I silently observed Rudger Chelici in the frozen time.

Looking at him in disbelief, the way he reached his hand toward me seemed so ridiculous.

"What the hell."

I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.

"So you can make that kind of expression too."

To think that someone who seemed like he would always be cool and chic would make such a face.

Making such an expression isn't strange in itself. It was just very unexpected that I would be the cause.

"Perhaps I've only been seeing you as I wanted to see you all along."

Arrogant, prideful, and without manners.

That might be Rudger's outward image, but he wasn't actually like that.

I knew his true personality.

Ever since that day 12 years ago when we first met.

I slowly turned my back and left the laboratory.

I went into Rene's room and checked her sleeping face.

In that peacefully sleeping face, I could see the face of the woman I had loved.

Thanks to that I was able to find the courage and determination for the last time.

"Let's go. Even if I don't know how long it will take, time is on my side."

I stepped outside the hideout.

Because of the vague thought that something like this might happen someday, I had made sufficient preparations.

When I slung the portable backpack filled with portable food and all sorts of items on my back, I couldn't help but let out a groan.

If I had known it would be this heavy, I would have removed a few more items.

But since it was too late to remove anything now, I decided to just bear with it.

I only packed things I would need, so they would be useful.

Once outside, Isla Machina was in complete chaos.

Many of the island's functions were paralyzed and people were in a panic, especially with visible areas of destruction and collapse from the aftermath of the battle.

But this too, as time passes, will eventually return to normal.

No, it will probably develop even further than its original state.

That's what time does.

The human will that sprouts within that time will never be broken.

I kept walking.

Crossing broken roads and stepping over fallen streetlights.

Eventually, I arrived at the outermost part of the island, the external dock connected to the first floor.

Of course, this wasn't the official dock responsible for island entry and exit. It was a little further away, small, and actually somewhat questionable to even call a dock.

It was a place frequently visited by people fishing in the nearby sea, or perhaps a route used by those secretly sneaking onto the island.

-Crunch.

It was also one of the few places on the island where sand could be stepped on.

Of course, no actual sound was made.

Since time had stopped, sound had stopped too.

It was just that when I stepped on the sand, such a sound echoed in my mind.

"Where was it around here?"

I had secretly hidden a small boat somewhere around here.

It was my own personal escape route, prepared in case I needed to escape the island from debt collectors.

"Ah. There it is."

It didn't take long to find the hidden boat.

It was covered with camouflage fabric, making it difficult to find unless one looked carefully, but it wasn't hard to find if you knew it was there.

As I approached the boat, I stopped in my tracks.

There were bloodstains nearby.

And those bloodstains continued all the way to the small dock where the boat was hidden.

With a slightly stiffened face, I slowly approached the dock.

When I saw a man collapsed there, my emotions became mixed in an indescribable way.

"What were you trying to do, coming all the way here?"

The one who collapsed was Nikolai.

One arm had been severed below the shoulder and was gone somewhere, and the opposite leg was in a miserable state, torn as if bitten by something.

It looked like it had been mauled by a beast.

In that state, Nikolai hadn't died, but had fled all the way here, bleeding, trying to survive.

But was his fate to end here?

Nikolai had met his death with his eyes wide open.

"So the end of the mastermind who lived so proudly is to die lonely in front of this old, remote dock that no one visits."

Just by looking at his wounds and the blood he had shed, I could easily imagine how painful it must have been until his final moments.

Considering all the things this bastard had done, I thought it was a fitting death.

Dying a desperate and lonely death in a place no one visits, bleeding out.

Isn't that just the right end for a villain?

I passed by Nikolai's corpse and boarded the boat at the dock.

The boat I was about to board wasn't the common type that uses a motor and propeller.

There's no way an engine would work in frozen time, right?

This boat moves entirely manually by rowing.

"Ugh. This is exhausting."

I grumbled but still rowed diligently.

In the world of frozen time, the seawater was completely still without the slightest movement.

Therefore, there was no resistance when rowing.

The boat slid smoothly over the sea surface as if riding a sled.

Looking at the fixed sea, it felt more like a huge blue jelly rather than a liquid.

But I didn't do the crazy thing of trying to walk on it with two feet.

Once before, I had stopped time and put my foot on the water, only to sink straight in.

It was a valuable experience that gave me a new realization: even if time stops, water is still water.

At least it was possible to cross the water by throwing down footboards and stepping on them, but the process of throwing and retrieving the footboards consumed a lot of energy.

It was also troublesome.

If it had been a normal sea, my clumsy rowing wouldn't have moved the boat, but in the frozen world, it was different.

With one push, the boat moved quickly across the smooth sea surface as if it were on ice.

"How far do I have to go to reach the mainland?"

I don't know.

I've never done anything like sailing before.

Wait, is this even considered sailing?

Whatever the case, if I keep rowing diligently, I'll eventually reach the mainland.

As for direction, well, if I keep rowing, I'll naturally arrive at the continent somehow.

And so, the first day I curled up on the boat and took a brief nap.

The next day, I rowed again.

It was a process of unknown duration. All I could see was the vast open sea.

I slept looking at the stars in the frozen night sky, then woke up and rowed again under the starry sea.

The starry sky was perfectly reflected on the calm sea.

Crossing over it, I couldn't tell if I was on the sea or in the starry sky.

Two weeks passed.

Finally, I saw a pillar of light in the distance.

Realizing it was a lighthouse in frozen time, I rowed even more diligently.

Having been hard pressed just chewing on beef jerky, I welcomed the sight of land.

I put on my backpack and disembarked onto land.

I didn't know where I had arrived. Probably a small coastal village on the outskirts of the continent.

