ISBER 23

Chapter : 23

I’ll Save You in the Bad Ending Route

The Last S-Tier Character

At that moment, I realized that the sunset light had started to fill the street. I slapped my own cheeks.

“If it gets dark, it’s really bad. Who knows what could happen in an alley like this.”

I couldn’t just stand there spaced out. I needed to figure out what was going on, step by step. This time, I had gained a hint.

Airan was so kind that people called him a pushover, so he must have bought the diary with good intentions.

“A new task has been added: find the ‘real Airan.’”

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Airan buying the diary and then disappearing was connected to my arrival in this world.

Was that a good thing or a bad thing? What should I do?

I was so confused that I couldn’t think clearly.

“Caw! Caw!”

Suddenly, crows cawed and flew across the red sky. I felt I should get out of here first and think later.

I hurriedly tried to find my way again. But then I realized I was in a completely different place from where I had been before entering the old bookstore.

“Where on earth is this? Did the Umpi fairy drop me somewhere weird?”

I ended up clutching my skirt and running frantically.

This world had no cell phones, not even public phones. If you got lost in an alley, you’d inevitably become a missing person. Preah and Demian would obviously be worried.

No matter how far I walked, I couldn’t find the road. There was no one around to ask for directions.

“Why is there not a single person in this neighborhood?”

The deeper I went, the more trash I saw. I felt like I had entered a place I wasn’t supposed to.

Then, from deeper inside, I heard the murmur of people.

‘Ah, thank goodness, there are people!’

I quickly walked toward the sound.

“Excuse me… I’m trying to find the way to the square…”

I stopped breathing and froze.

“What the—?”

At the dead end of the alley, three huge men surrounded a frail-looking man.

One of them was gripping the frail man by the collar, choking him. A scarred man turned toward me with a fierce expression. I averted my gaze and turned my body away.

“…Excuse me…”

“Hey, young lady.”

A thick hand grabbed my arm, squeezing hard. Pain shot up my arm.

“You’re calling the knights, huh? And now you’re trying to play innocent and run?”

“I—I’m not…”

I lowered my head and looked at the men.

Through my Observer’s View, I could see their status.

[‘? Thugs’
Equipment: ‘Gargoyle Leather Vest,’ ‘Silk Rat Boots’
Weapon: ‘Gauntlets of Rage’]

And the man being held… huh?

A man with green eyes looked at me with a relaxed, playful smile.

‘Why are you here?’

I stared blankly at the young man with light brown hair.

“Girl, you’re naïve. Do you think we’d believe that? When we’re being nice, you should follow… AAAAAH!”

Airan’s weapon, Swift Rapier, appeared in my hand and pierced the man’s shoulder.

I had checked their stats. These guys were weaker than Airan, who was considered the weakest at school. They were nothing but minor NPCs. Despite appearances, Airan was a student at a prestigious school!

As I summoned my weapon into the man’s shoulder, two of them panicked and shouted.

“Th-This… you’re crazy!”

The man cursed, released his grip, and lunged.

I wrapped wind around my legs, lightly jumped, and avoided the attack. The man charging like an enraged bull ended up punching his own ally in the face.

“You blockhead! You wanna die first?!”

The two of them started hitting each other.

“He’s a mage! Damn it! Wind attribute!”

While they exchanged idiotic dialogue, I approached the man lying on the ground, coughing.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The young man with light brown hair wiped his nosebleed and looked at me.

“Thank you for helping me.”

A young man with almost blonde light brown hair and sparkling green eyes.

The ultimate healer capable of both healing and damage.

“And the last S-Tier character of this game. Lowen Astald.”

Why was he getting beaten by such minor thugs?

Lowen coughed a couple of times and pointed across the alley.

“Sorry, could you grab my weapon over there?”

Where he pointed, a silver staff lay about 5 meters away.

‘Yeah, you’re not someone who should be getting beaten here. I was wondering why this was happening.’

“Wait a moment.”

I stood up and looked at the three men.

The one in pain from the rapier in his shoulder pulled it out and threw it at me like a spear.

‘That’s not how that weapon is supposed to be used.’

Imagining wind in my hand, I caught the flying blade steadily. Days of practice with Demian and Preah were paying off.

Dodging the remaining two men, I flew like a feather, stamped twice on their backs with my heels, and soared away.

“Ugh!”

“Ah!”

Sliding to the ground, I picked up the silver staff and threw it with magical force.

“Catch this!”

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?!”

“Get stomped, fools!”

“Idiots!”

The staff flew in an arc over the thugs and landed in Lowen’s hand, who had just stood up.

“Thanks.”

He checked the staff and its condition. The thugs were still confused, their faces twisted.

“Grab her! Now! You’re going down!”

As the men clashed fists, flames erupted from the gauntlets. With a shout, two of them charged Lowen and one at me—but the fight was essentially over.

Lowen tapped the ground with his staff once.

“”

Blue light gushed from the ground, and a beautiful water spirit emerged like a fountain.

The Undine surrounded the men in water. Their screams were muffled beneath the waves.

Two of them struggled, unable to breathe. The water gripped their lives and shook them.

The last man, still unaware, kept charging at me. I just stood and watched.

“Sylph!”

The staff pointed at me. A green light descended from the air, taking the form of a graceful woman made of wind, and restrained the man.

A fist swung past my face. The man was dragged backward and kneeled.

“You… you…! Damn it!”

“Put down your weapons and surrender, unless you want to suffocate.”

A gentle but firm voice spoke. A light spirit appeared next to Lowen, healing his wounds. The scars on his face disappeared in a golden glow.

The man saw his companions unconscious in the water, unable to breathe. Terrified, the last thug backed away.

“Grr… ugh…”

They all knelt before the top elemental mage.

Lowen smiled at me. An S-Tier mage who had subdued three thugs in an instant. It was still a mystery why he had been beaten up.

‘So this is where we meet.’

The thugs were tied up with rope Lowen had brought and thrown into a corner.

The alley was completely dark now. Lowen lit a lantern from his waist. There were no streetlights in the narrow alley. We sat together on a low nearby bench, relying on the lantern.

I took out a handkerchief for him, who had blood on his nose.

“Wipe the blood.”

“Ah, th-thank you, Senior Airan.”

Lowen politely wiped the dried blood.

“Huh? Senior?”

His extremely polite attitude made me smile.

“We’re students at the same school, Senior.”

“You know me?”

“…I’ve seen you at school.”

Lowen smiled at me with the kindest gentlemanly expression. His green eyes reminded me of a spring meadow, beautifully curved.

Lowen Astald.

The only commoner among S-Tier characters and Aaron’s childhood friend. Specifically, the son of Aaron’s family gardener.

The two had known each other since childhood and enrolled in Roas Academy together, like Preah and Sally. Unlike Sally, Lowen was treated with exceptional respect at school. No one looked down on him for being a commoner.

‘Lowen is the only light-attribute mage at this school.’

A rare attribute in this world, alongside Demian’s dark attribute. Light magic, a healing attribute, was revered everywhere.

Among them, Lowen was famous as a summoner of three spirits. Meeting him outside school by chance felt like luck—or destiny.

“Anyway, thank you for saving me today. I won’t forget this favor.”

He bowed deeply. I was surprised and said,

“Don’t worry about it. It was lucky. You actually saved me.”

“Really? How embarrassing.”

He lifted his head and smiled warmly. His friendly, polite demeanor made him incredibly charming.

“I’m glad to have met you too, Lowen.”

“But what are you doing here? This isn’t a place for civilians.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the slums of this town. How did you get here?”