Chapter 3: What's up With This Island? (3)

Damn it! I knew this would happen. Anom thought helplessly as he examined the cuts on his arms. There were some on his back, too.

He charged headfirst into the ruins and triggered the first trap. But he didn't even know how he triggered it. He kept walking at a speed that would enable him to react to traps.

Out of nowhere, gusts of wind as sharp as blades swarmed over him. Out of instinct, he could only crouch down and cover his face.

"Seriously, what's up with this island?" He exclaimed, "I'll be made into French fries before I reach the end."

His worries soon came true. Similar traps greeted him along the way. Wind blades, fire bursts, and even lightning attacks were understandable, but what was up with the wind blades? Not to mention the lightning. What kind of civilization did this ruin belong to?

Did a chef design this ruin? First they tried to slice me; now they're employing different ways to cook me. Such silly thoughts helped Anom keep up his rationality as he moved through the traps.

Although a single trap was not fatal as long as you didn't keep standing in it, the accumulated injuries were still a cause for worry. He could only move forward while making use of his agile body to dodge the attacks, minimizing the damage.

Anom didn't know how far he had come or how much was left. Currently, his whole body was full of cuts and burn patches. He felt like, instead of a ruin, he had entered a dungeon from a fantasy game.

He stopped for a rest as he took out the flashlight from the bag on his waist. After turning it on, he took out the stone, the reason for his being here.

Although he blamed the stone for his predicament, the decision to come here was his own. Plus, the stone looked really mesmerizing under the flashlight.

Suddenly, he noticed that the area from his waist to his knees was intact, without a single wound or cut on his clothes.

That's weird. Although he didn't have the time to pay attention to the direction of the attacks, he still felt some of them coming towards the area, which was too good to be true.

He analyzed the situation and realized that the only thing different from before was the stone he was carrying.

Maybe this stone works as some kind of barrier. Though it sounded absurd, in this place where many absurd things became reality, it was the most likely explanation. After all, the stone also came out of this place.

Making up his mind, he lifted the stone in front of him, keeping it at chest level. He started walking along the passage.

As soon as he reached a certain distance, fire burst out in front of him. Anom kept using the tactic of dodging to the best of his ability, keeping his sensitive parts safe.

This time, he paid attention to the area around the stone. Although he had guessed as much, the sight still amazed him. Just when the fire burst looked like it would hit him in the chest, the fire hit something and dispersed around a foot away from the stone.

After the flames scattered, Anom could make out an invisible, spherical layer surrounding the stone. It was around two feet in diameter.

"Awesome!" Anom couldn't help but exclaim. Who would've thought such a magical thing was possible?

Keeping his joy in check, he kept moving forward.

After going past several traps, Anom noticed that, as he concentrated on the stone to keep the barrier up, the size of the barrier seemed to be increasing. From the initial diameter of two feet, it was now around three feet.

Deciding to give it a try, he kept concentrating on the stone. And as he hoped, the barrier was really expanding.

Another thing he noticed was that the traps got stronger as he kept moving forward. Another type of trap, a rock-spiked carpet that appears at random, made its presence known.

After going on just like this for half an hour, Anom finally noticed a light in the distance. He increased his speed and ran towards it.

He soon saw the light coming from a torch on the wall of the huge hall that appeared in front of him.

The hall was around thirty feet high and fifty feet on both sides. The walls were made of big blocks of rock, the same as the passageway.

The passage ended here, but there were three more passages, one on each of the other three walls. This hall was like an intersection between all the passageways.

He thought for a while and decided to keep moving forward. He chose the door in the middle, as that seems to be heading deeper.

Just as he moved towards the door, he felt a sudden tug on his hand. The stone in his hand was slightly moving. It was like it wanted to go somewhere.

Anom decided to check; maybe this stone would lead him somewhere where he could find some answers.

He moved the rock in all directions. Just as he moved it in front of the passage on the right, the pull on the stone became even stronger.

Anom ran forward and entered the right door.

