Chapter 92

"U, un...”

The sensation of being pulled into the login stopped, and my body stabilized. My eyelids were heavy, blocking my vision, but I could clearly hear the sounds of people. Something was being burned, and occasionally, a small cracking sound could be heard. It sounded like a campfire. The sound of metal objects clashing suggested a meal setting. They had been waiting by my side for two hours. Given the introduction of hunger, it wasn't strange for them to be eating.

I slowly opened my eyes and found the campfire. The red flames flickered, spreading a warm and gentle light. The pleasant popping sounds filled my ears. On either side of the campfire, two large men were eating something from metal plates and spoons. As I raised my gaze further, I lost my words.

"Tak, he's hanging there!?"

Tak, supported by a single harness rope, was spinning on his back near the campfire. He tightened his abdominal muscles and raised his upper body, then relaxed his entire body, arching backward. He was balancing by moving his head up and down. Occasionally, he would relax his entire body, roll his eyes, and let out meaningless groans.

He seemed to be enjoying himself, entrusting his entire body to the single rope and maintaining his balance, but from my perspective, it looked like he was being roasted by the two large men.

"Hey, girl. You're back, huh?"

"No, no, Tak is burning! He'll get roasted near the fire!"

Suddenly, I panicked, but he raised his upper body to look at me, and everyone was waving one hand.

"It's not roasting, it's balance training. It's one of the exercises, and I'm enjoying it."

"Huh? Hanging like that?"

"Want to try? It's subtle, but quite fun."

"No, I'm a bit embarrassed, so I'll pass."

I didn't understand what kind of training it was, and the image of being roasted with rolled eyes was too strong, so I felt a slight rejection. Tak tried to give me the rope he had removed from himself, but I didn't take it, so he placed it on the ground.

"We need it... but, we'll take a break next. Ah, what about dinner? Cup noodles, maybe?"

"I guess cup noodles too. I live alone in a dorm."

"Hey, Hiyama, eating such unhealthy stuff will worry your parents."

"My ears hurt."

"Right, Yun. Take care of our bodies. See you—"

With those words, the three of them returned their consciousness to the real world. The remaining bodies closed their eyes and waited. The three of them, who had been there just a moment ago, now sat in silence like intricate dolls.

I observed each of their faces but quickly got bored and looked around. We were in a fairly wide area halfway up a cliff, taking warmth from the campfire, which served as our light source. The [Hawk's Eye] ability allowed me to see the height of the surrounding trees and the presence of small enemies flying in the dark. However, there were no threats, and I found myself with too much free time.

"Maybe it would have been better to switch in pairs? It's boring alone."

Then, I noticed the end of the rope Tak had tried to give me.

"Since no one's here, I can stop before they come back, right?"

I had been hesitant due to Tak's embarrassment and the strong image of being roasted with rolled eyes, but upon closer consideration, the fire wasn't that close, and it could help level up my mountaineering skills. I convinced myself and picked up the rope. I equipped it to the harness around my waist, gradually shortened the rope, and hung myself. I let go of the rope I was holding once I was completely off the ground. My body felt strangely tense, and I started trembling all over, but I managed to keep raising my upper body.

"Somewhat... I can do it! Whoa!"

I misjudged the amount of force, and my waist became the pivot, causing my upper and lower body to momentarily invert. I was swung around uncontrollably for a while, feeling sick.

"Ugh, it's uncomfortable. Relaxing and lying on my back is the most stable."

When I let my head hang down, it slowly moved downward. I pulled my chin up and tightened my abdominal muscles to raise my upper body. I started to get the hang of it. It required some getting used to, and it was easier to control my body by holding the rope when raising it.

However—

"—I hadn't noticed, but the stars are beautiful."

The arrangement of the stars, which shone brightly, was completely different from the constellations in my memory. The stars twinkled, and occasionally, shooting stars streaked across the sky. The moon illuminated the sky in a bluish-white light, and the shadows of passing clouds were clearly visible from below. My breath formed white clouds, but I didn't feel the cold. This visual inconsistency was strange.

"Enjoying the stars is fun in the game too."

"Right. Maybe we should have a night party under the guise of a night hunt?"

