* * *
I held my breath, staying still as I watched the leader’s actions.
His eyes stayed locked on Chirpy, who hovered in the air, as he reached out and grabbed a fistful of my hair.
“Ugh.”
My head snapped back, my chin forced upward.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
Chirpy flapped about anxiously, chirping at the top of his lungs.
His barrier only protected against physical attacks, so there was nothing he could do if I was strangled or manhandled like this.
The leader must’ve realized that weak point and decided to test it.
His eyes lit up as if he’d discovered a treasure, and he swung his hand at Chirpy.
But true to his S-rank status, Chirpy effortlessly dodged and vanished just like I told him to.
The leader glared fiercely, his eyes burning with frustration, but I just shrugged like I didn’t know anything.
What do you want me to do about it?
Furious, the leader shouted something in a language I couldn’t understand.
The expressionless natives suddenly sprang into action, rushing toward us to restrain us.
In the blink of an eye, our wrists were tied, and long strips of leather were used to blindfold and gag us.
With no idea where they were taking us, we stumbled along, and eventually, the sounds of daily life reached my ears.
Dogs barking.
Children playing.
The ordinary sounds of a village.
Is this a native village?
I listened closely to the sounds from afar, when suddenly a wooden door creaked open.
A sharp shove to my back sent me tumbling to the floor.
My shoulder ached from the fall, but I stayed still, listening to the silence.
Judging by how quiet it was, I’d likely been separated from the others during the transfer.
Just as I awkwardly tried to get up, the wooden door creaked again.
I tensed, shoulders hunched, when suddenly, light flooded my vision—the blindfold was removed.
Squinting against the brightness, I cautiously opened my eyes and saw a young boy, around middle school age, standing before me.
He barely reached my chest.
The boy peeked at me with innocent eyes and quietly began untying the ropes around me.
Then, without warning, he reached for my hoodie.
“What… what are you doing?”
I recoiled in shock, but the small hands clung stubbornly.
I was so flustered, my lips moved without sound, and before I could react, my hoodie was stripped off.
In its place, he dressed me in some unfamiliar clothing.
Is this… supposed to be clothes?
Maybe they put effort into it, but it was basically a patched-together mess of animal hides, barely enough to cover my chest.
I felt like a pervert exposed like this.
Regardless of how I felt, the boy busily decorated me, weaving flowers into my hair and painting white patterns onto my exposed arms with something like body paint.
That much I could tolerate, but smearing blood under my eyes?
I had no idea what that was about.
The smell of blood made me instinctively scrunch my brows.
The boy flinched, quickly packed his things—including my gray hoodie—and hurried out.
At least he left my item pouch.
Guess they figured there’s no point messing with it since anyone but the owner would find it empty.
“Where even is this place?”
The room wasn’t large, but it was decorated surprisingly lavishly.
There was a bed with soft furs, and food was neatly arranged on the table.
The meat looked suspicious, so I only popped a grape into my mouth.
As I chewed, surveying the room, something odd caught my eye.
“…Is that human skin?”
It was unmistakably a book bound in human leather.
Grossed out, I hesitated before carefully flipping a page.
Maybe it was some shaman’s book, but unexpectedly, it was more like a picture book depicting the natives’ daily lives.
“Sacrifice?”
As I flipped through the pages, I discovered an unsettling fact.
I was about to be offered as a sacrifice.
So that’s why they’re dressing me up like this.
According to the book, this island really did have spiritual beings.
Though calling them ‘spirits’ sounded nice, they looked like nothing but monsters to me.
The conclusion was obvious.
First, I need to find the others.
I closed the book and cautiously approached the wooden door.
Peeking through the slightly open gap, I saw no one guarding the front.
But a thick wooden board was blocking the door—I couldn’t get out like this.
No visible windows either.
Without hesitation, I pulled an S-rank dagger from my item pouch.
Slipping the blade into the door gap and slicing downward, the board split cleanly like butter, falling to the floor.
I slowly opened the door, careful not to make noise, and slipped outside.
