Riding the Rapids
Of course, I'd known from the start that the orc shaman that exploded from my arrow was a fake.
And that the real shaman, protected by barrier magic, had been hidden elsewhere.
From Vareshan to Ervia—
the operator of this mission had changed unexpectedly,
but—
'…the Kishiris Cathedral's overall plan hasn't changed one bit.'
The strategy of using illusion magic to set a decoy was still the same.
That's why I let myself be fooled.
My plan to deceive the priestess of the Goddess of Deception began right there.
The moment I pretended to fall for Ervia's trick and stepped into the cave—
"The Great Flood of monsters ends here! You won't leave this place alive!"
—I made a show of it, driving the Balancer of Flame into the cave's entrance.
The reason I made that big display?
To activate the skill Flame Repulsion.
Just like Kals had demonstrated during our escape from the orc village, that skill could completely repel fire.
'To push back flames…'
In other words, it also blocks airflow.
Like placing a lid over a candle in a glass to snuff it out.
The barrier projected from the shield covered the entire entrance, cutting off all air exchange between the inside and outside of the cave.
And even after I entered, the barrier remained active thanks to Intermediate Shield Handling.
From the outside, the cave looked perfectly normal—
but inside, it had become a sealed chamber.
Sssssssss…
The flames within rapidly consumed the remaining oxygen, spewing thick, toxic gas.
Just one breath of that poison was enough to make you gag and retch.
But Ervia Watts had no idea what was happening.
"Boy, are you trying to play hero?"
She thought I was just some halfwit who'd come to blow up the shaman's corpse—
completely unaware of my scheme, and convinced she had the upper hand.
Exactly as I'd intended.
'She's fallen into the one situation her goddess hates most.'
The Goddess Kishiris, deity of deception, had one true aversion—
being deceived herself.
She didn't mind deceiving others, even took pleasure in it—
but could never forgive her own followers being fooled.
And so, having incurred her goddess's wrath, the Senior Priestess Ervia was stripped of most of her divine power.
The result was this—
"Guh…"
She collapsed at my feet, both wrists severed, blood bubbling from her lips.
Of course, achieving that result came with a price for me, too.
"Hff… hhhff…"
My head was swimming.
The toxic smoke and lack of oxygen filling the cave—
not even a player could ignore that.
[Status Effect: Oxygen Deprivation applied.]
[Status Effect: Severe Poisoning applied.]
My own trap was now turning on me.
Just as the notifications said, nausea and dizziness hit like waves.
But the reason I could outlast the priestess was simple—
stat boosts.
"Put 1 point into Endurance."
Ever since I entered the cave, I'd been quietly pumping points into that stat.
[Endurance has increased!]
[Endurance has reached 69!]
In The World Abandoned by God, stat points were precious—
rarely obtained and always costly to use.
So spending one required serious thought.
But, as if to reward that careful deliberation, the system sometimes gave a small bonus effect.
Like this:
"Ugh… put 1 point into Endurance."
[A portion of your HP has been restored through Endurance enhancement.]
Each time I raised the stat, a sliver of health returned—
a substitute for healing potions.
That was how I kept myself alive during the standoff with Ervia.
"Hff… hhfff…"
I'd tried to control my breathing when I entered the cave, but—
'Doesn't seem to help much.'
My nerves were too strained to stay calm, and my lungs started burning like fire.
I regretted not preparing any related skills beforehand.
The seven remaining stat points were all dumped into Endurance.
Now it was time to get out.
"Urgh."
Dragging the unconscious priestess behind me, I staggered toward the cave entrance.
"Ughhh…"
Damn it.
Why does this skinny old woman weigh so much?
Honestly, I wanted to just leave her there to die.
But if I wanted to catch the true mastermind—High Priestess Grace—
I needed Ervia alive.
Dead witnesses don't make good evidence.
"Cough, cough…"
So I forced my legs to move, hauling her with me.
But—
'Dizzy…'
It wasn't even a few meters away, but the exit looked a hundred.
My legs trembled uncontrollably.
'Did I overestimate myself?'
Should I just ditch Ervia and run?
No—no, not yet.
'What the hell, man!? You were supposed to help by now!'
Why hadn't she shown up?
'No way…'
Even as the flames roared around me, a chill ran down my spine.
…Had I trusted the wrong person?
'Then… I might actually die here?'
My legs gave out.
I gritted my teeth, trying to move forward, but the exit seemed endlessly far.
Damn it!
Just as the darkness of death began to creep closer—
[Flame Repulsion has ended.]
"…Ro-shan!"
A rush of cold air swept over me, cutting through the black haze.
At the same time, a rough, powerful hand yanked me hard.
"Gahhh!"
I tumbled onto the ground, coughing violently.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
"You okay? Open your mouth—hurry!"
At her voice, I opened my mouth, and something—potion or water, I couldn't tell—was poured in.
I gagged, spat, coughed again, and finally shouted hoarsely,
"Hey! You should've pulled me out sooner! Cough!"
As my blurred vision cleared, the first thing I saw was Eve Wyler's face.
"What? You said it'd take about two minutes and thirty seconds, remember?"
She looked offended, like I was the unreasonable one.
[Status Effect: Oxygen Deprivation removed.]
[Status Effect: Severe Poisoning removed.]
