By Zephyria 
Could this stone have some kind of magical power? I squatted down and examined the edge where my hand had been cut earlier. It seemed I had been scratched by the slightly chipped and sharpened section.
“…….”
With a serious expression, I looked at the finger that had been injured. If it weren’t for the reddish bloodstain on my skin, I might have thought the injury wasn’t real. The wound had completely disappeared.
Just in case, I touched the opposite edge, but it was rather blunt. Only the spot I had touched first among the four corners was chipped.
“…….”
I was unlucky to have touched that spot and gotten hurt, but it didn’t seem like this stone had any special power.
After some thought, I placed the other hand, not the one that had been injured, on the sharp part again. When I pressed down, I felt a sharp pain as my skin broke.
I took my hand away and watched the injured area without blinking. As before, some blood came out and then stopped. The wound left no trace.
If it’s not the stone, is there something wrong with my body? I was worried if I should be doing this in this strange place, but I couldn’t resist my curiosity.
After about five seconds of intense deliberation, I dug my fingernails into my forearm and scratched downwards strongly. As the nails left a long scratch, droplets of blood began to well up.
“…….”
This time, the wound healed before the blood even had a chance to drip down. The throbbing pain and the red mark on my skin disappeared. Only the trace of blood remained.
It was clear that something was wrong with my body, not the stone. Or maybe it’s a unique phenomenon that only occurs in this Ruins. I do have a dagger for self-defense in my pocket…
Should I test it one more time? Is it just scratches or cuts that heal, or does it also work if a part of my body is severed? That’s already in the realm of regeneration, not just healing.
I was curious, but thinking about it, it wasn’t the time to be worrying about that in this situation. It would be a big problem if it didn’t regenerate.
I put the strange phenomenon aside for now and looked around again. There was nothing special about the structure, and even if I looked closely at the black stains on the floor, I couldn’t tell what they were. I felt uneasy touching them with my bare hands, so I cut off a piece of my sleeve and rubbed it with the cloth.
Nothing came off, and there was no particular smell. It looked like a stain from something spilled… Surely it’s not blood.
Maybe it was because I had seen so much blood earlier, but my thoughts kept going in that direction. Anyway, there was nothing more to look at, so I decided to open the last remaining door.
As expected, the door didn’t open immediately. What was unusual was that only the sixth door on the far right had no doorknob. The doorknob area was recessed inward, and upon closer inspection, I could see the handle inside.
Should I put my hand in there? I hope no knives or thorns suddenly come out. But since I’ll heal automatically even if I get hurt, I didn’t hesitate for long.
Still, to avoid the worst-case scenario, I put my left hand, not my right, inside and grabbed the handle. After waiting for a moment, I turned it slightly clockwise, and with a click, the door opened.
It opened too easily without any problems, which made me even more suspicious. Would the door close and trap me inside? Or was it a trap?
Thinking of various possibilities, I cautiously entered. It was still underground, but the air inside was even more stagnant. That was because this large space was filled with books.
“…….”
There were so many that I couldn’t even guess how many. The huge bookshelves that filled the entire wall were packed with books, parchment, yellowed paper, and even wooden tablets.
As if possessed, I went inside. Near the center, there were pieces of broken glass scattered around. I didn’t know if someone had deliberately broken it or if it had broken on its own, but judging by the thick layer of dust, it seemed to have been broken a long time ago.
I took one of the nearest books and opened it, but I couldn’t see any letters. It was just a book made of paper without any writing.
The one next to it, the bumpy parchment, and the wooden tablets were the same. I couldn’t see them all because it was so vast and huge, but I guessed the other books would be similar.
I was quickly flipping through the pages when it happened.
Without any warning or sign, the scenery and the flow of air suddenly changed before my eyes.
“…….”
With a bewildered expression, I looked up. The first thing I felt was the unnecessarily humid and heavy air. And the acrid smoke and nauseating smell of blood filled the air. A hot wind blew strongly, and the dark crimson and dark purple mixed sky flickered madly. I could see a torn rift between the rapidly moving giant dark clouds.
