Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

"Freya, the smartwatch is working again... Eh? August 1... We were gone for at least one week."

Amelie — who opened her smartwatch first and checked the date and time to clear their confusion regarding the Missing Poster — said in more confusion as she looked at Russell, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, we've been there for at least 7 hours if I'm not wrong."

Russell said, and he didn't know whether he should laugh or cry with the situation they were in.

Freya squatted down as her smartwatch was bombarded by messages from their parents. It's the same for Russell's.

"Oppa... why didn't you tell us that time flows differently there? And why aren't we at your room where we first disappeared?"

Freya was about to tap her smartwatch to reply or call their parents to tell them that they were fine, but Russell stopped her at the last moment.

"Stop, we won't be able to make a reason... At least not yet."

"Right... Oppa, Argh."

Freya was about to cry and feeling increasingly mad inwardly at her calm older brother for worrying their parents.

"Sorry..."

Russell was just about to joke, telling Freya that he was proudly watching her bearing when interacting with Nether Creatures and she's becoming more mature, but he restrained himself from saying so because the truth was that he forgot and the atmosphere in the Nether Realm was unchangeable, it's an eternal dimness.

He squatted down near Freya whose hands were covering her eyes, seemingly already in tears, and patted her shoulder.

"What should we do... O-Oppa?"

Amelie and Amery, as well as Estelle, who was looking at her master, confusion painted on her face... Because crying... was something that she had no idea about as it doesn't exist in the Nether Realm. It's a place devoid of love, but only faithfulness or loyalty to their master, and feelings of emptiness.

As a wanderer in the Country of Darkness, all she ever learned was that there's darkness in every being everywhere... deep in their hearts and souls. So, seeing someone cry, she wondered within herself... how a being with a darkness inside cry? Even those who were tortured to Eternal Damnation by Nether Torturers wailed in pain day and night, but tears weren't flowing down their faces.

She doesn't understand... but, at this moment, she wanted to understand the nature of her new master.

Estelle, the little kid, at least 150 cm, squatted down which confused Freya, but her next action sent her into a state of tranquility.

Estelle hugged her master with her slightly small hands, deep black hair fluttering slowly because of the wind on this cold night.

Russell watches this spectacle with a genuine smile as he thought of a very reasonable way to escape the problems coming their way.

If they go back to Obelisk Academy, they'd be questioned about where they went.

Russell browsed the messages and calls from her parents, Samantha Hall, and Azalea Vermillion.

Russell heaved a sigh of relief that was noticeable at this moment because of the gloomy atmosphere, prompting the company to look at him, silently asking what to do next.

"First, let's get out of here first and find some lodging."

The trio nodded while Estelle just followed along, one of her small hands wrapped around Freya's.

They were about to exit the secluded alley from wherever it was when Russell stopped for a moment before he asked Freya something.

"Freya, is your Death's Call been modified already? You know some skills are being modified after it was used at least once.

"Because Estelle's appearance is strange to other people if they see her blindfolded."

Freya thought about her older brother's words before she nodded in agreement... Because eye diseases don't exist in this world anymore, a blindfolded little girl would certainly garner suspicions.

Freya skimmed through the notifications she received and saw what she was looking for.

Her Death's Call unique skill has been modified, it can be used to summon or unsummon Estelle. If she's unsummon, she'll be sent inside the Treasure Box with a Living Eye after it became empty, but at this moment, Freya hasn't opened the Treasure Box with a Living Eye she received from the Ruler of Death yet.

Aside from the ability to summon and unsummon Estelle, her unique skill stated that she could only make familiars in the Region of Oblivion, it became her specified area or territory as a new Death Executioner.

It simply means that the Region of Oblivion became under her authority, at least partially at the moment because she hasn't explored yet everything on it, and killing other Death Executioners would mean that their territories would be passed down to her.

"Oppa, let's access the Chaos Training Grounds first.

"By the way, does Estelle will be able to access it, too?"

Chaos Realm was entirely different compared to Nether Realm, although the Ruler of Death has the power of Chaos, it's not the same and as pure compared to the Goddess of Night, the ruler of Chaos.

"I think she'll be able to... let's try it first."

Russell took out a slightly medium, dark blue key, emanating a dark blue aura, the Chaos Aura, with an engraved symbol of the slanted X 45 degrees to the right.

