At some point, Alkine stopped speaking. Of course, so did I.
The jokes I used to crack to forget the seriousness of the situation, the exaggerated reactions—they were all gone now.
As the silence grew longer, I could feel Alkine’s expression darkening. But I didn’t know what to say anymore, so I just kept running and focused on surveying the surroundings.
I was still carrying Alkine.
At first, she didn’t like it, but now, maybe because she had gotten used to it, she didn’t seem to react much anymore.
The funny thing was, she seemed well enough to stand on her own now, maybe even to move around just fine, but she didn’t ask me to put her down.
‘She could probably run faster on her own,’ I thought. But then again, considering she might need her strength for any unexpected situations, it made sense for her to conserve her energy.
For me, someone with limitless stamina, it wasn’t really a burden anyway. Based on my calculations, there wasn’t much point in splitting up, so I decided to keep carrying her while running.
As I looked around again, I became certain of something and asked Alkine, “President, have you ever seen this unusually shaped cliff before?”
“We once used it as a reference point during exploration.”
“Then do you remember which direction the Riftstone was in from here?”
“That way.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Alkine pointed in a direction.
The fact that she could answer so quickly showed how much effort she had put into the exploration.
However, at the end of the direction she pointed, another identical cliff loomed.
This repetition of identical terrain caused by distortions was the reason most of the student council’s previous investigations had become meaningless.
The repeated geography caused by the distortion.
In fact, for someone with the skill level of the student council, finding the Riftstone was probably harder than fighting monsters in the rift. They likely put so much effort into the exploration but became overconfident on the day of the rift’s clearance, which led to this situation.
Still, their exploration hadn’t been entirely in vain.
Thanks to Alkine pointing out the direction, I could calculate where the Riftstone was likely to be.
I hadn’t been running around aimlessly this whole time.
Didn’t I promise to guide her through the rift strategy perfectly? When a veteran uses the word “strategy,” it’s never said lightly.
I had already realized that many concepts from the original work had been applied to this rift.
The fact that we kept moving forward but saw the same terrain repeated was strange, to say the least.
In games, this might be dismissed as a storage issue, but there’s no such thing as storage issues in reality, right?
Because of this, I was certain that the game system had been applied here as is.
And… there’s no such thing as true randomness in a game. There’s always some rule disguised as randomness.
The same applied to the distortion of this rift.
Even though we kept encountering the same terrain, I was sure we were making progress.
It just felt like we were going in circles because the same terrain was shuffled into a specific pattern.
And I had just deciphered that pattern.
“Hm… so in other words…”
If this is the original direction, then based on the last cliff, it must be this way.
I had seen the same cliff dozens of times coming here.
And I had also figured out the pattern in how those cliffs were arranged.
The two cliffs I just confirmed solidified the final sequence of the pattern.
Analysis of the distortion pattern in the rift.
This method, based on the Riftstone as the center of the distortion, is a field only speedrunners or enthusiasts would bother with.
After all, chances to encounter rift distortions in the game were rare, and memorizing the pattern wasn’t necessary for most players to clear them.
But I had memorized it. Back when I was into speedrunning, I had studied it extensively.
“Hmm? Where are you suddenly going?”
“Just a hunch.”
When I abruptly changed direction and started running, Alkine voiced her doubt, but I couldn’t explain everything to her, so I glossed over it.
Before long, a faint red aura appeared at the edge of my vision.
I knew this effect very well.
It marked the location of the Riftstone.
In an excited voice, I called out to Alkine.
“President, take a look over there.”
“Hm? Is there something?”
“Yes?”
Wait, she can’t see it? That’s impossible.
While I stood there puzzled, she stared intently in the direction I was pointing, and then flinched in surprise.
“Wait… this energy is…”
Suddenly, she freed herself from my princess carry and started running.
But seeing her head slightly off-course, it was clear she couldn’t actually see the Riftstone’s effect.
Could this, too, be a system effect tied to my abilities?
I decided I’d need to investigate it thoroughly later and, for now, focused on chasing after Alkine.
“Rudion. Hurry and keep up!”
Easier said than done, President. I can’t match your speed.
Though I pushed myself to run, I could barely manage to keep her within sight.
I had to resort to using dash cancels, which I hadn’t been able to use while carrying her. Even so, the distance between us didn’t close.
