Surviving Restructuring

Eun-Ho hadn’t thought it through. Needles weren’t limited to the kind used for threading, after all. There were hypodermic needles, fishhooks, knitting needles and even compass needles as well.

“Isn’t this a clock hand?” someone asked.

“It is,” another replied.

It was something he saw every single day, yet it had never crossed his mind, not even once. It was strange by any reasonable standard. Why on earth would a clock hand be embedded in the middle of a desert?

“Why would something like this be hidden here?” Ji-Eun asked.

“It’s at least a meter long, Noonim!” Jae-Hyuk exclaimed.

Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk examined the large, flat slab of metal from every angle. It was definitely a clock hand, the kind used for minutes or seconds. However, they had never seen one this big before. It was enormous, something one would expect to see on Big Ben in London or the clock tower at Seoul Station Plaza.

“Hmm... I really don’t know why they gave us a trial like this,” Ji-Eun muttered.

“Probably just to mess with us,” Jae-Hyuk said with a laugh. “If it weren’t for you, Hyungnim, we’d still be digging sand for days on end!”

As Jae-Hyuk said, it had certainly been a trial. However, there was something even more important than that.

“A clock hand this size only means one thing,” Eun-Ho said.

“Huh?”

“A clock that needs this hand has to be somewhere,” Eun-Ho said.

A clock just as massive has to exist, one that has lost its hand.

With that thought, Eun-Ho brushed the sand off the clock hand. Then, Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk had done the same.

[The Broken Hour Hand responds to you.]

[You are reading a memory fragment.]

Tick—

Then, memory fragments burst forth like a fountain.

***

His vision plunged into darkness. Then, the space slowly and ever so faintly began to brighten, as if an expensive set of lights were switched on.

We’re indoors? Eun-Ho thought.

Jae-Hyuk and Ji-Eun were gone. So were the Skeletons that usually stood in neat lines, waiting for orders they were never given. All he could see was an unfamiliar space.

So this is the part where I wake up to a strange ceiling...

If it had to be a strange ceiling, he would have preferred a luxurious mansion with a glittering chandelier. Instead, what greeted him was the shoddy, uneven ceiling of a crude earthen structure.

The interior was dark. The visuals were grainy, like an old film photograph. Without relying on torchlight, it was hard to make out even basic shapes. He could barely tell that several shadows were stretching all the way up to the ceiling when voices drifted in and out.

Someone sobbed. “It’s all over now.”

Someone clicked their tongue in frustration. Another stomped the ground in anger.

Among them, a single figure approached. “If we’re going to plan what comes next...”

A hood obscured their face and a voluminous robe concealed their build entirely. The wide sleeves blocked what little vision he had left.

“... We at least have to protect this.”

Clack!

With the sound of metal snapping, Eun-Ho bent sharply.

Tick—

Then, the scene changed. Along with the ticking of a clock’s second hand, his vision shook, flipped, and fell into darkness again. The surroundings swayed violently, like footage recorded on a cheap handheld camcorder.

Was he being carried by the robed figure? Relying on a faint light, they seemed to be walking down a narrow corridor. Walls stretched out on either side, modest yet oddly ornate. Childlike murals covered them, and his eyes traced those crude drawings as they passed.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The figures in the murals looked lively, full of motion. The people walking among them, however, were silent. Even a funeral procession would have been a hundred times noisier.

They climbed a staircase. As if their robes weren’t concealing enough, their footsteps were unnaturally quiet, as if trying to erase their very presence. Then, at the end of the long staircase, a red gemstone was embedded in the wall.

“Please... Stay safe all of you.”

“We’ll meet again. Here.”

Words that could not be answered echoed through the wide chamber like a passing breeze.

Clack—

Then, someone reached out and placed a hand against it. With a heavy thud sound, the rough, domed ceiling split apart and opened.

The sky was revealed, pressed so close together with the land that they were hard to distinguish. Despite the blurred, grainy vision, the desolation of the night was unmistakable. Stars filled the heavens, so dense it felt as though they would pour down at any moment.

