Chapter 30: A big and bad hand

Here’s the English translation of the provided Korean text, adhering to all the established rules:

We were looking around the table, and now we realized that the only remaining food was the whole fruits. Sia tilted her head and said, “Maybe… this is related to ‘passing’?”

I laughed, saying, “Hey, there’s no way it’s a lame setup like that… well, actually, there might be. This place is like that.”

Sia chuckled softly, looking at the whole fruits. “Yeah, anything’s possible. What do you want to try? Banana? Or grapes?”

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. “Hmm… not the banana, I’ll go with the apple.”

I picked up a ripe red apple from the table. Sia, following my lead, carefully picked up an apple as well.

“One bite each, for now?”

“Yeah, let’s try it. Since we’ve come this far.”

We simultaneously took a bite of the apple. A sweet and crisp taste spread in my mouth.

At that moment, I suddenly felt the surrounding air change.

“What!”

“What is it?” Sia said in a surprised voice.

As soon as I bit into the apple, a strange vibration, as if the space was shaking, spread around us. The door we had come through. The door on the opposite side was slowly opening.

Creak.

The door opened, and the letters engraved on it caught our attention.

“”Pass?””

The word “Pass”  was clearly engraved on the door in large letters.

Sia burst into hollow laughter, saying, “It really was ‘pass’… Isn’t this too blatant?”

I looked down at the apple with an absurd expression. “Eating a whole fruit, so it’s ‘pass’. Such a simple setup.”

Sia chuckled. “Still, we can move on now. It’s fortunate, even if it’s simple.”

I nodded in agreement and approached the door. A faint light was visible beyond the open door, and a new space seemed to be waiting behind it.

“What’s this time?”

Sia stood next to me with a tense face.

I sighed and said, “Whatever it is, we can’t just stand here. Let’s go.”

We slowly passed through the door.

As soon as we passed through the door, I felt the air change completely.

It felt like the aphrodisiac effect was gradually disappearing, my mind clearing, and my body feeling lighter.

“I feel refreshed.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, my body feels like it’s getting sluggish. Um… to be precise, it’s like my sensitive body is returning to normal.”

“The effect wore off. That’s a bit disappointing… no, it’s a relief.”

I laughed at her words.

“Disappointed… You’re joking, right?”

Sia shook her head and smiled. “Of course.”

“You’re doing it again. Was that a question that needed three minutes of silence?”

Anyway, as we chatted like that and passed through the door, what greeted us was a suffocatingly thick darkness.

I could feel a cold stone floor under my feet, and the air was heavy and still.

We looked around without saying a word, slowly moving forward.

“This place… isn’t it too familiar?”

Sia spoke in a low voice.

I looked around at her words and slowly nodded.

“Yeah. This place is similar to the place we passed before. Don’t tell me…”

At that moment, a familiar, but unwelcome, presence was felt in the darkness.

Carefully taking a step forward, a faint sound was heard from the darkness. We quickly realized that the sound was familiar.

And soon after, it, flying through the air.

[Bad Hands] appeared.

“…It’s the bad hands.”

I muttered and stopped walking.

They slowly circled in the air, moving like beasts searching for prey.

The sight of them crawling through the air was as creepy as ever.

Sia cringed next to me and said, “I didn’t want to see them again… Why are they here again?”

“I don’t know. But we have to be careful, just like we saw before. If we provoke them, they might attack right away.”

I whispered to her quietly.

“They’re still disgusting guys…”

Sia muttered quietly, looking up.

We moved forward slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible so that the bad hands wouldn’t recognize us.

But the only thing threatening us wasn’t the hands flying in the air.

Suddenly, Sia flinched and stopped.

“Wait… what?”

She felt something brush past her arm and looked back.

I was surprised by her reaction and approached her.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Sia reached out and groped the spot where she had been, saying, “Just now… something brushed my arm. But I didn’t see anything.”

Hearing those words, something flashed through my mind.

“Could it be… [Invisible Hand]?”

I looked around and warned her.

“Be careful. We need to look around carefully.”

At that moment, a presence was felt near her shoulder.