I could see dim lights in the village in the distance.

Checking it out since it was on my way, I saw families sitting together harmoniously inside.

It was before dawn, but they were already up for a meal. While thinking that country folk were really diligent, I felt somewhat envious of the warm family scene inside.

The sight of a girl who looked about 6 years old particularly caught my attention.

If she hadn't died, wouldn't Rene be living happily like that too?

Feeling sad at the thought, I shook my head.

This wasn't what was important right now.

My destination was the southern jungle area but I didn't have enough time to get there.

I walked.

Crossing swamps, passing through split earth, walking through farmlands.

When tired, I slept; when hungry, I stuffed portable food into my mouth and continued walking.

My feet got blistered in the middle, so I had to keep applying recovery potion.

The soles of my shoes wore out completely, so I changed into new ones.

Food wasn't a concern.

I replenished it whenever I visited nearby villages.

Of course, I didn't pay. I'm sorry for taking food and fruit without payment. But it couldn't be helped.

A year passed and I was still walking across the continent.

Having passed through the Empire, I might have reached about the middle of the continent.

The sky was still full of stars.

That meant I wasn't in any country's city yet.

Without realizing it, I stroked my chin with my hand and felt a rough texture.

My beard had grown quite bushy.

I had a beard originally, but having not shaved, it had grown very long.

My current appearance must be like that of a beggar.

Looking through a mirror, that was certainly the case.

Still, the fortunate thing was that since time had stopped, I didn't have to show this appearance to anyone else.

It had been 3 years since I stopped time.

I finally found the root of Greenbelle.

"Really, this is one hell of an ordeal."

I don't know how long I wandered around the snow-covered mountain.

Even if time had stopped, snow and ice were still cold.

It was actually even colder because it was midnight, and nothing was properly visible.

I dug through all kinds of snow on the mountain and was barely able to find one of the three targets.

Looking at my hand holding the Greenbelle root, it was full of traces of frostbite.

Having found one, tears flowed without me realizing.

It wasn't satisfaction from achieving a goal in a difficult situation.

It was the vague fear of not knowing how much more I would have to do this.

Can I do it? Haven't I tried hard enough already?

Muttering to myself like a madman in the frozen time, without any communication with others for 3 years.

Is it right to grow old meaninglessly in the harshness of a world where night never ends?

No one will recognize me, so what meaning does this action have?

I silently looked down at the Greenbelle root, then wrapped it in a thin cloth and carefully put it in my chest.

Now, my destination was the tropical rainforest in the southeastern part of the continent, the opposite of the cold snow-covered mountain.

I looked up at the aurora of the snow mountain once, then continued walking.

With a lighter backpack on my shoulders, down from the snow mountain, down to the continent.

Year 4.

I'm still walking.

It had taken almost a year. My two legs were numb to the point of losing feeling.

But the cold chill had receded, and hot heat was felt.

I could feel that I had arrived in the south.

I thought it would take at least a few years to get here, but it took just 1 year. Is that faster than expected? Or is the continent narrow?

Thinking that whatever is good is good, I continued walking.

Having entered a tropical climate, the jungle wasn't far.

Perhaps because I was heading from the northwest to the southeast of the continent, I could see the sun rising in the distance.

The world had stopped, but I was wandering around it alone.

I had moved from a place where the sun hadn't risen toward a place where it was gradually rising.

Seeing that sight, for some reason, I felt energized.

In the frozen world, I moved from night toward morning.

Year 5.

It had been quite some time since arriving at the jungle and exploring inside.

I don't know exactly how long it had been. I had missed writing in my diary a few times, so perhaps in reality, even more time had passed.

I still hadn't found the Alaure petals and Mantanis sap.

In the middle, I considered giving up several times.

I even thought that the snowy mountain might have been better.

At least there, it was easier to find plants, but here, everything visible was a plant, making it difficult to distinguish.

Finding a needle in a desert might be easier than this.

But I won't give up.

No, maybe I can't anymore.

Year 10.

"Found it. I found it!"

Finally, I found this damn Alaure flower. Who would have thought it was hidden inside a waterfall cave?

Since I discovered it by chance while looking around to wash myself, I had to feel a strange mix of emotions, both awkward and happy.

It felt like all my effort until now had been a waste of time but I quickly shook off such gloomy thoughts.

Yes. I found it. That's what matters.

Now all that remains is the Mantanis sap, so I should be able to find it soon.

Year 13.

I still haven't found Mantanis.

I had to go deeper into the jungle.

Year 15.

I still haven't found Mantanis.

I thought it would be the most difficult to find, but it was truly at an absurd level.

How and where did the person who found this discover it?

Year 18.

Suddenly, such a thought occurred to me.

Why am I doing this?

The frozen world was so quiet, and I had been alone there continuously.

Now I don't remember well what I did or where.

My beard had grown long, and my originally ivory-colored hair had become much longer, faded in color, and even became dry.

My face is now full of wrinkles that can't be hidden.

Although I tried to stay young, I had already entered middle age. No, maybe that's underestimating it.

Through the faint pain between my joints, I suddenly recalled the past.

There's not much I remember.

The face of that arrogant youngster, the face of the person who was my master, what happened on the island, all of it, like a distant dream, like sand swept away by the tide.

It was just faint but there was something still vivid enough to shimmer before my eyes.

The face, the smile of the woman who asked me to take care of her daughter with a smile.

I still couldn't forget.

Let's move.

After that, I stopped recording how many years I had stopped time.

The increasing wrinkles, the aching joints, the gradually whitening hair only tell me that a considerable amount of time has passed.

But finally, I found the last ingredient.