I'd almost taken a one-way trip to the afterlife, and now I just stared blankly.
"You were supposed to judge the timing! You just sat there counting seconds?!"
Before entering the cave, I'd left everything outside to Eve.
If my plan failed and Ervia escaped, she'd ambush her.
If my plan succeeded and the cave turned into a furnace,
she'd pull out the Balancer of Flame to ventilate the place after a suitable time.
But she'd waited too long.
I'd almost died for real.
"I was this close to becoming smoked meat! You should've used some damn instinct!"
"There was so much smoke I couldn't see anything! And if I'd opened it too early, you'd have thrown a fit anyway!"
"..."
Well… to be fair, she wasn't wrong.
If Eve had misjudged the timing and pulled the shield out too early, the entire plan would've fallen apart.
And then things would've gotten real ugly.
'Someone definitely would've ended up bleeding.'
Anyway—
"Guess I lived to tell the tale."
I swallowed against my burning throat and let out a long sigh.
"The smoke was so thick I couldn't see a damn thing."
Eve muttered defensively, looking guilty.
"I didn't wait the full two minutes and thirty seconds, okay? I opened it at two. I was worried…"
Seeing her eyes glisten like that, I couldn't help but chuckle.
Honestly, for a moment back there, I'd suspected she might have betrayed me.
'After all, there couldn't have been a better chance to get rid of me.'
But instead, it turned out she'd been panicking her head off, worrying about me the whole time.
…Cute little brat.
I stood up, suppressing the grin tugging at my lips.
"Next time, do better. Even if you can't see, use your intuition, got it?"
"You're insane! Don't you ever make me do something like that again! My heart nearly exploded!"
"If your heart's that fragile, you should get it serviced under warranty."
"Warranty? What's that supposed to mean?"
"..."
When she'd blanked out earlier at the mention of Gandhi, I thought she was just missing some general knowledge—
but no.
She really didn't know anything about the modern Earth I came from.
And she'd even said earlier, 'the game from your world'.
'So she understands that this world is the setting of , just like I do… but she doesn't know anything about the world outside it.'
If my guess was right—
Eve wasn't from Earth at all.
She was a player from an entirely different world.
Was that theory correct?
'I'll figure it out later.'
For now, I crouched beside High Priestess Ervia, the one I'd dragged out of the cave by sheer willpower, and checked her pulse.
Eve, following my lead, asked in a low, cold voice:
"Is she alive?"
Her tone carried so much venom it almost sounded like she hoped the answer was no.
And who could blame her?
This woman had nearly gotten us both killed.
It'd be stranger if she didn't want her dead.
Unfortunately—
"Yeah. Still breathing."
Even with both wrists severed, Ervia was weakly wheezing, her chest rising and falling ever so slightly.
Probably a remnant blessing from the Goddess Kishiris keeping her alive.
"Damn. I really wanted to finish her off myself."
Eve grumbled as she handed me back the Balancer of Flame.
Then she asked innocently,
"So… now we go find the orc shaman's real body, right?"
She clearly thought I was going to finish the Ultra Wave event now.
"…"
I blinked at her.
"Did you forget? This is Riding the Rapids."
Her face froze in realization.
"Right… it's time to use it for your level grind."
Exactly.
As she guessed, my plan was to milk the Ultra Wave for everything it was worth—
to skyrocket my level while the chaos lasted.
Meaning, the wave had to continue.
"How long do you plan to ride this thing, anyway?"
"From start to finish, obviously."
Roughly an hour.
"What the— I've never seen anyone take Riding the Rapids that far…"
"Then watch closely."
I brushed the soot from the red shield's surface.
"I'll show you why they call it Riding the Rapids."
***
Ten minutes later.
We were soaring over a raging inferno.
"Slow down, pleaseeeee!"
Eve screamed, clinging to my waist.
"Mmrrrphhh!"
Bound hand and foot with a gag in her mouth, the priestess also let out muffled shrieks.
But I ignored both of them.
"Sorry! Not something I can control right now!"
[Mini-game 'Flame Surfing' has begun!]
[Control your mount carefully and avoid crashing!]
Below us, hellfire surged like waves of molten light.
Flame-backed monsters darted across the burning forest, howling like mad.
The withered woods screamed as they oxidized into ash.
Truly, it was a torrent of fire—
a roaring tide of explosions.
"Hey! I said slow down!"
"Can't hear you!"
We skimmed through the fiery air, barely above the blazing sea below—
thanks to the shield beneath our feet.
As I said before, the Balancer of Flame repels fire.
Which meant—
by pushing down the flames of this burning hunting ground,
it acted like a makeshift surfboard.
'Still, it's damn hard to steer.'
Despite its difficulty, Flame Surfing was famous among players for its insane visuals and adrenaline rush.
Swoooosh!
I'd played it countless times before.
'Forget one hour—two hours, easy.'
Setting my course toward the cabin, I activated my communication spell.
"Ah, can you hear me, Master?"
"Kyaaah!!"
The witch Tyrbaen screamed at the news that the Ultra Wave would continue for another hour—
but she'd manage.
If things got too bad, I'd go help her myself.
'Alright then. Time to start the harvest.'
I drew my bowstring taut, eyes gleaming.
Let's see how far I can push my level this time.
Even I was looking forward to finding out.
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