It was the very same desert he had been standing in just moments ago. The group hesitated, as if their feet refused to move, then slowly began to walk again. They moved forward, following the murmured whispers of someone else, as though guided by their shadows.

Tick—

Their numbers had dwindled. Perhaps they had split up and scattered. Those who remained kept walking and walking without light, conversation, or rest. They simply trudged through the signless desert, holding their breath as they went.

Just then, an arrow tore through the silence.

Swoosh—!

It’s an ambush! We’ve been hit!

Swoosh—! Swoosh—! Swoosh—!

A rain of arrows poured down onto the parched desert.

Thud—

Then, the owner of the clock hand fell.

“No...”

Just before the owner’s final breath slipped away, a faint halo of light spilled out from trembling fingertips and flooded his vision.

“I can’t let it end like this.”

He slipped into the sand, deeper, and deeper.

Fwoosh—

He went in between scorching grains of sand into the hard earth below, and into a span of time where nothing existed, until someone’s hand pulled it back out.

***

The sandstorm wailed like a sob. Someone’s night vanished, and their day returned. The sudden vision faded, leaving behind a hollow stillness.

“Just now...” Ji-Eun murmured. She blinked rapidly, as if trying to wipe the dazed look from her face. “I wasn’t the only one who saw that, right? Right?”

“N-Noonim! I saw it too!” Jae-Hyuk replied.

Their reaction was understandable because the scene had burst forth without warning.

[The Broken Hour Hand responds to you.]

[You are reading a memory fragment.]

Taking the final message into account, there was only one conclusion to draw.

“It seems like the clock hand’s memory,” Eun-Ho said.

“That’s what I think too,” Ji-Eun agreed. “And the place in that memory, that was definitely this desert, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Eun-Ho nodded lightly before continuing, “the problem is figuring out where that underground space is.”

They had to find the place where those unidentified people had lived together—where this clock hand originally belonged. It was a place where they had tried to return to, but probably never could.

“We’ll meet again. Here.”

“A sand dune.”

“Sand, right?”

Eun-Ho and Ji-Eun said at the same time.

“Huh? What dune are you talking about?” Jae-Hyuk asked.

Eun-Ho was referring to the uneven, hemispherical ceiling they had seen the moment they opened their eyes, and the desolate desert that followed immediately after. What it pointed to was obvious.

“You saw it when we flew in earlier,” Eun-Ho said. “The sand dunes.”

“Huh? There were dunes?”

“Yeah. Way off in the distance.”

Before the Razor-Beaked Birds had succumbed to the heat, there had been low, rounded mounds rising gently from the far desert. They lay in the direction the compass had indicated.

“Uh... Eun-Ho,” Ji-Eun said hesitantly. “The second trial isn’t over yet, right?”

“Right. It only says the needle was found. It doesn’t say we completed the trial.”

It seemed the compass’ second destination had been that underground facility all along.

“Then, obviously—”

“We’ll have to go,” Eun-Ho said.

They had to know what was on their land.

“I figured you’d say that,” Ji-Eun replied.

“If you don’t feel up to it, you can wait here,” Eun-Ho offered.

“N-no! It’s a little scary, but I’m curious. I want to know what happened.”

“I don’t know what it is either, but I’m in!” Jae-Hyuk added.

“Good. Then, we’ll take that place.”

“What?!”

“T-take it?”

If they could claim an underground city someone else had built along the way, that was even better.

“Whether it was aboveground or below, if it’s on our land, it’s ours, isn’t it?”

***

The Razor-Beaked Bird shot forward in a perfectly straight line, its flight as rigid and true as its long, spear-like beak.

[Straight Flight has been successful!]

The Razor-Beaked Birds that had been drooping earlier were roused one by one and fed potions. Perhaps because he personally helped each of them back onto their feet, the birds responded far better than before.

Then what about this?

He then gripped the jet-black crest, textured like a gear, and pulled forward a little harder this time. The Razor-Beaked Bird accelerated immediately.

[Acceleration has been successful!]

Oh, it worked.

“Good job!” Eun-Ho said.

“Kaaaah!”

When they had first come flying at his head, they had been nothing short of terrifying. Now that they were on his side, they felt reliable and incredibly useful. The feeling was strange, but also oddly gratifying.

