World's Best Protagonist [BL]

The second we crossed the threshold, gravity forgot how to behave.

One moment, I was falling—-freefalling into the dark, stormy water. Wait, this feels similar to when I entered that strange library! Could I really have been brought back to that place?

I honestly did not know which to dread—falling in the vortex’s water or crashing into hardwood shelves. Whichever one I end up with, my fate is still unknown. So, I just waited until my back hit something, indicating I landed.

The next moment, I was half-suspended, half-drifting, surrounded by crumbling ruins floating like debris in a sunken city.

Oops. I didn’t make it to the library. Noir will be annoyed, for sure.

It was eerily quiet. I glanced around to search for my comrades, but I didn’t see anyone. There were no crashing waves like I expected. No raging wind. Just suffocating silence.

Then, all of a sudden, the water surged forward, swallowing everything in its path.

I barely had time to react before the current yanked me sideways, sending me skidding across the slick remains of a stone platform. My head slammed into something hard, and for a brief moment, I wondered if I had contributed to my own inevitable death.

Where the fuck is everyone anyway?

Did they get swept away by the current, or did they land in another place?! Did I enter another realm again? Where is it this time? Atlantis?

"Jade!"

Noir’s voice cut through the chaos. I looked up just in time to see him surfing a piece of floating debris like it was a skateboard.

"I am going to die," I just blurted out.

"Not today!" Noir flipped off his makeshift board, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me upright as another tidal shift swept away the ground beneath us.

Claude landed nearby, completely unfazed. "Where’s your suitcase?"

My body froze. Oh, shit. I lost it?!

"Here you go. Catch." Lexie threw it. I sighed in relief and caught the suitcase. "Don’t lose it, Jade. It’s owned by the UAO. They’ll rip you out of it if you don’t return it."

So, on top of staying alive, I have to look out for this object too?

Terrius appeared beside me and explained, "Creating spatial items requires expensive resources and hard-to-obtain materials from vortexes."

"I see."

"Get up. We don’t have time to waste," Claude shouted and jumped to the tip of a submerged structure.

I coughed up some very suspicious-tasting water. I let go of Noir’s hand and jumped to another debris. Allen could have used his power to make it easier for us, but the more we use our ability, the faster our dark energy will increase.

Everyone was limiting the use of their ability, even the other team, until we assessed the strength of the enemies.

"What are we to do next? Are we just going with the water’s flow?" I asked Terrius.

I noticed he was following my pace, and wasn’t staying away from me. I felt grateful but somehow disappointed in myself. I told them I won’t be a burden, but here I was getting helped as soon as we entered.

"It’s alright, vice-captain. You can go ahead."

Terrius briefly glanced at me. He replied as he looked ahead, "We’re looking for a safe place to camp. Our only job is to gather what we can find valuable here. The other team will take care of defeating the boss."

He stayed on the lane and accompanied me. My gaze flickered on the captain looking at us from above, his expression was blank, but I could feel him patronizing me.

I grimaced. I didn’t tell Terrius to look after me! He’s just a kind and thoughtful comrade.

However, before I could explain, something moved beneath the surface.

A long, sinuous shadow slithered between the ruins underwater, and then a row of glowing eyes opened, one by one, piercing through the gloom like deep-sea lanterns.

Allen tensed. "They’re coming out."

My chest drummed a bit. I opened the suitcase and took out a long sword, just in case.

As if on cue, the water beneath us exploded.

A massive eel-like creature, transparent as liquid glass, lunged toward us with lightning speed. It barely made a sound—just a chilling, echoing hiss as it bared rows of needle-like teeth.

I would have called it pretty if it didn’t have those sharp, elongated, teeth that mirrored my awestruck yet slightly fearful face. One tooth can pass through my body if I get pierced by it.

Several monsters of the like jumped out of the water and attacked us.

Terrius froze the one coming at us instantly.

"I thought we were just here to collect things?!" I yelled as sliced the frozen monster into two. It broke, but all it did was fall into the water and its tail was wagging again, despite getting halved.

Claude was dodging effortlessly, slashing at its side. He was using the sword I saw the first time we met. His ability was useless in this kind of setting. So did mine.

"Captain, there’s a waterfall ahead! A tall building unaffected by the current in the east, five hundred meters away!" Noir shouted.

Claude turned to the east. "Move! Now!"

Terrius grabbed me and threw me into a sphere created by Allen, where Etienne was already inside. Meanwhile, Terrius and Lexie were caught in another group of monstrous fishes.

Noir led the way, riding his makeshift surfboard, Allen floating in the air next to us, while Claude jumped from rubble to rubble like a seasoned ninja.

At last, we reached the building Noir mentioned. Unlike the other ruins almost submerged in the water, this one still has leveled floors above water.

"What about Terrius and Lexie?" I asked immediately, worried for the two.

"They’ll be fine. They are already on the way."

"How about the other team?" Etienne asked next.

Noir went silent for a minute. Then, he turned to Etienne and answered, "All of them were separated by the current. Still alive, but at this rate, instead of fighting the boss monster, they’ll just waste time searching for each other."

Allen clicked his tongue. "Then, let’s handle the boss ourselves."

I was wondering why there was a waterfall in the middle of a drowned city when Noir answered my questions.

"The boss monster’s inside the sinkhole creating the waterfall. It’s lurking underneath us. We can lure it out, but we don’t know what can attract it. Or we can just wait until the other team falls in the sinkhole and study how it fights."

Etienne gasped. I turned to him, wondering if this was his first time seeing Noir evil. I wasn’t surprised at that suggestion, but what surprised me was the person who was once heroic to the bones, agreed.

"Let’s do the latter," Claude said. His eyes met mine, and I shivered seeing no pity in them. "That’s what they want."

He turned away from me. My chest inexplicably became heavy as I watched his back, seemingly resigned, as he walked away from us. For someone to change that much within just two years, something terrible must have happened.

I find myself wanting to know about him..., more than searching that library.