Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Chapter 10: Traces (3)
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HIDDEN MISSION
[New World]
Rescue your allies. (0/?)
[Rewards]
Rewards increase based on the number rescued.
• Attribute Mana 50 (+?)
• Random Box (×1) (+?)
Static crackle, hiss.
Was there some kind of jamming signal, or had the graphics card finally crapped out?
The mission window flickered and shook erratically.
I glared at the words written there.
‘Rescue.’
Now that it was a given fact that the System was watching me, there was only one person around me who needed rescuing.
‘Allies?’
This declaration and message left no room for discussion—it was a one-way ultimatum.
“……”
Before I could agonize over it, I set my emotions aside.
This was purely a matter of weighing pros and cons, so the deliberation didn’t take long.
The Capitalism trait was proof in itself that the System was giving me special treatment.
‘Just look at the word “support.”’
At the very least, for me—this Player—the System was abandoning its role as a bystander, observer, or neutral party.
If I ignored my resentment toward it, the rational choice was clear: complying with the System’s intent brought more gains.
In fact, every time a hidden mission popped up, I’d reaped benefits no ordinary Player could match.
The baby monsters had given me enough mana to skip straight past the level 1 mission, and the random box had netted me skills tough to acquire in the current phase.
The bounty mission had been a nightmare stress-wise, but the rewards hadn’t been shabby.
My experiences so far screamed it loud and clear.
‘Never lost out on a hidden mission.’
Sure, it’d mean some hardship.
But I couldn’t afford to throw away the advantages I’d enjoyed up to now.
‘If it decides I’m not worth it, it might latch onto some other Player.’
The question marks weren’t unique to me.
To keep receiving the System’s support, I had to prove I was better than the rest.
It was still indulging my demands for now.
But that was only because I was outperforming other Players.
There was no guarantee it would keep spoiling me with special perks after a replacement showed up.
‘Not about charging into those maniacs flipping the forest upside down.’
Just scooping up the wounded while they hammered away at each other.
‘Yeah. I’ll do it.’
Weighing all my cards, the math checked out—I could pull it off.
I bolted toward the man.
‘The number to rescue is a question mark.’
The more I saved, the bigger my payoff.
Fortunately, no mana signatures were closing in.
I could take a calm look at the man with the orange hair.
Unconscious—no reaction even as I crouched down beside him.
First, I tried to check what was embedded in his body.
But I froze when I spotted the restraints around his wrists and neck.
‘Shackles…?’
No illusion. Chains or not, what he had clamped on his neck, wrists, and ankles were unmistakably shackles.
The sight instinctively put me on guard against him.
At the same time, questions bubbled up.
They weren’t dangling chains, but no one wore lumps of iron like that for fashion.
Normally, you slapped these on criminals, right?
‘Ally…’
I stared down at him suspiciously for a moment.
‘Urgent wounds first.’
I carefully touched the black rod stabbed into his lower back.
‘Not a spear…’
It resembled a steel pipe, or maybe a thorn.
Either way, I had to pull it out to treat him.
I bought more potions from the shop, then gripped the mystery rod.
‘As fast as possible.’
The moment I yanked it free, his body jerked like he was seizing.
I threw my weight into my knee to pin him down.
Then I poured potion straight into the wound without hesitation.
“Damn it…”
But for some reason, the blood wouldn’t clot.
‘Through-and-through wound? Or too big?’
No, that wasn’t it. If we were talking wound size or blood loss, the gator attack on me had been worse.
I’d healed quarter-melted skin with this potion.
No way a simple puncture explained it.
I glanced at the black rod on the dirt ground while dumping more potion.
To staunch the bleeding, I went through two full bottles.
Not even healing the wound—just stopping the blood—two bottles.
There were two more rods in his body.
In the end, six bottles just to control the bleeding at the wound sites.
Like pouring water into a bottomless bucket.
‘This is insane.’
Who knew how many more I’d have to save.
My fame discount was a measly 2% now.
At this rate, ten rescues would burn through over 1,000 mana on potions alone.
Instead of burning more potions, I pulled out the emergency kit Jong-hoon had given me.
Rip, snip.
I cut away his clothes and applied modern meds for first aid.
That put out the immediate fire, at least.
“Whew.”
Even with the mountain turned to a blasted heath, the sky above hung serene.
But I knew better—this wasn’t peace. The booming crashes kept rolling on.
‘How long are they gonna keep pounding each other?’
They’d only drifted out of my mana detection range—not ended.
‘Time to relocate.’
Couldn’t leave the guy here unconscious, so first priority: find somewhere safe.
I hoisted him onto my back and got moving.
* * *
The instant he’d scattered from his comrades, one had latched onto Raoul.
Under normal circumstances, he’d have crushed it easily.