Ducking behind the building, I scanned the village from a distance.
As expected from the sounds I heard, children were running around playing.
But what truly shocked me was what I saw beside them.
A woman, likely a mother, was placing a human head onto an altar right next to where the kids played.
Kneeling and praying before it—like it was part of some ritual.
Judging by his appearance, he didn’t seem to be one of us, but the shock was no different.
I pressed my aching head with my hand and quietly slipped into the bushes.
Walking carefully in a crouched position, I soon heard the sound of people nearby.
To be precise, the sound of cheering.
What’s going on?
Following the noise, I came upon a large temple in a wide clearing.
Its grand appearance reminded me of ancient Mayan ruins.
The people’s attire and the general vibe of the dungeon were eerily similar to the Mayan civilization.
“It’s that guy.”
At the top of the pyramid-shaped temple, a leader stood with an imposing presence, but the important thing was the man kneeling beneath him.
The injured man, missing one leg, was already half out of his mind.
Judging by how the long staircase was entirely stained dark red, this seemed to be a place where people were executed for ceremonial purposes.
It probably wasn’t the same concept as a typical sacrificial ritual.
And everything unfolded in the blink of an eye.
What the hell.
Amidst the roaring cheers of countless natives, the man’s head was cut off in an instant.
The leader, wielding a blade, raised his arm and shouted, causing the cheers to erupt even louder.
Thud… Thud, thud.
The severed head tumbled helplessly down the steps.
A sudden thought struck me—maybe they used that man to lure us here.
Stunned by the horrifying scene, I froze for a while before snapping back to my senses and retreating quickly.
My heart raced with urgency.
“Where the hell are those two?”
The village’s structure was so complicated that finding the other two wasn’t easy.
The worry that they might have been killed in the meantime started to creep in.
Hurrying along, I eventually reached an area where the ground looked unnaturally well-trodden.
There, a man who appeared to be a native was aiming a sharp wooden spear into a deep pit.
What’s he doing?
I held my breath, staying hidden and watching carefully.
Just then, another native burst out of the woods, hurriedly explaining something.
The first man’s face twisted into a vicious snarl.
Judging by the serious atmosphere, it seemed my escape had been discovered.
The man hastily covered the pit with wooden planks, dragging a large rock over to weigh it down.
Then, he bolted toward the village.
“What the hell is in there?”
After confirming both men were gone, I cautiously approached the pit.
But as I got closer, familiar voices drifted to my ears.
“Better than the sneaky bastard who planted a tracker on me. Freaking stalker.”
“Coming from you, that’s rich. You were choking me out a minute ago, and now you’re suddenly being all friendly?”
“Friendly?”
“Grabbing my hand, rambling about allergies—that’s your idea of being friendly, huh?”
It was a relief I found them, but why the hell were these two arguing instead of trying to get out?
And… they were talking about me, right?
The conversation sounded suspicious, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.
I rolled the rock aside and yanked up the wooden planks.
“…Hyung?”
Upon seeing my face, Woo Jaehyun’s brows briefly furrowed, but he quickly smiled as if nothing had happened.
“Why’d you get all prettied up?”
“Shut up and get your ass up here.”
I wanted to wipe my face too, but the blood had already dried, making it hard to clean off.
Not like I had time to wash up with water in this mess anyway.
Cha Rui stared up at me with a stiff expression, then started climbing the pit wall without hesitation.
Despite the considerable height, he didn’t stop even once.
Wait… did everyone get their abilities back except me…?
At this point, calling him an awakened being wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Not to be outdone, Woo Jaehyun quickly climbed up after him, giving me a once-over with a raised eyebrow.
“What happened?”
Under his persistent gaze, I sheepishly pulled out the S-rank jacket I had and briefly explained what I’d read in the book and what happened at the temple.
They barely reacted until I mentioned the word “sacrifice,” and then both spoke up at once.
“Sacrifice?”
“You’re saying you were the sacrifice?”
* * *
Both the Espers want MC , I can understand the Cha Guy but this Woo something is like a slippery eel.