IRM Chapter 55

The nearly fifty-meter-tall monster’s single pitch-black palm alone was several times larger than Ji Chi’s entire body. Its six twisted and deformed fingers formed a giant cage, trapping him in the palm.

Ji Chi gently flicked his tail and pressed against the gaps between the fingers, looking outward. The scenery within the temple domain was similar to the outside – corals clustered in groups, schools of fish swam by, and some divine blessing grass that emitted fluorescent light grew on the seabed, though it was much denser than outside the domain.

Looking toward their direction of travel, there was an island floating unreasonably on the sea surface, with shadows of some buildings on the island.

Ji Chi swept his gaze around once and grasped the general topography within the temple domain, but he was not in a hurry to get out. His night gauze-like tail fin swayed gently as he leisurely turned to look in another direction.

This time he was examining the giant monster that had captured him.

The monster looked neither humanoid nor like any wild beast. It seemed as if the characteristics of many creatures had been stitched together – a ferocious skull, cruel gaping mouth, angular protruding back, and arms that swayed on both sides of its body, disproportionately long compared to its body size.

Facing such a monster that could frighten away considerable SAN points at just one glance, Ji Chi unexpectedly calmed down because he had seen it before.

Previously, seeing only a pitch-black claw, Ji Chi hadn’t been able to identify what it was. But after seeing its full appearance, he discovered this was one of the main story bosses from the game, named Chloe.

By that time, Ji Chi had already started skipping the main storyline, so he had long forgotten the details of why Chloe needed to be defeated. But he could guess the general plot with his eyes closed – nothing more than some wandering monster appearing in the Weiss Sea, threatening continental security, requiring the player-controlled adventurers to go and eliminate it.

Ever since discovering that what had captured him was a main story boss, Ji Chi put the half-drawn longsword back into his backpack.

Reize’s truth reversal had been warning enough for Ji Chi. He was unwilling to blindly follow the so-called main storyline anymore. In this world, he wanted to see everything with his own eyes.

As he had expected, Chloe had no intention of harming him and didn’t even grip its hand tightly. The spacious six-fingered cage was enough for Ji Chi to comfortably stretch out his tail.

He sat quietly in Chloe’s flat palm, allowing it to swiftly traverse the sea area until they swam to the island’s edge.

Splash—–– Chloe stepped from the sea surface onto the island, and tons of seawater hanging on its body flowed down, soaking a large area of ground.

Chloe bent down and placed its palm on a piece of dry ground, its six fingers blooming open like a flower.

Ji Chi had already transformed back to a mermaid’s land form the moment they emerged from the sea. He had put on fitting clothes and pants early on and stepped barefoot onto the island.

A cool sensation fed back from the soles of his feet. A trace of shock flashed through Ji Chi’s eyes as he looked around and discovered that this entire island was actually made of metal!

Just as he was turning his head to look around, a muffled voice sounded from behind him. “Don’t be afraid, Chloe won’t hurt you.”

Ji Chi turned back to look at Chloe.

Under the sunlight, the monster lost the gentle filter of seawater, making every inch of its body appear even more ferocious and crude. It tried hard to bring its head close to the ground, its movements showing a careful and anxious manner, but looking closer made it even more frightening!

Chloe remained still for a few seconds to give the little mermaid time to adapt, and soon discovered with surprise that this particularly beautiful little mermaid didn’t seem afraid of it at all.

Chloe felt a bit happy and couldn’t help but split open its large mouth full of sharp teeth, revealing the dark cavity inside.

Ji Chi saw clearly the structure inside Chloe’s mouth and couldn’t help but frown.

Inside its mouth, there were no flesh-like tissues or an esophagus leading into the body’s interior, but all materials that emitted metallic luster, seemingly the same material as the island beneath their feet.

Ji Chi moved forward somewhat incredulously to examine it, asking, “What race are you?”

Chloe moved its head in confusion, its gaze following the little mermaid’s movement. The connection at its neck made clanking sounds of steel collision. “You’re the strangest mermaid Chloe has ever seen. They’re all very afraid of Chloe.”

It first spoke its thoughts with some grievance, then seemed to receive Ji Chi’s question. After thinking for a long time, it finally answered, “Don’t know. Chloe was created by Master.”

