Heading Out to Slay an Outer God in Rondan's Forest Outskirts

I ended up heading to the forest outskirts outside Rondan to take down an Outer God. Just me and Mu Yeon, the knight! On any other day, going out alone with a girl might've put me in a good mood, but our destination was Outer God territory. One wrong move, and we could end up suffering something worse than death.

Yet for some reason, I didn't feel scared at all. Normally, I'd be shaking like a leaf. Was this another effect of Super Coward Mode? In contrast...

"Hoo, I can do this. I can do this. I can do i—argh, bit my tongue. Ow. Urgh."

Mu Yeon, trailing behind me like a stalker, was trembling so hard she could've passed for my old self. Honestly, I'd assumed I'd be hunting the Outer God with Agartha or the Hunter, so splitting off from them stung. But when I heard I'd get a partner, I was at least relieved. Then again, my partner turned out to be a total scaredy-cat. How did someone like her even make it into the knights?

Thinking back to the prison, her physical abilities seemed top-notch—she'd smashed the ground with her axe like it was nothing. But in this state?

I glanced back, and she flinched in surprise.

"This is the right way, right?"

"Y-yes, yes. The map says to keep going straight that way."

As we walked, I asked something I'd been wondering about.

"By the way, isn't it a problem that just the two of us are going to hunt an Outer God?"

I vented a little, but as expected, I got the standard response.

"I'm not supposed to talk about knights' business with outsiders... And they said not to worry since it's not that high-ranking... Th-that, and aren't you a criminal asking for too much...?"

Criminal. Yeah, fair point. It fit me to a T. Or rather, the label stuck to Leydan Tantun meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no one around here saw me in a good light. To them, we were disposable—if we caught the Outer God, great; if not, whatever. That's why I'd traded my neck for this unreasonable deal, to shake off this status. Survive this Outer God, earn my freedom, and ditch the knights for good.

Crunch.

"Gah."

"...What's wrong?"

It hit me that quite a bit of time had passed. Mu Yeon had her reasons she couldn't mention, so I scratched the back of my head and said,

"S-sorry, I need to take care of something real quick..."

"Ah, um, right. I didn't think of that. Go ahead... make yourself comfortable."

Now I felt embarrassed for no reason. Part of me wished they'd paired me with a guy instead, but recalling that ominous question from the jade orb earlier, I doubted anything good would come of it. Better this way.

I ducked into some nearby bushes, confirmed Mu Yeon wasn't looking, then immediately crouched down with her on my back. I wasn't here to relieve myself. I was letting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out the Lesser Outer God who'd been stuffed in my pocket.

I slipped my hand in gently and pulled her out. She popped free, flew straight to my face, and rubbed against it—letting me feel just how suffocating it'd been for her. I pinched her nape with two fingers, peeled her off softly, and set her on my palm.

She blinked around in a daze at first, then settled into her old, comfy expression, going all soft and squishy.

"Must've been stuffy, huh? Sorry I couldn't let you out sooner."

I whispered, and she just beamed silently, saying nothing. The kid didn't talk. Back in the underground prison, she'd mumbled a bit, but last time too, she stayed quiet. Maybe it tied into what the leader Lesser Outer God said—splitting from the group weakens them. She seemed unusually calm this time, too.

"T-Tantun?"

"Yeah."

"We should get going soon..."

I turned my head and saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mu Yeon looking a bit anxious down the path ahead. I'd only meant to let the Lesser Outer God stretch her legs briefly, but no helping it. I glanced at her—and jolted.

"Urk!"

N-No way. No creature in the world could stare with eyes that sparkly. Those pleading eyes screamed just a little longer, and ignoring them felt like tempting fate with divine punishment.

"N-no... you gotta go back in now..."

When the puppy eyes failed, she fluttered up and clung to my collar. She even shivered her whole body to show her anxiety.

"St-still no..."

I fought the violent cuteness melting my brain, trying to resist. But then I saw it. Her face peeking from my clothes, eyes misty, head tilted.

"Ah."

I surrendered.

