The Rickety Bridge and the Horned Pack
Millio immediately returned home and began preparing to gather the herbs. He also brought along a simple map of the forest interior sketched on parchment, though it was far from precise. Given the village's level, that was only natural—it resembled a medieval European hamlet. Still, the city on the 10th floor featured modern conveniences everywhere with an aesthetic close to the early modern era, while this place looked like genuine medieval times right before the Black Death.
The First Settlers living inside the Tower didn't all share the same environment. For all we knew, there might even be some still dwelling in primitive huts from ancient times.
The handful of adults guarding the village eyed me and Lee Suyoung—the sudden outsiders—with wary gazes. But after hearing Millio explain that we'd emerged from the crystal connected to the Tower, they marveled at whether the legends were actually true. Their wonder didn't stop their caution from remaining, of course.
A brief argument broke out among the village adults worried about Millio, but the general mood settled on giving it a chance since the Tower had sent escorts. With that, we were able to set off for the forest.
"Millio, are you and the people in your village First Settlers?"
First Settlers weren't exclusive to the residential floors. From what I'd seen on the community forums, quests to climb the Tower could involve fulfilling requests from First Settlers like this, or they could be direct tasks from the Tower with no connection to them at all. Come to think of it, the First Settlers on the public floors received protection from climbers, but these ones didn't. The reverse was true in other cases, but I wondered why.
At my question, Millio nodded.
"Yes, that's what I understand."
Millio simply knew his distant ancestors had lived on this land, in this village, and felt no strangeness about it. No, feeling strange about it would have been the odd thing. After all, he'd simply lived as he'd been born to, without any artificial interference.
Lee Suyoung and I followed Millio's lead deeper into the forest. The trees grew so densely that it was quite dark even in broad daylight. Millio carefully scanned our surroundings and veered off the path.
"From the bear-shaped rock, head two hundred and thirty steps in the direction where the moss grows. Then from there, seventy steps left from the moss direction. After crossing the valley, from the toad-shaped rock go about a hundred and fifty steps down and to the left from the moss, and you'll find the herb colony I'm looking for."
Looking at the rough map, a wolf's face had been drawn in the section beyond the valley.
"The wolves' territory?"
"...Yes. The entire forest belongs to the monster wolves, but their main activity zone is beyond the valley. That's why most herb gathering happens without crossing it."
I wondered what level these monster wolves were at. They were probably comparable to goblins or slightly stronger. The alpha, though, would be on another level entirely.
When my expression grew serious, Millio glanced at me and spoke carefully.
"Still, the monster wolves don't move much from the center of the forest. If we encounter any, they're mostly the subordinate ones. You can usually drive off regular wolves with this."
What Millio held out looked like small bean-sized pellets bundled together.
"If you light this and throw it, it releases a smell and smoke that wolves hate, so they'll usually run away right away."
The preparations were better than I'd expected. Lee Suyoung smiled when she saw the pellet bundle.
"It seems safer than I thought?"
"We can only hope."
Following Millio's directions, we reached a rock that resembled a bear and walked north from the moss growing at a tree's base. I expanded my senses to scan the area, but I only detected a few wild animals—no wolves.
Feeling relieved, I marveled at how he could navigate a forest that was nothing but trees as we arrived at the valley. An old rope bridge spanned it, and at the sight of the shabby, dangerous-looking structure, Lee Suyoung's face filled with horror.
"D-do we really have to cross this?"
"Yes. Otherwise we'd have to go all the way upstream, which would take a full day."
"Then going around is also... No."
Seeing Millio's desperate expression, Lee Suyoung swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and clung to my left arm as if hanging on for dear life. She couldn't bring herself to suggest turning back when they had no idea when his mother's condition might worsen. After all, one way took a full day, making the round trip two days. I didn't want to spend two days in this dark forest full of wolves either.
I crossed the swaying bridge without issue, matching Millio's steps. It shook quite a bit, but it looked like two or three adults could cross safely as long as no one started jumping.
"Suyoung? It's heavy."
"Euu...! A-are we across yet?"
"We're almost there."
At my words, Lee Suyoung peeked her eyes open, then squeezed them shut again.
"Eek! Y-you liar!"
I laughed cheerfully at her reaction.
"Puhahaha! It's not a lie. If we've come halfway, we're basically there. They say the beginning is half the journey, so if we've done more than half, only a quarter remains."
"D-don't spout weird sophistry!"
"Hey now. A person should stay positive. The cup still has half the water left, you know?"
Lee Suyoung gritted her teeth.
"Just tell me when we arrive before I split you in half."
Uh, was she gritting her teeth out of fear? She wasn't actually saying she'd split me, right?
Once we'd crossed the valley and reached solid ground, Lee Suyoung made an incomprehensible noise like "Euuueong~!" and collapsed as if trying to embrace the earth, pressing her hands against it.
"Was it that scary?"
"No. Rather, how can Jiwoo oppa not be scared of a bridge like that? It looks terrifying at first glance."
Come to think of it, I'd never had a fear of heights since childhood. And after dying twice, the only thought falling gave me was that the pain would be brief.
