Chapter 121 : A Dangerous Journey (2)
Chapter 121: A Dangerous Journey (2)
The sun was setting.
The brilliant hours of daylight came to an end.
Night, the symbol of silence, was approaching.
Tatadada!
They ran.
As they raced relentlessly through the forest, everyone sharply scanned their surroundings.
“Still nothing!”
Lee Siwoo shouted.
They needed a place to spend the night.
First, a cave that could provide cover.
Or dense undergrowth that would make it difficult for medium-sized or larger monsters to enter.
They weren’t asking for too much, but at the very least, it had to be easy to defend.
That was the minimum requirement.
“This place won’t work.”
“No good. There are too many vulnerabilities!”
However, every report that came back was a bust.
If only they had brought at least one Ranger with them….
Then they wouldn’t have been this desperate.
No.
Even if they had, the result might not have been much different.
This place itself was simply too desolate and alien.
“Maybe I should create a Safe Zone….”
“No, that really has to be saved for the very end.”
At Yuki’s suggestion, Lee Siwoo firmly drew the line.
A last resort was, quite literally, a last resort.
Moreover, Yuki’s Safe Zone still lacked proficiency, so it couldn’t be maintained for very long.
And there was even less certainty about how well it could protect as many as twenty people.
“You heard Siwoo, right? Search harder! Unless you want to catch your death sleeping in the night dew.”
“Damn it. That’s easy to say….”
The Hunters cursed as they searched the terrain and surrounding features.
But despite their efforts, time passed quickly.
Before they knew it, the sun had dropped to the edge of the horizon.
Whoooosh….
Twilight descended along with a chilling wind.
“Grrrk!”
“Kieeeek.”
The cries of monsters could be heard from all around.
They had to make a decision now.
Whether to take the risk and spend the night here despite its shortcomings. Or continue searching for somewhere that could reliably protect them.
“We have to keep going. The second rendezvous point shouldn’t be too far away. If we can just get near it, we might encounter another raiding party.”
Lee Siwoo cast his vote for pressing onward.
His reasoning was that simply increasing their numbers would reduce the risk.
“Everyone is already far too exhausted. If we force ourselves onward, we’ll only end up suffering even greater losses.”
Yuki cast her vote against it.
“We have to go. We should move while we still have strength left.”
“No matter how I look at it, that’s too much.”
The votes for and against remained deadlocked.
Before long, the Rankers and the other Hunters turned their gazes toward Yohan.
Hmm.
All those stares felt rather burdensome.
Why did they have to split exactly fifty-fifty? Tsk.
Besides, this wasn’t even a democracy, so what was with the voting?
“I heard you displayed outstanding decisiveness and leadership during the Temple expedition, Mr. Yohan.”
“I trust you’ll make a wise decision this time as well. Though obviously, you’ll choose to keep going.”
It seemed the results of the previous expedition had played a significant role.
Well. Since things had turned out this way. Should he try luring out the ones who had been following them for a while?
Yohan’s gaze turned toward a distant spot.
Within the pitch-black darkness.
Someone was hidden among the trees, completely impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.
“Kyut!”
Had he not summoned small Vampire Bats into the sky, he wouldn’t have noticed them either.
“I cast my vote for the side that says moving at night is dangerous.”
Therefore, he chose to stay for the time being.
That way, the other side would have to make some kind of move as well.
“I get what you’re saying, but isn’t the problem that we don’t have anywhere to rest?”
Lee Siwoo wore a frustrated expression.
Of course, Yohan had already prepared a solution for that as well.
“I figured that might happen, so I made a few temporary shelters. There are three candidates. Would you like to take a look?”
“Three?”
“When did you even have time to prepare those?”
Everyone followed behind Yohan with their eyes wide open.
A short while later, the candidates appeared in a slightly wider clearing.
[Prehistoric Ruins-Class Hotel (Feat. Clam Soup and Grilled Clams Provided for Breakfast, Sea Otter Show Available After the Meal.)]
“A moment of silence for the clams and mussels.”
“Hoehh. They were ever so delicious.”
The first was a shell midden(貝塚) grave made by the Sea Otter Trio.
Tsk. He had even given these guys plenty of shellfish. And they spent an entire hour making this crap?
Its quality looked so poor that it seemed incapable of stopping even a few Slimes.
All they had done was pile up the shells they had finished eating.
Moreover, the fishy stench made it impossible to rest inside in the first place.
“…….”
