ll get out too. Just believe that.”

“….”

“Got it?”

Before he could even answer, a notification rang in my hand.

[9 PM.]

The moment I heard the alarm, I grabbed Hoin’s arm and pulled him into the elevator.

 

—

[Where would you like to go?]

—

 

Outside the still-open elevator doors, a massive rumbling sound echoed like thunder. Something rolled, and the entire ground shook violently.

At the same time, the Parktel we stood on trembled fiercely.

Rumble

Crash!

At least there was one reassuring thing.

Inside the Parktel, this space, there was no risk of lights going out or sudden collapse.

There probably wasn’t even a pulley system. Whatever powered this… was something else entirely.

After the shaking gradually subsided, I looked outside again.

The scenery had completely changed.

“…Was there a mountain right in front of us?”

As Hoin said, unlike before when everything was visible, now a massive mountain stood directly ahead.

So tall that nothing but bare earth could be seen.

From the barren surface, something began to sprout…

“Hey…”

A small sprout emerged, and within 30 seconds, it grew into a massive tree.

In an instant, the bald mountain became a dense forest filled with towering trees.

In the blink of an eye.

 

—

[The ruler of the exalted space has rearranged everything.]

[If there is something from your world you still recognize, why not take it as a memory?]

—

 

Ignoring the grinning commentator, I stepped outside.

A mountain had appeared in front, and behind us…

Several buildings had been rearranged, their forms intact but repositioned.

 

—

[Change detected in ‘Item: Tourist Guidebook.’]

—

 

The map inside the booklet melted away, then quickly redrew itself.

Reflecting the newly altered terrain.

Changed ‘Homes’ and supply spaces were also marked.

The only thing that remained the same was the division into zones.

And as if to remind us, it was originally a park; each zone had a name.

Wildflower Field to the east, Mongchon Toseong to the north, Mongchon Lake running through the center, Lake 88 beside the fortress…

The names were familiar.

No, the names alone were familiar.

‘First, I need to confirm how far we’ve been pushed.’

We had been relatively close to the Gate of Peace before.

Not close, but not too far either.

But now…

‘At a glance, we’re way farther.’

It was still massive, but not as overwhelmingly large as before.

And the angle was completely different.

Now, the Gate of Peace stood directly in front of us.

‘Then northeast…’

Since the Gate was at the southwest corner…

If it’s directly ahead in the distance, we’re likely at the northeastern edge.

“Hoin, do you see anything like a lake nearby?”

“…A lake?”

He looked around, then pointed.

“That?”

There was something that looked like a puddle. I marked its approximate position on the map and immediately checked for nearby ‘Homes.’

‘Ah, damn it.’

There weren’t any nearby.

How could luck be this bad?

 

—

[Oh my! You must never forget your own trait!]

—

 

As always, the one holding me back… was my damn bad luck.

And if there was something worse…

It was that I didn’t even have time to despair.