"Come on, let's go. We need to gather the herbs quickly and get out of this forest."
"Euu... We'll have to cross that bridge again on the way back, won't we?"
Lee Suyoung whined at the prospect of recrossing it. I chuckled at the sight—until I felt a gaze from far off in the forest.
When I suddenly turned that way, both Millio and Lee Suyoung looked at me.
"What's wrong?"
"It's a wolf. But it's smaller than I expected?"
The wolves I'd imagined were the oversized ones from internet videos. But the one caught in my senses was bigger than a medium-sized dog yet smaller than a large breed.
"Is it naturally a small species?"
Wolves came in large and small varieties. Or perhaps food was scarce in the forest, leading to stunted growth. The only wild animals my senses had detected on the way here were small creatures like rabbits and pheasants. The largest were wild boars, but even they weren't particularly big. And we hadn't encountered them often.
"You can see it?"
Lee Suyoung stared at me in wonder after I described its size. But I wasn't seeing it with my eyes. If there was one thing I was gifted with, it was my sense for handling qi.
"It doesn't seem hungry since it's not attacking immediately."
At my words, Millio spoke in an anxious voice.
"Still, let's gather the herbs quickly and leave. We're almost there."
Millio quickened his pace, and Lee Suyoung, who had been sitting on the ground, stood and hurried after him. None of us wanted to fight wolves in the middle of the forest if we could avoid it.
Fortunately, we reached the herb colony soon after. Millio busily gathered them, skillfully distinguishing the herbs from the surrounding thick bushes.
I watched him for several minutes before asking.
"Will it take long?"
"Just a little more... Why?"
"Wolves are coming this way. It seems like they're measuring their angles?"
From the south and west—three wolves, or four? No, more behind them. My skill was still lacking; I could only vaguely sense animals in the distance but couldn't tell exactly how many.
At my words, Millio's face went deathly pale as he hurriedly finished gathering the herbs. I practically snatched the bundle from him and stored it in my inventory.
"I'll return it once we're back in the village. ...Run!"
At my shout, Millio and Lee Suyoung sprinted back the way we'd come. The moment they ran, the wolves that had been stealthily approaching from the south and west gave chase.
I ran from the rear, reinforcing my muscles with internal energy, and hurled a hand axe. It split the head of the leftmost wolf clean in two. Up close, I saw a pair of horns like an ox sprouting from its head. So these weren't ordinary wolves after all.
"Tsk! I really need to learn proper throwing techniques!"
I was landing hits through sheer luck, but the one I'd aimed for was the wolf beside it. It pained me to waste the mana stones or hides, but stopping to collect them could get us killed.
As I ran hard, I sensed wolves ahead of us too.
"Suyoung! One o'clock! Two wolves incoming!"
At my shout, Lee Suyoung—who had kept Mulpung-i on standby—fired two Suoktans in rapid succession the instant the wolves appeared. Unlike me, her slime boasted perfect accuracy. The two wolves took direct hits to the head and collapsed with their skulls caved in.
"More ahead! These bastards remembered our path and set up an ambush!"
This was insane! How was this the eleventh floor? Had forming a party with the two of us gotten us assigned a high-difficulty quest?
If we'd possessed powerful supernatural abilities it would've been fine, but neither Lee Suyoung nor I were anywhere close to that.
"Ah! I leveled up!"
In the midst of everything, it seemed Lee Suyoung's slime summoning skill had leveled up. The magic power I sensed from Mulpung-i had grown noticeably stronger.
"I think I can divide my shots now!"
"Eleven o'clock! Three wolves coming!"
The moment I spotted them, I reinforced my muscles and threw the hand axe. It struck the leg of the lead wolf. The axe not only sliced through but shattered bone, sending the creature tumbling across the ground.
"I was aiming for the head this time..."
Mulpung-i fired four small Suoktans from its mouth. They struck both eyes of the two trailing wolves. The smaller size reduced their power so they didn't kill the beasts, but they burst their eyes and blinded them.
"I think I can divide a single shot into up to three parts now!"
Lee Suyoung had said "I think" rather than stating it as fact. The supernatural abilities granted by the Tower were kind yet subtly unkind—you had to figure out the finer details through intuition and experimentation. It was as if the system wanted recipients to explore and develop their powers on their own.
I sliced through the neck of a wolf charging from behind with a horned headbutt. We kept running and taking down wolves until we reached the valley rope bridge. But the moment we arrived, thirteen wolves appeared as if they'd been waiting, surrounding us in a semicircle.
Only after being encircled did I realize my mistake.
"Ah, I should have chased down and killed that first wolf when I saw it."
If I'd taken care of it back then, we wouldn't have become targets like this, and they wouldn't have figured out our route. But it was already too late.
From within the forest, an ox-sized wolf with horns came sauntering toward the valley.
"Grrrrr."
The characteristic throat-scraping growl of a wolf reached us.
The swaying bridge was behind us, but it wasn't sturdy enough to hold if those wolves gave chase. I smiled and said.
(To be continued)