“Master…” Ji Chi thought this was very likely the temple of the Forging God, slowly widening his eyes. “You are a…”

He had originally wanted to describe Chloe as an object, but from their brief interaction, it wasn’t difficult to discover that it had thoughts and emotions – it was like a real living being.

Chloe extended a section of its finger to scratch what could be considered its face, and some deep red rust fluttered down. “But Master has disappeared. He told Chloe to stay here and wait for the new master’s arrival.”

Chloe felt very happy about Ji Chi’s complete lack of fear. It straightened up, its thunder-like voice maintaining the same tone throughout, yet Ji Chi strangely detected excitement from it. “Chloe will take you to see the other companions!”

Ji Chi looked up following its movement and asked in surprise, “There are others here?”

Chloe: “Of course! But they don’t want to see Chloe. Only Dana comes to talk to Chloe.”

Chloe felt disappointed for a brief moment before recovering, looking like it wanted to quickly introduce the other sisters. It placed its giant palm in front of Ji Chi again.

Ji Chi hesitated for a moment but still walked up and sat on its fingertip.

The slender little mermaid was even smaller than its shortest finger. Chloe felt somewhat nervous and moved very carefully with each action, afraid of hurting this good-looking little mermaid with a pleasant voice.

As Chloe raised its palm, Ji Chi felt like he was riding an elevator, slowly taking in the entire view of the island.

The whole island was shaped like a seven-pointed star, with each point having a raised stone platform that seemed to have some symbols drawn on it. But the distance was too far for Ji Chi to see clearly.

At the center of the island stood a temple. Its outer walls were also made of metal and remained intact after years of erosion, only covered with a thin layer of sand and soil.

Ji Chi didn’t see where the temple’s entrance was. He had thought they were positioned at the temple’s back side, but when Chloe carried him around to the other side of the island, he discovered that all four sides of the temple looked identical, with no trace of a door.

Just as Ji Chi was staring at the temple and thinking, Chloe leaned close to him and lowered its voice. “Look, they’re over there. You can go find them in a while. Chloe won’t go over.”

Chloe put Ji Chi down and wanted to extend its fingertip to touch the little mermaid’s soft black hair, but quickly curled its finger back.

It kept its abnormally long arms at its sides and told him, “You can play freely in this sea area, but never leave the temple’s domain. Except for the master of this place, no one can leave alive.”

Ji Chi wasn’t particularly worried about the leaving problem. In the game, he might still consider the restrictions of invisible walls, but now in reality, nothing could stop a skilled player who exploited bugs daily.

What he was more concerned about now was when to set up the teleportation array, and the mermaids who had somehow gathered before his eyes.

There were more than ten of them, showing only half their beautiful faces above the water surface, warily watching Chloe behind Ji Chi. Only after Chloe walked away disappointedly did they slowly approach the island.

“Are you also a sacrifice?”

“Must be! Look at her face! If she had been there on my ritual day, I wouldn’t have had to come to this cursed place!”

“Don’t say that. We would all have to come here sooner or later.”

Those mermaids seemed pent up, able to discuss even small matters for a long time.

Ji Chi waited for them to finish their chattering discussion, then crouched down with his right arm resting horizontally on his knee and asked them by the shore. “Will the guardian monster attack people who intrude into the temple domain?”

He wanted to place a teleportation array to let Bard and the others in, but was somewhat worried that the two sides would start fighting as soon as they met.

Ji Chi’s unconscious movements and voice were too unlike those of a girl. The mermaids first showed suspicious expressions, but soon their eyes became unfocused under [Siren’s Song], and they answered him uncontrollably, “It only attacks those who attempt to destroy the temple.”

Ji Chi nodded. It seemed Chloe was just a mechanism for maintaining order. The correct way to enter the temple was to solve the puzzles on the island, but if they wanted to take a shortcut and directly smash open the temple, they would face Chloe’s wrath.

“Alright, thank you all. Now please return to the seabed, and no matter what sounds you hear, don’t approach the temple.” Ji Chi used his skill to bewitch the mermaids’ minds during the last few minutes before the potion’s effect wore off, making them follow his instructions and dive back to the seabed.