[The parameters required for skill activation are being calculated.]

[Due to your Leadership skill, the data collection speed is increasing.]

The same message had been popping up for a while now. The idea of suddenly ending up with a pet he never expected was intriguing, to say the least.

“There! I see it!” someone shouted.

It seemed the skill unlock would have to wait. Only a few minutes after they had taken off, they had already arrived at a low sand dune.

“You made things a lot easier,” Eun-Ho said.

“Kaaah!”

Thinking about how they would have had to cross the blazing desert on foot otherwise, he felt genuinely relieved. He gently stroked the bird’s crest and the bird shook its head lightly, flicking its crest as if it understood the praise.

“Let’s go down.”

[The parameters required for skill activation are being calculated.]

Glancing at the message that appeared once again, Eun-Ho twisted the crest downward toward the ground. The Razor-Beaked Bird descended. Behind it, the rest of the flock carved arcs through the air, Skeleton Knights riding atop them.

[Descent has been successful!]

Up to that point, everything was fine. The problem was that these birdbrains were never creatures one could fully trust.

Wham!

They slammed not only the riders, but even their own heads straight into the sandy desert.

[Soft Landing has failed!]

“Kaaah?”

“Good job,” Eun-Ho said anyway.

He patted their heads as they rolled their dumb, vacant eyes around, then surveyed the surroundings. Dozens of small dunes rose around them, looking like burial mounds, perhaps tombs for young royalty.

“There’s nothing like a red gemstone here,” Eun-Ho said.

“It won’t just open if we touch it, right?” Ji-Eun asked.

Eun-Ho answered her question calmly, “No. There’s definitely some kind of requirement.”

He wished the clock hand could serve as a key or a sign, but things were never that simple.

“Just in case, let’s not touch anything recklessly,” he added, “we should investigate first.”

That had been the plan. He really had meant to be careful.

Beeeeeeep!

However, before they could do anything at all, a warning siren blared.

[Intruder has been detected!]

[Defense system has been activated.]

“I didn’t touch anything, I swear!”

“C-Comander! This is dangerous!”

“Draw weapons! Summon!”

The smooth hilt of the Flame Sky-Shattering Blade slid into Eun-Ho’s outstretched hand. Violet light ignited in the eye sockets of the Skeleton Knights flanking him. The sand dunes rose, shedding their stillness, taking the shape of a giant meant to erase all intruders.

Rumble—

“H-Hyungnim! The ground is!”

[The Desert Guardian has appeared!]

The Desert Guardian pulled itself upright, shaking the land like rolling waves. It had no facial features, but its naked, giant-like form with grotesquely long limbs was horrifying enough.

The moment it appeared, it stomped the ground and lashed out with its fists, pure aggression made manifest.

“Hraaaah—!”

With a bizarrely overcharged battle cry, Jae-Hyuk swung his mace into the sand giant’s fist. However, instead of a solid impact, the sound of collapsing sand echoed.

“Watch out!”

Before the warning could even finish, the Guardian’s fist struck Jae-Hyuk’s leg.

“Hieek!”

Crack—

He barely managed to dodge, but the explosive backlash shattered everything from his right knee down to his foot.

“Jae-Hyuk!” Eun-Ho shouted.

“Gah... I-I’m okay!”

His leg reformed, snapping back into place as if nothing had happened. No matter how many times Eun-Ho had seen it, it was an incredible ability.

“Gaaaah!”

Judging by the look on his face, he definitely felt the pain in full. If anything, the process of bones snapping and flesh returning into place would have been even worse.

“Skeleton Knight Order!”

“Deploy!”

“Uraaargh!”

Still, it was a relief that Jae-Hyuk and the Skeletons were holding the front line. Thanks to that, Eun-Ho could afford to take a step back and observe the Guardian like a spectator.

The Desert Guardian was a Golem-like creature made entirely of sand. In terms of appearance, it actually resembled the Forest Guardian more than a typical golem.

[85.3%]

[83.5%]

[84.9%]

Still, the way its Stamina dropped and then instantly recovered was far closer to that of an Ice Golem.