As soon as it got a boost, the stone kept moving forward, dragging Anom along with it. If he had not been holding the stone tightly, it might have flown out of his hand.

Just like that, Anom kept enjoying his effortless ride by holding the stone. The stone kept at it for around ten minutes before coming to a sudden halt.

"Uwah!" The sudden stop made the rock hit Anom's chest, making him shout in pain.

Anom rubbed his chest as he looked around. In front of him was a small room. This room was the same height as the passage and around thirty feet wide and twenty feet long.

In the middle of the room was a big square stone slab. It was two feet high and six feet on both sides.

On top of it stood a statue. A statue that was missing the part above the waist. The sculpted legs looked as if they were about to take a step forward. It was barefoot and wearing a loose dress that went down just below its knees.

So that's the remaining part of that big-boobed statue. Anom thought as he moved towards the statue.

As he came near the stone slab, he noticed a broken arm lying around the feet of the statue. That appeared to be the other missing arm. There was also a round disk on top of its palm. It was just half an inch thick and three inches in diameter. There was a semi-spherical indent in the middle, and it had many flat sides, similar to the stone in his hand.

Anom bent forward and grabbed the arm for a closer look. He kept glancing between the disk and the stone before deciding to take a gamble once again.

He placed the stone in the indent. And as he expected, it was a perfect fit.

He kept staring at the stone, expecting something to happen. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened.

He frowned. He moved his hand forward to grab the stone. He took it in his hands before deciding to put it back again.

Yawn~

But before he could put it back, he heard a yawning sound coming from inside the room. He almost tossed the arm due to the sudden scare.

Anom looked around the room but didn't see anything or anyone that could yawn. There was only one blind spot left. He moved toward the back of the stone slab.

What he saw there left him speechless.

On the hard, stone floor, there lay a girl looking no more than twenty. She had a slender body, and the silky white dress she was wearing failed to hide her curvy waist and bountiful breasts. She was wearing a light brown open jacket over her dress. She was barefoot. Her face looked like it was sculpted with care. She had cute red lips, a small nose, and black eyelashes. She looked like a sleeping fairy.

Anom was convinced that he had never met such a beautiful woman before.

He crouched, moving his face forward, and was about to wake her up when suddenly the sleeping beauty opened her eyes.

At first, her eyes were unfocused as she tried to make sense of the situation. Then her eyes focused on Anom, whose face was too close to her, and widened.

She jumped up from her sleeping position while screaming, "Aaah, pervert." She shouted. "He's trying to r*pe me; help!"

Anom was first stunned, then he quickly looked at her like there was an idiot standing there.

The girl probably came fully to her senses as she looked around the room, checked herself, and then focused back on Anom.

"Who are you?" But as soon as she finished her sentence, she focused on the stone in Anom's hand.

Like there was a spring in her legs, she jumped towards the stone while shouting, "Give it back!"

Anom quickly sidestepped, avoiding her. The speeding girl almost lost her balance due to her momentum.

"Why are you acting like a monkey? Can't you talk calmly like a normal person?" Anom scolded her as he saw her jump over him.

"Who are you calling a monkey? I'm the leader of the Spirit Angels, Cassana. And why do you have the World Stone in your hands? Give it back and let me decide your punishment." The girl maintained her angry expression while speaking arrogantly.

Anom got pissed at the way this girl talked to him without even making things clear.

He walked towards her, raised his hand, and before she could react, gave her a hard knock on the head.

"Ouch. You perv-"

"Shut up!" Anom stopped her from speaking, then continued, "If this stone is so precious to you, then why was it outside this ruin, lying in a box, until I stol-, took it from there?"

He also added, while pointing at the statue, "You see this statue? Where is its upper portion, huh? It was also lying outside this ruin. What do you have to say now, miss Spirit Angel?" Anom was not sure what kind of shows she's been watching for her to speak like that.

The girl reacted as if she hadn't heard anything. As soon as she looked in the direction of the statue, she looked as if her soul had left her body.