‘She’s ridiculously fast for someone not specializing in agility. Truly, the academy’s strongest isn’t just a title.’
At first, her direction had been slightly off, but before I knew it, she had adjusted and was heading straight for the center of the red aura.
However, as she sprinted at an incredible speed, she began to slow down, eventually coming to a complete stop.
This allowed me to catch up to her side, but I couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
If anyone was more desperate to deal with this rift, it was Alkine.
I expected her to charge forward and slash through whatever appeared, so why had she stopped?
Curious, I scanned the surroundings but found no situation that would make dealing with the Riftstone difficult.
‘A Twin-Headed Wolf, huh?’
Riftstones are usually either hidden or lodged inside a monster. In this case, it was the latter, which meant the monster had been enhanced by absorbing the Riftstone’s energy.
This enhancement could make a goblin as strong as an ogre, dramatically altering the difficulty depending on the monster.
But honestly… monster enhancements didn’t mean much when Alkine was around.
The Crumple earlier had been an exception. Her attacks were sharp enough to pierce even a demon’s skin. She might not win against one of the walls, but her attack power was unquestionably high.
For someone like her, an enhanced monster? Unless it was a top-tier one, it was just slightly tougher meat to cut through.
And the monster carrying the Riftstone now was a Twin-Headed Wolf.
A low-rank beast whose only notable trait was having two heads—something Alkine could crush with a flick of her hand.
So why had she stopped?
She answered my question with one of her own.
“Can we keep what happens here a secret?”
As soon as I heard her, I understood why she had stopped.
Once the Riftstone is dealt with, there’s no time for conversation. The rift collapses immediately, and we’re forced out.
She must have wanted to settle things with me before that happened.
“You can say it outside, you know. Let’s put out the fire first.”
“…You’re right. I was overthinking things.”
She seemed so conscious of me that she couldn’t even prioritize properly.
‘I’m not that impressive, really. Don’t burden yourself over me.’
“When we get out, I’ll head straight to request reinforcements. You should join the others and wait.”
“Got it.”
As soon as I replied, Alkine disappeared from where she had been standing.
I turned my head and saw her already in front of the Twin-Headed Wolf, swinging her mana sword.
Swish-
The red energy radiating from the Twin-Headed Wolf split in two along with the beast itself.
The Riftstone’s destruction was confirmed, and the rift began to collapse.
The surroundings started melting away like liquid, transforming into the forest scenery from before we entered the rift.
“Ugh, ngh, hrrk.”
“AAAAH!! AAAAH!!!”
“Hold on a little longer. Just a little more…”
And chaos erupted.
People with crushed arms or legs—or in some cases both—groaned and screamed in pain, their voices filled with anguish.
Some were silent, which startled me for a moment, but thankfully, they were all breathing.
‘Thank goodness. Everyone’s alive.’
A sense of relief washed over me, and my fists clenched instinctively. I couldn’t recall ever feeling this much accomplishment before.
It made sense, though—I’d never saved anyone’s life before.
Meanwhile, those who were relatively unscathed were using the potions they’d brought with them, applying them sparingly to the injured.
Judging by the way they rationed the potions, their goal wasn’t to heal but to help them hold on a little longer.
It was the most practical course of action given the circumstances, but for the injured, it must have felt like endless torture.
Were they enduring it solely because they believed Alkine would conquer the rift? Their trust in the president was immense.
“…Huh?”
Amidst this, someone was the first to notice a change in the surroundings and began cheering loudly.
“Look, everyone! We’re outside! The president must have cleared the rift!”
The realization spread quickly among the group.
“We’re alive!”
“Guhhh! Hah! Haaah!!”
“Hey, calm down, man!!”
From the uninjured to those barely holding on, everyone started expressing their emotions outwardly, unable to contain them any longer.
Some laughed, some cried.
Some screamed in pain and joy at the same time.
Among them, only one person remained expressionless, staring intently in a specific direction.
A man with messy, green-tinged hair, fashionably thick-rimmed glasses, and eerily lifeless black eyes.
To add more detail… he harbored every filthy feeling imaginable—obsession, possessiveness—toward Alkine, all under the delusion that it was love.
The student council vice president, Diggers Jibchack.
His gaze was fixed on something—no, someone.
Alkine.
She had rushed off in the direction of the support team.
Wow… Even with his limbs in that state, that’s what he’s focused on? What a tenacious guy.