It was the first time Freya and Amery saw the key, then at that moment, Russell thrust it in space in front of him, causing it to be torn apart as if a mirror was shattered, but not completely broken. Then, a dark blue aura seeped out of it as their trait of Nihility was working to completely conceal their surroundings.

Freya held Estelle's hand and walked through it, the others followed suit.

Although it was an unwanted moment for Freya and Amery to go, it was necessary at the moment.

The torn fabric of space closes after a few seconds as if nothing happened in the area.

...

"Where the hell did he go?"

A woman with platinum hair and ruby eyes, sitting on a stool, was fidgeting with an item that looked like a branch.

Ding-!

Azalea was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a notification, not from the System, but rather from her smartwatch.

Then her eyes widened when she read the name of the sender, it was the one she was thinking about just now.

Seven days ago, Russell Moon, along with three women; one was her younger sister, and the other two were his new classmates after becoming an A-1 student.

The content of the message was simply a phrase.

"I need your help."

Azalea originally didn't have Russell's contact number, he didn't leave it with the note he wrote regarding the presumed locations of what she was looking for, instead, as the President of the Student Council Committee, she used her authority to gain the access to his smartwatch number. Although her number, not the personal one, was known to the Obelisk Academy for public inquiries because of her position, it was the first time it was being used to contact her for help that might certainly be not student issues like kids quarreling.

She immediately tapped on her smartwatch, but at this moment, her seemingly relieved expression after the initial shock turned into confusion... It's because Russell's contact number couldn't be reached again.

With the advanced technology, the smartwatch's signal only goes off if a person was inside a Strayed Dungeon or Dungeon Tower or if it broke for some reason, but the thing about the smartwatch was that it could be tracked even if it's off or broken via some technological means, although with some restrictions like if the person needed to be tracked had sent a message or called within five minutes before the smartwatch went off or broke.

And as the mysterious owner of the Thorn of Rose, the famous Black Market in the Orion Continent, she'd surely have the capability to such technology.

Azalea immediately called someone and told them the situation, and the information needed for the target to be tracked. Then just after a few seconds, the answers came back to her, causing her mind to turn blank.

"What did you say? It can not be tracked? Ah f*ck! Forget it, thank you. I'll call again if I need something."

The individual on the other end of the call apologize before Azalea ended the call.

'It's not even three minutes since I received his message... what's happening?'

It's a mystery case for her... Because no one has seen them leave the Obelisk Academy after checking everything with security cameras and the use of detection-type artifacts.

...

Russell, Freya, and the others arrived at Chaos Training Grounds, but there was no time for the new arrivals to admire the grand scenery of resplendent stars, swirling in the vast, eternal night.

Freya did what she had to do and quickly took out the Treasure Box with a Living Eye, opened it quickly, then various items floating in the air, and were sucked into her Dimensional Inventory.

Then, with an empty Treasure Box with a Living Eye, Freya unsummon Estelle who didn't make any resistance or any weird reactions. Her body turned immaterial and was sucked into the Treasure Box with a Living Eye.

As Freya didn't have time to inspect everything she received from opening the treasure box, she signaled her older brother to go back. Russell just nodded and they vanished from the Chaos Training Grounds, arriving from the secluded alley from nowhere.

...

After walking for a few minutes, they recognized the place they were in. They were still in Obelisk City, the capital of the country of Olympia.

"Oppa... does it mean when we walked further from the starting point where we arrived at the Nether Realm, we'd be transferred to another place when we go back?"

Freya guessed from her older brother's words some time ago... When Russell told them that the Nether Realm was from where they were standing at that moment.

It means that if they accessed again the Nether Realm from Russell's dorm room, they would arrive at the place where they arrived before... near the ruined small castles and floating, slanted, dilapidated houses.

Russell nodded as he browsed the updated news until he reached the news from a few days ago, their faces were on some media companies.

'This is f*cking troublesome.'

It was clearly his fault and admitted it inwardly.

'There's no excuse for this trouble.'

Russell was just becoming mad at himself to the point of punching his own face when he read something in the news as he browsed...

'Or maybe there is.'

A smile of relief gradually appeared on his face as he read the news from July 26, just a day after they went to the Nether Realm.

"Orion Obelisk Humanity Satellite Dungeon Detector (OOHSDD) has detected a new Strayed Dungeon near the borders, separating Olympia and Nereia, due East. But, contrary to what the excited Players were expecting, they didn't find anything, but strangely, the Mana Energy Flow has been continually flowing in the area, said Dungeon Scientists."