“A core,” Eun-Ho muttered.

That meant there was a high chance a core existed—the source of that terrifying regeneration yet its weakness.

“Huh?”

“There’s no way its body can regenerate endlessly,” Eun-Ho said. “Like an Ice Golem, it probably has a core somewhere that stores its vitality!”

At his rapid explanation, Ji-Eun nodded immediately. “I’ll look for it!”

“No.” Eun-Ho stopped her as she was about to lift herself into the air, then said, “Summon.”

He had something that could handle both finding a weakness and eliminating it in a single strike.

“Activate.”

[The Restored Brahmastra has been activated.]

It was a god’s weapon that would pursue a designated target and pierce it no matter what.

[Please select your target.]

“The Desert Guardian’s core.”

[Activate!]

The arrow tore through the dry wind, curving its trajectory without any visible propulsion. It left behind a sweeping arc like a contrail as it streaked across the sky. It pierced the giant’s forehead dead center, atop a low hill.

Crack!

The arrowhead embedded itself in the statue-like forehead of the sand giant. It wasn’t going to split apart in one blow. Up until now, countless grains of sand had dispersed their attacks and then reassembled, nullifying the damage.

Yet this time, the spot began to harden instead. The desert sand rushed in to cover the wound, only to solidify along with it. Its color dulled like a sandcastle hardened with water. At the same time, cracks began to spread.

“What the...”

“It worked!”

“I-it’s falling!”

The giant collapsed. Unable to fully scatter, yet unable to hold together, it crumbled into something caught between sand and stone.

[You have defeated the Desert Guardian!]

[You have earned 1,000 Welfare Points.]

Just as they were about to wrap up the battle and divide the modest rewards, dozens of sand dunes rose all at once, like a tsunami surging in after an earthquake.

[The Desert Guardian has appeared!]

[The Desert Guardian has appeared!]

[The Desert Guardian has appeared!]

...

***

“The head is the weak point! Ji-Eun, you have to shoot!”

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

Bang!

The golden bullet Ji-Eun fired punched straight through a sand giant’s head.

Thud!

Eun-Ho barely managed to keep his balance atop the undulating sea of sand. He had to block the attacks coming from all sides until Ji-Eun blew all their heads apart.

“Aaaargh!”

“Be careful!”

It wasn’t easy, with the entire desert heaving every time a giant stomped its foot. Whether a shot missed or hit true, the sonic boom it left behind was equally ear-splitting.

Bang!

Startled by the gunfire, the Razor-Beaked Birds panicked and thrashed about.

[Caution!]

[The Razor-Beaked Bird flock has developed the status effect, fear!]

“Kaaaaah!”

“Kieeeek!”

“Kaah?”

“H-hey! Calm down!”

If these things bolted, it would be a nightmare to deal with, akin to losing camels in the middle of the desert.

“Easy now, okay? Stay still!”

Eun-Ho decided it would be better to restrain them. Just as he rushed over with that thought, another sand giant burst up right beside him.

Fwoooosh—

[Defeat the Desert Guardian!]

A fist the size of a van came flying in immediately. Simply cutting it wouldn’t work as it would just stick back together. Fire was useless as well, snuffed out the moment it was buried under the sand.

He required a gust strong enough to scatter the sand, even if briefly. “That leaves me with these two. Sword Force. Blade Wind.”

Swoosh—!

He unleashed a crescent-shaped wind in front of the Razor-Beaked Birds. The wind surged forward, packed with dark-blue light, fierce enough to seem capable of cleaving even the clouds. Then, the sand fist scattered.

“Kaaah?”

Flapping sounds erupted behind him, followed by a message window popping up before his eyes.

[The collection of parameters required for skill activation has been completed.]

[Congratulations!]

[Taming has been unlocked!]

[You have successfully tamed Wild Razor-Beaked Birds!]

“Taming?”

[Your face is imprinted on the Razor-Beaked Birds.]

[Command execution probability has slightly increased.]

[You will not fall even without a saddle.]

[Attack power will increase by ten percent during aerial combat.]

Wait a second. An aerial combat? That would be fun.