This time, Leo was fast.
Before Lux had even finished coughing, he had already pulled his pants back on, grabbed a bundle of wooden planks and the crude lifebuoy he'd braided together from plastic water bottles while Lux had been "helping" him, and chose to traverse.
The next instant—
He felt himself flying through the air.
"Huh?"
The moment Leo appeared, he realized he was falling straight downward. He had anticipated this possibility and immediately pulled out a simple grappling hook, preparing to snag a rock crevice.
But—
All he saw was open sky.
And Kelly, unconscious, falling alongside him.
Leo glanced down at the sea below, crowded with ships, then up at the sky again, and nodded.
"…Damn it. I was so worried I forgot that part."
After falling off the cliff, Kelly hadn't returned to some random safe spot—
She'd fallen into Arad.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Leo decisively switched plans.
He instantly opened his system interface, ready to abandon the rescue attempt, respect Kelly's fate, and flee to another world to start a new life.
However—
"Insufficient energy. Traversing to Nakiri Erina requires 100,000 energy points."
"Insufficient energy. Traversing to Senju Tsunade requires 5,000,000 energy points."
"Insufficient energy. Traversing to Luxanna Crownguard requires 8,000 energy points."
Three system prompts nearly made Leo spit blood.
"What the hell?! One's a hundred thousand, one's five million, one's eight thousand?! Are you joking with me?! Why did it only cost 200 points to get here?!"
There was no time to complain.
The vast ocean surface was already rushing toward him, and he could clearly see the figures on the ships below. All Leo could do was adjust his posture as best he could for impact—
And scream.
"AAAAAH—!!!"
Splash.
Unexpectedly, neither Leo nor Kelly died on impact.
Given their posture and the height they'd fallen from, survival should have been impossible. Yet this world seemed to possess some strange protective force—when they hit the sea, part of the damage was somehow nullified.
Leo didn't even pass out.
After gulping down several mouthfuls of seawater, he quickly realized he was still conscious. He immediately grabbed Kelly and swam upward—but the resistance of the water and the rapid burning pain in his arms made him realize something terrifying.
His strength and stamina had returned to normal.
All the power and endurance boosted by skill points were gone.
"Leaving that world makes all of it useless?!"
The realization hit him instantly. He reflexively opened his inventory.
Thankfully, while the stat boosts were gone, his inventory full of consumables still worked. He quickly pulled out several plastic bottles, wrapped them together with his clothes, then grabbed Kelly—who was sinking—and struggled upward with everything he had.
But Leo wasn't a strong swimmer.
Dragging an unconscious Kelly through cold seawater rapidly drained his stamina, and his ascent was painfully slow.
Fortunately, the ships he'd seen earlier were already dispatching rescuers.
——————————————————
With the help of kind strangers, Leo finally managed to get Kelly onto a fishing boat.
He immediately checked her condition. Seeing that she was still breathing, he finally relaxed, then turned to look at the father and son beside him.
"Thank you. I'll definitely repay you."
He thanked them sincerely.
It had been the fisherman's son who jumped into the water and grabbed his hand, pulling him up—nearly capsizing their boat in the process. Without their help, Leo wasn't confident he could've made it back up while carrying Kelly with his now-ordinary body.
But instead of understanding, the father and son looked confused, scratching their heads before replying:
"@!￥@#%"
Absolute despair.
Leo clutched his forehead in pain.
In the 7 Days to Die world, he'd never noticed this problem—everyone could understand each other regardless of language. He'd completely forgotten about language barriers.
Now he was stuck.
Whether Kelly could communicate with the people of Arad was unclear, but he certainly couldn't.
Still, judging by their expressions, Leo decided to offer some form of compensation and ask them to take him ashore.
He knew raw steel or iron ingots would be ridiculous here. After observing the boat and spotting a brass handle, he let out a quiet sigh of relief and pulled out a handful of casino tokens.
Gold and silver bars existed in his inventory too, but flaunting wealth right now would be a terrible idea.
The tokens were just a gesture—proof that he intended to repay them.
The father and son perked up at first, weighing the tokens in their hands, then immediately deflated when they realized it was just brass.
They laughed, waved him off, said a few more things Leo couldn't understand, and steered the boat toward shore.
Leo quickly clasped his hands together and bowed deeply in thanks. They understood the gesture and smiled, shaking their heads to indicate it wasn't necessary.
"Temporarily safe…"
Leo finally exhaled.
The boat soon reached land. Carrying the still-unconscious Kelly on his back, Leo followed the fishermen into a clinic. The two men left some money behind and departed.
A female doctor began examining Kelly. After realizing she couldn't communicate with Leo, she quickly turned and left.
Not long after—
Leo saw a familiar figure.
A woman in a violet evening dress, purple skin, a proud figure, and magnificent white hair.
…Sharan?
As Leo was still processing this, a mature female voice suddenly echoed directly in his mind, startling him.
"Your companion is fine. There's no need to worry too much. But where did you come from? Why are you speaking a language we've never heard before—and why do you look like refugees?"
Refugees?
Leo looked down at his tattered clothes and sighed.
"…Yeah. You could say that."