I Became a Swordsmanship Genius in the Game

Chapter 31. Lafre Forest

Not far from the castle was a green forest where large and small trees stood.

At first glance, it was an ordinary forest.

However, it was not just a green forest.

Among the cautiously moving gladiators, one who seemed to know Lafre well raised his voice.

“There must be camouflaged Lafre among those trees. Everyone, be careful!”

Lafre were man-eating plants that pretended to be trees to devour those who approached.

In the Demon World, Lafre were known as non-aggressive monsters.

In other words, as long as one could see through their camouflage, they weren't very threatening.

The gladiators didn't move recklessly, keeping their distance from the trees and carefully swinging their swords.

Hyunwoo did the same.

Thwack—!

As Hyunwoo's sword sliced through the middle of a tree, a horrific scream from the Lafre echoed.

Kkieeeeeeeeeek—! Get full chapters from novelꞁire.net

Green fluid seeped out from its severed trunk.

Realizing its camouflage had failed, the creature immediately revealed its true nature.

Crack—

The grayish-brown bark covering the Lafre split open, revealing a horrifically visualized head.

The creature, having shed its bark, was about 2 meters in size.

The Lafre's head could be said to be its main body.

The colorful red wrinkles drawn on its green head were reminiscent of the paint-water container I used to rinse my brushes in as a child.

The only thing on the creature's head was a massive mouth.

Swallowing prey whole with its giant mouth was the Lafre's hunting method.

Kieeeeeeeee—!

The Lafre howled, drooling green slime from its wide-open mouth.

‘Even in the game, many users ranked its visuals as the worst… seeing it in person is even more horrifying.’

Although its appearance was hideous, hunting it was not that difficult.

Its attacks were very simple and its movements were slow, so as long as one was careful, anyone could hunt it easily.

Kieeeeeee—!

The Lafre's head charged, aiming for the spot where Hyunwoo stood.

Thwack—!

Hyunwoo lightly took a step back, dodging its attack.

Then, he immediately transformed his Cheonbyeondo into its greatsword form and drew it.

A swordsmanship suitable for the greatsword form.

⌜Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―85%⌟

Swoosh—!

The Sabla Swordsmanship unfolding from Hyunwoo's hand sliced through the Lafre's stem connected to the ground in a single blow.

The Lafre collapsed to the floor without even letting out a final scream.

It was a futile death compared to the impact of its appearance.

Hyunwoo split the yellow seed pouch that had sprouted on top of the creature's head and looked around.

The other gladiators had also taken their positions and were hunting the Lafre without any trouble.

Conversations flowed from the gladiators who had finished their hunts.

“Hey! Be careful with the stems. They're coated in poison.”

“Should've brought an axe. Facing them bare-handed feels so damn uncomfortable.”

A fine poisonous powder emanated from the Lafre's body, but it wasn't something to be too concerned about.

The gladiators, knowing it would only cause a slight itch, killed the Lafre without hesitation.

The gladiators ran ahead, swinging their swords at every tree they found.

Hyunwoo, having collected the seed, followed behind them.

Swoosh—!

‘A preemptive strike is the surest victory.’

There was no special way to distinguish the Lafre camouflaged as trees.

I simply swung my sword at every tree I encountered on my way.

The sword, enhanced by the centrifugal force of the Sabla Swordsmanship, could cut them down in a single stroke before the Lafre's camouflage even broke.

All that was left to do afterward was to take the seed pouch from the dead Lafre's head.

It was an easy task, more like harvesting than hunting.

It was like a long-awaited proficiency burning event.

⌜Sabla Swordsmanship (2-Star)―87%⌟

The proficiency, which had been rising slowly after passing 80%, instantly jumped by 2%.

‘As expected, there’s nothing like mob hunting for power-leveling.’

I didn't even need to gather them.

The Lafre were so plentiful they were practically underfoot.

The gladiators, who had been moving cautiously at first, gradually let down their guard at the sight of the Lafre falling so pathetically.

“This is… easier than I thought?”

“What? A demon's castle was conquered by things like this?”

“Instead of spouting useless words, go grab another seed. They’re all mana stones.”

With their guard down, the gladiators began to focus on collecting seeds.

