Episode 513 Middle Floor (1)
The suddenly created sinkhole devoured people like hungry ghosts.
People who could not walk properly because of the earthquake fell helplessly.
The sight of people disappearing beyond the darkness with screams created endless fear.
“Run away!”
“Where are you going to run away to!”
“Everybody back off!”
“Move! Get out of the way!”
Sinkholes are popping up everywhere.
The big one sucked in hundreds of people, and the small hole also pulled dozens or more down.
Horrified people entangled with each other.
Confusion increased. Even if people who maintain reason tried to stop it, they couldn’t stop the overflowing fear.
“children!”
There were students who still sat down and couldn’t escape.
Teachers who already felt the crisis shouted something, but to no avail.
There were too many people.
In addition, since sinkholes occur irregularly, it is difficult to read their precursors.
It was not appropriate to move recklessly in a situation where you do not know when and where the floor may suddenly go off.
It’s a difficult situation to dry my body.
But even in the midst of that, there were some students who showed courage.
“Wake up!”
“I will help you!”
The ones that stood out were Linen and Aidan.
Even in the midst of the confusion, Ludger caught sight of the way he approached the frightened students, took them by the hand, and lifted them up.
“Guys, don’t stand still, move! hurry!”
Selina also walked over to the tearful student who had collapsed in her seat and stood up.
“Move!”
“Kyaaak!”
At that moment, the person who was moving to live pushed Selina past.
In a panic, he didn’t even realize what he had done.
It was then that the ground beneath Selina’s feet began to settle slightly.
“Miss Selina!”
Rudger called Selina by name.
In the midst of the confusion, Selina turned to Ludger.
Rudger opened his mouth.
It’s dangerous. Come on, avoid it.
The ground sank faster than the words came out.
Collapsing ground and gaping holes.
The monster opened its mouth.
Selina and Theorn’s students gathered around her disappeared into the darkness.
no.
Rudger was desperate and tried to use magic.
If you use telekinesis magic, you should be able to raise at least one or two.
“It’s dangerous!”
But before she could cast her magic, Julia grabbed Rudger and dragged him back.
Then, the mana was disturbed and the activation of the magic was canceled.
But Ludger couldn’t blame Julia.
The spot where Ludger was standing also collapsed like a landslide and fell to the bottom.
The shaking subsided.
A heavy silence fell over the plain where the earthquake had stopped.
Large and small holes were drilled in the vast land.
It looked like a giant rat had eaten the cheese.
Those who survived were terrified.
I was afraid of not knowing when this might happen again.
“The situation has gotten serious.”
Seeing the gruesome sight, Julia covered her mouth with her hand and fell into serious trouble.
“If we keep going like this, the upper floors will collapse faster than we thought. Then everyone will fall to the middle layer.”
Rudger asked, staring into the gaping hole.
“What about the people who just fell?”
“You don’t have to worry. I won’t die. The heights of the middle and upper floors are quite high, but those who have dreamed will know. Do you sometimes dream of falling?”
When Rudger put on a puzzled expression, Julia wiped her forehead.
“I didn’t mean to say something to someone who doesn’t dream.”
“I know it vaguely, though.”
“It feels like that. If you fall in a dream, you wake up, right? But that’s not really directly related to death. When I go back to sleep, I continue my dream. That is the nature of dreams.”
“There is no concept of death by falling in Dreamland.”
“It is practically like that. That’s why people who fell down there wouldn’t have died right away. But…”
“Is that also a matter of time?”
Julia nodded.
From the middle layer, a completely different environment unfolds.
Ordinary people can never enter, and if you are not a dream walker, even a wizard cannot handle it.
It might have fallen to the top of the middle floor, but it was undeniable that the originally short time limit had become even shorter.
Above all, the fact that the children who were listening to the lecture were swept away continued to stimulate Ludger’s planting.
“Miss Rudger.”
Then someone approached Rudger and Julia.
“President. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too. Whoa, I don’t know what to say first.”
Elisa shook her head as if her head was complicated.
What happened after chasing Gregorium was a series of surprising events beyond common sense.
Elisa stared at the seat where the missing students were with a confused face.
“Is this also the old man’s work?”
“I don’t know either.”
Elisha brushed the side of her hair roughly.
It was felt that there was no usual leisure just by the actions revealed in the hands.
“Apart from what the alternate identity is. To be honest, my pride hurts. I tried to fight with a serious heart, but I couldn’t resist and fell in a place like this. I wonder if my skills have rusted.”