I quickly shouted.

“Sia, to the side!”

Sia tilted her body to the side with a surprised expression and quickly retreated.

An afterimage was momentarily visible in the place where she had been.

The appearance of something shaking the air as it passed by.

As expected, it was the [Invisible Hand].

Sia wrapped one hand around her buttock and panted.

I hurriedly approached her and asked.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded and said, “…But, that hand briefly brushed against me? It only brushed, but, well, it felt strange.”

“You’re fine, right.

“What do you mean, a strange feeling?”

Sia blushed and continued to touch her butt.

“It brushed my butt lightly… but… something, there’s a strange sensation remaining.

It’s a bit, ticklish and strange. It’s unpleasant…”

I listened to her words and was momentarily speechless.

It seemed that those hands had a strange effect even with just contact.

As we caught our breath and looked around, we suddenly froze at the intense energy felt in the darkness.

Something big and huge was slowly revealing itself.

“What is that…”

Sia muttered in a trembling voice.

What slowly emerged from the darkness was a huge hand of unimaginable size.

That hand crawled out majestically, like a nobleman, and the floor vibrated with an intense presence.

“A hand?”

I listened to her words and nodded.

“Yeah. But it seems like a guy on a different level than the hands we’ve seen before.”

The giant hand slowly moved in the darkness, looking around.

Around that hand, small [Bad Hands] were circling as if escorting it.

They were flying in the air, seemingly waiting for the giant hand’s command.

The giant hand moved slowly.

Every time those huge fingers moved, the surrounding air trembled.

A Day in a Level 1-like Space.

When I ate the whole fruit, the door opened.
The word ‘Pass’ was written above the door.

As expected, it was a simple setup.

The new space was engulfed in a thick darkness. The floor was cold stone, the air heavy, with a sense of tension.

Luckily, maybe the effect of the aphrodisiac was lessened, my body and mind felt gradually lighter.

Wait, the aphrodisiac was lessened.

Phew… ah, sorry.

While moving cautiously, we encountered the [Bad Hands] floating in the air again.

While on guard, this time, the [Invisible Hand] also appeared.

Sia said she felt a strange sensation even though she was only brushed by the hand.

Then, a huge hand slowly emerged from the darkness. Around it, small [Bad Hands] were circling as if escorting that hand.

I’m deeply worrying about what this huge hand is and how to deal with it.

Monster file: [Big Bad Hand]

Appearance: The [Big Bad Hand] is overwhelming in size from the start.

It seems to be at least 10 meters, and that huge hand resembles a human hand, and the surface is cracked like old, rough stone.

The fingers are unusually long and sharp, and the tips reflect light faintly, giving an eerie feeling.

Just looking at the texture of the surface, it looks hard, and if you were to be stabbed or crushed by those fingers… um, it would hurt a lot.

Characteristics: The [Big Bad Hand] seems to be active mainly in secret in the dark.

Despite its huge size, it is threatening in itself to move quietly, minimizing its presence.

In particular, several small [Bad Hands] are always observed accompanying and escorting this monster.

These [Bad Hands] seem to act as if they are protecting this monster, but sometimes they seem to be monitoring.

Their purpose is not clear.

It seems like they are cooperating with each other, but the relationship between the [Big Bad Hand] and the [Bad Hands] is still a mystery.

In addition, the [Big Bad Hand] seems to form a strange air around itself, and the closer you get, the more cold pressure you feel.

Danger: The greatest threat of the [Big Bad Hand] seems to come from its physical strength.

Those huge fingers are enough to crush or grab the target, and that power seems strong enough to completely immobilize the target beyond simply physical damage.

Especially, once caught, it seems almost impossible to escape.

In addition, this monster does not move alone.

The [Bad Hands] circling around cause confusion and block the target’s escape route, perhaps providing the [Big Bad Hand] with the optimal attack timing…

…That’s my guess.

Weakness: Currently, the weakness of the [Big Bad Hand] is unclear.

It is unknown what factors can weaken its huge size and powerful strength.

Also, if we understand the relationship between it and the [Bad Hands] circling around it, we might get a clue to attack it.