But today, even blocking attacks taxed him.
The ambush wound was too grave.
Gurgle, gurgle—blood leaked freely, streaming down his legs to soak the ground.
“Argh!”
Even so, Raoul forced his arm up.
The axe he’d swung for over a decade felt brutally heavy today.
But surrender wasn’t an option.
His tenacious thrashing paid off—the axe buried into the monster’s neck.
That was it. Even half-severed, it didn’t die.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t some scrub you could drop that easily.
Knowing it, Raoul urgently arched his back.
A 10cm claw whistled past his chest by a hair.
Stagger—desperate footwork to steady his tipping balance.
The monster pursuing slashed into his left shoulder, blood pattering to the dirt.
For a split second, his vision blinked out, tinnitus ringing.
He’d forced himself this far, but consciousness flickered, cutting in and out repeatedly.
Severe blood loss made it inevitable.
‘No…!’
But inevitability didn’t dull the resentment.
A tiny lapse, and it was decapitation or a pierced heart.
Raoul sensed his end and roared.
Yet his body was too feeble for fury or regrets.
He didn’t want to die, but only a pathetic death awaited.
“Keeeaak!”
So why no heart-piercing agony, no ripping at his nape?
Why was it the monster’s scream echoing in his ears?
No time for questions.
Raoul squeezed his scant mana into the axe.
Blue mana coiled around the blade as he twisted his waist for an uppercut.
“Hraaaah!”
A thrill ran through him. He’d severed the neck—the hide parted under the edge.
He’d escaped death’s door!
Even in that rush, Raoul stayed vigilant.
‘Gotta split the skull!’
Otherwise, these mana-fueled bastards kept moving.
He strained his heavy lids.
Was it dogged craving? Desperate prayer?
For a moment, vision cleared. He spotted the head tumbling through the air.
“Huh…?”
But even finding it, Raoul uttered a dazed sound.
The monster’s eyes—should’ve been four rolling every which way—looked wrong.
Of the four, only two were intact.
The other two had daggers stabbed through. Who…?
‘Reinforcements…?’
Before the question escaped, Raoul hurled his axe.
It caught the target swiftly.
‘Done.’
Relief hit, and his legs buckled.
No more coaxing strength—limbs refused to obey.
Freshly regained vision blurred again, consciousness fading into the distance.
“Sug yeo!”
Then red mana pooled above Raoul’s head.
But it shattered with a heavy thud, scattering.
“Guhk!”
Blood sprayed from thin air, the axe cleaving the monster’s skull and embedding in a tree.
That was the last sight before Raoul blacked out.
As awareness sank, lifelong senses drifted away.
Sounds boomed like he was underwater. His body chilled like frozen in ice.
Didn’t want to fall farther, yet he plummeted.
Thrashing against the vertiginous drop yielded nothing.
No escape from the cold depths.
Just like that day.
The walls crumbling helplessly.
Monsters surging beyond.
Family and neighbors devoured alive.
Arrows and spells raining like downpours.
Monsters slain with bellies split.
A child crawling through, surviving.
Sensations dragging him back to that brush with death.
‘I’m dying.’
Knighthood hadn’t been risk-free.
But never had death felt this certain.
Raoul realized he was dying.
All that defined him grew redundant.
Awareness shattered, presence dimmed.
Yet just before death’s touch, something—someone—grabbed his collar.
And hauled him blindly from the cold abyss.
“Guhk!”
Hot vomit surged with it, severed senses flooding back.
Abdomen burning, shoulder torn.
“Hahk, hahk!”
Desperate gulps of dry air, and the heat in gut and shoulder eased ever so slightly.
“Ah, damn—this fucker too. Gotta pry it loose.”
Again. Once more.
Heat and pain kept fading.
Raoul forced his heavy eyelids up. Fog shrouded everything.
Murk hid a shadowy figure moving.
“You coming to? Can you see me?”
Raoul’s violet eyes tracked the rustling sound.
“…One more bottle?”
The agony that had melted him alive was gone—only throbbing remained.
“Hmm…”
Soon, someone cradled his neck.
Cool liquid trickled through parched lips.
Raoul suckled it greedily, like a newborn.
Awareness sharpened further, vision clarifying.
His breathing steadied, memories of collapse resurfacing.
Then shadow fell over his face.
Raoul locked eyes with the man peering down.
Maroon irises, a blue gleam flickering then vanishing.
“Oh, you really hung in there.”
The man muttered unintelligible words.
Raoul scanned his foggy surroundings, mouth agape in shock.
Scattered comrades from the explosion lay neatly beside him.
Tears plopped at the sight.
He turned—there stood a man silhouetted against the red sunset.
“Ah…”
The light blinded him. No shielding hand would help.
Damn System