How to Survive Restructuring

Chapter 76

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 76: Treasure (1)

Skybreaker.

It means "breaking the sky."

Even a sky that's been created is still considered a sky, it seems.

[The physical body of 'Lee Eunho' is insufficient to embody such a grand title!]

‘One who breaks the sky.’

When written in words, it truly does sound grand.

The weight of it can't even be compared to when the title 'Guide' evolved into 'Path-Opener'.'

[Searching for a substitute medium!]

What could it be?

A medium to hold the title in my stead, given my insufficiency.

[A new medium has been selected.]

The only person around is Jieun, but there's no way they'd pick someone with a weaker body than mine.

In that case...

Wooong!

A powerful vibration shook me so strongly that my entire body trembled.

There was no need to go looking for the source.

Because the "culprit" was literally "in my hand."

Wooooong—!

It was a crude sword, so rugged it could be mistaken for being carved from black rock.

No intricate patterns, not even a maker's signature—it was a truly nameless blade.

Yet its edge, painstakingly sharpened by hand, glimmered eerily.

The strange sword cried out.

Wooooong—!

It cried, cried, and cried some more.

Until—Crack!

It broke.

"...What?"

Like a statue frozen by someone's curse coming to life.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis.

Like a bird breaking free from its egg.

[An awe-inspiring title has been imbued in a vessel forged by blood and tempered by time.]

[The Shattering Sword has accepted its new master’s will!]

Flash—!

Light. Light. Light.

A deep blue light poured out.

It wasn't the kind of light that soothed or calmed.

Instead, it was cold enough to sting—a light that seemed to be directed at enemies rather than me.

And through that light, a sleek black sword revealed itself.

[Congratulations!]

[The Flame Shattering Sword has evolved into the Flaming Skybreaker Sword!]

Skybreaker.

A word I was hearing and using for the first time in my life became the name of my newly awakened sword.

My weapon emerged through a wall that shattered like glass.

"Eunho! That sword...!"

Jieun looked at me, startled.

She had every reason to be.

A perfectly ordinary sword had made strange sounds, shattered, and reappeared with an aura that was anything but ordinary.

As much as I wanted to admire its effects and boast about it...

Not now.

"Is that the same sword from before? It looks completely different..."

"Later! For now, we need to regroup with the others!"

"...!"

Jieun, who had been staring at me with wide eyes, quickly closed her mouth and nodded.

She understood what was most important at this moment.

The task she had to do—no, the task only she could do.

"To pull us all out from beneath the broken sky."

Rustle—!

The remnants of the sky, barely maintaining their form, finally collapsed.

And then, above our heads, a real sky appeared, encircling us.

A deep blue sky, like a jar of spilled paint, so vivid it felt surreal.

But I quickly lowered my gaze.

Real sunlight was so blinding that I couldn’t even bear to look at it.

"Eunho! This sky... it's not flat, is it?"

"So the arena really was a sphere."

"Like a ball?"

I nodded in response to Jieun’s question.

Like a ball—or perhaps an egg.

‘I thought the sword broke out of an egg.’

But maybe that applied to us as well.

"Over here! ...Here!"

"...Noona! Unnie!"

The voices of people shouting with all their might could faintly be heard, likely because we were much closer to the ground now.

I could even make out the small, waving figures of the others.

"Everyone is safe."

"Thank goodness! So, I just need to lift them up, right?"

"Yes. But the number of people..."

Instead of Jieun, who was cheerfully optimistic, I hesitated as I mentally calculated various scenarios.

Jieun's 'Teleknesis' skill was currently at level 10.

That meant she could lift a maximum of ten people.

But for now—

“Are you okay? I know it’s tough, but stay alert!”

“Yes! I’m fine...!”

In a situation where physical strength was depleted, she had to draw upon her mental resolve to keep moving.

“Everyone, hold on tight!”

Jieun held on while Lee Yeji grabbed her, followed by the foul-mouthed man, Yura, and Hanul holding them all.

The others clung on in a chain.

Just like a makeshift lifeline we created ourselves.

“We’ve stopped!”

“It’s temporary, but this height shouldn’t cause serious injury.”

“Damn it... I thought I was dead for real...”

“Thank you so much, noona!”

Jaehyuk’s words were true.

Jieun’s ability to keep us from scattering was what made this possible.

“We’ll fall into the Han River. Be careful; the wind is strong!”

“Oh, great. Guess I’m swimming in the Han today.”

“Does anyone here not know how to swim?”

As I was timing when to release the doorknob—

Sway

A fierce gust of wind shook everyone.

WHOOSH!

The storm-like wind severed the chain of people.

...Of all times, why now?

It was almost as if it was deliberate.

“Aaaahhhh!”

“Yoon Sola! Grab on!!!”

“Don’t let go—!”

First, Sola, who was holding Yeojin’s hand, lost her grip.

“D-damn it!”

“Mr. Song! What are you doing?! Hold on tight!”

Next, the security guard holding onto Hanul’s ankle let go.

“My grip... it’s slipping...”

Finally, even Hanul, who had been holding on until the very end, lost his grasp.

Still cradling Yura in his arms.

“Eunho! What do we do?! They’re scattering!”

We were so close to the end.

And now, this sudden gust...

“Aaaaaahhhh!”

“Sola! I’m here!”

Sola, who had been separated, screamed as Yeojin let go to follow her.

Their screams were soon drowned out by the roaring wind.

WHOOSH!

Even as the cold wind chilled me to my core, I didn’t lose my focus.

There was still a way.

I could accelerate, gather everyone again, and slow Jieun down just before we hit the surface.

...At least, that was the plan I was forming.

[The body of subject 'Lee Eunho' has reached its limit due to accumulated damage.]

[Entering the status effect: 'Overexertion'.]

And with that ominous message—

Thud.

I lost consciousness.

* * *

I dreamed.

Even in the dream, there was a path.

There was a figure walking ahead.

As I followed them aimlessly, the ground beneath my feet kept changing.

A soft dirt road.

A straw-woven path.

A smooth wooden deck.

A rocky bridge that required leaping.

Walking a new path meant experiencing new sights, air, and smells.

And so, I walked. And walked. And walked some more.

Just as I started to wonder about the face of the figure ahead—

“────?”

A water bomb fell from the sky.

“Puhak!”

The water bomb was freezing cold.

I couldn’t help but cough, and the icy water in my mouth and nose made it even worse.

Click! Click!

My teeth chattered, and my whole body trembled from the cold.

It felt like I’d been beaten all over, and I couldn’t even muster the strength to lift my eyelids.

Amidst it all—

Splash!

Another torrent of cold water poured over my head.

“...What?”

“I don’t know. ...They said they... brought someone.”

Snatches of voices reached my ears through the fog of pain.

‘Ugh...’

Through the pounding headache, I glimpsed an unfamiliar space.

And unfamiliar faces surrounding me as I lay tied up.

“Who are you? Who sent you?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]