Each seed was worth a whopping 20 mana stones.

With so many Lafre around, it was a chance to make a fortune.

The gladiators competitively rushed to kill the Lafre.

As the hunt continued, some gladiators even started to argue amongst themselves.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“What?”

“I got that one. Get your hands off it now!”

“Ha. You got proof?”

The hunt was so easy that the gladiators eventually began to fight over their kills.

“Look. There are plenty of Lafre. Instead of bunching up, how about we spread out and hunt.”

“Alright. Our squad will head this way!”

It felt less like a subjugation and more like a competitive hunt to gather seeds.

Seeing the squads scatter, Hyunwoo narrowed his eyes.

They acted like they knew Lafre well, but it seemed no one knew about the hunting method for clustered Lafre.

Squad 13, which Hyunwoo belonged to, also separated from the other squads and advanced without hesitation.

The deeper they went, the denser the forest became, and the surroundings rapidly grew dark, but blinded by the mana stones before them, they seemed not to notice their environment.

A short while later, when the forest became so dark that one couldn't tell front from back, some gladiators began to notice the changed atmosphere.

“I think it’ll be dangerous if we go any deeper….”

“Cowards can back out on their own. I’m going all the way to the castle.”

“I’m just saying we should be careful. We’ve come too deep.”

“Gert Castle isn't far from here. Are you going to miss out on the reward? It’s a whole 10,000 mana stones.”

“……”

Some gladiators felt an uneasy premonition, but the words ‘10,000 mana stones’ made it difficult for them to give up easily.

Just going to check it out and coming back was worth 10,000 mana stones.

The hesitant gladiators, with the huge sum of 10,000 mana stones shimmering before their eyes, began to move their feet again.

“Well, it’s not that I don’t want to go, I’m just saying we should assess the situation.”

“What situation? While we’re doing this, our share is shrinking!”

Seeing the other squads that had moved far ahead of them, Hyunwoo’s squad members also began to hurry.

As they neared the castle, the visibility grew hazy as if a fog had set in.

At the same time, the frequency of encountering Lafre began to decrease.

When the fog became so thick that they couldn't even see the shape of the person right in front of them, the gladiators started to grumble.

“Hey, this fog is too thick. Are we going the right way?”

“The direction is right. We should be fine if we just keep going.”

To the gladiators excited at the thought of receiving 10,000 mana stones, the fog felt like no big deal.

However, Hyunwoo knew that this was the zone where the Lafre’s poison began to spread in earnest.

Normally, the Lafre’s poison only caused a slight itch upon contact with the body, but…

‘It’s a different story when the Lafre are densely packed.’

The poison emitted by the clustered Lafre would accumulate.

And the accumulated poison would slowly eat away at the gladiators’ lives.

After advancing a little further, the form of a massive castle began to appear above the fog.

“Isn’t that Gert Castle?”

“That? It looks like it’s completely surrounded by the forest… What on earth happened here.”

Their questions were brief, as the sight of the castle quickened the gladiators’ pace.

But not long after.

Ssssssk—

“…What!?”

The gladiators flinched to a stop at the presence they felt around them.

Through the fog, black shadows rapidly multiplied. One by one, Lafre revealed themselves.

The gladiators were terrified at the sight and stepped back.

“What are these things? They’re moving?”

“Weren’t they supposed to stay still until we attacked?”

They had never heard of a case where a Lafre moved first.

As the creatures slowly approached, splitting the ground, the tensed gladiators each took a defensive stance.

Hyunwoo judged that it was about time to hold his breath.

⌜Trait: Oxygen Tank

Description: ‘Adaptation to the environment is the greatest blessing given to a living being.’

You gain lungs that circulate oxygen. You can endure for a long time with just a single breath.⌟

Based on a previous experiment, if I stayed still without moving, I could last for almost a day.

Instead, being active would shorten the time I could endure.

“Dammit!”

“…B-Block them!”

The Lafre charged.

Kill one, and two more appeared. Kill two, and four more swarmed in.

There was no end to the Lafre flocking towards the gladiators.

The ones at the front quickly grew exhausted.

“Pant, pant— How long are they going to keep coming?”