Lee Siwoo’s expression stiffened.
Yuki and the other Hunters also looked bewildered.
“Haha . It’s always important to lower expectations at the beginning.”
Yohan wiped away his cold sweat and headed toward the second shelter.
He could only hope the next one would at least be somewhat normal.
[The Only Place in Barren Purgatory Where You Can Own a Home. (0 Won Deposit / Fully Furnished 33m² Lease, No Rental Fraud, Pets Allowed.)]
“Fufu. What do you think of this noble one’s masterpiece?”
“Hehe. Jungbokie helped a lot too!”
“We focused on insulation, so it’s not bad. Yeah.”
Sambokie had made a nest out of white fur and tree branches.
As soon as they got back, Yohan would have to look up the nearest dog-meat restaurant.
Since there were three heads, they’d count it as three dogs, right?
Anyway.
Now even Yuki’s expression was rotting away.
At this rate, she wouldn’t believe him anymore even if he said soybeans were used to make fermented soybean blocks.
Just then.
The third shelter appeared.
[Welcome. To the Spirit Mansion! (A prickly smile. A… ‘family-like’ atmosphere, this establishment run by a shameless owner denies you a safe and happy day.)
“Huff. Huff. Master. We worked super hard.”
“Should we say we worked ever so happily without a single complaint?”
“Everyone, be quiet. My head hurts.”
The Spirit Special Forces unveiled their handiwork.
The Gnome had gathered soil and stones from the surroundings to construct sturdy walls and a shelter.
Fwoosh!
The Salamander had lit a warm fire inside.
Even the Undine had dug a fairly deep moat around the perimeter.
This was excellent.
No, it was beyond excellent. It was a stronghold that could hold its own anywhere.
“You seem incredibly skilled at handling your summons too, Mr. Yohan.”
Yuki exclaimed in admiration as she looked at the cozy house.
“Doesn’t seem bad.”
Lee Siwoo also nodded in satisfaction.
Fortunately, everyone gave it a passing grade.
＊＊＊
The night deepened.
Exhausted from the arduous journey, the members of the raiding party fell into a deep sleep one after another.
They needed to replenish even a little of their stamina so they could move once the sun rose.
Fortunately, thanks to the Spirit Beasts’ meticulous design, nothing particularly unusual happened even after several hours had passed.
‘Even if we haven’t gone very deep yet, this is still a little unexpected.’
Normally, they should have been attacked at least a few times by now.
In fact, that was precisely why he had assigned the Spirit Beasts and the Sea Otter Trio to stand night watch.
Yet not a single higher species, including the Nephilim, had appeared.
As though someone had dealt with all of them.
‘If Vivian made a move, that would actually be a relief….’
If not, resting here might turn out to be the worst possible choice.
Just then.
Step.
The faint sound of footsteps came from the darkness.
The reason he had decided to remain here despite all the risks.
The person responsible for that decision had approached.
“Long time no see. Have you been well?”
The one who greeted him warmly was Lee Saerom, whom he had met at the Louvre Museum.
She had been following them while concealing her presence quite well, so he had wondered who it was….
This made a certain amount of sense.
Someone who had read a Forbidden Book was bound to possess at least one exceptional ability compared to everyone else.
“…….”
Beside her stood a man with a constant, easygoing smile.
He appeared to be in his early thirties.
His height was average at around 175cm, but the aura emanating from his body was remarkably sharp.
At the very least, he was several times stronger than Lee Saerom.
‘A narrow-eyed character….’
Along with old men and children, they were beings considered among the strongest in any setting.
It was time to see whether the cliché applied this time as well.
Yohan discreetly used the ‘Eyes of the Prophet’.
However.
Ttring!
[Failed to check the Status Window.]
[The current target is under the effect of the ‘Prayer of the Lord of Wind(風伯)’.]
One of Korea’s myths, ‘Dangun’.
The barrier cast by the shaman Lord of Wind unleashed violent gusts.
Indeed, that alone was enough for Yohan to roughly guess the man’s identity.
‘So this must be the guy she said made it all the way to Episode (7) on his 26th attempt.’
He remembered Lee Saerom proudly bragging about it back then.
Well, even so, from the perspective of a true veteran, it was still rather cute.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. It was the first time I’d ever heard this friend praise someone so much, so I was personally quite curious about you.”
“W-Who said I praised him? I only said he was pretty amazing, okay?”
Lee Saerom hurriedly made excuses.
