Acceleration (2)

“Ma, mauu, mauuuu!?”

The rabbit was flustered.

It never occurred to her in her wildest dreams that an ordinary human would come right up to her nose.

No matter how much she had transformed and looked utterly ridiculous,
Even if she had entered the body of a human woman who kept saying ‘Mau, ma-woo!’, she was a Divine Beast.

In other words, a possessor of divine status.

Literally, a being who inherited the blood of a transcendent species,
And as a <Hierarchy Lord>, she was an object of fear and admiration.

Therefore, there was no way she could lose.
Especially when it came to speed, which she considered her forte.
That thought collapsed as the opponent came right up to her.

“Got you!!!”
“Ma, mau, ma-woo!!!”

Yu Seha reached out his hand as he shouted.

At that moment.

Zziiing.

The accelerated world, the folding flow of time,
Began to return to normal.
Just as he thought, ‘Has the duration already ended?’

A sharp pain!

“…Kuhak!?”
“…Mau?”

Yu Seha flinched involuntarily at the thudding impact.
A pain like someone stabbing his heart with a long spear.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

[<Gear> usage has ended. <Acceleration> state is deactivated.]
[Recoil affects mind and body.]
[‘Pain Endurance’ activates. Resisting pain.]
[‘Pain Endurance’ level increases. Durability increases by 1 as level reward.]

The <Information Window> informed him of the situation.
Yu Seha nodded.

I see.
This is the recoil…
Isn’t it?

Having used it once, he somewhat understood.
A simple guess.
Not certain, but he thought it was roughly correct.

‘The duration of Gear seems proportional to the user’s mental stats.’

Anyway, it was a relief.
[Endurance to Pain.]
Thanks to this skill, which he hadn’t needed recently, he could endure the recoil.

He thought positively.
He could also level it up in the process, right?

Anyway, he lifted his gaze.
Ahead, the rabbit, looking surprised, was running at full speed.

It was distancing again.
He couldn’t let it go like this.

‘Alright.’

Yu Seha took a deep breath.
He activated the second <Gear>.
The golden spikes floating around crumbled into dust.

[Activating the essence of ‘Gear Limiter’.]
[<Gear> consumed. Remaining: 1/3]
[Your body accelerates against the flow of time.]

He charged straight ahead!
As he disappeared again,
He saw the shocked rabbit.

Seeing her turn her head this way and that, she seemed to be using <Precognition>,
But it was proven moments ago that precognition couldn’t handle this speed.

He reached out his hand.
But… there was another unexpected problem this time.

“Uh, uh!?”

Did he exert too much force?
He couldn’t control his running speed.
Because of that, he completely passed the rabbit.

He hurriedly deactivated the <Acceleration> state.
Still, due to inertia, his body kept moving forward.

‘Damn it?’

He had experienced this before.

‘This is exactly like when I first learned the charge <Ryu-cham>!’

Then, the handling technique should be similar.
He lifted his leg and stomped the ground.

He controlled the unique sensation.
At the same time, he endured the sharp recoil with [Pain Endurance].

‘…Fortunately, the recoil doesn’t get stronger.’

This was bearable by force.
And again, a whoosh sound as he passed by.

“I’ll go ahead~”
“…Ah!”

The rabbit smiled leisurely and lightly ran past.
Her face was full of a victorious smile.
Yu Seha, watching, shouted in surprise.

“Ah, wait!”
“What, wait~”

The rabbit stuck out her tongue and teased, ‘Merong~’.

“Mahuhuhu! That was quite something. Really dangerous. But as expected, humans can’t beat a Divine Beast! This is my victory~”
“No, it’s dangerous!”
“…Huh?”

Crack-!
Only then did the rabbit realize.
Something was tilting and breaking…

The rabbit flinched as she looked ahead.
Several huge stone pillars that were part of the structure.
They rattled and collapsed toward the rabbit.
All the pillars had cracks from the shockwave emitted when Yu Seha stopped the gear.

Yu Seha himself had noticed long ago,
But the rabbit, distracted by her victory, realized it a beat late.

The rabbit was startled and stopped on the spot.
Yu Seha, watching, gritted his teeth.

‘Damn it.’

Normally, he wouldn’t care what happened,
But now, that body was none other than Choi Mari’s potbelly body.
If she was at risk of injury, he had to do everything to stop it.

Yu Seha took a breath as if it was the last time.
Alright, I know the trick.

‘Having experienced it twice…’

Now he could fully internalize it.
I can do it.