Some belatedly started to back away, but it was already too late.

They were already surrounded on all sides, with no escape route.

To make matters worse, the Lafre’s poison accumulated, and one by one, gladiators began clutching their throats.

“Keok!”

“H-Hey? Keuk!”

The Lafre's poison was originally very weak, but as it continued to accumulate, it caused respiratory distress and a rapid drop in stamina.

Eventually, gladiators began to collapse.

The Lafre opened their giant mouths and lunged.

Crunch—!

The Lafre's head swallowed a gladiator whole.

The gladiator's legs thrashed pathetically, but there was no way out.

With the sound of bones being crushed, the more he struggled, the deeper he was sucked into the Lafre.

“Aaaaaaaah—!”

“R-Run away!”

As the first casualty occurred, the formation began to crumble rapidly.

It seemed this wasn't just happening here, as desperate screams could be heard from all over the forest.

The gladiators scattered in all directions, but it was already too late.

There was no way out from the midst of the Lafre that had already surrounded them densely.

No.

“Cough!”

It wasn't easy to run properly while holding one's breath.

One by one, the gladiators were swallowed by the Lafre and disappeared.

“……”

Hyunwoo stopped walking, held his breath, and didn't move a single eyeball.

The Lafre, which had no eyes or nose, detected prey only through its sense of touch.

To be precise, it detected prey through vibrations transmitted through the ground.

Fortunately, Hyunwoo had a way to avoid the Lafre's vibration detection.

⌜Footsteps of the Abyss

A posthumous work created by the Demon World's Lich, ‘Gregory’, during his lifetime. The masterpiece of Gregory's life, who was sensitive to noise.

Darkness envelops the user wearing the boots, completely concealing their presence.⌟

The ‘Footsteps of the Abyss’ I had received as a Super Rookie privilege were snugly wrapped around my feet.

Rustle—

Digestive fluids dripped from the head that brushed past Hyunwoo's body.

As I stood still for a moment, dozens of gathered Lafre sluggishly passed me by.

As they moved away, Hyunwoo let out a sigh of relief internally.

‘Phew… it’s definitely effective.’

I knew well that due to the item's effect, the Lafre couldn't detect me unless I attacked them first, but goosebumps rose when a Lafre brushed past me.

Hyunwoo slowly looked around.

The place where the Lafre had left.

Not a single part of a corpse could be found.

Lafre swallow their prey whole and transfer the nutrients to their ‘mother body’ through their connected stems.

‘I’d like to help, but… I have to survive too.’

I could have warned them about the danger of the Lafre and made the gladiators retreat.

However, I judged that it would be impossible to persuade the gladiators who were blinded by greed.

The Lafre's poison grew stronger over time.

Forcing himself to compose his mind, Hyunwoo carefully moved deeper into the forest.

‘Alright, shall we get going then.’

Hyunwoo moved cautiously among the Lafre by himself.

Even though he passed right next to them, none of them noticed him.

Continuing forward, he finally arrived at Gert Castle, which was said to have been conquered by the Lafre.

‘10,000 mana stones are important, but there’s something more important than that in that castle.’

Up close, Gert Castle exuded an eerie atmosphere.

Numerous stems and leaves enveloped the entire castle.

The desolate air indicated that there were no survivors left.

Not even a corpse remained.

It seemed they had all disappeared, having become nutrients.

Hyunwoo traversed the outer wall of the castle, recalling Gert Castle's final moments.

In the castle, there existed a demon, the lord of that castle.

The status of a demon was proof of strength, as they were the ruling class of the Demon World.

The fact that even such a demon fell meant that a stronger being than the Lafre had intervened.

It was the same as saying that something had invaded this place.

Hyunwoo recalled the ‘Scenario Quest’ generated at the Request Center.

⌜Scenario Quest has occurred!

You have discovered ‘Lafre Propagation,’ a harbinger of the ‘Calamity that gnaws at the Demon World.’ Find the cause of the Lafre Propagation and stop it.

Time Limit: Before the Sylvester region is destroyed.⌟

The ruler of all Lafre, and their mother body.

‘Anesta.’

It was the true identity of the ‘Calamity that gnaws at the Demon World.’