"This rope... what does it do? How do you use it?" The fleshy-faced woman asked, looking a bit confused.
"It's simple. If you notice something wrong underwater, or if I surface and wave for help, just grab this rope and give it a hard pull," said the curly-haired man. "That will instantly teleport me back to the location of your end of the rope."
Everyone was slightly startled to hear this.
"Teleportation? That's amazing!" the chubby guy exclaimed. "That thing's a real treasure... Way better than my reward..."
The curly-haired man shrugged. "It's not as powerful as you think. It has limits. The distance between the two ends of the rope can't exceed fifty meters. Plus, you can only use it once."
"Only once, huh..." The chubby guy's envy subsided.
"That's why it's a true lifesaver, my ace in the hole. If it weren't to be safe, I wouldn't want to use it here," the curly-haired man said helplessly.
Then he looked at the fleshy-faced woman and said, "Since it's a one-time use, you need to be careful with it. Don't just pull it for no reason... But if you see something's wrong, don't hesitate. I don't want to die."
"Alright, I get it," the fleshy-faced woman said, glancing at the rope and nodding. "Get in the water already."
"Okay."
The curly-haired man didn't hesitate any longer. In fact, he was eager to get going—it was finally his time to show off!
He walked to the edge of the reef, found a good spot, and jumped in...
He didn't dive straight down. Instead, he started by swimming a short distance on the surface.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...
It was as if he'd suddenly turned into a merman; his swimming speed was absurdly fast!
"Holy crap, that speed... Is that a class ability? That's insane..." The chubby guy was completely dumbfounded.
The others also watched in awe—no normal human could possibly swim that fast. Even an Olympic swimming champion would likely have to concede defeat. The class skills in the Samsara Game were truly ridiculous.
After swimming back and forth a couple of times under everyone's amazed gazes, the curly-haired man, having shown off enough, wasted no more time and plunged headfirst into the water...
And so, the others temporarily lost sight of him.
The surface of the sea fell quiet for a moment.
Everyone stood on the shore, waiting.
Just like that, a minute passed.
"Why isn't he back up yet?"
"It's only been a minute, what's the rush?"
...
Two minutes passed.
"Isn't something wrong...?"
"A normal person can hold their breath for two minutes. It's fine, let's wait a bit longer."
...
Three minutes passed.
"Are you sure he's okay?"
"Hiss..." Even the fleshy-faced woman frowned slightly, looking down at the rope in her hand. "Don't tell me something really happened..."
...
Another half a minute went by... Everyone was looking at the fleshy-faced woman.
"Just pull it already."
The fleshy-faced woman thought for a moment, nodded, and was about to pull.
"SPLASH!----"
The sound of breaking water suddenly erupted.
About twenty meters away, a figure burst out of the sea...
It was the curly-haired man.
Everyone immediately looked toward him.
He wiped his face with both hands, slicked the wet hair back, then looked at the group, smiled, and waved. "Don't worry, I'm fine. But I didn't find any useful wreckage either."
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
"What about fish?" shouted the black man with dreadlocks.
The curly-haired man took a few breaths before answering, "Didn't see any fish in the shallows, but there seem to be some in deeper water. The visibility is poor down there, though, and the light is bad... I saw the shadows of big fish a few times, but they swam off before I could get close. They're really fast. Don't worry, I'll go down again after I catch my breath and see if I can bring one up for you."
Hearing there were still fish, the group's spirits lifted slightly.
The madam thought for a moment and called out, "Be careful, then. Safety first."
Hearing the madam's gentle words, the curly-haired man felt a warmth in his heart. He raised his hand and made an OK sign. "Don't worr--"
Before he could finish the last word, his entire body suddenly sank, disappearing beneath the waves.
The onlookers were slightly stunned.
With the constant waves on the sea's surface, they couldn't tell if he'd dived down himself or had been swamped by a passing wave.
"Did he... go down again?" asked the madam.
"I don't know... I guess so," the chubby guy said, scratching his head. "He's such a good swimmer, it's not like he could suddenly forget how and just sink, right?"
Everyone was confused, staring at the spot where the curly-haired man had vanished.
One second...
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
"Splash..."
The water suddenly began to churn violently.
After a few struggles, a figure barely broke the surface, only to be immediately dragged back down.
Then, breaking the surface one more time amidst the splashing, a voice cried out:
"Aaargh... Help!... Quick... help... gurgle--pull... pull!"
Everyone was bewildered. They could faintly hear what sounded like a desperate scream, but the sound of the crashing waves made it difficult to hear clearly.
But in the next second, they saw a splash of red...
It spread out from the churning water, a vivid crimson... rapidly staining the surrounding sea.
Now they were certain something had gone wrong. They whipped their heads around to look at the fleshy-faced woman.
Only to find her standing frozen in place, eyes wide, the rope in her hand clearly not yet pulled!
"Hey!! Pull it, pull it now! Something's happened! What are you standing there for?!" yelled the black man with dreadlocks.
The fleshy-faced woman snapped out of her daze, glanced down at the rope, and then, gripping it tightly, gave a sharp tug...
Though it was just an isolated segment of rope in her hand, the moment she pulled, she felt as if she had yanked on a solid object.
In the next second, there was a flash of light...
A figure appeared abruptly.
And then... fell heavily onto the sand.
"Aaaargh--ugh--"
A scream had just erupted from his mouth, only to be cut short by the thud of his body hitting the ground.
It seemed the excessive pain and the shock of the fall had caused him to pass out instantly.
Everyone quickly gathered around, and when they looked down, their faces paled.
Haji's left hand was shredded, and his entire right forearm was gone...
His face, chest, abdomen, thighs... all were covered in bloody gashes, as if he'd been viciously bitten dozens of times by something with sharp fangs. Bright red blood, mixed with some unknown, viscous, blackish-green fluid, oozed from the wounds...
...
...
"Finally... we're out..."
Stepping out of the forest and onto the sand, though the sun beat down with scorching heat, Nijika felt as if she had been saved.
It couldn't be helped. The forest was terrifying, like something out of hell. Compared to that, this oven-like beach felt like paradise.
"Whoa..."
As her overwrought nerves suddenly relaxed, a wave of dizziness washed over her.
Her legs went weak, and the girl was about to collapse to her knees...
Fortunately, Fumiya Jin was right beside her. He quickly caught her, holding her steady.
"Sorry..." Nijika leaned against Fumiya Jin, rubbing her temples, and with his help, she managed to stand firm again.
"Nothing to be sorry for. You were amazing," Fumiya Jin said, shaking his head. "You worked hard, Nijika."
Hearing this, Nijika was taken aback for a moment.
She suddenly felt like crying, but not from any negative emotion.
An immense sense of joy and happiness welled up inside her—she hadn't just been a burden, she had actually helped!
In that moment, she felt that all the fear she had endured, all the exhaustion and dizziness she had forced herself to suppress, had been worth it.
"It... wasn't that hard," Nijika said, shaking her head and revealing a sweet smile. She took a deep breath and said, "Let's go. We need to bring the good news to the others. They must be very thirsty by now."
____
Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...
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