“Now…” Ji Chi turned back to glance at Chloe sitting alone in the temple’s shadow, then raised his hand to place the long-prepared teleportation array on the island.

The fluorescent light of the completed teleportation array had just lit up when two figures in stealth mode appeared in the magic circle.

Bard and Tang had been waiting for a long time. They had actually been following behind the mermaid prince’s team, but because it was difficult to maintain stealth on the sea surface, they had to hide very far away to avoid being discovered by the mermaids.

But despite being separated by such a great distance, they could still see that huge black shadow, whose vaguely visible ferocious appearance made even Tang feel wary.

Things had deviated from their expectations, and both men’s faces looked grim. But at this point, all they could do was wait patiently… and pray devoutly.

Just when their patience was about to run out, the teleportation array’s signal finally lit up.

Tang prepared his weapons the moment he teleported over, his sharp gaze sweeping the surroundings like a poised black panther.

Bard also had healing potions ready in his hands, crouching low and nervously searching for Ji Chi, who he expected to be “tortured by the monster until barely breathing.”

However, the bloody, terrifying life-and-death scene they had imagined didn’t appear. There was only Ji Chi, who was looking around curiously, and Chloe, who was leaning against a temple pillar sunbathing and taking a small rest.

Tang didn’t lower his guard and asked in a low voice, “How long has it been sleeping? Is it trying to lure us into lowering our guard?”

Ji Chi turned back to look at the quiet Chloe and said hesitantly, “I don’t think so. It probably doesn’t need sleep.”

As if hearing Ji Chi’s voice, Chloe raised its head with clanking sounds. It didn’t know what method it used to observe, but it quickly turned its face toward Bard and the other man. Its hollow eyes revealed no emotion.

Tang tensed his body, cold sweat slightly forming at his temples. He realized he had been discovered, so he tried even harder to hide his presence, staring at it with furrowed brows.

Chloe looked at them for a while, discovered they weren’t fragrant, soft girls, and lost interest. It lowered its head to pick at its fingers with an unhappy expression—— these men would always end up trying to destroy the temple and leave ugly scratches on its body. Ah, Chloe really hated them!

Tang waited for a while without seeing any movement from it, and looked at Ji Chi in confusion. “What’s going on?”

Ji Chi told them about his experiences and speculations while walking toward the stone platform closest to them. “As long as we don’t try to destroy the temple, Chloe shouldn’t stop us.”

As Bard and Tang breathed a sigh of relief, their expressions became somewhat strange as they froze in place. When Ji Chi walked on without seeing the two follow, he turned back to look at them. “What’s wrong?”

Tang: “Uh, um… what did you just say its name was?”

Ji Chi: “Chloe.”

After Ji Chi said this, he also got stuck, his eyes slightly widening. He had lived in this world for so long and had come to know some common knowledge, such as the fact that the name Chloe meant—— youthful, beautiful maiden.

All three simultaneously looked at the giant monster that was taller than the temple with horrified expressions.

“Alright then.” After the initial shock, Ji Chi was the first to crack his neck and turn his head away. “The Forging God, he, uh, as long as he’s happy, I guess.”

But for some reason, Chloe felt very familiar to him. From the mandatory self-reference in its speech to the incongruity between its name and body size… Ji Chi couldn’t help but frown.

While Ji Chi was deep in thought trying to remember, they had already reached one corner of the seven-pointed star, where a raised stone platform about half a person’s height stood at the pointed corner.

The stone platform was smooth and lustrous, made of some unknown material, but it looked very sturdy and was also perfectly intact.

“Stealth into darkness, avoiding the illuminating light.” Ji Chi brushed away a layer of fine sand that had settled on the stone platform and softly read out the text inscribed on it.

This sentence was carved in the ancient script of the continent. Though called ancient script, it was actually more universal than current writing, just like the magic grimoires Ji Chi used in class, which were recorded in this script.

“Stealth…” Ji Chi muttered this word. He realized something and suddenly turned back to look at the other six stone platforms.

The other two also reacted.

Bard’s face looked grim. “One of the seven major professions of the Demon Sword Continent, rogue.”

Tang continued. “This temple requires a team with all seven professions to open…”