"Mu Yeon... sorry, my pants belt's acting up..."

"Oh, got it... Please hurry and fix it."

Sorry to Mu Yeon, but no choice. This matchup was unbeatable for anyone!

Hearing that, the Lesser Outer God grinned brightly, flew up, and hugged my nape with her whole body.

...Fine. As long as you're happy.

That's what I said, but guilt and fear had my heart racing. I was making a knight of Rondan wait, of all people. And funnier still, she was obeying a criminal's word without complaint. What was this? The top-bottom dynamic felt totally flipped.

Peeking at Mu Yeon through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the bushes, she looked antsy. Naughty thought, but I could maybe use this to my advantage.

She reminded me of a wife silently enduring her husband's affair. Not that I was that scummy.

I scratched the Lesser Outer God's chin with my fingertip, and an even more urgent voice came.

"A-are you done now? We really gotta go..."

Time to move for real. Satisfied this time, she slipped into my pocket, gave a thumbs-up, and the pocket sank, vanishing without a trace. One of her abilities I'd figured out while hanging with her. That's how she stayed hidden from Agartha and the knights. Though the Hunter sniffed her out—guess she couldn't mask her scent completely.

"Tantun...?"

"Yeah, just finished! Coming out."

Any longer, and she'd get suspicious, so I bolted out. Spotting me, Mu Yeon's expression softened a ton.

"No answer, so I thought you'd run and was about to activate the pattern..."

"I've only got one life."

The bear mask pattern stamped on my hand was on hers too. Using it enforced contract terms absolutely. It wouldn't make me die, but if I slacked on hunting the Outer God or tried fleeing, penalties would hit.

"Sorry. Let's head out again."

"Okay..."

She shrank back a bit, resuming her shadow-partner routine behind me.

"Tell me the next way too."

"Ah, y-yeah, that way."

A few minutes into the walk. The silence was awkward, stifling even. Who knew I'd empathize with Agartha's whininess even a little.

"Mu Yeon?"

"..."

"Mu Yeon?"

"Ah, y-yes? What is it?"

"Could you tell me about the Outer God we're hunting, the 'Gardener'?"

I'd heard the name, but no details. They called it weaker than the Observer, but that was just cheesing it with exploits. Felt like beating an unbeatable boss via gimmick.

I figured her timid personality from our short time together meant she'd clam up, so I added,

"Take your time..."

"The Outer God we got assigned, the Gardener, was deemed unhuntable, but it's not that threatening. No distortions, nests in the forest outskirts—annoying, but easy entry and exit mean escape's simple. Getting to the core, though? Super tricky. But it never leaves the forest, so they've left it alone."

"Er, um."

"D-did that help?"

Her words tumbled out so fast I was overwhelmed.

"Yeah, helpful."

"G-good. I studied hard so I wouldn't drag down the senior knights."

She tucked a stray pink lock behind her ear, cheeks flushing under the hood.

"Escape's easy, but getting near the Gardener is really tough... The closer you get, the danger spikes."

Approaching was the hard part, huh.

"How does it attack, exactly?"

"I-I'm not sure. No one who's gone deep has come back to report."

No intel made rash moves tough. Super Coward Mode wasn't perfect—just reskinned reality without fear. Core power stayed the same. A skin mod, basically. If it was chatty like the Observer, great. But Outer God attitudes would swing difficulty wildly.

My biggest edge? Talking to them. Friendly Outer God? Easy win, 'freebie.' Hostile? Whole different story. Even Outer God-made swords could hurt me. If it rampaged, I'd be defenseless. From Mu Yeon's summary, it probably hated humans by default.

"We're almost at the Outer God's spot."

I looked ahead at her words. Rusty iron bars, ancient, with creepy vines twisting around them like pillars, oozed menace. Like a giant stay the hell out sign.

"Fr-from here on, it's really dangerous, so be careful... Tantun? D-don't read that!"

Scanning near the gate-like entrance, I spotted engraving and approached without thinking.

What the actual fuck. Whoever wrote this shit had to have an empty head. I was convinced of it.