“The president’s magic was strong. The opponent was just not good.”
“Seeing that Mr. Rudger is also here, is Mr. Rudger too?”
Rudger nodded.
Nirva’s authority was hard to resist even for Ruud.
In the first place, most of the powers possessed by demons were like that.
“I tried to counterattack him, but to no avail.”
“You hit back?”
“It is just an illusion. He said it was like the moon reflected on the surface of the water. Perhaps the main body is in Dreamland, and what we saw is an alter ego that only projected that image.”
“No, wait a minute. You’re saying that Mr. Rudger had a good fight with that old man.”
Any problem with that?
When Rudger asked with his eyes, Elisa was speechless.
“I didn’t fight well. I tried my best not to fall asleep, but it only lasted a few minutes.”
Elisa gave a complicated look at Rudger, who was talking nonchalantly.
He seems to regret that he lasted for a few minutes, but didn’t he faint after not lasting even 3 seconds?
‘Well, Mr. Rudgar is such an outstanding person, so it’s to be expected.’
Still, I couldn’t help but feel my pride hurt.
Elisa Willow made a strong commitment.
He said that if he met the old man again, he would show him a proper revenge this time,
but the situation was more urgent than that.
“Everyone must have fallen into the middle class, right?”
Elisa was also familiar with the structure of Dream Land.
What will happen if you go in there.
“I guess you have to go to the middle floor at least to save people.”
“Even if we save it, there will be no fundamental solution.”
“As expected, we have to defeat that old man named Nirva. To do that, you have to go deeper.”
“yes.”
“I heard you can’t come back alive if you go to the depths.”
Having to go down to the depths is downright crazy.
“But you mean someone has to go there, right?”
As an analogy, it was said that the bomb had to be disarmed, but the person who went to disarm it would die unconditionally.
But if you don’t go, the bomb will explode and everyone will die.
In order to save the many, the sacrifice of the few was inevitable.
Would that make sense?
Considering Nirva’s ability, the small number should be composed only of extremely talented people.
It was that the strongest people in this position had to sacrifice.
It’s to save other people’s lives.
“I need to get people together, but I don’t know if that will work.”
Elisa was a little skeptical.
People are told to jump into a fire pit with an island of straw to save others, but how many people would do that?
That’s what the human heart is like.
If you sacrifice yourself, others live.
But what does that mean?
An honor given in death is worth less than a speck of dust.
What do you do when you get honor? When you die, your body will already rot away.
“Besides, how many people might be needed? This must be the home ground of that old man called Nirva. There is no guarantee that we will win even if we put all of Ceorn’s power into it.”
“yes. Maybe.”
Rudger stared at Elisa with straight eyes.
“But you have to do it anyway.”
“….”
“Because this is the only option for us.”
There is only one road with no turning back and no other direction.
I can’t be sure what the hell is out there.
If I waited quietly in this place, maybe someone else could have saved me.
If you choose the safest option, that’s right.
But it shouldn’t be.
The moment people settle down, they die there.
In times of crisis like this, something had to be done.
That was the way Rudger realized through various experiences.
“Is there no way to wait for help?”
“As much as we desperately want help, the people down below must be thinking the same thing.”
Rudger looked at Elisa and asked.
“Who do you think can help them here?”
Elisa remembered.
Students and teachers swept together to help others.
If only those who left them and remained here would survive.
Will you feel at ease then?
Elisa did not become the president of Ceorn with that in mind.
“…I see. I guess I just scratched my head. Rather, it is as simple as this.”
“Do you intend to go, too?”
“Even if you look at it like this, he is the president of Seorn, but if the highest person doesn’t go, who will say that he will go?”
In response, Rudger nodded with a faint smile.
“Then we must gather people first.”
“Wait!”
Then Julia intervened between the two.
“You’re not going to go down into the depths of Dreamland with the two of you, are you?”
“Isn’t there any other way than this?”
“Even if you go down and you can never come back? If you wait a little bit, the outside will realize the situation and people will come to the rescue.”
“At Dreamland?”
“Do not forget it. We, the School of Dreams, are in the Empire. Our seniors must have realized the seriousness of the current situation.”
“How long are you going to wait for that? In the meantime, what happens to those who have fallen into the middle class? Can you be sure of that?”
“That’s…”
Julia slurred.
Could she have foreseen all of this?
All of this was an unprecedented and special circumstance.
Even if the person who fell in the middle layer is alive right now, how long will it last?
