Atticus's Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground novel Chapter 1570

Chapter 1570: Ill-Considered

Atticus stared at the strange woman for a moment, uncertain of what response she expected from him. In the end, he gave only a curt nod and a simple,

"No."

After that, it was finally time to leave the underground space. Atticus moved ahead of her, taking point as he manipulated the earth before them, forcing it to part smoothly as they shot forward through the depths.

He had chosen the underground route deliberately, to increase their pace, and to avoid the risk of being discovered. At least this way, they wouldn’t have to worry about the others finding them and launching an attack.

The woman kept her position behind him, never once falling back, her gaze fixed on him without interruption. Eventually, the weight of that stare, combined with the oppressive silence, became too much. Atticus released a slow breath.

"Why are you helping me?"

"Co—"

"That shouldn’t apply here." Atticus cut in calmly. "From the brief moments we’ve spent together, I think I understand you a little. You believe nothing should be freely given, that pressure and obstacles shape a person far more than kindness ever could.

"But you’re also not unfair. You give answers when I truly have no way of knowing something. Like how to control the elements the way you do." He paused, eyes forward as the earth continued to shift before him.

"The same logic applies here. Why you’re helping me isn’t your identity. It’s something that exists only in your mind. There’s no way for me to truly know it. Only you can."

Silence followed. Several seconds passed before she finally nodded.

"...I don’t know."

"What?"

Atticus frowned when nothing followed. He had expected an answer that might offer some insight into who, or what, she truly was. This, however, was not something he’d anticipated.

"You mean you don’t know why you’re helping me?" he asked.

A deeper frown creased her flawless face as her gaze drifted into the darkness ahead, as though she were searching for something buried deep within herself.

"...I don’t," she said slowly. "I just feel a very strong urge to do so."

"A strong urge..." Atticus echoed, trailing off as he searched for a response and found none.

For a fleeting moment, the woman’s usual cold mask slipped, replaced by something unsettled, almost disturbed, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Her head snapped forward, her eyes sharpening.

"We’re here."

Atticus stopped instantly, instantly turning ahead. He pushed his awareness outward, parting the earth several meters in front of him until his control met something solid.

A faint purple glow caught his eyes, forcing him to narrow his gaze.

’Solvath...’

He cleared more earth away, widening the space until the obstruction was fully exposed. Only then did he truly grasp what stood before them.

’A barrier.’

Its scale was difficult to comprehend. Even after carving out such a vast underground chamber, the barrier stretched endlessly in every direction, disappearing into the distance as though it had no boundary at all.

’If I touch it... will everything end?’

Atticus carefully moved toward the barrier, until the sharp click of the woman’s tongue made him pause.

"You have something to say?"

"What you’re about to do is ill-considered."

"...Why?"

It enveloped an entire mountain towering over them, its purple glow stretching unbroken from base to peak.

He narrowed his focus, sweeping across it carefully, searching for any inconsistency, any weakness. A moment later, his awareness snagged on something, and he froze.

’Of course.’

He had half expected a hidden passage, something concealed in the sky, buried in a cliff face, or woven through the roots of a tree, but what he found was the exact opposite.

Feeling the woman’s silent gaze on him, Atticus opened his eyes and turned.

"I found it."

"Where?"

He hesitated, then answered,

"At the front of the mountain. In an open space."

...

Moments later, Atticus was perched high in a tree, surveying the massive mountain ahead, completely encompassed by the faintly shimmering purple barrier.

The woman rested on a nearby branch, her expression set in a slight frown.

Whether that frown came from the danger of their current situation or from something he had unknowingly done to displease her, Atticus couldn’t tell.

He pushed the thought aside and refocused on the problem at hand.

The path into the barrier lay in a painfully exposed location, and even after entering it, they would still need to cross several hundred meters of open road before reaching the mountain itself.