"WAAAAH!" She screamed on top of her lungs, "What have you done to the statue? Mother God is going to kill me now."

“Hey, how many misunderstandings are you going to create by yourself?” Anom asked. "At least make things clear before you conclude anything."

The girl took a deep breath and calmed down. She took a last look at the statue before turning towards Anom. Her expression changed to that of a mighty figure as she ordered, "Tell me what happened here, and I might reward you."

Anom confirmed that he had met an idiot. He replied, "Why should I? What kind of reward can you give me, huh?" While speaking, Anom scanned her body in a lewd way.

The mighty image she tried to create crumbled in an instant as her face turned red.

"I was right! You are a pervert!" She spoke while gritting her teeth.

"And you are an idiot?" Suddenly, Anom found this girl too cute and amusing. She was like a girl from a rich family, born with a silver spoon in her mouth and ignorant of the ways of the world.

Suddenly, she frowned and asked, "How did you come here alone? Are you with the exploration team outside?" Speaking until now, he became very. He was not worried about the people chasing him, as there was no way they could overcome the traps without any equipment. Even though he was forced by the circumstances; otherwise, he wouldn't do so. His only worry was for the exploration team inside, which was sure to have well-equipped guards with them. It'll not be good if he crosses paths with them.

"I've been here for a long time since the start of my mission. And what exploration team are you talking about? I'm working alone, and I don't remember Mother God sending a team with me. Or have I been sleeping for too long?" The girl tilted her head and made a confused face.

Her eyes widened suddenly as she looked toward the tunnel. She waved her hand in the air, and in front of the stunned eyes of Anom appeared a screen of light. It was white for a second before it started displaying various images.

What kind of security camera is this? Anom's mind was feeling numb as he didn't remember which country invented such advanced holographic technology.

He focused on the screen again and found some moving figures on one of the screens.

It was a group of ten, examining a room that looked similar to the large room he had been in before.

There was a man in front, wearing what looked like a black combat suit. It was one of the latest exoskeleton styled suits of armor developed by army institutes of various nations. It provided increased defense, attack power, and ease in weapon operations.

Behind him were four people with similar suits. All of them carrying weapons. This technology was in its development stage, so it was surprising that they used it on a ruin exploration. But when he thought about their lousy security, he didn't know if that was the best he could do or if they were too overconfident.

Anom knew that if they came face-to-face, he didn't stand a chance to win. The other five were four men and one woman; they were middle-aged or older and had various archaeological tools in their hands. All of them are wearing a simplified version of the combat suit. It looked more inclined toward defense.

The girl, Cassana, stared at them with a serious expression before asking, "What is that in their hands? It looks dangerous." She was pointing at the guns in the hands of the guards.

Anom looked at her weirdly before deciding that he'd just play along; maybe this girl somehow ended up here and was traumatized.

"Oh, that's called a gun. It shoots small metal projectiles, which move faster than sound. The one in their hands can kill a normal person in a single shot."

"Huh, that's all? I was worried for nothing." Cassana acted as if she had lost all interest and waved the screen off. After it disappeared, she turned her attention back to the statue, and her expression became solemn once again.

While staring at the statue, she asked, "Can you tell me what you know about this place and how you got that stone?"

Anom felt pity for the girl. It looks like whatever she experienced made her forget some of her memories. Places like this are really not meant for amateurs. Slowly shaking his head, he explained whatever he could while also explaining how someone asked him to 'retrieve' the stone from this island. Now that he thought about it, maybe there was someone in the exploration team that leaked the information; otherwise, his client had no way of obtaining this information.

Cassana kept listening quietly. She glanced at the stone in his hand and muttered in an inaudible voice, "How did you even touch the stone with your hands?" She shook her head before saying, "We have to get out here before this temple loses any more of its energy. If that happens, I'll have to stay in this world. And you're coming with me."

Before Anom could make sense of her words, she snapped her fingers, and the ruins started to vibrate.