This is almost the first time that a non-Dream Walker has descended to the middle layer.
There was a possibility that it would not last even a day.
“And didn’t you feel anything strange?”
“What?”
“That the people who fell asleep first at the beginning of the incident are not seen here.”
“That’s…”
Julia realized too late.
When people stop waking up.
Where are the first people who landed in Dreamland and what are they doing?
“No way…”
“Those people must have been pushed to the middle class already. Looking at this situation, it is safe to say that it is virtually certain.”
“Then Sedina too…”
Where is Sedina?
Same with Hans and Sheridan.
Rudger didn’t think that he couldn’t find Hans because there were so many people.
Hans is not stupid.
If it had been him, he would have found out where the three students were and hung around nearby, waiting for Ludger to come.
The same goes for Sheridan.
However, even though Rudger appeared, the two were not visible.
What it meant was very clear.
“Then I will go too.”
“I don’t have to go all the way to you.”
“In case you forgot, I am a Dream Walker belonging to the School of Dreams before being a student of Seorn. I’m sure no one here knows more about Dream Land than I do.”
“When didn’t you say you were waiting for your seniors? I will worry.”
“That’s the fault of those who are late.”
Rudgar didn’t bother to stop Julia.
For Dream Land, Julia will be a better guide than any wizard.
Even as a student, now was not the time to cover that up.
“good night. Let’s bring more people together.”
* * *
Recruiting people to go down to the middle class progressed faster than expected.
Teachers who felt the seriousness of this situation volunteered to go downstairs.
“Of course I will go. I heard Selina fell down too? Then I have to save you.”
Melina said as if boasting.
“Students are down there, but I can’t stay still.”
Brino also said with determination.
“joy.”
Chris Vennimore smirked and crossed his arms, but he didn’t deny it either.
Some were terrified, but many more did not.
“Maybe I was a bit wrong.”
He even warned that if he goes, he may never come back.
In fact, it was safe to say that he was going to die.
But people made up their minds even after hearing the stern warning.
“I never thought there would be many such great people in Seorn.”
“If you know that, why don’t you raise your salary?”
“I will have to seriously think about it when I go back. Of course, you should listen to what the Planning Director says.”
“He seems to like it.”
At the joke to lighten the atmosphere, Elisa turned around with a smile.
Seorn’s teachers were watching her with nervous faces.
As the one who leads them, he can’t show weakness or hesitation.
“everyone. We will go under the Dreamland from now on.”
Other teachers didn’t show much reaction because I told them in advance.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know and didn’t ask for support.
I also heard rough information from Julia, who had experience in the middle class.
“If you go downstairs, a completely different world will unfold from then on. There will be a lot of things that go against the laws of reality and out of common sense. And as you have heard, we will all be scattered the moment we go down.”
If you go down from the upper layer to the middle layer, it will fall to a random place.
Even if they move as a group, they are forcibly scattered.
If you’re lucky, a few people may stick together, but if you’re not lucky, you may have to move alone.
The rough geography and map of the middle layer was taught by Julia, so there was no problem.
“It is natural to be afraid. Actually, I am very nervous. It’s the first time something like this has happened.”
Elisa took a deep breath.
“So just remember one thing. Children and civilians who fell inside. We are the only ones who can give them a helping hand.”
Merilda clenched her fists and Brino nodded vigorously.
Chris Vennimore adjusted his glasses and Vierano untied his wrists.
“Is everyone ready?”
Elisa looked back.
A large lake stretched out there.
It was a clear, clean lake.
The water was so clear that you could see every grain of sand on the bottom.
There was a pitch-black hole in the depths of the lake.
Through the hole, the sand submerged in the lake was falling like a waterfall.
It was as if a huge angler were swallowing something endlessly.
That was the entrance to the middle layer of Dreamland.
A sight that evokes visceral fear.
The moment I was submerged below, I felt the anxiety of sinking into an endless abyss.
Some teachers even regretted applying for nothing.
“Then let’s go.”
Having said that, Elisha jumped into the lake first.
Rudger and Julia followed after him.
Other teachers also jumped into the lake with determined faces.
As soon as I entered the lake, a huge force pulled me as if I was attracted by something invisible.
People fell into the hole of the endless abyss.
There was nothing short of breath.
It was a dream world, so I was able to breathe even though I was submerged in the water.
How far did you go down like that?
Before long, a dazzling light broke through the darkness and a different scene unfolded.