The third <Gear> disappeared immediately.
Time accelerated again.
This time, he could control it as intended.

At the point where the stone pillars were about to fall precariously.
He embraced and rescued the rabbit, who was trembling and saying ‘ma-woo…’ with her eyes closed.
At the same time, he quickly snatched the headband with a star drawn on it.

Bang-!!!

The flow of time returned to normal.
Dust scattered from the fallen stone pillars and debris.

The rabbit slowly opened one eye, feeling no pain as expected.
In her eyes, she saw Yu Seha holding her in a princess carry.

“Are you okay?”
“…Ma, ma-woo?”

Yu Seha sighed in relief at the blinking rabbit.
And then, as if it was really over, he showed the headband.

“With this, we’ve won?”
“……”

The rabbit looked at him silently.
Soon, she smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Yes.”

It is my defeat.

After finishing the final running race, all tests ended.
Only then did the rabbit return Choi Mari’s body.

“Mauu…”

Choi Mari exhaled the spirit from her mouth.
The exhaled spirit gathered softly,
Transforming into a cute and adorable mascot rabbit.

Flop.

“Senior Mari!”
“Muaaa, senior!”

The group hurriedly ran toward Choi Mari.
Choi Mari was supported by Ma Hana.
Blinking her eyes.

“Ma, mau, mauu?”

She looked around at the group.
Then she saw Ma Hana and grabbed her.

“Meow?”
“Mau?”

She pinched her cheeks once!

“Meow! It hurts.”
“Mua…”

Thanks to Ma Hana’s reaction, she realized this wasn’t a dream.

And five seconds later.

Choi Mari cried ‘ma-woo!’ due to severe pain in her calf.

It was the recoil from the potbelly reduction project using the treadmill.

There was something even more shocking.

“Mau, mau mauuu?!?!”

Looking down, she saw fishnet stockings pulled up to over-knee socks level.
A provocative outfit called a bunny girl.
The fabric was so thin that various parts and lines of her body were exposed.

Including her adorably protruding potbelly.

Choi Mari’s face turned bright red.
Although possessed, she retained all her memories.
Overwhelmed by embarrassment, she said ‘maw, ma-woo’.

Meanwhile, the rabbit watching this slowly approached.
She looked at Yu Seha quietly,
Smiling gently as if she wasn’t too upset about losing.

She clapped her hands.

“Well, well, everyone did a great job!”

When the rabbit snapped her fingers, small glass bottles that seemed to contain starlight appeared in everyone’s hands.

The first to receive one was Moon Bora, who had been of little help in this test.

She said with a surprised face.

“Th-this is the Star Elixir?!”
“Yes, it’s the Star Elixir. However, unlike the complete version, this is an incomplete item usable only within the <Tower of Oracles>.”

It also has a one-week expiration date.

“It is recommended to drink it here if possible.”

The rabbit then turned her gaze toward Choi Mari.

Choi Mari flinched.

The rabbit approached her directly and handed over the [Star Elixir].

“Sorry for possessing you recklessly. But it was nice after a long time.”
“Ma, mau? Yes?”
“Thanks to you, I could fully enjoy the body of a pretty and beautiful woman as before. Thank you again. Ah, but you should really lose the potbelly. Since you were born pretty, you should take good care of yourself. Right?”
“Ma, mau… ma-woo…”
“Ah, and as a bonus… I left some power for you to prepare for something in the near future. It will be useful.”
“…Mau?”

Choi Mari, overwhelmed with shame,
Raised her head as if to ask what that meant.

The rabbit gave no particular answer.
She soon flew toward Yu Seha.
She handed him something.

“This is a service I offer. Please accept it without hesitation.”
“…What?”

The identity of what the rabbit handed over in her grasp.
It was a tuft of brownish fur.

At first glance, it looked like just an ordinary animal’s fur,
But Yu Seha, surprised by the <Information Window> that popped up, responded.

“…Is this…?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s the tail fur of my true body.”

The tail fur of the Divine Beast, <Barbados>.
An S-rank material that can be used to make excellent items, whether in alchemy or crafting.

However, Yu Seha felt it wasn’t given for such a purpose.
The rabbit nodded as if confirming that guess.

“You know what my specialty is, right?”
“…Precognition.”
“That’s right. Although I have transformed and can’t compare to my true body… I can still see those with strong flows of fate.”

The rabbit looked at Yu Seha with a meaningful gaze.