“I said I’d come find you, but things became so hectic that I couldn’t keep my promise.”
“Haha. It’s fine. The early part of the Episode was far more difficult than expected. More importantly, I’ve been late in introducing myself. My name is Go Yongjin.”
“I’m Kang Yohan.”
For now, that was enough for the introductions.
What mattered was why these two had come here….
Go Yongjin quickly read Yohan’s intentions and got straight to the point.
“You probably heard from Saerom, but we’re gathering people who have explored Forbidden Books before. We share the information we possess and spare no support in helping each other grow.”
It was a kind of recruitment offer.
A Newbie would probably have been quite pleased to hear it.
But to Yohan, it wasn’t a particularly enticing proposal.
“I’m not sure. Being bound by rules doesn’t really suit my personality.”
“Ahem, I wasn’t planning on going this far myself, but I suppose I have no choice. The truth is. I have experience reaching as far as the seventh Episode. I know about the Hestia Empire, of course, and I even know what the fourth Episode is.”
Go Yongjin whispered with his voice lowered as much as possible.
“See. I told you. You. Seriously hit the jackpot, you know?”
Lee Saerom proudly puffed out her chest as well.
“Ah. Yes… well, that’s impressive.”
Sorry.
He wanted to give a more enthusiastic reaction, but….
He thought he was already doing all he could just by suppressing a yawn.
When Yohan’s reaction remained lukewarm, Go Yongjin was the one who grew anxious.
“Then, how about this?”
What he took from his clothes was a green medicinal pill.
Ohh. Now he was finally starting to wake up.
It was an item Yohan knew.
[Imoogi’s Inner Core]
When consumed, it increased resistance to poison.
It also allowed the user to randomly acquire one poison spell.
‘As a bonus, the Magic stat permanently increases by 2.’
It was practically a treasure for a Necromancer. It was also excellent for Mages to consume.
“You’re saying you’ll give me this if I join your group?”
“You don’t necessarily have to join. Ah, don’t misunderstand. Judging by what you’ve done so far, Mr. Yohan, I simply concluded that it would be more advantageous to build a relationship with you.”
In other words, he intended to invest with an eye toward the future rather than the present.
‘No stick. Only a carrot….’
Looking at a tree that gave without reservation felt unfamiliar and awkward.
Usually, such offers came with a threat that they would kill him if he refused to join them.
“It’s not kindness without a reason. You probably don’t know this. But there are people specifically hunting down those who have experienced Forbidden Books.”
“Lee Saerom!”
“Why, this guy should know what he needs to know too. To be frank, nothing’s going to get solved if we just keep struggling with it among ourselves, right?”
Lee Saerom immediately fired back at Go Yongjin’s shout.
Now this was something new.
They were specifically killing people who had experienced Forbidden Books.
There was one person who came to mind….
“Samuel?”
“So you do know about him. That’s right. He’s one of the people belonging to that group.”
Wait.
If he was only one of them, then surely….
There were more guys like Samuel?
Just how many people had read this damn Forbidden Book?
Yohan could physically feel the difficulty climbing higher and higher.
“On top of that, there’s one more troublesome problem. This one concerns the current Raid.”
“What is it?”
“You know that more than 130 raiding parties were scattered from the rendezvous point, right?”
“Something around that number.”
The smaller groups had three to five people. The larger ones had more than a hundred.
He had seen them moving in groups of roughly that size when the Summoning Formation activated.
“More than ten of those teams have already been taken out. Judging by the wounds, monsters weren’t responsible. After analyzing the defensive wounds and the direction and amount of blood spatter, we concluded that the perpetrators were people the victims knew.”
“……!?”
“Someone is hunting them in a group. They approach while pretending to be allies and stab them in the back. We came to warn you about that too.”
So, whether they were from the Empire’s side or the Hunters’ side, there was a troublesome viper mixed in among the raiding parties themselves.
Imoogi’s Inner Core and new information on top of it.
This meeting had already proven more than worthwhile from those alone.
But just then.
Brrrr!
The Alarm Magic vibrated violently.
“Gieee!”
“Keeeek!”
Ear-splitting roars announced the end of their brief peace.
“…!”
“This is….”
“Damn it.”
All three of their expressions darkened at the same time.
Anyone who had experienced a Forbidden Book could never fail to recognize those waves of magic.
The ‘Cleaners’ they least wanted to encounter during the early Episodes had begun to move.
There were two hours left until sunrise.