"Of course, you'll say something like, 'Make the party food.'"

"Che—"

"Totally, that's so you. Tak?"

Wait, when did I start talking normally? When did this guy show up?

I raised my head, which felt like a rusty screw, and looked toward the campfire. He was sitting cross-legged, supporting his chin with his arm, and smiling at me.

"Hey, you! When did you get here!?"

"You're slow to notice. Just a few minutes ago. I thought it would be interesting to watch you alone, so I ate quickly and came back."

"This is because... right, from this position, the stars look great! Whoa!"

I tried to justify it with gestures, but moving my hands caused my body's center of gravity to shift, and I started spinning and moving up and down.

"Ah, what are you doing? Stop, stop."

"Sorry, thanks for the help."

Tak stopped my spinning by holding my head with both hands. I thanked him, even though he looked upside down to me. I felt a bit sick from spinning too much.

"Want to come down?"

"Yeah, I'll come down. I don't understand the point of this, but I can control it roughly. So, let go of my head. Don't hold it so tightly."

Tak quietly let go of my head, and I raised my body, operated the equipment, and descended to the ground.

"Then, I'll take your place."

"Got it. But, what's the point of this?"

That was the real issue. Hanging by a single rope could improve balance, but I couldn't see any other meaning.

"Hmm? According to Ivan, it's better to have your hands free when attacked by enemies in the air, so it's important to rely on such ropes."

"Wow. But, Ivan climbed without tools."

"That guy is a hand-to-hand combat specialist. By the way, Hiyama is a striking weapon user. It's to reduce the possibility of the rope being cut."

"That makes sense."

With those thick arms, a lariat or a club would probably break bones.

"Getting back to the point, even in an unstable position where your feet don't touch the ground, you need to maximize your power and not lose your attack options."

He then took out his longsword and slowly checked his movements. He swept right and left, careful not to cut the rope he was hanging from, gradually increasing his speed. Because his footing was unstable, he grabbed the rope with his free hand and wrapped it around his feet, repeatedly practicing his sweeping cuts.

"I don't think I can do it. My weapon is a bow, which requires both hands. If I could use anything, it would be a knife as a short sword."

I had never tried to draw a bow on unstable footing and doubted I could control the aim and recoil.

"Take care of us."

"Yun, isn't that relying on others?"

"Each person has their role. I'm the healer. Oh, I almost forgot."

I asked Tak about something I had almost forgotten during the break and training.

"Hey, do you know about Momofuji Hana?"

"What about it? Have you heard the story already?"

"Yeah, from Miu. Do you have it?"

"Yeah, want to see it?"

"Please."

He stopped swinging his sword and took a petal from Tak, who was lying on his back. The petal looked like a pink wisteria flower. The item's status was both a consumable and a material item, meaning it could be used for production. For example, monster meat could be both a material and food, but this was the first time I had seen an item with both practical and production uses.

"A consumable and material item?"

"Yeah, you can use it as is, or you can create a higher-level item from it, but..."

"But?"

"To be honest, no one has the recipe."

Ah, I see.

"Also, this item is hard to use as is."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a low-level revival item that only revives you to 1 HP when you're in a battle-unable state, but you can't use it if you're dead."

"Ah, so someone else has to revive you."

For example, if Tak died and returned to town, a companion could revive him with this item, but if he was alone, he couldn't use it. It seemed to be a revival item that only worked when used in a group.

"For me, a solo player, it's a sad, useless item."

"It's not a bad thing to have, but its low effectiveness and poor usability make it more of an insurance item for now."

He looked at me with a hopeful expression.

"Even if I could use this to create a higher-level revival drug, the problems are too numerous."

One issue was the lack of a recipe. If I could refine the valuable material item into a revival item, it would be easier, but someone else had probably already tried it. Trying different combinations of material items would take longer than searching for the recipe in the game.

Another issue was the difficulty of obtaining the materials. The maximum collection per party was six, making mass production impractical. I had tried to turn it into a seed with the [Alchemy] sense when I held it, but it didn't work.

"Creating it would require a lot of effort. It would be faster to find alternative materials."

"Got it. So, a higher-level revival item is even further away."

"Well, there aren't any enemies that assume you