“The more I look at you… I get a strange feeling. I hope it’s just my imagination, but I thought this might be necessary.”
“…This tail fur? For what purpose?”
“I don’t know either. Prophets can’t see their own future. That means they can’t read the intentions behind actions either.”

The rabbit answered vaguely.
Saying ‘Here, put it away~’, she forced the tail fur into Yu Seha’s hand.
After hesitating briefly, Yu Seha carefully put it into the [Slime’s Armory].
It was Barbados, the Divine Beast with precognition power, speaking like that.
There must be some meaning.

The rabbit then uttered one more meaningful phrase.

“And if you need me later, please summon me. I’m tired of this tower… If given a chance to leave, I’ll serve you well.”
“…Huh?”

Yu Seha was puzzled.
He blinked, wondering what this meant.
Of course, he had no summoning abilities.
Even if he did, the being before him was the soul of a <Hierarchy Lord>.
How could he possibly summon a being bound by the powerful laws of the tower?

He was dumbfounded.

Regardless, the rabbit snapped her fingers as if telling him to leave now.

“Well then, everyone did well, and let’s meet again if fate allows.”

Then, all the party members including Yu Seha.
Their vision went black.

Yu Seha opened his eyes in the residential floor where he lived before challenging the trial.
Looking around, all party members were present without exception.

Soon, a cute voice was heard.

“Ding dong! We’re back!”
“Docking! We’re back!”

They were the two Holy Saints.
Natsu and Yuri.

They seemed to be docking on the sofa.
Apparently, they came in worried because they stayed in the tower longer than expected.

While Yu Seha played along with their antics, Ju Na-young spoke with a tired face.

“Yongaa. Yu Seha, you packed all the luggage beforehand, right?”
“Yeah? Oh, right. I planned to leave right after the test.”
“Then let’s leave right now. I don’t want to stay in the tower anymore… I’m tired of it.”

Moon Bora agreed.

“That’s right, Se-ha. Let’s go outside now.”

Yu Seha nodded at their words.

Thirty minutes later.
The party had packed all their belongings.

When the Holy Maidens opened the gate, everyone rushed out without hesitation.

The gate that should have closed after everyone exited.
One person came back inside.
It was Yu Seha.

“…Phew.”

Yu Seha thought.
Finally, it was time to check ‘that’.
No matter how much he didn’t hide things from everyone…
He couldn’t show this to the party.

Yu Seha crossed the room.
Soon, he found the basement stairs even the Holy Maidens didn’t know about.
He opened the door and entered carefully.

‘…The <Tower of Oracles> is the first tower to appear in GAL.’

In fact, it wasn’t very significant.
It just told what kind of tests were for star ranks,
Or that you could get Natsu & Yuri via gacha and fulfill special conditions to get hidden pieces.

But many veteran guides searched this place thoroughly.
They discovered a special gimmick.

‘A condition that appears when you raise a character for over 30 days and fill all 5★ ranks.’

Because he filled all 5★ stars with the recently received [Star Elixir], this basement door appeared.

A moment later.
He faced a black wall with nothing on it.

At first glance, it looked like a blocked path…
But Yu Seha knew well.
What this meant…

He slowly reached out his hand.
Using his index finger, he traced a point…

He drew the ID and password of ‘GAL’ that he never forgot.

It looked like just scribbling on the wall.
Surprisingly, the entire wall lit up and displayed a phrase.

[Entering ID and password. Connecting.]
[Beep! Login failed]
[Another user is already logged in.]
[The user no longer exists in this world.]
[Please log out first.]

‘……’

Yu Seha was silent for quite a while.
What this meant was quite significant.

First, that this world was truly based on ‘GAL’.

‘…So there was a senior after all.’

He realized someone had possessed this world before him.

And who that person might be…
He had a rough guess.

‘Ji Han-seong…’

The number one ranked person.
Someone who had told him about many things.
A viewer who suddenly disappeared one day during a broadcast.
He first learned about him here through Moon Bora.
A legendary hunter who left great achievements in many ways.

Lastly…

‘Probably one of the people who possessed me here.’

Yu Seha tapped the screen a bit more.
Honestly, he didn’t care about this.
Whether there was a senior or not, what did it matter to him?
He searched for the main reason he came here.
Soon, he clicked his tongue at the phrase that appeared.

[Not allowed.]
[The user has long since obtained 6★ qualification.]
[You can do this after logging out and logging in again.]

“…Tsk.”

Yu Seha was discouraged.
It seemed impossible to proceed easily.