From within, ominous lightning bolts stretched out like spiderwebs towards the ground in all directions.
What the hell?
At first glance, it wouldn’t be strange to think the world was ending. Was this the Actan on the day the rift opened? Did my memories return?
But I soon had to change my mind. Anyone could see that this was not Actan. I could tell from the style of the buildings and the appearance of the scattered corpses.
I looked down at my hands. My body had taken shape, but it didn’t seem perfect. The floor was faintly visible through my hands. It was as if I were a ghost.
Was it because of that book? It was similar to when I entered Aska’s dream, but my senses were clearer now.
As I was examining my body, I suddenly heard someone approaching. I turned my head and saw a man who looked to be in his fifties. The man with faded blond hair was looking up at the sky with a mournful expression.
‘The speed at which it’s growing seems to be getting faster and faster.’
He looked disheveled and haggard, but judging by his aura and clothing, he seemed to be a strong warrior of high rank.
‘I think I’ll have to do it.’
A person completely covered from head to toe in a dark robe said with a determined voice next to the man. The moment I heard those words, both the man and I looked surprised.
‘It’s too dangerous.’
I moved my legs and approached the person in the robe. Even if I reached out to grab them, my hand passed through, and I couldn’t touch them.
‘If things continue like this, everyone will be in danger anyway.’
‘What are the chances of success?’
‘Even if we maximize it, about 20%…’
A groan escaped the man’s lips. I slowly circled around them, observing their appearances closely.
‘Organs and parts of the body have severe rejection reactions, and blood is the only thing with a chance.’
‘What about the upper part of the head?’
‘We plan to try it tomorrow, but even that has a high chance of failure.’
The content was ominous, but I focused more on the voice of the person in the robe.
‘Most of the reactions within are skeptical as well.’
‘You said it doesn’t matter about gender, age, or a healthy body?’
‘Yes, it seems there is a suitable body with a matching wavelength rather than those things.’
‘Then even if you are strong, it’s useless.’
I listened to their conversation, passing through their bodies, and even tried to put my face inside the hood. I desperately wanted to see their face, but there was no way, which was frustrating.
Was it because my heart was understood? The person in the robe pulled back the hood.
‘Even so, I can last longer than others, so maybe I can find a breakthrough.’
The face revealed from under the hood was surprisingly pale and beautiful. It was a black-eyed woman with black hair that reached her waist, and her appearance was quite similar to Aska.
Her voice was also so similar that I thought it was strange, but even her appearance was like this…
As I was looking at the woman who had taken off her hood with a surprised face, I suddenly felt something sucking me in from the top of my head.
“Kyle.”
At the same time as I heard a familiar voice, the scenery before my eyes changed in an instant. I turned my head and saw Aska. I suddenly couldn’t tell if this was reality or an illusion.
I raised my hand and stroked his cheek, then asked.
“Is this real?”
“Then is it fake?”
“How did you know and come all the way here?”
“Where is this, anyway?”
At that question, I shrugged.
“I don’t know either. How did you get here?”
“I suddenly smelled blood and came in a hurry, but I couldn’t see you. I thought you were underground, so I tried to dig through the ground, and when I reached the entrance of the Ruins, I was transported here.”
His situation was similar to mine.
“The others didn’t react when they touched it, so why are only you and I like this?”
“Are you hurt?”
Without answering my question, Aska suddenly grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. Then he found the blood-stained forearm and hand and frowned.
“How did you get hurt? It doesn’t seem very dangerous.”
There were only bloodstains and no wounds, but he didn’t seem to think that was strange. I said to Aska, who was licking the bloodstains on my forearm.
“I saw a woman who looked like you in a vision or something earlier.”
Come to think of it, he wasn’t just licking the bloodstains, but he knew exactly where the wound had been before it healed. How does he know when there are no scars or anything?
As I was marveling, Aska glanced at me and asked.
“Black hair?”
Could they possibly know each other?